I saw this on Vasilly’s blog the other day and decided today was the day to participate!
1. I was the first reader in my kindergarten classes, so I got to read to everyone quite frequently. I think I liked this, considering I continued reading to the years under me as I got older, but I don’t remember.
2. In second grade, I tried to read Little Women, but I found it too difficult. For some reason my second grade teacher thought I’d completed it and bragged about it to all the other kids. I tried to tell her I hadn’t actually finished it but eventually I got too embarrassed to say anything! I think my parents might even think I read it, so this might be news to them. I did read it in third grade and many times thereafter.
3. I discovered adult fantasy in high school when a friend of mine recommended The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. Thank you, Tom, thank you, Robert Jordan; I fell in love with that series and only fell out of love when The Crossroads of Twilight came out and nothing happened in the entire book. (I later realized that almost all of my favorite YA books were either fantasy or historical fiction, something I should have thought about when I was looking for stuff to read.)
4. In fourth grade I read over 100 books in the school year. My teacher, however, stopped counting at 100 because the chart only fit that many. My mom was not too pleased that the teacher continued to reward other kids for their reading when she wasn’t even recording mine.
5. If I like the first book in a series, I will probably try to acquire all of them before I read another one. I like to bomb through series books one after another. I have actually tried not to do that in the past year or so because I realized I didn’t want to be left hanging for years and would rather wait a little longer between volumes. (George R.R. Martin, I’m looking at you for this one – understand but hating the wait!) I still buy them all though.
6. I have always been frustrated that no one in my family reads as quickly as I do/is willing to devote that much time to reading, nor do they really like the same kind of books. I always want to share what I read with everyone I know, but it’s hard when no one is interested.
7. This brings me to my last point, which is that I have a horrible but strange memory. It’s horrible because I can barely ever remember what I read a month ago, let alone a year ago. This is why I started reviewing as well as #6. Keith sometimes reads the fantasy chunksters that I like, but he’s so busy that by the time he finishes the book, I’ve forgotten anything beyond the basic outline of the book. I blame this partly on the fact that I’m a natural re-reader and haven’t been able to indulge my tendencies since my TBR pile got out of control. As a kid I never had to retain what I read because I knew I’d just read it over in a couple of months if I liked it. I didn’t get new books too often and when I did, they were YA books so I could read several in a day if I felt like it. My imposing TBR mountain range has made this very difficult. My memory is strange because I can remember every book I own and I never buy duplicates. I couldn’t recite them, but if I see a book in a store I will know whether I own it or have read it even if I remember nothing about what actually happened in the book.
Feel free to play along!
I’m lucky that both my mother and sister like to read. We share books and often discuss what we’re reading.
Kathy’s last blog post..Review: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
My mom likes to read, but she doesn’t usually like what I like. Sometimes we read the same books and it’s really nice, though!
I discovered Robert Jordan in high school too! I also was quite disappointed with Crossroads of Twilight, but I couldn’t quit the series. I LOVED book 11 and am eagerly anticipating the conclusion of the series (part 1 coming in Nov. ’09). Think you’ll give it a try again?
Yeah, I definitely will, especially because I just love Brandon Sanderson. I’m just trying to decide whether I want to do my re-read fairly soon for the new book or whether I want to draw it out. I have book 11, so I’m going to have a lot of new material either way.
That’s great! If I were you, I’d wait until late 2010 to start the reread … that way you can take a year to read the ENTIRE series including parts 1 and 2 of the final book, and you’ll be done just in time for the Nov. 2011 release of the final part of the final book. That’s my 2 cents anyway.
Heather J.’s last blog post..Friday Finds, 05/01/09
I’m with you on number 6. My mom is starting to read more again, mostly stuff she sees on my blog (she steals books from me whenever she comes out to Chicago or I go to California). For years though she read nothing but whatever the newest Norah Roberts book was. Since I’m not at all into romance novels we really didn’t have anything to talk about. My sister was never a big reader when we were younger and how only recently started to read for pleasure. My husband will read for pleasure, but only sporadically. Although I have some good friends who are readers, they live far from me, so I’m ever so glad to have this lovely book blogging community to discuss books with.
A few of my friends have started reading again now that we’ve graduated from college, but they live far away from me too. I’m very glad to have the book blogging community too, it makes me happy and finally fulfills that need. =)
#7 is me totally. It’s rare for me to buy duplicates of books and I can tell you the names of some but not all. I do love to re-read books but with my TBR pile so large, I feel guilty.
Vasilly’s last blog post..Sunday Salon
I feel guilty, too, and that’s why I don’t re-read much these days. I always hear of people buying duplicates and it’s only happened to me once, so I thought I was unusual. Guess I’m not the only one. =)
I do #5, too, except these days I try to buy the whole series before I even start the first one. I know I’ll just want to bust on through the whole thing if I really like the first book.
I can also relate to part of #6. My family’s chock full of readers, but very few of them focus on the same stuff as me. I read pretty near anything, so I do sometimes come across titles I can recommend to the rest of them, but most of my absolute favourites would be a terrible fit for anyone of my relatives. Si
Memory’s last blog post..63. V For Vendetta by Alan Moore
I remember reading to my kindergarten class – I was so perplexed that I was the only one who could. And I’m totally with you on #5 – I want to read the whole series, in order, as soon as I figure out I like it. I HATE waiting for the next book to get published!
We’re a lot alike! I was reading at age 4 (not too common in the 1950s), and so started kindergarten early. In first grade I read and reviewed 52 books from January to June (the teacher had no idea what she started — I won the prize; second place read and reviewed 15 books). I discovered fantasy when my 4th-grade teacher read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to us.
Our memories are pretty much exactly alike. This serves me very well in editing. I must clear my head completely of the last manuscript before I start on the next. So I’ve be able to monopolize on it. If I pass a book along to Greg, we have trouble discussing it when he finishes because he has almost photographic memory, but I can barely remember the names of the main characters!
My whole family reads. My mother was a journalist (retired a few years ago at age 79!) and my older brother teaches writing at the college level. My dad and my other brother are avid readers. My niece is a mini Swapna — she’s 14 and reads at least 1000 pages a week above and beyond homework. She walks to school with a book in her hands! Books rule in my family.
Beth F’s last blog post..Monthly Wrap Up: April 2009
Your #3 and #6 are almost exactly the same as me, although it wasn’t until grad school that I really got into adult fantasy, and I started with David Eddings… but then quickly moved on to Robert Jordan. (And ugh, do I hear you about nothing at all happening in CoT, although it did get better in Knife of Dreams.)
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