Top Ten Books I Wish I Read as a Kid

Tuesday, December 18, 2012


This week's Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish is a freebie so I picked an old topic, Books I wish I read as a kid. Every book on my list is one I enjoyed as an adult, but I know I would have absolutely adored it if I’d read it when I was young.

1) Half Magic series by Edward Eager

2) Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

3) The Inkheart series by Cornelia Funke

4) A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

5) The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

6) The Arthurian Saga by Mary Stewart

7) The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper

8) The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan

9) The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

10) Peter and the Star Catchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

Photo of me as a kid (check out that sweet carpet!)

12 comments:

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

Such a cute photo. I remember the gold colored shag carpet we had in one room...LOL

Haven't read any of those.

melissa @ 1lbr said...

I can create whole giant lists of books I wish I'd had as a kid! Definitely Dark is Rising is on that list. And I think I would have adored Tale of Despereaux even more than I do now.

Jessica said...

There are so many books that would be on this list for me, including A WRINKLE IN TIME and BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA.

Sandy Nawrot said...

Ha! I love the picture! I wish I'd have read more classics as a kid. I was completely deprived of them, and instead gorged on Judy Blume and V.C. Andrews.

Carl V. Anderson said...

I would have loved some of those books as a kid. I know because I've loved them as an adult. I would add Kenny and the Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi to that list, and the recent Allen Steele book I read, Apollo's Outcasts.

Jeanne said...

The good news is that if you ever have kids you can recapture some of the magic, especially with a book like Half Magic. I also have fond memories of reading 5 Children and It to my oldest child, and having our cat Sammy come in every night, until we finally figured out that when I read about "the psammead" he thought I was saying his name.

Kat @ NoPageLeftBehind said...

I'm reading the Dark is Rising right now and I totally agree - wish I had read it as a youngster!

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

I love this quote from Neil Gaiman about this...

“Stories you read when you’re the right age never quite leave you. You may forget who wrote them or what the story was called. Sometimes you’ll forget precisely what happened, but if a story touches you it will stay with you, haunting the places in your mind that you rarely ever visit.”



Diane - Isn't that carpet awful!

melissa - I know! I loved the Narnia books when I was young and I think I would have felt the same about the Dark is Rising.

Jessica - Those are both books I read and adored as I was growing up.

Sandy - I read a ton of classics when I was young, but I've never read V.C. Andrews! I read a couple Blume books, but not very many. It's funny how our tastes can be shaped when we're young!

Carl V. - I just read Kenny and the Dragon for the first time this year and I loved it!

Jeanne - That is such a great point. If I have kids I really look forward to that time. I already love reading to my niece and nephews and sharing new books with them!

Kat - I know. It's such a great series, but I wish I'd read it before I had such a logical adult brain. I missed out on some of the magic that comes with the innocence of childhood.

Kristi said...

My ten year old devoured the Percy Jackson books last month. I'd catch him still reading when I would be heading to bed. There are a few books I don't recognize here so I'll have to check them out. My boys are really picky about what they read and they don't read much until they find a series that they're really in to. Last summer if the was the Series of Unfortunate events.

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

Haha! I love it!! That carpet truly is a sight...

The book I wish that I would have read as a kid is A Wrinkle in Time. I still haven't read it even though I own it.

Zafon has a children's book?

Jenners said...

There are so many out now that I wish had been around when I had that magical reading experience. I just hope my son gets to expericent some of these.

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Kristi - I remember falling in love with different series when I was a kid. I would get so caught up in those worlds. It was wonderful!

Trish - He does! It isn't nearly as good as the Shadow series, but if I'd read it when I was young I think I would have loved it.

Jenners - I know! I love giving both new and old favorites to my nephew!