Meggy | Chocolate'n'Waffles

Hype or Like Friday: Books That Made Me Want To Read

Hype or Like Friday is a meme created by Larkin, Britt and Jill . Check out the Goodreads group to know more about it and stay up to date with the weekly discussions and book of the month.

September 16th- Books That Made Me Want To Read– Think about what books you read while you were in school that made you want to read. Maybe you were an English Lit major in college because you fell in love with Shakespeare or Jane Austen.

Let’s walk down memory lane today!

My love story with books started in elementary school, 20 years ago *coughs, almost dies at the realization of so many years gone*

Daniel Pennac’s Kamo series taught me how to escape reality with books. I was seven when I read it for the first time. Suddenly, there was a door open just for me, leading to a world created by words and pages, familiar enough not to scare me, but different enough from real life so that I would forget everything and dive into Kamo’s adventures. I learned the magic power of books with a little boy. When I finished the series, I asked for a card to the town library, and I never stopped reading.

But I did not know where books just how far books could take me yet…

Can you guess which stories are hiding behind those weird French titles?

At 9, we were asked to choose a series and write the summary of a story every week for three months. I picked la collection Chair de Poule.

You know those books under their original name: Goosebumps! But in that case, the French edition will always be my favorite. It smells like home, rainy nights reading alone, and sweets. I remember standing in front of the display, my finger tracing the line of the series. So many books! This was when I realized I was in for dozens of hours of reading. I wanted them all. Other kids wanted Pokemon, I wanted scary stories. Goosebumps showed me there was no limits when it came to book.

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How can I write a post about books that made me want to read without mentioning Harry Potter? I received The Prisoner of Azkaban first, when I was at the hospital after I got my appendix removed (yes, details are important!) My aunt did not know it was a series, but it did not prevent me from falling for Rowling’s magical world. And take a look at those covers! They are so cute!

Just like Goosebumps, Harry Potter remains a very French memory, from the way I pronounce names to how I watch the movies. This is the second and last exception to my All English All The Time rule. Harry Potter is a 100% British, but I just can’t connect to the story the same way when I read it in its original language. Even I find it very weird. Hogwarts will always be Poudlard to me!

When I started junior high school, I found two authors to help me go through hard times and remind me to never stop reading, despite the assigned reading I hated.

Two very different stories, indeed! 😀

I discovered Stephen King with The Girl You Loved Tom Gordon. I hated the book as much as I loved it. At the time, I really enjoyed being scared, but I still had trouble sleeping after reading it!

Meg Cabot introduced me to my best friend Mia Thermopolis. I bought the first Princess Diary during a vacation in Cannes, when I was feeling lonely even though I was surrounded by family.

I have reread those stories and many others from both authors many times, and they prevented me from getting jaded with reading when teachers were burying us under classics I hated. Who can enjoy their evenings reading La Fontaine’s Stories?

And finally, the book that spurred me to read more, forget about studies, work and chores to go back to my first love. I present you:

1984

Yes, I know, I already declared my love for 1984 in last week’s post. But who’s counting the number of times this book gets mentioned? It’s never enough anyway!

With university and its hectic schedule, it was hard for me to find time to read anything else than manuals. The only reason I’m happy we were forced to take a weird class about books and arts is that the teacher chose to have us work on Orwell. Before I could say “Wow” my brain was recalling how good it felt to read. The familiar but forgotten feeling of freedom was back in my veins. I’ve read 54 books (and counting) in 2016. Because of 1984.

So no falling in love with Shakespeare for me. No big literature discovery that changed my world. My love for books comes from a hunger that has been fed since I was 7.

Which books did school put in your hands? Which books made you want to turn your living room/bedroom into a private library? Let me know! 

36 comments

  3. Such a great post Donna and have you always been this poetic? I liked this line….It smells like home, rainy nights reading alone, and sweets… and this one…. My love for books comes from a hunger that has been fed since I was 7 🙂 Beautiful written.

    Nostalgic post. I rem,ember reading Goosebumps too and Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Sweet Valley Series though before this, I read the Ladybird Series for fairytales when I was way mucy younger.First novel was a legal thriller, John Grisham…it was quite a memorable read.

