I don't think I've ever done a Top 20 list like this before so I thought it would be fun to see some of the books that I was obsessed with as a kid and maybe even come up with a couple to do a reread of sometime this summer! I know there are going to be some series so I'm just going to list the first book in the series and we'll talk about why I love them so much and that's that I think. For this list I'm going to look at books from middle school and older I think. Basically some of the first books that I remember reading that I was OBSESSED with! Since I read these so long ago not all of them are on my Goodreads, and even some of them on my GoodReads aren't even rated because I read them so long ago and when I did a massive upload to make my shelves on Goodreads to match my actual shelves I marked a lot of books read that I read forever ago so a lot of them have the same read date since I did that, and no ratings.
I tried to even put them in order from least favorite to most favorite BUT it got really tricky because I kept rearranging and putting the order in different ways so I think I finally got a final list, at least what I'm going with. These are the ones that stick out the most in my mind when I think back, so the order might not be completely accurate. I really tried hard to make it a top 10 list but well it didn't cooperate when I was scrolling through my read books on GoodReads.
20. The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
Technically I guess this book probably shouldn't be on this list since I only read the first couple of books but I really loved it and the only reason I didn't keep up with it was that books later on the list had sequels that I would rather read and my birthday book money could only buy so many books. This is also before we had things like eBooks and OverDrive. Teenage me would have been obsessed with OverDrive, and that may have been already a thing then but not something I had or knew about. I didn't get really immersed in Bookworld until the end of high school. Anyways this was one of my Nook Books that I adored! I became really obsessed with Princess Diaries after the movie came out and could not stop rereading this book so I really have no clue why I didn't continue on with the series. I was really a big series girl when I was in elementary/middle school, and although books were always something I had and loved to do I wasn't a huge reader until high school, but obviously, I still have too many favorites to make only a top 10 list.
19. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Inkheart was one of the first big books that I remember reading, and this thing is massive! I think I probably read this one right at the same time as Harry Potter or right after. So big books weren't my norm but this one was an obsession too. I loved the world and the concept of this book and even though it was a series to me it was a standalone book because I never read past this first book. Not too long ago I picked up the second and third book so I really want to reread this whole series now, but I don't know about it. I don't know if what I remember about it still will make me love it today.
18. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
I really remember reading this book in 5th grade because it was one of those books that we read as a class, and then we watched the movie afterward to do a book/movie comparison. Anyways I'm a huge animal person and I know I don't talk much about my personal life but I have 4 dogs and a cat in real life and I love them so much. Even growing up I always had animals and not just the normal dogs and cats, I had horses, cows, pigs, chinchillas, guinea pigs, hamsters, and so on. I just loved animals and this book just broke my heart! I still loved it and there are a couple other books on my list that you'll see that they were something that I read in school that really stuck with me today. We also got to keep the books too which was so cool! I still have my copy.
17. The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks
So this is a book that I read in 8th grade and just loved it! I quickly started picking up Sparks' other work, usually from my mother and I would devour them. Today The Last Song is one of my all-time favorite Sparks books and I reread it from time to time. I really wish I still had this cover! It's one of the books that didn't make the transition to the new home and the version I have now is the movie cover one. I really want to reread this one and do a book/movie comparison with it because it is one of the few Sparks movie adaptations that I don't hate. It doesn't beat the book but it isn't terrible.
16. Dead is the New Black by Marlene Perez
Another thing you are going to notice a lot on my list is old Shay used to be completely obsessed with this supernatural stuff! Dead Is series is something that I never see talked about and I don't know if it is because they came out so long ago or what but I was obsessed with them. I remember this is one of the first series that I got into the habit of always rereading the whole series whenever the newest book would come out because I just loved them so much, plus they were really short books too. I also really loved the aesthetic of these books because they were short paperback books that were bright colors and were just always a fun read to me and I loved them until book 6 I think. Book 6 is when the main characters changed and when we shifted away from the main characters that I loved I just couldn't continue on with it anymore, which is only two more books but still almost teenager me was done with it, which is something that adult me still does. I tend to hate when books shift characters, there are a few exceptions to this, but overall don't get me attached to one set of characters just to focus on someone else I mean at least kill the originals.
15. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter
The Gallagher girls were basically a school for spies in training and it kind of reminds me of vampire academy vibes without any supernatural stuff. I loved this book, and it is another one that is a series that I didn't keep up with, but it is something that I kind of think I want to go back and do a reread of sometime soon and maybe even finish the series out. I just remember being in love with it. It is a young adult book and what's been keeping me from doing is the fact that I loved it so much and I don't think I'm going to feel the same about it now I don't think it will stand up with the times. I think I was in love with it so much because it did give off some Zenon vibes because the main character was all the time getting in trouble and I believe she even gets a secret boyfriend and on Zenon's first movie she comes to earth and falls in love with a guy just to leave him. I know it is nothing alike but to me than the vibes of this book and that movie really felt the same.
14. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
You know how kids when they behave in a store they get to get a candy bar or whatever at check out? Well when I behaved I got a book, and I remember we went to my favorite bookstore (still my favorite today) and they had the first three books on sale, super cheap, and at the time these were the only three that existed. So I talked my grandmother into getting them for me. I think we got to go because we going to my grandparents' house for a week and I was not happy about it. I was so mad and this was kind of the placate me. I've always been the type of kid that would have to take a bag of books wherever I went and since I was going to my grandparents' house I got to get a new book. Well, that whole week I refused to get out of bed because I was reading. I literally stayed up all night because I was a brat and would barely sleep because I didn't want to be there and these books were interesting so I stayed in bed and read these books. Looking back I don't get why I was being such a brat, but these books were really good and I read all three of them back to back in a span of probably five days. It was the only thing I was doing and by the time I was done, I was so sick that I had to go home. It really wasn't because I was sick of being there I do remember getting really sick. But either way, I was grounded for a while because I was really rude that week, and I don't even blame getting in trouble because I definitely deserved it. However, that wasn't my only all night reading it was just the first. Anyways like I said I didn't know that this trilogy went way on. By the time that I learned that Clare wrote so many more books all based in this world I kind of grew out of it and haven't been able to get back into this world. I think I might give it one more try since I really want to read Magnus and Alec's story so bad, so we'll see. I'm just really getting further away from young adult books and that's another reason I have been putting off rereading some of my old favorites.
13. Prive by Kate Brian
Man was I hooked on this series! I loved the drama that came with this boarding school and I really wished that I could've gone to boarding school because of the crazy world that was Private. I don't even know why because the girls were all so mean. In middle school, I feel like I had no drama so I loved reading about it because that me really had a very laid back world where if I wasn't in school I was playing softball or at my other grandparents' house where I had horses and four-wheelers. So I loved this series until it got a little weird by trying to add in I think witchcraft. It tried adding in something towards the end of the series that made no sense to me and I really want to say it was some kind of witchcraft and I was just done with the series by then. Which is fine there are some series we just age out of, especially when they are longer series like this. It's on this list because it is something that meant so much to me growing up but overall it isn't something I would ever reread even though I still have the series on my shelves. I kept almost all of these books not just because I want to reread some but also the nostalgia that comes with them and maybe if I ever have kids and they like to read they will have a library of books to pick from.
12. Marked by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
Marked was such a weird series, even for me. But the beginning was pretty good and I remember reading them with my best friend and we would always share the books and talk about them. I think I kept up with them because of her because towards the end I was just so weirded out by the books that I struggled finishing them. I do still have them because I like how they look and I'm a hoarder.
11. Two-Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt
Okay, this is one I've mentioned before on here I think it was the cover for one of the other random posts that I used to do. Anyways I loved this book and I can't remember if I read it in high school or middle school. This is one that I really want to reread. It's about a couple that broke up but still has to go on a cross country road trip and on that road trip they learned the real reason they broke up. I feel like this is something that I would still love today and would love to reread it. It's another book that I never see anyone ever talk about it and it did come out a while ago back in 2007. I also see that there was a companion novel that also pushes me to reread this book to see what my thoughts today would be like, plus I feel like it should be a summer book.
10. The Clique by Lisi Harrison
The girls in this book were so freaking mean to Clare but the Clique series was so fun to read. I remember spending summers just sitting by the pool with my best friend reading these books and I was just so obsessed with them and how they looked. If I remember correctly Clare was my favorite. She moved from I think Florida to wherever the rest of the girls lived, I believe Clare's family wasn't as well off as the rest of the girls' families, and she even lived in the 'leaders' guesthouse. The girls were all mean to Clare and wouldn't let her in their clique. Again I really don't think if I read these books today I would love them as much as I did then. I mean I was obsessed with these things and I think this obsession was right before Twilight came out so maybe even my first book obsession. But if I read them today I think I would get highly annoyed with it. I mean the girls in here start off I think in middle school so the drama is really childish and just very catty. Nonetheless, they are still on my shelves, and something I don't ever see me getting rid of unless I have too.
