Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Wish My Younger Self Could Have Read

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. This week’s prompt is Books for My Younger Self (These could be books you wish you had read as a child, books younger you could have really learned something from, books that meshed with your hobbies/interests, books that could have helped you go through events/changes in your life, etc.)

Hello Readers! This week I’ll be celebrating my one year blogiversary! I can’t believe it’s been a year since I started my little blog. I’m working on celebrating with a giveaway, so this week’s Top Ten Tuesday won’t be up to my usual standards because of time. I almost skipped this week, but I haven’t skipped a TTT since I started. I’d at least like to say I made it a whole year. πŸ˜‰ Plus, I really loved the topic this week.

One thing younger me definitely needed more of was diversity in her reading. I grew up in a small Texas town, pretty sheltered from the rest of the world. All of my selections are books I read as an adult (some with my own children) that I wish I could have read as a child or teen. And while most of these were not even published when I was younger, it’s just me dreaming of the kinds of books I wish I could have read.

(Link to Goodreads synopsis through book title.)

  1. Harry Potter series by She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named – I’m always a little jealous of those readers who grew up reading Harry Potter. I was late to the series and binge-read them all as an adult.
  2. From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg – This book was definitely available when I was kid, but for some reason it wasn’t on my radar. I read it with my own kids, and I know younger me would have loved the idea of living in a museum.
  3. The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis – I read this entire series in a C.S. Lewis college class, but I know younger me would have enjoyed it, too.
  4. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins – Teen me would have been obsessed over this series.
  5. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia – I read this delightful and educational #ownvoices book for a reading challenge this summer, and I wish it’s a book my younger self could have read.
  6. The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz – Another unputdownable diverse book I read this past year with my son. I would love to see this one get more attention, and it’s one my younger self could have learned a lot from.
  7. Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell – This graphic novel is so much fun, and I know teen me would have been determined to find the nearest pumpkin patch!
  8. With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo – One of my favorite reads this year, teen me would have loved Emoni as much as adult me.
  9. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky – This book is set about the time I was a teen in high school, so maybe it’s nostalgia?? But teen me didn’t quite have the experiences Charlie had. πŸ˜‰
  10. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson – This is such a gut-wrenching novel. But it’s one I feel like every teen should read.

Did you read any of these as a child or teen? What’s a book you wish your younger self could have read? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Wandering!

36 thoughts on “Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Wish My Younger Self Could Have Read”

  1. I read many of these as a kid and remember loving them, but I think I’d like to re-read them now as an adult and see whether I still feel the same! I read Perks of Being a Wallflower earlier this year and I think that’s one book I definitely would’ve connected with more when I was younger. Great list, Dedra! And yay for your one-year blogiversary–that’s so exciting! ?

    1. Awww, that’s awesome you got to read so many of these as a child! And, yes, Perks is very angsty-teen. πŸ˜‰

      I can’t believe it’s been a year. Thank you! <3

  2. I was one of the ones that got to read it as a kid, and I do feel very lucky! It’s an experience that a lot of readers can’t understand, no book has been hyped the way those were. I did read Narnia too, I loved The Magician’s Nephew and Voyage Of The Dawn Treader the most.

  3. I read Harry Potter as a kid and am definitely glad I did, not that I wouldn’t have enjoyed them as an adult but I think they have a special kind of magic when you’re young (even if She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named is a truly terrible person). I also read The Hunger Games as a teenager, I was 15 I think? And I definitely obsessed! I don’t know if I would have enjoyed Perks more if I’d read it when I was younger, I think the format didn’t really work for me and I’m not sure age is something that really played into it. because I did enjoy the film so clearly liked the story, just not the epistolary format.
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2020/09/08/top-ten-tuesday-280/

    1. That’s awesome you were able to read HP as a child! I’m living vicariously through my children reading them. With Perks (and I’m showing my age here) it comes down to nostalgia for me since it’s set when I was in high school. πŸ˜‰ And I also enjoyed the film adaptation. I thought it was done really well!

    1. Aww, I absolutely loved them as an adult. I’ve even read the series twice. I found it very magical, especially since I read them for the first time at Christmas, which I highly recommend. <3

    1. Oh yay! You’re the second person to say they actually read it as a teenager. I think it’s such an important book. I know I would have been rereading it, too. <3

  4. I’ve read both the Harry Potter series and Perks of Being a Wallflower when I was a kid/teen. However, I only read the full Percy Jackson series earlier this year, and I WISHED I’ve read it when I was younger. I would fall over heels in love with that story.

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