TTT: Books I Wish I Had Read as a Child

It’s Top Ten Tuesday time! This week’s prompt is so fun, because I always felt I grew up with very different books and series than some of my non-Dutch peers. So I can definitely think of a few books I wish I’d read as a child.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. You can find all the prompts on her page! Like it says in the title, this week’s prompt is books I wish I’d read as a child. A very long time ago, I made a post about my childhood favorites, and like half of them are Dutch cultural icons. However, when I worked at Barnes & Noble I realized I had not read 90% of the American cultural phenomena.

So here’s a list

• Percy Jackson
  Actually really anything by Rick Riordan.
  Maybe I lived under a rock but I’m pretty sure this series didn’t even exist in the Netherlands. And I was like 11 when it came out, which I believe is prime Percy Jackson reading age.
• Twilight
  Okay so I thought Twilight came out when I was like 14, because that’s when everyone became crazy about it. Turns out it was originally published in 2005?! Who even knew. Sometimes I kind of wish I read this when it was popular because I feel like I would have enjoyed it. Now, however, I know that I won’t.
• A Series of Unfortunate Events
  This series also did not exist in the Netherlands. I don’t know about its popularity because it’s slightly older (came out in 1999), but I saw the movie once and I actually had fun watching it. I feel like this is another series that I would’ve liked as a kiddo, but not as an adult.
• Coraline
  Not gonna lie, I still want to read this book. The movies was freaky and the book is supposed to be super spooky too. Sign me right up! It would’ve been fun to read as a child though, because the scare factor would’ve been so much higher! On the other hand, I also know I was a wimp (I still am, who am I kidding), so I might’ve put it aside forever.
• Artemis Fowl
  I remember my friend really liking this series, but like, back when we were in high school. This proves that it definitely existed in The Netherlands, but how popular it was? No clue. Either way, it seems like fun and something I would’ve enjoyed as a kid.

More books this way!

• Inkheart
  One of my other good friends from elementary school was obsessed with this series. I honestly wanted to read it because the book is BIG and the cover is pretty. By now I’ve read Inkheart, but I feel like I would’ve enjoyed it a great deal better if I read it as a child like I was supposed to.
• Anne of Green Gables
  I owned this book. I don’t know where it went. It just disappeared on me one day, unread. I know the tv series garnered a lot of hype a while ago, and it suddenly made me feel like I should’ve read the book when I owned it.
• Keeper of the Lost Cities
  So this book first came out when I was almost 18, so I never could’ve had the chance to read it as a child. However, it would’ve been so much fun if this series existed during my younger years! I still really enjoy these books, but the overall experience would’ve been better if I were 12 or 13. A wee little pre-teen frustrated by adults.
• The Famous Five
  I read only a single book of the Famous Five series, and I don’t know why I never picked up another. I had a lot of fun reading it. Unfortunately, I learned that Enid Blyton was a horrible person in real life and that definitely taints my opinion of the books now. I should’ve read more of these books when I was still young and innocent.
• The Land of Stories
  This is another series of which the first book came out when I was OLD. I think this series is adorable, and perfect for kids that are stepping away from children’s books, and want to start reading middle grade. However, I think because of that I would’ve enjoyed the series a lot more if I were, let’s say, 10 years old instead of 25.

Wow, ten books! I did not know I could come up with so many. I may give some of these books a try, since there’s nothing really stopping me from reading them. Are there any books you wish you’d read as a chid?

Cover image by Sandra Frey via Unsplash