My favorite childhood books || A book talk

Hello friends!

Today I wanted to do something different, so I decided not to do a book review. I was thinking about what got me into reading, which was the first book that gave me the passion and which was the point in my life where it all started. I could not remember one book, or one exact moment, because I have been a reader for as long as I can remember, so I guess it all started in my childhood and the books that I was reading as a kid. This is the reason why today I chose to talk about my favorite childhood books. Books that I read as a kid, but I still remember vividly and that captivated my mind in the magic of reading.

Growing up Enid Blyton was definitely and by far my favorite childhood author. I haven't read all of her books, but I know that she has written many and I wish I had read them all because I've heard really good comments about them. Anyway, the ones that I have read belong in the two following series.

1. "The famous five" series. These books feature the adventures of a group of young children - Julian, Dick, Anne, Georgina, and their dog Timmy. The stories take place in the children's school holidays after they have returned from their respective boarding schools. Each time they meet they get caught up in an adventure, often involving criminals or lost treasure. In some books, the children go camping in the countryside, on a hike, or on holiday together elsewhere. Blyton intended to write only six or eight books in the series, but owing to their high sales and immense commercial success she went on to write twenty-one full-length Famous Five novels, as well as a number of other series in similar style following groups of children discovering crime on holiday in the countryside. I have read (not all of them, unfortunately, because they were difficult to find) about 13 or 14 of the books in the series and I enjoyed them all very much. I remember these books keeping me company during the summer holidays or after a tiring day at school. I felt like the characters were my best friends and their adventures were always very captivating, so I couldn't stop reading. This series was my favorite childhood series, closely followed by the next one which was...
2. 
   "The secret seven" series. The Secret Seven or Secret Seven Society is a fictional group of child detectives. They appear in one of several adolescent detective series Blyton wrote. The Secret Seven consists of Peter (the society's head), Janet (Peter's Sister), Jack, Barbara, George, Pam, and Colin. Jack's sister Susie and her best friend Binkie often make an appearance in the books; they hate the Secret Seven and delight in playing tricks designed to humiliate them, although much of this is fueled by their almost obsessive desire to belong to the society. Unlike most other Blyton series, this one takes place during the school term time because the characters go to day school. The series consists of several books and I do not even remember how many they were, but I have read about 7 of them. I read them soon after the "Famous five" and I loved them almost as much. They were really interesting, adventurous, and mysterious and I couldn't put them down. 
3. 
   "Spring-heeled Jack". Another one of my favorite childhood authors was Philip Pullman. I have read a couple of his books and I loved them, but to be honest, I still want to read some more, because I think I'll really enjoy them as a grown-up. One of his books that I read and remember loving was "Spring-Heeled Jack". A fun, thriller of an adventure told in words and pictures. Rose and Lily and their little brother Ned live in an orphanage - a terrible place, where the porridge is thin and cold, and nobody smiles. One dark and stormy night, they decide enough is enough, and they run away. But hiding in the shadows, as they make their way through the dangerous back streets of London, is Mack the Knife: the most villainous of villains. Hiding above the streets, leaping through the air, is Spring-Heeled Jack. He dresses like the devil and his name creates shivers in people, but he is ready for action against the evil-doers and scallywags of the city's dark streets - Mack the Knife included - and he might just be able to save the orphans. I remember buying this book for the school library. All of my classmates enjoyed it during the year and when the school year was over I got to keep it, so I re-read it.
4. 
   "Animorphs" series by K. A. Applegate. This series is one of my two favorite series of books from my childhood. It is probably my favorite one, as it introduced me to the science fiction genre which is to this day one of my favorite genres. I read this one a little later than the previous ones when I was a bit older and I believe that this series is intended for older kids than the first books I mentioned and even maybe teenagers. I read them when I was about 12. The story revolves around five kids: Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias, who obtain the ability to transform into any animal they touch. Naming themselves "Animorphs" they use their ability to battle a secret alien infiltration of Earth by a parasitic race of aliens resembling large slugs called Yeerks, that can take any living creatures as a host by entering and merging with their brain through the ear canal. The Animorphs fight as a guerilla force against the Yeerks who are led by Visser Three. The series consists of way too many books, I think they are about fifty, but I have only read about 10 of them. I loved each and everyone that I read and I remember being fascinated by how "alive" everything seemed. Reading these books felt like I was watching a movie, or even better as if everything was happening right in front of my eyes. The fast-paced plot and vivid writing had me holding my breath and trembling while holding the book. The stories were thrilling to me and I couldn't stop reading.

So, these were some of my favorite childhood books and I am so happy that I finally get a chance to talk about them a little and have them all concentrated in a small list like this. I feel that the books that we read early on in our lives shape us as readers and even contribute to the forming of our minds. I hope this post wasn't too tiring.

Thanks for reading for one more time!