Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  

Depending on the weekly topic I write a post and this week’s theme picked my interest!

This week’s TTT topic is Books for My Younger Self (These could be books you wish you had read as a child, books younger you could have really learned something from, books that meshed with your hobbies/interests, books that could have helped you go through events/changes in your life, etc.).

I decided to go with a short comment about the reason of my choice and one favorite quote.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Deliah Owens

I would have read it to realize not to judge by social standing. A little girl in ragged clothes should not be shunned or overlooked but helped and cherished.

“But just as her collection grew, so did her loneliness. A pain as large as her heart lived in her chest. Nothing eased it. Not the gulls, not a splendid sunset, not the rarest of shells.

The lonely became larger than she could hold. She wished for someone’s voice, presence, touch, but wished more to protect her heart.”

Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris

I would have read it to never forget. Because when we don’t speak of the horror of the past, we forget and it repeats itself. And also because the human body and soul can be formidably resilient

“To have lost everything. To have had to endure what she has endured, and be punished for it. How can she go on? How can she work for a new enemy? Live to see the women around her tire, starve, diminish, die. But she – she WILL live. She does not know why she has always been sure of that, why she feels he can persist but she can.

It is fire then that keeps her going. But it is also a curse. It makes her stand out, be singled out. She must contain it, control it, direct it.

To survive.”

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

To remind me to be brave, to speak up.

“That’s why people are speaking out, huh? Because it won’t change if we don’t say something?” “Exactly. We can’t be silent.”

Birthday by Meredith Russo

To truly grasp what being transgenre means and to offer my help and no judgment.

“I wonder if maybe I just can’t cry anymore, if maybe growing up means testosterone is running through my body like an invading army, butchering and bunting everything tender.”
― Meredith Russo, Birthday

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

I would have read it to stop being so distrusting after 9/11 towards every muslim. I truly tried not to but the collective hysteria was hard to resist. That book would have done wonders.

“It didn’t matter how unaccented my English was. It didn’t matter that I told people, over and over again, that I was born here, in America, that English was my first language, that my cousins in Iran made fun of me for speaking mediocre Farsi with an American accent -it didn’t matter. Everyone assumed I was fresh off the boat from a foreign land.”

The Radius of us by Marie Marquardt

To open my eyes about the migrants and realize that no, they don’t leave everything behind  on a whim. And no fleeing his country is no picnic. And no, they don’t come to steal our work and our women.

“I have this strange feeling that we’re both on our way to someplace better.”
― Marie Marquardt, The Radius of Us

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

First because that book was a hell of fun but also because it would have helped me to understant autism so much better!

“How did one not obsess over something wonderful? How did one like something a reasonable amount?”
― Helen Hoang, The Kiss Quotient

Harry Potter by JK Rowling

Because I read Harry Potter in my thirties and I would have had so much fun! It’s magic!

“Now, you two – this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you’ve – you’ve blown up a toilet or –”
“Blown up a toilet? We’ve never blown up a toilet.”
“Great idea though, thanks, Mum.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

A List of Cages by Robin Roe

To remind me to open my eyes, to truly see my classmates, my friends because maybe, one of them was abused home. And I would have acted upon it. Protected.

“Nothing they’re doing hurts, but it feels as if something is tearing away the center of my chest. The cold is dissolving. Their hands are soft. Everything is quiet except the tears that are climbing from somewhere beneath my ribs. I’ve cried in pain and I’ve cried in fear, but these tears are different, deeper, like I’m breaking apart.”

The Silver Cage by Anonymous

Because that book made me rage at life’s unfairness and how people can be so close minded. Again I would have helped anyone who would have ridiculed homosexuals at my time. 

“It’s like, if they don’t know, God doesn’t know. And I want to go to Heaven.”
― Anonymous, The Silver Cage

What books would you have recommended to your younger self?

Thanks for reading

Sophie