Hello fellow bookworms 📚 As it’s World Book Day today I wanted to do a special post looking back on my reading life and what books I used to love at different stages of my life. I have been wanting to a little reflection on my reading life ever since readbyzoe hosted her 24 Hour Readathon (reread edition) last year and dedicated it to checking out some of her old favorites and reading as many of them as she could. Ever since I searched for the perfect opportunity to take my own trip down memory lane and as today is dedicated to celebrating books I thought it would be the right time to tell you about my favorite books through the years 🥰
The video that inspired today’s post 💗🌸
Elementary School
- Finchen {Josie Smith} (Magdalen Naab) 🌻
- Wir Kinder aus Bullerbü (Astrid Lindgren) 🌻
- Die Wilden Hühner {The Summer Gang} (Cornelia Funke) 🌻
- Hanni & Nanni (Enid Blyton) 🌻
To be honest, I don’t remember many of my early favorite books, that’s why I’m starting with my elementary school classic favorites that I was obsessed with – looking at the German covers makes the nostalgia well up again 🥺 My absolute favorite book – and the first one that I checked out from our tiny school library – were the Finchen books (she’s called Josie in the English original, so I have no idea why they changed it in translation) because they were about a super relatable girl and her life. (At one point she stole a cat, so that was pretty iconic) I also loved Cornelia Funke’s children’s books. Other classics include Astrid Lindgren books (the one featured is the one I read aloud because I won a reading competition) and Hanni & Nanni 😊 In conclusion: Even back in elementary school I was raiding the library and getting competitive over reading 📚
Middle School
Still Faves
- Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Rick Riordan)
- Ruby Red (Kerstin Gier)
- Inkheart (Cornelia Funke)
- Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling)
I’m happy to say that there are a lot of books that I read in Middle School (maybe at the beginning of high school) and that I still consider favorites to this day 🥰 This includes Percy Jackson (I got obsessed with Rick Riordan early on) and Harry Potter (I got the books from my father, who liked them despite not being a reader at all. My mum – the reader in the family – doesn’t like Fantasy at all 😂) of course. Then I also loved Rubyred (Very tropey but still amazing and nostalgic to me) and Inkheart (Cornelia Funke strikes again), beloved books by German Authors that I always loved up to when I got into reading and writing – they are one of Germany’s most popular YA authors 🥰
Changed my Mind Upon
- Twilight (Stephenie Meyer)
- The Mortal Instruments (Cassandra Clare)
There are two series that I was obsessed with back in the day, but that I wouldn’t really like if I read them right now. One is of course Twilight – I feel like most of us had a Twilight phase and it was no different for me. My friends got me into it, I inhaled all the books and the movies, but some time later I was beginning to see some problematic elements emerge and I have since given away all books. Still, it was fun while it lasted 😄 The second series are The Mortal Instruments – I used to be obsessed with the books and reread them several times. I only read till book 4 but looking back on them now, I see a lot of messy aspects and I have since fallen out of love with the series. I also tried reading book 5 a couple years ago and ended up hating it.
Nostalgia Factor
- 13 Treasures {Elfenseele} (Michelle Harrison)
- Evernight (Claudia Gray)
- Chestnut Hill Series {Rose Hill} (Lauren Brooke)
- The Faerie Path {Elfennacht} (Allan Frewin Jones)
- Emily’s Secret {Emily’s Geheimnis} (Liz Kessler)
I can’t quite recall when I read all of these books, but here are some of my random favorites that I loved back in the day but probably wouldn’t care that much about if I reread them now because my tastes have changed drastically. I had a bigger fairy phase back then and two of my favorite fairie books were 13 Treasures and The Fairie Path. A friend loved the latter as well and when they stopped translating them to German (my young heart was broken) we were determined to do it ourselves 😂 I also loved Claudia Gray’s Evernight books – this was back when vampires were everywhere – and I still own them to this day as I can’t quite let them go! Then there is the Chestnut Hill series (why did they call it Rose Hill in German??) that I loved despite never having gone riding or having an interest in horses … I have no idea why I got so obsessed with them except that I loved the girl’s friendships and was really invested in all of the characters! Lastly, I also loved the Emily’s series about a girl who is part mermaid and part human having adventures in the sea, this might have been my mermaid phase 🧜♀️
High School
To be honest High School was my biggest reading slump as I was somehow constantly too stressed to consider reading. However, after looking back it seemed like I maybe didn’t read nearly as much as I wanted to, but I did read some great books 📚
German Books
- Blutbraut (Lynn Raven)
- Vampyr (Brigitte Melzer)
