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I was raised by people who loved to read. My father could always find opportunities to gift me books.
Besides that, I grew up constantly on-the-move, moving around the world due to my parent's jobs. Gravitating towards books in order to entertain myself came at a very young age since I was in a world of adults, very rarely surrounded by children my own age.

In my case, those were the two major factors that got me into reading. (Granted I took a several-years-long hiatus later in life... but that's besides the point)

I'm curious though:
Have you always been a reader? If you have, what books define your childhood? If not, what books got you interested in reading?

I was always a reader. I grew up with a book loving mother and was an introvert child, books were my world.

I loved books in the style of enid blyton's famous five series, but mostly from German authors.

I always thought grewing up with books makes you a reader. Then I got my daughter, and she used one day shower gel as shampoo because she hates reading that much, she wouldn't even read what's on the bottle. She's 15. I don't think she'll ever be a reader

I've always been a reader. Both my parents are readers so there were always tons of books in our house and I still remember my father reading 'The Hobbit' to me and my brother when we were little.
The books I remember the most from my childhood are again 'The Hobbit' as well as Lucy Maud Montgomery's books, His dark materials series by Philip Pullman and Abarat by Clive Barker.

No, I haven't always been a reader. I became a reader around middle school age. Harry Potter books were a starting point. Later I also read anything I could get my hands on. Some of the books I remember are the Sweet Valley High series, Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher and Judy Blume books.

My mom and one of my sisters encouraged my reading by buying me some of the Harry Potter books and other adults recommended books (Judy Blume).

The fantasy genre was my favorite though. In high school I went on to read the Artemis Fowl books and Forgotten Realms books.

I'm really not sure what got me into reading. I started really young. I was read to as a child and then when I finally learned I always had a book in front of my face

I used to find books boring actually , till I was eight. Then my mother forcefully took me to a library one day and made me choose any book. I was reluctant to read it but once I opened the book and started reading.....that was it. My fate got tied with books and everything related to them. It's funny now how my mom gets annoyed everytime I buy a new book now ;)

I've been a reader for almost as long as I can remember. I started reading when I was 2, thanks to my mum. I didn't have a good home life and reading was an escape for me as a kid. I loved the Oz series of books and Sherlock Holmes (and before that, Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew, and The Hardy Boys). Reading is still sometimes an escape for me, but mostly I read now for the love of it—more for adventuring in imaginative worlds than escaping to them.

I've been a reader for as long as I can remember too. I even remember my first series (have to ask my mom if she kept them, I really really hope so), Frank & Ank, very simple books as I remember. After that it was Pinkeltje (Fingerling), I believe this was the series which really got me hooked. I even imagined someday discovering Pinkeltje/Fingerling in my own home. My mother could call me all she wanted, when I was reading, I was in another world. There was another book I got from the library which I just adored, can't think of the title at this moment however. As I grew older I liked Heidi, Nobody's Boy and later still Little Women.

How I got to read I don't really know. When I got to adulthood I found out my parents had loved to read when they were younger, yet I hardly had ever seen them reading when I was little. I do know schools encourage parents to join the library and provide their children with as much reading opportunities as possible. Combined with my apparently (genetically) inherited love for reading and being an introvert child just got me hooked (until about 5 years ago when life happened and I stopped reading altogether). So happy I started again, I now realize how much I've missed it!

These are all great stories :)

I started reading when I was in elementary school. My grandmother was an avid reader herself and gave me her passion. I started with the whole series of The Little House on the Prairie, I loved it so so much ! Then it was Ann of Green Gables and all of Lucy Maud Montgomery' s books. These memories with my grandmother are precious :)

I have been reading as long as I can remember. As soon as we learned how to read my mother (who also loves to read) made sure that my brother and I joined the local library. Every Wednesday afternoon after school, my mom brought us there so we could find new books to read while she was doing some grocery shopping. I was particularly fond of historical fiction (still am) by Thea Beckman and Simone van der Vlugt, both Dutch authors.
During summer vacations I borrowed the maximum amount of books on both my card and my brother's, as he wasn't much of a reader and I never had enough books.

