The Dead Zone question

I was six (1950), and I liked pirates; so my Mom bought me a second hand copy of Treasure Island for Christmas. In England, back then, we were still on food stamps and rationing. To this day, I still don't no how she got it, but I do remember despite some big words (for a six year old) I read it in two days and then read it again and again and again. Next Christmas, she bought me another (brand new)copy because the other one had fallen apart. Nowadays, I like to read Treasure Island once a year whether I need to or not.:)

I'm not sure if it was "Heidi" or "Black Beauty" but I know "Little Women" followed shortly thereafter. I also read all the Nancy Drew books, the Bobbsey Twins sets, "The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew", all of the Little House books and everything Lois Lansky wrote. Gone With the Wind was probably my first "grown-up" book.

Goosebumps and Redwall

A series of books in Catholic grade school in the 1950's based on the fiction tales of an ongoing fight between a Catholic Priest and a communist mayor in post world war II Italy. I remember them fondly; they were very, very funny to a child between 8-13 years-old. Are they still relevant? In 2001, I rediscovered the books and gave one to a girl that worked at my parish. She ended up loving it and she and her friends went to every pubic and college library in the area and checked out every Don Camillo book they could find.

I don't know which was the first, I read quite a lot ( I was in love with Verne's books) but I remember which one had the biggest impact on me, Gone with Wind in 6th grade. As soon as I finished it I reread it again. I think I read that book countless of times, and as I am maturing more and more I always find a new perspective of the characters, it is still an amazing journey for me.

The witches, I also loved the illustrations they were so quirky. Later it was Christine by Stephen King.

OMG, as a child I read anything I could get my hands on. Don't think I remember which my 1st book was , but I loved the Dr. Doolittle books and also the 'Alfred Hitchcock and the three detectives'. First King book I read was 'The Mist'.

As a child in Elementary School, I read "Snip, Snap & Snurp". It was about 3 brothers having adventures.

The very first real books I got into was "The Three Musketeers" and "Black Beauty."

Probably it was "The Magic Wishbone" by Sr. Adele Marie Lemon, when I was in 2nd grade.

Sister also taught at the local high school, and after a bit of begging to my parents I received an autographed copy of her book for Christmas, 1964.

I met Sister shortly after and remember staring up at her -- she seemed so tall. Cut to 1994 when I met her again, and surprise! She was this tiny little lady. She told me who the real-life lady was who inspired the character of Dona Trini, in the book.

Sister lived to age 102, or so, and here's a link to "The Magic Wishbone" on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/magic-wishbone-...

My Dad gave me A Christmas Carol, around the Holidays, when I was just starting to read and I was a young child of about 6 I guess. I enjoyed it then, and years later would read to my kids.

Allan wrote: "For me it was, 'The Dead Zone' by Stephen King.
At the time in the early 80's when I started reading novels, reading Stephen King's books were what, 'cool kids did'.
So I guess I stumbled onto rea..."

I read all the usual childhood stuff, Little Women, Pollyanna, The Hardy Boys... but the first book I chose for myself was Isle of the Dead by Roger Zelazny. I was seven, and I found it amongst my older brother's books. I don't think I understood much of it that first time through, but I was hooked.

Probably as a youngster it was the Nancy Drew books. As a young adult (teenager), I remember reading some really erotic books by Anonymous but I cannot for the life of me recall the titles. I remember a friend and I had to hide them from our parents and took them to school to read but hid them inside a Black Beauty cover.

It was a long time ago, but I think it was Rikki-Tikki-Tavi by Kipling. Might have been Black Beauty though.

My first book was either The Hobbit or The Fellowship of the Ring. I remember reading it shortly after the 2001 film came out, so I was about five, maybe six.

And I remember loving it, so it was probably 'Fellowship'.

I honestly can't remember the first book that I read. I have always been a voracious reader. I do remember reading Charlotte's Web as a contest with my friend in the 3rd grade (to see who could finish fastest). I devoured all of the Babysitter's Club as a young kid. I remember being able to read three in one day during the summer.

