Tuesday 1 April 2014

Top Ten "Gateway" Books/Authors In My Reading Journey

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme run by The Broke and the Bookish.This week we discuss books and authors that sparked our passion for reading, introduced us to new genres or even got us BACK into reading! I really enjoyed making this list, and remembering books that I’ve loved, and I really hope I get the chance to do a similar post in a year or two and see what genres, new books and authors I can add.


I went through a really bad reading slump that lasted years. Literally! When I was a kid, everything was so much simpler: I read The Baby-Sitters Club, Nancy Drew, Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, Animorphs, and anything else I could find in the library. Then, as we all do, I grew up.

Then along came Twilight and it hit me over the head with the paranormal. As a teen, I’d watched TV shows like Buffy, Angel and Charmed, and I’m not sure if many remember or know of a show called Most Haunted… but I loved it! I guess the appeal was always there, but it just took something to make me realise that I could love all things spooky in book form, as well as on screen. I haven’t looked back since!


My journey begins with a little book called Twilight.

Twilight unleashed my desire to read anything and everything involving vampires – and I mean everything! I read both:



2. Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris


- which I've completed.


3. The Black Dagger Brotherhood Series by J.R Ward


- which I don't think I'll continue.


These two series got me interested in Urban Fantasy, which got me hooked on my fourth choice:


I love ghost stories, and Cassie has her own resident spook, Billy Joe. That series introduced me to my fifth choice, Victoria Laurie, and she had two series:



5. Psychic Eye Mysteries by Victoria Laurie


5. Ghost Hunter Mysteries by Victoria Laurie


I kind of got a little burn out on all things paranormal about the time the New Adult genre kicked off, and I was looking for a change. That’s when I fell in love with:


After reading a bunch of contemporary I started missing paranormal books and I was beginning to get curious about Young Adult again. That's when I was introduced to Daemon Black...


I loved it! I began thinking, if I can love a series with aliens and a more Sci-Fi feel than other books I’ve read before… I should end up loving:


This series got me hooked on Dystopian books, but more specifically Young Adult, and I’m finding it hard to break away from them for too long! From here, I discovered both:



9. Penryn and the End of Days Series by Susan Ee


10. Under the Never Sky Trilogy by Veronica Rossi


I'm glad I was limited to ten choices, it forced me to be really specific with the books and authors I chose, and I tried to choose only my favourites from each reading "phase" I went through! What do you think of my list? Also, do you have any recommendations for similar books to any of these series/trilogies?


18 comments:

  1. I think Twilight encouraged me to read more paranormal books! Great list :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Twilight opened the door to all books for me! I am doing a reread this month actually! I'm super excited to visit these characters again and remember why I loved it so much! Great List!

    Kristalyn @ The Sarcastic Palmtree
    My TTT

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oohh! I hope you love it just as much this time! I'm terrified to reread it, and I doubt I ever will... I want it to stay nice and safe on it's pedestal!

      Delete
  3. The Twilight Saga is on so many people's lists this week! How interesting...I never could get into it! Maybe I'll give it a try again...

    Sam @ Ellipsis Comma Dash
    My TTT

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. With Twilight... if I read it for the first time now, I'm not sure I would like it as much. It got be reading again, so it'll always be on a pedestal in my eyes!

      Delete
  4. Great book choices. I kinda forgot about Twilight =/ I think I may have inadvertently blocked it out because of how much I disliked the movies.
    Monique @Mo Books
    My TTT

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Totally agree, the movies were a big let down. I've tried to separate the two, but it's hard!

      Delete
  5. Your list is awesome! I like how twilight started our love for YA

    Here's our TTT
    Doris @ OABR

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! It's the first book I really got so wrapped up in, I just had to keep reading. It opened up so many doors to other awesome books I never would have tried otherwise.
      Thanks so much for stopping by!

      Delete
  6. Ahahahah I also liked Twilight, but I never went on to read the sequels. I don't think it had a huge impact on me though, but I did read it before all the hype.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL! It's the book that gave me a good kick on the rear and got me reading again, so I'm in a lot of debt to it! Thanks for stopping by, Val!

      Delete
  7. This is a great list! I just read the entire Under the Never Sky Trilogy and thought it was wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ohh I love it, too! It was so nice to avoid the love-triangle predictability. Thanks for stopping by Caitie!

      Delete
  8. EEP!! Victoria Laurie!! I looooooooove her books! They are just so freaking awesome and fun! And there are some pretty scary moments in her Ghost Hunter series! I remember reading some of the first ones when I was home alone and every time the house creaked, I freaked out!

    And yay Angelfall! That is another amazing read!

    I keep debating over Rossi's books but I might have to try them out one day!

    Here's my Tuesday post

    Have a GREAT day!

    Old Follower :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hahaha! Me too! I remember reading one of the books, I think it was the second one in her Ghost Hunters series, with the axe murder running through the woods? I was shaking! So entertaining.

      You should definitely give Under the Never Sky a chance! There's no love-triangle (thankfully!!) It's easily in my top three all-time favourite series.

      Delete
  9. I love your List..
    I nominated you for a Liebster Award..
    http://gatewaytodifferentworld.blogspot.in/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for the nomination! I just posted one this week =) It might be a while before I get a chance to write it up, but I'll definitely answer your questions and post it, thank you!

      Delete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...