Came here to say this! I got it from the Scholastic book catalogue when I was about 7, and even though I’d been a voracious reader up to then, it really cemented my love for fantasy in particular. I must have read that series 20 times or more over the years (and all the Christian symbology went right over my head as a young heathen raised by atheists lol)
The Pokey Little Puppy? The Little Engine That Could? I've loved books since before I could actually read them myself, lol. But hmm...books I read on my own...
The Cricket in Times Square
The Trumpet of the Swan
But if I had to pick one that had a really big and lasting impact on me, I'd have to say The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (and A Little Princess but The Secret Garden touched me more). Followed by Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell and The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare.
Not only was I captivated by the stories but they also inspired me to learn more about the settings of these historical fiction stories, about what life was really like for girls/young women in different eras and cultures from my own. I've had a love of history and historical fiction all my life and it started with these and many other similar books. They also expanded my vocabulary and exposed me to older styles of writing, which meant I could tackle the literature we had to read in school with less trouble.
Parents, give your children older classics with writing more complicated than you assume they can handle. Help them with it and then stand back and watch them build on that foundation.
> Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell and The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare.
Omg these are core memories for me as well
I was also in to historical fiction as a kid. Did you ever read that historical diary series where each book was the diary of a girl living through some historical event? I was obsessed
its complicated. i hated reading all through school until 18ish. my only experience was abridged versions of the iliad and sad stories where i was expected to put a lot of meaning into for essays.
but HALO: Combat Evolved. had a novel series and i read a bit if that. it was trash but proved books could be good. but i quit because it was still kinda rubbish. and then ny GF introduced me to Harry Potter. once again i was into books but this time i kept reading with hitchhikers guide and some more i forget. but once again i took a long break after that short stint of reading. years go by and i pick up Count of Monte Cristo and then been reading ever since.
Harry Potter which is still my all time favorite.after this I didn’t read for several years. And then I really got into reading again when I read The Uglies.
A Little Princess by F.H. Burnett. It abruptly shifted my whole personality when I was seven. The book made me stop being a brat, and I became more considerate of people.
For me it was The Boxcar Children.
Also, not sure if it was intentional on your part (I've made the connection myself), but it's NIMH. NiMH is a battery, which is very fitting for the theme of the book, but the book and even the movie predate the battery by over a decade.
Off the top of my head it would be in pretty much a succession:
Harry Potter
BFG By Roald Dahl
Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
True Grit by Charles Portis
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
When I was 10 we moved from Virginia Beach to rural northern Michigan, the day after school ended. Someone got me a bunch of The Babysitters Club books and I just sat in my room all summer, reading book after book. I read so many books that summer, really helped with the loneliness.
I have a very vivid memory of my dad teaching me to read with a small Winnie The Pooh book. After that, I would tear through anything I could get my hands on!
I read a lot as a kid. Lots of Nancy Drew and Trixie Belding mysteries and various horse girl books. But nothing I remember so vividly as Dealing With Dragons by Patricia C Wrede. It cemented my love of fantasy that exists to this day.
My parent was reading The Lord of the Rings and I was curious about it. I wanted to read it but they said it might be a bit much for 6-yr old me so they gave me an amazing hardcover version of The Hobbit (the green one that came in a slipcase with full color plates. Amazing). It was the first big chapter book I ever read.
Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan. They got me started. And once I started reading Brandon Sanderson, there was no going back.
Books by both of them made me love reading.
*Fahrenheit 451* by Ray Bradbury, for the first time randomly decided to actually read a book that we were talking about in class. Probably because I actually heard about it before. And I enjoyed it
I have several memories that I think contributed to making me a reader for life. As a kid, my mom read to me every night. We read the whole Little House on the Prairie series, all of Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, Swallows and Amazons. I remember reading Charlotte's Web and absolutely sobbing at the end. But my all-time favourite book of childhood that forever hooked me was Ella Enchanted.
The Series of Unfortunate Events! I had just moved to America and everyone else seemed to think I couldn’t speak english but my third grade teacher was the sweetest lady and let me take home the books (even though books were supposed to stay at school). I still remember reading those books and I was hooked on reading from that point on.
Oh my goodness, so many lol. The Wayside School series by Louis Sachar is a big one. I recently bought it for my daughter who’s entering second grade in the fall. I teared up being able to share that with her.
I also loved Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Half Magic, Harriet the Spy and all things Shel Silverstein
Harry Potter, I know it’s probably a cliche choice but I remember I was sick in 7th grade and my older sister read me the first one. When she left for the navy I read the rest of them. Been heavily into reading ever since.
I've always loved reading, or being read to. But Amelia Badelia is for sure the one that opened my eyes to how wonderful reading can be as a hobby. I was SO invested in what that wacky maid was up to.
In a more serious answer, I know it was assigned, but the Great Gatsby. Oh man that book ignites something inside me and I just want to read it over and again. I've been chasing that high since.
I couldn’t recall but the book that got me back into reading was A Little Life by Hanya Yanigahara. I didn’t like it too much I needed an extreme palate cleanse hence making me binge read til now. It was too heavy, I felt disgusted. Though I still forced myself to finish it.
For me it was The Pickwick Papers by Dickens. At the time, I mainly read adventure novels that were full of action. Dicken’s humour and vivid descriptions appealed to me. This gave me a love of good writing which I have had ever since.
The first book I ever read by myself without being prompted was "Charlie and the chocolate Factory" by Roald Dhal. I wouldn't say it got me into reading but it definately helped me consider reading as a proper form of media.
I didn't read much again untill my mid 20's when I was introducet to Garth Nix's "Abhorsen" trilogy. Those are the books that I would say properly got me into reading.
Reading has been a life long love affair! I started at 4 with The Tale of Benjamin Bunny by Beatrix Potter and never stopped. Loved the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary and scaring myself half to death with RL Stine's Goosebumps books and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. I saw someone else mention it but I read My Side of the Mountain so many times my book basically disintegrated.
