[sschofi404]

I thought I'd post another one of those favorite topics. To me it's interesting to see the diversity, but that's just me. My favorite book from this time is called "The Secret Garden." Now that I think about it, I did read the "Judy Blume" books over and over. There were just so many that I liked.

Jennifer

[catinkeri]

Okay - I'm going to get technical here ... since I'm still in the process of growing up I have several. Before-the-age-of-15 growing up my favourite was Anne of Green Gables series then after-the-age-of-15-but-before-the-age-of-35 growing up it was anything Jane Austen and now ... well actually I'm reading Persuasion for the umpteenth time ... I love Jane Austen or the Bronte sisters. Sorry if I'm being difficult!

[sschofi404]

catinkeri, on Mar 5 2008, 05:35 PM, said:

Okay - I'm going to get technical here ... since I'm still in the process of growing up I have several. Before-the-age-of-15 growing up my favourite was Anne of Green Gables series then after-the-age-of-15-but-before-the-age-of-35 growing up it was anything Jane Austen and now ... well actually I'm reading Persuasion for the umpteenth time ... I love Jane Austen or the Bronte sisters. Sorry if I'm being difficult!

I forgot about the Bronte sisters, I love them too. I liked reading Thomas Hardy too, I read him when I started high school. That's ok, you're not being difficult. I'm just as bad now that I actually think about it. lol

Jennifer

[Willow]

The Last Unicorn

=)

[Shelbi]

I enjoyed the little house on the praire books.
Michelle

[Kricket]

As a child I loved every Nancy Drew book. The summer between 5th & 6th grade my girlfriend and I would bike to the library and each take out 7 books (all that was allowed) We would read them all and return the following staurday for more! I've never lost the love of reading1 I read mostly fiction now.

[AngRoCamp]

My all-time favorite was From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg. I must have read it a dozen times then and a dozen times since. It's totally delightful I also remember really enjoying Summer of the Monkeys.

[anna]

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

[ginaMO]

Baby Island and Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink, all the Pippi Longstocking books, and Nancy Drew, of course.

[Zaz]

The one book I remember above all the others was "Mandy" by Julie (Andrews) Edwards (married name, I believe). It was really a lovely story. My niece read it a few years ago, too. She loved it, too. Now I need to find another copy for when my kids are old enough. It might be hard for them, though, as Mandy is growing up in an orphanage in the story.

Thanks for bringing this up. I had forgotten about all the books I read as a child. I used to win the Read-a-thons at school because the school librarian would order books that she knew I would love. I got to read them first. It was an awesome arrangement.

~Zaz

[needadietcoke]

I liked the Judy Blume books because they taught me about you-know-what. I liked the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books because they were full of adventure and I liked Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, because my mom read it to me when I was taking a bath when I was 6 or 7. High school- Gone With the Wind.

[sheriL]

Oh, some of these are bringing back memories. I can't pick just one, I've always loved to read everything. Some of the favorites coming to mind are Anne of Green Gables (still like to reread that one from time to time), Little Women, Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew, and jr high/high school, Sword of Shannara (Terry Brooks).

[HeidiD]

Oh, Zaz! Mandy was one of my VERY favorite books of all time! I didn't think many people knew about it.

I loved (and still do!) Alice in Wonderland.

[Sheri Johnson]

Great books gals!
I LOVED the Saddle Club series, lol. I was a total horse girl.
Beverly Cleary
Shel Silverstein
the "Goosebumps" series
and soon after, Steven King and Clive Barker (I loved to be scared!)

[photomom]

The Velveteen Rabbit. It was my son's favorite too.

[Orrinda]

I loved The Boxcar Children and gave them to my kids as they were learning to read. I was also into stories about horses and dogs--it was a long time ago.

[podiumchick]

I'm with Kricket! Nancy Drew was my fave! My friend and I would also devour them as fast as we could get hold of them. I also LOVED the Childhood of Favorite American biographies. In high school I loved Gone With The Wind, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Mrs. Mike. I just bought that last one for my oldest DD to read. She loved it too. I read it again and did not regret buying it.

[lorac]

My favorite books when I was a growing up were Stewart Little and around the 6th grade (I think) I came across Johnny Tremaine which was set just at the beginning of the American Revolution. About a young boy who goes to work for the famous silversmith, Paul Revere. Later on in High School it was Ethan Fromme, Jane Eyre and in my 20's and 30's I loved Gone With The Wind, Valley of the Dolls, The Godfather. Now I love the series books by Janet Evanovich, JD Robb, anything by John Grisham, and I just love Historical Romances, especially those set in Regency England and my favorite of all, Time Travel. There are many other authors that I enjoy as well and I am always on the lookout for new authors. And of course, the Harry Potter books. I've read each of them at least four times, except for the last two. I'm in the mood to start reading them again. It's amazing that even after reading them so many times, I always find something new in them.

[B&K Mom]

needadietcoke, on Mar 5 2008, 08:42 PM, said:

I liked the Judy Blume books because they taught me about you-know-what.

