# A Passion For Books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 7, 2003, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-passion-for-books/159709 "2003-03-07T14:39:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Caenis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Caenis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caenis)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-passion-for-books/159709/1 "2003-03-07T14:39:10Z")
What was the first book you ever fell in love with? (Any genre?) What are your top 3 favorite books? For me, I first fell in love with _Watership Down_ , and my top 3 are (in order) _Brave New World_ , which I’ve read once a year every year since the first time I read it (which makes 10 times), _Watership Down_ , and _Jane Eyre._ ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-passion-for-books/159709/2 "2003-03-07T14:45:38Z")
That would have to be _Watchers_ by **Dean R. Koontz**. I was 12 at the time (IIRC) and the dog angle touched a nerve. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![moi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@moi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moi)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-passion-for-books/159709/3 "2003-03-07T14:49:48Z")
Strangely, I have to second **Meatros** ’ nomination. I reread it quite a few times in middle school and high school, but haven’t brought myself to do so since then, for fear the book would lose some of its luster now that I’ve been exposed to writing by Toni Morrison, Jeannette Winterson and John Updike. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-passion-for-books/159709/4 "2003-03-07T15:46:48Z")
Hard to say; might have been _Tom Sawyer_. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-passion-for-books/159709/5 "2003-03-07T16:36:36Z")
I don’t know what book I first fell in love with. I had most of my “beginning readers” memorized. I remember reading and rereading The Boxcar Children in second grade. And I think I went through Anne of Green Gables about ten times around sixth seventh, and eighth grade (and still re-read it regularly). I re-read To Kill a Mockingbird with regularity. I’ve re-read Pride and Prejudice about a dozen times. The “non-classic” I have a thing for is A.S. Byatt’s Possession. ---
**Author:** ![boo\_boo\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e4f/32.png) [@boo\_boo\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boo_boo_bear)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-passion-for-books/159709/6 "2003-03-07T16:47:37Z")
In 3rd grade, I started getting poor marks in ‘Reading’; several months into the school year we took a series of standardized tests. My test results showed that I was reading at a ‘7.6’ (almost eighth grade) level and my teacher suggested to my parents that my poor marks were attributable to the fact that I was bored reading ‘children’s books’. With the aid of my teacher, my parents were able to get me an ‘adult’ library card. So I went to the library and asked a librarian for suggestions - she went with me and pulled a book of short stories by Ray Bradbury from the shelf (it was either **S is for Space** or **R is for Rocket** - I forget which one now) and I took it home and read it in two days and went back for more… I don’t read much science fiction these days but I’ve always said that had in not been for Ray Bradbury - and, later, science fiction in general - I would never have become the voracious reader that I am today. A few years later, I wrote Ray Bradbury a letter - telling him that, were it not for him, I likely wouldn’t enjoy reading very much. He replied and sent me a copy of ‘The Halloween Tree’ which, at that time I think, was privately published (I lost the book at some point - the cover was a pen & ink drawing by Bradbury) and that just made me like him even more. Those books were pure magic to me - not the science so much as the fiction. Small tales that seemed to be written with youth as a central theme. I re-read some of those books from time to time and am able to recall that magic and youth. Ah, nostalgia! -bbb- ---
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-passion-for-books/159709/7 "2003-03-07T16:58:27Z")
I always enjoyed reading, but the first book that I truly fell in love with was **To Kill a Mockingbird**. Required reading in 9th or 10th grade. It opened me up to the pleasures of fiction and gave me cause to expand my horizons beyond my preferred fantasy/sci fi genre. As of this moment my top 3 would be: **The Things They Carried** by Tim O’Brien **1984** by George Orwell **Lord of the Flies** by William Golding to round out the top 5, add: **The Catcher in the Rye** by J. D. Salinger **Catch-22** by Joseph Heller ---
**Author:** ![HDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/bb73d2/32.png) [@HDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HDS)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-passion-for-books/159709/8 "2003-03-07T17:04:14Z")
Definitely Ray Bradbury. “The Fog Horn” was my first love in seventh grade (I swear it, I read it over and over) and really got me hooked on “adult” books. Then I discovered Poe and Tolkein and Harper Lee and Douglas Adams. And then Terry Pratchett and Peter S. Beagle and Spider Robinson, in high school. Top three favourites are really hard! I love books. 1. The Hobbit 2. The Martian Chronicles 3. Lords and Ladies ---
**Author:** ![Gulo\_gulo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bcef8e/32.png) [@Gulo\_gulo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gulo_gulo)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-passion-for-books/159709/9 "2003-03-07T17:56:41Z")
My earliest book memory was titled **Take a Nap, Harry**. No idea of the author but I still have it kicking around somewhere. There was also another about Santa Claus using a whale to deliver his prezzies because his reindeer were all sick. I’d love to find that book again. And the all-important **The Monster At The End Of This Book** starring Grover. Weren’t Golden books the best? As for favourites, you’re asking a lot from this bibliophile. Today I’ll say: **The Yearling** by Marjorie K. Rawlings is still a much loved and reread book. **Written in Blood: A History of Forensic Detection** by Colin Wilson. **Babi Yar** by Anatoli Kuznetzov Choices will change on a daily basis… ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-passion-for-books/159709/10 "2003-03-07T18:06:38Z")