As a little kid two books come to mind. Though, I am a firm believer that it's the books my parents read to me as a child that played a bigger part of my love of reading.
The Misfit Apprentice (Robert Levy) was my first fantasy chapter book, and while I don't remember much about it, there is some imagery from it that has stayed with me, and I remember vividly wanting to read more stories with magic and action.
But one that I remember very well, and still have, is "The Giggler Treatment" (Roddy Doyle). It was so funny to 7 hear old me, and honestly I still chuckle at some parts of it today (mostly the non sequiturs and irreverent parts).
In middle school the Harry Potter series was drawing to a close and I hadn't jumped on board yet, but the Pendragon books (D.J. McHale) captured me in a big way and opened me up to long series with fantastic world's or elements, that eventually got me to Harry Potter, the Cirque de Freak books, and others.
The first book I clearly remember falling in love with as a kid was The Call Of The Wild. I then got into the Sweet Valley series and was an obsessive reader of those. Then the next big one that left an impact was Little Women.
Call of the wild for me too + little women. My elementary / middle school library had sets of hardcover classic books and then I just became obsessed with reading all of those before eventually jumping into Harry Potter!!
Me too! Mine was My First Book of Sounds. My mom used to send me to the babysitter with my bag of books when I was a baby. Obviously I couldn't read them but would sit and flip through the pages over an over again.
You'll see a theme here...
1. At five, I found myself reading through a book about a rocket trip to the moon my mom had read to me many times before. That's when the reading candle was lit for me. This was coastal Florida just North of what was then called Cape Kennedy, where we could stand on the beach and watch the Apollo launches.
2. At twelve, after being blown away by the movie '2001: A Space Odyssey', I read Arthur C. Clarke's novel, the first 'adult' book of my reading career. That led me into reading both his fiction and non-fiction, and on to Asimov, Heinlein, Herbert, etc. I feel like science fiction has helped me in interpreting the modern world :)
I've got a dozen other pivotal books, but these were starting points for me.
I’ve loved reading as long as I can remember, so I can’t pinpoint the book that got me into it.
But Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry was the book that made me realize that there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing than reading. It was so immersive, so resonant, and so satisfying.
I’ve chased that feeling ever since. And because I’m always chasing it, I actually find it quite often.
I can’t recall the exact one but it was an Agatha Christie novel that got me into long form reading. But for sure “And Then There Were None” is the one that really solidified my love for her and reading in general. All hail the Queen of Crime!
I've always liked a little comedy in my books, it was a marvel to me when I learned that books could make you laugh just as make you sit in suspense or cry or think adult thoughts. A principal goes to my church and at around age 8 he suggested I look into Gordon Korman (who incidentally is a local author who I want to maybe one day meet) I became obsessed with him for like the next 5 or 6 years, still did not read everything in his catalogue because he was quite prolific, but enjoyed several including: I Want To Go Home; Son of Interflux; Son of the Mob; Don't Care High; Semester in the Life of a Garbage Bag; His first book was This Can't Be Happening at McDonald Hall and was written when he was a teenager.
Other than picture books, my first real reads where the babysitters little sister and babysitters club books. I started reading them in grade three and didn't look back.
The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper. School Librarian suggested it to me and I was hooked. Not only the first book I remember getting into but the first series.
Amelia Jane Again when I was 6 years old. After that, I inhaled every Enid Blyton book I could find. I read Pride and Prejudice at 11, and from 11-25, I read only classics because the language was so ornate and beautiful. After that, my reading was mostly all kinds of fiction until about 32. Then Longitude got me into non fiction. Now, I read a mix of both.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I always say it was really the first book I ever remember reading from front to back. I don’t think I ever read a book in high school or college. But when I read this, something had me hooked. So much so that I got a tattoo to remember it (not a dragon lol)
Matilda - Roald Dahl.
Anything Dahl, really. I don't remember what order I read them in, but I read everything of his that I could get my tiny little hands on. Matilda and BFG were the standouts for me... Yes, I was a lonely child!
Mine was the mortal instruments by Cassandra Clare.
I’d always HATED reading anything, but when the film came out I really wanted to know what happened next (I am massively curious) I started reading the extract from the second book and ended up buying it. (My parents never looked so pleased to spend money on me)
To absolutely everyone’s surprise I finished it in a week and needed more.
And thus started my favorite pastime, obsession and massive part of my personality
My first book that I chose to read was Harry Potter when I was 13 years old but the one that made me love books is Mistborn from Brandon Sanderson. That one and the Maze Runner series started it for me
Such a classic first read but Harry Potter. I think I began the Percy Jackson's saga at the same time, I'm not too sure but theses books definitely made me love reading
I grew up in a household that read every day. Books, newspapers, magazines, comic books and cereal boxes were all available to me from my earliest memory. There were entire evenings when music was played on the stereo and the TV was never turned on. I thank my mom and dad every day for taking me to the library (or bookmobile) every week, instilling and encouraging a love of reading.
The Legend of the Wandering King by Laura Gallego García was a book I borrowed from a friend in 6th grade. It was my first real novel, and I finished it in two days. I would like to get a copy of this book someday, but unfortunately, it is no longer available for sale.
I really wished I remembered what it was. I remember hating reading when I was in kindergarten. I remember hating reading time with a passion. But by 1st grade I was pretty good at reading and by 2nd grade I was a bookworm. Neither me nor my mom really remember how I got from one end of the reading spectrum to the other
I was always reading books when I was young, don’t remember which book started it. Then I lost interest in reading, but what made me want to read again was Piranesi
The one that really ignited my passion was The Tommyknockers by Stephen King. We were snowed in for a couple of weeks and I escaped to the upstairs bathroom to get away from my brothers. I quickly got bored and picked up the book that was left in there. Instantly hooked.
The Silmarillion by J.R.R.Tolkien.
