Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

Each week they will post a new Top Ten list that one of their bloggers over at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join.

This week’s topic is: Top Ten Books/Authors I’m Thankful For

I found this list to be one of the hardest I’ve had to come up with.

JK Rowling / The Harry Potter Series: These books mean a lot to me for so many reasons. They were the first books that I owned that my friends and family wanted to borrow. My copies are all dog eared and spine broken and whilst normally that would annoy me, I like that these books of mine look like they’ve been loved and that I got to be the one to share these stories with the people I love. I have a feeling that this will be a popular one this week but I don’t care – I’m thankful for her books and her for writing them.

Dick Bruna: I have loved his Miffy books for over twenty years. When my mother got sick of reading Miffy at the Zoo and Miffy’s Birthday for the thousandth time I read to myself. Despite not being able to read a word I knew these books off by heart and carried them everywhere with me. These books started my love of reading.

I saw a video of how Dick Bruna creates his drawings. I never worked out how much effort went into his books.

Emily Bronte / Wuthering Heights: for teaching me that characters don’t need to be liked in order to love a book. Also for showing me that the classics can be fun to read.

Oh Heathcliff! 😛

Roald Dahl: I love Roald Dahl. I borrowed his books from the library when I was younger. ALL THE TIME. I checked the BFG out so many times that when the library had a sale, the librarian put a copy of it aside and gave it to me for being such a good reader 😀 His novels are ones that mean so much to me – I have memories of my own life events tied up in his stories because I’d read them so many times growing up that the stories and my own life seem intertwined…

And there’s no way I can include Roald Dahl on my list without also mentioning Quentin Blake…

Francine Pascal (and all her ghost writers) and Ann M Martin: These were the first series I read that really had me anticipating the future books and stories. It was exciting coming up with who was going to be with who and what trouble the Sweet Valley people or the Babysitter’s Club would come up with next? I even have a copy of Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years Later sitting on my desk because even now, I can’t get enough of Elizabeth and Jessica and their twin drama.

And my last one:

JR Ward (who is most definitely not a YA author but I felt like belonged on my list anyway): for making me fall in love with paranormal romance/ urban fantasy novels. Thanks to stumbling upon Dark Lover back in 2006ish now my bookshelves are full of sexy vampire novels…

I don’t have anymore books/authors but I am thankful for a few more bookish things:

My year 4 teacher: As year fours a much to old to have nap time, we weren’t too old for reading time. When people who didn’t want to listen to the story were allowed to close their eyes and lie down… but for everyone else those twenty minutes a day we were allowed to listen to our teacher tell us stories. She read I am David by Anne Holm. It introduced me – in a way I’d not really been aware of before – to things like the Holocaust and put a human face on the effects of war for me.

My brothers: for having such extensive book collections of their own and letting me have a free reign. Whilst spy books and Rumpole of the Bailey aren’t my favourite genre, they also introduced me to Jeffery Archer and Bryce Courteney – authors that I absolutely love.

Mum: for taking us all on a trip to the local bookstore on the first week of every holidays to buy ourselves a new book. And also for asking me for new recommendations every months or so of books I’ve loved so you can get them for your kindle.