Top Ten Tuesday is a feature run by the lovely crew at The Broke and The Bookish
Top Ten Gateway Books/Authors in my Reading Journey
I’ve been a “reader” for as long as I can remember. However, my reading slacked off a bit at the beginning of my college career. I think there are four main factors that shaped my reading journey from that point on. Note: This is very similar to a top ten list I did way back in 2010 when I first started blogging. You can see that one here.
“Literature for Adolescents” class:
The very first “library” class I took was basically a YA/MG lit class! We read so, so many books! The class really changed my whole idea of what I wanted to do. Until that class I thought I didn’t like fantasy books. I know! WHAT?!?! Here are two of the books that taught me to broaden my reading horizons to include YA and fantasy:
1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling: We had to read this for class and I was so not looking forward to it. It wasn’t at all appealing to me. Then, five chapters in to the first book I was driving to the bookstore to buy books two and three!
2. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison: I picked this one of a list provided with our syllabus. We had to choose a humorous book and read a section aloud to the class. I couldn’t get through my chosen selection. I had tears running down my face from laughing so hard (so did my classmates!)
3. Beauty by Robin McKinley: I picked this one from the list of re-tellings we were given because I’m a fan of Beauty and the Beast. As soon as I finished it I was getting everything by McKinley from the library. I ended up expanding to Gail Carson Levine and Donna Jo Napoli… from there I even did a website design project based on YA/MG fairy tale re-tellings. So glad I read this book!
Local Library:
Shortly after finishing college I moved back to my hometown. I had used the library heavily while in college so I was excited to get a card at my local library again. Some of the very first books I checked out are the reasons I read YA today!
4. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green: My first John Green book! I rushed out and got Looking for Alaska as soon as I finished and anxiously awaited the release of Paper Towns! So thankful for the colorful cover that made me want to read the book to know what it was about.
5. Deadline by Chris Crutcher: Oy. This is one of the first books I really remember crying over. I loved it so much. It introduced me to the wonderful body of Crutcher’s work. If you’ve never read anything by this man you need to change that ASAP!
6. Tithe by Holly Black: At first I thought,”Fairy stories? No thanks.” But then I found myself coming back to this book every time I came to the library and re-reading the synopsis. Clearly I needed to check it out. Now I hear “Holly Black” and I’m sold. Whether she wrote it or blurbed it… I want to read it! Also, these books opened me up to reading Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely series and Aprilynne Pike’s Wings!
Wal-Mart:
I know. It’s weird. But the apartment I lived in was across the street from the local Wal-Mart. This was the only place to buy book in town (Aside from a local bookstore run by a man who sat behind the register chain smoking and giving me the creeps! I swear, he didn’t have any books published after 1990.) I bought every YA book they had…. which wasn’t many! It was a REALLY small Wal-Mart!
7. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer: Yes, I read the books before the movie. Yes, I read them all and pre-ordered each one as they came out. What of it?!?
8. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead: When I discovered these I knew they were perfect for me… boarding school setting and vampires and tough girls!
9. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare: I wasn’t too sure about this one but then I remembered my hesitation with Holly Black’s books and how well that turned out. I decided to give it a try. And of course I had to have more and more and more immediately!!
School Library:
After a year as a long-term sub I got the job I have now as a middle school librarian. One of the first things I did was walk the shelves and pull out books that either appealed to me or had really terrible covers. Two of the books I pulled had awful covers but sounded really interesting so I decided to read them to see if I should order newer editions. They are now among my very favorite books I’ve ever read. (And, yes, I realize this puts me at eleven. I’m okay with that. I simply couldn’t cut any more out!)
10. Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce: This is one of the first non-re-telling, non-contemporary fantasy books I ever read. This is now my favorite type of book to read and the Alanna books remain my favorites.
11. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner: Oh man. You need to read this series if you haven’t. It’s amazing. Along with Alanna, it’s the reason I began reading epic historical fantasy!
So, there they are! Some of the most influential books in my reading journey.
Jackie @ the Hardcover Obsession
GAH! I love Tamora Pierce!!! She was such an inspiration when I was a child 😀 Fabulous list!! New visitor to your blog 🙂
Jackie
Marla @ Starting the Next Chapter
I, too, took a children’s lit class and loved every second of it. I got some great papers for my portfolio out of that class. We also ready Beauty and it really got me into Robin McKinley’s fairy tale re-tellings and fairy tale re-tellings in general. Love it.
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