I've always been a reader. My mother was an avid reader and we had lots of books at home. If I wanted something different from what we had at home I had the local library which was an absolute dream place for me. We also used to have evening prayer as a family and the King James Version of the Bible developed my love of reading that style of writing from which my love of Shakespeare came.

My father was the one who actually taught me to read. He wouldn't let me go to bed one night until I could read the book I had at the time fluently. This may sound cruel but achieving this is what stirred my desire to read and devour anything and everything I could get my eyes around. Nothing has changed much since then.

Some books I can remember from my childhood are: Tawny Scrawny Lion, The Poky Little Puppy and Love Comes Softly. This latter book I recommended to my own daughter and she absolutely loved it. She has the complete set of books in this series and has read the series 8 times over now. She has also got a number of Janette Oke's other series and loves those as well.

There’s so many books in this topic that I remember reading as a child, that it’s made me feel quite nostalgic. I remember a time that I did not like reading and I remember a time that I loved reading, but I barely remember the time in between. I had a lot of ear infections when I was younger, leading to problems with language which then led to problems with learning, especially reading. There was a point that they didn’t believe I would manage to get into secondary school without having to repeat a year. But then my language abilities improved and suddenly my academic ability soared and with it developed my love of reading. I jumped several reading grades and now that I didn’t struggle to read every other word I found myself becoming immersed in fictional worlds. I think as a child I was not the biggest fan of reality, and this, coupled with the fact that my mother is also an avid reader, led me to love burying my nose into a good book. I can't remember what book it was that caused me to find my love of reading but I remember reading the Sweet Valley Twins books, loads of Enid Blyton books, a lot of mystery stories and a book set in space which had a huge sand worm in it (was definitely not Dune). I also remember my dad being amused because the first book not for kids that we read was coincidently the same, only he read it when he was 20 and I read it when I was 10. He reads quite a bit as well, as does my sister, but we never managed to get my brother into reading.

That is a beautiful story Amber!

My parents read to me a lot when I was little - it was a homely, comforting thing. Books always were a big part of my life that way and the greatest treat was a visit to the local library to pick up new books.
I couldn't wait to learn to read myself - and when I could, I read all I could get.
During puberty, books were kind of my safe place to go to as I was quite shy and withdrawn.
So, reading always was a positive thing for me, and I've never stopped. ;)

Interesting question.
I got into reading... just the action of reading pretty quickly. I don't even have memory about it, just my mom told me I could read printed letters at age 3,5-4 without them teaching it to me and they did not know how I learnt to read myself. But my parents were avid readers, especially my mom.

I am also an introvert with an ever-present, humungous amount of imagination and I always loved imagining different worlds etc...

I got into reading when I was 7 years old. I was going to a Christening, and my mum knew I didn't really care about it, so she downloaded some children's books onto her ebook (I wasn't trusted as a child to read real books as I always ruined them). I ended reading - and completing - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in the 9 hours we spent at the Christening of my mums friends daughter.

Then my dad found Scream Street book 1 - Fang of the Vampire. I devoured that book, and we went to the store to buy book two, but sadly they didn't have it in stock. However, they had books 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, and I was told that I didn't need to read them in order. So I ended up reading the rest of the series without seeing book 2 until two years later, which was when I reread the series that got me into reading series'. When I was 13, my sister found a box set of all thirteen books, and I took a trip down memory lane reading them.

I haven't stopped since I was 7, and I don't plan on stopping any time soon.