ROFL!!!

And that's exactly what we'd say, too!

I liked "Deenie" and most all Judy Bloom books in upper elementary. In early elementary I loved the Raggedy Ann and Andy Stories. I kept them and am now reading them to our girls. What fun to look at the exact book together that my mom and dad read to me! And you just can't get them like that anymore (do I sound old??? LOL!)

Oh, I almost forgot, "The Chronicles of Narnia" ...all of them, but especially, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and "The Voyage of the Dawntreader"

Fun thread!
Debbie

[jennk]

I'm with Zaz- I loved Mandy! It was such an awesome book. Another favorite was Where the Red Fern Grows. I am such a dog lover that that one really touched me. I read it aloud to my elementary classes and they loved it too. In high school I loved reading the North and South series. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Patrick Swayze was in the mini series they did for TV on that series. I also loved the James Harriot books- All Creatures Great and Small. How fun to think about our old favorites!

[Sarah in VA]

Like a lot of you I devoured all the Nancy Drew and Caddie Woodlawn books I could get my hands on. Also The Five Little Peppers, anyone remember those, and the little orange biography books? And the Pam and Penny Howard series by Rosamond Du Jardin - Double Date, Double Feature, Showboat Summer, Double Wedding - Pam and Penny are twins. While they didn't teach me about you-know-what, they certainly hinted at it ;-) This writer really knew how to paint word pictures...I still remember while one of the twins was getting ready for the prom, she was "freeing her hair from its bobby pin prison."

[Shelbi]

oh I had forgotten all about Nancy Drew.
I loved Judy Blume as well.
And Freaky Friday.

I just read a bunch of Shel Silverstein to my DS yesterday.
A giraffe and a half......
Michelle

[sschofi404]

I had some of the Nancy Drew books in hardback. My cousin had outgrown them, so I got them. All I remember about Judy Blume is her name. I can't remember what they're about at all. I'll look it up though, you don't have to tell me. Does anyone remember the "Dick and Jane" books? My mom still has mine she got from her old grammar school.

Jennifer

[sheriL]

lorac, on Mar 5 2008, 11:03 PM, said:

And of course, the Harry Potter books. I've read each of them at least four times, except for the last two. I'm in the mood to start reading them again. It's amazing that even after reading them so many times, I always find something new in them.

I guess I can't say I loved Harry Potter growing up (since it didn't actually exist), but I'm rather addicted to them now - I know what you mean, every time you read them, you connect some more pieces. I'm trying to get dd started on them - she seems to enjoy fantasy, but for some reason I can't quite get her to start them. I think she'd bee hooked too if she started, maybe the problem is that it's me trying to convince her. Maybe if I told her they were really stupid, she wouldn't like them, I'd have more luck?! A little reverse psychology - I guess most of the things she has read have female main characters. I'll have to play up Hermione a little for her.

[PBarnes]

I loved the "Boxcar Children" too Orrinda. Another favorite was "A Wrinkle In Time." I read every horse book I could get my hands on too. I think my favorite horse book was called "Golden Sovereign." Not a well known book. I also love the Windy Foot series by Francis Frost.

Great thread Jennifer!

[Scrapin Pat]

Gosh you can't choose just one. There is
Little Women
The Secret Garden
The Little House Books - I was fortunate that my Aunt was a childrens librarian and I got this whole series a couple each Christmas over the years
The Boxcar Children
Oh and can't forget Heidi
and Anne Frank
On my grandmothers bookshelf was a book called "Girls Stories of Great Women" I would read those short stories over and over. She finally gave me the book despite how worn out it was and it still sits on my bookshelf.

[Tink]

My favorite book growing up was A Wrinkle In Time. I just wished the book & series would go on & on & on. It helped me to escape from real life into fantasy. I read it over & over again.

[gritstoner]

Up to about age 11 I think I read all the Enid Blyton books out there - famous five, secret seven, malory towers, and another school series I can't remember the name of. I had rows and rows of her books on my bookshelf. When I went to my secondary school I discovered science fiction. Unfortunately I also had to take English Literature at 'O' level and that totally destroyed my love of reading until I was at university. I had a brief flirtation with horror stories (Stephen King etc) in my early twenties but now they scare me silly. Now back to the Science Fiction and sometimes fantasy section. There's loads of amatuer sci fi reading on the net.

[goosie]

I also loved the Little House on the Prairie series - I loved going to the library and getting the next one. So exciting! I still love libraries - so many books so little time!

[JoannB]

I read and read as a kid -- and still do, if not scrapbooking.

Favorites... that's tough.

I LOVED the Anne of Green Gable series
Beauty by McKinnley (Loved that book -- I wore it out, I read it so much!)
A Little Princess
Secret Garden
Little Women
I can go on and on!

NOW some of my favorites are the Harry Potter series , and I absolutely adore Eclipse/New Moon/etc. by Stephenie Meyer. Love those books. I consider myself still growing up.

In High School, I loved anything by David Eddings and Anne McCaffrey...

So many books, so little time!