IMPORTANT BOOKS

Since it's been awhile since I wrote a really personal post I decided to look around the internet for some blogging ideas. I came across a tag called the "10 Books/Series that had an Impact on You" tag. I've always wanted to discuss some of the books that I have really had an effect on me and this is the perfect time to do it! Here we go!

10. The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer

WAIT A MINUTE. Just hear me out. Way back in 2007 when I was in 7th grade this series was just getting big. I remember my english teacher recommending it to my class and we all just brushed it off. But then one girl (who never EVER read) started to read it, then another girl read it, and another, and another, and pretty soon EVERYONE was reading this series. My grade hated each other because we had A LOT of cliques but once we started reading Twilight we became a little bit more unified. I read the first book over and over again. That was the first time I had read a book more than once. My copy of Twilight was so worn it was falling apart and you could tell what pages I would always flip to. I remember when I played softball I would sneakily read the Twilight series while sitting on the bench (which seemed to be a lot). Rather than paying attention to the game I was reading about Bella and Edward and the crazy things that were going on in their world. Everyone knocks Stephenie Meyer and this series but we are ALL guilty of reading it and being obsessed with it. You can't deny that you either bought a copy of Twilight or borrowed it from the library. After everyone started making fun of it I kind of just forgot about the series and also pretended that I thought it was stupid it too (typical high school peer pressure). It wasn't until I went to college that I realized that people enjoyed Twilight and while we could laugh at some parts of it we always remembered the impact it had on us. For me Twilight helped me branch out into the paranormal YA genre as well as in to the YA romance genre. Before I wasn't really interested in either of these things but after reading Twilight I was. I know that Twilight isn't some great classic masterpiece of literature but for me and many others it had an important impact in our growth and also helped make friends and connect with people.

9. Crank by Ellen Hopkins

This is another book that I read when I was in middle school. I was in 7th grade when I picked this book up. My mom and I had visited my sister up at her college (the college I attend now haha) and we took a trip to Barnes and Noble. I saw Crank, picked it up (because the cover was interesting) read the back of it, and I immediately decided I wanted to read it. It was completely different from anything I had ever read before because of the way the book was structured. Ellen Hopkins writes her books in free verse rather than the prose which most writers write in. This is a really dark book that deals with addiction and its effects on people. Honestly, it might have been too much for me to read at 13 but I loved it. I may not have understood a lot of it but it was interesting to me. When you grow up in a sheltered bubble of a town like I did, these kind of books just really spark something in you. I think about this book from time to time and all of Ellen Hopkins' other books as well. I recommend all of them. Crank will always be my favorite because it was the first book I read by her but it is closely tied with her other book Identical, WHICH EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ!

 

8. I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

This is a book that I read only last year but it will always stick with me. Jandy Nelson's writing is beautiful and in this book she constructed an amazing story of love, acceptance, truth, and so much more. It's an important book because I can relate to it and I connected with the characters in a way that only happens in really special books. After I read this I wanted EVERYONE to read it and I still do. It will always be my favorite contemporary book.

 

7. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

I still remember the day this book was put into my hands. When I was in fifth grade, I read a lot of books that were and are still really important to me, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was one of them. I've read this book many times since I first read it and it really never gets old. Like Harry Potter, this is a book that gives me so many feelings of nostalgia and just happiness. The adventures in Narnia were something that I loved reading about when I was kid. 

 

6. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë 

The first classic that I loved. I saw the 2011 film adaptation before I read the book, but then I read the book and I was amazed. Charlotte Bronte and her sisters are amazing writers and I love everything they've written. Jane Eyre is especially important to me because I felt connected to Jane and her story. I've read it two times now and each time I find something new to analyze and think about. 

5. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

This was the first John Green book I ever read. I had a friend back in 8th grade that loved John Green and constantly told me that I had to read his books. She would carry around a tattered copy of Looking For Alaska to every class because she had met John Green in Boston and had it signed (this was way back in 2008 before he got really REALLY big). My friend at the time told me to read Looking For Alaska but at the time I just wasn't reading as much as I had used to. Instead she told me to check out his YouTube channel TheVlogBrothers. I used to watch every video. I loved Hank and John and their videos were so interesting and funny. So after awhile of watching I finally picked up one of his books, An Abundance of Katherines, and I loved it. When someone asks me what my favorite John Green novel is I always say An Abundance of Katherines because it was the first book of his I read and it began love of YA contemporary literature. My sister and I began to bond over his books and I was able to find so many other books to read because of John Green. I didn't really know about YA until I read An Abundance of Katherines and the rest of John Green's books so I'm really grateful for that friend who kept pestering me to read his books. She always said "I know you'll love his books! Just read one! Then you'll be hooked!" and she was definitely right. I will always be a John Green fan and I can't wait to read anything else he writes. 

4. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Another very important book that I first read in the fifth grade. I get emotional just thinking about it. This was the first book that ever made me cry. I remember we had to finish the book for homework over the weekend and I couldnt believe what happened. I won't get into spoilers because I don't know who has read it and who hasn't but this book is a classic. I really would recommend to anyone, young or old. 

3. The Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J. Maas

This is my favorite YA fantasy series. I read the first book in one day when I was a freshman in college. It was a snowy day and I was stuck in my dorm and I decided to read this. I didn't expect to read it one sitting but I was so invested in this book that I could not put it down. I remember that my roommate at the time actually was worried for me because I hadn't left the room the entire day because I was reading. Since then I've read anything and everything that Sarah J. Maas has written. Celaena Sardothien is the one character in literature that I really want to be like. And I really have never wanted to be a character but I LOVE HER. I like to think she is my spirit animal haha! Anyway, I love this series and I probably always will.

2. The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare

This is another very important YA fantasy/paranormal series for me. I read this the summer of 2013 before I began my first year of college. I read the first five books in the series in about a two weeks and then I read The Infernal Devices trilogy, which is just as important to me. This was the first fantasy series that I read since Harry Potter that I really loved and wanted more of. Everything was kind of eh at the time. But this series really opened my eyes to the genre of fantasy again and I was able to get back into books again. Because of this series I began to use goodreads again, which I hadn't used since 2010 at the time. Now here I am in 2016 with a bunch of goodreads friends and a book blog! It's funny how things change. 

1. The Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter can never not be number 1 in my book. It started it all for me. I hated reading when I was a child and I still remember the day my mother handed me a paperback copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and told me to try reading it. I was in first grade and I remember taking the book and putting it on my desk and saying to myself 'I'll never read this book or any book!'. But then months later when I was told to clean my room, I found the book buried under all of my papers and toys. I don't know what made me try reading it but I did and I fell in love. I read the first book, then the second, the third, the fourth, and so on. I still remember where I was when I read each book. I read the fourth book in Florida when we were on vacation and I remember scrambling to find a bookstore that had the fifth book. We had the all the books at home but they were hardcover and my mother wouldn't let me bring them with me to Florida so I had to buy it AGAIN in Florida. My family and I were supposed to be on a relaxing vacation and all I cared about was getting the next Harry Potter book. Everyone loves Harry Potter so we can all relate to how we feel about it and what it means to each of us.