Terminalcoffee discussion

These days I am meeting a lot of people who claim that Twilight was the reason they began and continued reading. In another thread here I read the same about Harry Potter.
So what were the books that made YOU to continue reading, that opened the doors of the magic world of books before you?
For me it was "The Mystery Island" by Julies Verne.

I started reading mostly science fiction. I mean outside of school, when I wanted to read books. Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, Asimov, and so forth.

i don't know if i could say that one book or author was the reason why i started to read, the interest came more or less through reading; either children's books or being forced to in school i've learned that there is value in it and picked up some that i might enjoy more here and there.. i didn't like harry potter as much as everyone else did, a large part of my youth i didn't read unless i had to; other then reading non-fiction based on what i was interested in (another reason why i picked up reading) the fiction i started to read on my own as a young adult were books like 'Perks of Being a Wallflower' and 'Fight Club', i also read a comic book here and there.. i had a friend who's first and i think only book he read for enjoyment was American Psycho, he was an interesting kid.

Ray Bradbury without a doubt. He is an absolute hero of mine, and he's one reason why I write as well. My favorite book of his is Dandelion Wine. Plus, I'm currently reading Zen in the Art of Writing which is one of the best books I've enjoyed, my intent to write better not-with-standing, in a long time. I love that man. :)

Also, Madeliene L'Engle, Dr. Suess, Victor Hugo, Maurice Sednak, and Neil Gaiman. Kind of a strange mix, but I guess that's what keeps it interesting.

Being a really shy kid with not many friends, one of my best memories was when my teacher brought me to the school library, picked up A Wrinkle in Time and told me I could check out any book I wanted. Epiphany! I spent almost every recess from then on content to sit in a little, comfy cubby with the rain beating a tempo in the background.

Calvin and Hobbes kept me interested in reading during the years when kids traditionally fall off the reading wagon.

Ah, I loved Calvin & Hobbes! Good one Sal.

I read all of the James Bond books, too, I have to admit.

James Bond is a book? Huh.

Ian Fleming.

He looks exactly like I thought he might:

That's 'im.

i don't know about other people but for me it started around 1st or 2nd grade and lasted until high school when i first started with non fiction (i wanted to learn about stuff they weren't teaching in high school, such as philosophy and religion) then went into fiction as i said..

Everything by Alexandre Dumas,his books are my best memories. his Three musketeers!!!! And Everything by Jules Verne!!!!
And also everything by an Armenian historical-fiction writer Raffi. Another great writer for that age for me was Mayne Reid.
Another curious thing: I read and liked The Master and Margarita when I was 11 or 12! Right now I am rereading it, and I am just curious what could I possibly understand at that age of this great but adult book, that left such a fascinating impression on me?

Looking forward to your review of Master & Margarita Knarik

Like Bun, I can't remember not reading. I know that I obsessively read Pokey Little Puppy and Peter Rabbit when I was 3/4. My aunt read them to me dozens of times and then told me if I wanted story-time I had to read to her. The comic series Elfquest also helped me love to read.

Sally wrote: "He looks exactly like I thought he might:"


My first thought at seeing his picture was "He bears a close resemblance to Geoffrey Rush."

The books that started me reading were Carolyn Keene's Nancy Drew, Beverly Cleary's Ramona books, Judy Blume, and Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking.

When it was rainy out, my dad would light a fire in the fireplace and read a story from the collection of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes series.

To this day, The Hound of the Baskervilles brings that sensory memory surging forward in my mind and in turn foggy damp dark days remind me of The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Books that helped me read...wow, this is a tough one. I can't remember ever not wanting to read, unless it was something boring for class! Probably The Baby-sitter's Club books, or Nancy Drew. Definitely the Star Wars novels when I was in sixth grade. The Ramona books, Lurlene McDaniel, Dr. Seuss (One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish was the book I first read all by myself). Anything about disasters, natural or otherwise (I was kind of a morbid kid that way). Fantasy and SF...graphic novels and manga were my escape in HS. Childrens/YA novels for the past three or four years, since I want to be able to recommend books to my students that will make them want to read more, too!

thanks for the reminder Heidi! Sherlock Holmes is my childhood favorite! I always wanted to be like him (not physically) and invastigate murders! maybe someday i will do that as a lawyer.

Romana the Pest! I loved those books Heidi. :) I think I related to them a bit much, of course from an internal pov because I wasn't brave enough to actually do any of those naughty things myself. (At least not until I was older. hehehe)

One time, after an especially looooong day of swimming with my class (worked at a daycare summer program), I was fairly exhausted - NOT a good thing when reading several chapter of Ramona to a group of 6-7 year olds. They had the option of story time or napping in the back of the room where I could watch them. Anywhooo, the chapter - titled "I'm the baddest witch in the world!" Guess what happens when you start to nod off while reading a chapter about Ramona wearing a witch costume for Halloween and telling EVERYONE in her path that she's the "baddest witch in the world." Go on. Guess...

Yeah. I did it. I said exactly what was on my mind -

"I'm the baaaaaaddest BITCH in the world!"
...to a classroom full of 6-7 year olds (THAT woke me up).

I gave them 5 minutes to laugh their hearts out about Miss Heidi's mistake and then no more... They did. We moved on with the story. I was soooo worried that one would tattle on me, though. So I tattled on myself to the parents. They all seemed to think it was amusing.

I've been blessed with an advanced reading capacity since I was in kindergarten. I was reading at a 3rd grade level before 1st grade. So I guess I was reading more "challenging" material - i.e. "young adult" books - before I split elementary school.

