1. HARRY POTTER- in 8th grade (2001-2002), I was still refusing to buy into the Harry Potter hype. I will never forget my dear friend Matt who sat next to me in US History class and persuaded me to try Harry Potter. By that time, the first four books were out, and I devoured them quickly. I remember staying up late, turning on all the lights in the house as I finished Chamber of Secrets. Matt and I actually pretended to be Harry and Hermione, and we had another friend named Andrew who was Ron. WOW... LOL I haven't thought about that in so long!!
2. Into the Jungle by Sean Carroll- my college Evolution professor assigned this book to our class, and it introduced me to a world of beautiful science writing. This book takes a popular press look at the pioneers of evolutionary theory by turning each discovery into a short story.
3. The Mark of the Lion trilogy/Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers- my mom is a major Francine Rivers fan, and as soon as she deemed me old enough, she gave me these books to read. The romance and action in these books is excellent!
4. The Mortal Instruments series- as you could tell from Harry Potter, for some reason I always miss the beginning of epic new series, and then I resist joining the crowd. My BFF from college tried to get me to read these for several years, and when I finally did, I was blown away. Now I text her somewhat obsessively about them- movie news, how much I love Alex Pettyfer, who is hotter- Jace or Will (right now I'm definitely going with JACE!)
5. Twilight- the above mentioned BFF (MRT!) dragged me to see New Moon on her birthday, and I was hooked. She also gave me the Edward poster that hangs on my wall now (behind the door, so visitors don't see it haha)
6. Hunger Games- I credit this recommendation to YOU GUYS- book bloggers made me so interested in this series that I checked it out and really enjoyed it!
7. Tamora Pierce books- in middle school I read a couple of the Alanna books, but my library didn't have the rest and I lost interest. In high school, my friend Karin read them all the time and told me how much I'd enjoy them. Now they are my all-time favorite books!
8. Freak the Mighty- my 8th grade Language Arts teachers made me read this, and I loved it, even though I probably never would have picked it up otherwise!
9. Jane Eyre- I credit this to the PGCPS high school summer reading list! I actually read this one, despite it being "long and boring," and of course I ended up going totally nuts for the story and Mr. Rochester.
10. Teach With Your Heart by Erin Gruwell- this book was written by the Freedom Writer's teacher, and it was given to me by one of my mentor teachers at a middle school. What better way to recommend a book to someone than to give it to them!?
This was a great list topic, and I look forward to checking out your lists! Thanks for reading!
Mortal Instrument series is on my list as well. I am so glad I took my student's recommendation for the series, b/c it's one of my favs. Great list!
ReplyDeleteGreat list! We have a lot of books in common and I even forgot to add Tamora Pierce's Alanna to mine :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by my blog. I had a teacher drop by the library today and tell me that he never would have read Hunger Games if we hadn't selected it as a all-school read book. And he was surprised that he really liked it. Ah-h- the power of the recommendation.
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