9. Twilight by Stephanie Meyers
I really couldn't have a list like this without having Twilight on here and I know this came out in middle school, maybe even fifth grade when the first book came out because I remember reading it in sixth grade. Who wasn't obsessed with these books when they came out. Now I loved the movies too. I wasn't really big on comparing books to movies back then so it wasn't a huge deal. But I hated that the last movie was broken into two parts because I know that the last book was the longest and everything but that last book I hated it because it was drawn out! Like the movie I think did so much better but part two. Part one could be shorted and attached to part two, I think. Anyways these books I know I really want to reread because I'm so curious how I will think of them today. I kind of want to do a book/movie thing with all four of them. I might even do that really soon. I just know they won't stand up to how I felt about them then. But preteen/teenager me was OBSESSED! I was team Jacob all the way. I remember getting these knee-high converses that I would have to wear with my best friend to the midnight premieres back when those were big things to do. We would even have our moms take us on school nights because we thought we were that cool. I remember all of this is with the same girl who is still one of my friends today so it's hilarious talking to her about all of these books today for this post. But she totally agrees that they won't stand up today. But we'll just see. I think if I go in with an open mind I hope I'll be surprised. I don't even remember the last time I read them.
8. Maximum Ride by James Patterson
Back in the day, James Patterson used to write a lot of books for a lot of different ages, I think this is before he started having a lot of cowriters too. I used to be in love with this series and this series was a roller coaster I swear. It was about a group of orphans who had been experimented on and they have these huge wings. Over the span of the whole series, we learn about each one individually, who was doing these experiments and also get to watch them try to be just kids too. This series is what turned me to Patterson because I loved his writing style and the short chapters made it fly by. The thing is with series that are young adults you either have to release them really fast to keep readers involved in the story or have a shorter series. This series has like 9 books in it which again would've been fine if they came out pretty fast after each one, but they didn't. I remember getting into this series pretty late in the game so I had a little to back read on, which was great because I should've have had to wait so long for the next book which I think they always left off on a cliffhanger and really kept the reader engaged because they were really fast reads. However, the first 8 books came out every year, which I think was perfect because you are able to age up with your reader and still keep them interested in the story. However, the last book I think was supposed to be Nevermore which came out in 2012. Like I mentioned Patterson is a very busy author and has a lot going on outside of this series even back then. I loved his Witch & Wizard and Confessions series that was coming out at the same time or right after this series did. But this series I think kind of fell off track and so many people had issues with how book 8 ended and that book was called Nevermore: The Final Ride originally. That it caused him to go back in and give it a proper ending. It did leave off on a cliffhanger if I remember correctly. So the final book came out a couple years later and by that time I had a hard time getting into it even though I was so excited about this book because I loved this world. I even remember rereading the whole series because it was a while since the 8th book. It was just so weird and then that was it. I still love Patterson's work and I love most of this series but I learned that I need to wait for the whole series to come out to really keep me involved in the series. But even today I refuse to read series back to back because I don't want to get burnt out on the story.
7. Penelope by Marilyn Kaye
Now, this is a movie book cover that I love! I loved the whole story and the movie. It was just so cute and wholesome. I think I loved it so much because it really gave a twist to one of my all-time favorite fairytales, Beauty and the Beast. This time it is the girl who gets swamped into the 'beast.' Even to this day, I love rereading it and rewatching the movie. I don't think I ever see anyone talk about this one. So this might be a reread I need to do. Now this book came out after the movie so I feel like the two should definitely follow each other identically so we'll just have to see.
6. Secrets of My Hollywood Life by Jen Calonita
These top 6 books are so hard to rearrange I still keep rearranging them so I just decided that there will be no way that I love them in order because there is just no right order for them. Anyways this whole series by Jen Calonita was so amazing. I remember falling in love with the way they were all written! I loved how there was the mix writing because you got bits of their scripts, text messages, and even articles thrown in and I think this is where my love for that type of thing really started. I adored Kaitlin in the whole series. I know this is where my love for these actress/Hollywood books really started too because it just all fascinates me so much. I think its the undercover stuff too that really got me hooked into this world because I believe Kaitlin pretends to be a normal kid so she disguises herself to go to school and it was just so much fun. Kind of a reverse princess diaries.
5. Glass House by Rachel Caine
This series really grew up with me. I remember getting these books for Christmas and taking them on Christmas holiday all the time! It even started with getting my first book, which was like this one's 8th book in the series first! I ended up getting the rest of the first and I devoured this series. I was really into supernatural stuff back then and this series even had SHANE! Man, I was obsessed! He was my first fictional boyfriend! The whole series follows a girl who is super smart and ends up in college way young when she meets a group of people who she ends up moving in with off-campus because they were so nice to her. But it turns out that there is so much more going on in this small college town then what she even knows about. I remember I got a little burnt out on the series by the end but again it was because the books didn't really age with me which is crazy because these I think are older YA books.
