We all have them—the books that made us truly fall in love with reading. Even if we can’t quite remember it. It’s in this post that our members will be talking about the books that got them into reading!
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Eliza: I was about ten years old when I first received books as my birthday presents. Ten years old when I first realized that I actually loved to read.
I mean, I always did somewhat know that I loved reading before then—I would be poring over the children’s books we happened to have, re-reading them again and again. I even went hunting in my mom’s bookshelf for something to read. Some books I vividly remember enjoying were a compilation of Hans Christian Andersen stories, a book titled Cat’s Witch and The Lost Birthday, and Children’s Hour: Along Blazed Trails (a compilation of short stories, usually set during early America).
But the month before my birthday in particular, the interest in reading had grown even stronger (stronger than it had ever been when I was younger). It got so strong to the point that I told my sister that I actually wanted books before she and my mom left to go present shopping. But little did I know that my mom had already noticed this shift in my reality.
So when my birthday came, I was beyond surprised and grateful to see that I had received quite a few books! And one book (or books, technically) that I received, that really made me consciously realize that I truly loved reading… was The Secret Series by Pseudonymous Bosch!
I absolutely love this series. I’m pretty sure I finished all five books in a little over a week. I was that invested in it. I loved the adventure, the comedy, how clever and bizarre and witty and exciting it was. I had also received the first two books of The Chronicles of Narnia. And I truly, thoroughly loved it! But the reason I consider The Secret Series to be the book that made me really fall in love with reading was because it was a story I was completely unfamiliar with until reading the books. I had watched the films of Narnia before, so I was familiar with the world. But The Secret Series was completely uncharted territory, so I was a little intimidated at first. But when I started reading, I realized that it didn’t matter if I already knew the story or not—I was a reader, and a reader I’ve always been since.
(Which would then lead me to become a—surprise, surprise!—writer. Which leads me to where—and who—I am today!)
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Lorace: When I was younger, maybe six or seven, I shared a room with my brother. And we had our own closets, and books in each of our closets. In my brother’s closet, he kept Redwall books (which he loved), and Great Illustrated Classics, which I don’t remember him reading but I certainly did, and I think they count among the books that made me fall in love with reading – they were easy to understand, exciting stories with memorable characters, and the illustrations helped me follow along, as well. Besides that series, I also remember the many books my mother read me, like The Witch of Blackbird Pond, and then books I read on my own, like My Father’s Dragon, The Boxcar Children, Little House in the Big Woods, and Misty of Chincoteague (this one being for school, but for some reason I really liked it).
And then as I got older, in my early teen years, I starting reading more fiction series like Percy Jackson & the Olympians and Harry Potter. I kept reading – during school breaks, before bedtime, while waiting in the car while the parents did groceries, in restaurants while waiting for the food to be served (and while eating… *sheepishly* so that at some point – I think it might’ve been when I was reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – my father took notice and called me a bookworm), at the dentist’s, at the piano teacher’s while waiting for a sibling having a lesson, etc. That’s how I fell in love with reading.
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Ysha: I’ve always loved stories and words and poetry, but I remember picking up a book one afternoon – after 10-year-old me was done with her chores, stuck with nothing better to do; one that really got me into devouring even more books upon books, leading her to become a menace in the local secondhand bookstore (the closest thing there was to a library back then). It was Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Shocking! I didn’t even start with the first book. Really went in medias res on that one.)
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Clarisse: I’ve loved reading books for as long as I can remember, so it’s hard to pinpoint a specific story. However, I think there’s a distinction to be made with younger Clarisse’s fascination with pictures and stories, and older Clarisse’s appreciation for words and writing. Because I don’t want my list to be too long, I will stick with the latter category of books!
Before anything else, I have to give credit to this worn-down and battered volume of “Classic Poems & Rhymes” with illustrations by Cathie Shuttleworth. This is the book that made me fall in love with the poetry of Christina Rossetti and Robert Louis Stevenson.
