World Book Day Celebration | The books that shaped my childhood years

It’s World Book Day!

Which means, it’s basically Christmas for all bookworms out there.

To celebrate today, myself and some of my favourite UK book bloggers are participating in a World Book Day blog hop. Each of us will be posting throughout the day about books that shaped our childhoods and why!

You can read my 2019 World Book Day post here, where I discussed my top 5 childhood reads which was such a wild trip down memory lane for me and everyone who participated.

‘My Secret Unicorn’ series by Linda Chapman

You may find this shocking, but Harry Potter didn’t introduce me to the world of magic.

The Secret Unicorn series was one of the first series I read with magic involved and it probably was the book that introduced me to magical genre. I read every book in this series repeatedly till I started to feel like I was growing out of it.

There’s quite a lot of books in this series, so I’m darn proud of all that reading I did!

Plus, I was lowkey excited that the protagonist and I shared the name Lauren.

‘The Mortal Instruments’ series by Cassandra Clare

When I started reading again in my early teens the first book that I read was the first YA book I’ve ever read and I strongly believe that had I never picked up this book in the Borders closing down sale I wouldn’t be who I am today. I probably never would have gotten back into reading. I found City of Bones at the right time and it introduced me to the world of Urban Fantasy and the Young Adult genre.

The Shadowhunter Chronicles will always hold a special place with me for this very reason, and to this day I’m still a massive fan of the books.

Although these days, I much prefer The Infernal Devices trilogy!

‘Throne of Glass’ by Sarah J Maas

Allow me to introduce the very first book I read in one sitting.

Back in 2012, I saw this white UK paperback in Waterstones practically jumping out at me from the shelf. I saw it there often and it took me a couple of Waterstones visits before I actually bought it. That night I stayed up all night and stayed in all the next day devouring this book cover to cover. It was incredible.

This was the first “epic” fantasy book I’d ever really read and I adored every moment of it. It started my love for Fantasy.

It was also the first book that I cancelled plans with friends for so I could continue reading. So you could say this book shaped my bad social skills.

‘The Night Circus’ by Erin Morgenstern

I actually read The Night Circus back when it first released, so I was still getting back into reading when I first picked this magnificent book up.

I was rather intimidated by it, but this book taught me to explore other genre. Despite already being Fantasy The Night Circus also embodies some historical fiction elements, which actually started shaping my interest in the genre.

To this day I adore historical fiction, and any books that have hints of the genre within them. Of course The Night Circus continued to fuel my love for fantasy and magical stories too.

‘Fushigi Yûgi’ by Yuu Watase

I can’t not give an honourable mention to the Manga series that started it all for me. Fushigi Yûgi introduced me to Manga (Anime too, kind of) just as I was coming into my teen years and also played a big part in shaping my love for fantasy and story-telling.

The story follows Miaka Yuki and her best friend Yui. Once day whilst at a Library, Miaka is led by a mysterious force to an ancient Chinese storybook in a restricted area of the Library. Both Miaka and her best friend, begin reading the book, only to find themselves being magically pulled into the story to be it’s heroine!

Whilst in the story, Miaka and Yui unfortunately get separated. Miaka is forced to enlist the help of Tamahome, a traveller in search of riches to help her find her best friend and get back to their home world

I have read this Manga countless times since I first picked it up over 10 years ago, and it just gets better and better.

Please take the time to check out the other stops on the blog hop below! All the posts have been fantastic so far!

I was tagged to do it by the lovely Sifa Elizabeth Reads, and next on the blog hop is the wonderful Hâf over at LibraryLooter.

Geeky Galaxy  |  Wonderfully Bookish  |  Two Book Thieves  |  Fantastic Book Dragon  |  What Vicky Read  |  A Daydreamer’s Thoughts  |  TheBeccaFowell  |  CosyBookCorner  |  Amy’s Bookish Life  |  Books with Jane  |  Sifa Elizabeth Reads  |  FictionTea  |  Library Looter  |  ReadingThroughInfinity  |  BooksNest  |  BooksWithBen  |  NorthernPlunder  |  Jenniely

Have a lovely World Book Day everyone!

Please feel free to comment below what books shaped you as a child, I’d love to know!

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