I think it may have been Michael Crichton books that got me into adult fiction. Either him or Lilian Jackson Braun with all of her Cat Who books.

Nowadays, I read nearly everything. I like to dabble in almost all of the genres.

I didn't care for reading when I was younger, but my dad was a voracious reader and would take a trip to the local Waldenbooks every Saturday. One Saturday in early 1977, I went with him and he bought me a book that fascinated me and really set off my imagination. You may have heard of it: Star Wars by George Lucas. The book was released prior to the movie by about three months, and really expanded on content and context that was missing from the movie.
I haven't stopped reading since then. Stephen King, Isaac Asimov, JRR Tolkien, Stephen Donaldson, Terry Brooks, John Saul, Robert Ludlum, and many, many more.
And my love of reading passed down to my son, whose first "chapter book" at the age of FIVE was the omnibus edition of the entire Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, all six books in the "trilogy"!

Charlotte's Webb, all of Beatrix Potter, and Uncle Wiggley series

James and the Giant Peach.

Hold Fast to Your Dreams

The first book I ever read was The Magic Faraway Tree and that had me hooked for life!

When I was a child I used to read Beatrix Potter and Enid Blyton. As I got older I started to read the Goosebump series then Point Horror and at the age of 12 I progressed to Stephen King. I have always loved reading, and I still have most of the books I had as a child, only know I have passed them on to my daughters.

I actually read the Dead Zone recently too.
Loved it, such a great idea for a book.
The T.V series (With A. M. Hall who played the little geek in the John Hughes movies during the 80's) wasn't half bad either.
Not seen the movie with Christopher Walken, so if anyone has seen it and thinks it's worth watching then let me know please.
Thanks.

I was one of those kids that flat out refused to read, even in English class i hated to read out loud or even just to follow a story during class.
It was something I just couldn't enjoy, it wasn't until I was about 20/21 that I eventually enjoyed reading, I picked up Michael Connelly - Angels Flight (The 6th Harry Bosch Novel, I think) after that it was like a light switched on inside me that came to love crime fiction.
But it eventually spread to all manner of fiction, Nicholas Sparks, The Count of Monte Cristo and then pretty much anything I could lay my hands on, actually met my girlfriend through my local library. I was in so much that she was just taking lists of books from me and ordering them all in, eventually we just started chatting.
I've got not only a great love for stories from books but i found the most amazing woman to spend my life with.
Although i read the Twilight Saga a couple of years after it was cool to do so, but still wont get me to pick up The Hunger Games (The film put me off) Same with Harry Potter & Lord Of The Rings.
I'll never read any of them. (Sorry for the blabbing on there)

I think the first book I ever read outside of school assignments was Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein or Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. I bought both of those from book fairs in elementary school around third or fourth grade, I think. I also loved those choose your own adventure novels around the same time, but I can't remember any details about them now.

The first adult novel I remember reading was Flowers in the Attic by VC Andrews. I was around 11 or so.

I don't remember what my first book actually was, but I do know I read a ton of the Alfred Hitchcock Three Investigators series, so it may have been one of those. I still think that series is far superior to the Hardy Boys.(The YA detective series, not the wrestlers. Although a series about the wrestlers solving mysteries could be awesome :D )

City Under the Back Steps is the first one I can remember reading. I suppose that makes it the book that put me on the path because I've been reading ever since.

Bunnicula! Quickly followed by Howliday Inn and The Celery Stalks at Midnight. Damn, those were fun!

My first book was Little house on the prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, then on to Perry Mason, by Ian Fleming, Agatha Christie, and many more. Ive always been a reader.

I read Around the World in 80 Days when I was little. The Hobbit was around that time too. I don't remember which was first.

The first book that I recall really got me into reading was "Ski Weekend," one of R.L. Stine's Fear Street novels when I was about 7 or 8. As you can see, I was not the average girl who would start off with something sweet and easy like a Babysitter's club book. Nope, I jumped into the deep end of the pool with Young Adult horror.

First novel-The Shining... Summer 1979 between 9th and 10th grade. The Dead Zone was my second.

Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam

I'm rather sure I was born with an old soul. When I was 9 I found a book named "Letters from Vietnam" and all these years later{30+}I can still remember holding the flashlight under my blanket to read it after I was told I was too young to read it and understand it and to go to bed.

Can't remember the name, but I'm pretty sure it 'rainbow' in the title. It was a book of short stories. There was also a big book I had of stories from Hanna-Barbera characters. Oldest one I can remember the title is "Pegando brincos por ahí".

I was an early reader, too, so not sure if Nancy Drew and The Mystery of the 99 Steps was the first "big kid" book I read, but probably. Or, it might have been Behold Your Queen (I forget the author) or A Little Princess, all of which I loved and firmly cemented my passion for reading.

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and Charlotte's Web are the two books from my childhood which I remember reading the most. Rats of NIMH, I had forgotten that one, I also had a Book of Disney Classics which has stills from all the films - I still have this on my bookshelf, could never bring myself to get rid of it or pass it on.

Allan wrote: "For me it was, 'The Dead Zone' by Stephen King.
At the time in the early 80's when I started reading novels, reading Stephen King's books were what, 'cool kids did'.
So I guess I stumbled onto rea..."

The Dead Zone was my first King book as well.

The first book I believe I read was Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume.

I am an avid reader now, but as a child not so much.
Started reading Agatha Christie. But what started my adult reading habit was 9th grade reading list HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY and THE SCARLET LETTER. Showing my age! But I WAS HOOKED ! Thanks Mrs. Miller

The earliest book I remember reading was The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet by Eleanor Cameron. It began a life long love for science fiction and fantasy.

So long ago but I think I worked my way through Ice Station Zebra by Alistair MacLean. It was my fathers novel and I wouldn't have been much older than five or six. Didn't understand all the words but enjoyed the gist of it nonetheless.

most definitely gulliver's travels, adapted for kids. i was between five and six then.

I stumbled onto Edgar Allen Poe in the school library when I was in sixth grade. That hooked me on reading as before I was a very reluctant reader. I read his stories and poetry over and over until I understood it. My first novel length "modern" book was The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson. Loved it so much I knew that I'd be a horror fan for life. Then it was King, Koontz, Saul, Barker. The list is long and the books are many, but that is how I first got into reading.

This was not my first book, but it has to be very close. This is the book the got me hooked on reading. This is the first book that I can remember that I read cover to cover with no help from Mom,Dad, brothers or sister.

It was Carrie. I was lucky enough to find him when he just got started and have read his books throughout my life. It's a happy memory. :)

My first adult level reads were all Agatha Christie novels. I was able to get them at the local library (important when you're a kid and don't have money), and I pretty much killed a summer with them. I had liked Nancy Drew mysteries earlier, so I figured I knew my favorite genre. Christie wrote at an interesting and accessible level, without a lot of sexual stuff I was not ready to read when I was ten or eleven years old.

"Jaws! - and for something with so many teeth it sucked. Nearly put me off reading. As you can tell, I fought it off.

I can't remember exactly what the first 'chapter' book that I read was because I always seem to remember reading. One of the first books I ever loved dealy was called The White Stallion and I picked it up at a school book fair. I still have it - almost 30 years later :)

The Secret Garden is my all time favourite and I read it when I was about 9 I think.

After that there was no stopping me: Judy Blume, Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High, Babysiters' Club, anything I could get my hands on!

The first 'adult' book I read was Carrie by Stephen King. I think I was in 7th grade. Then in about 9th grade I really got into John Saul. I read all of them.

I do love my books!

The first novel I remember ever reading was Dark Angel by VC Andrews (silly me, it's book 2 of a series, I didn't read book 1 for a couple of years). BUT..that book made me an instant fan of hers.

The first I remember out of a library (not a learn to read) was 'Have Spaceship, Will Travel' by Robert Heinlein.

Mystery on the Isle of Skye, by Phillis A. Whitney. Young adult mystery, similar to Nancy Drew. Probably around eighth grade or so. Quickly read the whole series. Funny thing is never did get into Nancy Drew.