Top 5 Wednesday: Favorite Retellings

The topic for Top 5 Wednesday today is 'Favorite Retellings".

You can find the group, created by Gingerreadslainey here.

I was really excited to pick out my books for this topic because I really love a good retelling. That became the problem. I couldn't decide which ones I wanted to include. I knew my top two but after that most of them were tied. I decided to make it 9 plus one non book for an even ten. 

So without further ado... my Top 10:

#1: Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

Book of a Thousand Days is tied for first for my favorite Shannon Hale novel (along with the next selection). It is a retelling of Maid Maleen by the Brothers Grimm. 

Shannon Hale has taken their tale and reset it in an Asian inspired world. 

"When Dashti, a maid, and Lady Saren, her mistress, are shut in a tower for seven years because of Saren's refusal to marry a man she despises, the two prepare for a very long and dark imprisonment. As food runs low and the days go from broiling hot to freezing cold, it is all Dashti can do to keep them fed and comfortable. With the arrival outside the tower of Saren's two suitors- one welcome, the other decidedly less so- the girls are confronted with both hope and great danger, and Dashti must make the desperate choices of a girl whose life is worth more than she knows."

This book is awesome. It is exciting and interesting and has some great plot twists. 

 #2: The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

This is the other book that ties for first place as my favorite Shannon Hale novel. 

The Goose Girl, the first in the book series The Books of Bayern, is a retelling of the Brothers Grimm tale by the same name. 

 "Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, spends the first years of her life under her aunt's guidance learning to communicate with animals. As she grows up Ani develops the skills of animal speech, but is never comfortable speaking with people, so when her silver-tongued lady-in-waiting leads a mutiny, Ani is helpless and cannot persuade anyone to assist her. 

Becoming a goose girl for the king, Ani must learn to use her own special powers to find her true destiny."

This book is really magical. It was the first book I ever read by Shannon Hale and now I have a shelf of her books. Her writing is beautiful. 

#3: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

I don't know if it is a retelling as much as an alternate history but I love it. 

 "Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men. Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered. With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever."

I love the character of Deryn. I love the crazy way they speak and the alternate steampunk version of history. I really enjoy the whole series. 

#4: This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel

 This book is a retelling/ prequel to Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. 

 "Victor and Konrad are the twin brothers Frankenstein and inseparable until Konrad falls gravely ill. In the forbidden Dark Library, Victor finds an ancient formula, and seeks an alchemist to recreate the Elixir of Life. With friends Elizabeth and Henry, he scales highest trees in the Strumwald, dives deepest lake caves, and each sacrifices a body part."

I really enjoyed this book and its sequel when I last read them. However, since then I have read and loved the original Frankenstein and I'm not sure how I would feel about them anymore. I need to reread them very soon to find out. But for now, I will include it based on my feelings when I read them last. 

#5: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

 

I really enjoyed Cinder, obviously a Cinderella retelling. I haven't finished the rest of the Lunar Chronicles series yet but I am looking forward to reading the rest of them after having read this book. 

" Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future."

#6: Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson

This book is written by one of my really good friend's mom. I have met her a few times and she is a really sweet woman. I was excited to read her book to support her but I had no idea I would enjoy it so much. It is a retelling of the Bluebeard tale. It is one I was only slightly familiar with but from what I knew about it, I knew it was a very gruesome tale. 

Jane managed to tell the story without going too gross while still being able to keep a gothic feel to it. 

"When seventeen-year-old Sophia Petheram’s beloved father dies, she receives an unexpected letter. An invitation—on fine ivory paper, in bold black handwriting—from the mysterious Monsieur Bernard de Cressac, her godfather. With no money and fewer options, Sophie accepts, leaving her humble childhood home for the astonishingly lavish Wyndriven Abbey, in the heart of Mississippi.

Sophie has always longed for a comfortable life, and she finds herself both attracted to and shocked by the charm and easy manners of her overgenerous guardian. But as she begins to piece together the mystery of his past, it’s as if, thread by thread, a silken net is tightening around her. And as she gathers stories and catches whispers of his former wives—all with hair as red as her own—in the forgotten corners of the abbey, Sophie knows she’s trapped in the passion and danger of de Cressac’s intoxicating world."

