This one was a fun topic to ruminate on. It brought back some fond memories along with a few (minor) regrets. Thanks to That Artsy Reader Girl for another great Top Ten Tuesday pick!
Pete’s Five
Harry Potter 5 through 7 by J. K. Rowling
I’ll never entirely understand why I stopped after The Goblet of Fire—it had something to do with everybody else getting into the series. I managed to get past that and reread the whole series in college, but I missed out on a cultural touchstone as it was happening.
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
I fell out of reading for a spell in middle school, and it wasn’t until I discovered modern fantasy that I was hooked again. I think this would have been the perfect book to start my imagination back up again.
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Maybe I couldn’t have handled the unabridged version, but I wish I had read at least the abridged version when I was younger.
Anything by John Green
The Catcher and the Rye was one of my favorite books in high school—and I feel like I would have connected with Green’s books similarly.
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
I feel like I put this one on almost every Top Ten Tuesday list, but it always seems to work. This would have been a great pick for middle-school Pete.
Indiana’s Five
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
I started this one when I was a kid and somehow didn’t finish it until last year. Since then I’ve read the entire series.
A Wrinkle in Time quintet by Madeleine L’Engle
I read the first but none of the others in the series. Such a waste.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
My family watched the movie when I was a child, but I didn’t read the book until last year, when I also watched the Greta Gerwig adaptation. Spoiler alert: It’s fantastic.
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
The cover always freaked me out when I was a child so I didn’t pick it up until I was older.
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery For some reason I remember reading Emily of New Moon but not this beloved children’s classic.
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