Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

A Book That Reminds You of Your Childhood

I can't think of a book in a family and setting resembling that of my own childhood, so perhaps just simply selecting a book I did read and enjoy as a child, or one that had been published prior to my birth that I believe I would have enjoyed reading...
Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
The Rescuers by Margery Sharp
I would have loved reading all the books in these series!!
I did adore anything Dr. Seuss wrote! Those had been published rather recently during my childhood!

How about you? What book(s) remind you of your childhood?

This is obviously a personal/individual selection, so there is no Listopia!

I think I'm gonna read R.L. Stine book for this prompt

I may have to re-read The Hero and the Crown. I want to say I got it from a Scholastic Book Fair, but I may be conflating it with something else. That was the first fantasy book I remember falling in love with, and it was that comfort book for me, all through grade school and high school.

I’m going to re-read a book I loved as a kid (something like The Incredible Journey or a Roald Dahl) OR read a Stephen King book because my mama adored his books and I always think of her when I read him.

Dixie Storms by Barbara
The Boxcar Children series
Harry Potter series
Anything by Lois Lowry

anything by Lois Duncan! She's the reason I love thrillers and mysteries plus they made some her books into 90s horror movies.

I think I'll go for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe :)

My niece is 5 and starting to get into reading and she's really into dinosaurs. I came across 20 Magic Tree House books for $2 each. They start with Dinosaurs Before Dark. I bought all of them for her, just in case she likes them. I may need to reread the first one for this challenge.

I think I'll be reminded of childhood by The Haunted Wood: A History of Childhood Reading

I'll have to find something with horses in. Basically if it had a horse on the cover, I would give it a go. Often I was disappointed by the lack of horses in the actual story.

Not everyone wants to get reminded of their childhood. If it was traumatic, why being forced to relive it? I'm not sure how to handle this prompt.

Ellie wrote: "I'll have to find something with horses in. Basically if it had a horse on the cover, I would give it a go. Often I was disappointed by the lack of horses in the actual story."

Same!! I've already reread all my childhood horse books in the last few years, so that's probably out, but I was also a big Nancy Drew fan and I've only reread the first 3 books.

The Secret of Shadow Ranch - this is best of both worlds really, Nancy Drew and horses!

My other idea was to read a book about Lucille Ball because I have been a huge fan for as long as I can remember and I used to watch her with my mom when I was a kid. Some of the first VCR tapes I bought were I Love Lucy episodes, I think I was in some sort of monthly club.
Ball of Fire: The Tumultuous Life and Comic Art of Lucille Ball

Ellie wrote: "I'll have to find something with horses in. Basically if it had a horse on the cover, I would give it a go. Often I was disappointed by the lack of horses in the actual story."

Me too!!!! Let me know what you end up going with. :)

Ellie wrote: "I'll have to find something with horses in. Basically if it had a horse on the cover, I would give it a go. Often I was disappointed by the lack of horses in the actual story."

If you haven't read Horse by Geraldine Brooks yet, I highly recommend it. Definitely a story about a horse! But also beautifully told and so well done.

I'm going to just read any book set in the 70s with a historical fiction vibe. That'll do it.

I think I’m going to reread The Last Unicorn

Nike wrote: "Not everyone wants to get reminded of their childhood. If it was traumatic, why being forced to relive it? I'm not sure how to handle this prompt."

This is what I was thinking too. Not sure what I'm going to do with this one.

Nike wrote: "Not everyone wants to get reminded of their childhood. If it was traumatic, why being forced to relive it? I'm not sure how to handle this prompt."

Do the opposite: read something that makes YOU happy as you were meant to be.

Nike wrote: "Not everyone wants to get reminded of their childhood. If it was traumatic, why being forced to relive it? I'm not sure how to handle this prompt." You could expand the definition of "childhood". As I am now 50 I would consider 20s still part of my "childhood" - so maybe something that reminds you of a happier time when you were past the "traditional" childhood.

Denise wrote: "Nike wrote: "Not everyone wants to get reminded of their childhood. If it was traumatic, why being forced to relive it? I'm not sure how to handle this prompt."

This is what I was thinking too. No..."

Were there books you used as an escape? Reread one of them? Read a book by a favorite childhood author that you never got to? Or like others are talking about with horses: a subject you enjoyed as a child, find a book about that that you can read now. It doesn't have to be a book geared towards children/youth.

Nike, I know you like mysteries, did you read Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys when you were younger? If so, pick any mystery you want to read now, and call it a day! :)

Jennifer W wrote: "Denise wrote: "Nike wrote: "Not everyone wants to get reminded of their childhood. If it was traumatic, why being forced to relive it? I'm not sure how to handle this prompt."

This is what I was t..."

Yes, I read all of the Nancy Drew-books and several of the Hardy-books as well. I might do that, thank you

Denise wrote: "Nike wrote: "Not everyone wants to get reminded of their childhood. If it was traumatic, why being forced to relive it? I'm not sure how to handle this prompt."

This is what I was thinking too. No..."

Karen wrote: "Nike wrote: "Not everyone wants to get reminded of their childhood. If it was traumatic, why being forced to relive it? I'm not sure how to handle this prompt."

