Inventory and Reflection
Chronological Order
(According to my mom, this is the first book she has ever read to me) “Hey, Diddle, Diddle” by Mother Goose
Slinky Malinki by Lynley Dodd
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Brown Wise
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
Corduroy by Don Freeman
Disney’s Mickey Mouse Stories
Aladdin
Beauty and the Beast
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
The Big Hungry Bear by Audrey and Don Wood
Jack and the Beanstalk by Steven Kellog
Three Little Pigs
Goldilocks by James Halliwell-Phillips
Little Mermaid
Sleeping Beauty
I Spy by Walter Wick and Jean Marzollo
Various “Clifford the Big Red Dog” books
Pinocchio
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
Noisy Nora by Rosemary Wells
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Simms Taback
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
The Berenstain Bears series by Stan and Jan Berenstain
Nancy Drew Mystery Stories by Carolyn Keene
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osbourne
Flat Stanley Jeff Brown
A to Z Mystery series by Ron Roy
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Frindle by Andrew Clements
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
Bunnicula by James and Deborah Howe
Scooby Doo and the Super Case Book by Vicki Berger Erwin
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Stuart Little by E.B White
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Night by Elie Wiesel
The House of Night Series by P.C. and Kristin Cast
Thirst No. 1, 2, and 3 by Christopher Pike
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Impulse by Ellen Hopkins
Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Glass by Ellen Hopkins
Fall Out by Ellen Hopkins
Perfect by Ellen Hopkins
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger
Of Mice and Men by John Steinback
Beowulf by Seamus Heaney
The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell and her students
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Burned by Ellen Hopkins
Vampire Kisses by Ellen Schreiber
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Stranger by Albert Camus
Ties That Bind, Ties That Break by Lensey Namioka
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Dante’s Inferno by Dante Alighieri
The Lake by AnnaLisa Grant
Troubled Waters by AnnaLisa Grant
Safe Harbor by AnnaLisa Grant
Anchored by AnnaLisa Grant
A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks
A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forest
The Gifting by K.E. Ganshert
For One More Day by Mitch Albom
Gathering Tinder by Julie Wetzel
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Eternal Night by Carina Adly MacKenzie
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
The Color of Heaven by Julianne MacLean
Poison Princess by Kresley Cole
My Mother’s Secret by J.L. Witterick
Endless Knight by Kresley Cole
Lucy in the Sky by Anonymous
Children of Eden by Joey Graceffa
Elites of Eden by Joey Graceffa
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
Fly Away by Kristin Hannah
Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris
Catherine by April Lindner
Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom
The Silence of Six by E.C. Meyers
Every Day by David Levithan
Another Day by David Levithan
Refugee by Alan Gratz
Watching by Blake Pierce
The Scarlet Thread by D.S. and Derek Murphy
Life Support by Robery Whitlow
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
The Breakdown by B.A. Paris
Life Everlasting by Robert Whitlow
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaption by Damian Duffy and Octavia Butler
The Book Whisper: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Questioning Assumptions and Challenging Perceptions by Connie Schaffer, et al
Tell Me How it Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions by Valeria Luiselli
The Sh!t No Tells You: A Guide to Surviving Your Baby’s First Year by Dawn Dais
Worn Stories by Emily Spavick
Kiss the Girls by James Patterson
Categorized By Genre
Picture Books
Hey, Diddle, Diddle” by Mother Goose
Slinky Malinki by Lynley Dodd
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Brown Wise
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
Corduroy by Don Freeman
Disney’s Mickey Mouse Stories
Aladdin
Beauty and the Beast
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
The Big Hungry Bear by Audrey and Don Wood
Jack and the Beanstalk by Steven Kellog
Three Little Pigs
Goldilocks by James Halliwell-Phillips
Little Mermaid
Sleeping Beauty
I Spy by Walter Wick and Jean Marzollo
Various “Clifford the Big Red Dog” books
Pinocchio
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
Noisy Nora by Rosemary Wells
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Simms Taback
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
The Berenstain Bears series by Stan and Jan Berenstain
Middle Grade Literature
Nancy Drew Mystery Stories by Carolyn Keene
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osbourne
Flat Stanley Jeff Brown
A to Z Mystery series by Ron Roy
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Frindle by Andrew Clements
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
Bunnicula by James and Deborah Howe
Scooby Doo and the Super Case Book by Vicki Berger Erwin
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Classic Literature
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger
Of Mice and Men by John Steinback
Beowulf by Seamus Heaney
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Stranger by Albert Camus
Dante’s Inferno by Dante Alighieri
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Christain Fiction
For One More Day by Mitch Albom
The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
The Next Person You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
Life Support by Robert Whitlow
Life Everlasting by Robert Whitlow
The Color of Heaven by Julianne MacLean
Poetry
Impulse by Ellen Hopkins
Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Glass by Ellen Hopkins
Fall Out by Ellen Hopkins
Perfect by Ellen Hopkins
Romance
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks
A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forest
Poison Princess by Kresley Cole
Endless Knight by Kresley Cole
Gathering Tinder by Julie Wetzel
Graphic Novels
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaption by Damian Duffy and Octavia Butler
Young Adult Science Fiction
The House of Night Series by P.C. and Kristin Cast
Thirst No. 1, 2, and 3 by Christopher Pike
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Gifting by K.E. Ganshert
Children of Eden by Joey Graceffa
Elites of Eden by Joey Graceffa
