When I was a teenager, reading a good book was a part of my everyday life. I loved reading. But the books I loved to read were wide and various, genre wise. They kind of portrayed my personality and the things I was interested in, rather than just a gripping novel. But gripping novels I did read too.

But when I read books, I would try to mimic in my own life, something I learned in the book or try to be like a character in the book. I still do this today. Do you do that? I think some of us all do that in some way.

So, if you are wondering what books I like to read, well here is the different variances I loved reading:

1. suspense/thriller
2. love & romance
3. murder mysteries
4. teen drama books
5. self-help
6. books that were lists (I’ll explain in a minute)
7. motivational books
8. old-fashioned 1800s fiction

Well, I have to say, not much has changed, except you can add Biographies, books on sustainability, and cookbooks. Yes, I read cookbooks (they are some of my favorite reading).

As a kid, I grew up going to the library with my mom. She was and still is a HUGE reader. Probably more than me in the fiction category. Mom and I would spend Sunday afternoons at the library, getting books for the week to read. I still remember the smell of that library.

One of the major things I remember though about the library, is it had to be total silence. Mom was always shooshing me because I talked to much.

In that library, I was introduced to The Baby-Sitter’s Club and The Boxcar Children. I could get totally lost in one of The Baby-Sitter’s Club books; usually reading one of those books in one sitting.

Nancy Drew Mysteries and Little House on the Prairie were also favorites of mine. My summers with Granny, she and I were always pretending we lived in the 1800s with no electric and amenities just like Laura Ingalls.

As a tween, I would read these books and then play act them for fun, like what Granny and I did every summer. I know I was a tween, but didn’t you play act and pretend at that age also?! I bet you did. I sure hope kids still pretend and play act today. With technology, some of the 90s child ways are becoming fewer.

When I became was in Junior High School, I remember my best friend was reading Biographies, Danielle Steele, and also Sweet Valley High. I wasn’t into the first two, but Sweet Valley High, now those were my all-time favorite books. I loved Sweet Valley High! They even made a Saturday morning show of Sweet Valley High that came on even before or after Saved By The Bell: The College Years.

I just remember reading those books and being able to relate to the twins, when they had boy problems or friend problems. It was neat reading a series of books that was about other teens going through exactly what you were going through.

Then, when I became a freshman in High School, I was really into sports, and started reading motivational books that my Dad would give me. John Maxwell’s books were a major motivation to me. Every day I had a Cross Country meet or Track meet, I would read one of his books to help motivate me. I would also journal about it, and write motivational essays to myself.

Motivational books would become a paramount source of reading for years to come after High School. They are still some of my favorite reading material.

One summer in Arkansas, I went to a bookstore in the town my Granny & Papaw lived, and found an author that I would love and read from then on: Barbara Ann Kipfer. She writes books that one big list. I have every list book she has written, such as 14,000 Things To Be Happy About. This was my first Kipfer book I bought that summer in Arkansas. (Lists were something I grew up making and loving, and still make and love to this day. I remember I used to make lists of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs. I know…weird kid. But really, I loved lists. Still do).

So, all of those different kinds of books are what I loved as a teenager. I would totally read the Sweet Valley High books again, for sure! In fact, I was so tempted back in the summer, when I found a whole slew of them as the local Goodwill store. They even had a few Baby-Sitter’s Club books as well. I thought, “yep, a 90s child is cleaning out her collection”. If I am being honest, I really did almost buy them, but was too embarrassed to actually do it. I still wish I had. LOL.

As a life-long reader, my genres have pretty much remained the same. Reading a wide-range of topics and genres is just something I love doing. I am of the belief that you can learn something from anything, and I always seem to enjoy or learn something from the genres I may always read. So, be open to reading a wide variety. Or at least try it if you want.

Since I have spent this whole post telling you about what books I read as teenager, and hopefully didn’t bore you, now it’s your turn to share what you read and loved as a teenager. Go even one step further, and share if you would read them again as an adult, even if it is a book you loved in 6th grade.

Have a great night and happy reading and reminiscing!