Narnia was a childhood favorite for me, too. My mom read The Horse and His Boy to me, and we both liked it so much we read the rest of the series. Afterwards I read it by myself many times. Then as I grew up, I found The Chronicles of Prydain. It's now my favorite fantasy epic. Both series had excellent character growth and delightful animal characters - I really enjoy those elements!
Overall, the most influential story, and the one that has grown up with me, has been The Last Unicorn; the movie as a child, and the book as a teen to adult. It's one of the most poetic stories I've read... feels truly fantastical and dreamlike to me. I reread it every few years and never tire of it. I hope to capture that sense of magic in my own writing.
Seeing the praise here for The Tale of Despereaux, I wonder how I missed it? Might have to go find that one. (I recently read The Rescuers and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, so mouse stories are of interest right now! :)
Narnia was a childhood favorite for me, too. My mom read The Horse and His Boy to me, and we both liked it so much we read the rest of the series. Afterwards I read it by myself many times. Then as I grew up, I found The Chronicles of Prydain. It's now my favorite fantasy epic. Both series had excellent character growth and delightful animal characters - I really enjoy those elements!
Overall, the most influential story, and the one that has grown up with me, has been The Last Unicorn; the movie as a child, and the book as a teen to adult. It's one of the most poetic stories I've read... feels truly fantastical and dreamlike to me. I reread it every few years and never tire of it. I hope to capture that sense of magic in my own writing.
Seeing the praise here for The Tale of Despereaux, I wonder how I missed it? Might have to go find that one. (I recently read The Rescuers and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, so mouse stories are of interest right now! :)
I always loved the Warriors and Eragon series when I was young, but my absolute favorite was the Song of the Lioness series. Everything about it was directed at me, and it was so imaginative yet real I just fell in love.
Nowadays I don't read so often, but I've been picking it up again. Back when I still did, I was transitioning into "adult" level books from YA, and the last one I remember clearly was Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson.
I read Elantris about a week and a half ago because I was bored at work, and it triggered my obsession with high fantasy haha. Since then I reread Warbreaker, and read Words of Radiance and The Way of Kings for the first time. So, I'd go ahead and say Sanderson's novels are my favorites now haha. Absolutely fantastic author.
Now I'm about to read Mistborn, though we'll see how that goes... I accidentally learned of a death spoiler the first time I tried to read it and I was positively traumatized.
I always loved the Warriors and Eragon series when I was young, but my absolute favorite was the Song of the Lioness series. Everything about it was directed at me, and it was so imaginative yet real I just fell in love.
Nowadays I don't read so often, but I've been picking it up again. Back when I still did, I was transitioning into "adult" level books from YA, and the last one I remember clearly was Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson.
I read Elantris about a week and a half ago because I was bored at work, and it triggered my obsession with high fantasy haha. Since then I reread Warbreaker, and read Words of Radiance and The Way of Kings for the first time. So, I'd go ahead and say Sanderson's novels are my favorites now haha. Absolutely fantastic author.
Now I'm about to read Mistborn, though we'll see how that goes... I accidentally learned of a death spoiler the first time I tried to read it and I was positively traumatized.
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WorldsTraveler
I highly recommend The Tale of Despereaux! I have to admit to not remembering much, but I still remember it being a wonderful story nonetheless, epecially since you've been reading stories centered around mice as of late! (Speaking of, while I never had the chance to read the book, I really did enjoy the movie for NIMH. The Rescuers movie was cute too.)
Funny though, The Last Unicorn really scared me as a kid (the movie), and I never watched it after that because I was just so afraid of it! I think there was a death somewhere in the movie that really scared me, but I was around the age of 4-5, so it's impossible to recall the details. Do you happen to know where I can read it though? I'd be willing to, after all these years.
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Glutamine
I wish you luck on the book, then! Spoilers suck, but hopefully that doesn't ruin the experience as a whole for you.
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WorldsTraveler
I highly recommend The Tale of Despereaux! I have to admit to not remembering much, but I still remember it being a wonderful story nonetheless, epecially since you've been reading stories centered around mice as of late! (Speaking of, while I never had the chance to read the book, I really did enjoy the movie for NIMH. The Rescuers movie was cute too.)
Funny though, The Last Unicorn really scared me as a kid (the movie), and I never watched it after that because I was just so afraid of it! I think there was a death somewhere in the movie that really scared me, but I was around the age of 4-5, so it's impossible to recall the details. Do you happen to know where I can read it though? I'd be willing to, after all these years.
@
Glutamine
I wish you luck on the book, then! Spoilers suck, but hopefully that doesn't ruin the experience as a whole for you.
