When I meet other people who also love books and love reading, I always wonder when they started. Some discovered books in their early years, some during high school, others just recently, and it made me think about when I first fell in love with reading.
What has made me so philosophical and reflective around my own relationship with books, is the most recent On My Shelf post I did where one of the books was "Veien Hjem" by Rosamunde Pilcher, which is the first book of that kind that I remember loving. This got me to thinking about firsts.
I can't remember ever not being around books. My mother was and still is an eager reader (who, I might add, also loves Game of Thrones now, which makes me weirdly proud), and my grandparents all loved to read. I remember being read fairytales from these huge books with blue spines, whom half of now have gone mysteriously missing.
I can't remember learning to read, other than a brief memory I have of my sister teaching me for a little while in my grandparents bed. But the first book I remember absolutely loving was an illustrated version of Rumpelstiltskin (which has also gone missing somewhere in my parents house. I suspect nargles). I remember I read it every single night until I had it memorized. I remember retelling the entire thing to my best friend on the way home from school once.
I remember one of the first books I borrowed from the little library in my school was the Norwegian version of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Until I read it again when I was older, I couldn't remember what it was about but I remember I was left with a very particular, good feeling after finishing it. It's still one of my favorites.
The first audiobook I listened to was "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" on my DiscMan. It had a bunch of other stories on it too, which I think were all from One Thousand and One Night. I remember replaying it over and over and over.
My first series was Harry Potter, and it was also the first books I ever waited for and looked forward to. I got a hardback edition every single Christmas for seven years from my grandmother and grandfather, and I remember reading the first books several times. It was also the first movie adaptation I can remember going to the movies to see.
I read my first English book when I was around sixteen, but I cannot for the life of me remember which one it was. The first poet I ever read was Edgar Allan Poe, and I still love his poetry.
The first classic I ever read was Lord of the Flies in high school. We had it in English, and I remember thinking I would hate it because I always hated books we had to read, but I ended up really liking it.
The first book I read because of the movie was Pride and Prejudice, and this really sparked my interest in English classics. Now my shelves are full of them.
I suppose autumn makes me a bit nostalgic, but I kind of like it.
What were some of your firsts? I would love to know.
