Hey guys! Today I’m coming at you with a blog post – it’s not a discussion or a recommendations post – it’s just me… talking without purpose or a theme??? I have no idea… but, anywayyy, today I’m going to be telling you about the books I loved when I was younger – splitting the books into what I really enjoyed reading in primary school and in high school.

PRIMARY SCHOOL (5 -11)

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HARRY POTTER

I mean, if you guys know me you probably know of my love for Harry Potter. I don’t talk about the series all that often because I feel like everyone knows about Harry Potter and is there even all that more to say about the series at this point. This was not the series that got me into reading but, it is the series I remember loving and re-reading the most when I was younger, and I’m pretty sure that no matter what JKR says, I will still love the series even when I’m old and smelly.

THE GOLDEN DOOR

I love this series and wish everyone would just go ahead and read this. I feel like this trilogy and its author is basically Australian royalty and yet so many people haven’t read any of her books??? And yet here I am sitting in a corner all alone just loving her Doors trilogy. Basically, this trilogy is genius and it deserves so much more recognition.

HENRY HOEY HOBSON

This book is my childhood. It’s set literally across the road from where I live and I love it very much. It’s a fun and short middle-grade novel that I like to read whenever I feel really sick. I love this book and it honestly just feels like home because of how many times I’ve read it.

PERCY JACKSON

I mean, come on, it as a given, right?? When I was in the 6th grade my teacher attempted to read Percy Jackson to a class full of non-readers, excluding myself and pretty much one other student. So, she gave up on that pretty quickly but I ended up getting the book out from the library because I just love it so much and then I ended up reading and finishing it a couple of days later. This series is pretty much what I remember the most from my primary school days.

HIGH SCHOOL (12-17)

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THE LUNAR CHRONICLES

I’ll be honest, I flew through this series really quickly, I think I read the first three in something like a week. But, I haven’t actually re-read the entire series in YEARS. Which kind of makes me feel bad because this used to be one of my absolute faves so why haven’t I re-read it since? I am thinking, though that I will re-read the whole series (probably minus Fairest & Stars Above) this year, so if any of you guys wanna buddy read, hit me up!

THE GIVER

I love this book and it hurts me when people say they didn’t like it because they thought the movie was pretty shit and so they won’t read the book. Guys, please don’t do that. The movie is terrible, please read the book.

This is one of my favourite books and I wish that everyone would read it. You don’t have to read the whole series, just read The Giver and love it and absorb how amazing and smart the book is.

FAHRENHEIT 451

I love this book. It is the bee’s knees and I wish that more people would read it even though it’s a classic and everyone hates classics. I love this book and I think about it quite often and I’ll be honest I’ll start a conversation about someting just so I can segway into comparing it to something in this book. Basically, I love it and wish more people would read it.

WHAT WERE YOUR FAVOURITE BOOKS GROWING UP?

DID I MISS OUT ON ANY OF YOUR FAVOURITES?

HAVE HAVE 

Hey guys, today I’m coming at you (finally) with some more recommendations, this time starring middle-grade novels! Recommendations posts are some of my favourites to write and lately, I’ve been feeling like reading some more middle-grade, though I honestly can’t think of any I might like to read, so I figured recommending some might give me an idea or two.

Remember, if it’s in red, it’s a link!

DELTORA QUEST – EMILY RODDA

Okay, so this is a fantastic series (that being said, I’ve only read book 1). It’s basically an Australian modern children’s classic and it’s not hard to figure out why. This series also has a tv show based closely on it which is suitable for young children and still fun for adults to watch. It’s a fun but long series, it’s very original (like all of Rodda’s books) and all the novels are all really short, under 150 pages each.

Deltora Quest is a fun and extremely unique series for all ages – great for getting young kids into reading.

 

THE THREE DOORS TRILOGY – EMILY RODDA

More Emily Rodda? Hell yeah! She’s the queen of middle-grade.

This is one of my top 3 series of all time. Like, Deltora Quest this trilogy is incredibly original. Rodda creates the most fantastic and intricate world, they’re so complex and her characters all so different – I honestly don’t understand why more people haven’t read this.

Honestly, I will never get sick of this series – it is just too good! Rodda just knows how to create a series that will have you on the edge of your seat!

 

ALEX RIDER – ANTHONY HOROWITZ

Even though I am almost 18 years old I still love this series. Is that sad? I hope not, these are really cleverly put together spy series.

Alex Rider is a super smart spy series, I’m currently re-reading it and I’m seriously loving it even though I’m no longer an 11 year old child, but hey, there’s a reason why Horowitz has had so many of his book published.

Alex Rider is basically a young James Bond, just less sexist. Murder? Mystery? Spies? This stuff is my jam.

 

PERCY JACKSON – RICK RIORDAN

Do I even need to say anything?

• Mythology.
• Rick Riordan’s writing.
• Hilarious MC.
• You will learn while you read, and not even notice that you have suddenly accumulated all this knowledge about Greek mythology.
• Easily re-readable.

 

HARRY POTTER – J. K. ROWLING

I’ll be honest, I’m starting to go off this series. I still love Harry Potter and I will always love Harry Potter. But, I have slowly but surely been falling out of love with J. K. Rowling as a person and in the last year or two, the penny finally dropped.

She has supported the casting of an abuser and has not written Dumbledore being gay into the Fantastic Beasts 2 storyline. And, she’s done a whole lot of other things over the years but these things really tipped the scale and honestly, I don’t even understand the point in trying to support her anymore.

I love Harry Potter, it is basically my childhood, I love how intricate the series is and how much I feel at home when I listen to the audiobooks. But, that doesn’t mean I support Rowling as an author.

AMULET – KAZU KIBUISHI

This is a really fun, easy to read graphic novel series. The mc is a bit meh but the adventure parts of the series and the plot of the series is what really makes it for me, and for a lot of other people I think.

The first 2 graphic novels are reasonably meh but as the series progresses the plot really picks up and becomes a lot of fun! This, like so many of the recommendations on this list is suitable for all ages, though I think it depends on everyone’s genre preferences. I certainly don’t think I would enjoy it as much now, as I did when I was 15 purely because I enjoy different types of stories these days.

 

THE DEEP – TOM TAYLOR

This is what I love about middle-grade: family.

I really enjoyed this comic, it’s about a family of aquanauts who explore the Ocean and who are looking for Atlantis. This is a really fun, lighthearted and interesting comic full of family. This is a really short duology with a great art style and I really do recommend it.

Also, power to Australian comics.

 

ANYA’S GHOST – VERA BROSGOL

This is a great graphic novel and I really wish more people would read this. This is a really important graphic novel – it’s about friendship and fitting in. It’s relatable for anyone who doesn’t fit in. It’s mildly spooky and somewhat predictable.

It’s short and not the best thing you’ll ever read but it packs a punch. It’s a slightly spooky but cute and colourful graphic novel. I definitely, recommend this for a readathon or for around Halloween time.

DO YOU READ MIDDLE-GRADE?  CAN YOU RECOMMEND ANY MG?

FRIDGESANT