I don’t read many German books anymore, but I do have two books that I’m still very much fond of! One is Blutbraut by Lynn Raven, it was my ultimate favorite book for the longest and I still love it so much, so I might have to do a reread someday 🥰 I also love the rest of her books, but I’m not sure if my opinion on her older ones still stands, given that I haven’t read them in a long time. The second German author that I really loved was Brigitte Melzer and her Vampyr series. It’s a Trilogy featuring vampires in a historical setting and I still own the books as well as I loved the romance in here so much 💕
English Books
- The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
- Shadow Falls (C.C. Hunter)
- Vampire Academy (Richelle Mead)
- Grave Mercy (Robin LaFevers)
- The Fault in Our Stars (John Green)
- Am I Normal Yet? (Holly Bourne)
- Simon VS The Homosapiens Agenda (Becky Albertalli)
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Stephen Chbosky)
- Fangirl (Rainbow Rowell)
- Obsidian (Jennifer L. Armentrout)
- Poison Study (Maria V. Snyder)
I did read a lot of amazing books in high school, now that I think of it. I remember reading more and more in English instead of buying the translated editions, as I got more confident in my language skill level. The book that really got me into reading in English was The Fault in Our Stars – a friend of mine recommended it to me and I ended up loving it and several more of John Green’s books 🥰 In general, I was fortunate enough to have some friends in high school that also loved to read. One of them recommended that I read Vampire Academy and Obsidian, which was amazing because we would discuss books on the bus ride to school 💛 Another friend would sometimes lend me books that ended up becoming new favorites for me, among them were The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Simon VS the homosapiens agenda! We also all bought and buddy read Fangirl together and read it on a school trip that took place at Oxford, still one of my fondest memories 🥺 I was also obsessed with the Shadow Falls books, Grave Mercy and Holly Bourne books (that I discovered by chance) 🌸 And of course I also read The Hunger Games – still a classic even now, it definitely aged better than Divergent. The last book I read before High School graduation was Poison Study, it was my book for between classes, as I used to have bigger free periods!
Now (2016-2020) … Top 10 Books I read in the past 4 years
- Red Queen (Victoria Aveyard) 💗 read in 2016
- Truthwitch (Susan Dennard) 💗 read in 2016
- Queens of Geek (Jen Wilde) 💗 read in 2017
- The Hate U Give (Angie Thomas) 💗 read in 2017
- The Black Prism (Brent Weeks) 💗 read in 2017
- Vicious (V.E. Schwab) 💗 read in 2018
- Ace of Shades (Amanda Foody) 💗 read in 2018
- Renegades (Marissa Meyer) 💗 read in 2018
- Notes on a Nervous Planet (Matt Haig) 💗 read in 2019
- Jackaby (William Ritter) 💗 read in 2020
I didn’t participate in the best books of the decade posts that went around at the end of last year as I barely remember the early 2010s but for this post, I decided to list the ten best books I have read in the past 4 years. 2016 is when I graduated from high school and truly got back to reading again. I started my first blog and joined Goodreads to try and set myself a Reading Challenge. It worked and now we’re here 🥰 I read so many amazing books in the last years and I’m so happy that I have made reading a regular habit again, because I really enjoy it. Reigniting my passion for reading is one of the best things I did after graduation as it connected me with the bookish community (you guys 💕) and provided me with books that made me laugh, cry and got me obsessed! (stopping here before I get even more teary-eyed 🥺) I have so many books that I love but these ones have a special place in my heart 💗
Happy World Book Day!! 🌸💗
Have you read any books on my list? What are your favorite childhood books? Are there any books that you changed your minds on? 📚
The Bookcheshire Cat 
Omg Inkheart!! That brings back so many memories. I loved reading that whole trilogy all through middle school ❤ It's making me feel so nostalgic right now haha! The Hunger Games too. I can't help but think of all my friends binge reading the entire series and gushing over it. I really should reread both series, its been too long! 😀
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The Inkheart Trilogy was honestly amazing, I loved it so much and definitely need to do a reread! 🥰 Oh, I also have so many fond memories of the YA classics! I reread The Hunger Games last year and it was a fantastic idea as I still love the books so much 😊
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Enid Blyton books were my life when I was a small one! I also loved Jacqueline Wilson books and when I was a teenager I loved all of the “classic” YA books like Twilight and The Hunger Games 😀
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Oh yes! I loved the Hanni & Nanni books so much, I read so many of the books in the series 🥰 I definitely still enjoy The Hunger Games, it’s a YA classic that is amazing even on a reread 😄
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Happy World Book Day!!
