Once Upon a Time…

Jun 27th 2009
Suzanne EnochOn Writing!

48 Responses to “Once Upon a Time…”

1. MizMacgyver on 27 Jun 2009 at 5:03 am #

   I was reading at age three according to my mother. The first books I remember reading other than the Little Golden books was Donna Parker mysteries and Louisa Mae Alcott’s classics.

2. Joy on 27 Jun 2009 at 5:17 am #

   Like you, I picked up large amounts of books at the library during the summer. The 1st book that I really remember reading was A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle. At the time, I was quite young and I had a lot of people asking how I could read such a complex book. The book that I would categorize as my favorite book would be The Golden Unicorn by Phyllis Whitney. I loved Phyllis Whitney books.

3. Archer on 27 Jun 2009 at 5:59 am #

   I was an only child so I liked reading at home as a kid. I think I started with Dr Seuss and The Berenstain bears. I used to read a lot of books I heard about on the show Reading Rainbow.
   I moved on the The Babysitters Club when I was a teen.
   Stopped reading in HS because I moved to Turkey from the US and couldn’t read in Turkish and there weren’t libraries in every corner street.
   I moved back to the US for HS and started reading a lot of fiction. Was really hooked on James Patterson, Dean Koontz, and Anne Rice. Loved the classics I read in my English classes.
   Didn’t have a lot of time for reading in college. All the economics and science books made me nauseous. I ripped apart my accounting book once I passed the class
   I got hooked on romance novels 3 years ago after my co-worker gave me Johanna Lindsey’s A Loving Scoundrel. It wasn’t my favorite, but I had to read James’s story. Once I read Gentle Rogue I was hooked.

4. Jamie on 27 Jun 2009 at 6:05 am #

   I was just talking about reading to Mom yesterday. She and I spend a lot of our free time reading. I gathered three bags of our books (which didn’t even leave a dent on the stairs, where we kept the read books) and took them to this rumage sale at church. She had some prices of 50 cents and a quarter on them and said that they didn’t sell. She wondered if people read and what DO they read. She wondered if we were wrong to read romances. I told her that it was to each his own. Let them look down their nose. They don’t know what they are missing.

   I have always been around books. My Dad used to say when we went on trips – Where’s your book? It didn’t matter what genre you read, as long as you read. When I was little I LOVED the Little Golden Books and my favorite were the classic fairy tales and stories about cats.

   My Mom used to read Nurse Nancy to me all the time. I wanted to grow up and be a nurse like her then found out about all the chemistry, science and REALLY sick people involved and gave up that idea. I also liked hearing about Alice in Wonderland. One of the first I read myself were the Dr. Seuss books – Go Dog Go!

5. Beth C. on 27 Jun 2009 at 6:55 am #

   The first book I remember reading was The Little Engine that Could. Then Alfred Hitchcock’s Three Investigators and Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys/Dana Girls/Bobbsey Twins.

   I’ve always been a reader. As a kid, the library was the main focus of my attention because I could get all the books I wanted. Now I both buy and frequent the library.

6. nancyg on 27 Jun 2009 at 7:01 am #

   My dad is a huge reader, and I think I inherited that gene from him. Neither of my brothers are readers, although the youngest reads James Patterson & Grisham every once in awhile (when I send them to him).

   I too read all the Dr. Suess books. When I was a kid, I read every Nancy Drew book I could get my hands on… then, the Hardy Boys & Bobbsey Twins. I loved the Encyclopedia Brown books, tried to figure out “who dunnit” before the end. And the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, where your choices determined the end of the book.

   I remember going to visit my family in Taipei one summer when I was 12 – I brought 4 books, they were teen romances. I must’ve read each of them 10X by the end of the summer. I wound up reading some of my dad’s books he had left at my grandparents’ house 15 years earlier – all the John D. MacDonald Travis McGee books. Then I graduated to John Jakes’ Kent Family Chronicles – I remember feeling like a rebel because the 1st book was called “The Bastard”, lol… I think that’s when I got my love for historical fiction.