I think the first book that really helped me read was Dune by Frank Herbert. For those of you who've never read Herbert's masterwork, the novel is very character-driven story, that shifts from 1st-to-3rd-person narrative on a dime. The storyline itself is somewhat complicated, which, for a 12-year-old, seemed like the most difficult thing to do, but I stuck with it. I've read Dune repeatedly since - on my last reading, I found it to possess way too many instances of "telling", not "showing" - and it remains one of my favorite novels ever.

Muad'Dib, Muad'Dib, Muad'Dib....

Tell me of your home world, Usul.

ive seen the movie, and mini series (i think it was a miniseries, or another movie) and partially got through the first book so far.. and its my favorite science fiction, and im not too much for science fiction.. i like it way better then star trek or star wars.. though i do like the redemption theme of anakin/darth vader, Dune is greatly under-appreciated..

Larry wrote, I read all of the James Bond books, too, I have to admit.

The Fleming-penned novels, I presume?

His novels were all very good, and surprisingly well-written. There's an excellent section in On Her Majesty's Secret Service in which, without going into detail overload, Fleming describes Bond's penchant for the finer things in life, which contradicts his role as a government-sponsored assassin. It's a 3-4 paragraph section that reveals a lot about Bond's psyche, and it's very well written. Fleming was a vastly under-rated novelist.

maybe not in those ways, but you don't see Dune conventions, or at least i have never heard of one..

When you compare other sci-fi/fantasy novels, like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, or the collected works of Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov, then, yes, Dune is under-appreciated. Neither that novel, nor Frank Herbert, enjoy the high profile that Tolkien or Bradbury or Asimov's works have enjoyed.

Seriously, David...would you want a Dune convention? I would imagine a gaggle of dorks dressed as one giant sandworm...and that makes me shudder.

its not that i want a dune convention, that was an example of how over popular some sci/fi and now a days anime gets, as compared to Dune.. i haven't heard of it until college.. my roommate popped in his Dune series dvds and i had to change myself after i watched them, so i started to read the books.. i wouldn't mind a set of all blue contacts though..

PS id like to see someone try to drive that sandworm..

Hooked on Monkey Phonics helped me learn how to read!

I remember reading The Boxcar Children as a kid, but I never read for pleasure until I was a young adult. I remember reading Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas when I was 19. I also read Clive Barker's Books of Blood and anything by Hubert Selby. That kept me on the fringe track.

I know I was an early reader, though no particular book titles stand out in my mind just now.

I used to visit the library every week and just walk through the books until I picked out six that looked good and read them. (A child's library card permitted only six books maximum.)

I would usually have them read by Wednesday and have to wait for Saturday to get six new books to read.

I always enjoyed mysteries and adventures stories; then at about age 11 I discovered science fiction and added that genre to the favorites.

I pretty much read everything--it has to be a really bad book if I do not finish it. As an older reader, I am more selective about what I read due to lack of free time. I sure love an extra day a week to no nothing but rad!

I envy those of you who said they've always loved reading. I hated reading as a kid. When I was about 15 a friend at school kept telling me I had to read V.C. Andrews. I picked up Garden of Shadows (didn't realize it was the fifth book in a series) and I was hooked on her. Since then I can't be without a book (17 years later).

You were just a late bloomer Jaimie, we won't hold it against you :-).

Thanks, Jim! I like to this I've been making up for lost time ever since. :-)

You guys are sweet! I think I'm going to keep you. :-)

i can't believe no one got the hooked on monkey phonics joke

I think that joke went over our heads.

No big surprise there.

Larry wrote: "No big surprise there."

My first thought exactly Larry - you may feel the need to be a little worried about that.

[image error] - phonics monkey?

come back here you son of a b**ch phonics monkey!!

Monkeys freak me out. My friend told me about an article she read of a couple who raised a spider monkey but gave it to a rescue when they could no longer take care of it. They'd visit it periodically and one time the monkeys got out of their cages and attacked the couple. They both lived but the husband came away horrifically mutilated. I won't even go into details. Ever since then monkeys, I don't like no monkeys. Cartoon monkeys are still cool.

Yeah we'll stick with the cartoon variety, thank you.

We are all technically monkeys haha anyone see the Southpark about evolution? Mr. Garrison explains it very scientifically:
"In the beginning, we were all fish. Okay? Swimming around in the water. And then one day a couple of fish had a retard baby, and the retard baby was different, so it got to live. So retard fish goes on to make more retard babies, and then one day, a retard baby fish crawled out of the ocean with its...mutant fish hands...and it had butt sex with a squirrel or something and made this retard frog-squirrel, and then that had a retard baby which was a monkey-fish-frog... And then this monkey-fish-frog had butt sex with that monkey, and that monkey had a mutant retard baby that screwed another monkey... and that made you! So there you go! You're the retarded offspring of five monkeys having butt sex with a fish-squirrel, congratulations!"

I always read, but there was a period in junior high where I wasn't to into it. The Great Gatsby & Catcher in the Rye changed that for me, and made me want to read everything.

Welcome to TC Chrissie.

As a teen I loved reading RL Stine Fear Street Books and of course anything by Stephen King. Needless to say I hate horror novels now but I still love to read.

Bonnie wrote: "As a teen I loved reading RL Stine Fear Street Books and of course anything by Stephen King. Needless to say I hate horror novels now but I still love to read."

did you ever read the Richie T. Cusick books? (if you read RL Stine they were along the same lines) I used to by those books like they were going out of style

What got me into reading were the Tony Hillerman books, go figure I ordered A Thief of Time when I was in Jr. High and I was hooked after that. Then of course the damn Twilight books came out and I've been on a vampire kick for most of this year

I guess I got turned onto reading when I started reading the Ramona Quimby books in 2nd grade.