Kayla Fry

My Ideal Bookshelf

Growing up, I was exposed to scary movies pretty early on and even though some of

those movies scared me pretty bad, and it wasn’t appropriate to be seeing them, it made me love

them at the same time. In late elementary school is when I really got into reading and I found

some middle-grade spooky books that I loved such as books by Mary Downing Hahn and The

Ghost at Fossil Glen. These books aren’t pictured here on my shelf, but I thought they were

worth mentioning as to the start of my reading life. In middle school and high school, I also

found so many YA contemporary books that I liked so that’s what I read most of the time. Later

in high school and college is when I really found books that I fell in love with and these are the

books pictured on my shelf. I find reading is a necessity for me. If I’m out doing something, a lot

of times I find my mind wandering and thinking about the book at home (or, really, it’s probably

in my bag). What’s awesome about stories is that we all have one and books allow us to find out

more about our own story, but also gives us a look into others.’ The books on my shelf are

stories that I still constantly think about. They have characters I miss and wonder about, settings

that I wish I could visit, ideas that are relatable, but at the same time so creative and interesting

and unique, writing that takes my eyes page to page until I realize 2 hours later I’ve actually been

reading and not actually experiencing these things. But really, we kind of are experiencing what

goes on in our books. My shelf has several horror and thriller books, but also a couple YA, a fun

Halloween graphic novel, and a few adult contemporaries that really touch the heart and make

you think. I think IT is my favorite book on here because even though it took me months to read
it in high school (it’s over 1000 pages), everything about it has stuck with me. I also love the

movies. I love that my shelf has a great balance of genres.