   My aunt got me hooked on Victoria Holt/Philippa Carr romances a couple of years later…

7. TrishD on 27 Jun 2009 at 7:01 am #

   I have always been a reader. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have a bookcase full of books, books stacked on the desk, stacked on tables, on the floor next to my bed and still wanting, no, needing to buy more! As a kid I loved the book sales at school and would pour over the selections trying to make my choice. My dad has always been a big reader himself and I think that’s where I get it from.

   I can’t remember the first book I read but I do remember some of the authors and books… because I still have them and now they’re in my daughter’s bookcase waiting for me to read them to her. Like most pre-teen girls at the time I was into Judy Bloom… Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret… classic! I also read Beverly Cleary, still love the Romona books. The Cat Ate My Gymsuit… I still have the original. Sweet Valley High… but as I got a bit older, my tastes grew a bit darker, I discovered Stephen King.

   I love talking reading and books, I could go on for hours… maybe I should stop now.

8. Freedom Writer on 27 Jun 2009 at 7:05 am #

   I don’t remember the title of the first book I ever read, but I remember the cover. The background had oranges, yellows, and browns in it, like the colors of fall, and in the forefront was a picture of a young girl’s face.

   The first romance I read was Gypsy Lady by Shirlee Busbee. I have loved Busbee and romances ever since.

   As a child I spent more time outside playing than reading, and then more time inside writing than reading. In my teens years English and Literature classes turned me off to reading altogether. I could not read assigned readings fast enough and still get enough out of it to have my assignments done on time. Once out of High School I started to read for pleasure and found a great love of reading. Now I read as often as I can find the time.

9. JudyPatooty on 27 Jun 2009 at 7:31 am #

   I really don’t know what the first book I ever read was, but I remember reading the Madeline series (by Ludwig Bemelmans) with my mother. Oh, and of course there was always Dr. Seuss. I still get the giggles when I think of “Too Many Daves!”

   I read some of the Bobbsey Twins books, but never really got into the Hardy Boys. I loved the whole Little House on the Prairie series, too.

   I do remember saving up my allowance and when we would go to Kmart I would head to the book section and just gaze happily at the long line of Nancy Drew mysteries all lined up there with their yellow spines. I don’t remember how many of that series I ended up owning, but it was pretty much all of them by the time I had “graduated” to more adult reading.

10. Judy F on 27 Jun 2009 at 7:36 am #

    I have always been a reader. I would too come home from the library with a stack of books each time I went.
    I don’t remember the first book I read. I know I read all the Dr seus books etc.

    I got my reading love from my mom, she always had a book in her hand or somewhere near by.

11. Margaret A. Golla on 27 Jun 2009 at 7:44 am #

    I read every Nancy Drew and horse book I could get my hands on. I graduated to Zane Grey and Edger Rice Burroughs. Veering off to fantasy and romance. Still read fantasy and romance.
    I never read a Dr. Suess until I had a child. I LOVE those books! Suess was a genious!

12. Becky on 27 Jun 2009 at 7:50 am #

    I’ve always been a reader. My mother would pay us kids to read during the summer so that we would “do something worthwhile”. It was very evident very eaarly that I was not going to get paid because I had no problem staying inside and reading for a few hours. The others only had to read 15 min a day. I remember distinctly thinking, “15 minutes? How much can you get read in 15 minutes? That’s nothing!” I don’t know what the first book I read was, but I remember being really interested in Nancy Drew and the Babysitter’s Club and the Boxcar Children. But I would read anything I could get my hands on. I got my first copy of Pride and Prejudice when I was about 11, I think, and I remember loving that one. And as for favorites, well, I don’t have a favorite of anything. There’s simply too much that I like, so I have a Tops list. And there is a LOT on there, let me tell you…

13. Freshechelle on 27 Jun 2009 at 7:55 am #

    The first book that wasn’t something my mom would read to me was a story about 2 kids and haunted house. It was a pop up book but it had dense text for a 6-7 year old that my older siblings didn’t have the patience for (yeah, I’m boasting). I must have read it over and over. I remember loving the little girl’s name “Stephanie”. I hadn’t heard it before and thought it was beyootiful! (sic)

    The summer before my freshman year, my aunt gave me my first stack of romances to read. Got back to school, told my English teacher how proud I was to have read 15 books that summer. She was so sweet, didn’t overtly say anything negative about the genre but a few days later she presented me with a copy of Tess of the D’Ubervilles (for our public school that had a no literature class, bought books only every 10 years, this was an impressive feat). It took me a long time to make it through Tess but 15 years later, I’d read every Thomas Hardy novel and thoroughly enjoyed them. Thank you, Mrs. Calabrese.

