Tuesday 12 September 2017

Top Ten Tuesday | Throwback Tuesday


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!


This week's theme is a throwback freebie, so I thought I'd talk about one of my absolute favourite childhood authors: Jacqueline Wilson. I'm not sure how well-known she is outside the UK, but Wilson's a prolific children's writer here and I read anything and everything she wrote and spent a lot of my childhood re-reading my favourites.



Vicky Angel: This was one of the very first Jacqueline Wilson books I can remember reading, and one of the first books I ever read to talk about death without being patronising. I have a red-haired sister called Vickie and this book has a red-haired character called Vicky so I couldn't resist picking it up - if I remember correctly my mum and I originally got it to give to someone else as a birthday present, but then I ended up reading it instead and my mum let me keep it.

Best Friends: I ended up moving four times as a child due to my dad's job, and leaving friends behind never got any easier, so this book spoke to me in a way a lot of Wilson's other books didn't. There are other books of hers I love more than this one, but this one will always have a special place in my heart all the same.

The Illustrated Mum: I re-read this book so many times when I was little. If I had to choose I'd probably say this one is my favourite of all her books.

How to Survive Summer Camp: I remember this book really surprising me by how much I ended up enjoying it. I borrowed it from the library because I needed something new to read and I knew I loved Jacqueline Wilson but I wasn't sure if this one would be for me. I ended up re-reading it several times.

The Diamond Girls: Another of my all-time favourites and another that I re-read a lot as a child. As one of three sisters myself, I've always loved reading stories about families with multiple daughters.



Take a Good Look: One of Wilson's darker stories, Take a Good Look follows a visually impaired girl after she's kidnapped. I remember feeling so nervous reading this as a child, and this was another one I re-read a few times because it got me thinking about what I would do if something like that had happened to me.

Midnight: This one's probably one of Wilson's most sinister stories, it's the one novel of hers I remember making me feel really uneasy, yet it's still another one I know I read more than once.

Girls Under Pressure: I loved the Girls series growing up, featuring probably the first overweight protagonist I ever encountered in fiction which meant a lot to a young girl whose journey into puberty involved gaining weight. This book in the series, in particular, stuck with me because protagonist Ellie becomes so obsessed with comparing her body type to that of her friend's that she tries all these crazy diets that make her unwell. It made me feel a little less alone in my strange new body.

Lola Rose: My third favourite alongside The Illustrated Mum and The Diamond Girls, and one that I can still vividly remember re-reading time and time again. I just couldn't get enough of this one.

Glubbslyme: This is probably my least favourite of the ten books here, and the one I read the least amount of times, but it has to have a mention because it features a witch and I remember it being a lot of fun to read. I loved saying the title when I was little, too.

What did you talk about this week?

32 comments:

  1. This author isn't a familiar one to me. The covers look cute though. One of my favorite childhood reading "series" were the American Girl books. In fact, I still have all my books. :)

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    1. I always loved the covers when I was little. ^_^ Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. I don't know these titles but all of them look amazing!

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    1. I really enjoyed reading them again and again when I was younger. Thanks for stopping by!

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  3. I loved Jacqueline Wilson when I was younger! Best Friends, Cliffhanger, Love Lessons, and The Dare Game were my favourites of her books :)

    Louise - Exploring by Starlight

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    1. Funny, I think Love Lessons was the last book of hers I read and I ended up not liking it much at all. I wonder if I'd appreciate it a little more now that I'm older. Thanks for stopping by!

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  4. Ah love this! My favourite was 'Secrets' I think - loved the Lottie Project as well. So many of hers were so sad though, I think Vicky Angel made me cry the most. And Midnight is so sinister you're right, I don't know what it is about it. I'm always surprised she's not bigger outside the UK as she's like a staple here!

    My TTT: https://basedonthebook.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/top-ten-tuesday-throwback-freebie.html?view=classic

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    1. I could have included so many more! I loved Secrets and Sleepovers and The Worry Website and so many more. I totally agree with you, she's such a big name here that I had to remind myself to mention she's so well-known here when I was putting this list together - I forget she probably isn't really known in the US, I guess because while her books have universal themes they do have a very British feel.

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  5. I'd never heard of Jacqueline Wilson before, but your post makes me want to read all of her books. She sounds like quite the storyteller. :)

    Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.

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    1. She definitely kept my entertained throughout my childhood. =) Thanks for stopping by!

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  6. I adored Jacqueline Wilson! Such sweet books.

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  7. Well I'm foolish and just typed in your contact box... You can ignore that!

    I'd say she's not particularly well-known outside the UK, but the covers are loads of fun. :)

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    1. You're not the first person to do that and I'm sure you won't be the last - I need to remember to get rid of it!

      The books were a lot of fun, too. ^_^ Thanks for stopping by!

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  8. I adored Jacqueline Wilson growing up. I have saved all my copies of her books for my daughter to read when she is older. My favourites were always Double Act and The Illustrated Mum!

    I'm all the way down in New Zealand, and she was always a heavily featured author in our school library. All her books would be out on display, so she was definitely well loved here too!

    You can check out my Top Ten Books Published 10 Years Ago HERE

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    1. Ah that's so lovely! Your comment put such a big smile on my face - I love that she's well-known in New Zealand. Thanks for stopping by!

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  9. Sadly, I haven't read any of these :(

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    1. They were a lot of fun to read growing up. =) Thanks for stopping by!

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  10. Certain authors just capture that magic of childhood so well. :) It looks like she wrote a diverse set of books too in the sense that some were a bit more dark and others more lighthearted? I can see where a book like Best Friends would be comforting to someone who moved a lot!

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    1. Definitely! She wasn't afraid to tackle dark issues and she didn't patronise her readers, which I always liked about her - sadly not everyone has a happy childhood and Wilson understood that. Thanks for stopping by!

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  11. I can't say as I've ever heard of her, but these look really fun! :)

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  12. This is such a sweet post and topic! Sadly, I've never read anything by this author, but you may have convinced me to check her out next time I'm at the library.

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    1. Thanks, Lisa! Do! She's a great voice in children's literature. =)

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  13. I loved Jacqueline Wilson too! I think my favourites were Double Act and The Lottie Project.

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    1. I remember enjoying The Lottie Project a lot, too. =) I was always disappointed I couldn't do a history project like that at school!

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  14. Ah yes, Jacqueline Wilson was a staple when I was a kid!
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/12/top-ten-tuesday-124/

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    1. She was my favourite author for a long time. =) Thanks for stopping by!

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  15. I haven't actually heard of her before, which is weird because Australia usually gets a ton of the UK famous authors!! But so glad you enjoyed a ton of her books. Yayyy for fond childhood bookish memories! 😂

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  16. Aw this is so cute! I have heard of her, but I have not read anything by her, unfortunately. When I was growing up, Ann M. Martin was my jam.

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    1. I don't think I've heard of her before - I'll have to check her out!

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