This week’s edition of Inspired By is dedicated to Connie Mayo, author of The Island of Worthy Boys, and the five books that have inspired her most as a writer…

The House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

This book has the best alternating perspective that I can recall. The opposing characters both have a claim to the house, and I found myself switching my loyalty with every chapter.

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain

The story transpires in a single afternoon, the last day of a victory tour celebrating an army team’s act of heroism in Iraq, about which they have very mixed feelings. Although there are plenty of flashbacks and backstory, this book is the equivalent of a long movie tracking shot, and I was fascinated that it could be done and remain really an engaging read.

Room by Emma Donoghue

Not only does this book have an unusual point of view (first person from a five year old), but reading it, I started to feel a sense of confinement. Good writing should “put you right there”; this book put my in an 11×11 room and I was claustrophobic.

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

This is why I read historical fiction. Gilbert has you living in this time and place so perfectly, with such eloquent sentences, I didn’t want it to end.

Up From the Blue by Susan Henderson

I’m fascinated by unreliable narrators, and while the narrator of this book is not deceitful, the fact that she is a child prevents the reader from learning everything that is going on around her. It snuck up on me in such a way that I came away with great respect for the author.