Well, the first that I can distinctly remember is **20,000 Leagues Under the Sea** in 4th grade. This was followed by **The Hobbit** and **The Prydain Chronicles** , both of which I read in 5th grade (banner year in literature for me!). As far as Top 3 now…hmmm I’ll go with: 1. The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings (I can’t separate them) 2. Foucault’s Pendulum 3. A Demon-Haunted World that at least covers my favorite genres. ---
**Author:** ![Banger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@Banger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banger)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-passion-for-books/159709/11 "2003-03-07T18:24:59Z")
The first book I ever fell in love with? **Charlie and the Chocolate Factory** by Roald Dahl. I’m not sure when I started reading novels, as I was fairly young at the time and the move from stuff like **The Berenstain Bears** , Dr. Seuss and **The Five Chinese Brothers** to books with much fewer pictures and many more pages is a bit too hazy in my memory, but I do remember this: **Charlie and the Chocolate Factory** was the first book over 100 pages that I read and re-read, and Roald Dahl was the first writer whose works I actively sought out (as opposed to, for instance, Dr. Seuss, whose books my parents provided (for the most part hand-me-downs from my sister and brother) and I read). As such, it was Dahl who helped turn me into an active reader. There have been other significant childhood books, as well as some of my favorites throughout my teenage and adult years, but I am having trouble coming up with three top books. In lieu of posting a ton of candidates, I’ll abstain on the second question 😉 ---
**Author:** ![InTransit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47774/32.png) [@InTransit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InTransit)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-passion-for-books/159709/12 "2003-03-07T18:44:53Z")
I can’t remember the name of the first book I fell in love with, only that I was in 2nd or 3rd grade and the book had a green cover. I’m still (w)racking my brain for details so I can query for a title. It had kids? animals? a crystal ball? in it… ring anyone’s bells? The first book I fell in love with and that I have a title for is **Who’s a Pest?** by Crosby Bonsall (R.I.P.). Current top 3? So very difficult… 1. **The Phantom Tollbooth** , by Norton Jester 2. **Annals of the Former World** , by John McPhee 3. **One Hundred Years of Solitude** , by Gabriel Garcia Marquez I was never a fantasy/sci-fi reader (still am not) but I did love **The Hobbit** & **The Lord of the Rings** although I have to say that nowadays I am enjoying more of the back history of Tolkien’s world. ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-passion-for-books/159709/13 "2003-03-07T19:01:36Z")
Verne’s Michael Strogoff (one of the best adventure books, together with hope’s The Prisioner of Zenda). My favourites, I have lots: 1. Red and Black by Stendhal. 2. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. 1. Ficcione by Jorge Luis Borges (check this one it’s great). ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-passion-for-books/159709/14 "2003-03-07T19:02:52Z")
That’s Ficciones. look it up in amazon, read it and then name your first born after me ---
**Author:** ![Bindrah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Bindrah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bindrah)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-passion-for-books/159709/15 "2003-03-07T19:08:58Z")
i’d have to say anne rice , jack kerouac and stephen king all while in my early teens…totally left an impression…still love them today, although i’ve fallen behind on rice… ---
**Author:** ![simply\_cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@simply\_cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simply_cats)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-passion-for-books/159709/16 "2003-03-07T19:32:34Z")
I will second Watership Downs, and cast my next votes for The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. ---
**Author:** ![NE\_Texan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e99b99/32.png) [@NE\_Texan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NE_Texan)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-passion-for-books/159709/17 "2003-03-07T20:18:03Z")
Well, when I was a kid, I think I really picked up reading heavy with the _Encyclopedia Brown_ books. That led me to all those other series books, and I went through most of them. Then, in sixth grade, my teacher introduced me to _A Wrinkle In Time_, by L’Engle. Since then, I’ve devoured science fiction and fantasy more than anything else, although I’ll occasionally enjoy a mystery, or non-fiction science books. I have trouble narrowing down favorite books. However my favorite authors these days would be Roger Zelazny, Gene Wolfe, and Iain [M] Banks. I still look forward to each new book from the latter two (and I keep hoping in vain that I’ll find a book I’ve missed by Zelazny). ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-passion-for-books/159709/18 "2003-03-07T22:33:33Z")
The first book I ever fell in love with was **The Mouse and the Motorcycle** by Beverly Cleary, when I was in second grade. It really opened my door to reading. My top three books are **Nineteen Eighty-Four** by George Orwell, **I, Claudius/Claudius the God** by Robert Graves and **Geek Love** by Katherine Dunn. ---
**Author:** ![bindera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@bindera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bindera)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-passion-for-books/159709/19 "2003-03-08T01:59:07Z")
Ooh! There are so many! How can I pick? For the first I fell in love with, it would have to be Mary Poppins. As for favorite titles, today I would have to say: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling Comedy of Errors by Shakespeare ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-passion-for-books/159709/20 "2003-03-08T02:36:15Z")
First book I fell in love with was The Little Princess by Frances Hodgeson Burnett (Burdett? not sure now…) Among my all time favorites are To Kill A Mockingbird, Stranger in a Strange Land, The Giver, A Separate Peace, and Of Mice and Men. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-passion-for-books/159709.md?page=2)