Throwback Thursday: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Nothing quite says summer to me like The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Except 100 degree temperatures, I guess.

I read this book for the first time the summer before high school, I think. A friend of mine and her mom were reading it together and they loved it, so I went to the bookstore and bought it. I suppose that in high school I probably re-read this series every summer. Each year the number of books to read got a little larger.

The funny thing about  this book is that even though I really like it, and even though it’s really good, I can never seem to remember what happens! So every re-read was like reading it for the first time. Maybe that’s why it makes me feel so nostalgic.

Even though this series is a little old and a little out of date (no cell phones!) I would highly recommend it for a 15- or 16-year-old’s summer reading list.

Throwback Thursday: Eragon

Ahhh, high school.

I know so many people look back on high school with anger or unhappiness, but not me. I was the world’s biggest band nerd, and my high school band was the most accepting and caring group of human beings I have ever been a part of. I had friends, so many friends, good friends, and encountered very little of the cattiness, cliques, and bullying that dominate so many high schools. I was a part of something, and I felt like I mattered. That’s special, and I treasure it.

So unlike most people, I look back on my high school experience fondly.

But honestly, I’ve been thinking about it all day, and I can’t remember what books I used to read.

I mean, I remember a few of them, but I know I was an avid reader, and I just genuinely can’t think of enough books to account for all of that time. One of the few books I definitely remember, however, is Eragon. 

Throwback Thursday: The DaVinci Code

You know how sometimes a book gets SO big that it gets read by literally everyone, even people who don’t like to read? When I was in high school that happened to The DaVinci Code. 

It was a book that inspired passionate opinions. One person told me if I read it I would go to hell. Another person told me that they were reading it because “you have to know what the other side thinks.” One of my best friends like it enough that she then proceeded to read every Dan Brown book ever written, and enjoyed Digital Fortress so much that she took the phrase “without wax” as her personal motto, and signed all our yearbooks that way. Still another friend told me it was absolute crap and she didn’t know what the big deal was.

Eventually the fervor died down, and now every Half Price Books in the world has more copies stacked on their shelves than they know what to do with, like Twilight or Harry Potter. But my husband and I both enjoyed it well enough that we still own a copy. Side note, before he met me my husband read like, five books, and the fact that one of them was The DaVinci Code really says something about either the book or the fad, don’t know which.

Throwback Thursday: Ella Enchanted

Ella Enchanted celebrated its 20 year anniversary this year. Twenty years!!! God, that makes me feel old. But chances are, even if you aren’t in your twenties, you have probably read Ella Enchanted. It is absolutely destined to be a classic.

I first read Ella in the fifth grade, I think. It was a Bluebonnet nominee, and we were encouraged to read as many Bluebonnet books as possible. For those of you who aren’t from the great state of Texas, the Texas Bluebonnet Award book is kind of like any other kids’ book award, except that kids get to vote on the winners, which I think is pretty dang cool.

Anyway, the year 2000 was a pretty good year for Bluebonnet books, and I enjoyed every single book that I read. But when it came time to vote, I didn’t even hesitate.

Ella Enchanted remains one of my favorite books to this day. It’s the book I read in the hospital when my son was born. It’s the book I recommend to a student when they need to borrow a book off my shelf for the afternoon. I tried to get my husband to read it, which was, sadly, not a success. And I can’t wait to share it with my own kids when they’re old enough.

Throwback Thursday: The Princess Diaries

The Princess Diaries is one of those books that literally every girl read in the early 2000s. There’s something special about Meg Cabot’s books. Even though the situations are completely silly, you can imagine yourself in them. I mean, what if I found out that I was really a Princess? How amazing would THAT be??