Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten "Gateway" Books/Authors in My Reading Journey

Top Ten Tuesday is a feature hosted at The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is Top Ten "Gateway" Books/Authors in My Reading Journey, and I'm not entirely sure if I did this right. Usually when I think of "gateway" books, I think of books that got people into a certain genre or just made them a reader in general. I don't have too many of those books, and I also have "firsts" in other senses, sometimes more personal senses. So, here I go!

 

Top Ten Five "Gateway" Books/Authors in My Reading Journey

 

1

The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

The Harry Potter books were marginally better than almost all of the books I read during my childhood, and it was the first time I ever went crazy over a book. Plus, this was the first big fanbase I was (and proudly still am) part of. These books weren't really my gateway to reading - I didn't really have one of those, I just read when I learned how to and never stopped - but they were the gateway to a life of fangirling. (Not only over this series, but other books, movies, and musical artists.) Even as time goes on, I find new things to love about this series, particularly with J.K. Rowling's ability to create fantastic characters and mysteries. One could only dream to do it as well as she did.

 

2

Edgar Allen Poe's poetry

Poe's beautiful poetry has inspired me beyond belief. Reading his poems led me to my love for poetry in general (preferably if it rhymes) and allowed me to see for the first time that we can take our darkest moments of life and use them to craft something. From that moment of discovery and onward, anytime I wrote, I wanted to sound like him. Even though his short stories are really well-written as well, nothing touches his poetry.

 

3

Annette Curtis Klause

So many were introduced to paranormal romance through the Twilight series, but for me, it was Annette Crutis Klaus' Blood and Chocolate and The Silver Kiss. I began reading Twilight after I read those Annette Curtis Klause novels, and I was led to her books through the film rendition of Blood and Chocolate (which is EXTREMELY different from the book, but I actually really love both). These books led me to discover a lot of great paranormal romance novels, but there's something so magical about Annette Curtis Klause's works that I can't find in other paranormal novels: Despite the supernatural elements, both books flow like contemporaries (especially The Silver Kiss, which is why it was so hard to put down). And my goodness, I just really love her prose!

 

4

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

 This was the first contemporary novel I ever read, all the way back when I was eleven years old, and it was the first one to have an enormous emotional impact on me. I had to read it for school the first time and we read the last quarter of it out loud in class, so I couldn't really let out my emotions in front of everybody. But I bawled hysterically the second time. It's still one of my favorite books and has a lot of qualities I like to see in literature.
 

5

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre thus began my love for Jane and Mr. Rochester as characters, and it also began my quest to fulfill my need (NEED, I tell you!) to read everything by the Bronte sisters and some other select British literature. I seriously loved it that much. Reading about Jane and Rochester caused me to evaluate what I like in fictional characters, too. For example, Rochester is one of the most swoon-worthy characters I've read about, but he's far from perfect, and I loved that. And of course, Jane is just such a strong character in general; I admire her self-respect. Every woman needs to have Jane's influence in her life; this was a gateway book in more than just my reading journey.


I could only come up with five for today's topic. Oh well. Feel free to share a link to your Top Ten Tuesday post and have a great day!