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Everyone has a favourite book or books from their childhood. Books that taught you how to read. Books that hold memories. Books that helped you through difficult times. Books that resonated with you so deeply that they will always be a part of you.
Harry Potter
My love for books began, like many others, with Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. I was part of the generation that grew up with Harry Potter. My mum read them to me – at least, she read the first one, and possibly the second. When I began reading them myself, I couldn’t put them down. I read them through. Then I read them again. The Philosopher’s Stone movie terrified me, but that didn’t stop me from reading them.
There was one aspect of the Harry Potter books that I’ve never not been in awe of. I’m not even sure what it’s called, because it’s not quite plot twists, nor is it the details of the world, but rather something in between, or a mix of the two. It’s the moments that strike a memory from a previous book, or a hint so well hidden you missed it during the first reading.
Most people I speak to say Prisoner of Azkaban is their favourite book, but for me it’s Order of the Phoenix. That book. THAT BOOK. Yes, I know it’s many people’s least favourite; I must have been an angsty teen (I actually wasn’t, but it’s my favourite all the same). I remember having such a profoundly inspirational moment at the end of that book the first time I read it. It had me feeling awe to such a degree that no other book has yet to replicate. As the events were being explained it struck me how everything made sense. I could see all the connections weaving through the previous books and every single hint or foreshadowing suddenly had so much more complexity to it. And it was brilliant.
Deltora Quest
I wasn’t a big reader in my childhood. I did my required readers, but I spent most of my time outside climbing fences or riding my bike. One of my classes had us listen to The Deltora Quest on tape (yes, tape) but I could never get into the story. Although, I did watch the anime series a couple years back and enjoyed that, and recently bought the books.
I’ve included a random assortment of some of the books I read (those that remain on my bookshelf) in the image below. All books I read during my childhood were either chosen by me at the bookstore (in which case they had pretty covers) or gifts. Trends didn’t determine what I read. As such, I’m now an adult who needs to find time to read the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan and The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (which I will do, once I get through my TBR).
Jinx & The Tail of Emily Windsnap
As you can see, I was clearly a fan of the Mary-Kate and Ashley books. I also went through a very long horse phase, but I don’t know where those books came from. Perhaps I found them at my grandparents’ house or my mum bought them at a garage sale. My two favourite books, besides Harry Potter, were Jinx by Meg Cabot and The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler. The Tail of Emily Windsnap inspired the first story I remember writing. It was one page long, if that.
Twilight
When the final Harry Potter book was released I didn’t know what to do with myself. Book hangovers are real. It wasn’t long, however, before the vampire obsession spread through my all-girl cohort faster than Edward Cullen can run. Everyone was reading Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. I don’t remember why I read it; whether someone recommended it to me or what, but I did. And I loved it, so despite any misgivings I may have towards the series now (especially that last book – really Jacob?) I can’t lie; I loved Twilight. This was possibly because I was getting to the age where you’re forced to read books for school, which automatically makes them a struggle to complete and exceedingly boring.
Vampire Academy
During the vampire craze, my mum went to a bookstore to seek out a birthday gift for me. Knowing I’d read and enjoyed some sort of book involving vampires, she asked the clerk for recommendations and was directed to the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead. This, of course, could not have been more obviously a book about vampires, so on my thirteenth birthday I received the first three books of the Vampire Academy series.
Now, I’ve never been much of a fangirl type. Not for boy bands, or celebrities, or movies, or even Edward Cullen. But for Dimitri Belikov, I was. In that series, I was Rose. Nevermind that we had absolutely no similar personality traits. But besides the characters, the story was so engaging and got better and better with every book. It was through Vampire Academy that I discovered young adult books. Until then I’d thought books only belonged to two categories – children or adult. But Vampire Academy helped me find a whole range of books like the ones I’d already read and loved that weren’t impossible to read and made me forget the real world existed.
I don’t remember all the books I read, but if there was a relatively popular young adult book (series especially) between 2009 and 2012, I probably read it. Perhaps I should have been more focused on my education, but technically reading is an education. I wasn’t failing… it was fine. And in the less-than-fantastic years of high school, I looked forward to reading.
The Hunger Games
I read the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, but this series didn’t capture me the same way other series had. Despite this, I still bawled my eyes out alone in my room in the middle of the night because of Prim.
Divergent
I read the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth, loved the first book, liked the second, and hated the third. I still haven’t finished the last book; my sister spoilt the ending and I refused. If I never reach the page where something bad happens, it never happened. Although… I did skip to the very end just to make sure. Unfortunately, she was telling the truth and I once more bawled my eyes out.
Darkest Powers
I read the Darkest Powers series by Kelley Armstrong thanks to a recommendation from a friend. That was the first time I was genuinely scared while reading. There were two scenes that terrified me, and though I don’t remember the exact specifics, one was in a crawl space in The Summoning (I think the first time Chloe used necromancy) and the other was towards the end of The Reckoning when a ghost warned Chloe about something and she slipped on a dead body. Or slipped on the blood from a dead body I suppose, for a scene would surely loose its mood if characters were slipping on dead bodies like banana peels.
Inheritance Cycle
The next series (or cycle) that really stood out to me was the Inheritance Cycle. I probably thought I was reading a difficult book because Eragon had a prologue and that made it on another level, but to be honest I’m not completely sure what stood out to me about this book, or even how I began reading it. I wasn’t interested in blood (the vampires I’d read about rarely actually drank it) or gore or fighting or swords. Even so, I read and thoroughly enjoyed all four books. I think it must have been because of the worldbuilding. Before Eragon, I hadn’t read a book entirely set in an imaginary world. There was a logic to the world and the magic that drew me in. I absorbed every detail because how could a world that doesn’t exist make so much sense?
There were others. Books required for school – some of which I never finished, especially if I knew it had a sad ending (sorry Hemingway) – and other young adult books. The coming-of-age story still intrigues me, even as an adult, for the vast opportunity for character development. No matter how cluttered my bookshelf gets I’ll always keep a special place on it for Harry Potter, Vampire Academy, and the Inheritance Cycle.