Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
This was really fun to put together, and definitely took me a little bit down memory lane. A lot of these books are those I read as a kid, teen or in my early 20s, but although the details of the books might be a touch fuzzy, the warmth the memories of them bring is not.
Top Ten Books that Bring Me Happy Memories
Northern Lights
Philip Pullman
I remember reading this as a younger teen, and being absolutely swept away by the world Pullman created, the character of Lyra and the adventure contained within. I don’t think I fully grasped the religious aspects until a bit later, but even then I still connected with much of that element, as a kid who went to a church primary school (a very good one, which did teach us about other religions) and, at the time of reading, was moving more and more away from religion. I have fond memories of discussing with friends what our daemons would be, and talking over the whole trilogy.
Bridget Jones’s Diary
Helen Fielding
I read this because I loved the film – having rewatched recently, I still love the film. But with the book, I remember being absolutely delighted with her Colin Firth obsession (brilliant casting), and I appreciated the book even more once I finally got around to reading Pride & Prejudice. I remember feeling fairly grown up reading it, too!
The Little White Horse
Elizabeth Goudge
This is attached to a very specific memory of mine. Important context is that I was never a hugely high achiever in school. Even the things I was good at seemed like I was never quite good enough to be recognised for them in any formal way. Then, in Year 8 (second year of secondary school, so about 12/13 years old) I received a small prize for achievements the year before. Just a tiny bit of recognition, and delightfully for me, the prize was book vouchers! So I took myself to Waterstones, and picked up two books, Back Home by Michelle Magorian, because I was loving reading Goodnight Mister Tom in school, and The Little White Horse. I read this one over and over, absolutely enthralled by it.
Cirque Du Freak
Darren Shan
I got an absolutely stunning version of this book for Christmas one year, and picked up the combined omnibus of the first three books the day I found out I had an interview for WHSmiths. I loved reading this, especially as I was really into vampires at the time (…and still am, really), but it felt a little different from what I was already reading, and it was kind of charming! Later books did shift somewhat, but this remains a favourite read.
Carrie’s War
Nina Bawden
It’s no surprise there are a number of classic British children’s books that focus on the experiences of evacuees, including two mentioned above (Goodnight, Mister Tom & Back Home) and one to come, but this book always stands out when I consider my childhood. I adored this. Something about it truly grabbed me, likely because it was one of the first times I read something set in Wales! I loved the mystery here, and I think as a kid I was always drawn to tales of evacuees, whether through books or hearing my gran’s stories.
Love You to Death
Meg Cabot (writing as Jenny Carroll)
My introduction to Meg Cabot was, of course, The Princess Diaries. I enjoyed the book and really like All-American Girl, but spotting Love You to Death something really hooked me. I ended up reading both this and the Missing series, and Love You to Death especially was my introduction to Paranormal Romance. It grabbed me in a different way to Princess Diaries and All-American Girl, and quickly cemented Meg Cabot as one of my favourite writers.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
C.S. Lewis
Back to the evacuees! As a kid, I was obsessed with the animated film of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. And when I got the boxset of the whole Narnia series for Christmas one year, I read them. And read them again. And read them again. I didn’t even realise I was technically reading them out of order, as the boxset order was chronological. This one remained my favourite, but I loved the others as well and returned to Narnia as often as I possibly could.
Interview with the Vampire
Anne Rice
As a kid, I often really didn’t feel like I fit in. I enjoyed Brownies (to a point) but felt often on the sides. When I moved up to Guides, there wasn’t many others moving up with me, and no one I really felt close to. I felt very much on my own. Then me and one of the older girls got talking, specifically about Buffy, and she told me something that would quite frankly, change my life. “You should read Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles.” I went home raving about it and my need to read these books and like a few others on this list, that Christmas I found myself with a copy of Interview with the Vampire, along with the second to fourth books as part of a set. I devoured it. I adored it. I read and reread all four. I liked vampires before, but Anne Rice made me fall absolutely in love with them (and, actually, this was all before I’d even heard of Darren Shan, too).
The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins
After reading (and quite frankly, hating) Twilight, I was adamant I was not going to read the next big YA book. Then multiple people at uni – whose opinions I really respected – told me, actually, Elle, we think you’ll honestly love it. So I picked up a copy, finished it on the train on the way home, and immediately grabbed the next two during a stop in Manchester. By the time I was back at uni after the weekend, I’d finished the whole trilogy. I really could not put it down.
Sand, Salt, Blood
Edited by…Me!
Okay so, I edited this and co-edited A Woman Built By Man and honestly? Incredible experiences. Very difficult, a lot of hard work, especially knowing down slush piles when you have so many brilliant submissions. But so very, very much worth it. And sending out acceptances was such a lovely thing, and I truly hope I get to repeat these experiences one day.
Once I started coming up with this list, I almost couldn’t stop! There are so many books that make me think of happy memories. I’d love to hear about books that bring you happy memories, too. Childhood favourites, books you were somehow involved in, books that evoke something specific to you – let me know in the comments or link to your own TTT post!