    May your days always be filled with wonderful books. Enjoy the weekend!

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    • I was never told my poor writing could be poetic, so I am very surprised! Thank you so much! I try not to overthink when I write and just type whatever comes to mind, otherwise I would never post!
      Everyone talks about Nancy Drew but I had never heard of it before I started blogging. It has made me curious so I will try and get one. I love legal thrillers but weirdly I haven’t read any Grisham yet! The Firm will be on my reading list either next week or the week after!
      Thank you for stopping by! 🙂 Have a great weekend 😘

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  4. I remember discovering Erich Maria Remarque through school.. We had to read “All Quiet on the Western Front” and after that I was hooked… I went on Remarque reading binge and quoted him in every essay I had to write, no matter the topic i always found a way to bring him up! 😀 I’d say my teacher was amused.
    But massive high fives for Orwell. I love 1984!

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  6. I knew those were Goosebumps books before you even told me. R.L. Stine is one of my favorite authors from childhood. I was completely obsessed with his books. I think I had every single one at the time. My mom couldn’t buy them fast enough. And Nancy Drew was another one of my favorites. I really need to read 1984. You love it so much and so does everyone else. I feel as a science fiction fan that it’s really kind of crazy that I haven’t read it yet. I even have a notepad inspired by the book from OwlCrate serving as a reminder and still haven’t gotten around to it. I just looked on Goodreads and I had also forgotten to mark it as want to read so I just did that. 🙂

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      • Ha! Watch it be like The Summer That Melted Everything all over again. 😂 I must’ve broke your heart with my review. Hey, at least I didn’t rant about it and just said I didn’t like it. That was for you and Anne since you guys loved it some much. 🙂

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        • Well, I have to admit, 1984 is what got me back into reading again as well 10 years ago after I joined a book club and it was its first read. It still brings back fond memories and scary thoughts of Newspeak O_o. So yes Jill, you’re probably gonna end up hating it :’).

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  8. I also loved Goosebumps! Here they were called Pesadillas. I think our love for creepiness and plot twists comes from these books. Do you remember how there always used to be a twist at the end? XD

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  9. Am I the only person in the blogosphere who hadn’t heard of R.L.Stine before starting my blog??! 😀 Jeez, I thought it was merely an American kind of thing at first but it seems to have been translated into a loooot of languages! This is such a lovely cute post 🙂 I can’t believe you started with book 3 of Harry Potter XD but then again, who cares, you can start anywhere and it’ll still be good ^^. I started reading mine in Dutch and still can’t get used to the English names either. Which is so weird huh?

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    • Yes! 😂 I’m so glad people get my love for Goosebumps because I did not know anyone else who liked it before! The Prisoner of Azkaban will forever be my favorite 😀 So you understand!! I think some books just stay with you in your mother tongue when there is a strong connection from the first time you read it!

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  10. I thought the Chair de Poule books were the Goosebumps series, the covers are just so similar and iconic aren’t they, but I wasn’t sure until you mentioned it below!
    I think I would have enjoyed reading in school more if we’d read more books like this in class, I don’t think I really got into reading properly until I was in high school but I did love the Harry Potter series and that was one I can definitely remember starting in primary school!
    Great picks for this week! 😀

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    • Thank you! 🙂 I was surprised when I realized Goosebumps was so famous, haha. It felt as though I was the only one reading them in France! I was lucky to get recommendation from teachers and a nasty curiosity that spurred me to find books early on. 😀

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      • That’s all right! Oh I think everyone in school when I was young had their Goosebumps phase, my friend and I were actually talking about it the other month!
        I can’t even remember why I picked them up in the first place but I loved the stories! 🙂

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  14. I DEVOURED the “Goosebumps” books like they were candy. My favorite was “The Ghost Next Door”…I think it was the romantic aspect (boy meets girl next door, boy learns girl next door is a ghost).

    Scholastic Book Fairs were my happy place. I picked up two of my favorite classics (“The Secret Garden” and “Little Women”) at the book fair. Mom and I used to read Alcott books together, taking turns reading paragraphs. Her books (the more popular ones, anyway…she also wrote some spooky tales) still make me feel so cozy.

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