I have always loved books. I remember from a very early age looking at my grandmothers bookshelves and being fascinated with touching them and flipping through the pages even though I couldn't yet read. After I started school and began to learn to read, I loved when the Scholastic books order forms were sent home. We didn't have a lot of money but my mom always let me get at least one book each order. When I started grade 6, my home room was Language Arts and the teacher was also the school librarian. I was very shy and awkward and she let me stay after school or in from recess and let me help her shelve books. I loved being able to escape my boring awkward life and being someone bold and traveling the universe through the printed word.
I still find it amazing that all the books ever written (in English, anyway) are a simple combination of just 26 letters!

when I was little, I actually hated reading because I wasn't good at it, when I was in the second grade my parents got me into a reading program at my school and as I learned to read better I fell in love with reading, from then on reading was my sanctuary from my medical issues and kept me from going crazy when I was in the hospital once a year waiting on this test or that one. I can't pinpoint exact books from my childhood other than in the very beginning it was Dr. Seuss and other such authors like him and then things like the Harry Potter series.

Definitely my mom she would take me to the library every weekend. She was very into romance like harlequin and silhouette. She'd check out twenty books. I read alot also then started reading her romance books.

I remember my sister reading books to me when I was little. She was 10 years older than me. She used to pick out some really pretty illustrated story books for her to read to me. She used to buy them for me and write an inscription in them to me. I still have a bunch of them. It was something that her and I shared. I don't ever remember one of my parents reading to me. It was always her.

After my sister moved out when I was around 8 I remember reading chapter books. My mom used to go to the mall every week to get her hair done and we'd always go to the book store in the mall. In middle/high school I remember reading a lot of Dean R. Koontz and some Stephen King. I remember also reading Mary Higgins Clark.

The only period of time I remember not reading a lot is when my kids were little. I still read a book here and there but nothing like I do now. I believe I have almost always read before I went to bed except for when it wasn't tax season or when the kids were tiny.

I have ALWAYS been a reader- been reading since I was 3. Nancy Drew was the first series I got into somewhere around 1st grade and before that was James Herriott, etc. My dad was a big reader and really encouraged me when I showed an interest. I think I started reading aloud to him right after I turned 3, but just the Dr Seuss, etc.

As an adult, I found less time to read and then decided that I was missing out on too much not doing it. So, that is what led me to Good Reads. Now I sign up for too many challenges.

I think I began reading at an early age because of the influence of my father who loved books and the opera. While I never took to opera, I sure did love to read, go to the library and busty books. Nothing much has changed.

As I went through grade school, an only child raised in Manhattan, I spent many days reading on the widow box of my room overlooking the city. Books became my siblings, my friends and a warm harbor at uneasy times. There was never a time in my life when I wasn't reading a book. I often call this my magnificent obsession.

Stephanie, your story sounds so similar to my own. I also started reading at a really young age, and it was my uncle (to whom I was really close and who recently passed away) who introduced me to the marvellous James Herriott. I haven't read his books since I was a child; I must revisit them.

Nancy, your experience also sounds familiar! I'm an only child born and raised in Queens, but did go to JHS and HS in Manhattan (and am also in Jersey, now). =)

I had a hard time learning how to read though I was always looking through comic books especially Donald and C o, Mickey Mouse, Archie etc I was 8 before I could comfortably read on my own. then it just snowballed from there, Learning to read in English was easy from then on.
I always read a lot I was a awkward child couldn't do a lot of the after school activities due to my chronic disorder.
My mum is a big reader and used to bribe me with trips to the library if I was social with other children for a certain amount a week.
When my health declined at 11 books were a natural companion at the hospital then audio books in periods were my vision were so bad that I couldn't read or follow things on the TV.
then a few years of studies made reading for pleasure come second but I kept reading a lot of comics online and graphic novels. I always wished for books for birthdays and Christmas.
This year has been my best reading year in a long time, it's back to how it used to be most of my free hours I use to read and I cant get enough.

BlurryBug wrote: "I had a hard time learning how to read though I was always looking through comic books especially Donald and C o, Mickey Mouse, Archie etc I was 8 before I could comfortably read on my own. then it..."

