Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week’s topic is:

Top Ten “Gateway” Books/Authors In My Reading Journey

1. Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer

I have a feeling this series will be on a lot of lists.

When I was in university, I didn’t do much fun or pleasure reading, since so much of my time was spent reading for school. This series absolutely got me back into reading just for fun.

2. Gemma Doyle series by Libba Bray

I will always think of this series as the one that got me into YA. There was Twilight before, and it was fun, but this series touched me on an emotional level and had me looking for anything similar that I could dive into.

3. His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman

This series was challenging because it was a bit mind-bendy but I loved it and wanted to find more books like these to read.

4. The Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin

This was one of the earlier book series that I read. I was always a reader as a kid and this was my number one book obsession.

5. The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander

This series sparked my interest in fantasy as a child. We read the first book in my grade six class and I then spent years tracking down the full series at used bookshops and library sales so that I could find out how it all ended.

6. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

I don’t even know if I can explain how important this book was to my life as a reader, but it definitely opened my eyes to the magic and beauty of words and story-telling.

7. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

For a long time, I was intimidated by the size of these books and the fact that they’re such beloved classics. But after devouring them, I stopped being afraid of reading chunky books.

8. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Like Lloyd Alexander’s books, this captured my imagination and showed me how exciting and fun fantasy books could be.

9. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

This book introduced me to the experience of reading a novel that was a classic and a challenge, with a complicated narrator.

10. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

This book, the first in a series, was my gateway to YA zombie stories, which I just can’t get enough of!!

What’s on your list?