Ten Books for My Younger Self

I'm linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.

Hey all, it's been a while since I posted. Last week's topic I had done a few years ago and didn't have anything new to add, and the previous couple of topics weren't striking me with inspiration. Even this week has a lot of overlap with one from earlier in the year, but I decided to go ahead with it. These are ten books I'd give my younger self!

1. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
I was pretty meh about this when I finally read it as an adult, and I'm sure I would have been less critical as a kid. Also, my favorite parts were hearing exactly how things were accomplished in that time and place, which I know would have fascinated me when I was younger as well.

2. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Similar to the first one, I've never had an abiding love for this book the way a lot of people seem to, and that might have been different if I'd read it when I was closer to the girls' ages.

3. Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards
I ate up books like this as a kid, where Mandy discovers the joy and pride of working on a project that's all her own, without adult help. It's similar to why I loved From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

4. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
As a former gifted kid, this book spoke to me so much, and it shares a lot of the wordplay elements of The Phantom Tollbooth, which I loved when I was growing up.

5. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
I will never not be mad that To Kill a Mockingbird is held up as the exemplar for introducing kids to this time and place.

6. Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Like some of the above books, I definitely would have enjoyed reading about how Marty set about solving a logistical problem (hiding and caring for a dog) all on his own.

7. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
I probably could have used an introduction to the realities of poverty (and my own privilege) sooner, and this book is a gentle introduction to the topic (it's not tragedy porn even though it contains real hardships) told from the perspective of a girl I could have related to.

8. The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
This is another one where I was overly critical reading it as an adult but would have just appreciated it for the story as a kid. It probably also would have given me a needed introduction to the realities of racism in 1960s America a little sooner.

9. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
I would have enjoyed this book a lot more when I was the target audience and did not have a bunch of experience with time travel plots that made the story somewhat predictable. I was a huge fan of mysteries as a kid — which I guess I still am, but it's so disappointing when I figure everything out early on!

10. Winter of Fire by Sherryl Jordan
This is one that I enjoyed as an adult and likely would have enjoyed just as much or more when I was younger. Although it follows a predictable "chosen one" story, there's more diversity and depth than in a lot of similar stories.

What would you like to give your younger self?

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: Possession, Everyday Bias, and How to Be a Perfect Stranger
Five years ago I was reading: The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Split, and Uncle Tom's Cabin
Ten years ago I was reading: Reading Lolita in Tehran

Ten Books I Wish I Had Read As a Child

I'm linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.

This week's topic is books we wish we'd read as a kid. Some of these are books that were around when I was a kid that I just didn't happen to read until I was an adult, and some are books that weren't published until I was older but I wish they'd been around when I was young.

1. Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
Maybe I would have been into the Little House books if I'd read them as a kid, but as an adult I wasn't super impressed. I liked this story of prairie life much better, and it would have been great to read a true story of a brave young girl when I was young.

2. El Deafo by Cece Bell
I don't think there were a ton of graphic novels and memoirs when I was a kid other than comic books, but it would have been great to have that option. I loved books that were told in unique formats, like those with diagrams that had lots of extra parts to read, and it would have been fun to read a memoir told in a kid-friendly cartoon format. I also didn't know a lot about Deaf culture until I started taking ASL classes as an adult, and getting that introduction earlier in life would have been nice.

3. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
I remember when the Ella Enchanted movie came out when I was in high school, but I didn't read the book until I was an adult. For a long time I was afraid it would be uncomfortable to read about Ella being made to do things against her will, so I wish I'd read this earlier, as it's nothing like that! It's an empowering and fun read.

4. George by Alex Gino
This is a book that wasn't published until I was an adult, but I wish there had been more books when I was growing up that showcased trans and gender-nonconforming characters, especially kids. I'm glad my son's generation has these books!

5. Greenglass House by Kate Milford
This is another one that was only published in the last decade, but I would have loved it as a kid. I loved mysteries (still do), and this book is much better both as a mystery and as a representation of diversity than the Babysitters' Club mysteries I devoured as a kid.

6. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
This one was around when I was a kid, but I never read it until I was an adult, and I still haven't seen the movie. I think I would have greatly enjoyed this cute fantasy story as a kid and might have gone on to read the sequels as well.

7. Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards
I didn't discover any of Julie Andrews Edwards' children's books until I was an adult, but this one definitely resonated with my memories of being 10 years old like the protagonist and discovering for the first time the pride of putting in work on projects of my own making.

