The Books That Made Us Readers

Books I loved in my childhood included The Lion The Witch and Wardrobe, Where the Wild Things Are, and Animalia - and I was delighted to see we hold all of these books in stock and they still sell well! I remember really loving the Pick A Path Adventure books - where you jumped forward and backward in the book depending on your choices - and no read through was ever the same. I also liked Giraffe the Pelly and Me and The Twits by Roald Dahl. And Wind in the Willows! I remember having a beautifully illustrated version of the Hobbit which I loved to read - but never making it through The Lord of The Rings - which I admit, I still haven't finished (don't tell Tim!).

My love of reading started with Noddy – they were the first books I could sit and read by myself as a kid that I remember and I read the whole series over and over. Then came more Enid Blyton, especially The Adventure Series, which had me trying to write invisible messages in lemon juice like the characters! I also adored Mallory Towers and A Little Princess, but the book that truly stole my heart as a tween was A Dream of Sadler’s Wells by Lorna Hill. I read it until it was literally falling apart, completely enchanted by Veronica’s journey into the world of ballet. And I’ve only just discovered RIGHT NOW (after Googling the author’s name!) that it was part of a whole series…

 
As I got older, I moved into fantasy with Redwall, Eragon and, of course, Harry Potter (see my previous blog!). Later I gravitated towards crime and thrillers because I love a story full of twists – Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson and Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn are two standouts, while Martina Cole is the GOAT and The Take is one of my all-time favourites. More recently, Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor reignited my love of fantasy and introduced me to the world of romantasy. She’s still one of my favourite authors because her writing is just so beautiful.

I don't remember exactly which specific book or books made me a reader, but I do remember Dad reading Reach for the Sky, the story of Douglas Bader, to me and being amazed it could be somebody's real life! I remember The Famous Five, Goosebumps and The Chronicles of Narnia, then The Hobbit and the idea of small people living in holes in the ground opening up this completely different world. Other series that made huge impressions on me as a reader were Redwall and then His Dark Materials followed, but the book that really introduced me to fantasy was Magician by Raymond E. Feist, given to me by a friend’s dad. I still remember how excited I was when I discovered it wasn’t just one book and there was a whole series, and then even more books beyond that! Then there was Tomorrow, When the War Began, Harry Potter, and plenty of others! These were the books that made reading feel less like something you were supposed to do and have all contributed to my love of books and reading!

For me, my reading obsession began with the Rainbow Magic series and the My Secret Unicorn series and I remember trying to read as many as I could (mostly by street lights in the car).
From there I remember wanting to read what my brothers were reading so in year 6 I started Tomorrow, When the War Began, Percy Jackson, and Harry Potter. As an adult a few series' have reignited my love of reading including The Selection, Fourth Wing and ACOTAR.

For me the first book I remember was being read The Hobbit by my Dad before bedtime and I'll never forget the magic of hearing him badly try to sing J R R Tolkein's magical songs for me. Fantastic Mr Fox was the first chapter book I read by myself and I was so proud that Foxes became my favourite animal - even becoming something I've had tattooed on me as a little ode to the book that made me fall in love with being able to escape into a story completely on my own. From there I was an unstoppable reader - consuming books like they were candy (still true to this day). I remember leaving the library with ridiculous mountains of books to get through, taking a Goosebumps novel with me wherever I went, and even having close scrapes with death as I walked home from school trying to read The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo and getting nearly run over in the process (didn't stop me).

One of my favourite authors growing up was also Jacqueline Wilson! She helped me make sense of a complex childhood with divorce and lots of school moves with her incredible novels. Some of my favourites were The Illustrated Mum, and the classic Tracy Beaker series - and my collection is still set aside in our garage for when my girl is old enough to read them too. If I could meet one author it would quite possibly be Wilson herself - she really meant so much to me as a confused and emotion pre-teen and helped me navigate so much of life through her storytelling.

I remember first learning to read with Miffy! Even to this day I still love cute Miffy and have some collectibles at home. I bought the 40th anniversary Babysitters Club book, I loved this series and wish I still had my original books.

Reading began for me with Artemis Fowl. I remember a friend of mine was reading The Eternity Code (Book 3) at School. He sold me on it, and I made Mum take me to the Library to get a copy. From there, The Wish List and The Supernaturalist (other great Eoin Colfer books) followed. I then branched into Harry Potter and the Alex Rider series. In my early teens, I read the Tomorrow, When the War Began series before branching into Game of Thrones (before it was cool).

One of the first books I was really obsessed with was Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. I had a really old yellowed copy and although I'm not even a big horse fan this was deep in my historical fiction era and I loved the through line that followed the horse's life through various owners and situations.
In the same vein I loved and still love Little Women, Anne of Green Gables and Heidi. I'm not sure why all of these were written about a century before I was born but I feel like I really started off with some classics! The characters in all of these have such rich inner lives, with the books exploring girlhood, adventure and coming of age. If you're looking for some wholesome reads I highly recommend making your way through these

I don't really remember what I read in my early years but I know I loved The Chronicles of Narnia, The Naughty Amelia Jane books, and The Baby-Sitters Club. Then, in intermediate, I discovered Mum and Dad's Dean Koontz books and subsequently got banned from reading them (I found them and sneaky read them anyway). My grandpa then introduced me to Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta books, and I was obsessed. I read every book that was out and begged Mum for the new one each time it was released. From there, crime and thrillers became my thing. While my siblings would head off to the kids' and YA sections of the library, Mum would inevitably find me with a stack of crime and thrillers, with a little sprinkle of horror or historical fiction.