One light,
Higher than the sun,
Invisible to some,
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I don't really remember what I read when I was young, but I remember reading things like Harry Potter, Magic Treehouse (I remember being kind of obsessed with this series when I was younger oh gosh-), and lots of books concerning fun facts and cool things. I also had a slight fascination with "disgusting" things when I was younger (like spiders, toads, etc.), and I got several books about those. (Now that I look back, I actually think spiders, toads, and other "gross" critters are actually pretty cool; I think they were what got me into those types of things, so I have to give them credit for that. ^^) I also had a LOT of books about animals; I didn't really care much about other subjects back then, especially fiction. I was never that open about fiction books when I was younger; I guess I thought it was too easy/boring? I'm not sure.
Right now, I'm much more open with my book selection. I've started reading classics in seventh/eighth grade and haven't stopped since. It's actually kind of useful, since many of my language arts classes deal with classics. Other than that, I still don't really read fiction that much? (Like I don't really care that much about contemporary authors.) And I still read a lot of nonfiction books... I've opened up to a wider variety of subjects, especially history. Before I never cared much about history, but now I'm a low-key nerd about it. I also like reading books concerning the medical field and biology; I'm pretty sure that it's my interest in animal books reincarnated in a new form because I still enjoy reading animal books every once in a while. ^^
I don't really remember what I read when I was young, but I remember reading things like Harry Potter, Magic Treehouse (I remember being kind of obsessed with this series when I was younger oh gosh-), and lots of books concerning fun facts and cool things. I also had a slight fascination with "disgusting" things when I was younger (like spiders, toads, etc.), and I got several books about those. (Now that I look back, I actually think spiders, toads, and other "gross" critters are actually pretty cool; I think they were what got me into those types of things, so I have to give them credit for that. ^^) I also had a LOT of books about animals; I didn't really care much about other subjects back then, especially fiction. I was never that open about fiction books when I was younger; I guess I thought it was too easy/boring? I'm not sure.
Right now, I'm much more open with my book selection. I've started reading classics in seventh/eighth grade and haven't stopped since. It's actually kind of useful, since many of my language arts classes deal with classics. Other than that, I still don't really read fiction that much? (Like I don't really care that much about contemporary authors.) And I still read a lot of nonfiction books... I've opened up to a wider variety of subjects, especially history. Before I never cared much about history, but now I'm a low-key nerd about it. I also like reading books concerning the medical field and biology; I'm pretty sure that it's my interest in animal books reincarnated in a new form because I still enjoy reading animal books every once in a while. ^^
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DreamSweet
Thanks for the rec! I'll be sure to look for it.
There were parts of the movie that scared me, too! Somehow, I still enjoyed it. Funny enough, scenes that I found spooky in the movie weren't so scary in the book... I think the details and dry humor help to lighten the experience.
The Last Unicorn is reprinted often, but I had trouble finding it in bookstores. I bought my copy on Amazon. It's also on Kindle Unlimited.
@
DreamSweet
Thanks for the rec! I'll be sure to look for it.
There were parts of the movie that scared me, too! Somehow, I still enjoyed it. Funny enough, scenes that I found spooky in the movie weren't so scary in the book... I think the details and dry humor help to lighten the experience.
The Last Unicorn is reprinted often, but I had trouble finding it in bookstores. I bought my copy on Amazon. It's also on Kindle Unlimited.
Oh boy...
Famous Five series (my Mum had them all)
Secret Seven series (another my Mum had)
Hardy Boys series
Willard Price's Adventure series
Harry Potter
Alex Rider
The Hill of the Red Fox (
that's an older one published in 1955, my granny had it on her bookshelf and I found it when I was wee. The perfect age for a story of murder and international espionage. XD)
The Invisible Detective series
The Roman Mysteries series by Caroline Lawrence
Bartimaeus Trilogy
Artemis Fowl (
I loved the first four of these but was thoroughly disapointed by the direction the author took in the last three.)
Anything by Alan Garner, especially the Weirdstone of Brisingamen
Roald Dahl stuff
Tamora Pierce Circle of Magic series
R.A.Macavoy's Damiano trilogy about a young italian magician and an angel.
Anything by Anthony Horowitz but The Power of Five series is a very good one of his.
Peter and the Starcatchers series by Barry Pearson
The Box of Delights
Loved the book and simply adored the tv series. The music still give me the good kind of shivers as it was my first real taste of darker, more 'realistic' I suppose you could say magic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BxxdE9GvZc
Oh boy...
Famous Five series (my Mum had them all)
Secret Seven series (another my Mum had)
Hardy Boys series
Willard Price's Adventure series
Harry Potter
Alex Rider
The Hill of the Red Fox (
that's an older one published in 1955, my granny had it on her bookshelf and I found it when I was wee. The perfect age for a story of murder and international espionage. XD)
The Invisible Detective series
The Roman Mysteries series by Caroline Lawrence
Bartimaeus Trilogy
Artemis Fowl (
I loved the first four of these but was thoroughly disapointed by the direction the author took in the last three.)