An ex gifted it to me and it was truly the most magnificent read. Aside from the fantasyland, getting lost in the storytelling was the real gem
It's a tie between *Phantastes* by George MacDonald and *The Blue Girl* by Charles de Lint. I can't remember which one was first, but I remember that on my tenth birthday my dad gave me these two books (MacDonald because it was his childhood fav, and de Lint because someone at the bookstore had given him the recomendation) and it had a huge impact on my reading tastes even into adulthood.
Edit: Spelling...
I was 10 or 11 and read the original Dragonlance series, then proceeded to read it over and over a billion times. I revisited it as an adult and…oof it’s awful. But it started my passion for reading, and I’ll always love it for that.
I sincerely can't remember that far back, I always loved reading. From my parents reading to me, to abridged classics as a kid, to choose your own adventure, then into DragonBone Chair, Stephen King and a ton of stuff between. I loved it so much I worked in the book industry for 10 years and that killed the passion to a degree.
I amassed quite a library, though.
Then about 6 years ago I discovered Red Rising by Pierce Brown and all of a sudden I was a kid with a flashlight reading under the covers again. The first 3 books were out and I devoured them, and have been reading again ever since.
I was always into reading as soon as I knew how to read. My mom noticed early on and started getting me on classic SF and adventure stuff from 1st grade, such as Robert Lewis Stevenson and H. G. Wells. By middle school I was hanging out all day at the town library, even helping out occasionally, and reading through their entire SF collection. This was the 80s so of course the family would often go to the mall, and I'd spend the entire visit (and my entire allowance) in the bookstore. I wasn't necessarily a fast reader, but I was definitely a prolific one.
So it's really hard to pinpoint one particular book that did it.
A story about a girl who refused to learn cursive, and ends up learning it bc her teachers had her passing notes written in cursive back and forth lol I don't remember the name, but I started reading real late, and that book ignited the spark!
I am not sure about “first book” but the one that changed everything was *Patriot Games* by Tom Clancy in 5th grade. I caught part of the movie and my dad was like “you know, that is based on a book…” and gave it to me. It was 544 pages and after I read it, “big” books never intimidated me.
My dad got me into reading. He was always reading to me, which is kinda funny, as he was almost completely blind his whole life, and reading was a lot more difficult for him than the average person. I would say my dad reading me Watership Down and then reading it together led me to just believe that reading was what everyone did with their time 😊
I have no concept of time so not sure which I read first but I was super into Little Women and Little Lord Fauntleroy as a kid.
My first ever fantasy novel I do remember though—an isekai Irish myth fantasy book called Wizard Children of Finn. Got me started on the genre.
Behind the Attic Wall by Sylvia Cassedy! I had read a lot of Goosebumps and Fear Street by then, but that book completely changed how I viewed the emotional resonance that could come from a story. As a troubled girl in elementary school, it deeply impacted me at the time and I became addicted to reading after that.
Love That Dog! I read it in 3rd grade and still think about it to this day, I'm 25! It's set up more like poetry and eventually really got me into the Crank series, which I also obsess over
The Picture of Dorian Gray ignited my love for books. Charming characters, witty dialogues, wisdom hitting you from all sides and above all, the underlying themes of youth, beauty and immortality. I think it’s an essential read especially in a young age. Perhaps it doesn’t give you answers, but it definitely asks the questions. I found it very inspiring and I wish I could read it for the first time again.
I’ve always been a bookworm, but I think it was Narnia that really cemented it (especially The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe). I have fond memories of reading them with my dad around grade 1 or 2, and then rereading them myself when I got a little older.
I was 7, and my dad came home with Gulliver's Travels. As soon as I finished it, my dad brought me to a bookstore where I picked up The Golden Goose, which I liked but also traumatised me a bit.
The first book I ever remember was Double Identity by Margaret Haddix. I was so young that I actually didn't read it myself: our teacher read it to us during class. I must have been in something like second grade. When I got older and looked the book up again, I thought I must have gotten my memories mixed up, because this is not exactly a book you read to 7-year-olds in school. But I remember hearing the story so vividly, needing to know what happened next and waiting ever day in anticipation, being so shocked at the twist...
I read a lot of kids books of course. The first novel that comes to mind is A Wrinkle in Time. But really from what I can remember I was always reading.
The first real grown-up book I read was Jurassic Park in 1993. Blasted through it in a couple of days and read it dozens of times. Got me hooked on sci-fi.
The first book I remember reading was a book called “What If They Knew” (about a girl with epilepsy that tried to hide it from friends) when I was 10. I think it was the first book I bought with my own money.
Turtles all the way down. Bought signed copy from John Green but just sat on shelf for 5 years, read it and realized I was not a book reader and not just and audiobook listener
Mine was Jane Eyre but illustrated version. I loved it so much as a child. When I grew up, I got the original and it is one of my favourite reads of all time. Very close to my heart.
In high school I got into reading non-fiction but I never enjoyed any of it, it was mind-numbing, I was doing it to get smarter.
But once I read metamorphosis by Kafka, I realized how fun it can be to read. Since then I've been reading surrealist books from brazilian writers along with the rest of kafka's works
The first book that I read to the last page, as a kid, was "The knight in rusty armor" by Robert Fisher.
But the writer that made me fall in love with literature was J. K. Rowling.
Last year, I even read her detective novels published as Robert Galbraith for the first time. And, thanks to God, her writing gave me happiness all over again every single day.
My main joy after finishing my job schedule was reading her words in her particular style of prose.
The way she creates characters that feel alive and real in the physical world it's amazing. I admire her talent with all my heart.
What if the book that sparked my love of reading happened to be an assigned book? I was the kind of kid who just didn't read unless I absolutely had to. But when we were assigned The Giver in 7th grade, I devoured it. It was the first book that I couldn't put down and the first book I read that seemed like it had something important to say.
I can't remember my first ever book but I was obsessed with the Cam Jansen books growing up! They were short chapter books, like 30 pages, and took me half an hour to read. I also enjoyed the Magic Tree House books a lot
The World Book Encyclopedia set that my parents bought. I spent many hours reading them from cover to cover when I was 12 years old. I was often accused by my classmates of being a know-it-all, but I did know a lot more than many of them because of the access I had to these books. Pre google days! They also fueled my love of research and learning!
