Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Top Ten Favorite Books I Read Before I Was a Blogger

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish!

I love this week's TTT topic. Some days I even miss my reading habits back before I blogged, when I'd just step into a library or bookstore, pick up the titles that caught my eye, and give them a try. The following books run the gamut from children's classics to overlooked gems.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

I devoured books like I did food in my early years: consistently, but with little discrepancy between one type or another, and little interest in discerning the differences. That all changed when I found Ella Enchanted in fifth grade. Suddenly, reading could be magical. Characters could be role models I aspired towards.

Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech

Sixth Grade Honors English introduced me to Sharon Creech, and while I love all of her books, Chasing Redbird holds a special place in my heart. Every time I finished rereading this, I, too, wanted to discover an old abandoned trail behind my house that led me through off-the-grid mountains and familiy secrets. And, of course, I wanted a gorgeous boy to notice me as well.

Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan

Homeless Bird was a random find I came across at my school's annual book fair. It was the first time I can distinctly remember reading about a girl who comes from a different culture and land than me, and yet made such a lasting impression on me.

Kissing Doorknobs by Terry Spencer Hesser

Another random school book fair find, this book both terrified and enthralled me. Hesser wrote about Tara's struggle with OCD with such painful conviction that my eighth-grade self was convinced this was a memoir. I think this was pretty much the only book I read over and over again for several months that year.

The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley

Here, finally, be a book on my list that many people have probably read! This random library pick of mine was probably way out of my league of comprehension in middle school, but was undoubtedly what led me to what is now my favorite genre: fantasy. This book will never budge from its place on the top of my McKinley favorites, because of its significance to me and my reading habits.

All-American Girl by Meg Cabot

The Princess Diaries were charming, but All-American Girl was my religion. There were lots I loved about it, from Samantha's pitch-perfect voice to the romance, but what I remember most is being in awe of Samantha for being able to pull off wearing combat boots with white-out daisies drawn on them.

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

Her later books may have been more skillfully written, but Saving Francesca will always be my beloved for introducing me to Melina Marchetta (and Will Trombal, ugh my heart). I was Francesca and yet I wasn't, because she and her friends were effortlessly cooler and more enviable than I could claim to be at that age.


Carolyn Mackler may have gone on to write better books, but her debut will forever hold a space on my shelf. I wore out my library's copy of this with the number of times I borrowed it. There have been countless of contemporary YA books about moving and first love published since then, but this one was what started it all for me.

Tithe by Holly Black

And now we get to the good and dark stuff! This book was totally out of my league in terms of coolness points, but I read it at that sweet-spot age when arbitrary moody protagonists and I would forever retain a connection. Plus, I love saying the name "Rath Roiben Rye" to myself, over and over...


Ah, I miss those days when I could walk into a bookstore and randomly pick up a book that looked and sounded good and have it later become one of my favorite books of my high school years. Libba Bray and Gemma Doyle did historical, paranormal, and darkly romantic waaaaay before anyone else did, which is why little has lived up to this book since for me.



I'm intrigued by how so many of my childhood favorite books seemed to be award winners (just look at the disproportionate number of medals gracing the covers above). Nowadays, award winners seem to be a hit-or-miss with me. Have you, like me, ever wondered whether or not you would've loved a book as much as you did had you not read it exactly at the right point in your life?

26 comments:

  1. My reading habits haven't changed all that much since I became a blogger, though I do read a lot more, so a lot of my faves are the same. You chose so many good ones! Love Ella Enchanted -- I think that's my favorite off your list. I'd add The Giver, just because that was the book that brought me back to YA.

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    1. Ah, The Giver. How could I forget that one? I was always grateful to my school district for making it a mandatory 8th Grade English read. Great choice!

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  2. My sister LOVES Ella Enchanted, and she's been trying to get me to read it for years. I definitely plan to one day. I'm pleased to see Meg Cabot has been making so many people's lists today. I haven't read anything by her in years, though I was a huge fan of her books when I was younger. I wonder if I'd find them nearly as entertaining now... Thanks for sharing, Steph! :)

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    1. You MUST read Ella Enchanted! I think it's one of those books that people will love no matter what age they are when they first read it. I've tried to read several of Meg's more recent books but I'm finding that they just don't seem to have the same amount of *heart* as her earlier ones did, which is very sad.

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  3. I love Jellicoe Road more but there's something great about Saving Francesca. The pre-blog days are somewhat nice when I didn't have to worry about writing a review for each book, but I still love blogging so it's worth it.