#7: Beauty by Robin McKinley

 Beauty is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I am very partial to the story of Beauty and the Beast, my favorite fairy tale, and I wasn't sure I would like it. But I really did! 

"Beauty has never liked her nickname. She is thin and awkward; it is her two sisters who are the beautiful ones. But what she lacks in looks, she can perhaps make up for in courage. When her father comes home with the tale of an enchanted castle in the forest and the terrible promise he had to make to the Beast who lives there, Beauty knows she must go to the castle, a prisoner of her own free will. Her father protests that he will not let her go, but she answers, "Cannot a Beast be tamed?"

#8: Entwined by Heather Dixon

Entwined is a retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses. 

I had a few issues with the book, feeling like some of the characters weren't completely fleshed out, but overall I really enjoyed it. 

 "Just when Azalea should feel that everything is before her—beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing—it's taken away. All of it. And Azalea is trapped. The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. So he extends an invitation. Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest, but there is a cost. The Keeper likes to keep things. Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late."

#9: Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale

This graphic novel tells a new version of Rapunzel's story full of girl power and excitement. 

 "Once upon a time, in a land you only think you know, lived a little girl and her mother . . . or the woman she thought was her mother. Every day, when the little girl played in her pretty garden, she grew more curious about what lay on the other side of the garden wall . . . a rather enormous garden wall. And every year, as she grew older, things seemed weirder and weirder, until the day she finally climbed to the top of the wall and looked over into the mines and desert beyond. Newbery Honor-winning author Shannon Hale teams up with husband Dean Hale and brilliant artist Nathan Hale (no relation) to bring readers a swashbuckling and hilarious twist on the classic story as you've never seen it before. Watch as Rapunzel and her amazing hair team up with Jack (of beanstalk fame) to gallop around the wild and western landscape, changing lives, righting wrongs, and bringing joy to every soul they encounter."

And finally, #10: The Once Upon A Time television series

This series retells pretty much everyone's stories and I love it. 

It is really engaging, creative, and fun to watch. 

To be honest, I hope they end it soon while I am still loving it and give everyone that I love a happy ending. (Especially Hook and Swan!)

Do you read retellings? 

What are some of your favorites? 

I tag anyone who would like to do this! Let me know in the comments if you do so that I can see what your choices are. 

All I want for Christmas Tag

Today I am doing the All I want for Christmas tag originally from A Thousand Lives of Daisy.

1) What fictional character do you want Santa to leave under your Christmas tree? 

Well, for this one I guess I have to pretend to be single. So if I was single and Santa was going to leave me a fictional character it would have to be....

Gilbert:

Close second choice would be Lorrie:

2) What character do you want to kiss under the mistletoe? 

Again, pretend I'm single. I want to use different guys from the last question. Since this is a mistletoe kiss I am going more for the hot hero than the boy next door.....

Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings:

or let's cheat a little and have a non book character- Captain Hook from Once Upon a Time:

 

3) What books are on your Christmas list? 

I always have a ton of books on my Christmas wish list and I know I am forgetting some but as of right now these are some that I have asked for or might be interested in getting....

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, The Illustrated Harry Potter book one, The pop up Christmas Carol, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, and The Fairy Tale Girl by Susan Branch. 

4) It's Secret Santa at Hogwarts. What would you want? 

A working wand of course!

5) You get to spend an entire day with the movie/ book characters from one fandom. Which fandom do you choose? 

Yeah, pretty sure that surprises no one. 

6) What fictional animal would you use to replace Rudolph? 

Hmm... It should probably be something that flies. I could pick an owl but I don't know that it would be strong enough to pull a sleigh. So I will go with Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony because that would make Abi happy.

7) Invite 10 fictional characters to your New Years Eve party. Who would you invite?

Another hard one. I thought it should be not just people you would want to be friends with or hang out with but people that would be fun to have at a party... 

So I am going with:

Fred, George, Luna, Harry, Hermione, and Ron from Harry Potter, Anne and Gilbert from Anne of Green Gables, and Emily and Teddy from Emily of New Moon. 

8) What character would make a great Santa? 

Hagrid. 

He could already look like Santa if he had a white beard. He is kind and loving. He has magic (even if he isn't supposed to use it). 

But, you would have to check your kids stockings and presents for dangerous creatures before letting them have them. 

I tag anyone interested in doing this!

