FAVOURITE CHILDHOOD BOOKS

​Everyone has at least one book or series from their childhood that fills them with nostalgia to think about. We all remember the book(s) that got us hooked on reading, the ones that made us stay up waaaaaay past bedtime and the ones we still hold on to even though we know we’d enjoy it nowhere near as much as our 7-year-old selves did.
 
I want to share those book with you, the ones I devoured and still fill me with joy to think about, but I also want to share the books I read when I fell out of love with reading. There was a time in my life where I just stopped reading – I didn’t care about it anymore. I think high school is to blame. But somehow, a few books managed to work their way into my life and although they aren’t necessarily from my childhood, I still see them as the books I read before I became a proper bibliophile and they are the books that shaped me into the bookwyrm I am today, so they make this list.

We’ll start with the obvious: Harry Potter. Did you really expect any less? This isn’t actually a series from my childhood, however. This is a series I owned every book of and received as soon as they came out… but never read until 2011. I mean, I may have read at least the first one (or had it read to me) about a decade previous but I can’t remember. I do, however, remember when the final film was being released in two weeks and I decided I had to read all of the books before then. And so I did. The girl who grew up loving books and then barely touched one for years (thanks, school!) suddenly devoured a seven book series in two weeks. And I of course, adored it. My only regret is that I didn’t care for my books back then, and so they now have cracked spines and possibly even the remnants of dog-ears! But hey, it’s a sign of a well-loved book, right?
 
We’ll stick with the books I read during my high school fall out with reading. The Shiver trilogy (although I believe there is now a fourth book?) was a favourite of mine back in the day. I read the first book in no time and got about halfway through the second before losing my way and never finishing it – although I do own the third book as well. This is one of the few books where I remember a lot of the details – something that never happens. I usually can recall the major plot points of books but there are little snippets of Shiver that come back to me that are very minor details. I credit Shiver with rekindling the flame for my reading and although it took a few more years before I got back on the wagon, this started the fire in my heart to pick books up again. I definitely plan to reread this series as it tends to be forgotten in the shadows of Maggie’s other series – The Raven Cycle – and those who do pick it up don’t love it, so I want to give it a second chance, knowing I liked it, before diving into her most popular books!
 
I can’t remember when I read the first book in the Fallen series but I do remember adoring it and desperately beginning my mum to take me to buy the second book (which again, I got halfway through before leaving it unfinished). I don’t remember much of what happened in this book apart that I believe their names are Luce and Daniel and somehow when they meet/touch/kiss Luce dies and every 17 years ends up back in Daniel’s life and he tries to avoid her this time or something. God, don’t let me write book synopses!! This is another series I plan to reread and hopefully finish! I own the first three books from when I originally bought them and have recently picked up the fourth in a charity shop (you guys know how much I love them!)
 
Finally we move on to the books actually from my childhood years rather than my teens! First up there is the only stand alone on this list and that is Cosmo and the Magic Sneeze. God I adored this book. This falls into the 5-8 category so it’s been a loooong time since I read this book. Cosmo is a little black and white kitten that, if I recall correctly, is owned by a witch but he can’t do any magic and that makes him feel bad. But it turns out his sneeze contains magic and all is well. I’m sure there’s a little more to the story than that but hey, cats and magic. 6 year old me was allll over it!
 
And last but definitely not least we have my favourite favourite favourite book series and author – The Fudge Series by Judy Blume. I walked into class one day with my favourite teacher – Miss Drummond - in Primary 6 (possibly 7 as I had her both years but I’m sure it was P6!) where she read us a few chapters of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing – which, by the way, I only in the last few weeks realised meant the student was in fourth grade and was ‘nothing’ rather than he was in “Fourth grade nothing”. Not sure if that makes sense but I had to share my over ten years of stupidity.
Ugh, I LOVED this series!! It was fun and funny and just everything little me wanted. I owned books 3, 4 and 5 in the covers my teacher had and last year tracked down #1. If I recall, book 2 isn’t as connected to the series so I’m not desperate to find a matching edition but it would be nice to own a complete collection of my favourite book series of all time! These books also sparked my love for Judy Blume and I was lucky enough to win a YA bundle giveaway from my old job where a bunch of the books were signed – they included Forever by Judy (which I already owned) but it wasn’t signed so they gave me a signed hardback of her adult novel, In The Unlikely Event which I am yet to read but so so glad to have. I only wish I can meet her at some point in my life – I’ve actually been to the town she was born in twice without realising it!
 
And there we have it! My favourite books from – shall we say my pre-bibliophile days?! Have you read any of the books on my list and which books make yours? Let me know in the comments below!
 
I’m going to wrap this up now – my OwlCrate has just arrived and although I won’t be sharing my unboxing with you just yet (spoilers!) I simply cannot wait to open it!!!