8. A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass
This book made me feel deep feelings, which I'm sure would have been even more intense as an emotional kid! I also didn't know anything about synesthesia until I was older, but I loved finding out about the diversity of the human experience when I was a kid and this would have been an introduction to yet another interesting characteristic people can have.

9. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
This book didn't come out until I was in college, but man would it have resonated with me as a kid who thrived in my school's gifted program. Some of the wordplay in this book also reminds me of The Phantom Tollbooth, which was a favorite read of mine as a kid.

10. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
I always bring up this book as a better alternative to To Kill a Mockingbird and the one I wish I'd read in school instead. I wish the introduction I'd had to racism in the American South in the 1930s had been through the perspective of a black family rather than a white one, and one where the black man is the hero rather than the victim.

What books would your childhood self have liked?

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: N or M? and Storytelling with Data
Five years ago I was reading: Angle of Repose, How to Train Your Dragon, and Finding Your Own North Star
Ten years ago I was reading: The Children's Book

Top Ten Books I Want My Children to Read

I'm linking up with The Broke and the Bookish for another Top Ten Tuesday.

For this week's topic, I conveniently have a shelf on Goodreads called "Books I Want My Kids to Read." I've taken books off the list that our son Gregory has now read, but there are still plenty on the list for when he's older. Here are the ten I most hope he (and our future children) will someday read — books that I already have ready on our bookshelf!

1. All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
I like this as a book for kids for a lot of reasons: The characters are Jewish, but it's not a Learning About Judaism kind of book; there are lots of opportunities for kids to talk about their feelings about different situations, like having a new baby in the family; and it shows the parents' thought processes as well, which would be interesting to discuss with a child. Plus it's just a sweet and enjoyable read.

2. The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis
This is a solid middle-grade novel that introduces some tough topics (the main character has to dress as a boy to get a job after the Taliban take her father) but it's not a scary, action-driven story; it focuses more on the main character's internal growth as she makes difficult decisions and learns to be more independent.

3. Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
It's no secret around here that I like this book more than the similar Little House on the Prairie. This would be a book I'd want to read and discuss with my kids, as there are lots of opportunities to ask, "Why do you think so-and-so did that?" or "How do you think so-and-so was feeling?" and I'd want to point out the old-fashioned views on women and American Indians.

4. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
I love this twist on the classic Cinderella story, where Ella is a strong, confident character even when she's cursed to do the bidding of others. There's a strong message about consent as well — Ella actually gets to choose whether she wants to marry the prince!

5. George by Alex Gino
This book does a great job of introducing what it means to be transgender. George is introduced from the beginning with female pronouns, so kids are likely to understand why George is so frustrated when people keep calling her a boy and making her use the boys' bathroom!

6. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
This is a book that I love so much that I'm almost afraid for the day my kids will read it in case they don't love it as well. It's so quirky and fun and introduces mind-bending concepts around language and numbers in the form of an adventure story.

7. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
This book set in the American South in the 1930s not only provides clear illustrations of how people in America were (and are) treated differently because of their race but it also provides opportunities for discussion about how the black family at the center of this novel chooses to navigate those challenges. For the centering of the black experience I like it better than To Kill a Mockingbird.

8. Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
This series was another favorite of mine as a kid that I hope my kids will like. It's a perfect blend of absurd humor and apt observations about education that any schoolchild can appreciate.

9. Totto-Chan by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi
This is one that I like to compare to the Ramona Quimby books for the writing style and the main character's personality. She isn't fictional, though; the book is based on the true stories of the author's experience at an experimental school in Japan in the 1940s.

10. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
What childhood is complete without the classic poems of Shel Silverstein?

What books do you most want the kids in your life to read?

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Ten Childhood Favorites Still Worth a Read

I'm linking up with The Broke and the Bookish for another Top Ten Tuesday.

I so rarely reread books, but for the first six months or so after my son was born I used his bottle feeding time to listen to audiobooks of children's literature with him, so I revisited a bunch of old favorites. I've also picked up some other childhood favorites in the past few years for book club or just to skim through. These are the ones I'm happy to keep on my shelf.

1. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
As both a kid and an adult, I enjoyed seeing how the kids in this book strategize running away, set up a routine for themselves in the museum, and go about trying to solve a mystery.

2. The Giver by Lois Lowry
I actually didn't fall in love with this book when I read it as a kid, but on rereading it as an adult I understood why it's a classic — there's so much to think about regarding the trade-offs we make as humans and as societies.

3. Matilda by Roald Dahl
As a lifelong bookworm who thrived in gifted classes, I appreciate the character of Matilda each time I read this, and I appreciate Dahl's humor even more each time.

4. Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard & Florence Atwater
This book strikes the perfect balance of silly and practical, which allows it to hold up for audiences of all ages.

5. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
I adored this book the first time I read it, and I have not yet stopped enjoying the clever wordplay on every page.

6. Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
This is another one I don't think I had strong feelings about as a kid, but on rereading it as an adult I see how nicely it brings up topics of homesickness and the different ways to create a family.

7. Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
I picked this up again after rereading Catch-22, as it takes much the same absurdist approach that Heller used to satirize war and business and applies it to a satire of education that both kids and adults can recognize and appreciate.

8. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
I related strongly to the main character as a child, and when I reread this as an adult, I appreciated it mostly for the nostalgia it created for my younger self.

9. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
I have a collection of many of Silverstein's books, of which this is just one. Many of his poems are so memorable that they've stayed with me even until today.

10. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
I knew I loved this book as a child, but I wasn't expecting to love it so much when returning to it as an adult. It's a sweet story about overcoming prejudices and finding what truly makes you happy.

Which childhood favorites do you still enjoy as an adult?

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What's on My To-Read List (and How Did It Get There)?

It's been a long time since I did a non-linkup post! Originally I envisioned doing more of these kinds of posts, but apparently I need the structure. Ah well.

The last time I shared some data on my personal reading was back in 2014, when I shared information on how my preferred book formats have changed over time and how I fit reading into an average week (a topic I definitely need to revisit now that I'm a parent!). This time around, I decided to take a look at my to-read list, which you may remember that I capped at the beginning of 2016 after creating a new "might want to read" list, which feels a lot less obligatory. What's left on the original list and why is it there?

I grouped the books into rough categories of why I put them on my list in the first place. (Some could definitely be in more than one category, but I picked the primary reason I put them on my list.) Here are the books I'm planning to read, and why I plan to read them.

Classics I Should Read: 55
I wrote a whole post previously on why I read classic books, and there are many that I'd still like to read. Some of these made it onto my goals for the year, like The Sun Also Rises, Stranger in a Strange Land, and Bleak House. Some are less obvious, like Silent Spring and We Need to Talk About Kevin. They're books that I see over and over again on lists of "100 books to read before you die" and "books to be well read." When I feel like there's a gap in my base of classic books, it goes on my list.

Diversifying My Reading: 42
A bunch of books ended up on my list during my 2014 project to diversify my reading, and I didn't get around to all of them. I'm still interested in reading books like In Search of April Raintree, The Mis-Education of the Negro, and Girl in Translation.

Books that Sound Interesting: 35
I'm a sucker for good nonfiction, so a lot of books are on my list because I think I'll learn something interesting from them. Books like The Discoverers, How the Irish Became White, Team of Rivals, and The New Jim Crow all fall into this category.

Books I Keep Seeing Recommended: 33
These are books that I see repeatedly not because they're classics but because they're popular. Books in this category include YA books that show up on a lot of Top Ten Tuesday posts, like The Raven Boys and Throne of Glass; books that Modern Mrs. Darcy and her readers recommend a lot, like Bel Canto and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day; and contemporary books that I've just seen show up in articles and book reviews a lot, like Cutting for Stone and The Light Between Oceans.

Highly Rated Books: 20
One of my 2016 reading resolutions was to read some books I'd never heard of that were highly rated by a lot of people on Goodreads. I didn't end up getting through very many in 2016, so I still have books like The Way of Kings, The Winds of War, and Imperium on my to-read list.

Books that Sound Enjoyable to Read: 16
These are books that I put on my list not to learn things or brush up on classics or expand my reading horizons, but simply because they sounded like I'd enjoy reading them. These include mysteries like Gaudy Night and A Kiss Before Dying, children's books like Howl's Moving Castle and The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles, and humor books like Girt and Notes from a Small Island.

Books that Sound Helpful to Read: 12
These books could be broadly considered "self-help," but they range from books about parenting (It's OK Not to Share and Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child) and relationships (Getting the Love You Want) to books about faith (Amazing Grace and For the Life of the World) and psychology (Feeling Good and 10% Happier).

Books from the BBC's Big Read List: 12
Every so often a list goes around claiming that "the BBC thinks you've only read 6 of these books!" This list is loosely based on an actual list that the BBC compiled based on their 2003 Big Read survey in the UK. I added a number of these books to my to-read list after I uncovered the original list, as a kind of combination of diversifying my reading, reading classics, and reading well-loved books I wasn't familiar with. These include The Magus, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, and Katherine.

