Monday, March 15, 2010

Books That Turn Casual Readers Into Book Lovers

I've enjoyed reading as long as I can remember, but I used to be a very different reader than I am today. I would imagine that most book lovers start out as casual readers, like I did.

As a child, I was obsessed with The Babysitter's Club books. I had them all and reread them until they were falling apart. I wasn't truly a book lover. I didn't have any interest in books beyond that series. I was a hardcore fan of a specific series.

In my pre-teen years, I abandoned The Babysitter's Club for one specific book. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret became my bible. I borrowed it from the school library again and again and read it non-stop for a chunk of years. I wasn't a book lover, I was enthralled by the specific subject matter in that book.

In high school, I started m life-long love affair with Stephen King. I had seen The Shining and immediately decided he was the only author in the world that mattered. For all my King love, I was a lazy teenager more focused on boys and parties than any book. I would buy one of Uncle Stevie's books and read it on and off, never really finishing, for a year or more. I thought of myself as a book lover beyond compare. Turns out, I was only just discovering my love of horror in all its forms.

When I had my oldest daughter, every aspect of life changed. Having no time (or babysitters) to focus my attentions on boys or parties, I began actively seeking out book lovers online. Needless to say, the internet wasn't as vast and varied in 2000 as it is today and I had a hard time finding, well, anything. I did come across a few Yahoo Groups Book Clubs, most importantly (to my story anyway) one that focused solely on banned books.

I actively participated for about a year and only remember two books. I can't remember which I read first or even what exactly made them memorable. All I remember is the feelings they inspired. They set the spark, instilled the love of books, made me think about situations I had never experienced and never thought imaginable. They took me from a casual reader and turned me into a certifiable book lover.

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley is an epic Arthurian novel that I was annoyed we had to read. It's length alone was intimidating enough that I almost didn't bother. I remember thinking, holy crap there's incest in this book. It wasn't the thing that made me love the book, but it was the moment that I realized that books have no limits. An author can take a character or situation and make it something new, interesting, dangerous, hideous, wonderful or something altogether unexpected.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is a dystopian novel where due to low birth rates, society has deemed certain women only good for producing children. The book focused a lot on feminist issues and how easily womens rights could be taken away. That scary possibility showed me that even works of fiction can be so thought-provoking that they can cause readers to view the world in a completely different context.

I left the book club (there was never much interaction anyway) but I took with me the knowledge that books are possibilities in ink. Anything conceivable to anyone on the planet could be found between the pages of a book. From that point on, I read for the love of reading. I've made countless wish lists. I've searched out and discovered new authors and genres. I've purchased and borrowed too many books to even begin to count. I've lived a million lifetimes as both man and woman, young and old, human and not so human. I've traveled the world, journeyed into space and experienced lands that don't even exist. I've been murdered, committed suicide, lost loved ones, fallen in love, had both hot and horrible sex, battled evil and committed some evil of my own all between the covers of books.

It's scary to think what I would have missed out on had I remained a causal reader.

I'm dying to know, what were the first books that made you realize that reading is so much more than a way to kill time? When did you become a book lover?

Isalys & Vanessa's response post at Book ♥ Soulmates

20 comments :

  1. Great discussion topic! Honestly, I don't remember the specific book that got me hooked on reading. I do remember thoroughly enjoying the Nancy Drew series when I was younger! I also remember loving the Ramona series by Beverly Cleary.

    Emidy
    from Une Parole

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  2. The first books I remember not being able to put down were VC Andrews Flowers in the Attic series. I was about 11! My mom had no idea was it was about. I guess she figured I was reading, it had to be fine.

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  3. I've been reading for as long as I can remember and honestly can't recall doing any different--I've always read. (this is a topic I wrote about back in the late fall! Good one!!) But I love a series & cozy mysteries; historical fiction is a fave too. My first 'adult' book was in sixth grade--The Valley of the Dolls, which I kept hidden from my Mom. :) But I also read Christy by Catherine Marshall, Nancy Drew mysteries, and so many more--a wide variety.

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  4. It's only in the past couple years that I turn into something more than a casual reader. Like you, when I was younger I devoured all the Babysitters Club books, and then moved on to Sweet Valley and its various series. I read a few other books intermingled with those ones, but those two series were primary reading material.

