Play Book Tag discussion

We all love books. We all have a relationship with books, sometimes nice and loving and smooth, and sometimes complicated and dysfunctional and antagonistic.

But we all had a beginning. When did you fall in love with books? What book captured your heart? Does your family read and encourage you to read? Does your family hinder you and become an obstacle to reading? What does reading and books mean to you?

You do not have to answer each question. These are meant to get the mental juices flowing and create a discussion, share a bit about yourself, and talk about one of the greatest things, books and our experience with them.

I always enjoyed books from a very, very young age, but one of my earliest book memories was in first grade. I was new to the school and didn't really know anyone in my class. I was reading Charlotte's Web in this little common area that we had, and I looked over, and there was another girl, also reading Charlotte's Web! We connected over the book and our obvious shared love of reading and were best friends until I moved away the following year. I'm still in touch with her, lol.

I also recall trying to read all of the books on my book shelves at home. In order. Repeatedly. Until I ran out of those and started in on the World Book Encyclopedia, lol. I didn't make it far in that.

Unfortunately, my husband and two sons really aren't readers. Even though my husband is super smart. I am not sure how I failed to raise readers as I read to my sons daily until they were well into elementary school. Sigh. When I look around here and see the male to female ratio on Goodreads, I feel like maybe there is something about reading that is different between the genders. Curious what you think about that, Jason, as a man who clearly loves reading. Was there something in your upbringing that you think spurred that love?

I remember really getting "into" reading around grade 5ish? Definitely by grade 7, as our gr. 7 teacher had us keep a list of how many books we read that year and there were only three of us who'd read over 100 books that (school) year! I was one of them, but one of the other girls had read them most, not me. Funny, all three of us were girls, too.

I started reading a lot because I was painfully shy, so I didn't have to talk as much with other people. I could retreat into the world of books.

My mom doesn't read a lot, nor does my brother, but Dad likes to read. Mom must have read a bit at some point, because I remember reading some of her books! (I'm sure the VC Andrews books did NOT belong to my dad!!!!)

As for male/female, I don't recall if it was a conversation we had over at shelfari or if I read it somewhere else years ago, but I remember someone suggesting that men might read, but they are often less inclined to want to talk about what they are reading. So, you'll see fewer of them on these social media sites. Obviously, there are a few here like Jason, Michael, Charles... and we've had a few others over the years here: Robert, Justin, Brad. I'm probably forgetting a few, a swell.

When I was a young teen, my father introduced me to Sidney Sheldon. I was hooked from there. First I used to read what they picked for me. And then soon to begin discovering things for myself. My tastes have changed over time. In the beginning it was all Danielle Steele and those sweeping epic sagas. Then it was Nora Roberts. I read Beaches with my best friend, and we both thought we were Cici, and were first online opening night when then will be opened when we were 16 years old. My tastes have grown and changed over time. But you don't forget a decades worth of reading Harry Potter, and yes I did them two years apart until I saw a movie five, and then after that I plowed through the rest. As you all know, my family of origin are readers, but it's pulling teeth with my family of present. But some of my favorite things in the world are reading books with these kids. Would you believe I'm on the search for Harry Potter seven? I pulled out two months ago, knowing I had a year to read it with my almost 15-year-old so we can see the final movie before he goes to camp in June. But now it's missing and no one has any idea where it is. Today is turning the house over for Hanukkah day. And maybe finding this book. Because you can't start a book that you can't find. I sincerely hope that my children will remember and their lives that I read the entire series with them each over the course of a four/five year period. That's a great question about what turns us on to books. I'll let you guys know when I find it. Found all the winter stuff, and all the Hanukkah stuff. You think my living room could produce this.

Amy wrote: "When I was a young teen, my father introduced me to Sidney Sheldon. I was hooked from there. First I used to read what they picked for me. And then soon to begin discovering things for myself. My t..."

Ha ha ha, good luck with the search!

I also loved Sidney Sheldon as a young teenager.

My mother says I started reading at 2. I don't remember ever not loving books. Through the years they encouraged and enabled what I call my one vice, though very soon for any occasion they would ask, "What would you like for your birthday/Christmas/etc - AND DON'T SAY BOOKS!" (Which of course was really the only thing I ever answered.)

