With only a short few days left in the year, I have found myself reminiscing over my bookshelf. As I am only 19, this is the first decade of my life that I remember somewhat fully. I’m sure I am not alone when I say that, as a bookworm, I am able to pinpoint the most significant events in my life through what I was reading at the time. This has become even more relevant in the last few years, where I have been religiously documenting my reading on Goodreads. But how has what I’ve read this decade shaped me? Year by year, I examine the books that took me from 10 to 19 years old.
2010: Cherry Crush by Cathy Cassidy.
Though I haven’t re-read Cherry Crush for many (many) years, my copy’s pages are still well thumbed from the summer I discovered this book. Cherry, a girl forced to move in with her new step-mum and step-sisters following her father’s impromptu marriage, to my beloved Cornwall. Now, I can’t really comment on the quality of the writing; it’s a book written for ten year olds. However, this novel instilled in me both a love of Cornwall, and a love of caravans. Did I mention Cherry has her own traditional vardo for a bedroom? How cool is that! On reflection this book is probably the reason that:
I am now living in the heart of Cornwall
I find myself periodically checking AirBnB for vardo caravans I could holiday in
2011: The Harry Potter Series, by J. K. Rowling
2011 was the year my best friend introduced me to the Harry Potter series (thank you, Imi!) and started an obsession that has not once waned in over 8 years. Harry Potter changed my life, made me who I am, you know the story. As I write my fan-fiction, attend my Harry Potter Society at university, and re-read the series on loop (currently on my 7th run through of the series!) I’m eternally grateful for all the happiness, entertainment, friends, love and support it’s brought me over the last decade. And as much as we hate her, writers, we all want to be the next J. K. Rowling, don’t we?
2012: The Hunger Games Trilogy, by Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games… I still vividly remember binge reading the first book until 2am one night, only to get up at 7am on a weekend the following day, and begging my mum to give me £7 so I could buy the other two in a Tesco book deal. I finished Mockingjay in Heathrow Airport the next day. I subsequently cried myself silly on the plane to Florida whilst my little sister wittered on about meeting Mickey Mouse. Regardless, the trilogy has stood the test of time. I re-read it for the first time in May of this year and still thoroughly enjoyed it. I mean, who doesn’t relate to a dystopian rebellion? The Hunger Games provides much food for thought when considering our current political climate; I’m glad to have read it at such a formative time of my socio-political development.
2013: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The Perks of Being a Wallflower remains my favourite book of all time. I quite literally chose my name after it’s main character. We meet Charlie, returning to school a year after the death of his best friend, as he attempts to process his grief whilst assimilating himself amongst his peers. The novel prides itself on it’s flawless representation of the truth of mental illness, it’s elegance in navigating difficult subjects such as child abuse, but most of all, it’s timeless understanding of what it is to be an outcast. I read Perks for the first time on Christmas day, all in one sitting, after Christmas dinner. I think reading Perks was the final step into teenage-hood for me and has been following me every step since. I now own countless editions of the books, annotated with all of my thoughts, and I force it into the hands of almost everyone I know.
2014: If I Stay by Gayle Forman
After reading this stunning but intensely emotional book ahead of its adaptation film’s release, I decided to take my then partner on a date to the cinema to see it. I had a soft spot for Chloe Grace Moretz, who played Mia; a young cellist whose world is shattered when she and her family are victims of a drastic car accident. We had previously seen The Fault in Our Stars just a few months before… And both sobbed the whole time. I’m still not sure why I thought If I Stay would be any different. Anyway, If I Stay and Perks equally were the books that most influenced my love for reading (and writing) contemporary YA fiction. I ought to reread If I Stay soon and see how it compares to the work I produce now. And, yes, I still love Moretz all these years later. That is one powerful, talented woman.
2015: About a Boy by Nick Hornby 2015 was a year of little reading. Instead, I was fan-boying over Hugh Grant. After watching About a Boy and dubbing it one of my all-time favourite films, I read the book it was based on, and was pleased to find it was both accurately adapted and just as funny. About a Boy, both the book and the film, always reminds me of how important it is to be your truest most authentic self. Perhaps it is no coincidence that 2015 also happened to be the year I came out; there’s nothing like a book that aids your self-discovery.
2016: Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa
Fans of the Impossible Life was another one of those up until the early hours of the morning, tears rolling down your cheeks, heartbreaking books. We follow three high-schoolers, all with their own family, health and social issues, forming a tight-knit friendship triangle to help save themselves and each other from the problems they face. I read it first just after my GCSE exams and quickly found it was a book I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Friendship has always been at the centre of my heart, as it is within this book, and I think Scelsa has forever inspired me to seek out the best in the people around me, regardless of first impressions.
2017: The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
2017 was very much what I refer to in my mind as ‘the year of rebirth’ - at least, when it comes to my reading. As I was studying my first year of a-level from home I found myself with a lot of wasted free time. I have always enjoyed reading so decided it was time to get back into it - and here I am! One book I borrowed from my library was The Rest of Us Just Live Here, another novel following a friend group navigating difficulties amongst themselves and the wider world, whilst retaining a fierce love for each other. I read 100 books in 2017 (I did that!) so picking just one was difficult, however, The Rest of Us Just Live Here is something I find myself recommending to people constantly because of its humour and found family trope. Though I must also give a shout to Holly Bourne’s Am I Normal Yet? - Incredible book by an incredible author who I also discovered in 2017!
2018: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Much like Perks, The Bell Jar is a book which I related to so personally that it has stuck with me ever since my first read. Much like Ester, our protagonist, I had faced a severe episode of depression that forced me to ‘start again’. Plath writes about the experience of depression so accurately, in ways I’ve never seen another writer accomplish (apart from Chbosky, naturally). I re-read it a few weeks ago and was pleased to find it impacted me just as much on a second read. My writing has been inspired by Sylvia Plath, her life and her works, and The Bell Jar is firmly an all-time favourite of mine. Ester’s triumph over her illness helped me with my own recovery and without it’s guidance I wouldn’t have made the progress I have with my own mental health the past few years.
2019: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Unlike any book I had ever ready before, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo had me laughing until my ribs hurt one minute to crying so much I couldn’t see past my tears to the page the next. Reid made me believe in Evelyn Hugo, famous old Hollywood starlet, her tumultuous marriages, the drama, the pain, the love she faced and experienced. By the end, I felt as if though I had lived Evelyn’s chaotic and glamorous life for myself. More than anything, it forced me to confront my own ideas of morality, what is right and wrong, what I believe in. This is a sentiment I want to carry with me for the rest of my life.
So there you have it! My decade in a book shelf. There are so many other incredible books I’ve read in the past ten years that I could have mentioned that I’m sure will feature on my blog at sometime or another - these are just, arguably, the ones I remember having the greatest impact on me. I can’t wait to see what the next ten years of books and reading have to offer me!