Top Ten Tuesday! Bookish Memories

Posted November 30, 2021 by WendyW in Blogging, Bloglinks, Book Blog Meme, bookblogger / 36 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.

Today’s Top 10: Bookish Memories

Today’s Top Ten topic is Bookish Memories (Share stories of your reading life as a child, events you’ve gone to, books that made an impression on you, noteworthy experiences with books, authors you’ve met, etc. Reminisce with me!)

#1. We had an old tattered copy of Winnie the Pooh in our house and it’s the first book I remember reading. I loved Pooh, and I think it might be because his name started with a W, like mine does! Piglet was my favorite character.

#2. Curious George by H. A. Rey was another early book I remember reading. I had a copy that I would read over and over again. I just loved that monkey!

#3. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery was one of the first “big girl” books that I remember reading. It started my love of reading. I was born in Nova Scotia, Canada, not far from Prince Edward Island, so I thought we had something in common.

#4. I remember reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott as a young girl. We had just moved to Massachusettes, not far from Concord where Louisa May Alcott’s home is located.

#5. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell was the first “love story” I ever read. It was long, but I was determined to read it all. I was a pre-teen at the time and just loved this story. I’ve recently re-read it and still love it, as it has so many memories for me.

#6. I read The Time Machine by H. G. Wells in High School, and it really left an impression on me. I had not read any Sci-Fi before and I was swept away thinking about time travel.

#7. I read The Thorn Birds by Collen McCullough when I was in High School, and loved this sweeping family drama. I don’t think I’d enjoy it as much now, the whole priest and very young girl thing is kind of creepy now.

#8. Forgiving by LaVerle Spencer was one of the first traditional romance books I ever read, and started my love of romance books. I was living in South Dakota at the time, just a few miles from the wild west mining town of Deadwood, where this book is set. I’ve read all of her books, and love her writing.

#9. Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone by J. K. Rowling was the first audiobook I ever listened to. I was living just outside of Boise, Idaho, and had a long commute to work, and there were only 3 HB books out at this time. They were long, so I thought it would be a good way to use up the time on my long commute. I never thought I would enjoy them as much as I did.

#10. I had a long lapse in reading while I raised my kids and worked, but once my kids started high school and didn’t need me as much, I found The Virgin River Series by Robyn Carr (I think there were about 15 books when I discovered them) and renewed my love of reading and romance books. I’ve read all 21 books in the series!

What are your favorite reading memories? Comment below!

36 responses to “Top Ten Tuesday! Bookish Memories”

  2. lissa

    1- I have not read the book but I have seen shows/movies and I enjoyed them, childish as they were, Piglet is also my favorite character.

    3-I think I read Anne of Green Gables in adulthood but I kind of wish I had read it when I was younger.

    6- This was a fascinating book and I think it’s the only time travel book that I thought was good enough to be a classic.

    7 – I didn’t read the book but I saw the tv movie. I thought it was weird but I was too young to know what romance between a priest and a girl meant. Today, I would think it’s not a good romance at all.

    Not many bookish memories but I do remember making a list of the books I read as if it was some sort of accomplishment and it probbaly was when you’re a child.

    Have a lovely day.

    • WendyW

      Thank you Lissa! I agree, I didn’t fully understand the Priest/Girl thing when I read it. I doubt I would enjoy it now.

  4. RS @ The Idealistic Daydream

    Childhood book memories are some of my favorite posts to read. What a lovely post you’ve put together. And so cool that you ended up living close to *two* childhood book settings. The closest I came was living within a couple hundred miles of an Ingalls family home, but even that knowledge was exciting.

    I still can’t believe you tackled Gone With the Wind as a preteen! That’s ambition.

  5. Rachel

    I remember loving Winnie the Pooh too and Curious George. I went from Nancy Drew to Agatha Christie when I was still pretty young. My grandmother had a collection and I used to borrow and then devour. Love The Virgin River series! I think there’s only 3 I haven’t read.

  9. Tessa

    Your choices are a walk down memory lane for me too. Little Women, Gone with the Wind, The Thornbirds, The Time Machine, and Harry Potter are all standouts in my bookish history. Lovely remembering such wonderful reads!

  10. Cindy Davis

    I didn’t think to post the ONE book I still have from my childhood (other than the 2 I won, the story is in my post). Love your memories. I honestly don’t recall most of what I read as a child until about my teen years.

    • WendyW

      Thank you Susan! I want to go to Nova Scotia really bad as I was born there. But, left Canada when I was 3 years old. Hope we both get to make these trips one day!

  14. Lark

    I was so into The Thorn Birds when I was in high school. My best friend and I watched the TV mini series of it over and over, and I also read the book many times. And Curious George! I loved those books, too. 😀

  15. Lydia

    I loved so many of these books as a kid! (I’m sending this comment again as I’m not sure if my first one went through).

  17. Janette

    I remember reading the Thorn Birds when I was 19. I was enthralled by it and stopped until 3 in the morning to finish it. I definitely don’t think that it would be the same now, 40 years later.

  19. Mallika

    Lovely choices; Pooh was among my childhood books too, which I loved. Most of my childhood reading was Enid Blyton, and she had such a range of genres–mysteries, fantasy, adventure, nature writing, that there was something to enjoy at all times.

    From your list Anne is a book I discovered only in middle school; and Harry Potter (now a favourite) was one I ended up reading when I got to college though the first few books were out when I was in school.

    Thornbirds was sadly a book that I DNF’d; the priest and young girl aspect was one thing that was unpalatable but also generally the sheer extent of calamities that befell the heroine (can’t remember the name now), I think I gave up after the first 70 or 80 pages.