This is fun :) Thanks for sharing. Here's my answers:
My father used to read to me before going to bed. My favourite as a young child was Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy World (the old, very non-PC version). My father tells me regularly he still remember most of the story about Achoo the panda bear, since it was my favourite and I made him read it to me practically every night. That book is, not coincidentally, the first book I remember. When I was older, my father also read me The Hobbit and the Swallows and Amazons series. But then my parents got divorced when I was 11, so reading was entirely up to me at that point (I lived with my mom, and she wasn't a reader at all except for magazines).
I'm not sure there was ever a moment of realization that I loved to read. I simply enjoyed it and always have; and since I had a lot of bookish friends growing up, it seemed normal. I've definitely always enjoyed reading.
The first book I remember really capturing me was the first book of the Thoroughbred series. I was a horse-obsessed girl, and proceeded to collect the rest of them. The first and only audiobook I ever listened to was Black Beauty, of which I had a cassette tape and used to fall asleep listening to with regularity around age 11.
Your Godfather story reminded me of the first book I read with violence and sex. My mother never cared what I read, so while it probably should have gotten taken away, I read Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett at age 12 (as you say, it did mostly go right over my head).
The first book I remember staying up all night reading was Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite. The first manga I read was either X/1999 or Card Captor Sakura by CLAMP. The first North American graphic novel I read was Johnny the Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez. (If you can't tell by this selection, I was a very angsty, goth teenager).
The first book I read for a class and actually enjoyed was Microserfs by Douglas Copeland while in my third year of college (after switching schools and switching majors). I remember on the essay I wrote about it, my professor suggested I become an English major. It would take two years, but I would eventually switch my major and words are now my career. The same year I read the first non-fiction book I enjoyed, in a different English class, which was Life and Death in Shanghai by Chen Nien. The first book I waited in line for at the bookstore was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
no subject
My father used to read to me before going to bed. My favourite as a young child was Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy World (the old, very non-PC version). My father tells me regularly he still remember most of the story about Achoo the panda bear, since it was my favourite and I made him read it to me practically every night. That book is, not coincidentally, the first book I remember. When I was older, my father also read me The Hobbit and the Swallows and Amazons series. But then my parents got divorced when I was 11, so reading was entirely up to me at that point (I lived with my mom, and she wasn't a reader at all except for magazines).
I'm not sure there was ever a moment of realization that I loved to read. I simply enjoyed it and always have; and since I had a lot of bookish friends growing up, it seemed normal. I've definitely always enjoyed reading.
The first book I remember really capturing me was the first book of the Thoroughbred series. I was a horse-obsessed girl, and proceeded to collect the rest of them. The first and only audiobook I ever listened to was Black Beauty, of which I had a cassette tape and used to fall asleep listening to with regularity around age 11.
Your Godfather story reminded me of the first book I read with violence and sex. My mother never cared what I read, so while it probably should have gotten taken away, I read Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett at age 12 (as you say, it did mostly go right over my head).
The first book I remember staying up all night reading was Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite. The first manga I read was either X/1999 or Card Captor Sakura by CLAMP. The first North American graphic novel I read was Johnny the Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez. (If you can't tell by this selection, I was a very angsty, goth teenager).
The first book I read for a class and actually enjoyed was Microserfs by Douglas Copeland while in my third year of college (after switching schools and switching majors). I remember on the essay I wrote about it, my professor suggested I become an English major. It would take two years, but I would eventually switch my major and words are now my career. The same year I read the first non-fiction book I enjoyed, in a different English class, which was Life and Death in Shanghai by Chen Nien. The first book I waited in line for at the bookstore was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
That's all the firsts I can think of :)