Can't believe it's Tuesday already. Can't believe it's JULY already. I mean... didn't I warn 2019 TO SLOW DOWN? Dang.




This weeks topic was Settings I’d Like to See More Of (Or At All) and as keen as I was to work with that one, I decided against it in the end. Instead, I poked around the previous topics and settled on Books From My Childhood/Teen Years I'd Like to Revisit instead. Ditching the childhood of it all and diving straight into my teenage years was exciting.

We all know I'm nostalgic by nature and I'm always down to talk about books I loved once upon a time. It's why I made 5 and 5. And why I'm having so much fun with it. Even though my opinions have changed a lot towards books I was once fond of, revisiting old favourites is so appealing because it's like visiting an old friend.

So, here's the books (or rather, series) from my teenage years that I'd like to revisit at some point in the future. That's right, kids. Queue up those episodes of Laguna Beach, set your AIM away message or post your next Myspace bulletin, pick out your best Abercrombie & Fitch distressed denim and Hollister polo top and blast Sugar, We're Going Down, or your Fall Out Boy song of choice, because we're going back in time a bit.

I'm leaving the more obvious choices out of this throwback list--such as Harry Potter, Gossip Girl, The Shadowhunter Chronicles, etc. Just because I always bring them up! 

I feel like The A-List was one of the more influential book series of my teenage years. I was into it like I was deep into the Gossip Girl series and it definitely played a huge part in my excitement for reading and anticipation for new releases. I started to reread it a few years back but only got to the second or third book before pausing and just... not getting back to it. I'll give it another go soon!

Gossip Girl junior, basically! I was so excited when I discovered this series because, at this point, I was at the height of my Gossip Girl obsession--and then I found this series, where the characters were actually my age at the time. There was a time where The Clique was my world and me and my friends would try and talk like the characters from it. I mean, Massie Block was TOTALLY the goal back in junior high.

Honestly, I tried to reread the series recently. Like, three years back? I think I reread the whole original trilogy but I may have only reread the first two. It's another one of those typical, dishy YA novels that feels almost reminiscent to Gossip Girl. Plus, Lauren Conrad's writing was a lot better than I expected to be--but we always knew she did enjoy writing and it definitely showed. L.A. Candy was fun and not unlike reality television in the form of a beach read.

Kate Brian's Private series was my first big obsession in the mystery/thriller genre. At least, or the YA section of it. I definitely got into this series in a serious way and loved its spin-off Privilege. To this day, I still include Ariana Osgood as one of my all-time favourite fictional characters (she's so subtle, sugary sweet and creepy) and I've never forgotten her, or any of the other Billings Girls. I am fairly certain the resolution for Private's first mystery was my first BIG plot twist outside of Harry Potter related literature.

I think that this series is the most definitive one out of all of these. I make it a point to reread them when I can and obviously I'm 100% trash for the show. Pretty Little Liars came out just as I started Booked J, all the way back when. One of my former co-owners of the blog (hi, girl!) actually had this, and Twilight, as the first reviews on Booked J. Well, then, Booked AJJP. I love that it carried over into my twenties and continued to expand. Anyways, I will always have a soft spot for this series.


There were plenty of other books and series I wanted to include (The Dating Game, The Insiders, Poseur, The Au Pairs, Seven Deadly Sins, etc) but I felt like, when I looked back on some of those, I'm not sure I'm necessarily keen on rereading them? And I wanted to stick to the ones that give me the warm and fuzzies when looking back on, and ones that I'll likely reread a few times in the future.