So many of my "ESL days" reads were horror novels by R. L. Stine and Christopher Pike.

I believe my family has the 1975 edition. Nevertheless, The "Joy of Cooking" cookbook is a treasure trove of recipes and information for novice and avid cooks. My first from-scratch brownies were from here, and they were fantastic! I'm still not able to read the chapter about cooking wild game like squirrels and the like >.<

I admit I was late to the world of anime and manga. Thankfully, I was introduced to Naruto and never looked back.

Ah, "No Logo" and the magazine "Adbusters" shaped part of my thinking as a teen. My copy is highlighted, even though I read it for fun, not for school!

The movie drew me to the novel. This was my first novel about the Chinese-American inter-generational experience. I could identify with many different parts of the multiple relationships in the novel.

I read this in Grade 6, not knowing anything about the author. It read like a fiction novel to me at the time. It was very moving, describing the adversities of being blind, toughing it out, and making it in a not-so-kind world.

If you've experienced the pangs of sibling rivalry, you may like this novel. One of my earlier English reads (I was in ESL gr. 5&6), it was encouraging to see Sara Louise grow into her own person.