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| A book of goodies unearthed! |
Recently, when I was back home in Australia, I had a job to
do. While staying at my parent’s place, I had to clean out a bunch of old
things in the cupboard which had been boxed up and were gathering dust. Mostly,
it was old ballet costumes, wedding paraphernalia, and paperwork that needed shredding.
However, I did stumble across a treasure trove of old books.
A bunch of my old favourites were sitting there like a time
capsule. Sweet Valley High, Goosebumps, Fears Street, Nancy Drews and more.
I had a great time rifling through the old books, some of which
were older than me!
I thought it might be fun to share some of my favourite
books from my childhood and teen years with you all.
Sweet Valley High:
Man, I LOVED these books. As a self-confessed goodie two shoes I was totally Team
Elizabeth, although I did devour The Unicorn Club books when they had a
short-lived run (well, short-lived by SVH standards, anyway). I’m certain The
Unicorn Club was the inspiration for Mean Girls. I also dabbled with Sweet
Valley Twins, Sweet Valley University and many of the other spin-offs.
Fear Street / Teen
Horror: I feel like teen horror was the big thing back when I was growing
up. Those that outgrew Goosebumps moved onto R.L Stine’s older line of books
which had all kinds of horrors like family curses, ghosts, vampires, cursed
cars (yes, The
Cataluna Chronicals were indeed about a haunted car), evil twins and
step-siblings, haunted houses and more. I was also a huge fan of Christopher Pike
and the Point Horror books.
Nancy Drew: Man,
I gobbled these up pre my foray into Agatha Christie. Mystery is a genre that
has always been close to my heart and I think it started here. In fact, I
really want to go back and re-read a bunch of the Nancy Drew novels.
Unfortunately, the ones I found at home wouldn’t fit in my suitcase but they’re
in my old cupboard for safekeeping.
V.C Andrews:
Looking back, I probably started reading these books earlier than I should
have. There’s definitely some mature content! In my defence, I did start with
the teen series (The
Orphans and The
Wildflowers) before moving onto the more adult series. Although, confession
time, of all the VC Andrews books I’ve read I STILL have not read Flowers in
the Attic. Sad, I know. Must fix that.
What were some of your favourite books to read as kid or
teenager? I’d love to hear about them!
Hi Stefanie
ReplyDeleteIsn't it lovely finding things that have been packed away :)
I loved the Enid Blyton Secret Seven and Famous Five stories and I also had a real thing for Agatha Christie stories and then I moved onto Woman's Weekly romance magazine and Woman's Day Magazine/comic loved them
Have Fun
Helen
Oh yes, I remember the Enid Blyton books! Had a few of those when I was a young girl :)
DeleteI loved Nancy Drew, Stef. Great stories.
ReplyDeleteI'm like Helen, I read all the Enid Blyton series. My favourite was Malory Towers - boarding school sounded so exciting with all those midnight feasts.
I don't think I've ever read a Malory Towers book but they sound fun!
DeleteI loved Malory Towers too, Jen! And believe it or not,I saw the set down at my local QBD today. I'm tempted to go back and buy it. :-)
DeleteI was really into the Enid Blyton Secret Seven and Famous Five stories as a kid, and I glommed onto the VC Andrews Flowers in the Attic series as a young teen before being introduced to romance novels by a grandmotherly neighbour.
ReplyDeleteSadly, my parents thought it would be a nice thing to donate all my books to the Crippled Children's Society without asking me if there were specific books I wanted to keep. I still remember how bereft I was when I found out what they'd done! It's turned me into a completely sentimental pack-rat now and I haven't allowed my kids (now both in their mid 20s) to part with a single thing! Which makes storage an interesting subject in our house ;-).
We had to have that discussion when I was staying at mum and dad's - the storage is a REAL issue! I would have loved to have kept them (as would mum) but there was just nowhere for them to go :( So I only held onto a small stack.
DeleteHmmm. Mine where Sweet Valley High, its spin offs, The Babysitters Club and Baby-Sitters Little Sister.
ReplyDeleteThere were so many spin offs in the SV universe! Same with the Babysitters Club, I loved them too :)
DeleteOh, yes, I read the Sweet Valley High books too, Stef. And do you remember the Sweet Dream series? I devoured them as a teenager too. Rather than Nancy Drew I was a big Trixie Beldon fan. Oh, the joys of our youthful reading (and, yes, I was one of those who did read Flowers in the Attic). :-)
ReplyDeleteI never read any of the Sweet Dreams books, but I know so many people who loved them back in the day!
DeleteMy favourite series was the Bobbsie Twins and I have always had a soft spot for Clover Coverdale which, when I revisited lately, was about a teenager who loses all her family. What grim stuff.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, that is a very sad story!
DeleteI was a total Enid Blyton fan, too. I adored her Mallory Towers and constantly begged my mum to send me to boarding school- so glad she didn't now!! I moved on to Agatha Christie, I think I read them all, then Thomas Hardy (through one of my darker phases) and Virginia Andrews... le sigh. I wonder how much I'd enjoy them all now?
ReplyDelete