Top Ten Tuesday: Childhood Favourites

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme run by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Hiya folks! Today’s prompt is childhood favourites, and, hoo boy, do I have a lot of them. When I got into a book series, I got into it (thanks, undiagnosed autism!), so I remember very clearly a lot of the books I read in childhood.

And obviously I’m not putting it on here, but the honourable mention goes to the 2004 Disney World for Kids guidebook that I read cover to cover for several times over for three months straight when I was seven, kicking off a lifelong obsession with roller coasters.

Starting early with the Junie B. Jones series, which I read nonstop when I was about four or five. Honestly, it’s one of the only books I remember from that long ago that I know I liked. Thinking about this just hits me with nostalgia.

The next thing I can remember getting obsessed with was the Everest series by Gordon Korman, about a group of young teens who, well, climb Everest. I was 7 years old and I made it my goal to climb Everest or at least to the base camp but as it turns out I can’t even climb my stairs without asphyxiating these days so it’s probably never going to happen. I think I read all of these books daily for months on end.

Y’all remember Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen? Yeah? Because I read their books so much when I was 8. Like … alllll of them. I cleaned out the shelf of my local library and also a couple other libraries because I was obsessed with Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen.

I also read the Nancy Drew books a lot when I was 8, but not the classic ones. Don’t really have a story of obsession, but I remember bringing sixteen of these bad boys on a road trip.

Next up was Harry Potter when I was 9, and I remember reading it so much my parents had to take the books away from me because I wasn’t reading anything else. These days, I have a lot of mixed feelings about the series because of J.K. Rowling’s behaviour, so instead of reading the canon I tend to gravitate towards fanfiction because the characters will always have a special place in my heart.

Then we have Warriors. Cat hell books. I still love cats (though I am, admittedly, allergic). These books were my first foray into real fandom. Not only was I obsessed with them, in grade five I got my entire school obsessed with them. We were running around on the playground playing Warrior Cats and arguing about what cat we wanted to be and all the books were perpetually checked out of the school library and that was me who started all of it.

The last few childhood favourites I can remember, I read when I was about 11 and they have mostly stuck with me. The first YA book I ever read was David Clement Davies’ books, about wolves and deer. (I was an animal kid, apparently.) I honestly don’t remember a lot about this series? But I did read them quite a few times.

I found Artemis Fowl on a cruise ship after a friend’s recommendation, and to this day I still genuinely enjoy the series and will definitely see the movie when it comes out, eventually. (We’ve waited so. long.) If you like smartass characters, antiheroes, and a really fun, unique fantasy/sci-fi world, then this is definitely still worth checking out. Artemis Fowl is one of the first (and only) science fantasy series I’ve ever read, and was the original Kaz Brekker-esque antihero who only cared to further his own goals.

Ranger’s Apprentice I got for free from some reading challenge thing at Barnes & Noble, and it’s the best free book I’ve ever gotten because that series is just genuinely excellent. The banter and snark? Top notch. Every time I reread it, it still catches me off guard because it is just that hilarious. And the medieval strategy is also very well-researched and kickstarted my fascination with siege warfare. It’s a bit generic medieval fantasy, but it relies on stealth tactics instead of sword-and-sorcery fantasy, which I really loved.

And of course, Percy Jackson – I’ve been obsessed with Percy since I was 12, not just when I was 12 (though it was certainly absolutely horrid when I was 12). It’s probably the series that’s closest to my heart – I had Percy when I was diagnosed with ADHD and being bullied at a new school. And I’ve always gone out to buy Rick Riordan’s new books the day they come out as an adult I skip class to get them, yes, I know, I am horrible. The series just means so much to me and this is the one that will always stick in my heart.

what were your favourite books as a child?