As a child the earliest chapter books I fell in love with that I can remember were Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland. Many others have replaced them for favorites since, which have stayed with me through my adult years and to this day - The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, Watership Down by Richard Adams, The Lord of the Rings (which I read at 9 and hooked me on fantasy for good), and way too many more to name.

Though I started with Nancy Drew and graduated to The Three Investigators, what cemented my love for adult mysteries was reading Agatha Christie's The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side in 6th grade. For science fiction Isaac Asimov is responsible.

In my family we are all readers, though none was as obsessive about books as I was. I push books onto my kids and though they both read, neither inherited my fanaticism (at least not yet), which is a bit of a disappointment for me.

Like annapi, I cannot remember every not reading. My mom always tells the story that when I was little she used to force to me go outside and play and when she would look out the window, she would see that I had snuck a book outside with me and was reading under a tree.

There are two series that really stand out for me though as being key parts of my reading: Nancy Drew and the Thoroughbred Series. But, there were so many other books as well. Many that I probably don't even remember!

Then, when I was probably 14 (way too young in hindsight), I started sneaking my mom's Nora Roberts books off the bookshelf and reading them in secret. I did not have some burning desire to read romance (y'all, I was a late bloomer) but the first book of hers I read was The Reef and it had a tropical island on the front with a palm tree and clear blue waters. And while I wasn't obsessed about reading romance novels, I was obsessed with marine biology, carol reefs, and SCUBA diving. (Insert inappropriate joke here!)

Then I kept reading them because I was 14, 16, 17 and they were romance novels. lol.

Anita, That is wonderful that you are friends today with the "Charlotte's web" friend. That's a wonderful story.

LibraryCin, Awesome that's books were your comfort. It seems as you have overcome your shyness because you are here.

Amy, your kids will remember. I remember as I will touch on a bit later. They will also remember if you miss book 7. haha. just playing. hope you find it.

My story with books are not a love at first sight story. It's not even overcoming the beginning hurdles to form an everlasting enduring relationship. Instead it was a rocky start then on again off again relationship until finally, finally a commitment was born.

My mother was an avid reader as was her mother. My father is not a reader at all. He has 2 books that he ever liked. The Pig Man is his favorite, but all the books he read was for school. He hates Lord of the Flies. However, my mother would read to him every night until he went to sleep. My sisters name even cones from on of the books called Shanna. I plan on reading it one day but I hear it's an atrocious romance novel.

My older brother and sister are readers but they don't talk about they read and seem to read only in private. My mother tried very hard to get me to read. The only books I liked was Amelia Badelia. That's it no others. My mother died when I was 10 and I still regret she didn't get to see me love books.

My sister recommended Number the Stars which I liked, and she recommended A Wrinkle in Time which I loved and The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe which I didn't finish. Soni read a book here and there but didn't love reading. On hot day in South Georgia where the heat punches you like it's a heavy weight title fight and the air is sticky you are drenched from your own sweat, my parents kicked us kids out of the house to play outside. Yeah right. I found The Brethren (I don't know how we got it) and I sat in the garage and read it. Wow! That was the moment. This was 6th or 7th grade. from there it was all John Grisham. I read them all in order. In that time I was recommended The Giver and The Outsiders but teachers. But my books were still limited to a few recommendations and John Grisham. I read a few others here and there, and a was known as a readers but I still didn't love books. I was very picky. I read some Harlan Coben, Agatha Christie, and a few historical fictions but it was really all about John Grisham. After I graduated my reading died. I might read a book or 2 but then wouldn't touch a book for months. Year 2015 I started missing books. I got on a kick, started reading things outside my normal comfort zone and developed an actual love and relationship with reading. I think I always liked the idea but I wasn't mature enough or ready for that kind of commitment. Now I want to read everything. As one of the Wright brothers said, I want to know everything already known. I wish my mother could see my love for books now.

As far as Men vs Women reading. Statistically women make up 80% of readers. I think that's the right number so authors cater to women. Smart business. Look at popular male authors and see their evolution from debut novel to current. They tend to cater to females. Why men don't read? It's not considered manly is the main thing. Plus studies show men are more visual so movies and girls attract more attention. Books are more abstract.

Nicole R wrote: "Like annapi, I cannot remember every not reading. My mom always tells the story that when I was little she used to force to me go outside and play and when she would look out the window, she would ..."

