Reading Firsts

No one forgets their first time. Wait, I think the person who made up that saying meant something else by it.

Regardless, there are many firsts in reading that I will never forget, like . . . .

The First Book I Ever Read To Myself And Enjoyed

If you've read some of my old posts, you already know that I didn't learn how to read until the summer before I was in the 3rd grade. I started kindergarten in a poor elementary school with bad teachers. We didn't do any work in our classes because the teachers had already given up on us. We ran around like wild animals instead. I remember my first grade teacher crying because she hated her job and the principal trying to comfort her. I felt bad, but I was just a kid. What was I supposed to do?

My family moved to a new area when I started second grade, where the kids knew how to spell "happiness", while I didn't even know how to spell "cat." My Mom got me a tutor that summer and I quickly caught on.

She bought me a book called "Ready....Set....Read!" I fell in love with it instantly.

http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Set-Read-Beginning-Treasury/dp/0385414161

I still remember the majority of the stories in that book because I re-read it so many times. I was reciting the poem about "Sheep in a Jeep" to my boyfriend the other day and he thought I was being weird.

My First Book Series

My father read to me a chapter every night before I went to sleep as a child. It gave me something to look forward to, especially since he was reading to us about Laura Ingalls Wilder. I quickly fell in love with her adventures on the prairie and insisted that we read all of her books.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Little-House-Nine-Book-Set/dp/0064400409

My family even visited her house once on a cross country trip. I was amazed by how small it was. I was a little kid, but the cabinets looked liked they were built for someone my height to use.

My First Chapter Book

The first chapter book I ever read was given to me by my grandmother. It was a book in the popular Sweet Valley Kids series. Little did I know, I'd wind up reading Sweet Valley Junior High, Sweet Valley High, and Sweet Valley University obsessively growing up.

http://www.amazon.com/Surprise-Sweet-Valley-Kids/dp/0553157582

All I remember was that they were having a slumber party because it was their birthday. I read the entire book in one day. It was only 80 pages, but that was quite a feat for a girl as young as me.

I told my grandmother that I'd already finished the book. She laughed at me and didn't believe me. In fact, no one in my family believed me, even when I recited the whole story to them.
 
The First Time I Stayed Up All Night Reading

I grew-up on Francine Pascal novels. Not only did I read all the Sweet Valley books, but I also enjoyed her Fearless series as well.


http://www.amazon.com/Fearless-Sam-Run-Francine-Pascal/dp/1442446315

As much as I tried to put the books down, whenever a new release came out, I'd stay up all night reading the book. I was addicted to reading about Gaia and her adventures. I loved her even more than I loved the Wakefield twins.

The First Adult Romance Novel I Ever Read

I will never forget this book or what the cover looked like. I found it by accident. I was only twelve years old and at one of my library's book sales where they let you take an entire box full of books for only five dollars if you want to. I was reading Sweet Valley High at the time and knew I wanted to read more romance novels. What I didn't know was that adult romance novels had sex scenes in them.

http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Hazard-Sparhawks-Harlequin-Historicals/dp/0373289634
 

I'm pretty sure that the author would be upset that a twelve year old read one of her novels, but I loved it and started reading lots of adult romance novels as a teenager. (And then later I became an adult who read only Young Adult novels for awhile. This is backwards!)


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What are some of your reading firsts?