It’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the folks at the Broke and the Bookish. This week: Top Ten Books That Make You Think (About The World, People, Life, etc.). A good topic for a day when I think most of us do some thinking and reflection about the world, people, and life.

1-2. This often comes up on my list, but The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood. I follow Atwood on Twitter and in the last week or two, she retweeted someone’s remark about “living in the Handmaid’s Tale” seeing the debates about and challenges to women’s reproductive rights in the news lately. HT makes you think anyway, but it’s definitely been more on my mind. I’ve also been thinking about The Blind Assassin, but more because I can’t seem to remember the plot…I know the outline, but not the twists and turns…driving me crazy!

3. Prep, by Curtis Sittenfeld. I just read this a few weeks ago and it definitely made me reflect on my teenage years and experiences in school.

4. The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. This made me think about American history and the American experience from a different perspective.

5. Read My Pins, by Madeleine Albright. I liked seeing how Albright described expressing herself through her pins. It runs through my mind when I pick out items of clothing or jewelry.

6. In the Woods, by Tana French. The puzzles in this book keep me thinking about what happened exactly.

7-8. What to Eat, by Marion Nestle and In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan. Both of these writers make me consider my eating habits and patterns and how they might affect my health or the lives of the people/animals producing it.

9-10. Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton and Money: A Memoir, by Liz Perle. Why do we need things? What purpose does keeping up with others serve, and what is my relationship to money?Unsurprisingly, these books kept these topics in my mind when I read them.

What books make you think and what do they make you think about?