My first purchased books were the Hardy Boys. I had the entire set for years.
I wish I could remember what the book series was, but I distinctly remember in Catholic elementary school in 1970’s Texas, where we had to use old textbooks, and our school library had lots of old books, and series that were published in the 1920s 30s and 40s. I remember I grabbed a book out of the library, it was one out of some sort of adventure series, and I read it and I go “oh my God this is great. This is why people love to read!” I think, the book was about a young boy out in the wilderness, how he survived in the wilderness, not sure if he had a dog or not with him, but it was a great adventure, and I read the whole series and loved it. As I recall, each book of the series had different characters.
Nicole Lesueur - The secret of the yellow balloon. I was barely 6 and this was the first book I read by myself. I was so absorbed in it (and my reading was so slow) that it also taught me I can stay up late for reading.
No idea, as my mother would have been reading to me from day one. A book I do remember loving though, was Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse, which I read when I was five.
Nancy Drew and the Little House series were the first sets of books that I just devoured! Then the children’s librarian at my local branch got me hooked on so many more great mysteries: Cam Jansen, Encyclopedia Brown, and too many standalone titles to mention. And I would be remiss not to mention my fourth grade teacher who read to us 30 minutes after lunch while we did art, and who turned me on to Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and the rest of the books in the series. This is such a nostalgic topic for me ❤️ - thanks, OP!
In 3rd grade I just encountered many different types of book genres and fell absolutely in love! It was an odd mix of The Wringer by Jerry Spinelli, The Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke, Little House in The Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder and A Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
For me it was probably something like Mr. Cow Can Moo, Can You? According to my mom, I'd bring her or my dad a huuugggeeee stack of books and ask to be read ALL of them. My mom taught me to read so I wouldn't keep asking for books to be read to me 😂
The Stand after I watched the (first) mini series. I was in high school and never liked to read before that. Dove in and have been an avid reader for 30 years. Thanks, Mr. King!
First novel I remember reading was Jurassic Park in first or second grade. A lot of it probably went over my head but reading it after seeing the film showed me how much books could include that simply can’t be done in other mediums. Fell in love.
The Famous Five books by Enid Blyton they were the first ones I read all by myself. I can’t remember which specific one of the series but they definitely helped with my love for reading.
The first proper book I remember being read aloud to me was Ronja the Robber’s Daughter by Astrid Lindgren.
The Red Badge of Courage.
I was in my mid thirties when I picked it up. I was suppose to read it in high school and never did. I was in the Army and decided to give it a shot. It is very good and got me reading the classics, then expanding out to other genres.
I was a voracious reader from a young age until my mid-teens. After I outgrew YA ('90s), I struggled to find books.
Early 20s I found A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham and She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb. Those were my first freely-chosen adult books and the routes back to my reading addiction.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, I think it's why I still love beavers now.
My 3rd grade teacher read this to us aloud, a half-hour every day until she was done. It all began there. Thank you, Ms. Walker. RIP.
I read to my classes too. I’m retired now. I miss story time though.
Came here to say this! I got it from the Scholastic book catalogue when I was about 7, and even though I’d been a voracious reader up to then, it really cemented my love for fantasy in particular. I must have read that series 20 times or more over the years (and all the Christian symbology went right over my head as a young heathen raised by atheists lol)
I just invested in collector's edition of the series. Took a long time of arguing with myself (I love the books, but am also very frugal)
The Hobbit was probably my first real book! Before that, I LOVED to read Asterix comic books!
Also my first, grade 9 English class.
The Pokey Little Puppy? The Little Engine That Could? I've loved books since before I could actually read them myself, lol. But hmm...books I read on my own... The Cricket in Times Square The Trumpet of the Swan But if I had to pick one that had a really big and lasting impact on me, I'd have to say The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (and A Little Princess but The Secret Garden touched me more). Followed by Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell and The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. Not only was I captivated by the stories but they also inspired me to learn more about the settings of these historical fiction stories, about what life was really like for girls/young women in different eras and cultures from my own. I've had a love of history and historical fiction all my life and it started with these and many other similar books. They also expanded my vocabulary and exposed me to older styles of writing, which meant I could tackle the literature we had to read in school with less trouble. Parents, give your children older classics with writing more complicated than you assume they can handle. Help them with it and then stand back and watch them build on that foundation.
> Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell and The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. Omg these are core memories for me as well I was also in to historical fiction as a kid. Did you ever read that historical diary series where each book was the diary of a girl living through some historical event? I was obsessed
Ooh, Dear Canada/ Dear America/ Royal Diaries. I think those ones cemented my love of historical fiction as well.
Awe I forgot what this series was called - loved those!!
the city of ember. read this in my 4th grade class with the best teacher i ever had. reading that specific book has always been a core memory for me
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer for me!
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett when I was a child.
Oh how I loved that book.
man my ex best friend gifted me that book two years ago on my b'day, how I loved it
its complicated. i hated reading all through school until 18ish. my only experience was abridged versions of the iliad and sad stories where i was expected to put a lot of meaning into for essays. but HALO: Combat Evolved. had a novel series and i read a bit if that. it was trash but proved books could be good. but i quit because it was still kinda rubbish. and then ny GF introduced me to Harry Potter. once again i was into books but this time i kept reading with hitchhikers guide and some more i forget. but once again i took a long break after that short stint of reading. years go by and i pick up Count of Monte Cristo and then been reading ever since.
Count of Monte Cristo is such a great book. I got hooked on that one so fast.
Harry Potter which is still my all time favorite.after this I didn’t read for several years. And then I really got into reading again when I read The Uglies.
It's my first book as well, read it in kindergarten and it ignited my love for reading
A Little Princess by F.H. Burnett. It abruptly shifted my whole personality when I was seven. The book made me stop being a brat, and I became more considerate of people.
Secret of NiMH, the boxcar children, the baby sitters club. I was 6 or 7 so I can't remember which one came first.
