Top Ten Gateway Books/Authors that brought out our Bookishness

Top Ten Tuesdays is a meme hosted by The Broke and Bookish that features a new topic each week where we have to put down our top ten of it.

Well Before I get started I just wanted to wish every one a safe and Happy APRIL FOOL'S DAY! 

Today's Topic/Question:

Top Ten Gateway Books/Authors in our Reading Journey

We all have those books/authors that jump started our whole reading journey, Well, I know that I do! These books/authors either got us hooked on reading, reading a certain genre, stuck on a fabulous series, or even got us started on a massive book collection. More like "book hoarding" for me!! This week's Top Ten is a way to share what got us started. What brought out our bookishness.

1.) Where Did My Mother Go? by Edna Mitchell Preston~ This was a book given to me by my first grade teacher, Ms. Iwasaki, as a Christmas present. I was living in Hawaii attending Mokapu Elementary school. This is the very first book I can remember reading by myself. I don't recall my parents ever reading or introducing books into my brother or my life when we were young. (or older) We got toys and stuff, not books. I guess b/c my parents weren't big on reading. Shame, I know!!

2.) The Boxcar Children created by Gertrude Chandler Warner~ This was my first ever book series that I ever read. I think I only got to book #8 before my book interests went elsewhere. I mean, there was over 100 books! LOL!! I remember I use to daydream that I was a part of their family, on the run with them. My bed being the boxcar. Damn! I miss being a kid with an imagination!!! 

3.) R.L. Stine's Goosebumps and Fear Street books & Christopher Pike's The Lost Mind book~

I read these books in middle school and absolutely loved them, especially R.L. Stine's The Stepsister and Christopher Pike's The Lost Mind. I actually did a book report on those two books in 8th grade! hahaha :) They definitely made me to want to read books a little bit more mature and maybe a bit risque, for my age! Which lead me too.....

4.)...V.C Andrews and The Dollanganger Series~ OMG! I remember spending my entire summer before high school reading these books with my bestie, Jaimie. They sure did bring up some issues that blew my mind, opening up a whole new of books for me. I knew then that G rated books were now in my past. No more picture books for me! Bring on the drama, the horror, the romance!!!

5.) The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins~ This series had a major effect on me!! MAJOR! I stopped reading for a while. I'm talking, maybe, 8 years of non reading! Magazines, here and there, but that's about it. I had a problem with alcohol since I was 15 years old and by 28 it was out of control. Drinking every day had become a must! I had to make a change!! My husband suggested a hobby, painting, exercise, reading. DING DING DING!!! I knew I loved to read, I had to try!! It was the best choice I have ever made! I read The Hunger Games during the gruesome first stage of my recovery.

♥ I love this series ♥

6.) Clive Barker~ This author is responsible for leading me into a whole new world of Imagination. When I started reading again I went straight to the bookstore looking for his books, especially The Thief of Always, a book my brother had that I read and loved.  I started reading and collecting all things Clive Barker. Some of the books I've read: The Great and Secret Show, Cabal, Weaveworld, The Hellbound Heart, Imajica, and Abarat (which is one of my favorite series) He opened me up to Fantasy and Horror genres.

7.) Neil Gaiman~ This is another author that I have obsessed over, reading and collecting everything Neil Gaiman!! I find his writing to be somewhat similar to Barker's but entirely different. In a couple of their books, they always seem to give a shout out to one another in the acknowledgements. I think that is pretty freakin rad!!! Some of his books I own & read: Neverwhere, Coraline, Mirrormask, The Graveyard Book, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

8.) Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen , Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, & The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger~ I read these three books in 5 days. I could not put them down! After I was done I obsessed over them forever!!! I had my first "book hangover" after reading them!! I was so caught up in reading nothing by Clive Barker and Neil Gaiman books,  I almost forgot that there are other books out there that want to be read too!!

9) Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk~ This book let me venture far out of my comfort zone! It's one of the first contemporary books I've ever read and most definitely the most bizarre. I was learning some language I know my momma would back hand me if she heard me repeat it lol. HA! I learned what the word "fletching" meant. BELIEVE ME! YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW! Even though this book was crude, it was flamboyant and hilarious, with a supreme twist!

10.) The Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta~ I'm sure everyone knows this by now just how much I love this series!! When I first started blogging, ummm....3 months ago, I mentioned this series in almost every post I made in the first week or two. It opened my eyes more to High/Epic Fantasy. I also loved the writing. It actually made me sit back and think, "WOW! How do people come up with this stuff!" AMAZING!! MY MOST FAVORITE SERIES EVER!!!

For fellow fans of The Lumatere Chronicles: If you didn't know, Melina Marchetta wrote a short story on Lady Celie, in Ferragost. It's awesome

Lady Celie of the Lumateran Flatlands is visiting the Belegonian spring castle on the isle of Ferragost. Cut off from the rest of Belegonia by poor weather, she is confined to the island with four others, including the mysterious castellan of the castle. When the body of one of the guests is discovered on the rocks outside the east tower, Celie is not only considered a suspect, but finds herself embroiled in events that are entwined with her own kingdom's cursed history, as well as the future of the entire land of Skuldenore.  (Click here for more info)

Each one of these books and each one of these author I hold very dear to my heart! They have seen me through rough times, good times, and times where I needed to escape. They allowed me to escape, to journey through places I can only dream of. For that I am forever grateful and extremely thrilled to share them with you! Maybe you'll find one of them to help you , just as it did for me. 

What about y'all! What's some of the books/authors that was a gateway into you bookishness??? 

♥ BIG HUGS and Lots of Love ♥