My First and Firsts

All I can remember the first book I read was Nancy Drew. First book I bought was Goosebumps & the first book I borrowed was Chicken Soup for the Soul. All kiddie stuffs.

I don't remember the first book I read, but I remember reading The Boxcar Children. I enjoyed it very much and as an adult I bought a copy to read again.

That's a good question. I really don't remember what the first book I read was. I grew up in a reading house and my parents read to me. My mom would make me follow along so that I could learn to read too. I was reading books by myself when I was 6, but they weren't full-length novels... just children's books. I was reading YA by 3rd or 4th grade and full-length adult novels like Lord of the Rings in middle school. Also don't remember the first book I borrowed. I visited the library a whole lot when I was little, dropped off around middle school and borrowed books from friends occasionally. However, I am pretty sure the first book I bought was Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, sometime in 3rd/4th grade. I still have it too, I love that book.

The first book I can remember reading was by Enid Blyton. It was one of the "Famous Five" series of children's books, but I do not remember which one. The first book I bought with my own money was "Foundation" by Asimov. The first book I borrowed was "Temple of Terror", one of the Fighting Fantasy books by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. I remember borrowing it from the school library at the start of the school year and keeping it for ages! One other "first" - I remember when I was at primary school my teacher used to spend the last 20-30 minutes of the day before we went home reading to the class. He read us "The Hobbit" and I loved it. Even now, over 20 years later I can still remember how much I enjoyed the story and how I would look forward to the end of each day to hear the next few pages!

Heh. The first book I read was The Mysterious Island, by Jules Verne. My father used to read to me a few pages every evening, to put me to sleep, and I wanted to read more so badly, that I taught myself to read in a few days and finished the book by myself. For a long time after, I used to re-read this book once a year. Hm... maybe I should read it again this year, to remember why I liked reading so much at that age... just like you, I have books piling up, and not enough time to read them all.