Monday, April 27, 2020

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Wish I Had Read As a Child

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Artsy Reader where each week they post a new top ten list and ask fellow bookish folk to share their lists on that topic.

So this weeks topic was a little tough for me because as a kid I don't remember seeing a book and thinking "oooh, I want to read that, but it's not at my library" because a.) If it wasn't at my library I wasn't aware of its existence.  We didn't have Goodreads or any type of book-list service that I had access to as a kid.  The books below may have been at my library, but I was too busy working my way through Nancy Drew of Judy Blume to take notice.  b.)  I don't remember having any friends that who were readers like me to recommend anything that I didn't already read or have the intention of reading. c.) As I grew up I didn't really pay attention to middle-grade or children's stories.
So you can see how my limited knowledge of children's stories would have an affect on my list here.

I had to pull up "Favorite Books From My Childhood" lists off of Goodreads to help me formulate my choices below. That and there were a couple of my husband's favorites that I wish I would've read after hearing how much he loved them. So here we go with my list:


Harry Potter and the Socerer's Stone (and the rest of the series): Would've been impossible for me to read as a kid since by the time it was released I already had my own kids, but I have no doubt I would've loved the series. 

The Little Princess: I loved the movie adaptation! It's one my daughter and I watched several times throughout her childhood, and I have no doubt I'd have loved the book even more as a kid.

The Secret Garden: I've seen this around forever and have seen a couple film adaptations advertised but I've never read or watched either. Seems like a favorite for many readers.

Anne of Green Gables: I never read the books, but  I did watch the series from the '80's and loved it! I did attempt to read it a couple of years ago and just couldn't get into the writing.  I think as a kid it would've appealed to me. 


The Great Brain: One of my husband's all time favorites growing up. Although, after informing him I'd be including it in this post, he did tell me that I wouldn't have liked it as a kid because it was more of a "boys" book.... ??

Wake: Another that I couldn't have read as a child because it wasn't released, but as an adult I LOVED it. Not the sequels, though.

The Swiss Family Robinson: I've always loved survivalist type of stories, so I think it would've been a hit.

Stranger With my Face: I read a few Lois Duncan's with my daughter (yeah, another book that wasn't around in my childhood) and I think I would've loved her creepy mysteries! 

Anyhow, eight books was all I came up with. How about you? What books did you wish you read as a child?


32 comments:

  1. Haary Potter made the scene at the exact right time for my children. They grew up as Harry grew up. I wish I could reread it through their eyes again. Books I Wish I'd Read When I Was Young

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  2. Harry Potter made my list too! I also enjoyed The Secret Garden years ago.

    My TTT: https://notprimadonna.blogspot.com/2020/04/top-ten-tuesday-books-i-enjoyed-when-i.html

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  3. Harry Potter was basically my entire list this week. I bet having kids and reading them makes it more magical than just reading it on your own as an adult, though!

    My TTT: https://alittlenerdtoldme.wordpress.com/2020/04/28/top-ten-tuesday-books-i-wish-i-had-read-as-a-child/

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  4. All great picks. The Frances Hodgson Burnett books made my list too. ALP in particular -- besides the great message about how every girl is a princess, it really seems like an extra-magic story for young girls.

    We watched the 90s movies of both for the first time last month, and I ended up liking The Secret Garden more, which is funny because the reverse is true of the books. Wish I had seen those when I was younger, too...

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    1. Oh, then I'll have to watch The Secret Garden for sure! :)

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    1. I'll probably be shot for saying this, but I probably won't ever read them now, but as a kid I probably would've liked them. I've watched a few of the movies.

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  6. I've never read Anne of Green Gables either but always wanted to. I want to watch the Netflix show also!

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    1. I wouldn't mind seeing the Netflix version, but I want to see the '80s one again. I really liked it.

