books that made me
people who read are superior I don’t make the rules
This all started as a tag on bookstagram last year. Don’t quote me on it. ‘Books that made me,’ a tag where people shared graphics of books and sometimes pictures of themselves that shaped their reading journey. I was tagged by the lovely ifwerewerebookstagram on IG (aka Sarah), with a feed moodier than my teen years and decided to expand on it.
I’ve always been a reader. Everyone in my family reads, especially my mom and grandparents. My mom has always told me how extreme her love for books went when she was younger. Do you know the max library books/items you can take out at a time? …About 30-50! Luckily my local one is at the upper end. Anyways, she was hitting that max every time AND frequented book stores. Till this day, the impact of her love of reading (James Pattersons books especially) makes me love it even more and see the parallels in my own reading journey. Well, enough of my lore, let me share the long awaited tag.
Early childhood (00s)
She’s just a girl!
Okay so you know how I was saying “enough of my lore,” I just realized this very much adds to that. Anyways, it all started when my parents taught me how to read with Dick and Jane. I have this faint memory of repeating “Go Jane, go!” from the age of three and four. Bedtime stories picked out from Aesop’s Fables were my favorite, which I still have till this day, and yes my copy is holding on for dear life. From learning the basics, I went on to learn rhymes by Dr. Seuss (major side-eye).
Then came the real eye-opener, Scholastic Book Fairs! The begging your parents the night before for some cash. The getting in line to walk to where it was set up in our school. The palpable excitement at the thought of getting new books. Y’all know the impact! I found books with characters that looked like me and were doing things I wanted to do. It meant the world at such a young age and my reading only became more diverse and informative from then on.
*And cut to the late 2000s*
Preteen (Late 00s - Early 2010s)
She’s developing a personality here okay
In my pre-teen years, series became my thing! Those depicting girls my age or close adventuring and figuring out their own lives were especially . At the same time, here’s where my love for mystery and thriller started to develop. My mom was still doing my hair bi-weekly so most of her shows became my shows. We’re talking 24, NCIS (rewatching as I type), CSI: Miami (that color grade >), Forensic Files, Criminal Minds (Hotch ily), Snapped, and more. They all left quite the impression! I distinctly remember straining my head and being admonished with a nudge to put my head down for the tenth time, and always when it’s getting good.
I also started watching Scooby-Doo: Mystery Inc. (already having watched every Scooby-Doo series before that) and Goosebumps (the worm episode haunts me). Then was introduced to House of Anubis and Gravity Falls around 11-12 years old. I loved a mystery and my girl Nancy Drew was great at solving them. I found the whole series in my grandparents house and went to town.
Oh! and can’t forget my graphic novels. With the scholastic book fairs still going on, The Babysitters Club and Amazing Days of Abby Hayes quickly became favorites.
I did dabble in Diary of a Wimpy Kid due to my younger siblings, but ultimately it was the Dork Diaries series for me. What’s so funny is that in the description of The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes it states, “Abby Hayes is the Babysitters Club for the new generation,” and here comes the late 10’s graphic novel version that I also adored — The Babysitters Club. I just found out they adapted it into a Netflix series back in 2020, so now I have a new show to watch!
Now onto the angsty years (well *more angsty), as we leave behind private school with the same people from Pre-K, to high school for a fresh slate!
Teenager (2013-2019)
So many people know this reading era
Middle school had drained me at this point and I barely had motivation to read for pleasure. Therefore, poems and short stories were my forte. I might as well have been a Wattpad ambassador the way I damn near spent every minute I could on that app. I was reading One Direction fanfics, mafia romances (and I haven’t picked one up since), werewolf romances, and last but not least all the bad boy romances my eyes could devour.
John Green had a chokehold on my age group with TFIOS, Paper Towns and Looking for Alaska. It was all over Tumblr (the Tumblr to Pinterest pipeline is so real) amongst the mustaches, galaxies, instax cameras, chokers, American Apparel, alternative music and the like. We thought we were so edgy. (We were)
Towards the end of my adolescence, I finally dived into the Divergent book series. Thank you to my mom for buying them on Apple Books. Till this day, I’m convinced she bought them because I loved the first movie to pieces and put her on.
Last but not least, my early 20s aka now!
Early 20s (2020-Now)
The evolution babes! We love to see it.
I don’t know what to say about this reading era… That’s a lie! I might have too much to say, but let me cut to the chase. I’ve learned so much about myself, my tastes, how much I desire to educate myself through reading, and genres and tropes I can’t bear to stomach (should be illegal age gap and dark romance I’m looking at you).
Most of you, if you watch my youtube videos or follow my bookstagram are familiar with this era. I read a bit of everything now, voluntarily, and it’s been enlightening seeing the growth and how much reading has helped me learn more about different communities and cultures. It’s a good time!
Shop my favs here and stay tuned for more as I head into my mid 20s this year AHHHHH.
tata! xx
If you enjoyed this read
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