    P.S. I’m not sure an innocent 13 year old should read some of those early 80s romances when “love scenes” were rape scenes.

14. Karen Rose on 27 Jun 2009 at 8:11 am #

    Suzie, I don’t remember my first book, which I’m finding odd. But I remember going to the school library when I was seven and asking for the stepstool so I could get to the big-kid books.

    That summer, bliss struck. A lady in our middle-lower-class apartment complex was moving and didn’t want her books. She had a collection of classics and gave them to me! I don’t remember her name, but I remember discovering Little Women in that stack – one of the editions with the illustrated bookplates. (Which my younger sister ruined with Wacky Package stickers, argh.) We had no money, so to OWN my own books… sheer bliss.

    So I read Little Women over and over. I remember Nancy Drew, Sue Barton Student Nurse, Trixie Belden, High Heels for Jennifer (HH was a horse), so many others.

    Makes me smile

    My first romance was Little Women. Later, I hid some tame HQ’s under my bed so my mom wouldn’t find them, LOL. But as an adult, when I started reading again after college – LaVyrle Spencer’s YEARS.

    I knew romance was the genre for me. Had to have those HEAs.

    Now, back to writing mine!

15. Claudia Dain on 27 Jun 2009 at 8:13 am #

    I was a late reader. I think I was seven before I could read on my own. The way I learned to read was by sitting next to my mom with a Dr. Seuss book every afternoon (a brand new publication back then). I’d sound out all the words, a painstaking process, over and over again, until I could read the book at a normal pace. My mother told me that she’d order a new book to come in the mail (that’s how you got Dr. Seuss back then, a book club type of thing) when I had mastered the old one. A package coming for me in the mail!! I lived for that excitement. By the time I’d read all the available Dr. Seuss, I could read comfortably on my own.

    Big D was a late reader, something like ten or eleven before he could read on his own comfortably. My kids were late readers as well. You really can’t fight your genetics! LOL

    I loved the animal books, Misty of C., King of the Wind, etc. I LOVED biographies (still devour them). Loved fantasy–DR of Pern, LOTR, The Hollow Hills. Loved sci fi–The Foundation Trilogy, Ray Bradbury. Loved Nancy Drew. The weird thing is that I never liked what a lot of other girls liked: never liked the Little House books or Wind/Willows. Fav? Wrinkle in Time.

16. SheridanLA on 27 Jun 2009 at 8:22 am #

    I got my first library card at the age of 4.. and I have been voraciously reading since. I remember reading James and the Giant Peach, Neverending Story, the DragonRiders, Agatha Christie… soooooo many. I don’t remember a time when i was not reading something or other.

    When I was little, I loved the Richard Scary books, Seuss, Babar, Harry the Dog… the list is endless since I always wanted more.

    I have a hard time understanding people who never read anything. Newspapers, magazines, books.. anything.. not from illiteracy – just from lack of interest. It boggles my mind – how the hell do they learn anything? Experience things you cannot see for yourself? Get lost in another place for a time? weird.

17. LisaK on 27 Jun 2009 at 8:43 am #

    Seems I’m kinda ordinary, I learned reading only when I was at school.

    I don’t know if it was the first book I ever read, but I can remember reading a children’s version of Grimm’s fairytales when I was in first grade. I still have that book, it has got beautiful pictures in it and the letters are big so that I child can read them. I stil remember asking my Mama how to pronounce “sch” (the German “sh”-sound) as I had not yet learned it. Strange how one remember such things…

    I think I’ve always been a reader at heart but actually I didn’t read very much when I was a child (does that make sense?). I was content with drawing my own cartoons and then reading them over and over. *g* However, at 12 or something I got hooked on Agatha Christie, which then brough me to the world of thrillers. And at 15, I discovered romance and I’ve been hooked ever since.

