Trail-Mix Readers discussion

We all have a story of how we became a reader/writer. I'd like to start our new daily discussion thread with this question: when and where were you when reading really clicked for you and you realized how wonderful it was?


I was about ten and my grandmother handed me an ugly book called Golem in the Gears by Piers Anthony. I didn't want to hurt her feelings, so I started reading it in her living room. I haven't stopped since.

I read Piers Anthony's every book until I discovered David Eddings and then I tore through his books and then it just escalated from there. I have to thank my grandmother for introducing me to fantasy and basically jump starting my reading fanaticism.

Hi guys and thanks for much for inviting me into the group. I will try to be as active as possible but I have a couple of deadlines coming up (yikes).

Not sure which came first. A hardback version of Grimms Fairytales or the Puffin Books of Greek Legends. I was about 8 I think and my imagination just took off. I loved the darkness to the Grimms tales which I try to bring to my writing now. I would like to say all my heros are of the Greek and muscled variety but I have learned that a little subtlety and vulnerability is sometimes more sexy than just muscle. If you can get both then, wow.
I discovered The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula Le Guinn (in my opinion the first Harry Potter and much better)and I would recommend those books to all above age 11. Since those days I am often found awake and reading in the early hours when most normal humans are in bed.

I believe I was 8 years old. I was in the third grade and though I'd liked reading before, I didn't realize just how magical it was until my teacher introduced me to The Secret Garden.
That's when my true love for reading really began. To this day I've read hundreds of books in various genres from classics to comic books but children's adventure and fantasy books will always have a special place in my heart.

My mom always read to me. I remember Babar the Elephant and Raggedy Ann and Andy among my earliest memories, as well as looking at pictures of the planets in a book on astronomy. Transitioning into reading on my own was only natural. Beverly Clearly was part of elementary school as was Jules Verne.

I even found a copy of Frankenstein in the library. It had a wood cut of a corpse with a woman's breast and I made the mistake of showing one of my friends, who ratted me out. It didn't matter that the book was in the school library, I was the Baptist Preacher's Kid and I read a book that had a picture of a boobie in it.

So there has never been a time when I didn't read, including, apparantly adult oriented erotica.

Rita wrote: "Hi guys and thanks for much for inviting me into the group. I will try to be as active as possible but I have a couple of deadlines coming up (yikes).

Not sure which came first. A hardback versio..."

I still have my copy of Grimms and I do read it to my kids. I also have a book of verses by a.A. Milne called "When We Were Very young" that I read regularly even though I definitely have them memorized from childhood.

Marie wrote: "I believe I was 8 years old. I was in the third grade and though I'd liked reading before, I didn't realize just how magical it was until my teacher introduced me to The Secret Garden.
That's when..."

I think I have The Secret Gardeon on my shelf for when my daughter is ready for it. I love good books that make children love reading. I read The Tell Tale Heart a children's version when I was 7 and it captured me because it was so scary.

Phillip wrote: "My mom always read to me. I remember Babar the Elephant and Raggedy Ann and Andy among my earliest memories, as well as looking at pictures of the planets in a book on astronomy. Transitioning into..."

I was so jealous of my sister because my dad read her The chronicles of Narnia when she was 6 (I was only 3) and I wanted to listen too! She got to stay up later and I had to go to bed :(

Jen wrote: "Phillip wrote: "My mom always read to me. I remember Babar the Elephant and Raggedy Ann and Andy among my earliest memories, as well as looking at pictures of the planets in a book on astronomy. Tr..."

Sibling rivalry. I remember it well. My parents doted on my baby sister. And I won't go there.

Reading clicked for me when I was about 8 years old. Before that, it didn't fully make sense. I still remember the moment because I was in school and suddenly the words spoke to me. It was a new world that had opened up.

We were lucky that we always lived near a library no matter where we moved. I loved the Hardy Boys and Encyclopedia Brown

Veronica Del Rosa wrote: "Reading clicked for me when I was about 8 years old. Before that, it didn't fully make sense. I still remember the moment because I was in school and suddenly the words spoke to me. It was a new wo..."

I just started reading A Series of Unfortunate Events to Coral. I really hope that somehow, some way, reading will click for her too.

I hated reading because I didn't get it. The words strung together had no meaning for me.

Yes, hopefully it'll click for Coral. My kid is good at reading, but he doesn't want to do it on his own. Then he claims he can't remember what he just read.

Veronica Del Rosa wrote: "I hated reading because I didn't get it. The words strung together had no meaning for me.

Yes, hopefully it'll click for Coral. My kid is good at reading, but he doesn't want to do it on his own. ..."

Most likely those are excuses he picked up from his friends.

