Not just your life, but you literate experience?

I often hear people say "This book changed my life." Thats great, don't get me wrong, but what was a book (maybe from your childhood or teen years) that actually made you inspired to the love of reading? We constantly speak about our personal lives and such, but what about simply just reading itself? What was the first book that you completely just could not put down? When did your desire to read begin to blaze out of control?
The first book to really make me think was a child's fantasy story by Eddith Pattou called East. I actually read it in seventh grade but it awakened a part of my imagination I will never let go! :)
What about you guys?

The first book that I remember having an influence on my life was "James and the Giant Peach." It was the first chapter book my mother and I read together and it awakened my imagination. From then on I wanted to read all the time. It remains a favorite.

A book that recently (between this and last year) changed my literary experience was Dante's The Inferno, Cervantes' Don Quixote, and Steinbeck's East of Eden.

I agree with East of Eden!

As much as I hate it now, The Fountainhead also changed my outlook on literature and life. So did Lord of the Flies.

I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't love books. So, aside from my early obsession with the Little Monster series, I'd have to go with The Chronicles of Narnia.

I also remember reading Frankenstein for the first time in college when I was about nineteen and just being blown away by the contrast between the popular idea of Frankenstein and the complexity of the actual book.

I loved reading from an early, early age. But the first book I can remember just being completely moved by, and engrossed in, was Ratha's Creature by Clare Bell when I was about 12 or so. I just bought it recently actually, 20 years later...

You can't go wrong with talking prehistoric cats at 12!

My earliest reading memories are comic books. My grandmother, poor soul, would read them to me. She had very little literacy and would try to skip panels on the page. I would always catch her and make her go back and read them.

I read from the earliest age I could but I don't remember many specific books. Maybe the Sugar Creek Gang series (probably local to my area) or Huckleberry Finn. There was a book, perhaps named East of the Sun, West of the Moon about a boy and a dragon who ate cabbages and their adventures.

The Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc by Mark Twain. I read it when I was 10 years old, and I didn't understand all the words, but I definitely learned then that having a purpose in life, something you believe in strongly, that you strive to impart to others, is an amazing thing! I read years later (maybe 10 or 15 years later) that this is the book Twain was most proud of, because he did massive amounts of research and really put his heart into it. I've been meaning to re-read it for years, but I'm afraid of ruining the memory. Someday I will read it again.

When I was fairly young I read Treasure Island.

For the first time in my young little life, I understood how my mother could get lost in her books the way she did; she'd be a million miles away from everything.

There was a line of comic books based on "classic books" that I loved when I was young. I was always a big reader , but the first thing I remember reading and then re-reading was the story of Annie Sullivan, called Helen Keller's Teacher. Then it was War and Peace in my teens - twice back to back, and a third time since then.

Dahl is a great author because his adult books are like fairytales and the kids books are adultish.

I hated reading until I started a magazine called J'aime Lire - it was a clever combination of a main story followed by games and a comic strip. Every month, I would curl up with my new issue and enjoy.
In English, it was Charlotte's Web that finally got me hooked, followed a close second by Trumpet of the Swan. My English teacher would read books out loud to us - which I loved, and she was able to communicate her love of books that way. Nothing beats a good story telling - even today!

I had forgotten about this treasure! This is truly one of my formative books as a child.

A lot of people were saying last year that The Tipping Point would influence a lot of people by letting them know how small efforts can lead to great changes.

Thank you, Severn! I've been away from this site for too long, and I made it a point to return. I'm glad I did.

I've been involved with a new book, Ratha's Courage, which just came out this October.

http://www.rathascourage.com

Chronicles of Narnia was an influential work for me, and Olaf Stapledon's works, especially Sirius and Star Maker.

CB

When I was really, really young, I was given a book called '365 Bedtime Stories'. There was a different short story on each page. I think that was the one that hooked me. I was fascinated by it and always wanted to read every story, but only one per day. That book disappeared somewhere along the way and I never did get to read every story.....but I make up for that now!

Over the years many other books have had an impact, like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Jane Eyre, Emma, and there are really far to many to count. I admit it. I'm a reading addict! :)

>19 Neverwithoutabook:, Neverwithoutabook, I think I had that book as a child too! I can't remember much about it though other than that it was largish and hard cover and that I liked it :-) I'm pretty sure my copy (it was probably actually jointly owned by my brother and myself) has disappeared too, but I'm inspired to go home and try to find it now.

Actually, I just did a quick search and there are several books by that name by different authors, so maybe we aren't thinking of the same book. You've made me think of a lovely memory from my childhood though that I wouldn't have thought of otherwise, so thanks :-)

# 20 - Elee - That is so Cool! I've never met anyone else who had or even remembers that book. You're right that is was largish and hard cover. I hope you find it, and if you do, would you let me know? Good luck!!!

My Grandfather had a set of Richard Burton's translation of The Arabian Nights. At first my mother would read one per night to me at bedtime, and as time went on, I was reading them myself.

I wish I knew where that set went.

