NationStates Jolt Archive

Pretty straight forward. If you can't figure out the topic of this thread, go back to watching MTV.

My favourite books growing up were Redwall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redwall), Curse of the Viking Grave (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Curse_of_the_Viking_Grave), Bridge to Terebithia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_to_Terebithia), My Side of the Mountain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Side_of_the_Mountain), A bunch of stuff by Roald Dahl (Fantastic Mr. Fox comes to mind), and of course Harry Potter.

Atlas Shrugged and Lolita

also Japanese comic books like Doraemon

When I was younger, Animorphs was pretty badass. So was the Redwall series.

The Lord of the Rings. And 1984, though I didn't read that until around grade 8 or 9 (I know, I was way to young for it). These two are still my favorites.

Also, Redwall (though I grew out of it), Narnia, and Harry Potter.

Marguerite Henry books like Misty of Chincoteague, my dad's sci fi books and magazines, Gone With the Wind - I read anything I could find. When I was 11, I read a book called the Well of Loneliness that my father had hidden in the storage closet (If you don't want your kids to read something, don't hide it) - at the time I had no idea what it was about, it just seemed a strange story about an English girl who had a crush on the upstairs maid and who later drove an ambulance during WWI - I learned later that it was about lesbianism.

Gods, Misty of Chincoteague! I loved those stories. Also, The Black Stallion. I was big into horses when I was a kid. I also loved anything related to fairy tales and myths, and I enjoyed some of the Nancy Drew mysteries.

Pinkwater's books, especially Fat Men From Space.

Heaps!
My Side of the Mountain
Where the Red Fern Grows
The Mouse and the Motorcycle
The Fudge books
E.B. White's Charlotte's Web, The Trumpet of the Swan, and Stuart Little
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
the Alvin Fernald books
The Hardy Boys
The Choose Your Own Adventure books
The Little House books
Willard Price's "Adventure" series
Slake's Limbo
King of the Wind

I had a lot of favourites, but these are the ones I can think of off the top of my head:

The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wonderful_Flight_to_the_Mushroom_Planet)
the Wrinkle in Time (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrinkle_in_time) books
Island of the Blue Dolphins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_of_the_Blue_Dolphins)
The Indian in the Cupboard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_in_the_Cupboard) series
the Little House on the Prairie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_House_On_The_Prairie) books
Caddie Woodlawn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caddie_Woodlawn)
Misty of Chincoteague (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misty_of_Chincoteague) (really anything by Marguerite Henry)
the Encyclopedia Brown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia_brown) books
The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek (http://www.amazon.com/Shy-Stegosaurus-Cricket-Creek/dp/1930900090)

When I was younger, Animorphs was pretty badass. So was the Redwall series.

Me too. I was so into Redwall when I was a kid, it made reading this (http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/bargain-book-bin-3.php) today that much more hilarious.

I had a lot of favourites, but these are the ones I can think of off the top of my head:
Island of the Blue Dolphins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_of_the_Blue_Dolphins)

That book is terrible for so many reasons.

When I was younger, Animorphs was pretty badass.

I have 53 of the 64 books. Apparently the complete collection goes for US$300 on Ebay or something close. Individual books go for a buck or so. I need to start filling in my collection so I can pass them along to my kids someday.

Most of the Redwall series (Read about 15 or so), some Animorphs, lot of Roald Dahl stuff.

I have 53 of the 64 books. Apparently the complete collection goes for US$300 on Ebay or something close. Individual books go for a buck or so. I need to start filling in my collection so I can pass them along to my kids someday.

I really wish it had been shorter (when I was a kid, I HAD to buy each one), about half of them were just filler with throwaway plots. The ending was pretty good though.

The Choose Your Own Adventure books



The Indian in the Cupboard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_in_the_Cupboard) series

I forgot about those ones.

So was the Redwall series.QFT, I read all of them up to Triss (one after that too, Loamhedge) Also:

Tintin
Asterix
Lots of fantasy authors like Tamora Pierce, Patricia Wrede etc
Choose your own adventure
Island of the blue dolphins
A lot of short stories and books by Asimov
Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders and Talent series
Keith Laumer's Bolo series
Virtually all of the Star Wars novels in existence (except for the lame kid ones, but even a few of those)
Dune series
Lord of the Rings / Silmarillion / Unfinished Tales, etc - Tolkien (yes, I did read those when I was 12)
Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
Massive amounts of hard scifi from authors like Bear, Baxter, Benford, Clarke, Alistair Reynolds, etc

Hitchiker's Guide
Asimov's Foundation books
The Shannara series
Choose Your Own Adventures

The Hardy Boys

The Adventures of Robin Hood

Where The Red Fern Grows

And then, when I was thirteen, I bought P.J. O'Rourke's Republican Party Reptile and Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers from a library sale for a grand total of 50 cents(hah hah, you overpaid by 49 cents. There, I did it so you don't have to)and they both completely rocked my world.

