That first book you couldn't put down.

[Arcane Azmadi]

First? Ooh, that's going back a bit.

I think the earliest really thick book I just sat down and chewed through was The Lord of the Rings. But I'm not entirely sure, because I was seven when I read it. I DO know that I read The Hobbit when I was five, but I'm not sure if that counts because I don't remember how long it took me to get through anyway.

Yes, I was something of a prodigy when I was a child, why do you ask?

 

[Shiftygiant]

1984, I guess.

Guns of the South.

Look who's back.

 

[Cowabungaa]

I can't ever remember a time when I could put books down.

Yep, especially as a kid even. I was varocious back then, mostly because I was either reading a book or playing with Lego's, now I actually have shit to do.

By my estimation it must've either been a Roald Dahl book or a very cool sci-fi novel who's titel I've forgotten.

Maybe someone here knows of it. It took place on Mercury, featured a giant, riding city that stayed in canyons and whatnot to not get in full sunlight. Mercury was somehow dotted with flowers grown out of valuable metals with daring explorers (or semi-enslaved workers, I can't remember) going out to pick them. I remember at one point that the main character had some kind of secret-ish mission and came upon a spaceship that was actually fully grown like the way metal-flowers grew on Mercury. I also remember one character getting completely dehydrated so they were just a little, almost stone-like figure. There was also cloning/growing people in vats going on. Does anyone have any idea which book I'm going on about?

 

[Tiger King]

I got bought some books for xmas when I was very little, they were the first 3 books in the Redwall series.
I remember looking at the front cover and thinking ughhh this looks rubbish but I gave it a go and surprisingly I found myself hooked.

Obviously i'm much older now so I wouldn't be caught dead reading such a children's book, but I still remember turning the final page of those books and feeling a sense of loss, that I wouldn't be able to read up on these characters anymore.

 

[cathou]

the first book i couldnt put down was Stephen King's It. i was 8. i was kind of wierd i guess

 

[Zhukov]

The Redwall books, when I was about nine years old.

The first one I picked up was Mariel of Redwall. I started reading at about 4pm, and kept right on reading until I finished it at 3am. One straight sitting.

 

[Fox12]

Harry Potter, since it was the first chapter book I read.

Haven't put one down since.

 

[Recusant]

Oh god this wall of text is just... ugh, my head, nooooo... it's going to explode, can't you make me a tl;dr version OP? That's discriminatory against short attention span people! God..

Anyway, I read the 7th Harry Potter in a day when it came out. I've never had an experience like that before, just reading a book from start to finish without stopping...

These two do not belong together. Reading a 200,000-word novel is a lot more demanding than reading a 571-word forum post.

I was around 10. I was also not allowed to bring it Grandma's since that was when that I read it the most. Grandma didn't liked it when I brought it to church since it was supposed to be family bonding time. She threatened to burn the book and my mom had to interfere.

In the spirit of fairness, all due credit to your grandmother for finding a semi-legitimate reason to threaten to burn a Harry Potter book.

The first book I couldn't put down was most likely one of my Doctor Seusses. I was three when I realized that if I wanted to be able to read, I'd have to wait until I was six and in school. Three years may not seem like much to an adult, but at the time it would've been waiting my whole life, all oven again! Not prepared to do that, I took my Seuss books (which I had long since memorized), sat down, and puzzled out what all the weird symbols meant. It took a couple of months, but I taught myself to read and haven't looked back since.

 

[Random Argument Man]

[

I was around 10. I was also not allowed to bring it Grandma's since that was when that I read it the most. Grandma didn't liked it when I brought it to church since it was supposed to be family bonding time. She threatened to burn the book and my mom had to interfere.

In the spirit of fairness, all due credit to your grandmother for finding a semi-legitimate reason to threaten to burn a Harry Potter book.

To be less fair, I really didn't liked church. I was one of the youngest in the family and she thought that I would love it unlike my very older cousins. There was still other stuff I did with my grandmother to bond.

Burning the book was upsetting since I was reading a good story and I could lose my Nintendo. (The latter was something that I dreaded at the time).

 

[FPLOON]

Playboy November 1968... Them articles, yo...

But seriously, it was The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby, the graphic novel made by the Captain Underpants characters of George Beard and Harold Hutchins... The meta was almost too much for my young mind to handle, which is a lie because the meta was just right... Not until I read anything from Lemony Snicket did I think this was the pinnacle of meta-reading for children...

Other than that, I do remember being very impatient in terms of waiting for the third book [and beyond] of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series... For being "forced" to read the first book with my two best friends in elementary school, it only took the second book in particular to make me go, for the first time ever, feel inpatient about waiting for a book to come out so that I can read it and discuss it with my best friends...

 

[Rylot]

I looked up at her when she asked "What are you doing?", clearly annoyed that I wasn't paying attention to the slide show. I looked up at her, and showed her the book, with a blank expression as if to say "I'm reading a book! We're in the library after all!" She was taken aback by that, and said something like "Oh...well, ok then." And just turned around and left. Even at that age, I recall thinking it was silly to get mad at me for reading a book in a library. The whole idea of the slideshow was to try and encourage us to read, well I already was doing that, so what's the problem? xD

Sorry it's a bit off topic but this reminded me of an experience I had in 7th grade (age 12 or 13) where because I'm disabled they stuck me in a bunch of remedial classes including reading. Long story short I got in trouble for reading in reading class. Constantly. I also really hated the teacher which didn't help. I'd had her daughter the year before as a teacher and hated her too. Well the school implemented a reading program because so many students were lagging behind where each book was assigned points due to difficulty and you had to accrue so many points. The teacher finally gave up on reprimanding me when I started reading 'The Three Musketeers' which was worth more points than I needed for that entire half of the year. For the second half of the year I read 'Mutiny on the Bounty'.

