When I was younger I used to hate reading. You couldn’t make me do it. It was a continuous nightmare for my mother trying to get me to read those tiny prescribed readings that you do in lower primary school. NIGHTMARE. WORDS. EW. And that didn’t really change until high school. Shocking, I know.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly event hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and this week’s prompt is:

Books I Wish I’d Read as a Child

In year 8 (then, the first year of high school in Australia) I sat next to a girl who told me about Goodreads. This was the beginning of my life. She told me how many books she reads in a year and I nearly fell off my chair. THAT many?! How! Ever the competitive gal, I was sucked into the Goodreads annual reading challenge instantly. And I’ve never turned back. It’s fair to say that means there are a lot of books I didn’t read as a child, so here are some of them!

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1. Matilda
by Roald Dahl

In all honesty, I may have read this when I was younger but I do not remember doing so. I know I read it when I was much older but for the most part, by the time I learned to love books I was well past the Roald Dahl stage. And isn’t that the most tragic thing you’ve ever heard? I certainly think so.

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2. The Song of the Lioness
by Tamora Pierce

I’m very upset with myself that I’d never read a Tamora Pierce book until a couple of years ago. My mum once bought me another of Pierce’s books when I was much younger but it was really big and for someone who didn’t like reading, I was too intimidated by it to pick it up. In fact, I’ve still not read that book (I know, what am I?!). But this story is brilliant and I so missed out not reading it when I was a bit younger!

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3. The Lightning Thief
by  Rick Riordan

I’ve read the first two books of this series now and hit a wall with the age problem. I should have read this when I was younger: I would have loved it. I have so many regrets that I didn’t like reading when I was younger. SO MANY. All these wonderful stories I missed out on!

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4. The Ruins of Gorlan
by  John Flanagan

This is something I’m extra upset over not discovering until high school. That being said, I still very much so enjoy reading these. I’ve still got three books to go in the series (not bad considering how long this series is) but oh boy, if I had found this in primary school it probably would have got me into reading.

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5. The Magician’s Nephew
by C. S. Lewis

Ah, the first book in the amazing Chronicles of Narnia series. I made it my mission about five years ago to read these. I’d only ever seen the films, I’d never read these, and my family owns a really gorgeous set of the books. So I did. And these would have been a wonderful story to read when I was younger.

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6. The Bad Beginning
by Lemony Snicket

This is a tragic loss. Many people are creeped out by this series, sure. But I loved the movie when that first came out (which was when I was quite a bit younger) and I just know if I’d read this when I was in primary school this would have been right up my alley. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t my thing by the time I was older. I made it through books one and two before the young target audience writing got to me.

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7. Magyk
by Angie Sage

This is the only book in this series I ever read. And I did read it when I was younger: and I loved it, too! But for some reason I just didn’t continue reading. And now I’m OLD. I’m very upset with myself about this. I intend to have another crack at this at some point but I’m terrified that I’ve well and truly missed the boat.

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8. Fablehaven
by Brandon Mull

This is one I’ve never read. But it’s existence was, at some point, brought to my attention. I love the sound of this story and know it would’ve been perfect for me when I was younger. I know how many other people enjoyed reading this as a child and I’m somewhat bummed that I missed out on this too.

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9. The Fire Within
by Chris D’Lacey

This was actually a series that my sister read when she was younger. She always said it was something that I would enjoy, but naturally, I never got around to it. It’s still on her bookshelf and a part of me wonders if, even though I’m old, I might enjoy this. But I’m too scared to try.

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10. Artemis Fowl
by Eoin Colfer

Again, another series I started and never continued. I really enjoyed how easy to read this was when I did read book one. But for whatever reason, I never continued the series! And this is such a fun story! Why, Kirstie, WHY.

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That’s a wrap!

Do you feel like you missed out on some childhood reads?

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~~ Kirstie ~~

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