How young are we talking about?

Before grade 3 I was into Pony Pals, Animorphs, Roald Dahl, The Butterfly Lion
and Nancy Drew
Then I started reading more (because of Watership Down, which is still my favourite book) and got into Harry Potter, Arthur and the Seeing Stone, The Sight, The Fire Bringer and Series of Unfortunate Events
Then on my 12th birthday my aunt got me To Kill A Mockingbird which I read followed by Stephen King, Brave New World, Orson Scott Card and Orwell's stuff.

For the next couple of years I was absolutely convinced that I had read everything in the world worth reading and that I was perfectly educated in all literate work by reading those few books. I got over that very quickly.

How young are we talking about?

You decide

I went with before High School.

Treasure Island

Most of the Redwall series (Read about 15 or so), some Animorphs, lot of Roald Dahl stuff.
Pretty much the same with me. I apparently stopped at 13, (Lord Brocktree is the last one mentioned on wikipedia that I remember reading). Based upon my amazing math skills, that means I read Redwall until about 13.
I don't remember how many Animorphs books I read, but apparently not that many because I had no idea there was an actual story arc that ended.

I also read Goosebumps, and remember 5 or 6 good ones.

Clan of the Cave Bear and Ender's Game are really the only two I can remember from my younger years.

EDIT: Oh, I remember more! A Wrinkle In Time and that series, the Chronicles of Narnia (but only up to, like, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader).

Lord of the Rings and Animorphs really did it for me

Ohh! I forgot all about Goosebumps! I was really into those books back in like grade 4 or 5.

A lot of the stuff I read has already been mentioned. I also loved White Fang by Jack London, The Cat Club series by Esther Averill, Dear Mr. Henshaw, The Limerick Trick, and USS Enterprise: The Most Decorated Ship in World War II.

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin.

You (most probably) wouldn't know them, and you (equally likely) couldn't read them, so why bother posting them?

Pretty straight forward. If you can't figure out the topic of this thread, go back to watching MTV.

Holy shit, you were "growing up" when Harry Potter appeared. :( I'm positively feeling old.

Anyway, my favourites were:
The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion
Almost anything by Jules Verne
The "Corsairs" and the "Malaysian" cycles by Emilio Salgari
1984 and Animals' Farm
Anything by Isaac Asimov
The tales of the Grimms' and of Rodari's
Ludovico Ariosto's and Torquato Tasso's works
Dante Alighieri's Comedy
Moby Dick
Hemingway's Farewell to Arms
a lot of Agatha Christie's
and Wodehouse.

The Keys to The Kingdom Series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Keys_to_the_Kingdom)by Garth Nix

Great stuff.

I really liked Ken Kesey when I was about 12 and 13. His One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest filled me with a yearning for a more just society and sparked an interest in radical political literature. I am spiritually indebted to the postmodern literature of the 1960s. It also inspired me to take acid.

I really liked The Crystal Cave although I didn't really read much until I was about 14, when I read The Magus by John Fowles, and began reading everything in sight.

Ay! "Le Petit Prince", by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Me too. I was so into Redwall when I was a kid, it made reading this (http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/bargain-book-bin-3.php) today that much more hilarious.

:D Thanks for that.

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin.

That was good, did you read others in the series?

I read quite a lot of Pratchett (still do), and some Willard Price. After about 15 I read a lot of sci-fi stuff: Rama, Dune; though I only read the Ender series last year!

I really wish it had been shorter (when I was a kid, I HAD to buy each one), about half of them were just filler with throwaway plots. The ending was pretty good though.

Even the filler books were good, though. Except for when she was running out of ideas in the late 30s early 40s. The one with Rachael and Crayak and David all having a trippy pow-wow was a bit odd, for example. 41 is weird...The Illusion and The Prophecy were also trippy. And I never really liked how KA fucked with Tobias in The Illusion...

