10 of the Best Books I Read, NOT for School
I hated reading school assigned books. I have an aversion to reading what I’ve been instructed to. I physically can’t retain anything, which I feel sounds like an excuse, but I mean it. No matter how much I try, no matter how much focus, I can’t connect to the story and it doesn’t stick.
So, I thought this was a good opportunity to talk about the books I was reading instead! These were my favorite childhood reads, the ones I hid under my desk to read in secret.
1. Just As Long As We’re Together by Judy Blume
My sister and I loved this so much. It felt like us, what the girls were going through. Their friendship, but also their middle school problems. It was first kisses, school dances, and becoming a woman. Words like chartreuse will always hold special meaning, and for me Richard Gere was really named Benjamin Moore. All thanks to this book.
2. Charlotte’s Web by EB White
I think we all loved Charlotte’s Web. It feels like this was one we all read as children. It’s one of the most iconic children’s books on the market, and for good reason. The story of Wilbur and Charlotte is the perfect story for young kids. We should all hear stories about unlikely friendships, and beating the odds. And has an adorable cast.
3. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
This was a regular read for me growing up. It’s one of my all time favorite stories. I guess back then I loved reading, or watching, everything that would make me cry. I loved emotional stories. These days I steer clear, because life is hard enough, but kids are protected. Back then I could handle this heartbreaking ending.
4. The Secret Circle by LJ Smith
I read Vampire Diaries more than a decade ago, long before the television show. Actually, I read most of LJ Smith’s books, and enjoyed them. The Secret Circle was my favorite, by far. I loved the witch history, the incantations, and the lore. It made me want to be a witch, and I used to pretend I was a Diana or Cassie in my yard. (I was in love with Nick.)
5. Heaven by VC Andrews
Most people talk about Flowers in the Attic, I liked that series too, but I adored the Heaven series. It was definitely my favorite. I loved Heaven’s brother Tom, and I also loved her boyfriend Logan. For me though, it really took off during Dark Angel. I adored Troy. Even now I look back on the story and he’s the first one I think of.
6. Nancy Drew Files by Carolyne Keene
I read so many Nancy Drew books growing up that it’s surprising that I don’t read mysteries anymore. I loved the excitement of the cliffhanger chapter breaks, and figuring out who the bad guy was. I especially loved Nancy, her best friends, and her boyfriend Ned. (I kept every copy I owned and still have them today.)
7. Sweet Valley High by Francine Pascal
Sweet Valley High was the sister series to Nancy Drew. It’s the other series that filled most of my time. Again, I read a huge portion of the entire series, and I made sure to keep every book. I never related to Jessica, I was definitely more of an Elizabeth growing up. Sadly, thinking of this series makes me upset about Sweet Valley Confidential all over again.
8. Witch by Christopher Pike
This is like a trip down memory lane. Christopher Pike was another author that filled my youthful bookshelves. There was something about Witch that I loved so much. I remember, we had this after school program where we performed poetry or monologues and I took the intro to this book and turned it into a performance. My copy still has the highlights.
9. Summer Sizzle by Sharon Dennis Wyeth
I didn’t read the Pen Pals series at all. I don’t even know where I got this book. I just remember reading it over and over when I was growing up. I even continued to reread it into my older teenage years. There was something that was so fun about it. I think maybe it was the group all getting together and summer camp. I had the most fun at camp.
10. If Wishes Were Horses by Maggie Dana
When I was younger I was obsessed with horse stories. (I still love everything horse now.) If Wishes Were Horses was my favorite. It’s the story of a girl who saves a starving horse from a glue factory and turns Tapestry into a champion jumper. (I also loved Black Stallion. You probably see a trend.)
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly event hosted by The Broke and the Bookish!
I loved Nancy Drew when I was younger!! Part of me wants to go back and read all of them in order… maybe someday 🙂
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I’ve tried, haha. I definitely thing I’m too old for them now. I’ll still never get rid of them.
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What a great list! I will always have a soft spot for Charlotte’s Web and Nancy Drew ❤
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For sure! Two of the most popular. 🙂
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Omg the Sweet Valley High books! I remember picking those up in 3rd grade and just breezing through them. Sadly, I had to read Charlotte’s Web for a literature group in grade 4, so I wasn’t able to enjoy that one as much.
