Top Ten Tuesday: My picks for Books From My Childhood/Teen Years That I Would Love To Revisit'.

I was absolutely certain that I had done this topic before, but after much searching, found that I hadn't! How bizarre! So now I'm finally getting round to it and I've found this a pretty fun topic to do. I'll split it into two sections: Childhood and Teenage Years.

Childhood Picks:

1) 'Matilda'; Roald Dahl.

I mean this really covers all of Roald Dahl's books, but I loved this one in particular and have done for a long time. I've mentioned it on so many lists now that you guys must have been expecting to see it! The impact that this book had on me (and the subsequent film/musical) fills me with such joy that I would be thrilled to read it again!



2) 'Midnight'; Jacqueline Wilson.

In the same way as 'Matilda' really means 'anything by Roald Dahl', I would be happy to revisit pretty much every Jacqueline Wilson book. She had such a huge bearing on my life and introduced me to a variety of different issues that I think it's important that children learn about at an early age. My second choice would probably be 'The Worry Website', a collection of short stories, but I chose this one because I remember really falling in love with the characters and the story.

3) 'Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone'; J.K. Rowling.

Oh come on. I think that a fair few people will be choosing this one! Harry Potter is such a well loved series and I remember it filled my childhood with joy. I actually used to pre-order and read every single book as it came out, and I didn't (and still don't) do that with many things. This book I chose because it is the first in the series, but I would definitely be up for reading the entire series again.

4) 'Mr Galliano's Circus'; Enid Blyton.

I was a huge fan of Enid Blyton books when I was a child! I absolutely devoured her 'Famous Five' series (cheers, Dad!) and really liked reading 'The Faraway Tree' too. But 'Mr Galliano's Circus' was definitely my favourite of them all. There was just something about the idea of a little boy and his family no longer needing to do normal, boring things and running away to join the circus that I loved. The characters were so interesting too!

5) 'The Snow Spider Trilogy'; Jenny Nimmo.

Other than Harry Potter, this was my only other memorable source of Fantasy from my younger years. I'm pretty sure it was a present and I remember someone making a joke about it hopefully curing my fear of spiders. Of course it didn't, but it was a beautiful read with a gorgeous cover! I remember a lot of people really enjoying Jenny Nimmo's 'Charlie Bone' series at that age too, though I never read it myself.



Teenage Years Picks:

1) 'Alanna: The First Adventure'; Tamora Pierce.

Tamora Pierce will always be my Fantasy idol. She was the lady that really got me into the idea of magic and adventure in a totally different world to my own and I read so many of her books that I lost count! All of her stories set in Tortall were my favourite, especially 'The Immortals' series because Daine was such a fun character. I chose this one however because not only does it make sense to read this one first chronologically, but because Alanna's story always interested me the most. It reminded me a lot of 'Mulan' and that alone puts it high on the list of favourite reads!

2) 'Eragon'; Christopher Paolini.

This was yet another Fantasy favourite from my teenage years, and I really ought to reread this book (as well as 'Eldest' & 'Brisingr') purely because I have yet to get round to 'Inheritance'. But when I was a bit younger, I waited in line for these books on their release date. They were just so good. Paolini did a really good job of building a completely new world and I loved the incorporation of other races (Dwarves, Elves, Urguls) and how each had their own culture and language. It had a great story-line too!

3) 'Noughts & Crosses'; Malorie Blackman.

Onto a less fantastical setting, this series was just fantastic. I read all four of the books in it and enjoyed each one! I loved the way Blackman takes the concept of race and completely turns it on it's head by imagining Black People have the power while White People are hated throughout society. This is quite a painful read so if you like happy endings, don't read it. 


4) 'Inkheart'; Cornelia Funke.

I really liked this story for a number of reasons. Firstly it was about books. Or rather, the ability to read characters from books into real life. I loved the implications of that, and how those characters proceeded to try and make a life for themselves in our world. How some embraced it while others hated it. I particularly loved watching the consequences it had on the world of the book too, it made things pretty deep and meaningful.


5) 'The Devil Wears Prada'; Lauren Weisberger.

This might seem a little out of the blue in terms of my picks so far, but I remember reading this while on holiday a long time ago and adoring it! I'm not normally one for Chick Lit but this book was just great, and the film is awesome too. I would absolutely love the chance to read it again, it has well thought out story-line, likeable characters and some lovely sub-plots to keep me gripped.