I don't remember which book hooked me. I was already reading by the time I went to nursery school - cue several years of having to follow the fucking reading programme, reading books that were dull and basic, and going through the rigamarole of reading a segment to the teacher and doing spelling tests so they could sign off on that level. To be fair to them, they occasionally jumped me a few levels - but there was a fuck of a lot of uninspiring make-work reading at school. I'd be sat waiting to take my turn reading aloud to teacher, from a book about a dog playing with his ball and then going home to read My Naughty Little Sister books, or the Faraway Tree.

I do remember being completely addicted to Enid Blyton for a time. First the younger books - like the Faraway Tree, or the Wishing Chair - then the Famous Five, or the Adventure series. And I also recall The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe series of books really got under my skin.

I was addicted to books by the time I was 4 or 5. I remember many early reading experiences - but the books themselves are a kind of wave. Each flurry of addiction, to an author, or to a series, or type of book I remember - but what came first and when I really don't know. I have vague recollections of the Hungry Caterpillar and a couple of fairy tale pop-up books - but don;t know if I am recalling the first time I read them or the many times I revisited.

Ah...Charlie & The Chocolate Factory...:rolleyes:

It's a miracle you weren't found out. If the government has caught wind of it, you'd be posting from a far corner of the Empire. They couldn't take a chance on you corrupting the other worker-bees-to-be. ;)

Volume S was soooo big! Gravdir, those are the very ones, and your picture brought a palpable wave of nostalgia. I spent a lot, really a lot of time between the covers of those doorways to the universe. I remember that time as fondly as any childhood memory I have.

I should also add that I spend a lot of time in the dictionary, though I can't recall exactly which one. It was big, but not too big to hold in my lap. It wasn't the OED, for example. The dictionary? you say? Yes, whenever I didn't know what a word meant in my reading, and there were countless times that happened, I learned to look it up in the dictionary. Dad said to look it up in the dictionary. I know, because asking Dad "what does xyz mean?" **always** produced the answer "look it up".

Gee. thanks Dad, I sure am glad I have you here to teach me stuff. I said in my (mind) fit of pre-adolescent pique. But I still contend I have grounds for complaining when I got that same answer to the question "Dad, how do you spell xyz?". Still didn't work. "Look it up."

:facepalm:

And a trip to the dictionary was never rewarded with learning just one word, never. One word would lead to another interesting word, and that would lead to another interesting definition, lather, rinse, repeat. The dictionary and the encyclopedia reinforced each other, reading one showed me stuff I didn't know that I had to look up in the other one, etc, etc. A very virtuous and verbose cycle.

Thanks Dad!

Books can lead to evil acts, like this...

For a book to generate such an evil act, it must, indeed, be a most evil book

Ah Bruce, that was glorious.

Outstanding!

Dittoes!

I still have my "Big Ol' Dictionary" from when I was a fairly young kid. It's from about 1955 (Thank you, Grandmadigr!), but, I don't think I've ever tried to look up a word that wasn't in there.

Books are a scam:

Attachment 53557

:eek:

The earliest book I recall reading by the nightlight after I was told to go to bed: http://www.amazon.com/Henriette-Stor...dp/0590412183/

I'm sure there were earlier ones, but this was the addicting one. Now, I own close to 500 actual books. They are taking over my life. Save yourself!! :sniff: :rolleyes:

I did, I did save myself, packed them all up, several bookcases full, and gave them to Goodwill. There's still several boxes in the attic, but I bolted the door so they can't sneak down in the night. :unsure:

I think you're being overly cautious, xoB. I mean, what threat do books represent to you anyhow? You already know everything, right?

:p:

The sneaky devils will ambush your toes on the way to the bathroom in the dark, or stack up and topple on you when your back is turned. They'll also engross you so you don't hear the smoke alarm, or forget to pickup your wife who's standing in a freezing rain waiting. I read it in a book. :crone:

I bow to your surpassing knowledge.

:notworthy