It’s the second day of the week! It’s also time for a Top 5 Tuesday update. Top 5 Tuesdays was originally created by Shanah @ the Bionic Bookworm but is now currently being hosted by Meeghan @ Meeghan Reads.

This week’s topic: Top 5 Books I Wish I had Read When I was Younger

For this Top 5 Tuesday post, I am enumerating the top five books (or book series) I wish I had read when I was younger. Unlike most, I started reading fiction at a latter age; I was already a senior in high school when I started being a fervent fiction reader. This late start made me miss out on many books. Nevertheless I tried to make up for lost ground when I became a young adult, and, eventually, an adult. Without more ado, here is my top five list. Happy reading and stay safe everyone!

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

No list is complete without one of my all-time favorite reads. Despite it being a literary powerhouse and classic, I only read Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince when I was in college; I think I was about 18 or 19 by then. Even though I read it at a latter age, I was nonetheless riveted by the profound and subtle messages of the novel. I have mentioned this book several times in my bookish post and I am doing it one more time. If there is one regret I had it would be reading it later. I think the younger me would have loved and appreciated this novel the way the adult me did.

The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

One book series the younger me would have appreciated would be J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series. I read the entire series in a month when I was in university. I can still remember it vividly because my professor would frown on me for choosing to read it over accounting and auditing books! Haha. I did my best to hide the books under his nose. I loved both the movie adaptations and the books (despite the disparities) so I felt it right to include it in this list.

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

I loved Katherine Paterson’s Bridge to Terabithia even though it grappled with subjects that are heavy and sensitive – death and coping with grief at a young age. I remember being teary-eyed reading the closing pages of Bridge to Terabithia. There was a beauty in the friendship and bond that formed between Jess and Leslie. The innocence of their friendship and the comfort they found in it was heartwarming. This made the ending even more heartbreaking. It also reminded me to be thankful about life and to cherish the people that have made an impact on me.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Here is another all-time favorite which I can never stop talking about. When I started reading, it was mystery and suspense fiction that ushered me into the vast world of literature. I read so much that my interest in this genre started to wane. It took just one book by the so-called Queen of Suspense to reignite the interest I once had for these genres. It was just so unfortunate that that it took me years before I discovered the wonderful world of Dame Agatha Christie through Murder on the Orient Express. About a decade thence, I have read nearly thirty of her works and I have more on deck.

Great Expectation by Charles Dickens

Of the English classics I have read so far, one of the books that stand out is Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. It has been over a decade since I read it because I can still vividly recall the awe I felt reading the book. After David Copperfield, it was my second Charles Dickens novel but I knew immediately that it was going to be one of my favorites. The story of Pip reeled me in. Despite it being a lengthy novel, the younger me would have loved the book just the same.

I loved reading even when I was younger. However, I shied away from novels, both daunted by it and incredulous of the pleasure derived from reading such lengthy books. I preferred the glossy pages of magazines and encyclopedias over novels. I don’t know what happened but during my last year of high school, a switch flipped and I started voraciously devouring novel after novel. Over the past few years, I have been trying to cover up lost ground.

There are a lot of books as well that I wish I have read earlier. This list would have included Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield, Paulo Coehlo’s The Alchemist, C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, and Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo. These are just some of the long list of books I wish I read when I was younger. To be honest, I haven’t read any of Dr. Seuss or Roald Dahl’s works until now although I am looking forward to reading them, as an adult.

Anyway, enough of me. I hope you enjoyed my list! Have a great Tuesday everyone! Have a great week ahead!

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