We’ve all done it, read a book and thought ‘I wish I had read this when I was much younger’. Books that you can’t appreciate because they are out of their time, books that would have made you a better person much earlier in your life, books you could have learned so much on.
So for our latest poll we gave you the chance to recommend a book to your younger self and you had plenty of suggestions, naming over one hundred different books. I’ve included all books that received three votes or more, giving us 20 books you’d recommend to your younger self!
Harry Potter Series – J.K Rowling
Many of you said you discovered these books in your adult life and really wished you’d read them as children, putting it at the very top of our recommended list.
The Alchemist – Paolo Coehlo
In a very close second came the Alchemist with many of you wishing you had discovered it when you were much younger than you are now.
Matilda – Roald Dahl
Lots of you discovered Matilda as an adult and ended up wishing you’d tried it during your childhood.
The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings – J.R.R Tolkien
With eight votes each comes the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Wonderful fantasy epic that many of you wished you’d persevered with when you were much younger.
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
A must on the school reading list means that many youngsters are put off this classic, but when they finally get around to reading it, they end up wishing they’d read it years ago.
Anne of Green Gables – Lucy Maud Montgomery
A childhood favourite of many, but like other books in the list a lot of you didn’t read this until adulthood and wished you’d read it as a child.
Chronicles of Narnia – C. S Lewis
The magical land of Narnia is a childhood and adulthood favourite of many, but lots of you wished you’d read it when you were younger.
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Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand
Not my favourite author, but always popular with our readers leaving many of you wishing you’d read it earlier than you did.
The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Le Petit Prince has been translated around the world and is a beautiful book for both children and adults so we’re not at all surprised to find it in this list.
And then finishing the list, books with three votes each were:
The Four Agreements – Don Miguel Ruiz
The Catcher in the Rye – J. D Salinger
The Bell Jar – Sylvia PLath
Sophie’s World – Jostein Garder
Diary of Anne Frank – Anne Frank
Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
The Shadow of the Wind – Carloz Ruiz Zafron
The Fault in our Stars – John Green
Speak – Laurie Halse Anderson
Are there any you’d add? Let us know in the comments.
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Lorna Doone – RD Blackmore
X-Ray – Ray Davies
The White Queen – Philippa Gregory
Neither Here Nor There – Bill Bryson
I Me Mine – George Harrison
Songs of Innocence & Experience – William Blake
King Lear – William Shakespeare
Jams, Pickles & Preserves – Mrs Beeton
Some Other Guys – Mike Brocken
The Scarlet Pimpernel – Baroness Orczy
The Picture of Dorian Grey – Oscar Wilde
Plain Truth – Jodi Picoult
Nefertiti – Michelle Moran
The Captive Queen – Alison Weir
The Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis
The Adventures of Paddington – Michael Bond
Alice Through The Looking Glass – Lewis Carroll
Lady of the Rivers – Philippa Gregory
Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell – Susannah Clarke
Monster and Scorpions by Walter Dean Myers
Are you there God, it’s me Margaret by Judy Blume
Swallows and Amazons Arthur Ransome
Astrid Lindgren’s books
The Phantom Tolbooth – Norton Juster
The Children of Greene Knowe series – Lucy Boston