My mom once tried to punish me by taking away my books. I just quietly started to buy copies to replace them, and when she noticed she gave them back to me and never used that tactic again. :)

I don't recall a time when I didn't read. My mom and sister are both readers and my dad was before he passed. I still have a few books that were his. They are some of my most treasured possessions along with books my deceased husband left behind. My mom took us to the library on a regular basis when we were kids. I loved Nancy Drew growing up too along with the Little House books. Unfortunately my fiance and his kids aren't big readers but I have got his youngest invested in the summer reading program at our library. He's done that for several years now.

Anita: My sister and I would try to read all the books on our shelves too :-)

Annapi: I had forgotten about the Three Investigators. I loved them too. I think I might have a few of their books still. Now I'll have to go looking for them.

Oh and I forgot to add Great Illustrated Classics as instrumental in my reading development.

Nicole R wrote: "...but the first book of hers I read was The Reef and it had a tropical island on the front with a palm tree and clear blue waters. And while I wasn't obsessed about reading romance novels, I was obsessed with marine biology, carol reefs, and SCUBA diving...."

Ah, that was the book that spoiled Nora Roberts for me because she talked about OXYGEN tanks, when every scuba diver knows it's AIR in those tanks, which is a VERY important difference!

annapi wrote: "Ah, that was the book that spoiled Nora Roberts for me because she talked about OXYGEN tanks, when every scuba diver knows it's AIR in those tanks, which is a VERY important difference! "

Ha! Obviously I did not pick up on that little difference, but excellent point! Not enough to ruin Nora for me, but it is annoying when little, easily verifiable details are wrong.

Nicole R wrote: "Ha! Obviously I did not pick up on that little difference, but excellent point! Not enough to ruin Nora for me, but it is annoying when little, easily verifiable details are wrong. "

Oh, I eventually came back to Nora, and obviously I am a die-hard fan of Eve and Roarke! I don't read much romance, but Nora can be counted on to entertain.

I forgot all about John Grisham and Richard North Patterson! Early first loves.

I too can't recall a time that I didn't read and apparently I have always like historical fiction because one of the first books that I vivdly remember is Snow Treasure, about some Norwegian kids who smuggle gold under the Nazi's nose. I also read many of the Nancy Drew and my personal favorite, Trixie Belden.

Both my mom and dad were readers and took us to the library regularly. I even remember that my grandfather was also a bit reader in retirement (Louis L'amour westerns). My brother is also a reader, and used to re-read Lord of the Rings every year. Unfortunately, his kids don't seem to have the bug. My husband and his brother are also a big readers as well as our niece -- we had a nice book bonding chat over Thanksgiving. So at least in our family the girl-guy reading ratio is pretty even.

My tastes have changed over the years, and I consciously do not re-read many books. I find what appealed in younger years, doesn't always enthrall me and then it ruins my memories.

Amy wrote: "I forgot all about John Grisham and Richard North Patterson! Early first loves."

Me too!!! Not a big surprise since we do have some similar tastes :-D

Jason wrote: "LibraryCin, Awesome that's books were your comfort. It seems as you have overcome your shyness because you are here. ..."

Yes, mostly I have overcome it. Online is easier, though, shy or not. I am still quite shy in large groups, especially if I don't know the people or don't know them well. I don't like to mingle, either. I will find a place to sit and usually chat with whoever happens to sit down near me.

Oh, yeah. As an example of how "painfully" shy I was, my Mom tells me my kindergarten teacher wanted to hold me back because of it! Mom and Dad didn't agree to it, so I was able to go through school with some of the same kids, K-12 (small town) and graduate at the age I "should" have.

Discussing what books we read when we were young... I read many teen series books (Sweet Valley High - in the 80s when it first came out; Cheerleaders, Girls of Canby Hall were all favourites). Also, teen romances - what were those teen romance "series" called? I don't remember!) But, I also quickly got "into" horror, particularly Stephen King - he was my favourite author through high school.

As an aside from the conversation itself - isn't it lovely that Jason does these? Inspires us to think about things and connect on them? Still can't find that Damn Harry Potter book. When the kids come back I'm going to offer 10$ to the kid that unearths it....

I have always loved books as my parents started reading to me early and are BOTH readers. In fact, my dad and both of my grandfathers were readers, so that beats the odds. That said, my dad worked hard to get my brothers to become readers. They each had to read one chapter a night and he even let them own comic books (I was incensed as my sister and I weren't allowed to, so we devoured them at friends' houses), but when I was older he told me (I'd kind of figured it out by then) that since my sister and I loved books, we didn't need comics.