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  7. Harry Potter was released at the exact right time for me, by the time the last book was released, I was the same age Harry was in the first book, so I literally grew up with them coming out.
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2020/04/28/top-ten-tuesday-261/

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  8. Same. We didn't have the internet. I mean, we had the book fair at school, but I was never well versed in book releases like I am now. I used to just walk the aisles of the bookstore or the library, and pick up what interested me. I read some books by Duncan (she was mega popular), and I read Anne, Little Princess, and the Secret Garden, all classics.

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    1. Yeah, I think I would've gone crazy with books if we had the internet and for sure if we had Goodreads!

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  9. I'm glad you enjoyed the Anne of Green Gables series. Yes, the first few books in it were definitely intended for kids. The writing matured from there, though. (No pressure to read the later books or anything. Just thought you should know they did change in that regard).

    My TTT .

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    1. Oh, good to know! Maybe I'll do a rewatch of the series, and think about the later books. :)

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  10. Great perspective. I don't know about the books I missed as a kid because I wasn't connected to that world in the same way that I am today.

    That being said, one that I've never read and always regretted in The Lord of the Rings books.

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    1. I almost listed Lord of the Rings, but I tried reading the first book when the movies came out and just couldn't do it. Too long and slow for my tastes, but I remember my male cousins loving the books when we were kids.

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  11. I want to say I read The Great Brain...but I'm not sure. LOL I grew up with the Harry Potter books, and I'm really happy about that. It made a nice childhood. lol I really loved the book Wake too!

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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  12. Yeah, I couldn't really think of any kid books I didn't get to read as a child that I wish I had...so I did a totally different top ten list. :D

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  13. I read Swiss Family Robinson on a family trip to Florida and then we went to the Disney World attraction afterward and that was pretty cool. :)

    I've never read The Secret Garden but it sounds like a neat idea!

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  14. Same here, Rachel. If a book wasn't at my school library or my local public library branch, i had no way to know it even existed. So I read my Judy Blume books and was a happy girl. LOL I did read several by Lois Duncan as a pre-teen/teenager that made a real impression on me.

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  15. I think I tried to read one Anne of Green Gables books as a child and couldn't get into it at the time. I was more into books that were like Christopher Pike and RL Stine.

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  16. I never did read Anne, but I did watch the tv show back when

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  17. I loved Swiss Family Robinson and Secret Garden. I enjoyed the Anne books and others by LM Montgomery (my fav was actually The Blue Castle and then a couple others like Emily or Pat though I did love Anne). I read the Harry Potter books as an adult and loved them. I still need to read Secret Garden b/c I only read an abridged version. My personal favs other than classics were: The Black Stallion series, Trixie Belden series, 3 Investigators, and Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys. I hit my check out limit each week at the library. :)

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  18. I never had the opportunity to read any of these.My favourites growing up were Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, The Bobbsey Twins and Enid Blython's bedtime stories.

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  19. Finding books was such a different animal back in the day! Other than the librarian's recommendations, I don't remember finding books any other way than just browsing the library shelves. Reading wasn't cool back then, so I didn't broadcast my love for books and therefore didn't get recommendations from my peers. I wish Goodreads had existed back then. It would have been SOOOO helpful!

    I've read most of the books on your list. I had forgotten about Lois Duncan. I read her a lot back when I was a kid.

    Happy TTT!

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  20. I didn't read Harry Potter when I was younger, either, and I still haven't read it ��. I can't count how many times I re-read The Secret Garden and The Little Princess, though. They were two of my favourites, growing up!

    Here's my Top Ten Tuesday List!

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  21. The Secret Garden was one of my favorite books, and I loved the. Nancy Drew and Judy Blume books too Rachel :) Great list!

    Lindy@ A Bookish Escape

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  22. If a book wasn't at my school library, the Scholastic flier, or the town library, I wouldn't have known anything about it. It would have been wonderful to grow up with Harry Potter though.

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  23. The Little Princess and The Secret Garden were films I LOVED as a kid!
    I've never read the books though... There are many classics I haven't read. Oh well.

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