First Books

Shalini over at Reading and Chickens, one of my favorite blogs, just posted this reader questionnaire about first books.  I love hearing about people's reading experiences, so let's make this some sort of viral internet meme! 

Answer about your first books either on your blog, with a link back to me or Shalini, or leave a comment here or on Reading and Chickens.  It's like a chain letter without anyone threatening you with bad things if you break the chain!

Here are my firsts:

First Book I Loved

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. 
I read this book over and over again when I was a kid and I loved the menacing silliness of the factory.  Way better than either movie.

First Book I Hated

This is a tough one to answer.  Even when I don't like a book, I usually can appreciate it in some way.  Like the book The G-d of Small Things by Arundhati Roy was so overwhelmingly depressing that I was angry at the author, but it was so beautifully written I couldn't help but be glad that I read it.

I will say that I couldn't bring myself to finish The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen because I hated each and every one of the characters so completely that I realized if I were stuck at a party with them, I would escape through the bathroom window rather than stay put with a fake smile plastered on my face.  Yeah, I guess I could say I hated that book.

First Series I Read

The Nancy Drew books by "Carolyn Keene."  I didn't know until later that Carolyn Keene was a pseudonym and the books were all written by a lot of different ghost writers


First Fantasy/Sci-Fi Book That I Read

This is another toughie since I've been reading sci-fi and fantasy for a very long time.  Early ones that I remember are War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells, the Tripod Trilogy by John Christopher, and A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.

First Book That Made Me Cry From Laughing

I'm not sure which was the first, but I think Dave Barry's books were the ones that finally got me to laugh out loud, which I don't often do while reading.

First YA Book I Read and Loved

The Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell.

First Horror Book I Read

I love horror, but I don't remember when exactly I first started reading it.  Carrie by Stephen King was probably my first, but I didn't finish it because I felt so bad for the poor girl and I didn't want to see her covered with pig's blood at the prom.

First Book I Was Completely Obsessed With

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving.  Stuck with me forever.

Okay, your turn!  Let 'er rip!