Tuesday, April 28, 2015

A Lifelong Love Affair

The start of it all
When I was a kid, I loved to read. I mean LOVED to read. We had a small library at the high school near us and I think I read most of the books in the kids section, literally. When I tell Daniel about the books I read, he is usually surprised. Now days I'm not much for science fiction or historical fiction, but I read my fair share back in the day. He teases me that I am such a nerd for reading all the Star Wars books (but, Star Wars is awesome).  

I remember being SO excited about turning 11 years old because that was when you were allowed to volunteer at the library. It wasn't quite as exciting as I expected because I wasn't really allowed to stand at the checkout counter. Most of my hours consisted of me hauling carts of books around to shelve. Not as fun as you might expect (if you were expecting that to be fun).

At the summer reading program, I won pretty much every year for reading the most hours. One year I thought I hit the jackpot when they gave me TWO WHOLE movie tickets for reading the most. What a prize! (-;

So where to start? I loved them all. 

I devoured historical fiction. I especially loved books by Ann Rinaldi, who writes mostly in the Revolutionary War era. My favorite book of hers was probably The Fifth of March.  Another historical fiction book that I read over and over was Boston Jane by Jennifer L. Holm. There is a crazy twist at the end that got me every time! Let's not forget The Promised Land by Isabelle Holland-- it's a tearjerker. And I can't leave out Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. So many, so good!

As I already mentioned, I also read every Star Wars themed book I could get my hands on. What can I say? The movies got me obsessed and I wanted to know more! Ask me anything about the back story and I know the answer. 

One of my absolute favorite series was The Shadow Children by Margaret Peterson Haddix (also love pretty much every book by her). When I first started reading them, there were only four books in the series, but now the complete series is eight books. A couple years ago I even read all eight books to my younger siblings. They are SO thrilling.

I also adored fairy tales, such as the wonderful book Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. In case you're wondering, the book isn't at all like the movie. I have read Ella Enchanted so many times that the cover is falling off. My other favorite fairy tale was The Two Princess of Bamarre, also by Gail Carson Levine.

Then of course there were the classics like Harry Potter and Little House on the Prairie. Oh, and every Boxcar Children book I could get my hands on. Man, I wanted to be part of their family!

The list is pretty much endless. Every book I think of reminds me of another book I loved, so I have to stop somewhere! I hope that any future children of mine will inherit the reading gene. Reading truly brought me so much joy and entertainment as a kid! 


Can't stop, won't stop. Doesn't matter if my hair is ripped from my head, I won't put down Puppy Says 1, 2, 3
What books did you love as a child? I know I missed a bunch and I'd love to hear your favorites!

3 comments:

  1. I loved reading as a child too! I still do, but don't have as much time for leisurely reading these days. Sometimes as a child, I would spend whole Saturdays curled up on the couch just reading..ahhh those were the days! ;) I liked historical fiction a lot too. Some of my favorites were the American Girl books and the Dear America series. I literally read all of those! Little House on the Prairie was awesome too! I loved the Boxcar Children and Nancy Drew and the Magic Tree House. And of course Harry Potter (which I actually just took a whole college class on, it was awesome!). Thanks for this little trip down memory lane!

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    1. Awesome! Yes, you sound like me (: It was fun doing this post and remembering all the books I used to love. You reminded me of the Thoroughbred Series... yes, I read every one of those that I could get my hands on!! Thanks for sharing!

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  2. I also just remembered The Babysitter's Club books and the Thoroughbred series (and other animal series). So many good books!

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