Goooood evening, fellow bookworms. (Or morning. Or afternoon. Whatever floats your boat. Or whatever time zone your boat’s in. That’d be cool if you’re really IN a boat. Are you?? Let me know!) Well, that was an odd way to start a post, but here goes nothing.
HOW DID YOU BECOME A BOOKWORM? I’m dying to know. It’s different for everybody, and I’d love to know the story. After all, I do love stories.
I’ve heard a few of them – some bloggers (hi, Izel!) have only become a bookworm in the past few years (which I think is amazing because newbie bookworms are WELCOME. I hope to someday convert someone and bring them to the bright side. Mwahahahaha.) and others have been bookworms their whole lives. I fall in the latter category.
I’ve been reading for…. forever.
Wait, scratch that. I’ve been fond of stories for forever. Before I could “read,” I’d look in my picture books and make up stories to go along with them. And I always loved an audience. By the time I was three or four, I had some of my favorites memorized. (If You Give a Pig a Pancake and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? were the very start.)
I think most of the credit belongs to my parents. They’re both readers and great writers (in fact, when my dad was twelve or thirteen, he began a story about an orphaned boy in the 1920s, which he still has!), so they instilled a love of writing in me from a very young age. The rest of my family caught on quickly. I have loads of pictures from baby albums of birthday presents – clothes, toys, and – guess! – BOOKS! I still have many of the picture books I was given.
In kindergarten, it was Junie B. Jones. In 1st grade, I loved Cam Jansen. In 2nd, the Boxcar Children was all the rage – and any American Girl book I could get my hands on. (My mom started me out on Kit Kittredge, and so began my love for historical fiction.) By 3rd grade, I loved any Middle Grade book I was given. I remember getting The Main Street series by Ann M. Martin at the time, and that was when I discovered one of my favorite authors! Eventually I met the lovely Nancy Drew, the baby sitters club, all of Wendy’s Mass’ books… I was hooked on books.
In sixth grade, I began my blog. From there I started reading books I’d never have picked up otherwise. (The Selection, Stargirl, The Ascendance Trilogy… and many others!) Right now, I’m fixing to read a book about a futuristic world where a cyborg falls in love with a prince – a year ago, I’d have taken one fleeting glance at that book and walked away. Buuuut Brooke, Izel, and Madi are practically virtually on top of me to read it, so read it I MUST!
So that’s the small story of my bookworm life. Along with reading, I naturally took a liking to writing, and I’ve never really found anything else I loved as much. Sure; I have other hobbies. (Well… not many… piano, sewing, and flipping out over various TV characters is basically it) but I know my passion and I see my future clearly. Whatever I do, I always want to be surrounded my books.
how did YOU become a bookworm?! really! i need to know! did a friend get you into books? did your family? by yourself? a particular author or book? tell me below.
Hi!! *waves*
I remember “brown bear”!! One of my favorite picture books was called “I ain’t gonna paint no more!” In second grade I like the magic tree house books and the juni b books, in third grade I liked the Emily windsnap and phillipa fisher series and like you, I LOVED the american girls!! I don’t like the knew ones anymore…there are way to many the original ones for me where Josephina, Molly, Samantha, Felicity, and Addy.
In 5th and 6th grade I don’t think I read much but in 7th I started on the MDBC books and it only picked up from there!!
*new
Hi, Izel! *waves back*
I think “I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More” rings a bell. Although – sorry if I wig you out with the grammar police over here – I hate the title for little kids. XD It sounds cute though!
Ah yes, Magic Tree House and Junie B. Jones. The Hunger Games of the little kids. Plus they’re both series that really never go out of style. 🙂
Oh, I know. I’m not crazy about the new ones, but I would still like to read them. I own about a hundred AG books though! (Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but I do own a ton!)
Yesss MDBC fans unite. Forever and always a book club gal. 😉
Great post Emily! I was so excited to see it in my inbox. By the way little you is so.adorable!