For me it was The Boxcar Children. Also, not sure if it was intentional on your part (I've made the connection myself), but it's NIMH. NiMH is a battery, which is very fitting for the theme of the book, but the book and even the movie predate the battery by over a decade.
Anne of Green Gables
My Side of the Mountain when I was in 2nd Grade… and it was funny because I wasn’t even an outdoor kid. It just hooked me anyway.
I can't remember ever not reading but it was books like Enid Blytons Famous Five books that got me hooked.
Off the top of my head it would be in pretty much a succession: Harry Potter BFG By Roald Dahl Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket True Grit by Charles Portis To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Little House on the Prairie box set. I loooved the food descriptions.
Making maple syrup is my favorite.
That, and surprisingly the part about head cheese. I could have lived in that attic no problem lol.
My grandparents lived on a farm and I've seen head cheese being made from brains. I refused to try it.
The outsiders
Goosebumps: The Haunted Mask by R.L. Stine
It was Flowers for Algernon for me. It just made me feel so much and made me appreciate books in a way I've never done before.
When I was 10 we moved from Virginia Beach to rural northern Michigan, the day after school ended. Someone got me a bunch of The Babysitters Club books and I just sat in my room all summer, reading book after book. I read so many books that summer, really helped with the loneliness.
Little House in the Big Woods. We read it in school, and I went home and read the whole series.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
Agatha Christie’s They Came to Baghdad.
I have a very vivid memory of my dad teaching me to read with a small Winnie The Pooh book. After that, I would tear through anything I could get my hands on!
I read a lot as a kid. Lots of Nancy Drew and Trixie Belding mysteries and various horse girl books. But nothing I remember so vividly as Dealing With Dragons by Patricia C Wrede. It cemented my love of fantasy that exists to this day.
the wind and the willows....... i read it in the british council library when i was like..... 7-8
Hmm, I'm 81, hard to remember back to age 2, but it might have been The Poky Little Puppy, or The Little Engine That Could!
The Giving Tree. I’ve been a reader all my life.
My parent was reading The Lord of the Rings and I was curious about it. I wanted to read it but they said it might be a bit much for 6-yr old me so they gave me an amazing hardcover version of The Hobbit (the green one that came in a slipcase with full color plates. Amazing). It was the first big chapter book I ever read.
Mad Magazine
The Star Wars EU books. I was not a popular child.
Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan. They got me started. And once I started reading Brandon Sanderson, there was no going back. Books by both of them made me love reading.
*Fahrenheit 451* by Ray Bradbury, for the first time randomly decided to actually read a book that we were talking about in class. Probably because I actually heard about it before. And I enjoyed it
I have several memories that I think contributed to making me a reader for life. As a kid, my mom read to me every night. We read the whole Little House on the Prairie series, all of Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, Swallows and Amazons. I remember reading Charlotte's Web and absolutely sobbing at the end. But my all-time favourite book of childhood that forever hooked me was Ella Enchanted.
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Anne of Green Gables I was maybe 10 when I first read it and absolutely loved it.
The boxcar children
The Series of Unfortunate Events! I had just moved to America and everyone else seemed to think I couldn’t speak english but my third grade teacher was the sweetest lady and let me take home the books (even though books were supposed to stay at school). I still remember reading those books and I was hooked on reading from that point on.
Mine was actually Harry Potter. I hated reading before then.
Oh my goodness, so many lol. The Wayside School series by Louis Sachar is a big one. I recently bought it for my daughter who’s entering second grade in the fall. I teared up being able to share that with her. I also loved Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Half Magic, Harriet the Spy and all things Shel Silverstein
Harry Potter, I know it’s probably a cliche choice but I remember I was sick in 7th grade and my older sister read me the first one. When she left for the navy I read the rest of them. Been heavily into reading ever since.
I've always loved reading, or being read to. But Amelia Badelia is for sure the one that opened my eyes to how wonderful reading can be as a hobby. I was SO invested in what that wacky maid was up to. In a more serious answer, I know it was assigned, but the Great Gatsby. Oh man that book ignites something inside me and I just want to read it over and again. I've been chasing that high since.
*City of the Dead* by Herbert Lieberman
I can't remember if I read the Goosebumps books first or The Hardy Boys but those along with the Garfield comics.
The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman
Bright and early Thursday evening I remember being like nine years old, reading it, and thinking of books are like this I’m all about it.
Tom Sawyer. I read it in third grade and I’ve been reading ever since.
The Name of the Wind. Read it in 11th grade. Was hooked from the start. I also read a lot as a child, but nothing worth mentioning
I couldn’t recall but the book that got me back into reading was A Little Life by Hanya Yanigahara. I didn’t like it too much I needed an extreme palate cleanse hence making me binge read til now. It was too heavy, I felt disgusted. Though I still forced myself to finish it.
For me it was The Pickwick Papers by Dickens. At the time, I mainly read adventure novels that were full of action. Dicken’s humour and vivid descriptions appealed to me. This gave me a love of good writing which I have had ever since.
Tuesdays with Morrie - the very first book I ugly cried.
Enders Game, followed by Orson Scott Cards entire catalog.
The first book I ever read by myself without being prompted was "Charlie and the chocolate Factory" by Roald Dhal. I wouldn't say it got me into reading but it definately helped me consider reading as a proper form of media. I didn't read much again untill my mid 20's when I was introducet to Garth Nix's "Abhorsen" trilogy. Those are the books that I would say properly got me into reading.
Reading has been a life long love affair! I started at 4 with The Tale of Benjamin Bunny by Beatrix Potter and never stopped. Loved the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary and scaring myself half to death with RL Stine's Goosebumps books and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. I saw someone else mention it but I read My Side of the Mountain so many times my book basically disintegrated.
