My Favourite Childhood Books

Hi everyone! Lately, I've seen quite a few videos about childhood reads on BookTube, namely ReadbyZoe's most recent one, which inspired me to do the same thing in a written form. However, you'll quickly realize that many of them are actually written for a much older audience than I was at the time (I only wanted big books, basically). Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this post and think about the books you enjoyed reading when you were younger! I'd love to know about them.

1. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery (the obvious one)

As most of you probably know, I'm Lucy Maud Montgomery's biggest fan mainly because of her Anne series. I read the first book when I was about 8 years old and I never stopped loving this series. As of today, I've probably read LMM's books a hundred times (which isn't even an exaggeration), so I would highly recommend her books, especially this one. It's about a young orphaned girl who is adopted by a family who only realize when they get her that she's a girl, even though they had asked for a boy. Anne is my favourite character ever and I've wished I could be her countless times. Gilbert Blythe, another character in this series, was my first book crush and I swear you'll fall in love with him if you give this book a chance. It's set in the early 1900s and it's written in a poetic way that makes those books perfect for adults as well as children. 

2. Emily of New Moon by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Continuing the way I started this list, I have to tell you that this other series by Lucy Maud Montgomery caught my heart quite early in my life (in 2007, if I believe my library's archives). This book, although it might sound similar to Anne of Green Gables because it's about an orphan, but Emily's story is completely different from Anne's. It's much darker (but only because Anne is such a positive anc charismatic character while Emily's life is really sad and she doesn't have as much positivity as Anne does), but it's still written in the beautiful way LMM's other books are written and it presents incredible characters that you'll remember forever.

3. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

As a big fan of this TV show, I had to read the books, especially since they were some of my mother's favourite books. I think they might have been some of the favourite books I read, since I owned the three first of the series and my mother read them to my sister and me. I actually pretended I was Laura while my sister said she was Mary and we'd act some scenes together. I received a nightgown that looked exactly like one of Laura's dresses from my grandmother, who made it specially for me with a cap. I went to bed with little braids to look like Laura's TV show character and the nightgown was destroyed by the time I stopped wearing it, so you can probably see how obsessed I was with this series.

4. The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

I started reading this series pretty young and it followed me throughout the years, so much that I actually got to review the most recent book of this series (which made my ten-year-old self very happy). It's one of the first series I recommended to my sister when she started reading, which brings back many old memories of us fangirling together. It's something that I would recommend to any young girl, because it makes you fantasize about being a princess in a realistic way. 

5. Eragon by Christopher Paolini

I'm one of those weird little girls who didn't care about the types of books she read, so I read this book when I was 7 or 8 years old - before the movie even came out. I loved this particular book, but since I was so young, the sequels got too complicated for me and I ended up giving up on the third book. I do plan on rereading this series one day, maybe when I have children, because it made me wish so hard that I could have my own dragon (I pretended I slept under my dragon's wings when I was younger).

6. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

I have no idea what age I was when I first read this series, but I know for a fact that I was way too young, because the last one kind of freaked me out when I read it (my parents never put a veto on what I wanted to read since I read so much, but I wish they had a few times, because some books kind of traumatized me). I do remember that I wished I had such a large group of close friends, since it's always only been me and my best friend, as well as a few other friends, instead of me and my three best friends, like it's the case with the girls in this book. I wanted my own pair of jeans like that, too, and I truly think it's a fabulous idea for a series.

7. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

I wasn't as young when I read this book, maybe 12 years old, but I'll count it. I did read this after watching the movie (which gave me a huge crush on Alex Pettyfer, haha), but I remember loving the complexity of the books, which was much more interesting than the movie. I think I read the first three books of this series, but I would have read all of them if they were on sale where I live (which they sadly aren't. They release one every three year or so and it sucks). 

8. Stolen Voices: Young People's War Diaries, from World War I to Iraq by Zlata Filipovic

This is one of the first non-fiction books I read and it really stuck with me through the years. I couldn't believe how sad those kids' lives were when I read this, especially since a lot of them were my age. It made me open my eyes to the world I lived in and I think it's one of the reasons why I'm so interested in history today, especially during wars. I would highly recommend it.

9. The Saddle Club series by Bonnie Bryant

As a young rider, I had to at least watch this TV show, which I very happily did. Steph, Carole and Lisa were my models and I wanted nothing more than to be as good a rider as they were, even though it's a known fact to all riders that they'ra actually quite bad in the version I watched (I was 5, so give me a break). When I discovered that there were books of this show, I was the happiest I'd ever been. I flew through all of the books I could get my hands on and they were my favourite ones. This is making me quite nostalgic, because I almost forgot about them and my 7-year-old self would probably never forgive me for that!

10. Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling

You didn't think I'd do such a post without including Harry Potter, did you? It's definitely one of my childhood favourites, so a list like this one wouldn't be complete without it. I watched some of the movies first, because they came out when I was quite young, but I went to every single one of their theater releases (which scared me of the theater for quite a while, because they were scary movies for a young kid and the loud noises made it even worse) and I read the books as soon as I learned how to read. I've always been called 'Hermione' as a joke in my family because of my love of books and my obsession with school and being right, so I remember loving her hair (which is embarrassing) and when I'd take off my Laura Ingalls braids, I turned into Hermione for the day, which was awesome (I mean, cosplaying two characters pretty much at once, how awesome is that?). Basically, I would completely judge you if you told me you haven't read/watched this series (sorry not sorry).

A Window Opens - Elizabeth Egan

Goodreads summary:

For fans of I Don’t Know How She Does It and Where’d You Go, Bernadette?.

In A Window Opens, beloved books editor at Glamour magazine, Elisabeth Egan, brings us Alice Pearse, a compulsively honest, longing-to-have-it-all, sandwich generation heroine for our social-media-obsessed, lean in (or opt out) age. 

Like her fictional forebears Kate Reddy and Bridget Jones, Alice plays many roles (which she never refers to as “wearing many hats” and wishes you wouldn’t, either). She is a mostly-happily married mother of three, an attentive daughter, an ambivalent dog-owner, a part-time editor, a loyal neighbor and a Zen commuter. She is not: a cook, a craftswoman, a decorator, an active PTA member, a natural caretaker or the breadwinner. But when her husband makes a radical career change, Alice is ready to lean in—and she knows exactly how lucky she is to land a job at Scroll, a hip young start-up which promises to be the future of reading, with its chain of chic literary lounges and dedication to beloved classics. The Holy Grail of working mothers―an intellectually satisfying job and a happy personal life―seems suddenly within reach.

Despite the disapproval of her best friend, who owns the local bookstore, Alice is proud of her new “balancing act” (which is more like a three-ring circus) until her dad gets sick, her marriage flounders, her babysitter gets fed up, her kids start to grow up and her work takes an unexpected turn. Readers will cheer as Alice realizes the question is not whether it’s possible to have it all, but what does she―Alice Pearse―really want?


My review:

4/5

I REALLY liked this book.

For some reason, I seem to be reading more books like this one, even though I'm pretty much always young enough to be the main characters' daughter. I don't even care about that fact, because there are so many life lessons in them and I can still find ways to relate to their lives, which always makes my reading experience amazing. 

From the very first page, I loved this book. It mentions a book from my favourite author in its very first page, so I knew the main character and I would get along very well. Then, I discovered so many things about Alice's love for books, bookshops and publishing companies that I felt like I was reading an encyclopedia about my passion... In a good way. Sharing such an important part of my life, my love for books, with a MC is an amazing thing!

When I continued reading, I started falling in love with Alice's family, from her adorable kids to her incredible husband. She has one of the best relationships I've read about in a long time, because she and Nicholas are (at least initially) honest, loving and patient with each other. I loved how supportive they are for each other and how their love is still so strong, even after all these years and three kids. I started to fear for their relationship in the middle of the story, but deep down, I always knew that they'd find a way to get through everything life throws at them, because they're just that kind of a couple (the OTP kind, to be honest). Alice's relationship with her parents made me smile and broke my heart, too, because this is the part where I could relate a lot. I think her feelings are very well described and I have to admit I cried more than once while I was reading (which always happened to be in public, of course). 

I think everyone would enjoy this lovely novel, because it's bittersweet and full of life lessons that we should all remember.

(Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.)

Finding Audrey - Sophie Kinsella

Goodreads summary:

An anxiety disorder disrupts fourteen-year-old Audrey’s daily life. She has been making slow but steady progress with Dr. Sarah, but when Audrey meets Linus, her brother’s gaming teammate, she is energized. She connects with him. Audrey can talk through her fears with Linus in a way she’s never been able to do with anyone before. As their friendship deepens and her recovery gains momentum, a sweet romantic connection develops, one that helps not just Audrey but also her entire family.


