Top Ten Tuesday: Books We Feel Differently About as Time Has Passed

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. The feature was created because The Broke and Bookish are particularly fond of lists (as are we!). Each week a new Top Ten list topic is given and bloggers can participate.

 Today’s Topic: Books We Feel Differently About as Time Has Passed

Ricki

1. American Girl Series

I loved these books and read them multiple times. I am grateful to them because they fueled my reading habits. Now that I am older and perhaps a bit wiser, I realize the flaws in these books. Writing aside, they lack historical accuracy, pigeonhole women in ways that make me uncomfortable, and have problematic displays of tokenism in race. That all said, I do think these books played an integral role in my reading development.

2. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I hated this book in high school, and I strongly disliked it the first two years I was forced to teach it. Then, something clicked. I got excited when I was ready to teach it in my third teaching year. I realized what it did for my students and the wealth of aspects I could discuss with them. Now, I love the book!

3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 

I thought this book was okay when I was a freshman in high school. I read it again after college and fell in love with it. When I taught it to juniors, they loved it, too. I strongly believe this book is more powerful to teach to older age groups because there are so many complexities that require emotional maturity and experience. I know that many will disagree, though!

4. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

I liked this book as a child, but it didn’t hit me. After reading it a minimum of 500 times to my son, it feels like it is a piece of me. As a mom, this book has captured my heart.

5. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault

I’ll admit that I thought this book was pretty dumb when I first read it. After reading it many times with my son, I love it! It is so fun to read!

Kellee

1. Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

I LOVED this book when I was in high school. I thought it was the best book I’d ever read. But then I read more. Now I know better. It is still quite addictive though!

2. Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings

I actually just read this book for the 2nd time about 8 years since I’ve read it last. When I first read it, it was just a mystery to me. This time I read it with a mom point of view. The heartache of all the moms in the book were so real to me.

3. Go Dog Go by P.D. Eastman

This is a favorite picture book of my mom’s and my sister’s, but I really liked the board book better because of the length. The full picture book just seemed to ramble on with the same information. But then Trent fell in love with the picture book, and I realize it teaches him so much. Also, watching your 2-year-old son “read” a book for the first time really moves that book into a special place in your heart.

4. The Giver by Lois Lowery

If anything, I’ve learn to love this book more and more each time I read it. I read it for the first time when I was in middle school, and I’ve probably read it 20 times since then. Every time it makes me think of something new based on what time in my life I am in. It is a book that really makes you look at life differently.

5. Baby-Sitter Club Books

These books are what made me the reader I am. Several summers ago, a handful of teacher friends and I decided to reread the first 30 or so BSC books, and I was so surprised to realize how formulaic the stories are. I still loved them and their girl power and diversity though and for making me love kids and reading.

Which books have you felt differently about after time has passed?

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