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Oh, I hate school required reading. Even a book that I could love can be ruined if it’s assigned to me by someone else. I blew through the Sweet Valley High books too! Many of them.
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Ooh I went down a similar route with my list this week and I there are a few of the same books on there although I ended up going further down the horror path.
Charlotte’s Web was actually school assigned reading for me (one of the few I loved). I do remember though that they let us watch the film in class and I couldn’t stop crying. Not sure I ever lived that down.
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Someone else said Charlotte’s Web was school assigned too. I never had it assigned at school. My Grandpa read it to me first.
I could have listed more horror, especially Christopher Pike and RL Stein. I just ended up choosing my favorite. 🙂
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I like your take on this. I read so much as a kid (still do) that it’s sometimes hard to pick out what I read for school and what I read just to read.
Here is our TTT.
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I can see that. I think the only reason I can differentiate is because I never liked the books that were assigned.
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That would definitely make it easier to separate them out, wouldn’t it?
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I cried awful embarrassing tears the first time I read Where the Red Fern Grows. To make matters worse, I was in 6th grade during class while finishing it! I’ll never be over the ending. WHY???
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Oh man, I cry buckets of salty tears every time I read that book. It’s so horribly sad, but it’s also really kind of sweet too, in a strange way. I love the way the beginning scene ties into the final moments.
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It’s some kind of trauma. Especially the end. Like WHO DID THIS???
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LMAO, yes!!
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I was crazy about Judy Blume books, they’re the so perfect for younger teen girls. I love how her books never skirted around the serious issues young girls face, while having such a balance of genuine friendship.
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Exactly! That was exactly why we loved it. It wasn’t like Sweet Valley High. It was about things we were really going through, like crushes, starting our periods, buying a bra… it was so relevant.
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How utterly funny that I actually read several of the books on your list. I was big into both the original Nancy Drew series and the Nancy Drew files, plus Sweet Valley High. I also loved the Christopher Pike books (inlcuding Witch), Nightmare Hall, The Girls of Canby Hall, Fear Street, Charlotte’s Web, anything VC Andrews wrote, etc.. I could probably go on all night. 😉
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Yes! I loved VC Andrews! I read all of them, up until halfway through Melody and then I was able to tell it wasn’t the same author and they weren’t as good to me. I read some Fear Street, but I was definitely more of a Christopher Pike girl.
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I also hated reading assigned books for school Wendy 😉 This is very interesting to read as I had totally different reads then. Now I know what was the rage in the US when I was a kid in Europe 😂
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LOL!! That’s true, I’d be curious to see what you were reading.
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Well try The Three Musketeers and avaerything by Alexandre Dumas 😉 Oh and Marion Zimmer Bradley.
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I read The Mists of Avalon in high school. I loved it. Unfortunately I’ve never been into the classics though.
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Charlotte’s Web was one of my favourites as a kid! I totally agree, I love reading but was not into being forced to read stuff I wasn’t interested in for school.
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2017/08/22/top-ten-tuesday-121/
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I rarely ever liked the books we were assigned in school either. Prob the way they taught them killed the enjoyment too. I don’t think I’ve read any of these, but I read Flowers in the Attic when I was 12 and was basically scarred for life lol.
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That’s about how old I was when I read it too, but I secretly LOVED it.
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Great list! I adored both the Nancy Drew series and the Sweet Valley High books when I was a kid. And just thinking about Charlotte’s Web brings a tear to my eye.
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Such fun books!
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I still love Charlotte’s Web! It’s one of those children’s books that is still readable when you’ve grown up! And I adored Nancy Drew!
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Charlottes web is timeless. I even read it to my own daughter!
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I hope you don’t mind a comment on a 3-year-old post but it came up as a related post in the one I just commented on, and I wanted to say I loved this a lot. I’m especially tickled to have found an old horse book (or a whole set of them!) I’ve never heard of. I like to play on lost-book-finding forums and both 80s/90s juvenile lit and horse books are my niche interests, so the more knowledge I can stack, the better.
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I never mind a comment on any posts, no matter the age! And horse books were my thang growing up! Horse anything really. I was “that” girl.
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