#19 Neverwithoutabook
#20 elee

I, too, remember my first book. It was "365 Bedtime Stories", a large hardback book with one story to a page. My copy was missing the front cover, though.

The amazing thing is that I read mine in the USA, you in Canada and Bisbane. Amazing, don't you think?

I would love to see a picture of the front of your book, elee, to see if I remember it! Good Hunting!

Hi Neverwithoutabook and MAJic. I found my book...but, it turns out mine is called 366 Stories for Bedtime and it even has a touchstone on LT. My book has 2 short-stories on every page instead of one, but it sounds quite similar to the book you are both thinking of, which is why I thought they were the same. I'm not very good at posting pictures and links on here, but here goes:



Ooohhh...it worked!

Thanks for posting the pic Elee! It's not quite the same as the one I remember, but the same idea. Mine had only one story for each page. Coincidentally today, I was in our neighbourhood Goodwill store and came across one very similar to yours! It was 365 Bedtime Stories but was the two stories on one page version. Maybe it has something to do with when it was published?

I read "Wuthering Heights" when I was 12. The story had the thrill of phantoms and, of course, the star-crossed lovers, Heathcliff and Catherine. That got me excited about novels, and eventually I moved on to my real passion, archaeology. I still really enjoy a ripping-good story, though. This has been a fun thread. Thanks, moonstruck.

Elee #24

Thanks for posting the pic.
Not my cover, but close.
Still, maybe I'll find it one day.

War and Peace really changed my literary experience. Its is not as exciting as say The Count of Monte Cristo or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn so It was difficult to stay engaged, but soon realized the immense genius of the character development and the intricacy of the character relations. It has led me to read in a completely different way. Life changing--maybe not, but definitely a great accomplishment just to read and appreciate.

Thanks everyone for posting!
I totally forgot about it...but, thats OK! I came back to it! =)
Everyone was quite different I must say.
Its awesome to see what has inspired people to be who they are in literature! =D

* walf6 - You read Wuthering Heights when you were 12? Well then, there must be something terribly wrong with me or something really great about you, 'cause I'm sixteen and struggled with that when I checked it out. I guess just because I love to read doesn't mean I'm exactly good at it : /.

I think there is a level of maturity that must be attained before some literature becomes available to us, emotionally and intellectually.

This is not a criticism of youth as much as a plea not to give up. I would suggest attempting to read something like Wuthering Heights or Pride and Prejudice or Death Comes for the Archbishop at least once a year until they begin to click for you.

There are plenty of people in their thirties and forties who have trouble relating to good, adult classics.

It's like being sixteen and wondering why Mom and Dad cry when they watch "The Magnificent Ambersons".

I started reading at a very young age, but I think I *connected* (beyond just enjoying) to reading with Matilda by Roald Dahl. The combination of the great character, fantastic events mixed with the everyday and the triumph of the small, quiet bookworm really got to me. As a kid I probably read that book at least a dozen times- the chapters about her trips to the library being my favorite. It also started a love that continues strong to this day- books about books. If I find a book that looks halfway interesting and it's about books or books feature in it heavily, I'll most likely pick it up.

geneg:

Well, I began loving books just about three years ago when I had picked up a few fantasy books that took my mind off to an entirely different world, which didn't really require much of a available level of maturity whatsoever. My mom confessed just a year ago of not having time before I had entered grade school to teach me anything 'cause of work, and once I did enter grade school I was said to have a learning disability. Which, all in all, made me a late reader. That in itself made me desire more of a intimate relationship with the literate world more than you could ever imagine. Its been a difficult journey, but I've come a long way. I read the entire narrative of Frederick Douglass and I could actually feel my chest heave out a little more; I was very proud of myself =). But, I learned that there was even more waiting for me out there!

Your tips do help though, I do think I should attempt more often, letting it grow on me with time and emotional and intellectual maturity. Since I was helped a lot in school due to my learning disability I'm used to being introduced to each book, and sometimes even read aloud to. But, how can it ever click if I don't try? =D Sometimes I wonder if I truly even have a learning disability - if this is just the product of a negative placebo or somethin', if there is such : /.

Thanks for replying!

- Jenny

Ulysses is the primary reshaper of how I read books.I read a lot of books as a kid and nothing wiped the slate clean and reset the clock the way that book does. I got a total synaptic upgrade. The reading of it changed everything. Everything measures up to the standard that that book sets, and a decent understanding of the formal mechanisms of that novel enables you to understand just about everything else you might read that follows. Multiple readings makes it a template in your brain.
I don't think I'm alone in feeling this way...

BUT I see I'm not exactly getting in the spirit of the original thread so I'd could pick Howard Pyle's rendition of The Story Of King Arthur And His Knights and his Wonder Clock. Those books completely entranced me as a kid.

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. It was the first book that wasn't fantasy that really transported me, that showed that this world and the places I know so well can still be a source of wonder. And Frannie's obsessive reading inspired me to attempt to tackle my own library as a child - I never made it through all of them, but ten years later the librarians still remember me and my quest.

