my mom always encouraged me to read, and it started with her reading picture books to me. my favorite was the monster at the end of this book, starring lovable furry old grover! grover from sesame street is terrified to get to the end of the book because he's scared of the monster, but in the end it turns out it was just him all the time. my mom would always do a silly grover voice when she read it to me.
as i got older, my "reading level" as the school called it was always higher than other kids', which is good i guess, but it meant they limited what i could get from the school library to what they deemed appropriate for my level. i liked harry potter and lord of the rings, but i also wanted to read stuff like goosebumps and choose your own adventure books. luckily my teachers allowed me to read those things from their classroom libraries.
there was a book i read as a kid that i've honestly never met another person who's ever heard of it, but i loved it when i read it and i loved it again when i tracked it down and re-read it a few years ago. it's called how to disappear completely and never be found by sara nickerson. a 12 year old girl whose mother is severely depressed sets off to a mysterious house on a nearby island to try to figure out how her mom owns it, why she's selling it, and what it has to do with her deceased father. i realized when i re-read it as an adult that it formed a lot of my attitude toward stuff and why i like collecting things and have so much trouble throwing things away. a really good book that i think more people should know about!
12h ago
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my absolute favorite book as a kid was trial by journal by kate kline, and as a tween it was the year of secret assignments, both of which are a combo of letters/emails/diary entries etc
I also liked speculative fiction/more grounded sci fi and fantasy:
-heir apparent by vivian vande velde, a vr middle school novel
-12 impossible things before breakfast by jane yolen, a series of creepy/fantastical short stories
-the true meaning of smekday by adam rex, a fun romp of an alien invasion novel from the perspective of a teenage girl
My number one rec is the book when you reach me by rebecca stead!! just a beautiful coming of age novel about friendship and love and also (unexpectedly) time travel. i havenβt reread most of the others in ages but I revisit this one every few years.
(Also possibly a controversial opinion, but if you never read twilight it might be worth it for the cultural experience lol)
Feb 28, 2024
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as a young child: Magic Treehouse, The Secrets of Droon, The Boxcar Children (used to tear off the corners of pages and let them dissolve in my mouth, donβt ask me to explain why idk I was a weird kid, but all the boxcar books at my dads house are full of lil nibbles)
middle school: Leviathan series by Scott Westerfled, Leven Thumps, Maximum Ride, Bone graphic novels, various superhero novels
used to read a ton growing up but kind of stopped reading for fun in high school and through college. had a book club for a few years as an adult but been struggling to get back into causal reading regularly
Feb 28, 2024
these are all kinda books i enjoyed during my late elementary school years:
the fog diver series by joel ross β i had a fascination with steampunk things as a child and this let me dive headfirst into the thick of it
tales from outer suburbia by shaun tan β or anything shaun tan for that matter. his art is incredible and daydreaming with his works was such fun. i used to take this book out of my elementary school library almost every week just to stare at the pages
a tale dark and grimm by adam gidwitz β silly and spooky. perfect! and the other two books are just as marvellous :)
the last wild by piers torday β i think it was a book of the year in my school and i ate up story time.
Dec 29, 2024
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i will never get over polyvore shutting down. i used it obsessively and had hundreds of outfits made on it and mine were ARTFUL not like the stuff people say they saw on wattpad with like skinny jeans and converse and shit like mine were gorgeous. and then they shut down and i wasn't able to back up any of my stuff so i lost it all. HEARTBREAKINGGGGG
Jun 8, 2025
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the man the myth the legend. the literal only person i watch on youtube. his vibes are pure and good and his quest is noble.
Jun 2, 2025
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there's a little stray kitty cat that i've been seeing around my house so i put some food out for it and the next day it was gone. today i saw the cat as i got home so i got more food and went outside and the cat was across the street. i shook the food in the bag and it heard it and turned around. i put the food out and went back inside and as soon as i was inside the cat came running over for the food. it was hungry! i tried to come outside for a pet but the cat started to run away so i stayed inside so it could eat in peace. i hope someday i can pet it
Jun 8, 2025