My review:

4/5

Still unsure about my rating, but I really liked this book! It's adorable, short and sweet, perfect to decompress.

I love how realistic the writing style is. I feel like I truly got to know Audrey, even without knowing exactly what happened to her. I think all of us got a pretty good idea of it, since most of us are well aware of how girls can be in school, so I kind of liked not to know what made Audrey so sensitive. Sure, I am curious, but it might be for the wrong reasons, because really, there's no need for me to know exactly what happened in her life. I perfectly understand why she wouldn't want to talk about it and I think that this is even better than if she had just explained every single thing about that traumatizing event. Some people might be annoyed by this detail, but I like its realism.

I like how this book explains the relationship between a psychologist and her patient. It could've been only briefly mentionned, but instead, Sophie Kinsella decided to fully include parts of their meetings, which I really enjoyed reading about. It must have needed loads of research, but it adds to the realism of the book, again. Many pieces of advice given by Dr. Sarah are important for me, too, which I found quite nice. At first, I didn't understand Audrey's need for sunglasses, because I simply thought she must look weird, wearing them all the time for apparently no reason, but when I actually understood why she couldn't take them off, I almost wished I could wear some, too. Taking them off is a big step for her, but we all know this is necessary, because she couldn't possibly live her life with them on all the time.

Audrey's progress truly made me happy. Sometimes, when she was with Linus, I felt like she progressed maybe a bit too much, because he's a bit like her hero and magically, she can do things she couldn't even dream of before, but I let that go and simply enjoyed seeing Audrey getting over her illness, step by step. Her appointments with Dr. Sarah reminded me that there would probably be a moment when she wouldn't be that well anymore, because you can't just go higher and higher, but it only made me want to read more to know what would happen.

I found Linus and Audrey's relationship absolutely adorable. Can we just talk about that paper kiss? Too cute. I loved how Linus helped not only Audrey, but her entire family, too. He's really caring and I love how he pushes Audrey to do her best, even though I feared it would be too much, sometimes. I wish I could find such a guy!

Frank was probably my favorite character. I love how rebellious he is, how much he cares about everything, from video games to his sister, and how serious he can be, as young as he is. He truly inspired me and I was touched by his actions more than once. He's a great part of the family, which is awesome itself. Sophie Kinsella never fails to create complicated, funny families that you get really invested in.

It's very different from the other Sophie Kinsella books I've read, but not in a bad way. I wouldn't mind it if her next books were more on the serious side, like this one, because I truly enjoyed reading it.

Shug - Jenny Han

Goodreads summary:


SHUG
is clever and brave and true (on the inside, anyway). And she's about to become your new best friend.
Annemarie Wilcox, or Shug as her family calls her, is beginning to think there's nothing worse than being twelve. She's too tall, too freckled, and way too flat-chested. Shug is sure that there's not one good or amazing thing about her. And now she has to start junior high, where the friends she counts most dear aren't acting so dear anymore -- especially Mark, the boy she's known her whole life through. Life is growing up all around her, and all Shug wants is for things to be like they used to be. How is a person supposed to prepare for what happens tomorrow when there's just no figuring out today?

My review:

5/5

This book is adorable and I loved it.

It's a short, cute and lovely story that I wish I had read years ago, when I would've been able to relate even more to Shug. Even though she's years younger than me, I relate a lot to her and I loved reading about her.

Shug's personality is really interesting, because she's authentic and honest, but she has flaws, too. She cares about her friends and family, but not so much about popularity, even though she wishes she could be with her friends without being excluded all the time. Her family has issues, but she understands them very well and she still loves her sister and her parents, which I thought was adorable.

I disliked Mark. I understand that he's at that age when you want to look cool and be in the popular crowd, but I hated the fact that he couldn't stand up for his best friend. I thought he would change and realize that he can't act like that, but I was disappointed to find out that he didn't. It's what felt the most immature in this book, the fact that so many of Shug's friends want to look cool and act horribly to do so. I'm really happy to be older than that.

I loved Jack. I could see why he would act like that, being older than him, and I thought he was really cute and nice. I was happy to see him grow up, unlike Mark, and stand up for Shug. He doesn't care much about popularity, which made me like him even more.

I smiled throughout the whole story (except once, I teared up a little because I could understand the deeper meaning of a conversation between Shug and her mother and I thought it was really sad) and it's so short that I would reread it anytime. I highly recommend it, no matter what age you are, because you'll find something adorable and easy to read.