There's a lot of pressure on boys to not read, especially in schools. When I was a kid they had lots of incentives for reading that they no longer offer or are totally out of touch with today's reality. Maybe you can find a way to find a reward that he responds to if he reads.

I confess to being a reader-sponge as I love to soak up a little of everything, evidenced in the fact that I used to sneak a peek at my brothers commics, The Beano and The Dandy, turning my nose up at my own Bunty. I just love Dennis the Menace.

Being a reader is an important pastime and being a writer holds a great responsbility. One cannot exist without the other. The writer must appeal to the chosen audience and then that audience must support, buy and read the material to keep the writer able to continue producing more.

When we become inspired readers as children it then continues this neverending evolution as we read more and more through the decades. There is a place for the comic and also the high end literary classic, they fit neatly into every mood,age,dream and longing that we have during our lives. I am so grateful to my grandparents for introducing this love into my life and I intend to nurture my affair with word until I die.

I look forward to investigating the books introduced in this group.

Long rant over. Have a great day! Back to my book!

Jen wrote: "Rita wrote: "Hi guys and thanks for much for inviting me into the group. I will try to be as active as possible but I have a couple of deadlines coming up (yikes).

Not sure which came first. A ha..."

Jen, you can't go wrong with A A Milne. My favourite Grimms Tales are Pandoras Box and The Tin Soldier.
Thumbelina was also a favourite childhood story and I still know all the words to the song, again taught by my Grandparents. I really miss them as they never lived to see me write and I would have loved the discussions we would have had. The only thing I can do now is ensure their love of the arts is passed on to my future generations.

Phillip wrote: "There's a lot of pressure on boys to not read, especially in schools. ..."

We don't let him get away with that excuse. This summer, he read 50 French books and 47 English books. They were reading assignments given to him by his grade 1 teacher. :)

@ Rita: I loved their version of Cinderella and Rose Red. Writing is an art and I'm happy to hear your grandparents gave you a love for it.

@Veronica: I didn't realize he was bi-lingual. Is that a requirement for students in and near Toronto?

Nope, not a requirement, but it's something my husband and I feel strongly about. I only know English. My husband used to know Polish, but he's lost most of it over the years.

Canada is a bilingual country and knowing French is a huge asset. You get paid more if a job requires it.

so that's brilliant! coral will be learning Spanish, probably....maybe...it depends if I can get my buttin gear and learn it myself. My own language learning has been mostly dead languages, German, and French.

I honestly can't remember a time when I didn't adore reading. I come from a huge family of readers, and my mother goes through books like mad. From very early on, I was instilled with a love of reading, and that has only grown as I have gotten older. I cannot wait to have my own children, and instill this same love in them.

I had exactly one book as a toddler and I remember having it memorized by the pictures on the page by the time I was somewhere between two and three. When I was in first or second grade I was at the store with mom and a Curious George book caught my eye. My mom bought it for me and I could read it in my own. I was so happy with that book. By the time I was in fourth grade I had begun reading as much as I could in our school library. I participated in a UK sponsored reading program. Through the school year for 4th & 5th grade I read at least 25 books on their approved list every year. I also read books not on their list. In 6th I read a minimum of 50 books on the list in addition to some not on the list. In 4th I began devouring biographies of the pioneers and mountain men of the US. Those stories of real people fired my imagination. Their lives were fascinating. By 5th I discovered science fiction of HG Wells and Jules Verne, another genre that stretched my imagination in new directions. By 6th grade I was going to my public library and reading from the adult section of the library. I couldn't check them out because my card was a kids card but I sat in the library reading books for many hours and days. I read general fiction, historical fiction, science fiction though not many beyond the authors I had in school library. In high school I read a number of classics from Poe to Bronte, many of Irvin Stone's biographical fiction and vast array of other books. I became enamored of poetry and read extensively. I even entered a poetry recitation competition reciting Benet's poem John Brown's Body. I didn't win but I did do pretty well. It really wasn't until I reached my twenties that I discovered adult fantasy and my first exposure was to to Tolkien.
So what was the turning point? Curious George of course and it made me so curious about what I would find on all those pages!

Somewhere in there I missed a period of mystery novel by Rex Stout and some Agatha Christy to name a couple. I be read almost all genres. I never had an interest immodest romance at the time though. Victorian romance was ok.

Somewhere in there I missed a period of mystery novel by Rex Stout and some Agatha Christy to name a couple. I be read almost all genres. I never had an interest immodest romance at the time though. Victorian romance was ok.

I was encouraged (maybe forced would be a better word) to read as a child, and I enjoyed reading. A.A.Milne's Pooh books, Enid Blyton's Secret Seven & Famous Five, plus The Secret Garden and Heidi are a few that spring to mind.
The first book I read that I fell in love with was The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe... I asked for, and got, the full set for Christmas that year.