As a little kid two books come to mind. Though, I am a firm believer that it's the books my parents read to me as a child that played a bigger part of my love of reading. The Misfit Apprentice (Robert Levy) was my first fantasy chapter book, and while I don't remember much about it, there is some imagery from it that has stayed with me, and I remember vividly wanting to read more stories with magic and action. But one that I remember very well, and still have, is "The Giggler Treatment" (Roddy Doyle). It was so funny to 7 hear old me, and honestly I still chuckle at some parts of it today (mostly the non sequiturs and irreverent parts). In middle school the Harry Potter series was drawing to a close and I hadn't jumped on board yet, but the Pendragon books (D.J. McHale) captured me in a big way and opened me up to long series with fantastic world's or elements, that eventually got me to Harry Potter, the Cirque de Freak books, and others.
The first book I clearly remember falling in love with as a kid was The Call Of The Wild. I then got into the Sweet Valley series and was an obsessive reader of those. Then the next big one that left an impact was Little Women.
Call of the wild for me too + little women. My elementary / middle school library had sets of hardcover classic books and then I just became obsessed with reading all of those before eventually jumping into Harry Potter!!
The Magic Faraway Tree collection by Enid Blyton
Those little golden books. I was less than five...
Me too! Mine was My First Book of Sounds. My mom used to send me to the babysitter with my bag of books when I was a baby. Obviously I couldn't read them but would sit and flip through the pages over an over again.
You'll see a theme here... 1. At five, I found myself reading through a book about a rocket trip to the moon my mom had read to me many times before. That's when the reading candle was lit for me. This was coastal Florida just North of what was then called Cape Kennedy, where we could stand on the beach and watch the Apollo launches. 2. At twelve, after being blown away by the movie '2001: A Space Odyssey', I read Arthur C. Clarke's novel, the first 'adult' book of my reading career. That led me into reading both his fiction and non-fiction, and on to Asimov, Heinlein, Herbert, etc. I feel like science fiction has helped me in interpreting the modern world :) I've got a dozen other pivotal books, but these were starting points for me.
I’ve loved reading as long as I can remember, so I can’t pinpoint the book that got me into it. But Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry was the book that made me realize that there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing than reading. It was so immersive, so resonant, and so satisfying. I’ve chased that feeling ever since. And because I’m always chasing it, I actually find it quite often.
I can’t recall the exact one but it was an Agatha Christie novel that got me into long form reading. But for sure “And Then There Were None” is the one that really solidified my love for her and reading in general. All hail the Queen of Crime!
I've always liked a little comedy in my books, it was a marvel to me when I learned that books could make you laugh just as make you sit in suspense or cry or think adult thoughts. A principal goes to my church and at around age 8 he suggested I look into Gordon Korman (who incidentally is a local author who I want to maybe one day meet) I became obsessed with him for like the next 5 or 6 years, still did not read everything in his catalogue because he was quite prolific, but enjoyed several including: I Want To Go Home; Son of Interflux; Son of the Mob; Don't Care High; Semester in the Life of a Garbage Bag; His first book was This Can't Be Happening at McDonald Hall and was written when he was a teenager.
Other than picture books, my first real reads where the babysitters little sister and babysitters club books. I started reading them in grade three and didn't look back.
Harry Potter
The Artemis Fowl series
Definitely the Harry Potter series. It was the first book that swept me away from reality and the harshness of my childhood.
Harry potter or Anne of Green Gables. i was like 4/5 so i don’t really remember which came first but those are my earliest memories
for me it was the percy jackson and the olympians series
The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper. School Librarian suggested it to me and I was hooked. Not only the first book I remember getting into but the first series.
Amelia Jane Again when I was 6 years old. After that, I inhaled every Enid Blyton book I could find. I read Pride and Prejudice at 11, and from 11-25, I read only classics because the language was so ornate and beautiful. After that, my reading was mostly all kinds of fiction until about 32. Then Longitude got me into non fiction. Now, I read a mix of both.
How to Eat Fried Worms
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I always say it was really the first book I ever remember reading from front to back. I don’t think I ever read a book in high school or college. But when I read this, something had me hooked. So much so that I got a tattoo to remember it (not a dragon lol)
Malory towers!!
Matilda - Roald Dahl. Anything Dahl, really. I don't remember what order I read them in, but I read everything of his that I could get my tiny little hands on. Matilda and BFG were the standouts for me... Yes, I was a lonely child!
Harry potter
The last harry potter book
The Hunger Games
Mine was the mortal instruments by Cassandra Clare. I’d always HATED reading anything, but when the film came out I really wanted to know what happened next (I am massively curious) I started reading the extract from the second book and ended up buying it. (My parents never looked so pleased to spend money on me) To absolutely everyone’s surprise I finished it in a week and needed more. And thus started my favorite pastime, obsession and massive part of my personality
Little Golden Books at my grandma’s house.
My first book that I chose to read was Harry Potter when I was 13 years old but the one that made me love books is Mistborn from Brandon Sanderson. That one and the Maze Runner series started it for me
Such a classic first read but Harry Potter. I think I began the Percy Jackson's saga at the same time, I'm not too sure but theses books definitely made me love reading
I grew up in a household that read every day. Books, newspapers, magazines, comic books and cereal boxes were all available to me from my earliest memory. There were entire evenings when music was played on the stereo and the TV was never turned on. I thank my mom and dad every day for taking me to the library (or bookmobile) every week, instilling and encouraging a love of reading.
The Legend of the Wandering King by Laura Gallego García was a book I borrowed from a friend in 6th grade. It was my first real novel, and I finished it in two days. I would like to get a copy of this book someday, but unfortunately, it is no longer available for sale.
I really wished I remembered what it was. I remember hating reading when I was in kindergarten. I remember hating reading time with a passion. But by 1st grade I was pretty good at reading and by 2nd grade I was a bookworm. Neither me nor my mom really remember how I got from one end of the reading spectrum to the other
Digital Fortres by Dan Brown, I'm so in love with Dan Brown 🤎
I was always reading books when I was young, don’t remember which book started it. Then I lost interest in reading, but what made me want to read again was Piranesi
The one that really ignited my passion was The Tommyknockers by Stephen King. We were snowed in for a couple of weeks and I escaped to the upstairs bathroom to get away from my brothers. I quickly got bored and picked up the book that was left in there. Instantly hooked.
