H. D. Dodson

1.  Of course this would have to be Harry Potter, because — it’s Harry Potter.  I mean, you guys know me well enough to know OF COURSE I want to live in the magical world. 

2.  Perhaps the world of Once Upon A Marigold would be fun — I mean, as long as I wasn’t the one on the evil witch’s bad side.  


3.  For the most part, I would not want to live in the worlds Juliette Marillier creates (even though they rank among my all-time favorites).  Let’s face it, they’re kinda evil.  Except maybe Wildwood Dancing…which that’s really all about the choices you make.  Sorta.  No?  Well…still…I can’t have a list without one of her books at least.  


4.  I’m realizing most of the books I read are either set in the real world or in REALLY SCARY other worlds.  Hmm…


5.  Dr. Seuss.  Maybe I could live in Oh the Places You’ll Go…




Can you guys name five book worlds you’d like to live in?

Admittedly, I had wide-ranging (and somewhat strange) reading tastes as a kid.  (We’re gonna go with stuff I read in elementary school here.)  Want proof?  Here you go:

1.  One Last Wish (series) by Lurlene McDaniel — I read every one of these books, plus anything else she published.  I think I was eight when her first book landed in my hands (about a year after we lost my sister) and seeing as her books are about dealing with death, I was hooked.  For total honesty — I still have them all tucked neatly in a trunk in storage. 

2.  The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner — This is another one of those I loved so much I still have the book at home.  


3.  Black Beauty by Anna Sewell — How many times did I read this book?  I could never count them all.


4.  David Copperfield by Charles Dickens — My mom bought me all the illustrated classics by the time I was in 3rd grade.  I loved them all.


5.  Rudolph and Me (I don’t know who wrote the story though) — This was a book my grandmother had made for my cousin and me (one each, of course), where we were the main characters in this tale of us setting off with Rudolph to save Santa and Christmas.  I thought it was THE most awesome thing on the planet to have my name in a book. 


What about you guys?  What were your favorite childhood books?

As it turns out, I love quite a few banned books.  (And guys, my High School obviously didn’t have a copy of this list, because every book we read in four years worth of Lit Honors is on it. lol) Do any of mine make your top five list?

1.  Harry Potter — all of them. Of course.  You didn’t expect anything else in this spot did you? 

2.  1984 by George Orwell — one of those books I was forced to read in High School and wound up LOVING.  Who knew that was possible?

3. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney

4.  Farenheight 451 by Ray Bradbury — Another school book I *gasp* enjoyed.

5.  Goosebumps by R.L. Stine — I can’t believe this series makes the list.  My sister and I used to devour these books like nobody’s business!

There you have it, my list of astonishment as I realized pretty much all of my favorite books growing up were on the banned list.

I didn’t think to do these at home last night (woops) so I’m going from my Nook library and what I can find online. Hope I don’t screw any of them up.  Anyway, all of them have something in common — they make you immediately curious about the situation and are full of voice.

1) From THE GODDESS TEST – “I spent my eighteenth birthday driving from New York City to Eden, Michigan, so my mother could die in the town where she was born.” 

2) From DELIRIUM – “It has been sixty-four years since the president and the Consortium identified love as a disease, and forty-three since the scientists perfected a cure.”

3) From IF I STAY – “Everyone thinks it was because of the snow.”

4) From THE HUNGER GAMES – “When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.”

5) From HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE (of course) – “Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.”

What about you, what are your favorites?