Top Ten Tuesday #7: Top Ten "Gateway" Books/Authors in My Reading Journey

Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Their blog can be found here.

April 1st: Top Ten "Gateway" Book/Authors in My Reading Journey

 *In no particular order!*

1. Beverly Cleary

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I remember reading many of Beverly Cleary's books when I was younger. I still own a bunch of her books and I am looking forward to introducing them to my Cutie Pie soon. She is one of the first authors I remember reading. 

2. R.L. Stine

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Goosebumps. I was obsessed with reading these books. I remember getting so excited when I would get more for Christmas! I have a ton of them still. Hoping to one day share these books with my daughters.

3. The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Yeah, I know. A little battered. But it is from all the love they received. I read these books more than once as a kid.

I remember reading the Little House series with my mom. She would read some and I would read some and we would lay in my bed reading these books together. It is a special memory to me, and I remember loving these books. And it is something I want to share with my daughters. 

4. The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

I remember the first time I heard the first chapter to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I was in middle school in my English class and the teacher read it to us. 

I of course then told my mom about it, because we weren't able to read the whole story in class and I needed to know more. My mom bought me the book and I fell in love with this series. I remember buying the books on release day. I remember when I was older, pre-ordering the later books. I even went to one of the midnight releases to get my pre-order copy. Except for the last book. I had a new baby, and I forgot to pre-order my copy. But my mom did, and she brought it to me as a surprise. It was awesome. So I have MANY fond memories of this series (like so many of you, probably do as well). And I am so excited to 

5. Ann M. Martin

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The Babysitters Club. I read several of these books when I was younger and I loved this series. I even read The Babysitters Club: Little Sister series. I remember I was in one of those monthly clubs where I would get a new Little Sister book and a newsletter. So Ann Martin definitely helped shape me as a reader. 

6. The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids by Marcia Jones and Debbie Dadey

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I really enjoyed this series and started collecting the books. And I was excited when my Cutie Pie recently started reading them. 

7. The Giver by Lois Lowry

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I remember reading this book in middle school (8th grade) and loving it! I haven't reread it as an adult yet (but I am really excited to do so this year) and I didn't even realize until recently (like the end of 2013) that this is in fact the first book in a series! So I am excited to get the rest of the books and read them as well!

8. Say Goodnight, Gracie by Julie Reece Deaver

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I remember checking this book out from my public library when I was younger. I remember laying on the couch in the living room (either it was the weekend or summer) and I spent the entire day reading this book. I remember feeling so many emotions while reading it. And remembering this, I know that I want to reread it again as an adult!

9. L.J. Smith

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I have read several of her books. She was one of the first authors I started really reading when I started reading for pleasure again. I was still in college, I think it was in 2007. I started with reading some of The Vampire Diaries books and then read The Secret Circle books. Then I bought the Night World series books. I have some of her other books too. I enjoyed reading these books and it helped get me back into reading what I wanted to read and it was a "Gateway" to reading different Paranormal/Fantasy books. 

10. The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

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This series was pretty much my "Gateway" to reading YA dystopian novels. (Yes, I had read others before for school...The Giver, Brave New World, Animal Farm. And I did really enjoy reading them. But this was my first FOR PLEASURE dystopian reading. And it opened a new world for me. After finishing this series, I continued to hunt for more YA dystopian books. And now I LOVE the dystopian genre. (A LOT!)