Guest Post: Lettie from Above Average Below Special

A big thank you to Lettie for writing up this guest post ^.^

Hi guys,
I’m Lettie from Above Average Below Special! A blog featuring books, beauty, baking and more!

Sniffly Kitty asked me to write about how I started reading and the truth is I don’t actually remember! I have always been the girl who reads. My mum started me off when I was 1 and I stormed my way through the reading stages to the point that I finished by the end of year 2 and had to go pick my books from the year 6 classroom! So I thought I would do a sort of through the years by author for you.

Primary School!

Reception- Year 2

Elmer and Six Dinner Sid
Favourite books of reception class by a long shot! I loved Sid and no matter how many times I read it or had it read to me I still laughed at his six dinners :P.

Enid Blyton
Hands down my favourite childhood author. She cultivated my love of reading. I was issued my own library card so I could borrow the secret seven and famous five books to my little heart’s content. My Uncle brought me the Magic Faraway Tree and the Naughtiest Girl Again and I think along with
the Wishing Chair I loved them the best!

Jacqueline Wilson
Close second to Enid Blyton is the amazing Jacqueline Wilson and her skill for writing about realistic but difficult childhood situations. Her books entertained me from 7 to at least 16 and even now, I reread them.

Year 3- Year 6

Dick King Smith
I loved his Sophie books so much I wanted to live on a farm too! I also loved Dodos are Forever and Tumbleweed. My library had a big selection of his books which I worked my way through!

Lucy Daniels
I loved the Animal Ark books with such passion I made them the cool thing to read of year 4/5 everyone brought me one for my Birthday! They kick started a very long love affair with animal books.

J K Rowling
I was relatively late at my school for reading Harry Potter but it was well worth the wait! I won’t go on about Harry Potter, I’m sure you’re fans too!

Diana Wynne Jones
What an absolute legendary author! My mum is responsible for this particular love affair as she picked up Charmed Life and Castle in the Sky. This was another trend starter for Year 6! I love her world building style and the absolutely brilliant characters she created. She has half a bookshelf devoted to her masterpieces and I still eagerly await her releases now!

Secondary School!

Year 7-9

Tamora Pierce
All I can say is thank you school library for accidentally introducing me to the greatness of Tamora Pierce! I picked up Wild Magic one day and was transported to the fascinating world of Tortall and I was hooked! I tracked down all 16 books (at the time) of hers through the school library, city libraries and this one dusty old bookshop within a month and haven’t looked back since! Read Sniffly Kitty’s review of Wild Magic here.

Louise Rennison
My best friend and I alternated buying these books after sneaking her sister’s Angus Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging. Georgia is such a realistic yet over the top character and for awhile they made us feel so grown up. We’d use the ‘lingo’ from the books and discuss them on the phone. I actually checked the back page of the last one when it came out to make sure she ended up with the right guy despite the fact I’d ‘grown out of them’.

L.J. Smith
My friend and I completely bonded over these in year 8. Before Twilight was cool and The Vampire Diaries was an amazing TV show we argued over who was hotter Stefan or Damon or Nick or Adam in the Secret Circle. We devoured the Night World Series and eagerly awaited Strange Fate which still isn’t out!

Year 10- 11

Shannon Hale and Gail Carson Levine
There’s something so Comforting and brilliant about a fairy tale retold! These two are masters at
making the stories their own yet keeping the integrity of the originals as well as creating their own stories in the style of fairy tales. Ella Enchanted stole my breath away with its cast of characters and change of scenery and the Bayern books by Hale are so cleverly intertwined yet individual stories.

Lian Hearn
Tales of the Otori is a brilliant series set in feudal Japan type world. I loved the journey of Takeo and Kaede both together and separately such strong lead characters. The books are a brilliant mix of betrayal, love, religion clashes, war and fantasy.

Graphic Novels
I had a brief affair with Japanese culture aided by a boy who loved Japanese culture as much as I loved him! I did really enjoy Princess Ai books though and I definitely don’t regret falling in live with Studio Gibhli films.

And I will leave you there! I hope you enjoyed travelling trough my reading history with me. It’s made me want to reread so many of those great books!

Thanks for reading!

Much Love
Lettie
Xxxxx