[Horrorfiend]

The first "adult" so to speak novel that I read was To Kill a Mockingbird. Then I read The Lord of the Rings. At this time my mother was constantly reading Stephen King. So, naturally, I wanted to read him too. This is where my life changed. I started on Salems Lot and it continued from there.

Since then horror has been a major part of my life.


I would like to take this time to thank my mother for encouraging me to read and spending all that money on books.

[Archren]

In those formative 5-14 years, I was lucky to be exposed to a ton of stuff, even stuff I didn't appreciate until later.

Tolkein & C.S. Lewis came first

In genre:
Piers Anthony
Michael Chrichton
Douglas Adams
Cordwainer Smith
Isaac Asimov
Arthur C. Clarke

"Mainstream:"
Dostoyefsky
Victor Hugo
Charlotte Bronte
George Orwell

Those are the ones I remember the best, at least. Likewise, I'm really grateful that my parents let me read stuff that was way over my head 7 never tried to make me read "age-appropriate" material. That stuff was god awful! :D

[hoard]

My Dad tried to get me into C.S. Lewis when I was a kid, but I don't think it ever took. I think I got through a couple of the books, but struggled to do that. I guess it must have taken a little bit because I'm much more interested in all of it now than I ever was. Also, isn't there talk of a Narnia movie?

[dragondrool]

Flowers in the Attic, Cujo, 'Salem's Lot, and Jaws, if memory serves. Though before that I did read quite a bit of grownup non-fiction pertaining to ghosts and monsters and the like. I have my mom to thank, for never saying no to book orders from school and advances on my allowance at the bookstore. I also thank my oldest sister, for teaching me to read before I started kindergarten. They started it! :)

[Beleg]

5-14

I read Enid Blyton, Agatha Christie, Victor Hugo, John Grisham, Professor Tolkien, Sydney Sheldon, John Stienback, Thomas Hardy, Sir ConanDoyle, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, C.S.Lewis, Isaac Asimov, H.P.Lovecraft, Louise Mary Alcot, Jonathan Spyri, the book Swiss Family Robinson, Daniel Dafoe, Robert Louis Stevenson and many other modern authors.

But many of them were translations in Urdu and one or two [Dafoe specially] were illustrations with a bare minimum smattering of text for kids.

[Shehzad]

The first serious novel I ever read was probably The Call of the Wild by Jack London. Amongst the early books I read, Oscar Wilde's plays and George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm had the most impact on me.

[Nevyn]

H G Wells is the only author that I can remember at this time .

[Priestvyrce]

Dr. Seuss and the Wrinkle in Time(I can't remember the author's name).

I still look back at Dr Seuss memories and smile and I always watch "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" every year.

[Kirby]

The very first books I can recall "reading", were the Mr Men books, by Richard Hargreaves. I think Mr Greedy was my favourite.
:D
I remember at the early age bracket of six or seven, that I was reading quite a lot of world Myth and Legend books, plus Brothers Grimm, and Hans Christian Andersen.
Dr Seuss, and also C.S. Lewis, and then a slew of books rotating around young nosy teenage investigator types! (Famous Five, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Trixie Belden, Three Investigators, etc etc.)

I must also mention "Asterix"! That brings me to about the age of twelve.

[cyrusd1]

As quite a young kid I remember enjoying Enid Blighton's Fantastic Five series.
A bit later on Michelle Magorian entised me into her books because of her fantastic work on character. (Goodnight Mister Tom is good, but some of the younger members may enjoy reading some of the others, like "Back Home") :)