18. Louisa Cornell on 27 Jun 2009 at 8:58 am #

    My Mom says I started reading at age 3 and haven’t stopped yet! I remember the Dr. Seuss books and I also remember Babar the Elephant. My Mom still has our copy of that one. She read it to my niece and nephew when they were little. I still have some of my Little Golden Books too.

    I think my favorite has to be Black Beauty. I read that one so much that it is falling apart. I have my original copy safely stored in a ziplock bag.

    I hate that thought that because of all of the technology available to them that children don’t read anymore. Children who don’t read more often than not grow up to be adults who don’t read. My niece and nephews know that they will always get books as gifts from me. And I’m always pleased when their Christmas list includes books so I know what to buy.

    I have noticed, however, in our small town that the kids seem to read more. I attribute that to our really good schools, parental encouragement and interest and our really terrific local library. They have programs for kids from pre-school through high school all year round.

19. Pesky on 27 Jun 2009 at 9:05 am #

    I can’t remember the first book I read, I was very, very, very young. I remember reading what I considered the first big person book (it didn’t have pictures on every page). It was Winnie The Pooh (Not the Disney version the small paperback). I remember thinking how sad it was that Christopher Robin left Pooh behind when he went to adulthood.

    I do remember my nephew Jack’s first book he read to me. It was called DINNER. It was a suitably gruesome for little boys homage to the food chain ending with the aligator eating a gorilla and swimming away. He did the voices and everything for me.

    My favorite book when I was young? Huh I liked all the Five Little Peppers and how they grew books and the Rose books. I liked the feeling of family in them.

    My mom and dad encouraged us to be readers, a book was always part of an outing. We didn’t get allowance but if we wanted a book there was always money for one. I always had a beat up paperback in my back pocket and no matter what we read our parents would be ready to discuss it with us.

20. Pesky on 27 Jun 2009 at 9:07 am #

    Oh! I forgot, Encyclopedia Brown was another favorite as a kid and The Mad Scientists Club (I’m culling through books today and have a small collection of books from when I was a kid.) The Narnia Books, Anne McCaffrey and David Eddings are there as well. The Harry Potter books are there, but since I read them as an adult I don’t think I can count them.

21. Julia London on 27 Jun 2009 at 9:11 am #

    I remember all those trips to the library. I remember the Little House books, but I don’t know if they were first. What I remember is Little Women, all the Nancy Drew mysteries, and the Little House books.

    Just thinking about them makes me want to read them.

    My first romance was one of the Kathleen Woodiwiss books. I read those as a teen, but didn’t pick romance up again until I was in my thirties.

22. Kathleen O on 27 Jun 2009 at 9:13 am #

    I have always been a reader as far back as I can remember. I think my first books were the Babar books and then Pippi Longstocking. I remember reading this book and I wish I could remember who wrote it. I would be about 8 or 9 and it was called Sarah, and it was about a young Jewish girl growing up in NY. To me this was a whole new world I was reading about. It fasinated me that people lived different lives and had different beliefs and religious holidays.. After the world was opened up to me. My first real romance I remember reading was Mrs. Mike., and after that I have never gone a day withought a book in my hand. If my parents could not find me, they would look at library for me, or holed up in my room with a book.
    I make sure all my nieces and nephews love to read and buy them my books for birthdays and christmas.

23. evlqn on 27 Jun 2009 at 9:42 am #

    I remember the first book I read all by myself was The Princess and The Pea, it was a Little Golden Book. The book that has stuck with me the most was called The Mystery At The K-Bar-O. I was reading it when I was ten and some lowlife had torn the last 10 pages out. I never found out who did it and it has driven me nuts for 50 years. Maybe I should just get over it and I will, but not today.

    Everyone in our family are readers so we read anything we could get our hands on. My uncles were into westerns and mysteries so I got a lot of Zane Gray, Louis L’Amour, Raymond Chandler, Earle Stanley Gardner and the like.
    I read all the Little Women books, Black Beauty, Ivanhoe. I think Georgette Heyer was one of my first HEA authors.

    I read a lot of Barbara Cartland too until I realized I kept reading the same book over and over. Jaded nobleman must marry for money,redemption,or heir. Hooks up with 18 year virgin who fears him and his “appetites”. Many misunderstandings ensue, she runs, he follows, discover they love each other madly.