That sounds like you've had a very hard time BlurryBug, so sorry to hear that! I do recognize how books can be a wonderful experience and support in times like that. Maybe that's why I had a hard time accept that when some hard times came along my path I just stopped reading altogether.... I joined GR to rekindle my passion for reading and am happy to say I have come a long way since then. So this has been my best reading year in a long time too (although it's not just yet to how it used to be, but I am more confident that I'll get there).

Susy wrote: "BlurryBug wrote: "I had a hard time learning how to read though I was always looking through comic books especially Donald and C o, Mickey Mouse, Archie etc I was 8 before I could comfortably read ..."

Hey, it might sound that way being squished together like that but really I feel I've been super lucky, I had good health care, loving parents and been extremely lucky that my vision loss though somewhat severe is not as bad as they first anticipated it would get.
Just surround yourself with love the rest will come easy my mother always say and I think there is a lot of truth in that. <3
I'm sure you get back into things, it's so motivating to be able to track the reading.

You have a very positive attitude, I'm sure that has helped too!
And I see that you have a awesome cat :)

Susy wrote: "BlurryBug wrote: "I had a hard time learning how to read though I was always looking through comic books especially Donald and C o, Mickey Mouse, Archie etc I was 8 before I could comfortably read ..."

Hey, it might sound that way being squished together like that but really I feel I've been super lucky, I had good health care, loving parents and been extremely lucky that my vision loss though somewhat severe is not as bad as they first anticipated it would get.
Just surround yourself with love the rest will come easy my mother always say and I think there is a lot of truth in that. <3
I'm sure you get back into things, it's so motivating to be able to track the reading.

Nik wrote: "Stephanie, your story sounds so similar to my own. I also started reading at a really young age, and it was my uncle (to whom I was really close and who recently passed away) who introduced me to t..."

Yeah, I was just thinking it had been forever since I had read those books. My dad got me a short story collection when I was really little and I just loved all the animals. I also read Charlotte's Web and some other things around this time too. I am now torn, my TBR list is excessively long and to revisit too many stories would definitely de-rail me for life, lol.

Sorry to hear about your uncle, btw. Always hard to lose people, but especially people who make such an impact on you.

Stephanie (R-A) wrote: "I am now torn, my TBR list is excessively long and to revisit too many stories would definitely de-rail me for life, lol.

Ugh, I so hear you on that. I want to finish Discworld (but first I want to restart it from the beginning and re-read the ones I've already read) and I want to re-read the Harry Potter series (and this time include the non-primary works and the films), but there are so many new books to read! I have the same problem with television: I'm rewatching Buffy the Vampire Slayer (7 seasons) and Smallville (10 seasons) with a friend when I have about 182 shows on my to-watch TV list. Ugh.

Sorry to hear about your uncle, btw. Always hard to lose people, but especially people who make such an impact on you."

Indeed. Thanks very much.

I have been reading for the past 2 years on and off and the truth of it all I am reading books so stop picking up food all the time as I am on a slimming world diet as I tend to eat all the wrong stuff so I have thought to myself I need to distracts myself from going back to old habits and being bored at the same time at the moment it been going ok I have only lost 4 stone 8 pound in the process

The first books I ever loved were The Snowy Day and Dr. Seuss. As a kid, we’d get the scholastic reader catalog when the book mobile was coming to the school. I pour over the pages circling all the books I wanted. I never got to get anything (poor family), but I’d save and scour each catalog until the next one came. My mother was somewhat of a reader, but she read Danielle Steele (which I never liked). When I became a teen, I was allowed to walk to the library on occasion and would check out a variety of books. That was my escape from my home.

As a young adult, I moved to another country and we didn’t have our furniture yet (no couches or tv or anything). So I went to the library and found Terry Brooks. I read the original Shannara series which I loved.

Then I had many years of reading very little (between raising kids, working full time and an ex husband dumber than a box of rocks). But then ten years ago I found my way back to books, and I’m so happy I did.

jb wrote: "But then ten years ago I found my way back to books, and I’m so happy I did."

