These three books about the crime-solving butler Piggins were my first mystery reads, and I begged my mom to get them for me every time we went to the library. The illustrations are intricate and have clues to help solve the mystery, if your eyes are observant enough!
I loved them when I was little, so did my younger brother. We tag-teamed checking the various books out from the library because there were rules on not checking a book out back-to-back, only being allowed to get so many books by one author/subject at a time, etc. Bill Watterson is a genius because Eric and I loved them, and so did my mom and dad.
Little House books were a source of comfort and fueled playtime ideas when I was young and lived in a big woods, too. Farmer Boy is my absolute favorite, and I was overjoyed when I got to read it with a former student that I was tutoring. Honestly though, I don’t remember what happens to the Ingalls family when Laura gets a little older, so I wouldn’t mind discovering that all over again.
My mom started reading these to me when I was seven or eight, and when I was a little older I read them to myself countless times. Sometimes I would just read my favorite parts. When I was having a bad day, I would sit in my closet and concentrate so hard on going to Narnia.
I read this book seven times in 2012. I tried so hard to become Harriet: I created a spy kit, bought a hooded sweatshirt, carried a marbled composition notebook everywhere (though it wasn’t green because my town only sold the black ones), recorded what the neighbors were doing, played “town” according to the rules in the book, and I even tried to like tomato sandwiches at a time in life when I couldn’t stand tomatoes.
I progressed through mystery novels in this order: Boxcar Children, Nancy Drew, Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes. I don’t really remember which Agatha Christie books I read, so that’s a sure sign that they will be fresh when I get to read them again.
I read this book in 6th grade (didn’t understand it) and 10th grade (cried a lot). I told myself that I would definitely read it again.
I read all the Hitchhiker’s Guide books in a row when I was 13 or so. I remember giggling an awful lot, and trying to explain the jokes to whomever was around me, but realizing that it’s best if you just read it yourself. I also remember being awed by the revelation of 42. So overdue for a re-read.
I read this book twice when I was in high school, and it completely changed my worldview about Christianity and the church. Miller helped me make my faith more personal and less “this-is-just-what-we-do.” This book made me realize that there are many flavors of Christians, and guess what… they are all still Christians!
I have actual plans of revisiting it this year! I’m in line for the audiobook of The Fellowship of the Ring at my library, and it’s a full cast BBC production. I’m stoked. I read it in middle school and I am so positive that I missed a lot of its depth. That’s true of just about all the classics that I read when I was a teenager, though.
These are all great reads! I've never read Harriet The Spy, though! I so need to. The Little House series is probably one of my favorite books, to this day. (I read a couple of them last month.) :)
ReplyDeleteLove your mystery book progression. I'm a Christie fan as well and actually have reread a bunch of those. They are usually short. And Gone With the Wind. Only read it once, but the movie - many times. My list was from my teens - a long time ago. LOL
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about not feeling productive when rereading. Especially now, that I'm trying to reduce my TBR and that I have less time to read, I feel like every book should count! So I always mean to reread all my old favorites, but I never do. Out of your list, I only ever read Agatha Christie, The Fellowship of the Ring and the first Hichthiker's book, which I need to reread because I barely remember it, so I can finish the series. I have trouble remembering which Christie books I read as well, there are so many of them. I also want to finish LOTR and read Harriet the spy some day.
ReplyDeleteThe FOOD in Farmer's Boy. Gosh, I so remember being hungry all. the. time when my Mum read those aloud when I was a kid...omg, all that pie. xD
ReplyDeleteHere's my TTT!
That sounds really interesting. I never read anything about Japanese culture before, so my knowledge of it is pretty superficial. It sounds like it is a really great one to learn with. I also
ReplyDeletelike that it seems to be literary writing, though I am a bit intimidated by all these topics you mentioned!
Oh my gosh, I loved the Piggins books too! I totally forgot about those, but I know we read them over and over when I was younger. So great.
ReplyDeleteThey stand the test of time so well! I've been closing my eyes to those news articles that are popping up about how Laura Ingalls Wilder didn't exactly stay true to her real experiences. I don't care! They are lovely.
ReplyDeleteI like listening to the BBC audio plays of Christie's books. They are a few hours long at most, so they are perfect for a day's commuting or an airplane.
ReplyDeleteME TOO. Same with the Redwall series. Brian Jacques managed to make British food seem so appetizing ;)
ReplyDeleteI think I had a monopoly on them at the library, haha. I couldn't really remember any other books from when I was reeally little besides Dr. Seuss books, which my dad and I read a lot but I don't care too much for now.
ReplyDeleteAhh the woes of being a bookworm! ;) Maybe I should take a month this year and clear out my Netgalley and library holds, then only re-read books. hmmmm....
ReplyDeletePut in a list like that, they are intimidating! But they are explained in a very conversational way, even more so than Stephen Hawking does. One of the things that I really appreciated about the book was learning how Eastern religious perspective affects the way the characters see the world. I never studied anything about that in school, so I'm glad to learn about it now. I have a friend who is an Eastern religions professor, and she likes to show Miyazaki movies in her classes because she says that they teach so much about Shintoism. It's interesting!
ReplyDeleteConsider my interest piqued! O: This book sounds really good, and I definitely want to look it up. I love discussions around culture, and the connection between science and Buddhism is something I want to read about. :) Lovely post!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! I want to read Ruth Ozeki's other books too!
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