I always love seeing this type of thing 😀 We read pretty different books as kids – probably because of growing up in different countries – but it was so interesting to see where we overlapped. I remember reading Cornelia Funke, but I think they were mostly older MG or YA books like Inkheart, not young childrens books. Of course I read Percy Jackson and Harry Potter, though!! Haha I love that you read horse books – I definitely went through a horse girl phase and read a TON of horse books 😉 Several of the books you read in high school are still some of my faves! The Fault in Our Stars was one of the first YA books that I really loved, as I recall. And seeing all your favorites from the past few years is really cool! 😀
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Happy World Book Day to you too! 📖
Thank you, I’m happy to hear that! 🥰 I always like seeing what everyone else is read as a kid as well, it’s so cool to see the reading journey 📚 The Inkheart series by Cornelia Funke is pretty popular and I love it so much! Plus Percy Jackson and Harry Potter are always a classic 💗 Happy to hear that you had a horse phase as well and that I wasn’t alone with it 😄
I reread The Fault in Our Stars last year and it was so much fun!
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Ooh great post!! I loved Obsidian and Vampire Academy!! Some of the first books that got me into reading and blogging 🤩🤩 Ruby red is also an amazing series! And Truthwitch is one of my new fav series from last year! 🙂
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Thank you so much! 🥰 So happy to hear that you like both of them! Obsidian is what got me into Jennifer L. Armentrout’s books and I used to be obsessed with Vampire Academy as well 😄 So happy to hear that you like Truthwitch, it’s such an amazing book! 💕
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This was such a fun post to read; I really enjoyed seeing where we overlap. I also had a major Twilight phase before realizing it was super problematic, but honestly I’ve been weirdly in the mood to try rereading the series again? idk.
I still haven’t read any of the Percy Jackson series and I feel like I should.
Also, I’m so happy to see the Lux series on your list!! I liked those books a lot when I read them as a teen and feel very nostalgic whenever I see them.
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Thank you so much! 🥰 I definitely had some fond moments with Twilight back when all my friends were reading it 😄 I’ve seen some people reread Twilight recently, slow you could go for it as well!
I hope you give Percy Jackson a chance, it’s such a fast-paced comfort series! 😊 I definitely feel so much nostalgia about the Lux series and I really need to read past book one, as it’s the only one I’ve read so far 😮
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this is such an adorable post ❤ I remember reading Twilight when I was in the 4th or 5th grade. Looking back, I can't believe I was that young when I first started the series. I was 10, but again, my best friend at that time got me soo hooked into it that I ended up loving Twilight so much 🙂 But I do agree, some problematic elements emerged when I grew older haha.
Many of the books you listed here were some of my faves also, such Percy Jackson, The Hunger Games, and Red Queen 🙂 Thanks for sharing your fave books, it was lovely seeing what you loved to read.
jillian @ jillian etc.
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Thank you so much! 🥰 I still remember reading Twilight when I was younger with all my friends and it made for such fond memories as we were all obsessed with it 😄
I’m so happy to hear that! I still love all of them to this day and that’s always lovely 😊 Thank you for reading!
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I have so much love for Percy Jackson and Ruby Red, I adored both when I read them for the first time back in high school. I agree about Twilight and Mortal Instruments. I pushed through and finished TMI, however, I stopped enjoying it after the third novel, and I definitely wouldn’t enjoy the series today. I tried other novels by Clare, like Lady Midnight, but nothing ever worked for me after I fell out of love with her novels. I’ve gotten rid of Evernight, but yes, those books were such a big part of my life as a child.
I also started to read more in English in high school, which was so great, because I was reading a lot, and at certain points I had read everything I was interested in in Hungarian. I loved Hunger Games, Vampire Academy, Obsidian and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. I so badly want to reread the Hunger Games after seeing some reread reviews that remained positive, but I’m too lazy to do it on my own, haha. This is such a great post, and I’m happy that so many of your old favorites remained books you still enjoy. 🙂
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I still love Percy Jackson and Ruby Red so much, I’m definitely due for a reread 🥰 I gave away all my TMI books by now, though I still like The Infernal Devices, even after a reread! I have Lady Midnight still on my TBR, but it’s the last Clare book I’ll try 😅
Oh, I love all these books to this day, though I have to reread Vampire Academy soon and then read the spinoff books 😄 Maybe you need to look out for a Hunger Games Readalong then, that could be fun 😊 Thank you so much! 💛
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Ooh, the VA spin-off, Bloodlines, is another favorite of mine! I actually liked it more than VA, I think. I do hope you’ll love that series. 😀
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