Personal Recommendations: 5
One of my 2015 reading goals was to read through the books that had been personally recommended to me over the years, and I got through most of them, but there are a handful left, including The Blue Castle, Maurice, and Bitter in the Mouth. (A lot of books people recommend to me are already on my to-read list for other reasons, or there would be a lot more in this category!)

Holy Texts: 3
Another 2015 reading goal was to read holy texts from other religions. I read The Qur'an, The Book of Mormon, Tao Te Ching, and The Bhagavad-Gita, but I'm still interested to read The Rig Veda, The Upanishads, and The Tibetan Book of the Dead.

So there you go! It's interesting to see how much of my to-read list is based on specific reading goals I've had the past few years. Maybe next time I set a goal I should be more circumscribed in how many books I try to tackle for that goal!

I now have 515 books on my "might want to read" list, but it's only these 235 from my original to-read list that I'm determined to finish, which I'm guessing will take me about five years. This year I'm mostly focusing on the Classics category, as I hate coming across references in other books that assume I've read a classic book and/or spoil something in it. I also want to tackle more of the Books I Keep Seeing Recommended so I'll have more to discuss with other readers. (It's so frustrating when multiple people ask, "Have you read X?" and I have to keep saying, "No, it's on my list!") Outside of that, the rest are for my own interest, enjoyment, or learning, so I can read them in tandem with other books that I'm interested in from my ever-growing "might want to read" list.

I'd be interested to hear where your to-read list comes from. Have I inspired you to sort your own books into categories? If so, please share your own findings in comments!

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Ten Books (or Series) That Helped Make Me a Bookworm

I'm linking up with The Broke and the Bookish for another Top Ten Tuesday.

This week is a Thanksgiving freebie, so I'm going to share books I'm thankful for because they contributed to my early and lifelong love of reading.

1. The Belgariad and Malloreon series by David and Leigh Eddings
My middle school English teacher introduced me to this series, before which I hadn't really read any fantasy. I read the whole series, the prequels, and even The Rivan Codex, which details the history and culture of all of the peoples in the fantasy world. The downside was that it set my expectations very high for fantasy, so when I tried Tolkien next I found it too boring and male-centric.

2. Daphne's Book by Mary Downing Hahn
I got this book from the library in fifth grade and loved it. I think I probably picked it up because the main character's name is Jessica, but then it ended up being this heavy story about child neglect and deciding whether to betray a friend's trust to save her life. I remember thinking it was such an adult book I had read, and I was disappointed when my middle school teacher's binder of the reading level of various books showed it was only at a fourth grade reading level!

3. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
I don't think this was the first Christie book I ever read, but it was definitely one of the most memorable. I read this one for a book report in middle school and found the plot twists thrilling. By the end of high school I'd read 60+ Christie mysteries.

4. Heckedy Peg by Audrey Wood
This may be my favorite picture book of all time. I loved that the kids were named after the days of the week, the rhythm of it, and the riddle at the center of it all, in which the mother shows how well she knows each of her children.

5. Matilda by Roald Dahl
I loved Dahl's books growing up, and this one most of all. As a precocious child who was pulled out for gifted classes starting in grade school, I resonated with Matilda's feeling of being out of place and the importance of having a teacher willing to make time to challenge her.

6. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
This was another middle school read, and one of the first books where I simply LOVED every page. The wordplay completely tickled me. I don't know if I found another book I loved in this same goofy way until I read The Mysterious Benedict Society as an adult.

7. The Ramona Quimby series by Beverly Cleary
My mom started reading these books to me when I was pretty young (I want to say 3 or 4, about the same age Ramona is at the beginning), and that must have been the first time I followed the same character's story across chapters and multiple books. For some reason I found it scandalous when they showed Ramona's mom pregnant with another baby near the end of the series!

8. Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sacher
This book and its sequels amused me as a grade schooler with their satire of school and their jokes related to words and logic. While I am generally not a fan of absurdism, some books, like the Wayside School books and The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, just hit the sweet spot for me.

9. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
This was my favorite book for a while in grade school, and I finally reread it as an adult not too long ago. Apparently the weirdness of a romance between a 12-year-old and a 22-year-old was lost on my 9-year-old self, but I can definitely understand why I related to the narrator, whose curiosity and constant questions get her into trouble.

10. The Usborne Puzzle Adventure books
There are a lot of books that fall into this category, but I would be amiss if I didn't mention them as a contributor to my love of reading from a young age. I think it was a precursor to my love of mysteries that I liked these books where you had to contribute to the story by cracking codes and solving logic teasers.

Which books helped you become a bookworm?

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