Say Anything {1}

Topic: My Reading Life: An Autobiography

I've been reading for as long as I can remember. I'm sure that a lot of people say that as well. Truth is, I really think that I was already reading in the womb! I remember being in elementary school and being so excited for Library Day so that I could get new books. I loved the Eyewitness Books, and my second grade self favored The Berenstein Bears for reading time.

As I got older, I moved on to Goosebumps and The Baby-Sitters Club before gobbling up R.L. Stine later. I can remember skipping a middle-school dance to instead curl up at home with Watership Down. I remember my dad letting me take his '65 Ford Mustang to the library all by my self when I was 16 (I checked out art books!) Dean Koontz took up a lot of my later teen years before I moved on to historical romances in the tune of Jude Devereaux. It wasn't until my mid-20's that I started reading Young Adult, and honestly it was Stephenie Meyer's Twilight that introduced me to the genre. As hard as this is going to be for you to believe, I wouldn't go near a Harry Potter book if my life depended on it! Thankfully, that has changed and Harry is now probably my favorite series of all time. 

My early-20's were chock full of fluffy chick-lit like Jennifer Weiner, Lauren Weisberger, and Emily Giffin. Don't get me wrong - I still love these authors and still check out their new books when I see them at the library (especially Emily Giffin! Her new one is out this July!) but I've found something so decadently satisfying about young adult novels. 

As my 29th birthday looms on the horizon (33 days to go. Sigh.) I find myself deeper in YA than ever before. I love most all subgenres, but embrace Dystopian like no other. It's so interesting to see what other people anticipate the future to hold. It's no big surprise that our world is in peril, and we all have our own thoughts about what will be the end of the civilized world as we know it. Asteroids? Famine? World War 3? Global Warming? Vampires? Every idea is unique and there is no right or wrong. 

I've compiled a list of my favorite book below, starting from my younger years to present. I'd love to hear what your favorite books are or were when you were younger so PLEASE Comment and let me know! Enjoy!!

Younger Years

• The Berenstein Bears
• Love You Forever
• Big Dog, Little Dog
• Sweet Pickles Series
• Mole & Troll
• Pig Pig Grows Up
• The Monster At The End Of This Book
• Sesame Street Encyclopedias
• Eyewitness Books
• Where's Waldo 

Middle Years

• The Baby-Sitters Club
• Goosebumps
• Boxcar Children
• Fear Street Series (R.L. Stine)
• Where the Red Fern Grows
• The Hobbit
• The Things They Carried
• Night
• To Kill A Mockingbird

 Late Teens-Early 20's

• Jude Deveraux
• Dean Koontz
• Christina Dodd
• Catherine Coulter
• Nora Roberts
• Judith McKnight
• The Lovely Bones
• Nicholas Sparks

Mid-20's to Present

• Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn
• Harry Potter Series
• The Girl of Fire & Thorns
• Matched Series
• Unearthly Series
• Anna & The French Kiss, Lola & the Boy Next Door
• The Probability of Miracles
• Under the Never Sky
• The Immortals Series (Evermore)
• Angel Burn, Angel Fire
• The Iron Fey Series
• Vampire Academy & Bloodlines Series

I am absolutely certain that I am forgetting a lot of books on this list, but it's just a 'Short List' so it's okay! Don't forget to comment below and let me know your past and present favorites!

Happy Reading,
Laura