Fall Time, Cozy Time Book Tag

Fall is here... and almost over according to the weather this past week, so I thought I better hurry and do the Fall Time, Cozy Time book tag. 

This tag was created by Novels and Nonsense and you can see the original video here. 

Here we go!

1. Crunching Leaves, The world is full of color: Choose a book that has reds, oranges, and yellows on the cover...

It doesn't get much more "fall" than this book. Autumn by Susan Branch. 

This book is full of recipes, ideas for fall fun, and wonderful illustrations per usual from Susan Branch. I love her artwork and her books so I love pulling out the seasonal ones each year. 

2. Cozy Sweater, It's finally cool enough to don warm cozy clothing. What book gives you the warm fuzzies? 

Obviously. Right? Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery will always make me feel happy inside. 

3. Fall Storm: The wind is howling and the rain is pounding. Choose your favorite book or genre that you like to read on a stormy day.

I think that kind of weather most often makes me want to curl up under a blanket, next to a fire with a really good Gothic Romance!

And no one does that better than the Bronte sisters. 

4. Cool Crisp Air- Who is the coolest character that you would want to trade places with?

Hermione. No question. 

5. Hot Apple Cider- What under-hyped book do you want to see become the next biggest, hottest thing? 

I am going to mention two here. 

Shannon Hale seems to be pretty well known and a few of her books get talked about quite often. However, Book of a Thousand Days is one I rarely hear anyone talk about and it is one of my two favorite books by her (along with Goose Girl). 

I have only heard one other person talk about the awesomeness that is Icefall by Matthew Kirby... and that is my mom, and I'm pretty sure I gave her the book. This is a book more people need to read. It is fantastic.

6. Coat, Scarves, and Mittens- The weather has turned cold and it is time to cover up. What is the most embarrassing book cover you own and would like to keep hidden if reading in public?

I'm going with two for this one as well. 

First, I almost didn't read The Selection series by Kiera Cass because of the cheesy covers. And that would have been sad because I really like this series. 

I hate the cover of my copy of Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. I think it looks like a harlequin romance type book. I definitely need to get  new copy of this book that looks more like the actual story inside!

7. Pumpkin Spice- What's your favorite fall time comfort food? 

Hot Chocolate. It is definitely one of my very favorite things. My favorite flavor is Stephen's Chocolate Raspberry. It is so good!

That's it! 

What are your favorite fall things? 

I tag anyone that would like to do this on their blog!!

The Twilight Tag

I saw the Twilight tag on Tashapolis' channel on YouTube here.  

With the 10th anniversary of Twilight happening this month (and the release of the new 10th anniversary edition with the new gender swapped Twilight, life and death) I decided now would be a fun time to do the tag. 

#1: What movie and book is your favorite? 

Breaking Dawn is my favorite book in the series. I didn't love everything about it but I did like the arrival of the vampires from all over the world (especially Garrett) and the happy ending. 

Breaking Dawn part 2 is my favorite movie for the same reasons (especially Garrett). 

#2: What has your experience been like with Twilight? 

Interesting. 

When I read Twilight for the first time it had been out for quite a while and they were just starting to make the first movie. I was obsessed. 

I have always been interested in vampires, as most people who know me already know. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was one of my very favorite TV series' ever and Dracula is one of my favorite classic books. One morning I was browsing the Deseret Book website and saw Twilight. I had no idea what it was and read the blurb. I was fascinated that there was a vampire book being sold in Deseret Book so I immediately checked to see if my local library had a copy. They did. I got it and read it in one day. 

I immediately bought the boxed set of the first three books. I read them all so fast. And I read them over and over again while waiting for the last book in the series. 

I joined a website called Twilight Moms where everyone discussed everything to do with Twilight.

I went to all the movies in the theater and the midnight release of Breaking Dawn, the final book. 

It was all a lot of fun. 

#3: Who is your favorite character? 

Jacob Black

I know that isn't probably the most common answer. But it's mine. 

I love Jacob. 

I do have two other characters that might not be on every one's favorites list but they are my close 2nd and 3rd so I will add them too...

Charlie Swan

And Garrett

#4) Team Edward or Team Jacob?

#5) Who is your favorite Cullen? 

Carlisle

#6) What is your favorite song from the soundtrack. 

