[moridin]

I was thinking back a few days ago on some of the books that really made me love reading. Since this message board is mostly about books I figured I would ask all of you this question. I don't mean what turned you onto fantasy, but what book or authors first made you love reading?

For me, I've always been a reader. Started out with the typical childrens books, but one book turned me into a life time reader.

I was in 4th grade and my brother had recieved a book for his birthday. He is 7 years older than me so I always looked at him as the guy I wanted to be. So, when he read this book and told me how good it was, I just had to read it. Spent 4 days reading this book and it was mamoth. Afterwards my love affair with books was cemented. Even though this book gave me horrible nightmares(most scary things at that age gave me nightmares), I couldn't stop reading it. Even now I go back and read this book at least once a year.

The book was IT by Stephen King. It scared the poop out of me, but I wanted to know what happened to those kids and could not stop reading.

Since that book I went on to read most of the King books my brother had and also polished off some Koontz from the library. Then I switched to some post apocolyptic series(Endworld, Deathlands and such) until finally getting into Fantasy in 9th grade.

So, what book first hooked you on reading and do you find yourself picking it up and rereading it when you want to return to your youth, even if its only for a day?

[Mentalist]

oooh, that's a toughie..
well, simply put, back home TV was crap, and my house was filled with books..
no-one in the family had any time to read to me, so I had to learn myself--did so when i was around 5-6...
The first "real" book I've probably read was "The wizard of the Emerald City" by Volkov--a Russian Soviet-style re-telling of "The Wizard of Oz", with another 5 books as follow-up. If you may, that was my first "fantasy series"

[Slum]

Hmmm... I remember reading Encyclopedia Brown and Choose Your Own Adventure books as young child, Elementary School age. Then, in Middle School, I got into Stephen King and Dean Koontz, mainly because I loved how twisted they were. From there, I got more into fantasy and crime thrillers, which are still my preferred genre/escapism reading. I can't pinpoint a specific book that caused that 'light-bulb moment' where I discovered a love of reading though. I've just always read books. It's amazing how many kids these days are disgusted by the idea...

IT is most certainly not meant to be read by fourth graders.

[cerveza_fiesta]

"I am a bunny. My name is Nicholas. I live in a hollow tree."

I think the title was "I am a bunny"

but after that...umm...after middle school hit I kinda went through a phase of not reading at all, and then my grade 11 english teacher, being perceptive enough to realize that I was a weirdo that would never enjoy reading Dickens, allowed me to do my book report on a novel by Timothy Findley. "not wanted on the voyage". It's his take on the noah's ark story and it's one of the weirdest, most hilarious and awesome books I've ever read. It reminded me that there were authors out there that I might not hate and rekindled my reading fire. or whatever.

EDIT holy shit, just read the first post. IT was fucking scary. I think I read it a lot older than 4th grade too.

[Anomander Rake]

I didn't start reading at a young age, I guess I was with the attitude that books are boring etc, the typical attitude I guess a lot of young teenagers have.

But then I saw all this hype on TV, internet etc about Harry Potter. Finally my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to go and order the book online and see what all the fuss is about.

Read it, loved it and quickly brought the rest of the books that were available in the series. Then after that I was thirsty for more books, I liked the sound of books in the fantasy genre, so ended up getting Steven Erikson's Gardens of the Moon, as the cover looked good, and the synopsis mentioned empires and stuff. Read that and loved it, then read George R R Martin's ASoIaF and loved that too. Then finally hobbit and LoTR.

lol, so I guess I seemed to have read some of the best stuff in fantasy waaay too early on, which probably cause some of the more average works to feel like below average.

So, yep, it was Harry Potter's Magic that got me really into reading.

[cerveza_fiesta]

aaah, here it is

http://www.amazon.com/Am-Bunny-Golden-Stur...k/dp/0375827781

[paladin]

Read the Boxcar Children while I was a little tyke, and some horror stories and such, but firmly jumped on after reading Lord of the Rings my freshman year in college. Between every class I would take a seat and read through this book bigger than any college textbook(it was 3in1 tradepaperback.. massive thing) and it took nearly the whole semester to read, but after that I was hooked. Plowed books after that.. I dont even remember what the hell I read, but it was a good time.

