Books From My Past

I think most of us have read books that have had significant impacts on our lives, whether for good or bad, especially the books we read when we were younger.

Today, I decided to compile a small (and I mean small) list of books that I loved when I was younger, as well as books that were most definitely not for me.

​The first book that always comes to mind when I think of what I read as a child would have to be “Charlotte’s Rose” by A. E. Cannon. I loved that book so much that I based a small book I had to write in my history class off of it. I loved the cute main character and how strong she was throughout the book. I also remember this as one of the first novels I read that had a taste of romance to it. I’m afraid my obsession for romance novels only increased from that point on. Side note, I wrote the author an email once, telling her I loved her book and that I loved to write, and she wrote me back, telling me to never give up on writing. I have never forgotten her advice, nor how I felt to have an actual author write me back!

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When I grew older, I read “Pride & Prejudice.” As you may know due to my Regency romance novels, this book had a huge impact on me. I watched the first adaptation of the novel (the one with Laurence Olivier) when I was maybe nine. Though I still enjoy the movie, I later came to discover how inaccurate it is in relation to the novel and the history of the Regency Era. They had a great, annoying Mrs. Bennett, though so that was spot on, at least! Nothing compares to Jane Austen’s writing, though, no matter how accurate the film adaptation!  

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I also remember really enjoying “This Just In” by Kerry Blair. At the time, I had a crush on my math teacher who reminded me of the hero of the novel, so that may have been why I enjoyed the book so much… You know how that goes! I laughed and sighed with the romance all the way throughout the book, and I renewed it multiple times from the library (because, you know, eBooks didn’t really exist then).  
 
And then there were the books I cringed while reading. They aren’t horrible books, many of my friends actually enjoyed them, but they were just not for me. Maybe it was because I was forced--sorry, required to read them in school. Or maybe it was because I love happy endings and happy middles (not ALL happy. Just enough to keep me motivated), and these books were not happy. In my opinion, anyway.

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being"1984". That book. Did I already mention I like happy endings? Because I like happy endings. And this book is not happy. For that reason, and many others, it was very difficult for me to get through, and if I’m being honest, I skimmed, if not skipped, more than half of it. (Sorry, Miss Merrell!) However, I did manage to pass my AP Lit test thanks to a question that applied perfectly to the book, so I suppose it wasn’t totally worthless, my reading it, after all.

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"Watership Down" was another novel I wasn’t too thrilled with while reading it. I read it so long ago that I don’t remember much, but I DO remember it took me all summer to read (“required” again to read it for the coming school year), and it was rather depressing. They had us watch a clip of the movie, as well, and that scarred me forever.
 
So there you have it! Now I want to hear from you! What are your favorite or not-so-favorite novels that changed you as a person? Comment below or shoot me an email!

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