This one is easy. I loved this song before the movie (I love Muse in general and once made eye contact with the lead singer back when they played small venues to only a hundred or so of us). When it showed up in the baseball scene it made that scene instantly my favorite part of the first film. 

Muse- Supermassive Black Hole

As far as a song that I hadn't heard before the movies and now love...

 Paramore- Decode

#7) How often do you watch a Twilight movie? 

About once a year. 

#8) Would you rather be a vampire or a werewolf?

If we are only applying the mythology from these books my answer would have to be werewolf. I would not want to drink blood and I like the human existence the werewolves are able to have.

#9) What vampire power would you want to have? 

That's tricky. If I am choosing from the ones we know about in the books and movies... 

At first I would think that I would want to be able to read minds but actually I wouldn't. That would get loud. I would probably want what Bella has that makes her immune from the other vampire powers. 

#10) What is the most embarrassing thing you did because of Twilight? 

Either being one of the only grown-ups at the Breaking Dawn midnight book release (I know that wasn't the case everywhere but the one I went to left me feeling a little silly) or just the amount of Twilight things I accumulated over the years...

Although, to be honest, I'm really not embarrassed about either. 

#11)What is a part that made you cry in the books and/or movies?

I tried to think of something. I thought that there had to be something. 

But no. I don't think I ever cried in the books or the movies. I think the closest I came was in the last movie when they manipulated the ending and I thought what I was seeing was really happening. But even then it was more sad shock, not tears. 

#12) Name all of the movies from favorite to least favorite: 

Breaking Dawn part 2, Breaking Dawn part 1, Eclipse, New Moon, Twilight 

I obviously thought they got better as they went along. 

#13) Same question for the books: 

Breaking Dawn, Twilight, Eclipse, New Moon

#14) Why are they your least favorite? 

Twilight was my least favorite movie because of the style. It was trying to be artsy. It is so dark (with a slightly green tinge). They were just figuring out how to translate the books to film. I don't think it was bad. I don't hate it. It's just not as good, in my opinion, as the rest of the films.

I hear a lot of people say that New Moon is their least favorite book. But the reason I hear most is that it is because Edward is gone the whole time. That's not it for me. I actually liked getting more Jacob. I like it the least because of Bella. I hate how she responds to Edward's departure. 

Again, I don't hate the book. I just don't like it as much. 

I hope you enjoyed reading all about my Twilight opinions. 

*Are you a Twilight fan? 

*Which are your favorite and least favorite books and films in this franchise? 

*Who is your favorite character? 

*Team Edward or Jacob?

And if you want to do this tag on your blog, I would love to see your answers!

The Creatures of the Night Book Tag

I love Halloween and I love reading books with a paranormal/ Halloweenish feel at this time of year. 

So I knew that I wanted to do the Creatures of the Night Book tag when I saw it on YouTube. 

This tag was created by Kat at Katytastic. You can check out her video here.

Basically she gave a group of different creatures of the night and I have to pick my favorite ones from books for each category. 

#1: Vampires

I have to go with Dracula by Bram Stoker. 

Dracula is by far my favorite book about vampires. It is so creepy and so good. 

"The old man motioned me in with his right hand with a courtly gesture, saying in excellent English, but with a strange intonation: 'Welcome to my house! Enter freely and of your own will!' He made no motion of stepping to meet me, but stood like a statue, as though his gesture of welcome had fixed him into stone. The instant, however, that I had stepped over the threshold, he moved impulsively forward, and holding out his hand grasped mine with a strength which made me wince, an effect which was not lessened by the fact that is seemed as cold as ice- more like the hand of a dead than a living man."

#2: Werewolves

My favorite werewolf is Professor Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter series. 

Lupin is one of my very favorite characters in all of the series so it is a pretty obvious choice for this. 

Also, The Prisoner of Azkaban is tied with the last book for my favorite book in the series and that is mainly because of the Marauders story line and Lupin. 

"I was a very small boy when I received the bite. My parents tried everything, but in those days there was no cure."

#3: Zombies

I am really stretching on this one.  The thing is... I HATE zombies. 

I know they are the hip thing lately but I can't stand them. 