    Thank goddess none of you do that! You entertain and uplift me, you guys make reading a joy and we are all grateful.

24. ericaleigh on 27 Jun 2009 at 10:12 am #

    I don’t remember the first book I read but I do have some books that really stick out in my head. Nothing’s Fair in 5th Grade, I totally remember reading this book and the tattered, doodled on copy that we picked up at a garage sale for 50 cents with the little sticker in the corner that we could never get off. I remember laying on our couch asking my mom to time me as I read Ramona Quimby Age 8. I wanted to see how fast I could read a page. I think the record was under 60 seconds. I especially loved the read-a-longs with my mom. We read The Secret Garden together as well as Anne of Green Gables (one of my all time favorites). I also remember the first adult romance I read, Years by Lavyrl Spencer. I picked it out of a bag of books that my neighbor was selling at our garage sale. The cover had 2 people entwined together on a bed. I never actually read the whole book, I just picked out the juicy parts and read the last 100 pages or so. I think I was 12ish, so I must have been really curious. The first book I stayed up all night to read was Gentle Rogue by Johanna Lindsey. I had gotten a HUGE box of books at a garage sale and this was one of them. The cover had come unglued from the

25. ericaleigh on 27 Jun 2009 at 10:15 am #

    book. To this day it is my favorite romance and that book is my most cherised copy. I keep it near my bed, just in case…if there’s ever a fire its one of the things I’m going to take with me. I wish that I had kept better track when I was first reading because there are other books that I remember loving but can only think of a couple of things that happened in the story and not the title or author. I’m so glad that I found reading and my niche because so many people say that they hate reading and I just don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t escape in another world for a while.

26. Suzanne Enoch on 27 Jun 2009 at 10:34 am #

    Wow! These titles are bringing back so many memories. My favorite books to listen to at lunch were “Old Black Witch” and “Suzie the Squirrel”. I’ve read them both to my nephew now, and he and my mom made the recipe from OBW, just like she did with us when we were little.

27. Sabrina Jeffries on 27 Jun 2009 at 10:39 am #

    I think I learned to read around the age of six, but I don’t remember the books I read that early. All I know is that by the time I was seven, I needed glasses, because once I was in school, they figured out I was half-blind. *G* I’ve worn contacts since I was 12.

    Anyhoo, I do remember reading Cherry Ames books at age 8 and falling in love with Dr. Seuss books at 10 or 11, even though I suppose they were too “young” for me. I still get a little thrill when I see Go Dog Go and Ten Apples up on Top. I’m sure that’s why Nick has QUITE the collection of Dr. Seuss books and DVDs and tapes. His mommy STILL likes to read them!

28. Sabrina Jeffries on 27 Jun 2009 at 10:39 am #

    Oh, and Gentle Rogue is understandably a great romance conversion book. That’s one of my favorite Lindsay’s!

29. Penney Wilfort on 27 Jun 2009 at 10:50 am #

    My favorite book as a kid was the 1st book in the Box car children and The thing at the foot of the bed (silly ghost story)
    I don’t remember the authors who wrote these but I loved them.
    I have always been a reader my Mom was and my kids love books as well.
    Penney

30. TinaLouiseF on 27 Jun 2009 at 10:56 am #

    According to my mom, I could sight read. When I was really young, and mom read the same stories, I could tell her what happened on the page by what the picture showed.

    I do not remember specifically the first book I read, but one of them was a Sesame Street book with the Cookie Monster called “The Monster At The End Of The Book”.

    Yes, I read alot as a child. I won an award for the most books read when I was in the 5th Grade. Apparently, I read more than any other student in the County. I think I was in 8th Grade when I got my second award for most books read in the County.

    I think the first romance I read was “Fredericka” by Georgette Heyer.

31. TinaLouiseF on 27 Jun 2009 at 11:01 am #

    PS: I have read Wed Him. Fabulous book Sabrina.

32. Suzanne Enoch on 27 Jun 2009 at 11:20 am #

    These answers have sparked another question — several of you have mentioned that your mom/dad were readers, and it runs in the family. Both of my parents are big-time readers, too.

    Now, clearly we’re all readers here, but how many of you had parents/role models who WEREN’T readers? I’m betting very few.