[Trull's son]

In sixth grade i believe, my grand-parents who live on the other side of the country sent me and my older brother a book each. these were Beyond the Deepwoods and Stormachaser by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. I ended up taking my brother's aswell, him not being the reading type, but then again i wasn't at that time either. Anyway, i read both, and couldn't stop. i had to send away for the others of the series. The Edge Chronicles, as i believe the series was called, had opened the doors to harry potter for me, and in some respects had beaten the early Harry potters.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

The Hardy Boys series was a good one, and got me into reading multiple books abou the same people.

[Tif the Barber Boy]

i think the books that really got me hooked on reading were Chronicles of Narnia. Those are the first books I recall being totally excited about and desperate to borrow from the school library one after the other. can't remember exactly how old I was, but must have been 8ish.

I think I mentioned elsewhere that at that age I wasn't really aware of fantasy as a genre as such. These were just really cool books about kids who end up doing really cool stuff in a magical world.

I think the books that really made me aware of fantasy, and got me hooked on fantasy were the first dragonlance books.

[Optimus Prime]

The Hobbit got me when I was very young.

The Bernstein Bears was also a favorite of mine as a little kid.

[Salt-Man Z]

Let's see, I did read The Hobbit and LotR in 4th grade. Before that, I remember reading The Boxcar Children and a ton of Hardy Boys books. Mostly, I read a ton of the old Star Trek Pocket Books. Vulcan Academy Murders was my first one, and those formed the bulk of my reading material for probably most of late-elementary/middle/early-high school. In high school I also read a lot of Crichton and Grisham.

Around 7th grade, though, I read Shardik by Richard Adams (of Watership Down fame) and absolutely loved it. To this day, I've read very few books more than twice, and Shardik I've read 8 times. It's kind of my "comfort book", one of the few where I can close my eyes and recall scenes from the book as if I were actually there. I've yet to read an author who can arrange words on a page as beautifully as Adams, and that's a shame.

[Optimus Prime]

The Giving Tree was a big one for me as well, if I recall correctly.

[Zanth13]

First books read for enjoyment: 3-5th grade
Hank the Cowdog
Hardy Boys
Animorphs

First "fantasy"



A spell for Chameleon (and a few other xanth novels)

edit: cuz I forgot till Abyss reminded me

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

Also Dragonlance (the main canon books)

[caladanbrood]

William Horwood's Duncton Wood series, and then Narnia.


Incidentally, I started reading LotR around the same time as Narnia, and it took me three years longer to finish... don't know what that says;)

[Macros]

The fantastic Mr. Fox
roald dahls best work, and the finest childrens novel available.
After that the "adventure" series, forget the author but the premise was two brothers running around the world capturing animals for daddy's zoo and defeating villianous types, them and the hardy boys, that was in primary school. Then secondary school read the hobbit and lotr (a grand total of at least 15 times last count) and couldnt put fantasy down since.

[stone monkey]

I've always read voraciously, I can't remember a time when I didn't. I suspect my love of fantasy dates back to reading Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain which I probably started reading some time in the mid 70s. I'm very much more an sf person and I really can't remember what started me on that.

[Salt-Man Z]

Xander;303009 said:

The Giving Tree was a big one for me as well, if I recall correctly.

Aw man, I read that as a bedtime story to my 4-year-old daughter a few weeks ago, and I was almost in tears by the end.

[Morgoth]

Huh.. cool thread.

The first book I read, and might still be one of my favourites, partially because of the beautifull artwork was the Minipins by Roald Dahl.. I think I was six or seven.. probably seven.

I then started reading these horrible books called the.. erm.. Bobsy Children or something similar. My mum hated them with a vengance and bought me a book called Amy's Eyes, which really got things started for me. A beautifull book I think, it's been ages since I read it but I notice that I get kinda warm and fuzzy thinking of it ..

I also loved Dinotopia when I was that age, and from there on I got to the Hobbit, Lotr and the rest is history

[Abyss]

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, THE HOBBIT (yes, me too) and CALL OF THE WILD.

The Prydain Chronicles and The Dark is Rising series (ignore the movie, it never happened) followed shortly after, all interspersed with assorted greek and norse mythology books.

- Abyss, did love those wacky tales of a Hobbit and his dog on the island of monsters...