I always loved to read fiction as a kid, but my mom gave me The Hobbit in fourth grade, and that changed things for me. It was ultimately the book that drove my future choices as a reader.

I started reading at a relatively young age. I can remember being ahead of my grade at least up through elementary school. I read Berenstein Bears, Henry & Mudge, all sorts of stuff. However, the book/series that really got me going was CoN (Chronicles of Narnia) I think I read the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe for the first time when I was like seven. I read the whole series over and over, listened to it on tape, even had bits memorized for a while. Its disappeared now :( but my first box set that my mom gave me got such heavy use that Price Caspian actually split into thirds. Obviously I didn't pick up on the Christian allegory then, but I still loved the stories. I think I loved Caspian because, while the whole series was in a way about the empowerment and strength of children, PC brought the theme to the forefront.

wow.. such a great topic! to trace it back to the beginning, i think it's the first book i received as a gift from a teacher, chicken little.

The first book I ever read "all by myself" was Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. I couldn't get over the fact that this woman had an upside down house! My imagination was lit up. The next books that really spoke to me were A Wrinkle in Time and The Giver. Since then, I have read many books that knocked me for a loop, but few of them have influenced me like these books did.

I was lucky to be introduced to wonderful classics like Wind in the Willows and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as a child, beautifully written books with such descriptive passages and gripping story lines. A teacher also gave me Tom's Midnight Garden, a book I found thrilling and the ending sent shivers of delight up my spine! These books gave me a love of reading but for years, (as an adult) on the whole I read only lightweight novels and have only started reading classics and more demanding - and rewarding - literature over the last year or so. It has been wonderful to discover both classic and contemporary authors, through lists such as the Guardian's, books of recommendations and of course, Library Thing!

The two books that impressed me most as a child were The Chinese Ink Stick by Kurt Wiese and The Kid from Tomkinsville and its sequel The Kid from Tomkinsville in the World Series by {john R. Tunis-- the former Iʻm not sure at what age, but much earlier than the 2 Tunis books, which date from the time when I was first following major league baseball.

The Chinese Ink Stick was available as a school library item; to me, it was exceptional and didnʻt lead me to think that the school was usually a good source of reading. But I probably picked up an attitude of not being too fussy about what a library has to offer -- one good item of sixty or seventy mediocre ones wasnʻt bad! what I liked most about it was the story line, although I had no special interest in East Asia. I even wondered why more writers didnʻt follow a similar plot line -- - the adventures of someone or even someTHING -- a coin for example. Being inanimate was ok, as long as it could bounce around and en counter all kinds of situations.

I have always loved to read. Our local library limited patrons to 7 check-out items at a time. Every Saturday I was there, returning the old and searching out the next weeks finds. Early books? Mr. Popper's Penguins, Millions of Cats, The Pokey Little Puppy, Beverly Cleary books...too many to list. Of course, like many young readers I was captivated by Nancy Drew's adventures, setting the stage for my favorite adult genre - mysteries. I carried my fascination with all things bibliographic to a MLIS degree and subsequent work in the field.

My love of reading started in about grade four when our school librarian (who we were all very afraid of because she was very strict - although looking back, she was also very good at her job) handed me a copy of Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden. It's still one of my favourite books today (although I have concerns about the movie that's recently come out - has anyone seen it?). At about the same time, my mum gave me her copy of the The Hobbit.

Unfortunately, my reading dropped away in my final years of schooling (the version of English I selected in my final year did not require any novel reading). I worked almost full time during university and then went straight on to completing my CA (post-graduate accounting degree). I finally started reading again once I finished and haven't been without a book since. First book I read was Great Expectations - would have hated it as a teenager, but reading it in my 20s meant I absolutely loved it.

"Blaze out of control" ? Well, when I was 8, there was that book about 2 girls in an orphanage I re-read 24 times . And then my father gave me a book on Greek mythology ; 40 years later I'm still reading about it. I read Homer when I was in my teens and the Iliad is THE book I would pick up on the proverbial deserted island.
I discovered passion existed with Flaubert's Salammbo and then, Tolkien and F. Herbert were translated in French and they actually opened new worlds to me. I count my SFF books in meters rather than number of books.
These books didn't "changed" my life : better to say, they "made" it - well, a big part of it.

The Rhetoric of Fiction marked a significant turning point for me last year in my appreciation of literature and of reading. Prior, I'd never understood why the classics were actually "classic", but I get it now.

The first book I can remember reading, that made me want to read more, was Hatchet.

The Boxcar Children absolutely gripped me, but then all the sequels fell short. As a little girl I informed my mother that my first baby daughter would be named Violet, after one of the Boxcar characters. She shuddered. So I said, how 'bout Fawn?

I vaguely remember the wind in the willows and charlotte's web being read to me but until I started reading chapter books myself, don't recall anything really grabbing me. Then it was the lion, the witch and the wardrobe, sir machinery and it's a mile from here to glory.