33. Kathy/Cookiedough on 27 Jun 2009 at 11:25 am #

    My mom and I made an almost daily trip to the library.
    I’d hang out downstairs where the kid section was and play on the round sofa. The kind that hotels had. I dson’t know what there were called.
    The building also housed a small museum, so when i was tired of waiting for her, I’d run upstairs and pretend to be on the first ferry to Halifax. and checked out all the other fascinating stuff. They had a few animatronic historic figures that scared the bejesus out of me, but you had to pass through that hall to get to the trains, so I’d go through at full tilt, not looking to either side.
    The building was torn down about 10 yrs ago, and the collections have moved. The new library is farther down the hill and I still make a few trips a week down there. I still l

    I got hand me down Trixie Beldon Donna Parker, and the Bobsey twins from my elder sisiters.
    The first Histoircal romance I read when i was 12 or so got me hooked. It was called the Wind From Hastings.
    I still have it tucked away with my Alice in Wonderland and Hans Christian Anderson books.
    Unfortunately having voracious readers for older siblings, I also read a Harold Robbins WAY before I was ready to learn about sex

34. Archer on 27 Jun 2009 at 11:31 am #

    my parents are barely literate
    I’ve also worn glasses for a long time so I’d get nagged at not to read

35. Joy on 27 Jun 2009 at 12:14 pm #

    Neither of my parents were readers. It completely amazes them that I am so into books.

36. Nicole Jordan on 27 Jun 2009 at 12:58 pm #

    I don’t remember exactly the first one (s), athough Dick and Jane and Cat in the Hat were some of the first. And I’ll always remember my mother reading several novels to me… Anne of Green Gables, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and Pride & Prejudice. I credit her with giving me my love of reading and my facsination with the Regency period.

37. Kathy/Cookiedough on 27 Jun 2009 at 1:18 pm #

    um I don’t know if this qualifies but one of the girlies I used to look after is a rabbid reader. her mom has no time for it but her dad likes a good book. He and HIS mom like to readabout myths and the history of God.
    When I was looking after them, i always had a book for myself and I read to the girls many times a day.
    Laura gets annoyed that she sometimes has to hide her books from her mom.
    Once i was visiting and walked into the living room. She jumped up from the floor and slid her book under the couch, thinking I was her mother.
    They are not risque books, but her mom is always after her to go outside and do a sport. I personally think she’s well rounded in the sports dept.
    Soccer, basketball, badminton, swimming, running, paddling. the girl needs her reading resting time!

38. evlqn on 27 Jun 2009 at 1:52 pm #

    My youngest son couldn’t stand not knowing what the words he saw meant so he would point to a word and ask,” What’s that mean?” By the time he was four he was reading for himself and he hasn’t stopped yet.

39. LauraR on 27 Jun 2009 at 1:55 pm #

    I don’t remember how old I was, just that my teacher must have sent a note home that I was having trouble reading. My dad would take me into their bedroom and have me read aloud from Little Bear. Once I started loving reading my folks had a hard time getting me to do anything else! Loved Black Beauty, The Black Stallion books, Misty of C. Strongest memory of first romance read was Fredericka by Georgette Heyer. My folks loved to read. They were the first to read the Hobbit and LOTR books and so my siblings also read them. The bookmobile from the library stopped at the end of our street and I remember loading down with the maximum number of books they’d let me check out. It was when I was a kid that I developed the habit of reading more than one book at a time. Still do it.

40. Suzanne Enoch on 27 Jun 2009 at 2:22 pm #

    Archer and Joy, you get special points for enjoying reading. Being discouraged by your parents — that takes a special passion. Do you remember the book “Matilda”? It reminds me of that. *g*

41. Sabrina Jeffries on 27 Jun 2009 at 2:26 pm #

    Suzie, my mom reads some, but I really don’t think she’d qualify as a big reader (except for reading the Bible). She doesn’t read much for pleasure. Dad, on the other hand, read everything. Mom does enjoy books on tape or CD that she can hear in the car, though. Maybe you could call her a small reader. *G*

    TinaLouise, glad you enjoyed Wed him!

42. TinaLouiseF on 27 Jun 2009 at 5:28 pm #

    My mom started reading again in 97. Before that, she didn’t take the time away from their business.
    Mom got me started reading Nicole’s books. I did introduce her to some of the authors I read. I used to check mom’s list of authors when I went to the book store.