I’ve always liked books but I really got into them after my 9th birthday. My oldest brother got me the first Harry Potter book and my reading increased from there. Also that’s where my love of.famtasy began. Before then I was reading American Girl and Magic Tree House and books like that. And after I finished Harry Potter I was exposed to a whole new world of famtsybooks! My oldest brother bought me the Inheritance trilogy, the Eue of Worlds series, and The Giver. I was hooked. I started going to the library weekly and reading. Reading reading. I also discovered contemporary and re discovered historical fiction. I read anything from Wendy Mass to the royal diaries series to the Giver quartet. When I discovered blogs (manly yours) I started picking up books I would neber normally readd such as the selection :).
YES! You must read Cinder. Its awesomenest is beyond all reason.
Oops I should really have read that comment before I posted it….. I meant Eye of Worlds series. And there are so many random erorrs….
But on another point isn’t my older so awesome!?!
Aww, thanks Brookeworm. 😉 Oh, please tell me somethin’ I don’t know. (I kid, I kid!) But really, I was, wasn’t I? XD
I bet so. I think everyone has that one book that opens them up to everything else. I can’t exactly put my finger on which one that was for me; I just say it was book blogging that exposed me to more sci-fi and YA books in general.
OMG I KNOOOOW. I especially wished I’ve read it when I saw Winter out early. That was so. cool.
Oh that’s okay. I get so excited typing I make tons of typos. lol.
Haha, I loved Cinder (Though I found out that Marissa Meyer writes some content I’m not a fan of…) I can’t wait for you to read it!! 🙂
I don’t remember if I was a fan of books when I was a toddler, but I know that when I was in Kindergarten I wanted to read so bad, and as soon as I learned I read everything I could. I’ve been a bookworm since then for sure!
Great post Emily! 🙂 <3
OH and the Hardy Boy books helped me fall in love with reading, a friend of mine read them and back then I wanted to be just like him (he was my role model when I was 6 and he was 8/9) And so I started reading them and LOVED them! They’re not that great, cliche and repetitive, but I loved them anyway 🙂
I liked the so much that my librarian friend, as soon as I walked in to drop off a book and pick up another she’d be like “I ordered the next book in the series for you” x) I <3 Librarians 🙂
Ooh, can’t wait to read it. Hmm… I hope I still enjoy it. I’m fairly certain it won’t bother me too much though. I’m stoked to read The Lunar Chronicles!!
Aww that’s so sweet. Little kids who are eager to read are my absolute favorite. I don’t think I was crazy-excited to learn to read, but once I did I grabbed onto it and loved it!
Awwww Maddiiiiii. Squeal! You sounded like such a cute little kid. My best friend in the 3rd grade loved the Hardy Boys, but I was a Nancy Drew girl myself. I feel the same way, but I’d still read a Nancy Drew book today for reminiscing. 🙂 Oh, to be a young bookworm again. XD
I’ve loved books for as long as I can remember. My first book was Goodnight Moon, and I just remember it being a whirlwind from there. American Girl Doll is the best! I still read some of the books when I have little time.
Also, you should totally read Cinder! Now I’m on top of you too. (Except I have that some of it it is, let’s just say, WEIRD)
I haven’t reveled my age on my blog yet, but I will say that I am a little around the age you were when you started FBR.
Oh, I do remember Goodnight Moon! Such a classic.
Same here. I really want to read the new American Girl books; even though I’ll always love the older ones the best.
OOOOHHHHH MY GERSH I KNOW RIGHT?! I need to so bad. And I’ve said that so often now it’s just not funny.
On a completely unrelated note; have you sent in your questions for the Christmas gift swap yet? Can’t wait to get started! 🙂
My mom was constantly reading to me when I was little. Or she’d be reading one of her books aloud. Anyhow, when I wasn’t pushing a book onto her, I was attempting to read a book myself. One of my favorites was Shine, Sun! I had read all the Henry and Mudge books by three and have been reading avidly ever since. 🙂
I don’t really remember how I started to love writing. I remember some of the first stories I wrote, though. I’d much rather forget about them. (Come on! First they put the gifts under the tree, then they go up to their room to get them back again! -headdesks-)
-Charlotte