As for the actual books that I couldn't put down. Well I don't remember the exact one but before grade 2 I hated reading I thought of it only in terms of homework and boring things. Not sure how but I discovered some 'Power Rangers' books and was hooked from then on out. I couldn't tell you a damn thing about them now but that was the point where I really started reading all the time.

 

[davidmc1158_v1legacy]

The first book I really read through non-stop? For the first one that I read the entire thing in a single sitting, I think it was a collection of short stories by H. P. Lovecraft when I was 8 or 9 years old. Why are you looking at me like that? They were good stories.

There have been plenty of books since, though. I've been slowly building up a library for myself over the years.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Normally when I read, I read for hours.

But, there are a few books that I couldn't put down since I was enraptured by them.

The most recent was Clockwork Angels by Neil Peart. The story was so good, and it really tickled my imagination bone.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series was another one that I couldn't put down once I got really into it.

 

[RariShyZealot]

The Redwall books probably. I think I was reading those on an infinite loop for a few years when I was a kid, I fucking loved them. I picked one up the other day and I was a little confused as to why really, they're not fabulously written (was writing in the accents really necessary?). Probably the violence I imagine- they're surprisingly brutal for a children's book series. I remember the villain in one was slain by ramming his head against a wall, driving the teeth on his skull-helmet through his head.

Holy F***k.

Quick check: what are your views on MLP shipping? Who is your favorite Assassin? Is it Daud?

Because I think you might be me...


Slightly more on topic: Besides the Redwall Books, the first book I remember mainlining in a single day was the second Temeraire book, The Jade Throne. I brought it along when going up to out summer home, and read the whole thing in one day.

 

[Something Amyss]

The first book I remember reading cover to cover was The Sword of Shannara, but I'd already had a reputation as a voracious reader by that point at seven years old, so it no doubt wasn't the first. People were impressed that I finished a 700+ page book in a day.

This was obviously well before Harry Potter was a thing. A lot of the children's literature that were staples at that time were like 200 pages long.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series was another one that I couldn't put down once I got really into it.

I wasn't sure I'd like the book, so I listened to my mom's audio book. I think I listened to the last seven hours in one stretch. When I should have been sleeping.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

The first book I remember reading cover to cover was The Sword of Shannara, but I'd already had a reputation as a voracious reader by that point at seven years old, so it no doubt wasn't the first. People were impressed that I finished a 700+ page book in a day.

This was obviously well before Harry Potter was a thing. A lot of the children's literature that were staples at that time were like 200 pages long.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series was another one that I couldn't put down once I got really into it.

I wasn't sure I'd like the book, so I listened to my mom's audio book. I think I listened to the last seven hours in one stretch. When I should have been sleeping.

Once I got past the financial stuff I was hooked. That shit was super boring, and I don't care what format anyone engages that in, it was super dry.

I really can't get into audio books since I will judge the hell out of the person that is reading it. I tend to focus more on hearing the person rather than what they're actually saying. >.>

 

[Something Amyss]

Once I got past the financial stuff I was hooked. That shit was super boring, and I don't care what format anyone engages that in, it was super dry.

Yeah, no arguments.

I really can't get into audio books since I will judge the hell out of the person that is reading it. I tend to focus more on hearing the person rather than what they're actually saying. >.>

I've been listening to more audiobooks of late because it's a way to absorb books when my eyes are bothering me or my wrists are problematic. Still, bad performances will put me right off. Then again, a good narrator can make a book even better than it otherwise would be. I'm pretty sure the only reason Ivé made it through so many of the Jane Yellowrock books is that the narrator is somewhat above the pay grade of the books.

Still, I read most of my books, just because.

Though I did just get through listening to Bill Nye read his own book, and I just can't imagine not going for that route. But then, it's Bill Nye.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Once I got past the financial stuff I was hooked. That shit was super boring, and I don't care what format anyone engages that in, it was super dry.

Yeah, no arguments.

I really can't get into audio books since I will judge the hell out of the person that is reading it. I tend to focus more on hearing the person rather than what they're actually saying. >.>

I've been listening to more audiobooks of late because it's a way to absorb books when my eyes are bothering me or my wrists are problematic. Still, bad performances will put me right off. Then again, a good narrator can make a book even better than it otherwise would be. I'm pretty sure the only reason Ivé made it through so many of the Jane Yellowrock books is that the narrator is somewhat above the pay grade of the books.

Still, I read most of my books, just because.

Though I did just get through listening to Bill Nye read his own book, and I just can't imagine not going for that route. But then, it's Bill Nye.

I think it might have to do with that I create character voices and the way they act in my head, and if I hear someone narrating it then it kills that for me. However, there are a few narrators I wanna hear, like Neil Gaiman when he did the Graveyard book, since I hear he did a great job of it.

I just prefer reading on my own anyways. >.>

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

I think the first novel that really, truly got inside my head and said "Finish reading me, or I'll give you a stroke" was Bryce Courtney's "The Power of One". Honestly I should re-read it now because I'm certain I missed metric tons of subtext and historical ephemera that I didn't know about when I was 13 and would know about now.

 

[Something Amyss]

I think it might have to do with that I create character voices and the way they act in my head, and if I hear someone narrating it then it kills that for me. However, there are a few narrators I wanna hear, like Neil Gaiman when he did the Graveyard book, since I hear he did a great job of it.

I just prefer reading on my own anyways. >.>

Yeah, it's always sort of annoying when characters don't sound like you decided they sound. Which can be a problem with movie adaptations as well. It's easier to treat movies as separate entities, though.

I remember listening to one of the Harry Potter books when my mom drove me back from the hospital (it was a long drive), and thinking "God, these voices are awful."

Neil Gaiman I could listen to over and over again, though.