Happy Tuesday!! This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic asks us to share ten books that we wish we read when we were younger. For some reason, young Holly stuck with certain authors and books that were quite different from other readers. (Mainly, I just read Nancy Drew and Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings over and over again.) There are so many books that I know I would have loved had I read them when I was younger–because I really enjoyed them when I read them for the first time recently!
I’ve linked my reviews to these books (if I’ve written one) if you would like to hear more of my thoughts about them.
1. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. This book is everything that Young Holly would have loved. I read it a few years ago and boy, had I definitely been missing out all this time! (My thoughts)
2. Matilda by Roald Dahl. I read this book for the first time a few summers ago and IT IS PERFECT. Young Holly would have ADORED reading this book! (My thoughts)
3. A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. I listened to all of these audiobooks while I was abroad and I thought they were so fun, suspenseful, and exciting. (My thoughts)
4. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. I also listened to the audiobook of this novel when I was studying abroad and it was so lovely and quaint and moving.
5. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. To be honest, I’m still working my way through this series (*gasp!*). But it’s so good so far!!
6. Holes by Louis Sachar. I read this book and watched the movie adaptation a few summers ago and wow, what a bizarre, witty, wild ride!! (My thoughts)
7. Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison. While there are definitely some things about this book that I’m glad I didn’t read when I was younger, overall this was a fun and funny read. (My thoughts)
8. The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot. People had been telling me to read this book for YEARS before I finally read it recently. It was so fun! (But have I seen the movie yet?? Nope.) (My thoughts)
9. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares. I had been meaning to read this for YEARS, and I finally read it after graduating from college. Did I cry? You bet. (My thoughts)
10. Girl Up by Laura Bates. This is the only non-fiction book on this list, but it definitely bears mentioning. I read this when I was in college but I so, so wish it had been around when I was in middle school and high school! (My thoughts)
I hope you’ve enjoyed this Top Ten Tuesday!! What books do you wish you had read when you were younger? What do you think of the books on my list? Let me know in the comments section below!
Yours,
HOLLY
Great list! I was lucky enough to be introduced to Holes in school and loved it. 😀 I loved Roald Dahl’s books when I was younger!
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That’s so great!! ❤ Thank you!!
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Great list – one of my favorite books as a child was Louis Sachar’s Sideways Stories from Wayside School. I was an adult when Holes came out but I love his writing. I put Anne of Green Gables on my list as well. I liked it as an adult, but I think it would have been a much different read if I was young.
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Louis Sachar is such a good writer!! I read some of his other books when I was younger, but for some reason Holes didn’t make the cut I guess haha. It’s so good though!!
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Yeah, Matilda is wonderful. Have you seen the film based on it that came out in the late 1990s (I believe?) ?
My TTT.
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Oooh no I haven’t seen the film! I’ll definitely have to check it out!!
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I chose George’s Marvellous Medicine though most Roald Dahl stories fit the bill! You have some here that I hadn’t thought about but would 100% have on my list.
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George’s Marvelous Medicine is such a great one, too! You’re right, his stories are all so fantastic.
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Excellent list! I was lucky enough to meet both Anne and Matilda as a child. They were my friends (still are!)
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Thank you so much!! ❤
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I read Matilda in school but I can’t quite recall if I liked it or not 😀 But I was a fan of the Princess Diaries, they still sit on my shelf 🙂
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The Princess Diaries is such a fun read 🙂
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Great list! I remember watching Tuck Everlasting, ugh such a good movie! I never read it though.
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Thank you! Omg it’s a movie?! I’ll definitely have to watch it!
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Yes it is! I remember watching it a lot as a child, ha.
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I read quite a few of these when I was younger! Matilda was one of my favourites, and I used to go to the library every week to get a new ASOUE book. I also really enjoyed The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants, and The Princess Diaries. I read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe but I never got into any of the other Narnia books. I had Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging on my list this week too.
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2020/04/28/top-ten-tuesday-261/
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Awww such a lovely memory of A Series of Unfortunate Events!
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Yeah 🙂
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I loved all of Roald Dahls books, but Matilda was a favourite! 😀
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It’s such a great one!! ❤
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So many good books on your list! I had The Chronicles of Narnia and Anne of Green Gables read to me as bedtime stories when I was kid. I’m with you on Girl Up. I only read it a few months ago and it’s exactly the book I needed during high school.