The first novel I ever finished was Meow Means Mischief by Ann Whitehead Nagda—-though, predictably, it still had a lot of illustrations in it. Other notable books I was obsessed with include: The Magic Treehouse series, Little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie, The Wizard of Oz and its sequels, Winnie-the-Pooh, The Chronicles of Narnia, Heidi, Pollyanna, and The Little Princess.
These are the first books that cultivated in me a love for reading, adventure, imagination, and an appreciation for the art of writing.
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MJ: So, fun fact: I’ve been reading books for a couple of years before I actually fell in love with reading. My first ever book (that I voluntarily picked up to read) was Nancy Drew: The Secret of the Old Clock. While yes, I definitely appreciated the book and the story, It didn’t make me fall in love. In fact, I’m pretty sure it took me over a year to finish! (Hey, I was 10 XDD)
Sometime after that I tried reading a series that ended up as one of my all time favourites: The 39 Clues. Weirdly enough though, that still wasn’t what made me fall in love with reading. I fell in love with, again, the book and the story, yes, but it didn’t make me fall in love with the actual act of reading.
But finally, after 2 years or so, I found the book that did. Going Wild by Lisa McMann! To be honest, I don’t know what it was about it that I loved so much. I just remember that every night while I was still reading it, I would rush to finish my dinner just to be able to lay down alone in the room to read.
Sometime soon after that, I finally appreciated, not just good and fun stories, but also the worlds created through the words. The act of flipping through each page, and hearing everything happening within the book while also being in silence. Being able to create each scene in my head and picture each face. Of course, that love didn’t quite solidify right there and then, but Going Wild is definitely what helped start the journey.
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Aubrie: I don’t think it’s correct to say “the book(s) that made me fall in love with reading” exactly, but rather, these are the books that made me fall in love with the experience that comes with discovering and reading a book.
One of these books is The Music of the Dolphins. It was a simple book, at first glance. I honestly thought it was a children’s book at first, with the large font and short sentences. But the further I read, the more I was pulled into Mila’s mind. Her thought process, her memories, her everyday life. I was fully lost in her journey, and watched her develop her understanding of language and humanity and love.
It made me realize that a book doesn’t have to have flowery writing and a thrilling plot in order to be a good book. Sometimes the most wonderful books are the ones that are simple. Mundane. But so very flawed and so very special that they make you wonder about just how complex even the most simple of human thoughts, intents, and actions are.
Another book that absolutely put me through the shredder was The Tequila Worm by Viola Canales. It was another pretty simple story: each chapter a different story of a young girl’s childhood strung together by the string that is growing up. But what struck me was the fact that all those stories may well have happened to me.
I’m not Mexican, but the richness of the culture and the ideals that come with it are so similar to the culture of the Filipinos. All throughout her life, the main character, Sofia, is taught about the importance of family and community. But as she gets older and sees how different the world she grew up in is from the world of those who don’t share her culture, she struggles to find her place between the two.
It was almost a direct slap to the face to read it, as it was almost quite literally what I was going through at the time that I read it. Growing up, I was also taught to honour the connections I had with my family and the community we lived in. I carry those teachings with me everywhere I go, but, like many, I have struggled, and still struggle, with my culture’s conflict with the globalization of the more Western ideals.
Though it tore me apart, it made me love the books that allow me to understand, dissect, and accept my sorrow and confusion. The books that allow me to connect, and to feel that perhaps I am not the only person who is unsure.
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Amadeus: Look, I didn’t vote for this [group post topic] for a reason. That reason being that I literally started reading at six months old and I don’t remember which book exactly got Baby Amadeus into it and I don’t want to bother my mother to go rummaging around for that book where a bear tries to make another bear eat dinner or that one where baby owls want their mommy. Plus, when I got a bit older, I got into bugs and trains and boats and science (I don’t remember which book exactly) and I ended up collecting several bookshelves’ worth of the stuff. It took me several more years to get into normal kid stuff and I think it began with my classmate’s K-Zone or something. TL;DR: too many books, can’t remember.
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And those are the books that, put simply, made us fall in love with reading!
Bookworms, out!
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SMEAGOL WAS HERE
Bookworms and Bluestockings 