This week’s Top Five Wednesday theme focuses on books that you’ve picked up before joining any online book community. While I’ve been getting a lot of recommendations from my fellow book bloggers, A TON of the books that I’ve picked up since 2015 have been a result of watching BookTube videos. BookTube really inspired to amp my reading game and helped bring on a whole new level of fangirling for me: give me Youtube videos about books any day! That being said, today I’ll be talking about books that I read and loved (still love) before watching BookTube.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green– I think it was (and still is) impossible to walk into a Barnes and Noble without seeing The Fault in Our Stars. I didn’t need BookTube to tell me how much I would love TFIOS, not to mention how many times I’ve reread it. I still sob every reread! I actually read all of John Green’s books before watching Booktube and I’m most definitely anticipating Turtles All the Way Down.

The Cupcake Queen by Heather Helper– I remember picking up The Cupcake Queen at a Scholastic Book Fair in middle school. I think The Cupcake Queen will always be one of my all-time favorite books because it’s one of the most memorable books I read growing up, plus it has cupcakes in the title—how could I not love it?

The Heiresses by Sara Shepard– I don’t remember when I read Sara Shepard’s The Heiresses, but I do feel disappointed that this series didn’t continue after the first book.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman– I remember eating up If I Stay up while sitting outside on a really nice spring day. My neighbors were most likely looking into my backyard, wondering why I was sitting on my deck sobbing my eyes out. If I Stay is one of the saddest books that I’ve ever read and one of the few books and book-to-movie adaptations that have made me hysterically cry.

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell– I read E&P during my sophomore year of high school and I remember wanting more of Rainbow Rowell’s writing (I’m still trying to figure out why I didn’t pick up Fangirl until a year later). I have the B&N exclusive edition of E&P with its gorgeous fan art and I had Rainbow Rowell sign it at Book Con in June (mini PSA that Rainbow Rowell is the nicest person you could ever meet).

Top 5 Wednesday is a collaborative group of book bloggers from various platforms who love sharing lists on Wednesdays. The T5W group can be found here on Goodreads.