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Yes!! Glad you agree about Girl Up—I don’t often hear people talk about it, but it’s so good!
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Matilda and Anne of green Gables are also on my list! I absolutely love Anne, and I still haven’t read Matilda.. I really should though!
My post!
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Ahhh Matilda is so good!!! 💕
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Oooh, so many great books! I completely forgot about The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants! And mini-me would have LOVE Matilda, I only read it last year… Lol
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Haha I only read Matilda about three years ago, so I’m in the same boat 😂 I don’t know how I passed it by when I was younger!!
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I never read ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ as a kid. I only started reading them when I was 15. That said, I’ve only managed to read four of them yet.
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They’re so much fun! I love their weird sense of humor
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I read Angus/Thongs (the whole series) when I was a teen and I loved those books so much! The last few are a little uninspired but the series has a special place in my heart
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I’ve only read the first one—I’ll have to check out the others!!
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My kids also love Holes and A Series of Unfortunate Events! Both great. I still have not read The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. It lingers on my tbr. Happy to see you enjoyed it. Someday I WILL read it. 😉
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Haha it definitely lingered on my tbr too! I only managed to read it this past year. Definitely worth a read though!
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Ah yes! Tuck Everlasting. That’s a book that should’ve made my list this week. I’ve not yet read it…in fact only heard about it recently! Don’t know what rock I was living under Great list Holly.
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Tuck Everlasting is so good!! 💕 highly recommend. Thank you!!!
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I’ve seen so many of these book’s adaptations but have never read the books they are based on. I think I would have loved The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants as a teen.
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Me too! I wish I had read it in high school.
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All of these would have been so much fun to read as a child!
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Right!!
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Excellent list. I didn’t read Anne or Narnia until I was middle-aged.
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Thank you!!
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Fab list!! I really want to re-read Tuck Everlasting (we studied it in class when I was about 10/11) and I’m absolutely with you on A Series of Unfortunate Events, I’m a few books from the end and really need to finish it! (Only started them when I was already in my twenties 😂)
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That’s how I feel about the Chronicles of Narnia haha—I’ve still got a few more left to read! 😅
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So many good choices! I did read a lot of Roald Dahl as a kid and it was perfect, but I wish I’d read Tuck Everlasting or Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants as a kid as well.
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Roald Dahl is just the best! ❤
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Great post
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I’d love to see you do a similar post looking forward at what books you think future you will be glad you read now. Things that become future classics maybe? Or just ones you end up loving and carrying with you? So many of yours here are familiar to me that way already ☺️
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That’s such a great idea!! I am definitely going to write a post like that now 🙂 Thanks so much for the suggestion!
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This is such a cool post! I wish I had read The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants when I was younger, too because that movie used to be one of my all-time favorites! I’ve never read it, but I definitely think the experience would have been better at a younger age than if I were to read it now!
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Thank you so much!! I definitely need to watch the movie adaptation!
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Eep I love Holes too! It’s such an amazing book as well as movie but few people seem to know it 😦
Oh and even I wish I had read Anne of Green Gables earlier but oh well, I still enjoyed it when I read it 🙂
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Right!! Holes is definitely under-appreciated ❤
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I read so many of Roald Dahl’s books when I was little, but I can’t remember if Matilda is one that I read (oops). And I read about half of The Princess Diaries series when I was a teenager but never finished it. I might go back to it, though 🙂
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I’ve only read the first Princess Diaries book–looking forward to continuing on though!
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Great list! I didn’t read Anne of Green Gables until I was an adult either, and I wish I’d read it when I was younger, too. I think I would have loved it more if I read it earlier. Also, while I’ve read a bunch of Roald Dahl’s books, Matilda was never one I’ve read. (Still haven’t.) Given the way everyone loves it, though, I wish I’d picked it up with the other Dahl books I read as a kid.
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I feel the same way about Matilda! I would have LOVED it when I was younger. Although I did manage to read it a few summers ago and adored it nonetheless-it’s absolutely adorable! ❤
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I need to pick it up one of these day!
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I wish I knew about Rennison when I was younger too – still fun now though. 🙂
Lauren @ Always Me
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Definitely!! A very nostalgic read regardless haha 🙂
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Great list! I wish I’d read anne of green gables, Narnia and sisterhood of the travelling pants when I was younger too.
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Definitely, I feel like I would have liked them in such a different way back then.
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