Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Addicts discussion

What was the book or series that turned you into a raging bibliophile?

For me it was the Famous Five series by Enid Blyton which I started reading when I was 5! Never stoped since :)

Legend Trilogy by Marie Lu turned this 25 year old (28 now) into a reader.

I'd have to say the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson for fairytales when I was really young - around 7-years old I think. That's when I began to read properly. Although I fell in love with reading when I read Emily Brontes, Wuthering Heights and Charles Dickens, Great Expectations when I was around 9-years old. I found them in the junior school library and from then on I was well and truly hooked, and always had a book in my hand. I've not changed much apart from I don't have as much time to read now I write... although I still prefer a book to television.

The Mediator series by Meg Cabot way back in seventh grade. I loved the characters and the supernatural element and Cabot's writing style. I read every book by her in my junior high's library before I finally moved on to reading other authors hahaha

I've been a bookworm since I learnt to read properly (I was 4). First books I read were of my native language, Bengali. Books of Rabindranath Tagore, Sukumar Ray, Satyajit Ray, were my constant companions. I started reading English properly when I was 8, with Brothers Grimm's and Lewis Carroll. So, they are my first love.

Lord Foul's Bane

I loved animal stories when I was under 10 - White Fang by Jack London, The Plague Dogs and Watership Down by Richard Adams. However, it was the Thomas Covenant trilogy (and second trilogy) that brought me into the fantasy (and later, dystopian) genres that I keep returning to as an adult. It was the Donaldson series that also sparked my love of writing so my long-suffering family can blame him ;-)

I picked up a Christine Feehan book when I was 13 and fell in love.

Tales of the Nine Charms Series
Vampire Kisses Series by Ellen Schreiber

I can’t remember which one I read first but I remember the conviction after reading these to find more books like them and now probably about 12 years later I still love fantasy more than any other genre

CS Lewis - Chronicles of Narnia.

Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice

The Mayfair Witches trilogy by Anne Rice

The original Nancy Drew books, with the yellow hardcovers! I used to have to look up words in the dictionary, and used to get such a kick out of the phrase "surreptitious sleuthing" that it still makes me smile to this day 😊 It was the first time I remember caring about reading a series in order, and trying to get all the books!

I hated reading in my younger years. Then my brother gave me Interview with the Vampire for my 30th birthday - haven't turned back yet! Devoured Anne Rice then continued my love for Paranormal and Tolkien!! I'm into so many series I'm starting to forget! Unfortunately I don't read very fast so I don't finish quickly.

The series that made me fall in love with reading was Rick Riordans Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I fell deeply in love!

The series that got me back into my reading hiatus was Brenda Jackson's The Westmorelands & her Forged of Steele Series.

Between 10 and 12, I would read Hank the cowdog, the magic tree house, and one other mystery series that I have forgotten the name of, but when I became the librarian assistant for a school period in 7th grade, I found a book called Flavor of the week. From then on I started getting into romance novels and haven't stopped since.

As a child Goosebumps got me into reading, but then I fell out of love with reading for a couple reasons. At 26 I wanted to read Harry Potter (wasn't allowed growing up b/c magic=Satan apparently, i'm 29) and by the time I was 18 and could read it anyway I thought I was too old...but then at 26 I finally realized I was being ridiculous and read it, and then loved it! (It's never too late, never too old)

But then I didn't know what to read after that and I did want to find my love of reading again, so I found booktube because I looked to see if I could find people reviewing Harry Potter and I did which led down the booktube rabbit hole. I found the Across the Universe series by Beth Revis and fell in love and it just snowballed from there.

So in a way I credit Goosebumps, Harry Potter and the Across the Universe trilogy with sparking a love of reading in me!

I'd have to say the book Veronica The Know It All. It's the first book I remember every enjoying, and I can even remember some of the story line.

For me, I read very slowly all the way through school. So reading was a chore. Until a few years after I graduated higher school. 1994 saw the coming of the movie Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice. I remember seeing a behind the scenes look on TV, Tom Cruise looking absolutely horrific, and me thinking that I’d always loved Vampires in movies and on TV. So I drove to a mall, bought the book, and slooooooooowlyyyyyy read it. It was amazing, and I read all the Vampire Chronicles after that.

I was blessed to have a grandmother who was an avid reader and took me to the library ever week. I also used books as an escape when I had to babysit my siblings. =-) Some 'greats' that impacted me were Are You There God, It's Me Margret?, Gone With The Wind, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Glass Menagerie, and Tiger Eyes. I remember reading Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Book of Poetry and falling in love with poetry. I still read a tremendous amount about anything that catches my attention.

vampire diaries when I was in high school

Tyler J [They/He] wrote: "but then at 26 I finally realized I was being ridiculous and read it, and then loved it! (It's never too late, never too old)"

Wonderful :) I totally agree, you're never too old to read Harry Potter (which is still my favorite series)--or any book, honestly. One of my favorite series is Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas and it's classified as YA. But it's got captivating characters and a really complex plot, it's better than a lot of the 'adult' books I've read :)

J.F. wrote: "I'd have to say the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson for fairytales when I was really young - around 7-years old I think. That's when I began to read properly. Although I fell in love wit..."

Wonderful! Hans Christian Anderson wrote such phenomenal short stories. I've always heard he just came up with them off the top of his head, I wonder if that's true :)

For me it was actually Terry Brooks' Sword of Shannara. Even before I started reading, I was a fantasy geek and I loved things like Warhammer. So when I stumbled across Sword of Shannara in 3rd grade at a Scholastic book club, it had all the things I already liked--sorcerers who could shoot fire, sword fights, battles with demons and huge armies--and I completely fell in love.

For me, it was Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice. I was pretty young when I read it for the first time, but even though Jane Austen used very classic language I still understood what was going on in the story which I think is a testament to Austen that her writing could reach someone at almost any age.