I tried to watch the Walking Dead because so many people recommended it but I couldn't get past the first few minutes of the first episode because it is so gory and gross. That is how I feel about all zombies. So at first I thought I wouldn't have an answer for this but then I decided instead of having a favorite zombie, I would just mention a book/ series that I love that has zombies in it.
That makes my selection Beyonders by Brandon Mull. 

Although, I must admit that when they first appeared in the book I really did say out loud, "No! Not freaking zombies!"

The one thing I like about his zombies is that some of them are still holding on to a little of their human intellect. Still gross though. 

"We mean you no harm, " the rider assured her. "We are drawn to your blood, but we have learned to curb our thirst. We keep herds within the city walls and sate our urges with the blood of animals. We could use your help and you need ours. Th mindless ones and hungry ones have untied into savage tribes. The largest lies to the south and already has your scent."

#4: Ghosts

I was tempted to go with Harry Potter again for this one but since I will be using it at least one more time in this tag I made myself go with something else. 

I don't own this book but I have read it. 

In The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, a boy's family is murdered and he has wandered into a nearby graveyard. There are a husband and wife among the ghosts of the graveyard, Mr. and Mrs. Owen. 

Mr. and Mrs. Owen have been married for 250 years (including the time since they have been dead) and regret that they never had any children. The ghosts of the boy's dead family visit the ghosts of the graveyard and asks them to please take care of their eighteen month old baby. I can't exactly remember why his parent's can't do it if other ghosts can...  but I guess I need to re-read it. 

Mr. and Mrs. Owen meet with the other ghosts in the graveyard and decide to raise the boy. They name him  Nobody Owens, nicknamed Bod. They also keep the villain that murdered his family away from the graveyard and Bod. 

" 'We never had a child', said his wife. 'And his mother wants us to protect him. Will you say yes?"

#5: Witch/ Wizard

I really wanted to use something other than Harry Potter. And I have read a lot of books with witches/ wizards that I love... but I just can't. 

Hermione is my favorite witch. 

I love Hermione. She is not without her faults but she is such a great character. 

(Of course, you could pick so many great witches or wizards from this book for an answer to this question.)

" 'That was far easier than I thought it would be,' said Hermione as they joined the crowds flocking out onto the sunny grounds. 'I needn’t have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager.' "

#6: Fairies

I have picked the fairies from Fablehaven by Brandon Mull.

I don't necessarily like the fairies in this book but I find them very interesting as well as the mythology that Brandon Mull has created around them. There are so many different types of fairies. 

"Drink the milk."

#7: Demons and #8: Angels

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.

I had to go with this book for both answers because I really wanted it to be a demon and an angel that I actually like and these were the only ones I could think of right now. 

For my demon it is Brimstone. Brimstone has the arms and torso of a human, legs of a lion with raptor feet, a head of a ram and reptilian eyes. He collects teeth and you don't know until later what he does with them. He seems like a horrible, frightening character but he is actually tender and wonderful. 

 "Wishes are false. Hope is true. Hope makes its own magic."

For my angel I am choosing Akiva. The angels are actually the bad guys in this series. Akiva has good and bad in him and sometimes you wonder which side you are going to get. 

"As long as he had life, who deserved it so little, he would use it, wield it, and do whatever he could in its name, even if it was not, was never, enough."

#9: Aliens

For my aliens I have to go with Wanderer in The Host by Stephenie Meyer. 

I choose her simply because, even though she is an alien like soul taking over an unwilling human body, she is still my favorite character in the book. 

"What was it that made this human love so much more desirable to me than the love of my own kind? Was it because it was exclusive and capricious? The souls offered love and acceptance to all. Did I crave a greater challenge?...Or was it simply better somehow? Because these humans hate with so much fury, was the other end of the spectrum that they could love with more heart and zeal and fire."

And finally, #10: A Human with some kind of super power

For this one I chose Ani from The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. 

Ani has the gift of animal-speaking meaning she can communicate with animals. 

This is one of my very favorite books. 

 "She was born with her eyes closed and a word on her tongue, a word she could not taste. Her name was Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, and she spent the first years of her life listening to her aunt’s stories and learning the language of the birds, especially the swans. And when she was older, she watched as a colt was born, and she heard the first word on his tongue, his name, Falada" 

I am kind of tempted to do this tag again with the movies/ television version but I will see how the month goes before I decide to or not. So, what are some or your favorite creatures of the night in books? 