I'm happy for you that you found your way back to books JB!! I know how you must have felt. Same thing happened to me this year and it makes me so very happy! :)

I am not sure how detailed you guys can handle, but... *takes a deep breath*
I started reading to escape. My father was...there is no easy way to put what he was, and my mother was her own kind of special. I would read so I didn't have to hear the fights, or I wouldn't be a victim of circumstance. I would read to escape my physical pain. I would read to escape the mental trauma a young child shouldn't go through, I would lose myself in the pages, becoming one of the characters, never the main character though, I wasn't good enough for that.
I was an incredibly strong reader, but being smart was looked down upon in my family if you did more than just pick fruit, or dig ditches, well you weren't really a man...who needs an education to swing an ax, or use a shovel.
I would leave home in my early teens, would be assaulted and abused some more, but books were always my escape.
I eventually joined the military where I excelled, being smart was OK, and I was top of my class in the submarine school. I would get hurt and get sent home, but I never really came back to books...I would read, but not in the voracious way that I had read before...I am trying to find that appetite once more, I now have 2 beautiful children, and I am giving them the life I never had (thus my choice in books recently, trying to improve myself) but I want them to see me reading, and self-improving, and being awesome...so they can be anything they want.

My parents have always been big readers; they have thousands of books in their house to this day.

My father read to me every single night. I have a memory of being five or six and too sick to sleep; he pulled me out of bed in the middle of the night and read to me about Bilbo tricking large spiders until I was sleepy again.

Coincidentally, I now have a fear of spiders.

There was never any question that we would like books, really. It was assumed that we would. And we did. When you're immersed in it from the beginning, it's just another part of life.

What great stories! (And some sad ones with happy endings, too!)

I starting reading at 3. Still not sure why or how, as neither of my parents are or were readers. The earliest books I remember devouring (obviously a few years later) were the Little House books. I absolutely adored them. Still have a soft place in my heart for that is Little House. Then I moved on to Encyclopedia Brown and Trixie Belden. Read every Trixie book they made. In high school it was a lot of Stephen King, along with required high school reading stuff. In college I all but stopped reading as there was far too much assigned reading to do. After college I made a concerted effort to read again, but didn't make much progress until I joined a book club in my early 30s. I still don't read as much as I did in childhood (adulting takes time), but I'm happy with how much I read and I get quite a bit out of it. I only wish my boys enjoyed reading even 1/2 as much as I do!

Jonathan wrote: "I have been reading for the past 2 years on and off and the truth of it all I am reading books so stop picking up food all the time as I am on a slimming world diet as I tend to eat all the wrong s..."

Two bird with one stone! Sounds good Jonathan! Wishing you the best of luck (with both your goals)!

Joey wrote: "I am not sure how detailed you guys can handle, but... *takes a deep breath*
I started reading to escape. My father was...there is no easy way to put what he was, and my mother was her own kind of ..."

Wow, impressive to hear how you didn't let all of that get you down, how you fought your way through and are still working on improving yourself for the benefit of your kids. That's really cool!
I know how great it is to be able to just leave this world and enter another one, a wonderful experience books have to offer us. So I was really sad and disappointed when because of certain life events, I gave up on reading altogether, just lost that love and passion for reading. At the beginning of this year I joined this group with the hope of rekindling my passion for reading, which I accomplished. So happy about that! I hope you find that appetite you used to have for books too Joey!!

Abigail wrote: "...When you're immersed in it from the beginning, it's just another part of life."

So true Abigail, a wonderful experience! Although as far as I remember I just started this passion for reading on my own, from the day I learned the first letters at school, it felt like magic (and my parents could no longer fool me saying my program wouldn't be on tv that evening lol).

Laura wrote: "What great stories! (And some sad ones with happy endings, too!)

I starting reading at 3. Still not sure why or how, as neither of my parents are or were readers. The earliest books I remember dev..."

Sounds great Laura! How old are your boys?

