Monday, May 19, 2008

Favorite Childhood Books

It's inevitable. Every year around this time, I get seriously nostalgic for the books I read when I was younger. I think it's the fact that whenever I go to Borders in the late spring and summer, I'm surrounded by "summer-reading list" books.

Books you read in your childhood and teenage years affect you like no other book you read in your lifetime. I still steadfastly maintain that Frances Hogsden Burnett's A Little Princess is my favorite book of all time, even though I first read it almost 20 years ago.

Also, I was a huge dork in high school---and proud of it, by the way. I was one of the only people who actually enjoyed reading the monthly assignments for my English classes, and hitting up the library with my summer-reading list was always a really exciting adventure.

As an adult, I don't have as much time to read as I did back then. Too many other things end up taking priority of my time---work, commuting, performing in community theatre, spending time with the hubby, and watching TV. (Hey, don't judge---I need to watch TV to be able to keep up at work.) It's one of the reasons I'm looking forward to my new train commute that's starting in June---I'll have lots of time to read on the way to and from work.

So I'm planning to hit up the local library over the long weekend to stock up on reading material, and I'm thinking about re-reading some of my favorite books from when I was younger (middle school and high school). My wish list includes:
  • Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery (currently reading)
  • A Little Princess, Frances Hogsden Burnett
  • The Secret Garden, Frances Hogsden Burnett
  • The Giver, Lois Lowry
  • To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
  • The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • The Chocolate War, Robert Cormier
  • Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson
  • Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
  • Animal Farm, George Orwell
  • Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
  • Lord of the Flies, William Golding

What were some of your favorite books that you read when you were younger?

2 comments:

Beega said...

I also love, love, love A Little Princess (why do they butcher every movie version), and Bridge to Terebithia (I sob every time).

Over the past few years my sister has been giving me installments of all the Newberry Award winners. I now have all of them, save a few that are out of print. I love the genre, and now that I'm a busy grownup, I love even more that they don't take too long to read!

Have fun with your list.

GrammarScribe said...

I know, I hate the movie versions---I don't know why they always insist on changing the ending. Lame.