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If you’re reading this now, that means that I’ve officially turned 31. Eeek! Since my birthday fell on Sunday, aka Sunday Book Club Day, I thought what better way to celebrate than to talk about my favorite books from the last three decades of my life?
My Favorite Books Growing Up
Zero to Five-ish
Okay, I definitely had to reach out to my mom for this one. But I also know some of the titles from seeing them on my shelf and hearing her talk about them.
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
Each Peach Pear Plum by Allan and Janet Ahlberg
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.
The Berenstain Bears (series) by Jan and Mike Berenstain
Five-ish to 10-ish
Angelina Ballerina (series) by Katharine Holabird and Helen Craig
Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
Baby-Sitters Little Sister (series) by Ann M. Martin
Middle School Age
The Babysitters Club (series) by Ann M. Martin
The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
Harry Potter (series) by J.K. Rowling (this is when it started for me)
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (uhhhh since when was this a series??)
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
High School
Gossip Girl (series) by Cecily von Ziegesar
Basically any book written by Sarah Dessen
The Jessica Darling Series by Megan McCafferty
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (because of all of the acting classes I did on the side I had a weird love of Shakespeare and anything based on it or had ties to it. Which is also why 10 Things I Hate About You is one of my favorite movies.)
College
Umm, so this time is a little fuzzy because I had basically zero time for fiction. BUT I know I was reading fiction because I had a Pittsburgh library card and I always read before I went to sleep. So I know that I continued to read any of the high school books listed above that continued to come out while I was in college. Also, I didn’t get on Goodreads until right after college. But here were some of my favorite authors & books I read to keep me going during the few times I could squeeze fiction in (aka a lot of “chick lit”.
The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
Something Blue by Emily Giffin
Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Skyes
Legally Blonde by Amanda Brown (You need to read the book if you haven’t!)
Any book by Dan Brown (call me basic, I don’t care!)
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory (or really most books by her)
Post College Life to Present
Okay, this is going to probably be a big list, so I’m going to just try to list the best of the best. Especially since you can just go back and look at my favorite books of 2019, 2018…and so on.
Crazy Rich Asians (Series) by Kevin Kwan
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
I Don’t Know What You Know Me From by Judy Greer
The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han (the series, but also anything by Jenny Han)
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon (or really any book by her)
Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale and Stan Redding
American Royals by Katharine McGee
World Peace and Other 4th Grade Achievements by John Hunter
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (and anything else she writes!)
Oh my gosh, I have so many books I want to go back and read now! Let me know what some of your favorite books growing up were then and now. I’d love to compare lists!