I remember being a freak about books since kindergarten; I used to sneak in my "Itsy Bitsy spider" book and look at the pictures in the middle of class. I also loved stories, my mom was a great story-teller. But I think it all really started with the Harry Potter series, I remember watching the first movie and bothering my mom to tell me what would happen in the next one (cause she had already read the second book) and she (very smartly) refused, so I read it and it literally changed my life. I was the "boring cousin who is always reading" in my family for many years, until I learned to keep it to myself a little more.

Mar wrote: "I remember being a freak about books since kindergarten; I used to sneak in my "Itsy Bitsy spider" book and look at the pictures in the middle of class. I also loved stories, my mom was a great sto..."

Great story Mar!
I think most people in this group would agree that there’s nothing wrong with reading all the time! And it certainly is not boring :) Too bad you couldn’t infect your cousins with the love-for-reading virus ;) But luckily you’ve joined a group with lots and lots of people who share your passion for reading!

In second grade I was sent to summer school because I didn't 'read' well. But in third grade we acted out The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. ThAt year I fell in love with books. But I don't remember any major books until the Deverry Series by Katherine Kerr in HS. I used to read in math class and piss off. H teacher because I still got the answers right.
Now I'm an English major who studied Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Tolkien. I've expanded away from my escapism of fantasy to mystery, historical fictions, YA (although 3 years of that and I'm veering to other genres. My time is precious and a lot of YA seems shallow to me), and chic lit among the many. I'd love to read more steam punk and other genres.
I do keep up with children's books too being a teacher and love the Amulet series and just learned about Beast Quest. I'm a special ed teacher so my goal is to find content that is on a low level but that my kids enjoy.
And the last 4 years I've been working on my own novel to add to the high fantasy genre.

Becka I find teaching to be a commendable job especially special ed. I will have to look around and see if there are children's books out there for you

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone :) Came out when I was in 2nd grade and made reading a major part of my life. It was the first real epic story I immersed myself in and led to many late nights reading past my bedtime! The seventh HP book came out when I was a senior in high school so I literally grew up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione! I love and really connect with GRRM's quote "I have lived 1000 lives...because I read". HP introduced me to infinite worlds and I've been diving in ever since.

After reading your comments I want to read Harry!

My parents really encouraged reading for me when I was growing up. My Mom used to take me to Half Price Books all the time, and my Dad helped me to learn to read more quickly than my friends by reading to me every night, so it was always just something I enjoyed. Nancy Drew or the Happy Hollisters were probably my first novels because my Mom had them in her library from her childhood.

I've always read a lot. Well, except for the dark ages from ca. 17 to 25...

My parents (esp. my dad) were big readers when they were little, and read to me a lot when I was little. My dad lived in a different country from me for a while when I was still in kindergarten and he read Dr. Dolittle onto a cassette tape and mailed it to me. So books were always a big part of life, growing up.

Then came Harry Potter.

I'd probably still have read as much as I did if it wasn't for HP, but it's definitely a defining series. I read all sorts of stuff, from the Alex Rider books to Princess Diaries (yes, the Princess Diaries).

So it's part being raised with lots of books around, but also my personality I suppose. My little sister was/is not much of a reader; my parents thought she was dyslexic because she had a hard time learning to read, so when she was 12 she was reading The Diary of a Whimpy Kid, when at the same age I read Bill Bryson's Short History of Nearly Everything. I just liked soaking up all the information, hahaha.

My mom is a reader so we always had books at home. What really got me reading was probably my teacher. Everyday she would read from a child book which I still have at home (it's called the little Dragon Coconut when translated to English) So after a while my mom and I both were readers but because of school I count read for about 4 years I thing but know I started again because I discoverd the booktube community :D

Jakob wrote: "I've always read a lot. Well, except for the dark ages from ca. 17 to 25...

My parents (esp. my dad) were big readers when they were little, and read to me a lot when I was little. My dad lived in..."

that is a great story and a great way to look at it soaking up information. although dark ages 17-25 thats funny so what are you calling 26-the present?