There are these books you read as a kid. Books you loved, books that made you a reader, books that transformed you and transported you into worlds beyond your imagnination. You know, these books that made you wonder and your mind wander, that made you wanna be a part of it and maybe even something that made you spin the story farther and play your fanasies out with your friends.
Today’s Top Ten Tuesday asks about books that you wish you would have read when you were a child. Regardless of the fact that some of them were not even out then, here’s my list.
The Lion, the witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Lucy is the first to find the secret of the wardrobe in the professor’s mysterious old house. At first her brothers and sister don’t believe her when she tells of her visit to the land of Narnia. But soon Edmund, then Peter and Susan step through the wardrobe themselves. In Narnia they find a country buried under the evil enchantment of the White Witch. When they meet the Lion Aslan, they realize they’ve been called to a great adventure and bravely join the battle to free Narnia from the Witch’s sinister spell.
Okay, let’s start this post with a controversy because I’m not really sure that Small-Me would have enjoyed it. The story itself, sure. The magic, Mr. Tumnus, the witch? Sure. But the writing style? Not so sure.
Bilbo Baggins enjoys a quiet and contented life, with no desire to travel far from the comforts of home. Then one day the wizard Gandalf and a band of dwarves arrive unexpectedly and enlist his services—as a burglar—on a dangerous expedition to raid the treasure-hoard of Smaug the dragon. Bilbo’s life is never to be the same again.
Confession time: I still haven’t read that book. But there is one simple and good reason why I wish I had read this book as a child. When I was nine I wanted to borrow The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings from my older brother who promptly claimed I was too young and dumb to read that book and lend me his copy of Harry Potter instead. On the one hand it started a wonderful lovestory between me and the Wizarding World, on the other hand – I wish I had read The Hobbit just to spite him.
Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she’s blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks–and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday. But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor. It’s then that Morrigan discovers Jupiter has chosen her to contend for a place in the city’s most prestigious organization: the Wundrous Society. In order to join, she must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of other children, each boasting an extraordinary talent that sets them apart–an extraordinary talent that Morrigan insists she does not have. To stay in the safety of Nevermoor for good, Morrigan will need to find a way to pass the tests–or she’ll have to leave the city to confront her deadly fate.
Of course that book wasn’t out yet when I was a kid and wouldn’t be for years to come. But I think that would have been the perfect filler for all this time when I waited for the next Harry Potter book to be released and desperately wished for some magic.
Archie Greene and the Magician’s Secret by D.D. Everest
On his twelfth birthday, Archie Greene receives a mysterious package from a man he has never met, a package containing an ancient book in a language he doesn’t recognize. The gift leads him to a family he didn’t know he had and a world he never knew existed. Soon Archie becomes a bookbinding apprentice to the Flame Keepers, a secret group devoted to finding and preserving magical books at the Museum of Magical Miscellany. With the help of his cousins, Bramble and Thistle, Archie tries to unravel the mystery behind his book, but he begins to realize that his gift is something more powerful than he could have imagined. And the only thing more perilous than its contents is being its owner.
I feel like I would have enjoyed this book more if I had read it a few years earlier.
The sublte art of not giving a fuck by Mark Manson
Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited—”not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault.” Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek.
I was a worried teen. Scratch that, I still worry. I worry about a lot of things. All the time. Excuse me for getting real here people but I’m rather sure that I would have benefitted from reading this book years ago.
Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor
Two worlds are poised on the brink of a vicious war. By way of a staggering deception, Karou has taken control of the chimaera’s rebellion and is intent on steering its course away from dead-end vengeance. The future rests on her.
I wouldn’t have wanted to read this as a kid. Partly because I still haven’t read it. I just wish I read it years ago, because by now I have pretty much forgotten what happened in the first two books and I’m kinda dreading reading two books that size again just so I could put off this monster again since I always need little breaks in between books of a series.
The House of Hades by Rick Riordan
Annabeth and Percy tumble into a pit leading straight to the Underworld. The other five demigods have to put aside their grief and follow Percy’s instructions to find the mortal side of the Doors of Death. If they can fight their way through the Gaea’s forces, and Percy and Annabeth can survive the House of Hades, then the Seven will be able to seal the Doors both sides and prevent the giants from raising Gaea. But, Leo wonders, if the Doors are sealed, how will Percy and Annabeth be able to escape?
Slightly similar thing. While I still remember what happened in Mark of Athena, I still wish I had just gotten on with it and read this book next. It makes it so much harder to pick it up from the tbr pile especially since I don’t like the HoO series quite as much as I like the first series.
Eleven-year-old Casper Tock hates risks, is allergic to adventures and shudders at the thought of unpredictable events. So, it comes as a nasty shock to him when he accidentally stumbles into Rumblestar, an Unmapped Kingdom full of magical beasts.
All Casper wants is to find a way home, but Rumblestar is in trouble. An evil harpy called Morg is sending her followers, the Midnights, into the kingdom to wreak havoc and pave the way for her to steal the Unmapped magic for herself. But Casper cannot turn a blind eye because the future of his own world, he discovers, is bound up with that of the Unmapped Kingdoms.
And so, together with Utterly Thankless, a girl who hates rules and is allergic to behaving, and her miniature dragon, Arlo, Casper embarks upon an adventure full of cloud giants, storm ogres and drizzle hags. Can he, Utterly and Arlo, the unlikeliest of heroes, save the Unmapped Kingdoms and our world from the clutches of Morg and her Midnights?
You know, I just feel like putting this book on all my lists at the moment. It just needs to be seen! Also, I feel like 11-year-old me would have loved it.
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
As soon as Anne Shirley arrives at the snug white farmhouse called Green Gables, she is sure she wants to stay forever . . . but will the Cuthberts send her back to to the orphanage? Anne knows she’s not what they expected—a skinny girl with fiery red hair and a temper to match. If only she can convince them to let her stay, she’ll try very hard not to keep rushing headlong into scrapes and blurting out the first thing that comes to her mind. Anne is not like anyone else, the Cuthberts agree; she is special—a girl with an enormous imagination. This orphan girl dreams of the day when she can call herself Anne of Green Gables.
When I was a kid my granny gave me the first of a book series whose name I have unfortunately forgotten. But I think it was quite like Anne of Green Gables and I would have enjoyed that too.
The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
Since his mother’s death six years ago, Carter Kane has been living out of a suitcase, traveling the globe with his father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane. But while Carter’s been homeschooled, his younger sister, Sadie, has been living with their grandparents in London. Sadie has just what Carter wants—school friends and a chance at a “normal” life. But Carter has just what Sadie longs for—time with their father. After six years of living apart, the siblings have almost nothing in common. Until now. On Christmas Eve, Sadie and Carter are reunited when their father brings them to the British Museum, with a promise that he’s going to “make things right.” But all does not go according to plan: Carter and Sadie watch as Julius summons a mysterious figure, who quickly banishes their father and causes a fiery explosion. Soon Carter and Sadie discover that the gods of Ancient Egypt are waking, and the worst of them—Set—has a frightening scheme. To save their father, they must embark on a dangerous journey—a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family and its links to the House of Life, a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.
Yeah, that one I should have read earlier as well. Just because.
So, what do you think? Have you read any of those books?
I’ve read so many of these books and will tell you a resounding “Yes!” to you must read them 😊
Some of them I already have read. Others I definitely should read. I think I will put Ann of Green Gables on my wishlist. 🙂
Your story about The Hobbit is too funny!
My TTT .
I have to admit, it’s one of my fondest memories. 😀