My daughters are Readers.

Two of my brothers read as adults, but one of those prefers movies and TV (he is a screen actor, but he's also the one who loved Don Quixote in university and got my dad to read it).

My son is not big on reading other than very dry books full of airplane facts (but he is not a one-subject boy as he is an aspiring musician), but once in a while we find something he actually likes and he really enjoys it (he read all 4 Eragon books once a number of years ago, a feat never repeated re: page numbers, and then that was it for fantasy for good). He likes action, but well written, and loved Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption on audio and actually reading The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. However, this weekend he started to read Redwall, which he first listened to on audiobook when he was the target age, and he is totally enjoying it. I plan to get Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania from the library for him to read over Christmas as not only do I enjoy that author, but a pastor he admires who is a history buff loves that guy's writing, so we're starting with the one people say is the weakest.

READING AGE: Most of my extended family don't have the vision development or the interest to read at 2 or 3 (at least one of my cousins did because he learned when my aunt was teaching his dyslexic older brother how to read), although one of my daughters started around age 4, but she was also slightly near sighted. That said, both my girls were reading like Philadelphia lawyers by about 7 or 8.

Before I entered elementary school, my mom read to my sister and me, but she didn't know what was supposed to be age appropriate, thankfully. She read abridge versions of Tom Sawyer, Huckberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper, Heidi, Robinson Crusoe, Swiss Family Robinson and we loved them. We counted on her reading to us everyday.

When the snow plow created great mountains of snow on our road, my sister and I played Heidi and had arguments over who would be Heidi and who would be Peter.

When I did enter school and was "formally taught" to read, I already knew, I must have figured it out from my mom reading so much to us. We were told not to read ahead, but I did anyway.

I remember, loving the scholastic books and spending my allowance on books. One of my favorites was Beowulf and I also loved a mythology book. I had a library card and after reading so many horse books, I loved books about castles and the medieval era and books about the revolutionary war. These are two eras I still love reading about. I was a history buff early on.

Both my mom and dad were readers. My husband reads the sports pages and cookbooks, because that is his passion. He never reads novels, but he will read a cookbook cover to cove and he has read a few sports biographies.

I want to thank Jason for starting this because I really enjoy reading these Sunday conversations.

Found Harry Potter 7! Right next to Harry Potter Six on the high shelf in the Hall of Shame. It had gotten put back after I took it out a few months ago. Go figure!

Amy wrote: "Found Harry Potter 7! Right next to Harry Potter Six on the high shelf in the Hall of Shame. It had gotten put back after I took it out a few months ago. Go figure!"

YAY!!

I was a precocious reader. I started reading at about age 4 or 5. My mom misunderstood the registration dates for Kindergarten, so I didn't start school until first grade. She didn't want me to be behind so she taught me to read at home. I was so far ahead when I did go to school they wanted to have me skip a grade, but mom wanted me to be with kids of my own age since my birthday was the second to last day in August and the cut off was September 1st, so I would have been 2 years younger than most of the other kids.

I read all kinds of books, but the ones I really remember were the Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames books which I was reading in 4th grade. My mother really didn't restrict my reading very much. She would talk things over with me so I understood what I was reading and was pretty frank when I didn't understand everything. I read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, which had some 'racy' parts and I was only 12. She also let me watch Peyton Place on TV when I was 13 - a show which was quite 'scandalous'. And she explained things I didn't quite understand. She was always very open and I was a pretty sophisticated reader at 15 when I read In Cold Blood. I've also been lenient in my own dealings with my children's reading.. If you forbid something it becomes enticing, better to have it out in the open where discussion occurs and questions are answered.

I don't remember a time when books weren't a major part of my life. I could read well by the time I was 3, and would try any book whether I understood it or not. I probably got it from Mum - she read (and still reads) a huge amount. (She introduced me to Eve and Roarke, Nicole ;)) Her parents were both bookish too. My father's family, not at all - reading was a luxury that they didn't have - though Dad read much more later in his life.

My mother tells a story of my first day at school (aged 5), when we were told we could pick a picture book and 'read' quietly to ourselves for a while ... the teacher then found me reading the Daily Telegraph newspaper off her desk because all the school books were boring. {{early penchant for non-fiction, lol}}

I remember picking up a volume of Winston Churchill's "The Second World War" off my Dad's bookshelf when I was about six and trying my hardest to get through it. I didn't - and I haven't gone back to Winston Churchill since. Once defeated, never forgiven.

