What book first captured your imagination?

[simmofamily]

I also used to escape to Narnia

[inky1]

Enid Blyton for me too .I loved the Famous Five books .
Also Black Beauty and as I got older Wuthering Heights and 1984 which I think I read more or less in one go .
Later on still Wilbur Smiths early books about The Courtney’s and South Africa .Alexander Cordells novels about Wales and more recently Khaled Hosseinis books The Kite Runner etc his style of writing is stunning I just wish he was a little more prolific and now reading this thread , that I made more time to indulge in something I used to be so passionate about .

[Michyloulou]

Originally Posted by TigerMom

I cannot remember not being able to read. Heidi is one of the earliest books I can remember along with Little Women and Black Beauty. I used to go to the library on Saturday morning with my Dad. I could choose two books to take home and then one to read while my Dad got his books. Happy memories.

See more...

Gosh, yes this brings back memories of going to the library with my Mum each week. In my days (mid 70’s) I can always remember feeling really nervous incase I was told to shush by the librarian, lol! And it was all quite plain & dreary inside- not like the libraries of today! Still used to love the smell of all those books as we walked in, and the excitement at getting the books stamped! Hopefully my kids will have lovely memories of me taking them (not so much now as they are older), but we’ve always taken them when younger and enrolled for the summer reading schemes.

[marypoppins38]

For me it was probably all of Enid Blytons books... Magic Faraway Tree, then Famous Five, Secret Seven and Malory Towers. I think they gave me a real passion for reading. One of my favorite books as a teen though was To Kill A Mockingbird. I still love that book now.

[2point]

My aunt worked in a book factory so as a kid we had hundreds of books.

From a pure imagination aspect probably the books I remember most were the Famous Five type, we had a full set of encyclopaedia which gave me hours of fun delving into. It was like having Google, in a book. Kids today wouldn't believe you.

[Mqt]

Anything by Enid Blyton. I would devour everything written by her as a child. I especially loved ‘The Mystery of the... ’ series and read some of them to my own children when they were little. I used to alter some of the wording when I read them as times have certainly changed for the better since they were written!

[mandevillepete]

Originally Posted by Macca04

I loved the St. Clares and Malory Towers books. Also The Chalet School series, there were loads of them spanning about 30 year time period. Set before during and after WW2

See more...

I loved Malory Towers too. Oh how I longed to go to midnight feasts. 🍰🥤😀

[mskitty]

There seems to be a massive theme running through this thread.

My mum had lots of hard back Enid Blyton books from when she was a girl and I recall they were the first ones I picked up of my own accord to read as a child. I loved The Naughtiest Girl in the School series, The Magic Faraway Tree and The Wishing Chair.

When I got a bit older I loved Judy Blume books.

Then for GCSE English we studied To Kill a Mockingbird and it is hands down the best book ever! I must have bought about 7 copies over the years as I buy it, read it and then pass it on for someone else to fall in love with.

It makes me so sad that my kids don't have a love of reading like I do. I try my hardest with them, doing all the right things as they were growing up but they just don't engage with it.

[MariaLynda]

I read loads of books as a child, like everyone Enid Blyton featured heavily. I loved the Malory Tower's books and read them over and over again. I remember my brother having all the Famous Five books. I think my earliest memory of a book that I really loved was The Owl who was afraid of the dark, by Jill Tomlinson. Loved that book about Plop the baby owl. Even now I have a few soft toy owls and always refer to them as Plop

[MinniMouse]

Enid Blyton for me too. My favourite was the enchanted wood. Used to love imagining there was a land at the top of some old tree when playing as a child.