Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This is one meme I can get on board with - I LOVE lists! I'll show you mine if you show me yours!

Top Ten Books I Read Before I Was a Blogger

Just a brief note about this one - I started my blog in January 2012, so these are all going to be books I read in 2011 or earlier. Take a look at my list and tell me what you think!

1. Outlander series, by Diana Gabaldon - I was a big reader as a kid, and then I kind of got away from voracious reading for awhile. The Outlander series, which was recommended to me by some college friends, brought me back to my love of reading. I read the first book in the series in early 2006, and I immediately devoured the rest of them. The Outlander series remains one of my all-time favorite series.

2. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins - I started The Hunger Games around the same time that Mockingjay first hit the stands. All the hype surrounding its release made me check out the first book in the series, and to date, I had never read a dystopian book before. The Hunger Games was my first, and IMO, still the best.

3. Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling - I was one of the morons who watched the movies before reading the books. I loved the movies, so for awhile I thought I didn't really need to read the books since I knew how the story went. BOY was I wrong. Once I started them, I couldn't stop, and I did manage to get all seven books under my belt before the seventh movie came out. And after I finished the series, I experienced one of the worst book hangovers EVER. 

4. Vampire Academy series, by Richelle Mead - The Twilight series caused me to break my self-imposed vampire moratorium. But, after it was over, I was left feeling a little bereft. I wanted more fangs! I knew I loved Harry Potter, which takes place in a school, so Vampire Academy sounded like the best of both worlds. I had no idea at the time that not only would I love this series so much more than the Twilight series, but that the VA series would become one of my most beloved series of all time.

5. Fever series, by Karen Marie Moning - After I discovered Goodreads, I started checking out recommendations from readers who seemed to know what they were talking about. I saw the Fever series pop up in lists all over the place, and knew I had to try it out. I remember getting the first book out of the library and taking it with me on a business trip. I nearly finished it in one night, forgetting to even go out and get dinner (room service!!). Jericho Barrons remains one of my most favorite male characters ever.

6. River of Time series, by Lisa Tawn Bergren - Waterfall was the first book I ever read on my Kindle in the summer of 2011. What an INCREDIBLE book. It was a time travel book, and I knew I loved Outlander, so I figured I couldn't go wrong. Lisa Bergren's characters and the medieval Italian setting were absolutely enthralling, and I continued on with the series, buying up every full-length book and novella she wrote. I was ecstatic to learn that Lisa will be writing one more full-length book in the series, so we will get more Gabi, Marcello, Luca and Lia to swoon over. Yay!

7. The Heir Chronicles series, by Cinda Williams Chima - This was a series that I started purely on cover love. I got The Warrior Heir for a cross-country plane ride, and I was finished with it before I returned home a few days later. This was the book that started my love for all things Cinda Williams Chima, and I went on to love her Seven Realms series even more in the tail end of 2011/beginning of 2012. Imagine my excitement when she mentioned on her website that the Heir Chronicles was going to continue, and I will be near the front of the line to get my copy of Enchanter Heir at BEA next month!

8. The Underland Chronicles series, by Suzanne Collins - This is the lesser-known earlier series written by Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins. It's more of a middle-grade series, but that didn't affect my enjoyment of it. This is an incredible series with characters and a setting that are so... alive. It's one I will definitely pass on to my kids when they get a bit older, and one I'm sure they will love as much as I did.

9. Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, by Rick Riordan - I have been a huge fan of Greek Mythology every since I took a class on it as a 17-year-old high school senior. So, picking up The Lightning Thief was a no-brainer for me. The infusing of thousand-year-old myths with the modern world was ingenious, and Rick Riordan's delivery was flawless. I own all the books in this series, as well as the spin-off series, The Heroes of Olympus, and good thing too, since I've re-read them a few times in the past three years.

10. Any Nancy Drew book, by Carolyn Keene - This was the series that started it all. When I was around 10 years old, I discovered a box of my mom's old books from when she was a girl. Most were Nancy Drew books, and mom said I could have them if I wanted them. Well, duh! I can remember reading a few chapters before bed every night, and being just a little scared when I finally turned out my light. It was such a fun feeling! Before I knew it, I had finished the whole box of books and created a lifetime love for the written word.