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    1. Great words, Alison. Blogging has brought me so many great things that I would never wish that I hadn't started blogging. I reread Jellicoe Road last week. Experienced all the feels all over again. It was splendid.

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  4. Love Hero & the Crown and Tithe. As you know. Rath Roiben Rye . . .

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  5. Ella Enchanted was so good! The movie was great too! I don't think I could ever dislike a movie with Anne Hathaway.

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    1. I haven't seen it yet! I've always been too scared, since I have very strict ideas of what Ella (and Char) are supposed to look and act like, haha. Even though it has the wonderful Anne Hatheway in it.

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  6. Most of these are on my list and I still like most of them. Saving Francesca is still my favorite or Melina's books. But there are some books I liked in high school that I can barely crack open now.

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    1. Oh? I'm curious about what those books that you can barely crack open now would be. That would be an interesting TTT list to make...

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  7. YES! I love this list, Steph! Saving Francesca is my favorite Marchetta, although I recognize that so many other of her novels are better. It's just the one closest to my heart, somehow. A Great and Terrible Beauty was FANTASTIC, as was The Diviners, actually, and I loved Tithe. I remember thinking it was scandalous since I read it when I was much younger, but I love that it introduced me to the darker world of YA. Ella Enchanted is another favorite and Chasing Redbird is fantastic, although Ruby Holler, Walk Two Moons, Love that Dog, and The Wanderer are my favorites by her. Fantastic Top Ten! :D

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    1. Okay, yup, so we have really similar tastes in books. AWESOME! I agree with you, SF is the one closest to my heart, while JR is the book I can find only once in a lifetime.

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  8. I used to read every award winning book I could get my hands on! I LOVE Gail Carson Levine and I was very happy that Ella Enchanted was my introduction to her! My favorite Sharon Creech novel is Walk Two Moons because it was my first by her and as you, first books seem to have a lasting impression on me. I have yet to read Saving Francesca but I must get to it! A Great and Terrible Beauty was amazing, as was the trilogy honesty!

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    1. Yeah, for Walk Two Moons! In retrospect, I know that some of the books on my list are not perfect, they have their flaws, but there's some magic about reading them when I was the right age that prevents me from criticizing them even the slightest. The memory of having that untarnished reading period in my life is really lovely. :)

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  9. Ahhhhh! COMPLETE FAIL STEPH! The only book I've read on this list is Saving Francesca which I of course loved. I need to read some of others, particularly A Great and Terrible Beauty which I've heard nothing but amazing things about. :)

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  10. Fun to see your list! The only one I've read (and enjoyed) was A Great and Terrible Beauty. I've read other books by some these authors.

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  11. A Great and Terrible Beauty series is still all I've read by Bray, but I hope to fix that soon! Ella Enchanted and The Hero and the Crown love forever and ever (I haven't read its sequel The Blue Sword yet though). Definitely need to read Saving Francesca soon. I've heard of so many of your choices, and I will definitely need to look up those I haven't heard of yet!

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    1. I read The Blue Sword for the first time only a few years ago. I ended up thinking it was just as astounding as The Hero and the Crown, but the latter still has the number-one spot in my heart regarding McKinley/Damar books! :)

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  12. This is such a fun list to read through!

    "Libba Bray and Gemma Doyle did historical, paranormal, and darkly romantic waaaaay before anyone else did, which is why little has lived up to this book since for me." <--- I think this at least once a week, not even kidding. Nothing will compare to the feel of reading this in high school (or junior high, can't remember exactly), and feeling like it just swept me away. So many books try to capture this series' atmosphere and dark romance and fail.

    I really want to read Chasing Redbird now, it's one of the only Sharon Creech books I haven't read, and it sounds wonderful. Great list!

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    1. I can't stop thinking about Chasing Redbird after writing this list. Now where's my copy so I can reread it?!?

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  13. All-American Girl is certainly one of my favorite Cabot books. The story was unique to me, and I really enjoyed it! I flip through it now and again whenever I catch sight of it, and it never fails to put a smile on my face.

    Also, in answer to your question - YES. The circumstances or context surrounding the whens, wheres and whys of me reading a book always affect exactly how much I like it. That still holds true even up until today!

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  14. The only book I've read from your list is Saving Francesca, which owns my heart. I mostly read Baby Sitters Club and Sweet Valley High when I was younger. It's been fun rediscovering (or discovering for the first time) childhood classics. I can't believe how many hold up!

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  15. Ah, Robin McKinley was on my list as well. So many good books...

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