The Scarlet Thread by D.S. and Derek Murphy
Eternal Night by Carina Adly MacKenzie
Young Adult Fiction
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Vampire Kisses by Ellen Schreiber
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Lake by AnnaLisa Grant
Troubled Waters by AnnaLisa Grant
Safe Harbor by AnnaLisa Grant
Anchored by AnnaLisa Grant
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Lucy in the Sky by Anonymous
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
Fly Away by Kristin Hannah
Catherine by April Lindner
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
The Silence of Six by E.C. Meyers
Every Day by David Levithan
Another Day by David Levithan
Refugee by Alan Gratz
Psychological Thrillers
The Breakdown by B.A. Paris
Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris
Two Girls Kissing by James Patterson
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Reflection
A couple of weeks ago, I was moving from my upstairs bedroom to the first floor due to expecting a baby girl in November, and it was at that point in time when I realized how many books I own. My beloved Disney books were covered with a coat of dust along with a giant Merriam Webster Dictionary that I haven’t opened in about 10 years at that point. I had books in every corner of my room, even behind my bed where there was a built-in bookshelf. My love for books started at a very young age when I attended Scholastic book fairs and went to the library with my Dad once a week. While he was reading the newspaper, I was browsing the shelves to see what I could bring home next. When I think about the books that have shaped me as a reader and as an individual is daunting but it’s something that I truly needed to think about.
The first book is a nonfiction book that was written during the L.A. Riots in the 1990s when Erin Gruwell was a teacher in California. The Freedom Writers Diary takes place in her school, the drop out rates were high, there was an extreme amount of violence, and it seemed hopeless for the school. Every kid was forseen as a statistic. However, Erin Gruwell changed that for her students. She asked them to write in a journal, and she wouldn’t read it unless they put it on her desk for her to read. The aspect that I love most about this book is that they didn’t edit the students’ entries. There are grammatical mistakes, run-on sentences, but the feeling you get when you read this book is raw. You are actually reading another person’s diary. At first, I read this book because I was fascinated by the movie, I was in awe of the characters and the teacher herself. However, after I read the book I was so inspired about the impact of writing through others and how it can move a community to positivity and self-love and care. This is always my go-to book when I want something to reflect on writing and how it really can change someone.
The second book Impulse by Ellen Hopkins is a combination of poetry and young adult fiction and is the first book that truly had a large emotional impact on me. I found this at random in my local library and as someone who was just getting into the world of writing poetry, I couldn’t resist to check it out. It follows three different people who all have depression and suicidal thoughts in common and they all meet at an institution and from there, they share their stories and all try to help one another. What I love most about Ellen Hopkins writing style is how she literally creates images with her words. She uses words to create a giant word or picture and it is so breathtaking. She inspired me to write more creatively and more expressively about how I actually felt and not hiding. Her writing is raw and heart wrenching to the point where it can be overwhelming to read at times but I love it. Impulse is also the first book I have ever cried while reading so I also applaud her on that.
Thirdly, The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom was a short, Christain Fiction book which I read solely at first because he is one of my favorite authors. The Five People You Meet in Heaven had such an impact on me that I have read almost every single one of his books. I recently just finished Tuesdays with Morrie and that was also fascinating. However, The Time Keeper had one of the more deeper meanings and really made me think about how time works in our lives. The story follows a man called Father Time who is the creator of the first clock ever created. God has sent him on a mission with an hourglass to try and change the perspective of two individuals who have lost the meaning of time. The way it was written was amazing because you could truly see the perspective of all three characters talked about, you could tell how they were feeling and how time affected their lives. This book is also my favorite because of the length and how it is never rushed at all. I read this book in two different sittings and it was the perfect book when you don’t have a lot of time. No pun intended.
Behind Closed Doors by B.A Paris is one of the first psychological thrillers I have ever read and I have been testing out different authors ever since I have read this book. Every appears as the perfect, happy couple when you go over to their house for dinner or when they go to a BBQ at a friend’s house; however, some people don’t realize that a lot more happens in the privacy of the couple’s home. This book makes you shocked, upset, question everything and everyone, and wonder if something has happened similar to this author because it seems realistic with the way that she writes it. At first, I wasn’t really expecting anything from the bargain section in Barnes and Noble but it opened a new world to me with psychological thrillers. However, a lot of readers compare this to Gone Girl, which I hated, and it is nothing like that book at all.
Last but not least is a classic science fiction book geared towards middle grade readers that was assigned to me as summer reading in middle school. The Giver by Lois Lowry is the first book I remember reading that developed my love and passion for books. Jonas believed that he lived in a utopia, there were no flaws. However, when he meets this mysterious old man, his eyes are opened by books, ideologies and so on. From there he has to make the decision to go against his entire livelihood or to turn the other way and ignore the truth. When it comes to the development of Jonas, Lowrey inspired me to read and get to know myself through books through characters.
Reading is an essential part of my life, and picking out 5 books out of hundreds of books I have read was difficult, I love reflecting back on great works by amazing authors.
KKJM Reads 