Do the opposite: read something tha..."


That's a beautiful idea Karen. Maybe it will work. What do you think about Karen's idea, Denise?

I am considering reading any one from the Nancy Drew series. It is a YA mystery series of independent books about a girl detective Nancy Drew. She is who actually got me into reading in my childhood.

When we had a similar prompt, I read a horse book that I remembered from my childhood. Turns out that I did not remember the story and so enjoyed it over again!

This time I decided to go with a mystery. Like several of our members, I read Nancy Drew. I am really looking forward to reading The Secret of the Old Clock.

One discovery I made in researching Carolyn Keene is that this author name was used by several authors that the publisher had over time writing the Nancy Drew books!

I remember when I was in grade school, getting in trouble for hiding under my blankets with a flashlight to read Nancy Drew books after bedtime.

I might reread a Nancy Drew. She was my constant companion when I was in elementary school

The first book I thought of when this prompt came up was Speak .

Read this book when I was 14 (high school days still count as childhood). It's been a while since I did a re-read and this is my favorite book of all time. It got me through a lot of sht back in the day.

It came out long before I was born, but I remember reading The Phantom Tollbooth and loving it in 6th grade. I think I will re-read that for this prompt!

I found a used copy of The Nancy Drew Cookbook: Clues to Good Cooking a few years ago but haven't read it yet. This is a good excuse to do that!

I was originally going to pick a graphic novel version of a childhood favourite, but now I'm thinking The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires because it seems like an adult version of the Bailey School Kids books I used to love.

Jen W. wrote: "I may have to re-read The Hero and the Crown. I want to say I got it from a Scholastic Book Fair, but I may be conflating it with something else. That was the first fantasy book I reme..."

I absolutely adore that book!! I'm so happy to see it getting some love here!

Nike wrote: "Not everyone wants to get reminded of their childhood. If it was traumatic, why being forced to relive it? I'm not sure how to handle this prompt."

Maybe try a newer release that you know you would have liked when you were a kid? I loved books with dragons, so I might try out Ascendant. It seems like the kind of thing I would have been obsessed with in junior high school, but came out when I was out of college. I hope you find a solution!!

I have been thinking about this one. These things remind me of my childhood, Benji, Charlie Brown specials, Mary Poppins and other Walt Disney not animated movies. Gonna work on finding something to fit in.

I should add that I don't really want to reread something that I read when I was a kid like Little House on the prairie or as a teen VC, Andrews, etc.

I think Anne of Avonlea

I loved Anne of Green Gables and Little Women as a kid. I'm going to read Marmee by Sarah Miller or Marilla of Green Gables by Sarah McCoy. If you are a Little House fan, Sarah Miller also wrote Caroline.

Playing Beatie Bow, Black Beauty, The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, Are you there God, it's me Margaret. Just a couple I have read and re read over the years because they were favourites as a child.

I might have to revisit Paula Danziger, I loved her books between Nancy Drew and teen novels.

I grew up reading Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonriders of Pern" books, so I found one that I haven't read before: "Moreta: Daragonlady of Pern."

Unfortunately, it turned out to be about a pandemic!

http://www.lauraruthloomis.com/whats-...

I dug Ashleigh's Diary out of my closet because I loved the Thoroughbred series as a kid.

"Growing Up Urkel" by Jaleel White

For those of you who are struggling with because of rough childhoods pick something else that was popular in your childhood that was a thing that you still remember. I’m going to read Lisa Marie’s book about Elvis because my mom was a huge Elvis Fan and I saw all of his movies as a kid, i remember the day he died. I’m also currently reading when the Moon Hits your Eye which I could shift to this prompt because in kindergarten we would sing a song about the moon being made out of cheese. I watched the Walton’s every week so I could choose one of their biographies.

I went non-fiction for this one and read The Nineties. It's an interesting collection of essays covering various topics like music, news, pop culture, etc. from my teenage years.

I'll most likely be reading A Whole New World .

Aladdin was one of my favorite movies in the 90s and this book is a take on if Jafar had found the lamp instead.

I loved the Twilight books as they were released in middle school/high school for me. I have never read The Chemist and it is on my TBR so I think that is what I will go with!

I read The Mixed-Up Summer of Lily McLean for this prompt. It's a middle-grade novel set on an island I used to visit every summer with my grandparents. The MC is experiencing what appears to be a haunting and has to figure out what message it holds for her. Interestingly enough, that's a similar premise to another MG book I read recently, Too Bright to See, although the resolution is very different. I enjoyed reading the novel and spotting references to the details of the setting, but in the end they were rather superficial. The depth of the writing was disappointing overall when compared to Too Bright to See, despite being aimed at the same age group.

I'll probably end up going with a Roswell book since I read those from middle school through high school.

LOL now I'm thinking of something else:

I'll be reading The Lost World next month.

I was 4 years old when the first Jurassic Park movie came out, but last year was the first year I read the first book.

With the new film coming out in the summer I figure it will be a fun time to get to the second book.

Finished Horse by Geraldine Brooks

My Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I swear all my friends read Murder on The Canadian when we were in grade 4-6. Eric Wilson wrote a whole series of his kids detective series.

This time, I read Vampires of Ottawa