Top Ten Tuesday: Books and Authors I'm Thankful For

This week I've decided to take part in my first ever Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish. I've been meaning to take part in this for a while but this week's topic really caught my eye! Here's my top ten of books and authors I'm grateful for.

1. Roald Dahl - Some of the first books I remember reading were Roald Dahl books! I remember my primary school teacher in year one or two trying to take my copy of The Twits off me because she thought it was her copy from the classroom, and being surprised and pleased that it was my own copy from home.

2. Jacqueline Wilson - What girl didn't grow up on these books?! I must have read so many of these going through primary school. I remember adoring The Story of Tracy Beaker, The Lottie Project, Vicky Angel, Dustbin Baby, the Girls in Love trilogy and so many more!

3. Jaclyn Moriarty - I still think she's one of the best YA authors out there and I absolutely fell in love with her books the first time I read them, and have gone on to re-read them. Her books will always be those I go back to again and again and I credit them as starting my love affair with YA.

4. Jodi Picoult - Ever since my mum lent me My Sister's Keeper, I've been reading Jodi Picoult books. As my reading evolved throughout my teens, this was the one author that always had me going back for more. I still read her books and was lucky enough to meet her last year at a book signing.

5. J. K. Rowling - The 4th in a line of Js! I grew up loving Harry Potter but it wasn't until my late teens that these books took on a whole new role in my life. They became my ultimate source of comfort as I would hide away and escape into these books, and the Harry Potter fandom has become a big part of my life. I met her when I was 9 and still treasure my signed copy of Goblet of Fire with all my heart. I credit JKR for inspiring me to turn to writing as well.

6. Mark Billingham - A bit of a stranger one to include given this is a YA book blog, but outside of YA I love reading crime fiction, and that was a genre that I was introduced to through Mark Billingham's Tom Thorne series.

7. The Hunger Games trilogy - When I read these books it opened my eyes to a whole new world of books. I didn't know much about dystopian fiction beforehand but now it's become one of my favourite genres to read, and I wouldn't have found out about some of the books I've read since if I hadn't have picked up this trilogy.

8. Cassandra Clare - When I first read City of Bones, my friend saw my Goodreads update and let me know that she had the rest of the series if I wanted to borrow them. Ever since then, my best friend and I have been able to share a love of The Mortal Instruments series and that's something I'm so grateful for!

9. Audio books - I know this isn't a specific book but without audio books I would have been pretty lost. I spent several years being unable to read because of health problems and audio books became my way of escaping into books. The Harry Potter audio books in particular were a huge comfort to me! And I still adore listening to audio books.

10. My local library - Again, not a book or author but I'd be lost without it, again, because of my health problems. I was housebound for a long time and for so long it was my goal just to be able to get out and about, and with my library being 5 minutes away it was one of the first places I could go to again. Since then, it's been an absolute lifesaver for me because I can collect books from there without having to spend my energy going all the way into town. They have such a great range as well. I can't work and so having such a great resource on my doorstep when I can't always afford to buy books is invaluable!

I'm also super grateful to my mum and friends who share my passion for books and lend me books and give recommendations.

I've enjoyed writing this post so much! <3