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Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Books from my Childhood

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic from The Broke and the Bookish Top Ten Books from my Childhood that I'd Love to Revisit.  I actually did this last year when I reread The Secret Garden.  This was one of my favorite books as a child and I read it countless times.  I was really pleased to find that I enjoyed it just as much as an adult!  Here's 10 other books I'd love to revisit!

1.  The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin - I think I discovered this book in 4th or 5th grade and I can't even remember how many times I read it.  To make it even better my daughter discovered it when she was much younger and read it dozens of times.  While I remember a lot about this one I'd love to revisit it.  I'm sure there is some great detail that I've forgotten.

2.  Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott - I don't know if I tried Little Women too young or what but I never quite had the same affection for it that so many people seem to have.  Eight Cousins was by far my favorite Alcott.  I read it to absolute pieces and I'd love to revisit it.

3. Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle - unlike the previous two books I remember virtually nothing about this book even though I know I read it multiple times. I know I didn't read any of her other books so I'm hoping to catch up soon.

4.  The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner - The Boxcar Children was the first real series I ever got hooked on and this was before there were so many new ones.  I'd be surprised if this has aged well but I'd love to revisit the first few.

5.  Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott - While Little Women wasn't for me I did enjoy Little Men but my absolute favorite was Jo's Boys which featured only a little bit of Jo and lots of the boys that she and her husband took in for their school.  It was lots of fun!

6.  Are You There God?  It's Me Margaret by Judy Blume - so I read this at the regular age you're supposed to be when you read this book and I remember liking it okay but nearly as much as other people seem too.  My primary memory is being confused about the whole belt concept when they were getting their "woman" supplies.  I feel like I need to reread this to see what all the fuss is about.

7.  Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan - I loved this book when I was a kid.  I remember vividly Sarah using colored pencils with the children and talking about the colors of the sea.  I think it'd be interesting to read this one with adult eyes.  I'm sure there's all kind of things that I missed as a child.

8.  The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare - While I enjoyed this one as a child this is another one that I think would be really great to read with adult eyes. I don't remember much about the actual story so I think this would be great to go back and revisit.

9.  Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson - This was actually a book my dad read to me at bedtime when I was a little girl.  I have a vivid memory of listening to the story and could pick out the exact edition but I remember almost nothing about the story itself.

10. Any of the Hardy Boys books - While I did read a couple of Hardy Boys books I was primarily a Nancy Drew reader.  I've read a few reviews of Hardy Boys lately (Greg over at Greg's Book Haven has had some great ones) and it sounds like the Hardy Boys have way more fun than Nancy Drew!

What childhood favorites would you like to revisit?

19 comments:

  1. Those are all childhood favorites! :)
    I was a Boxcar Children addict growing up but I only liked the first eight or so. I re-read those far too many times to mention. It would be interesting to read them again as an adult.
    http://youmeandacupofteablog.blogspot.com/2015/03/top-ten-books-from-my-childhood-i-want.html

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  2. What a great list!! I read several of these with my daughter when she was in elementary school. I think I got more out of some of them than she did - The Westing Game and The Witch of Blackbird Pond - loved them. And Sarah, Plain and Tall. Did you see the TV adaptation of that one with Glenn Close? Now, Eight Cousins was one I read when I was a young girl. Loved it. Still have my copy of it. Did you ever read the sequel, Rose in Bloom? Very good as well. I went to my teen years for my list and had such a good time remembering.

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  3. More than half of your favorites are mine, too! Like minds...

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  4. You have some great, timeless classic on your list. I love it that you were both a Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew fan.

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  5. The belt! I know! I was so confused by that too...

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  6. I've actually only read ONE of these books - A Wrinkle in Time - but I lvoe it! I read it in college, but still absolutely loved it. I love children's books.

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  7. Wrinkle in Time was such a wonderful book, and I would love to reread it again . . . I don't know why I didn't think of it when I made my list. Sarah, Plain and Tall is another one I completely forgot about!

    Did you ever watch the Hardy Boys television series? That's probably dating myself. I liked it so much better than the occasional Nancy Drew episode they would show. I did prefer the Nancy Drew books though.

    Are You There God? It's Me Margaret by Judy Blume made my list too. I remember being confused about the belt too. Haha Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing was my favorite though of Blume's. I always thought Margaret was a brat after that. I would like to read the book about Margaret though.

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  8. Oh, I almost forgot about The Westing Game! It freaked me out the first time I read it, but I loved it enough to come back for a re-read several times afterward. I'd love to read it again as an adult.

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  9. Nice list of books this week!!

    Here's a link to my TTT post for this week:
    http://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2015/03/top-10-books-from-my-childhood-or-teen.html

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  10. The Westing Game was required reading for my class back in middle school - and I loved every second of it!

    Check out my TTT.

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  11. That is a lovely memory that you shared about you and your dad reading Treasure Island.

    As a young female reader, I read Louise May Alcott, but I just don't remember having the affection for the books that others have. Maybe I need to re-read just to look at it through adult eyes.

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  12. I've only read three of those. A Wrinkle in Time and the entire Narnia series were two of my faves. I also read a lot of horse and dog books. :)

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  13. I didn't discover The Westing Game until I was 40 years out of school - but I LOVED it. It certainly bears (re)reading as an adult.

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  14. You need to revisit A Wrinkle in Time. It is a great book.
    I had totally forgotten about Jo's Boys. I read that a few times as a child.
    This is a great list. Thanks for sharing.
    Amanda

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  15. I haven't read most of those books period. However, I have to recommend rereading The Witch of Blackbird Pond. I've read it numerous times as a kid and an adult and absolutely loved it every time.

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  16. I'd love to reread Wrinkle in Time. A teacher read it to us in school and I so enjoyed it and I read some of it to one of my boys but then it took off and flew with it and I never got to finish it.

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  17. Oh I did like the boxcar children. I wonder if my mom still has any of those at her house. Hms.

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  18. Terrific list, Katherine! I notice we have a bunch in common (surprise LOL!) I wasn't into the Boxcar books, but Robin was, in a big way. And she's the one who discovered The Westing Game; I never read it until after she did. I'm also embarrassed to say I haven't read Treasure Island - I need to get to that one of these days.

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  19. I am a different age so I didn't see a lot of these. I think it would be an interesting feature. I'm posting here today: http://fangswandsandfairydust.com/2015/03/je-suis-pret.html

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