In HS we had the "Lord of the flies","the Red Pony", and a couple of Shakespeares, but it was "work", not fun. Then in our senior year the teacher showed us some crap book and said either we could read this, or if we all bought our own copy we could read a new book that was just out and it was said this thing was great. So we all bought a copy of "JAWS" and I've never looked back! I read that book 3 times during the course, the first time I finished it in two nights, talk about not being able to put a book down! I have been hooked on books ever since.
After HS I went into the Navy and we had a lot of down time on ship, as well as watches. It was easy to load up before a trip with 15-20 books and hook up with other guys to swap them around. Going through a few paperbacks a week was nothing. After the service I was still a smoker. They were starting to crack down on smoking in the work place so I would read on smoke breaks which extended to my home once my wife became pregnant. Again a few paperbacks a week were nothing. Luckily we had a second hand bookstore/swap place in town. I think I was the one that keep them in business so long. After I quit smoking my reading fell off. I had a couple kids to play with anyway, didn't have the time for books as much, maybe fell off to one a week, maybe a bit less.
Now the kids are all grown, and I'm starting to find those few minutes a day to read again. On top of that, I am a member of Audible, and a couple of on-line libraries. I drive a lot for my job and use downloaded books with my GPS unit to "listen" to books as I drive. I'm back up to almost 2 books a week !! I know all about the "one Tree" and white gold, followed "my precious" through the worlds of middle earth. Been to "Pern" with the dragons, "Hogwarts" with Harry and the "ring worlds". I've "Hitched Hiked Across the Universe" and been "Around the world in 80 Days" a number of times. I've swung through the trees with Tarzan, and had as many "slave girls" as I could find on "GOR".
I'm one of those lucky people who can read a book a number of times. My favorites I keep and read over and over, sometimes buying a new copy when the old one wears out. I have a couple hundred books I save as favorites, plus another 100 on my computer for my GPS. Reading this thread I though it was kinda funny some of the responses. To some it sounds like they had a hard time to name a book. Is it because they have read a lot of good ones or is it because they haven't seen that many books and it was hard to choose one of the few that they did read. It all started for me with "JAWS". It opened up a whole new world, even tho I lived an hour away from that "beach" and had been to a few of those sleepy island towns. Seeing it from anothers view was just amazing. I've tried to get my kids to read. They are not into it like am, but don't shy away from it. The wife is the same. I feel sorry for them that they miss out of the thrills and excitement that is hidden between the covers of so many books.
READ, READ, READ!!!