Anything by Alan Garner, especially the Weirdstone of Brisingamen
Roald Dahl stuff
Tamora Pierce Circle of Magic series
R.A.Macavoy's Damiano trilogy about a young italian magician and an angel.
Anything by Anthony Horowitz but The Power of Five series is a very good one of his.
Peter and the Starcatchers series by Barry Pearson
The Box of Delights
Loved the book and simply adored the tv series. The music still give me the good kind of shivers as it was my first real taste of darker, more 'realistic' I suppose you could say magic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BxxdE9GvZc
I could go on and on forever if I get going lol I've read thousands of books in my lifetime. I will read anything I can get my hands on, so I'm probably going to post and then remember about 15+ other books I should have added lol.
When I was first learning how to read, I was into the Pony Pals series. I loved all the girls but I was particularly attached to Lucy and Snow White, as Lucy's desire to own a horse resonated very strongly with me. The books were child friendly, but they also pressed how much responsibility and hard work it was to own a horse. It also was a series I learned a lot of life lessons from as it does touch on some sensitive subjects like grief and loss, making up when friends fight, and knowing when you hurt your loved ones. I was on the mailing list for any new releases, and I remember always being so excited whenever I got the next adventure in the mail, devouring them as soon as I could get the packaging off! I think that I'd like to get this series as a gift for my niece, since she's a little horse-crazy just like I was.
The Chronicles of Narnia I read over and over until the pages fell out. The Horse and His Boy, Prince Caspian, and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader were my favorites of the series, and I'm hard pressed to put any of them above the other when it comes to which one specifically is my favorite.
For Christmas, I got the Radio Theatre cassette tapes, and I often listened to them while I played with my toys. Even the movies are among my favorites. The Magicians Nephew had the best radio adaptation imo. I think the one scene in particular that I remember very vividly from the tape series is how they perfectly managed to capture the utter desolation and emptiness of Charn and the hair-raising horror of Jadis's awakening.
Other books I remember reading were the Magic Tree House, Nancy Drew, Black Beauty, The Black Stallion, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and Mr. Poppers Penguins.
As I got older and got into more serious reading material (and manga), these books in particular shaped my interests as an adult, and are probably what cultivated my love and fascination with animals, fantasy, and the paranormal.
-Warrior cats series
-Pit Dragon Chronicles
-Cold Tom
-Firebringer Trilogy
-The Secret of NIMH
-The Sight
- Firebringer
-The Wereling Trilogy
-The Dragonback Series
-The Deepgate Codex
-Percy Jackson
-Dragon Jousters
-Anonymous Rex (it even got it's own cruddy SciFi adaption movie lol)
-Cirque du Freak.
I could go on and on forever if I get going lol I've read thousands of books in my lifetime. I will read anything I can get my hands on, so I'm probably going to post and then remember about 15+ other books I should have added lol.
When I was first learning how to read, I was into the Pony Pals series. I loved all the girls but I was particularly attached to Lucy and Snow White, as Lucy's desire to own a horse resonated very strongly with me. The books were child friendly, but they also pressed how much responsibility and hard work it was to own a horse. It also was a series I learned a lot of life lessons from as it does touch on some sensitive subjects like grief and loss, making up when friends fight, and knowing when you hurt your loved ones. I was on the mailing list for any new releases, and I remember always being so excited whenever I got the next adventure in the mail, devouring them as soon as I could get the packaging off! I think that I'd like to get this series as a gift for my niece, since she's a little horse-crazy just like I was.
The Chronicles of Narnia I read over and over until the pages fell out. The Horse and His Boy, Prince Caspian, and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader were my favorites of the series, and I'm hard pressed to put any of them above the other when it comes to which one specifically is my favorite.
For Christmas, I got the Radio Theatre cassette tapes, and I often listened to them while I played with my toys. Even the movies are among my favorites. The Magicians Nephew had the best radio adaptation imo. I think the one scene in particular that I remember very vividly from the tape series is how they perfectly managed to capture the utter desolation and emptiness of Charn and the hair-raising horror of Jadis's awakening.
Other books I remember reading were the Magic Tree House, Nancy Drew, Black Beauty, The Black Stallion, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and Mr. Poppers Penguins.
As I got older and got into more serious reading material (and manga), these books in particular shaped my interests as an adult, and are probably what cultivated my love and fascination with animals, fantasy, and the paranormal.
-Warrior cats series
-Pit Dragon Chronicles
-Cold Tom
-Firebringer Trilogy
-The Secret of NIMH
-The Sight
- Firebringer
-The Wereling Trilogy
-The Dragonback Series
-The Deepgate Codex
-Percy Jackson
-Dragon Jousters
-Anonymous Rex (it even got it's own cruddy SciFi adaption movie lol)
-Cirque du Freak.
