TTT: Gateway Books

Gateway Books In My Reading Journey

Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week they have a different Top Ten list topic that a bunch of bloggers take and make their own list of those things.

This week the theme is all about books that changed your reading horizons or opened doors that you never thought would interest you, but did. I love this topic because it shows how much one book can change your whole reading taste. I know I have quite a few of those.

1. Eragon - My First High Fantasy Series 

This was one of my brother's favorite series when we were growing up, but I always said that it was a "boy book" and that I didn't want to read it (my code for these books are huge and scary). But eventually he convinced me to read it thus beginning my love of all things dragons, dwarves, and elves. This definitely was my gateway book into my favorite genre.
 
Books it inspired me to read (directly or indirectly): The Lumatere Chronicles, The Mistborn series, The Lord of the Rings, and so many others.
 

2. The Giver - My First Dystopian.

We had to read this in eighth grade English. Everyone was complaining about how weird it was and how boring, but I was so enthralled by it. The concept of creating a future world through fiction? That's still so cool to me. I was the student who went up to my teacher after class to ask for book recommendations like it.

 

Books it inspired me to read (directly or indirectly): The Hunger Games, Divergent, The House of the Scorpion, Unwind.

 
3. Fairest - The first book that made me cry
The ending of this book is so beautiful. And Aza is so much like me. I understood her struggles and insecurities more than I'd understood any characters' before her. I cried for her when everything was going wrong and I cried for her when everything went right. Her happy ending brought little fourth-grade me solace, and I still try to reread this book every year. It's just very important to me.
 
Books it inspired me to read (directly or indirectly): Alanna: The First Adventure, The Goose Girl, and Enna Burning.
 

4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone- My first Harry Potter book

This series started it all. I was handed my first Harry Potter book at the age of 7. It made me into a reader. It started my love affair with the whimsical and with the underdog story and with themes of heroism and love. I grew up with every one of these characters. Harry Potter was my childhood and I loved every page of it.

 

Books it inspired me to read: Every book I've read since this book. Every. Single. One.

 
 

5. Anna and the French Kiss - my first YA contemporary
By the time I reached adolescence I was thoroughly in love with fantasy in every form. But I'd heard so many great things about this book. It sounded actually cute so I decided to give it a chance, even though it wasn't in my preferred genre. I am so glad that I did. I connected with this story in a way I didn't know I could connect with a contemporary.
 
Books it inspired me to read (directly or indirectly): Fangirl, The Fault in our Stars, Faking Normal.
 

6. Divergent - Opened the Goodreads Gate

The book that made me get a goodreads account. I had browsed Goodreads before, but I made an account because I wanted to vote for Divergent in the Goodreads Awards because I loved it so much. That opened me up to the blogging world and SO many new book recommendations. I've branched out in ways I didn't think I could.

 

Books it inspired me to read (directly or indirectly): Basically every book I've found through Goodreads and other bloggers. So...every book I've read in the last two years.

 

7. Little Women - My First Classic.
I adored this book when I was ten and listened to it 20 times in one summer. With how many times I've reread this book and how well I know these characters, I feel like I grew up with the March sisters. Their struggles have helped me in my struggles. Their growth has inspired my growth. Not many books have become as ingrained in me as this book.
 
Books it inspired me to read (directly or indirectly): Pride and Prejudice, The Help, Alice in Wonderland, and all the other classics I read in my childhood.
 

8. Pride and Prejudice - My First Austen

What a wonderful time in a person's life, their first Austen novel. Thus far I've only read Emma and Pride and Prejudice, but these stories have deeply resonated with my perspective on people and on all kinds of relationships (familial, sibling, and romantic).

 

Books it inspired me to read (directly or indirectly): Jane Eyre and Emma.

 

9. Julius Caesar - My First Shakespeare.
Oddly enough, Romeo and Juliet wasn't my first Shakespeare (and neither was A Midsummer's Night Dream). Though those are the most common. But we read Julius Caesar in my sophomore English class. I really enjoyed it, but what made me love the play was when we saw it performed live. It opened my eyes to the true wit and emotion of Shakespeare's writing. Since then it's been a great love of mine.
 


Books it inspired me to read (directly or indirectly): Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Midsummer's Night Dream.

10. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief - My First of Riordan Book

First off, it was my first introduction to Percy and Annabeth. They've since become some of my very favorite characters and the world that Riordan has created has become one of my favorite worlds. The humor and adventure of these books make them so fun and so fantastic. Since reading this (little more than a year ago) I've read twelve books by Rick Riordan and I have adored every single one of them.

 

Books it inspired me to read (directly or indirectly): The Heroes of Olympus, The Kane Chronicles, and The Rithmatist.