    My brother didn’t get started reading until the 8th grade. The teacher introduced him to Westerns. He used to read almost as much as me until he got married and had a family. He does not read as often any more.

    My niece is almost as bad as I am. This spring, she read two Harry Potter books in three days. I already got her a Borders Gift Card for her 14th birthday next month. It will be easier when she gets older and I can lend her my mystery series. Even better if she develops an interest in romances.

    I don’t think my nephew reads as much since he became a freshman. Too interested in getting his license and meeting girls.

    I rarely see my dad with a book. When he does read, it is a Western History book.

43. Janae on 27 Jun 2009 at 6:00 pm #

    I’ve always been a reader. I couldn’t tell you the first book that I read, but I’m sure that I read it more than once. I do remember the first time I read Pride and Prejudice, though. I was 10 and had read just about everything book in our house. At some point my mom started some kind of subscription, where we’d receive a hardbound classic novel. The two that I remember were David Copperfield, which I stopped reading after maybe 100 pages because it was so boring. I started reading P&P and was hooked. IDK how many times I read it.

    Neither one of my parents were really readers when I was younger. I swap books with my mom, now, though. My paternal grandmother read romance novels that she’d give to my older sister after reading them by the box. My grandma’s shelves were always filled with romance novels, even after she gave the books to my sister.

44. Claudia Dain on 27 Jun 2009 at 6:33 pm #

    My parents were both big readers, and it really was a great example. We always had bookcases full of books in every house they owned while I grew up. And my kids will say the same thing about me!

45. Karen Hawkins on 27 Jun 2009 at 6:57 pm #

    Oh wow, Suzie! Good question. Let me see . . . hmm. The first book. I don’t know because as far back as I can remember, I’ve always been a reader. Some Golden book, probably. The first book that made me cry, though, was My Friend Flicka. Man, did I WEEP. And then, of course, I wanted my own horse. Drove my mom crazy with that one.

    I also remember the Little House on the Prarie Series, but even better was Little Women and those books. Oh, how I thought Jo was just like me and oh, I was so TICKED when Amy (AMY!) got Laurie. What was THAT all about? Hated her! Thought he was a wuss to let Jo go, too.

46. Jamie on 27 Jun 2009 at 8:38 pm #

    Karen — I felt the same way about Amy getting Laurie. I heard all the reasons why Louisa didn’t choose Laurie for Jo, but I think they could have made a good go of it.

    I remember reading Where The Wild Things Are and Encyclopedia Brown. Some of my favorite books, I can remember reading the book, but forget the name.

    When I got to be in the teens and 20s — I got into the books of movies I saw. That was when I first attempted reading Gone With The Wind. Didn’t get through the book until about 20 years later. I read East of Eden because of the mini-series with Jane Seymour and Treasure Island because Disney did a mini-series version of the movie. That got me into other classic literature. My Mom thought I was being a snob, but I got so into Jane Eyre that I was late for work. When I told my co-workers at work why I was late, they thought I was making it up. I wasn’t.

47. Patricia Barraclough on 27 Jun 2009 at 9:09 pm #

    Have always been a reader. The very first book I remember I remember being read to me was Bambi. My dad read it to me when I was in the hospital for my tonsils. I think I was 4. I lived in the library when I was a kid. As the oldest of six, it was the only peace and quiet I could get. I lived in the nonfiction section, mostly science. I started on Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. I found Mary O’Hara’s trilogy – My Friend Flicka, Thunderhead, and Green Grass of Wyoming when I was in high school. I always had so much reading to do in school, that I really didn’t find popular fiction until I went into the Peace Corps. We had a book locker and no TV. I loved Michner’s The Source. I didn’t discover romance books until about 15 years ago. I read everything except horror and erotica. Working at a library has been great. I’ve discovered new authors and often get to read the new books first. Unfortunately, there are so many good books out there it is hard to find time for them all.

48. Janae on 28 Jun 2009 at 8:56 am #

    Karen – I, too, hated that Laurie and Amy ended up together. It should have been Jo and Laurie. What does that say about Louisa May Alcott, I wonder?