I loved animal stories best when I was little - Gerald Durrell's brilliant memoirs, Elyne Mitchell's Silver Brumby series - and also classics like Little Women, The Secret Garden and Heidi. I found Lord of the Rings, Ursula Le Guin and Asimov when I was about nine or ten and haven't looked back since - fantasy and sci fi are still major loves (as long as they're good). My teens saw a major stint with First World War poetry, coinciding with an obsession with Schliemann's excavations of Troy and Mycenae and every mythology book I could lay my hands on, together with Homer and Virgil. A truly bizarre combo. Then I found my mother's Barbara Cartland Regency romances (tame in the romance stakes, thank goodness ...) but I graduated to Georgette Heyer in short order, and Cartland was banished to the intellectual snobbery backwaters.

My eclectic tastes have remained intact, thank goodness. That's why I love this group!

My parents are both huge readers (my mom was a library science professor in university, my dad was a translator), so it was unthinkable that I wouldn't be too. Some of my earliest memories was sitting on their laps when they read me a story, and eventually trying to read along. I remember asking myself why the "a" in "extraordinaire" was silent. I was that kid who read under my sheets after light out, and woke up way too early to read. I remember one morning waiting impatiently for my parents to wake up so I could go in their room and ask them how to pronounce this mysterious "pays" word I'd come across and what the heck it meant (turns out it's "péi" because French makes no sense and it means country).

As you guessed I read in French first. Black Beauty was the first big novel I read in English. It took me a while to switch, but now I read almost exclusively in English, I find the literature much better.

KateNZ wrote: "I loved animal stories best when I was little - Gerald Durrell's brilliant memoirs, Elyne Mitchell's Silver Brumby series..."

I loved all of these too! I would re-read these over and over, especially the Silver Brumby. Also Black Beauty, Big Red, King of the Wind, White Fang and Call of the Wild. And James Herriot of course!

annapi wrote: "Also Black Beauty, Big Red, King of the Wind, White Fang and Call of the Wild. And James Herriot of course"

Yes to all!! I was actually trying to find a copy of King of the Wind a few weeks ago in ebook form, but couldn't. Must go hunting in the second hand stores :)

Amy wrote: "Found Harry Potter 7! Right next to Harry Potter Six on the high shelf in the Hall of Shame. It had gotten put back after I took it out a few months ago. Go figure!"

Hooray! I was tempted to post you our copy!

I don't remember a time where I didn't love books. They have always taken up a large space in my heart. From a very young age my mother, another book lover, read aloud to me. My strongest memory of this time is her reading The Neverending Story. I loved it so and read it myself afterwards.

My first love was Enid Blyton. I adored The Wishing Chair. Throughout my teens I fell in love with the usual suspects - Virginia Andrews, Stephen King, and Anne Rice to name a few. I made my way through my parents collection of books, appropriate or not! I remember reading Phillip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint. Now THAT was an eye opener!

My twenties were mostly taken up with crime fiction. I had a love for Elizabeth George, Michael Connelly, Ruth Rendell, Patricia Cornwell, the list goes on.

In my early thirties I moved toward literary fiction and that remains my great love to this day. I wonder how my tastes will change in the future.

My husband reads very sporadically. He won't read a novel for three years, and then he'll read an entire fantasy series in a week. My eldest son likes to read but needs to be reminded to do so over other activites, but he adores being read to and so we read for half an hour nightly. It is one of my favourite times of the day. It has been so nice to introduce him to books that I loved as a child, for us to discover new books together, and even to endure Rick Riordan!

My book loving Mum has stopped reading over the last few years as her memory has started to degrade. It is very sad to see as she was such an avid reader, no matter how busy her life was, much like myself. There was always a book in our toilet that she had on the go! She has recently moved in to an aged care facility and has started reading again now that she is being taken care of and her health is better. It is so great to see her enjoying books again. I started her with Olive Kitteridge as I thought the short story format would work for her with her memory not being as good as it once was. As an aside I'd love some other suggestions!

I guess I am the only one with a rocky relationship with reading. Many of you have started off with "I don't remember a time without books" I wonder if other men had the same issue developing their infatuation with books.

Oh I pray each day that young men who have rocky relationships with books can grow to love them! I hear it happens...