You can let me know your choices and/or what you think of my choices in the comments and if you want to, consider yourself tagged to do it on your own blog!

Childhood Book Tag

I mentioned last week that I was really excited to move forward on this blog having a bit more fun! 

One of the things that I really love are tags. 

We used to do them all the time in the blogging world but I haven't seen one in a really long time. 

However, they happen all the time over on YouTube. So I decided that I am going to start doing some of the YouTube tags that I find. The reason I love tags so much is that you find out so many things about a person through their answers. Some of the things you already know, but some you don't . It really is fun to see what people pick for their answers to the questions and think about what you would pick. 

So, without further ado, I am starting with...

The Childhood Book Tag

1)What were your favorite books read to you as a child? Why?

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is the first thing that comes to mind. 

 

I can remember gathering around my mom at night and having her read to us. We read many books this way, but this one was my favorite. A few years ago Abigail and I went on a road trip to the east coast with my parents and we stopped off at Orchard House.

(You can see that post on our old blog here.  )

 While there my mom decided to buy a new copy of Little Women. When she did this I asked her if I could please have her old copy because it meant so much to me.

 

 I love that I can now read Little Women to my little women out of the same book that my mother read to me. I love the cover, the dark blue lined pages, and the many illustrations throughout the book (full page color like the one above as well as smaller black and white drawings). 

2)Do you have any special memories or traditions associated with these books?

This would just be what I have already mentioned- sitting around my mom in our jammies listening to her reading to us. It is one of the reasons that reading out loud to my daughters, even though they can both read, is so important to me. 

3)What were your favorite books or series when you were old enough to read and why? 

I will start in the order in which I read these. 

First, my favorite childhood books as a small child were....

*The Berenstain Bear books by Stan and Jan Berenstain. 

I absolutely adored these books. I have continued collecting them my whole life.

When I was in second/ third grade I started reading a new series. 

*Sweet Valley Twins by Francine Pascal

I really liked these books. I related more to Elizabeth than Jessica because I didn't care about clothes and popularity and most of the time I didn't even like Jessica much. But I really liked reading these books. I never collected the entire series but I have quite a few of them. 

In third grade I read a book that would forever change me. It would become a part of who I am. 

The author would become so important to me that I even have an entire bookshelf related to her (not to mention other parts of the house)

*Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

I still remember exactly when I started reading this. We were driving home to California after visiting my grandparents in Utah. I couldn't stop reading this once I started. I had never related to anyone, fictional or non fictional, the way I did to Anne Shirley. My middle name is even Anne (with that E!).

I quickly gobbled up the rest of the series and the mini-series on television. 

This copy is the very same one that I read that very first time. It is so beat up... as are most of her books that I own and I really want to buy a new copy that is prettier but I know I will never get rid of this one. 

I was also really in to the Archie comic books. 

I used to buy these all the time. 

I remember putting on sock puppet plays of the short stories inside.

As I moved into fourth grade there were three books that became instant favorites: 

*The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

 

I loved the play on words that are spread throughout the book. I found it fun, clever, and interesting. 

It definitely fed my imagination. 

*The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

 

I adore this book. It is so clever and well written and I can't even tell you how many times I have read it! It is such a fun mystery and has great characters, especially Turtle. 

*The Family Nobody Wanted by Helen Doss

 

This one was slightly strange for a fourth grader. It is an adult non-fiction book about a couple that have trouble having children. They end up adopting children from all sorts of different ethnicity's in a time when people just didn't do that. They basically took in the kids that "nobody wanted". It is inspiring and so wonderful. 

I loved it so much that when we had to do a book report cake for school and everyone else was doing the children's books, I themed my cake around this book. 

 

As I got a little older, going into fifth grade, I became a little more "edgy". Or at least that is what I thought. 

My most read books were these three: 

 

*The Pistachio Prescription by Paula Danziger 

I related to the turmoil this girl was feeling even though she was much older than me. I also had an older sister that was really fashionable and cool. It bothered the girl in the book more than it did me... but I still related. There were things going on in my family that were hard at the time and I felt like this got me through some of it. 

*Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade by Barthe Declements

Obviously, the characters were the same age as me and dealing with the same kinds of things at school that I was. It had a lot of "unfair" things in it that I also thought were unfair so it was a perfect fit for that time in my life. 