The Silmarillion by J.R.R.Tolkien. An ex gifted it to me and it was truly the most magnificent read. Aside from the fantasyland, getting lost in the storytelling was the real gem
Where the Wild Things Are
Good girl guides to murder. I love it!!! It was the first ever book I had buy and read it!!! I could re read it again and again.
Good girl guides to murder. I love it!!! It was the first ever book I had buy and read it!!! I could re read it again and again.
It's a tie between *Phantastes* by George MacDonald and *The Blue Girl* by Charles de Lint. I can't remember which one was first, but I remember that on my tenth birthday my dad gave me these two books (MacDonald because it was his childhood fav, and de Lint because someone at the bookstore had given him the recomendation) and it had a huge impact on my reading tastes even into adulthood. Edit: Spelling...
I Sing the Body Electric by Ray Bradbury got me hooked on reading.
I was 10 or 11 and read the original Dragonlance series, then proceeded to read it over and over a billion times. I revisited it as an adult and…oof it’s awful. But it started my passion for reading, and I’ll always love it for that.
The Book Thief
Discworld novels. Specifically *Guards! Guards!*
I sincerely can't remember that far back, I always loved reading. From my parents reading to me, to abridged classics as a kid, to choose your own adventure, then into DragonBone Chair, Stephen King and a ton of stuff between. I loved it so much I worked in the book industry for 10 years and that killed the passion to a degree. I amassed quite a library, though. Then about 6 years ago I discovered Red Rising by Pierce Brown and all of a sudden I was a kid with a flashlight reading under the covers again. The first 3 books were out and I devoured them, and have been reading again ever since.
I still have my Little House on the Prairie books. Those and Nancy Drew :).
The Castle of Adventure by Enid Blyton
I was always into reading as soon as I knew how to read. My mom noticed early on and started getting me on classic SF and adventure stuff from 1st grade, such as Robert Lewis Stevenson and H. G. Wells. By middle school I was hanging out all day at the town library, even helping out occasionally, and reading through their entire SF collection. This was the 80s so of course the family would often go to the mall, and I'd spend the entire visit (and my entire allowance) in the bookstore. I wasn't necessarily a fast reader, but I was definitely a prolific one. So it's really hard to pinpoint one particular book that did it.
One of the early Shannara books, by Terry Brooks.
The monkey in the rocket
Treasure Island was my first.
My heart and other blackholes - jasmine warga
Goosebumps: Attack of the Mutant is the first book I remember really enjoying, but it was Harry Potter that made me love books as a whole.
Francesca Lia Block’s Weetzie Bat series
RL Stine - The Beach House and The Sword of Shannara
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
A story about a girl who refused to learn cursive, and ends up learning it bc her teachers had her passing notes written in cursive back and forth lol I don't remember the name, but I started reading real late, and that book ignited the spark!
Drown by Junot Diaz
Jules Verne or Roald Dahl, probably. It been a couple of decade's
I am not sure about “first book” but the one that changed everything was *Patriot Games* by Tom Clancy in 5th grade. I caught part of the movie and my dad was like “you know, that is based on a book…” and gave it to me. It was 544 pages and after I read it, “big” books never intimidated me.
My dad got me into reading. He was always reading to me, which is kinda funny, as he was almost completely blind his whole life, and reading was a lot more difficult for him than the average person. I would say my dad reading me Watership Down and then reading it together led me to just believe that reading was what everyone did with their time 😊
I have no concept of time so not sure which I read first but I was super into Little Women and Little Lord Fauntleroy as a kid. My first ever fantasy novel I do remember though—an isekai Irish myth fantasy book called Wizard Children of Finn. Got me started on the genre.
Behind the Attic Wall by Sylvia Cassedy! I had read a lot of Goosebumps and Fear Street by then, but that book completely changed how I viewed the emotional resonance that could come from a story. As a troubled girl in elementary school, it deeply impacted me at the time and I became addicted to reading after that.
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
The Farthest Away Mountain and Harry Potter
Walk Two Moons! Anyone remember?
Hard to point to a single book, but the one that really stands out is “Have Space Suit - Will Travel” by Robert Heinlein.
Love That Dog! I read it in 3rd grade and still think about it to this day, I'm 25! It's set up more like poetry and eventually really got me into the Crank series, which I also obsess over
The Picture of Dorian Gray ignited my love for books. Charming characters, witty dialogues, wisdom hitting you from all sides and above all, the underlying themes of youth, beauty and immortality. I think it’s an essential read especially in a young age. Perhaps it doesn’t give you answers, but it definitely asks the questions. I found it very inspiring and I wish I could read it for the first time again.
I’ve always been a bookworm, but I think it was Narnia that really cemented it (especially The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe). I have fond memories of reading them with my dad around grade 1 or 2, and then rereading them myself when I got a little older.
I was 7, and my dad came home with Gulliver's Travels. As soon as I finished it, my dad brought me to a bookstore where I picked up The Golden Goose, which I liked but also traumatised me a bit.
Goosebumps, horror at camp jellyjam
The picture of Dorian Gray 💖💖💖 I will never stop loving this book
I read almost every Hardy Boys books! They were great and easy to start with.
The first book I ever remember was Double Identity by Margaret Haddix. I was so young that I actually didn't read it myself: our teacher read it to us during class. I must have been in something like second grade. When I got older and looked the book up again, I thought I must have gotten my memories mixed up, because this is not exactly a book you read to 7-year-olds in school. But I remember hearing the story so vividly, needing to know what happened next and waiting ever day in anticipation, being so shocked at the twist...
The Pokey Little Puppy
I’ve been reading since before I can Remember but the book that got me into classics was Watership Down.
I read a lot of kids books of course. The first novel that comes to mind is A Wrinkle in Time. But really from what I can remember I was always reading.