    And then I started Jr. High and my reading all but stopped. Other than some Michael Crichton books during high school and Harry Potter during college, I didn't read all that much for quite a few years.

    Oddly enough, it was the Jason Bourne books (which I didn't even really like) that made me search out more books that I was actually interested in. Other than the fact that they took up lunch & commuting time, I rediscovered that I loved being pulled into stories and worlds other than my own.

    And that's when I came across the Shopaholic books, which I like to call Literary Crack. I was absolutely hooked and started reading chick lit like a madwoman. That was about two years ago, and since then I've branched out to other genres, but still love going back to some good old chick lit now and then.

    Great topic! It's fun to look back at everyone's literary journeys.

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  5. I was the typical turner. My family passed down The chronicle of Narnia to me and have bee hooked ever since

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  6. The Anita Blake series is the first series that really turned book liking into book loving. I had to read it. I had to read all of them, more than once. Then started going nuts in between books. So I started looking for new ones to read in that time. Now, I can't stop reading. While I still love the Anita Blake books, they aren't the only ones I can't help but read everything I can get my hands on.

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  7. Wow I really love where you took my suggestion! (To be honest I couldn't remember what topic I suggested when you emailed me lol). Do you mind if I respond to this in a post on my blog?

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  8. I found you on the book blogger hop. I know I am a few days late but I hope you will hop over to my blog and check it out Http://busymomswholovetoread.blogspot.com

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  9. I found you on book blog hop and have added you. interesting topic. i grew up reading specific authors VC Andrews, sweet valley high books, Danielle Steel, as i have gotten older i now vary my reading material more.

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  10. The books that really got me hooked on reading were the Harry Potters. And I still love them. Now, though, my favorite novel is The Last Song.

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  11. GREAT post! I've always been a booklover, but the series that really got me started was the Ramona series by Beverly Cleary. They made me laugh out loud.

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  12. I distinctly remember reading Watership Down for the first time in Junior High School - Richard Adams truly made me into a book lover :)

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  13. Wow, what a great discussion post! I've never really been a casual reader, have always been a huge bookworm, except for 2 years in college. However, I've read all the books you mentioned and enjoyed them all, well just kidding, I haven't read The Shining yet, but I have read a lot of Stephen King and am firmly a fan girl.

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  14. great discussion post!

    even from a really young age, i was a booknerd. i narrated Twas the Night Before Christmas in Kindergarten because i was the only kid who could read, and from there i think Shel Silverstein quickly became my favorite author.

    in my early teenage years, i remember being absolutely in love with anything horses, so The Black Stallion series was a favorite, and Black Beauty, were commonly read and re-read.

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  15. Great post! I've been a book lover for as long as I can remember- my mother used to punish me by suspending my library privilages. I did love the Nancy Drew series growing up, though.

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  16. Fabulous discussion! Wish I had thought of it.

    I honestly don't remember a time when I wasn't reading or a defined reader. I loved Judy Blume when I was younger, as well as Beverly Cleary. However, the first series of books that I was obsessed with was the Flowers in the Attic series (as with a few other posters). I was completely hooked on them, spent hours reading, even staying up late into the night to read (without my parents' knowledge). V. C. Andrews was probably the first author that I also eagerly anticipated new books by and would buy a book by her without regard or care as to the subject matter because I just loved Flowers in the Attic so much.

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  17. During my childhood the Wishbone books turned me into a book lover, followed by Sweet Valley Twins and Baby-Sitters Club!

    The book that turned me into a book lover during my adolescence was Dawn by V.C. Andrews. I realized that there were a ton of V.C. Andrews books and started reading them like crazy. I was 11 or 12.

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  18. I loved Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley High! I remember going to the library with my friend and checking out 20 books at a time!! I read anything and everything I could, but I devoured BC and SVH!!

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  19. Another one for the BSC. I'm kinda excited & curious to see if young kids will start this all over again when it it re-released again this yr!

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  20. I enjoyed both books you mentioned, well, pictured. I love the Babysitters Club books when I was younger too!

    I'm always been a reader, so I can't say there are any specific books that made me want to read more. I remember loving the Berenstein Bear books when I was really young, Nancy Drew, the Black Stallion series, and many more.

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