What book turned you into a reader?

[davshap]

'Le chateau de ma mère' by Marcel Pagnol in elementary school, then a collection of stories by Edgar Allan Poe and another collection of stories by H.P. Lovecraft in middle school.

 

[cubealicious_cube]

I was reading since I was little, thanks to my parents. The big ones I remember from childhood were standard YA stuff like Percy Jackson and the like. One of the lunch ladies at elementary school also gave me the first Drizzt book, so that along with all the World of Warcraft novels got me into fantasy. I also had a bunch of illustrated and abridged versions of classic novels, in particular I was obsessed with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. To this day, I love me some boat fiction.

 

[Zemus]

Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon

Now that's one that didn't pull me into orbit. People seem to like it for similar reasons, though.

 

[Phantasy Violence]

I honestly think magazines were my gateway into reading—specifically Mad Magazine and EGM. I know it’s not the same as reading a book, but I think magazines helped my dumb little brain transition from cartoons to paper with words on it.

 

[bobobobo2]

i read books, they were fine, cool stories and all... then i read the trial, and it pierced my heart, then i read chronicles of clovis and it blew my eyes off

 

[Zerpina]

When i was 12, maybe 13 i was at a friends house, and their older brother was getting rid of some books, i asked if i could look at them, and found one <due to the cover> that i liked. they told me i could have it, took it home and read it.

That book was The Colour out of Space, by H.P. Lovecraft
Before that, i hated reading

 

[CaptainToad]

Lovecraft's collected works, maybe. There was a podcast called H. P. Podcraft that would summarize or discuss each of his works so I'd read each short story and then listen to the podcast while playing Gran Turismo (5 I think?).

Or maybe LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring that I read as a child although I didn't read that much as a child because I never found the other books at my school library (always checked out probably) and it wasn't until years later after reading Lovecraft that I'd read the rest.

Mostly read philosophy, political/history, and horror stuff now. Ligotti's probably my favourite writer currently.

 

[MasterEn]

i got into reading with Remnants [K.A. Applegate], harry potter, the Tenchi Muyo comics, and then Star Wars. i read probably about 40 or so of those over the course of a few years.

 

[RebelofDaNeonGod]

Comte de Lautremont's Maldoror and John Williams' Stoner, those are two magnificent books, especially Stoner.

 

[Jusaiki]

Ok this will sound a bit weird, but my Arab homies will understand what I mean, the first book that encouraged me to read was The Holy Quran

The first word that came down in the Quran was Read! that's the first word god told the prophet, When god sent the angel Gabriel for the first time to the prophet, showing him the sign of his prophethood. Without getting too much into religion I'm just explaining my inspiration of reading...., as a kid I wasn't a practicing Muslim I kinda did whatever and never had any passion or goals I wanted to know what so great about this book too, the philosophy behind the Quranic guidance without looking at the religious part is still fascinating, there is a higher power out there telling you to read, to understand people and their languages to treat people better and become the best version of yourself but also having cryptic scientific knowledge between his advice for you to become better, it's like your dad scolding you to do better but then says something without explaining it to you, I noticed these weird scientific sparkles between the lines and starting searching and learning because of it the Quran made me love math, Space history and philosophy all together and a lot more few examples I'd like to share is how the Quran explains the timelines of The Pharaoh times the begining of the faroah kingdoms the ruler were called Kings before they were pharoes in the quran there was a chapter talking about Moses and pharaoh but in the early days of young moses, moses addressed the pharaoh as "king" then when he grew up and the kingdom enterd thier new era the king retitled himself as pharaoh, and it was documented accurtly in the Quran i think it was the first things that really made enjoy reading and exploring in books and the Quran was always my original source i rely on and every time it delivered perfectly, if we look at the Quran author as a man, i think that man is the most knowledgeable human being in existence discovering how humans were born stage by stage, he knew how bees work and live their live, how flies as simple as they look are very advanced creatures and have one of the most complicated anatomies, he knew how our space worked in details, and a lot more, whenever i read about something new i come back to this verse (read for your lord who taught you by the pen who taught humanity what they didnt know) its a powerful verse that shake my core and is the soul heart of my learning journey

 

[Laura Zonih]

My reading jump was like this:
"Papelucho En Vacaciones" by Marcela Paz then I got my hands on "Journey to the Center of the Earth" by Jules Verne.

 

[Firenoh]

I got into reading on my own time with Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle, but I loved class-assigned books like "Lord of the Flies" or "The Count of Monte Cristo." Also my friends formed a little book club around the Scott Pilgrim volumes while it was ongoing.

 

[marky]

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets. Yes, I started with the second book and I'm still a Potterhead.

 

[MasterEn]

Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets. Yes, I started with the second book and I'm still a Potterhead.

i also started with the second book.

 

[INTIMIDAT3R]

The Life and Times of Billy the Kid by Pat Garrett.

I don't read much these days, but I read that book when I was in middle school... a day or two ago. LOL

I like Tom Clancy, Dale Brown, and even dabble in Stephen King.

 

[raveci]

i also started with the second book.

naturally, you watch the first movie, read the second and third books, and that's it... how else would you go about it...

 

[tigg]

The Indian and the Cupboard. Read it when I was in 4th grade and was hooked, that was 40+ years ago

 

[MasterEn]

naturally, you watch the first movie, read the second and third books, and that's it... how else would you go about it...

nope. i grabbed the book at complete random at the school's library and i think i read books 1 and 3 before i saw the movies. i did watch the movies in order though.

 

[Yukyon]

I was in Middle school (Secundaria) and and older cousin lent me a book, I don't remember why because I doubt asked for a book, I was very much only interested in pokémon at the time. The book was 'Shadow of the Wind' (La Sombra del Viento) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

I read it within 3 days, I had never read any book by choice, let alone that fast, I was absolutely mesmerized. I soon asked my parents for the rest as it is the first book of the series and I read the rest almost as quickly

I got to buy the last book a week after it came out in a Book Fair that my city does annually.
Unbeknownst to me, the author was in that book fair doing a presentation the same day I went. I still have the free booklet with the schedule they give when entering the book fair, oh if only I had read it lol

The synopsis btw: "

Hidden in the heart of the old city of Barcelona is the 'cemetery of lost books', a labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles that have long gone out of print. To this library, a man brings his 10-year-old son Daniel one cold morning in 1945. Daniel is allowed to choose one book from the shelves and pulls out 'La Sombra del Viento' by Julian Carax.
But as he grows up, several people seem inordinately interested in his find. Then, one night, as he is wandering the old streets once more, Daniel is approached by a figure who reminds him of a character from La Sombra del Viento, a character who turns out to be the devil. This man is tracking down every last copy of Carax's work in order to burn them."​

 

[BinaryMessiah]

Harry Potter. My grandmother gave me the first trilogy for Xmas of 1999. She made it a tradition to gift me each book as they came out and wrote a message inside each book. Sadly, they're all gone now, but that got me hooked on reading. From there it was books like Holes, The Trumpeter and the Swan, The Cricket in Time Square, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, and many more.

 

[Bakuma1997]

Geronimo Stilton, i still have the book that started it all

Found it

it always annoyed me that they never followed with the plots promised at the end of each book, otherwise they were my jam