As young child it was it with Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter of Mars series, followed by his Tarzan series moving on to E.C. Tubb and his Dumarest of Terra series, Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe, Jules Verne, then Michael Moorcock, his Elric saga, Tolkien, Heinlein, Terry Brooks,I just couldn't get enough of reading. It became an escape, a shelter, an addiction, and there were not enough worlds to explore, heroes and heroines to save. To this day I could not narrow down my list of authors which just seems to keep growing. (so does my genres)

Gulliver's Travel I borrowed from my seamate in grade school started my love for reading but it was Sweet dreams and Sweet Valley high that turned it into an obsession hehe (",)

When I was growing up my parents were always reading and I learned to read before I started school because I wanted to be able to do what they were doing. And my special treat after each doctor's visits etc. was always a book.
The first books I remember reading were Enid Blyton's Famous Five books.
Then of course, like most of my generation of readers, I grew up with Harry Potter. It was the first book series I was obsessed with.
My first author obsession was Stephen King, when I discovered some of his older books on my Dad's bookshelf when I was 15 or 16.
Then The Mortal Instruments got me into YA because of a blurb that said it was perfect for fans of Buffy. This lead to me reading a lot of YA series, including The Darkest Powers, and then everything else by Kelley Armstrong - my current favorite author - who got me into adult UF.
These are the books I guess deserve credit for turning me into the reader I am today.

Harry Potter series. I was obsessed for years with the adventures of Harry, Ron and Hermione.

I loved reading , was my escape as a kid I didn't have to be in the real world if I didn't want be...with that said that was one way I could keep my grades up in English when I was in school was to read for extra points.
I enjoy reading Laurell K. Hamilon which turned me to other writers , as now I have a good amount of other's who write of paranormal . and branched out to different writers...

Mayfair witches.. Anne Rice

The Vampire Lestat, Anne Rice. My 11-year-old mind was blown.

Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. They’re still two of my favorites. Now the adult versions draw me like a moth to a very naughty flame.

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. I've never torn through a book before like I did with Storm Front. And continue to do with each new addition!

For me Xanth series by Pier Anthony and Elfquest by Richard Pini XD

Hated reading before I read The Last Vampire by Christopher Pike

Ramona by Beverly Cleary

I recall reading Veronica The Know It All when I was really young. It was probably the first book I read all the way through willingly.

I remember my mother reading to me and my sister before we could read on our own. Fairy tales mostly. I remember reading Charlottes Web but I would say it was Rebecca that really grabbed me and had me reading all types of genre for some reason. This was in the late 70’s early 80’s. I have been an avid reader ever since.

I can't say for certain. I began reading very early. My mom says I was three. I was a terrible, curious child so I was forced to sit and read so that I wouldn't set the house on fire. The first book I recall reading was The King, the Mice and the Cheese. Because I grew up in a family of girls, Little Women always held a special place for me. But the books of Alfred Hitchcock anthologies... gave me LIFE.

For me it was Enid Blyton as a child, then anything I could get my hands on. Then I fell in love with Joan Jonker books. They are my go to books when I want a break from reading arcs or beta reading, as are in a completely different direction The Crossfire Series by Sylvia Day and then again in another direction to R Linda’s YA books like Bailey and the Bad Boy. All my spare time is taken up by reading and I love that through my passion I get to know some fabulous new authors

I hated reading when I was a kid. Probably because I wasn’t good at it until I was a little older. So I didn’t read for fun at all. (GASP) then in college I was a nanny to two amazing little girls who encouraged me to read Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone back when this was just coming out. This series made me a reading addict. Now However many years later I rarely watch tv and go through a book every 1-2 days. I just can’t stop myself.

I hate to admit it, but my first novel that i read without anyone forcing me to, is Twilight. I like the idea of people that have a strong unique magic.

After that i read a lot of dystopian and fantasy books like The Hunger Games, I Am Number Four, Divergent, Fablehaven, The Field Guide, The Fellowship of the Ring, City of Bones.

But the one that seal the deal for me is The Lightning Thief, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Throne of Glass.

For me, it was A.A. Milne - Christopher Robin, Winnie the Pooh and I think I was 5 going on 6 when I 'needed' to read it by myself. I moved to What Katie Did, Enid Blyton and Anne of Green Gables. I know the time line because I moved schools when I was 7, and my new best friend thought I was weird because of my reading . She never did become a reader like me, but we were best friends anyway.

Gads, I can't remember that far back, I think I was a regular voracious reader at a very early age... like 6/7 maybe? I was in a penguin book club at primary school and remember buying a book a week/a fortnight (?) I think. I remember quite a few books from those times, but which one cemented me as a reader? I have no idea.

Those early ones I do recall include
Meg and Mog!
The Worst Witch
Heidi,
Pippi Longstocking,
Loads by Enid Blyton,
Carbonel,
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe,
The Chalet Girls series,
Ballet Shoes,
The Diddakoi
Milly-Molly-Mandy
Antonia Forest's The Marlow's series
The Witch's Daughter by Nina Bawden
Charlotte's Web
Daddy-Long-Legs
this HUGE compendium I had of Disney fairy tales... so many!

In Elementary school it was Junie B Jones or The Boxcar Children that I read. In middle school that all changed. Hush, Hush was probably the first and I absolutely loved it!!!! More specifically, I loved Patch. My cousin got me to read the Twilight Series, I felt it was kind of overrated at the time. I waited until the first movie came out to read it I think. The Percy Jackson Series was pretty good too. I enjoyed the Greek Gods and Goddesses in it. Nightshade was great series that I read too.















Most of these started to read for Battle of the Books which was a program our middle school and high school had. There's a lot more on my read shelf.