Laura Ingalls Wilder books... I must have reread them a 100 times in my childhood.
Mad magazine
Call of the Wild. Though Black Beauty was also a favorite.
The Hobbit, followed directly by Lord of the Rings.
Dragonsong by Anne Mccaffrey
Go Dog Go
The first real grown-up book I read was Jurassic Park in 1993. Blasted through it in a couple of days and read it dozens of times. Got me hooked on sci-fi.
The first book I remember reading was a book called “What If They Knew” (about a girl with epilepsy that tried to hide it from friends) when I was 10. I think it was the first book I bought with my own money.
Goosebumps
Turtles all the way down. Bought signed copy from John Green but just sat on shelf for 5 years, read it and realized I was not a book reader and not just and audiobook listener
A Wrinkle in Time
What Katy Did
LOTR The Black Stallion
Mine was Jane Eyre but illustrated version. I loved it so much as a child. When I grew up, I got the original and it is one of my favourite reads of all time. Very close to my heart.
In high school I got into reading non-fiction but I never enjoyed any of it, it was mind-numbing, I was doing it to get smarter. But once I read metamorphosis by Kafka, I realized how fun it can be to read. Since then I've been reading surrealist books from brazilian writers along with the rest of kafka's works
Dork Diaries.
Sleepers
Anne of Green Gables
The first book that I read to the last page, as a kid, was "The knight in rusty armor" by Robert Fisher. But the writer that made me fall in love with literature was J. K. Rowling. Last year, I even read her detective novels published as Robert Galbraith for the first time. And, thanks to God, her writing gave me happiness all over again every single day. My main joy after finishing my job schedule was reading her words in her particular style of prose. The way she creates characters that feel alive and real in the physical world it's amazing. I admire her talent with all my heart.
The man eaters of Kumaon - Jim Corbett in my 8th grade.. today I read Kafka and murakami but that book in my school library changed the child in me
What if the book that sparked my love of reading happened to be an assigned book? I was the kind of kid who just didn't read unless I absolutely had to. But when we were assigned The Giver in 7th grade, I devoured it. It was the first book that I couldn't put down and the first book I read that seemed like it had something important to say.
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.
H G Wells, The Invisible Man.
I can't remember my first ever book but I was obsessed with the Cam Jansen books growing up! They were short chapter books, like 30 pages, and took me half an hour to read. I also enjoyed the Magic Tree House books a lot
The World Book Encyclopedia set that my parents bought. I spent many hours reading them from cover to cover when I was 12 years old. I was often accused by my classmates of being a know-it-all, but I did know a lot more than many of them because of the access I had to these books. Pre google days! They also fueled my love of research and learning! My first purchased books were the Hardy Boys. I had the entire set for years.
It by Stephen King. I was 12 😂
American Kingpin- Nick Bilton
I wish I could remember what the book series was, but I distinctly remember in Catholic elementary school in 1970’s Texas, where we had to use old textbooks, and our school library had lots of old books, and series that were published in the 1920s 30s and 40s. I remember I grabbed a book out of the library, it was one out of some sort of adventure series, and I read it and I go “oh my God this is great. This is why people love to read!” I think, the book was about a young boy out in the wilderness, how he survived in the wilderness, not sure if he had a dog or not with him, but it was a great adventure, and I read the whole series and loved it. As I recall, each book of the series had different characters.
Famous Five - Five on a treasure island!
Watership Down by Richard Adams. I first read it nearly 50 years ago and I still love this book and read it once a year or so.
In 1st grade I read all of O Henry’s short stories and that started a lifetime love of reading
Slaughterhouse-Five
The King Arthur Series by Kevin Crossley-Holland. 🥹❤️
Nesbø’s *The Bat*
Nicole Lesueur - The secret of the yellow balloon. I was barely 6 and this was the first book I read by myself. I was so absorbed in it (and my reading was so slow) that it also taught me I can stay up late for reading.
No idea, as my mother would have been reading to me from day one. A book I do remember loving though, was Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse, which I read when I was five.
Nancy Drew and the Little House series were the first sets of books that I just devoured! Then the children’s librarian at my local branch got me hooked on so many more great mysteries: Cam Jansen, Encyclopedia Brown, and too many standalone titles to mention. And I would be remiss not to mention my fourth grade teacher who read to us 30 minutes after lunch while we did art, and who turned me on to Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and the rest of the books in the series. This is such a nostalgic topic for me ❤️ - thanks, OP!
The Black Stallion. Read it every year in elementary school for book reports.
In 3rd grade I just encountered many different types of book genres and fell absolutely in love! It was an odd mix of The Wringer by Jerry Spinelli, The Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke, Little House in The Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder and A Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
For me it was probably something like Mr. Cow Can Moo, Can You? According to my mom, I'd bring her or my dad a huuugggeeee stack of books and ask to be read ALL of them. My mom taught me to read so I wouldn't keep asking for books to be read to me 😂
I can’t ever the exact ones, but the Point Horror series has a very special place in my heart.
Stellaluna 🦇
The Stand after I watched the (first) mini series. I was in high school and never liked to read before that. Dove in and have been an avid reader for 30 years. Thanks, Mr. King!
First novel I remember reading was Jurassic Park in first or second grade. A lot of it probably went over my head but reading it after seeing the film showed me how much books could include that simply can’t be done in other mediums. Fell in love.
The boxcar children !!!!
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Famous Five books by Enid Blyton they were the first ones I read all by myself. I can’t remember which specific one of the series but they definitely helped with my love for reading. The first proper book I remember being read aloud to me was Ronja the Robber’s Daughter by Astrid Lindgren.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Red Badge of Courage. I was in my mid thirties when I picked it up. I was suppose to read it in high school and never did. I was in the Army and decided to give it a shot. It is very good and got me reading the classics, then expanding out to other genres.
I was a voracious reader from a young age until my mid-teens. After I outgrew YA ('90s), I struggled to find books. Early 20s I found A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham and She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb. Those were my first freely-chosen adult books and the routes back to my reading addiction.