*Who is Bugs Potter by Gordon Korman

Bugs Potter was the first "bad boy" that I loved. He was a drummer and would sneak out at night to play as a guest drummer in night clubs. Nobody knew who this drummer was that just kept showing up and played so well. So it became this big mystery. Bugs was kind of a clueless dude just having fun. 

4) Who were your favorite book characters in these books? 

I won't go through all of them but just some of the more important ones to me. 

I loved Jo from Little Women the most. I was writing all of the time and had dreams of being an author as well as the fact that I felt like I was always just a little bit different than everyone else. This also can apply to Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables. I never felt like I really fit in anywhere. (Still don't for that matter. Recently I did those personality tests and found out that I am INFJ which is apparently the most rare brain type and leads you to feel like you don't fit in anywhere. Go figure.)

My favorite character in the Archie comic books was Betty. 

And as already mentioned, it was Turtle in the Westing Game. 

5)What was your favorite book in a childhood series?

I will go with the Anne of Green Gables series for this one since it was my favorite. 

I love every single one of these books. But I think my favorites have to be the first and last because they start and end the series. 

Anne of Green Gables introduces us to the world and the characters we will come to love. 

Rilla of Ingleside is mainly about Anne and Gilbert's daughter Rilla, though the whole family is in the book as well. There are some really heartbreaking moments in this book but I really, really love it. I thought about Rilla as a middle name for one of my daughters. It was vetoed. 

6) Did you ever dress up like someone from a favorite book? 

Yes. For Halloween in fourth grade I dressed up like Heidi. 

And NO ONE knew who I was. I was so frustrated. When the kids at school asked who I was and I said, "Heidi", they would then ask, "Who's Heidi?" I couldn't believe it. At that time in my life I guess I was ignorant to the fact that not every one spent the majority of their times in books. 

7)Was there a movie adaptation of any of your childhood favorites? If so, what were they?

Yes. I LOVE these adaptations. 

Anne of Green Gables and the sequel were out when I was a child and I loved them instantly. Even though they aren't exactly like the books they really kept the feel and soul of the story in them. Gilbert Blythe (Jonathan Crombie) was my first love. 

I like to pretend that the third one and the prequel that Sullivan entertainment has made since then don't exist because they were just SO bad. 

Little Women is one of my favorites as well. In fact, funnily enough I just watched it yesterday. They really kept the feel of the book with this adaptation and the casting is spot on. I always feel a little bad about Jo and Teddy not ending up together but this is the only adaptation that made Professor Bear believable as someone she could fall in love with (at least in my opinion). 

8)Have you read any children's series as an adult that you loved? 

Yes. Lots of them. I do feel like a lot of the books that I think are children's books could be young adult so it is a little hard to decide which ones fit this category but these are the ones I have read as a teen and adult that I think fit into this category and I love: 

*Harry Potter

Of course, Harry Potter. It is one of my absolute favorites.

 

*The Gregor the Overlander series by Suzanne Collins

Just like with her Hunger Games series, Suzanne does a good job showing what war really does to characters. Happy endings that aren't necessarily happy.

 

*Brandon Mull

I think most of these books by Brandon Mull would be categorized as young adult but I would say that Fablehaven is a children's series. And I really enjoy it. 

 

*The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

I didn't read these until I was an adult and I think I would have loved them when I was a kid. 

 

*Emily of New Moon series by L.M. Montgomery

I didn't read this series until I was a teenager. I didn't think I would love any of her books as much as her Anne books but I love this series just as much. 

 

*Icefall by Matthew Kirby. 

I would almost classify this as Young Adult but I bought it in the children's section so I am including it. I LOVE this book. I never hear about it from other people and that surprises me because I think it is SO good. 

 

*Shannon Hale

Once again, a lot of her books can be classified as Young Adult but I think the Goose Girl and Book of a Thousand Days were bought in the children's section. They are my two favorite Shannon Hale books. 

 

There you have it. 

I hope you enjoyed reading about my favorite childhood books. 

This tag was created by KathleenKouture and you can watch her original video here.

I tag any of you that are reading this that have a blog, YouTube account, or anywhere that you can do it! 

Let me know if you do the tag by linking it in the comments!