4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
So I really thought this book would come in first because of how many times I reread this series! Harry Potter has always meant so much to me and growing up I would reread them all the time. I know we used to have the audio versions on discs and would listen to them on drives and stuff. When I was younger I remember the later books coming out too, but to be honest they are all younger than me. And this is another one that I would go to the midnight premieres too. This whole world is my favorite book of all time, and if this is a Shay's favorite books of all time I think this would be first. But younger me had a couple more that she was so obsessed with that I couldn't put it first. But I kept inching it up there. I know one's author has been coming under fire lately and I don't condone her actions at all. To be completely honest I totally agree with that conspiracy theory that is going around that says Rowling didn't actually write these books she is just the person that they used as the 'author' on print. Mostly because of her actions now I know people change as they get older so her opinions of the world could've changed too, and I know you might not be able to remember every single detail of all of the books but come on her whole person has changed since these books. The fact that she tries to say that Cursed Child is canon is ridiculous since it contradicts literally everything in the series. Plus books she has published since Harry Potter is either screenplays that were probably written by the person who made the play/movies that she just stamped her name onto, or the one book that she released is completely different! This is the part that really grabbed me into this conspiracy. Her book that she released after Harry Potter is written in a completely different writing style! I get wanting to change the world and story but you wouldn't change the way you wrote, explained things, and so on. So that is where I jumped on the conspiracy that she didn't write Harry Potter. So everything she ever says about the world now I just completely ignore. Plus lately, I feel like they are trying to squeeze every penny they can from Harry Potter by releasing all of these small companion books now such as Fantastic Beasts, Cursed Child, and even the little side books now like they just released a character book where it talks about the characters. Now am I going to be one of those suckers that buy and enjoy all this stuff? Well of course I will! I will always love this world and I would live at Harry Potter world if I could I just think this fandom is really trying to squeeze everything they can out of it.
3. Evernight by Claudia Gray
Evernight series is another one that is just so aesthetically pleasing to see all stacked up together on my bookcase! I love the bright colors that they have and they just make me so happy to see them. Evernight just like my Harry Potter books is completely falling apart because of how many times I've read and reread it too. I loved Bianca, the vampires, the ghosts, and even the love story in it. It was just a fast pace to read every time. This is definitely something that was so fun to read and will always remain one of my all-time favorite books.
2. The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
The Summoning series is about a group of kids who all have these superpowers but they don't realize that until they are put into a home. Basically gave me X-Men vibes a little bit which is my all-time favorites. The first three books are the only ones I ever read because they follow the same people I remember being so mad too! I think the author kind of just gave up on the series which sucks because it was so good! I really wanted to read Bitten too which is another series by Armstrong but I've been terrified to pick it up because I loved the show, I already know it follows different people in each book, but I'm still hesitant because I don't want to be so upset again if I can avoid it and these books should've had an ending. Like even looking on GoodReads the books end at 3 but I know in the last book they mentioned another book but it was following someone else. I just couldn't do it.
1. The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker
The Frog Princess is a book we read in fourth grade and it was something that I just could not put down! I loved the book and I had so much fun reading it and then it turned out to be a series! It was just so cute. Fourth grade wasn't my best year either because the teacher was literally so mean to me! Looking back I see that as the year that my creativity was just stomped on so much by an authority person that I still get a little upset that kid me had to endure that. But to be fair I was obsessed with making up stories and they were all about man-eating creatures. Well, these man-eating creatures were all made up of things like I made a man-eating Spongebob story, man-eating Santa Clause, and so on. I don't know why I was just obsessed! It got to the point where the teacher would make us write creative stories and she would tell me if I mention a man-eating creature I would automatically fail! Looking back I feel like that teacher should've helped me express my creativity versus tearing it down like she did. I'm not sure that is what she meant to do but she definitely did and I never mentioned man-eating creatures or even write my own stuff for people to see. But one good thing that came from this class was my love for this book. It was so fun and it was cute to read, and I still have most of the books today.
Honorable Mention
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
I honestly can't remember what year we had to read this book but I loved it! Winnie was amazing and I so wanted to run away with the Tuck family when I was kid! I had a great childhood but I couldn't help it I just loved this story and this world so much. The movie just cannot compare whenever I watch the movie I have to read the book too.