The Keys to The Kingdom Series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Keys_to_the_Kingdom)by Garth Nix

Great stuff.I recently read those based on the fact that the author is the same for Sabriel, one of my favorite fantasy books ever. I can't believe I forgot that one...

I recently read those based on the fact that the author is the same for Sabriel, one of my favorite fantasy books ever. I can't believe I forgot that one...

I like Lirael and Abhorsen. Garth Nix is amazing.

Redwall series
Where the red fern grows
Bridge to Teribithia
The Phantom Tollbooth
Where the Sidewalk Ends
Harry Potter
Golden Compass (and the other 2)
and some others that I'll facepalm myself for after reading your lists.

LOTR and dragon lance (first 3 none of that other dribble)

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler ...
Wrinkle in Time - gradeschool
The Outsiders - middle school
Dune, the Hobbit, Shogun, The "Darkover" Series by Marion Zimmer Bradley.- highschool


I was also an avid reader of Stephen King and another still-popular mystery writer whose name I no longer remember.
In truth, I read so much, (average a book a week, every year) I don't remember what all I've read. Oddly, I rarely read "kids' books" Does anyone remember the "Flowers in the Attic" series??? Child abuse, incest, murder... and they were marketed to teens!!!

too much to list.

but to describe my childhood... when the family went shopping, I went to the local bookstore and camped out at the sci-fic/fantasy area and waited till they were done.

I miss the little corner I would sit while waiting. I remember the staff being good natured about this kid who would read in the corner of their store.

Gods, Misty of Chincoteague! I loved those stories. Also, The Black Stallion. I was big into horses when I was a kid. I also loved anything related to fairy tales and myths, and I enjoyed some of the Nancy Drew mysteries.
Regarding age groups:

The above are what I was reading, oh, say, up to about grade 4. After that, I got very into classic horror -- Lovecraft, Blackwood, James, Benson, Le Fanu, etc. -- and classic detective fiction -- everything from Christie to Hammet.

I never did get into the classic youth adventure authors like Stevenson and Kipling until I was much older, and even then, I like their style more than their specific stories. And I always had a strong aversion to any book that I was made to read in school. I think that may have had to do with the teachers more than the books, but I do know that I had to work hard to overcome, for instance, a deep hatred of Steinbeck based on being forced to read that piece of shit story "The Red Pony" more than four times in four different grades -- just pick the single worst thing a writer ever did and make that a child's introduction to his work -- great plan.

In high school, I was all about P.G. Wodehouse and modern Eastern European authors who were hitting the US market on the eve of glasnost. Some of the Czechs I discovered that way are still among my favorite writers.

too much to list.

but to describe my childhood... when the family went shopping, I went to the local bookstore and camped out at the sci-fic/fantasy area and waited till they were done.

I miss the little corner I would sit while waiting. I remember the staff being good natured about this kid who would read in the corner of their store.
I was in the other corner! :)

I love books. Always have. I always loved getting books for Christmas and my birthday. They're still my favorite kind of present.

Feed... I can't remember who it was by. First read that when I was 12.

Then I got into your usual dystopian political prophecy stuff like 1984 and Brave New World, when I was 13 - 14.

I gave up reading after that. Wikipedia's far more entertaining and does all the analytical thinking for you.

Feed... I can't remember who it was by. First read that when I was 12.

M. T. Anderson. Meh. I read it recently for a class and I found him to be too heavy-handed with the points he was trying to make. It wasn't bad, I just felt like I was being beaten with pedagogy in the back of the head the entire time.

Regarding age groups:

The above are what I was reading, oh, say, up to about grade 4. After that, I got very into classic horror -- Lovecraft, Blackwood, James, Benson, Le Fanu, etc. -- and classic detective fiction -- everything from Christie to Hammet.

I never did get into the classic youth adventure authors like Stevenson and Kipling until I was much older, and even then, I like their style more than their specific stories. And I always had a strong aversion to any book that I was made to read in school. I think that may have had to do with the teachers more than the books, but I do know that I had to work hard to overcome, for instance, a deep hatred of Steinbeck based on being forced to read that piece of shit story "The Red Pony" more than four times in four different grades -- just pick the single worst thing a writer ever did and make that a child's introduction to his work -- great plan.

In high school, I was all about P.G. Wodehouse and modern Eastern European authors who were hitting the US market on the eve of glasnost. Some of the Czechs I discovered that way are still among my favorite writers.

Heh. Steinbeck for you, Hemingway for me. I had an awful high school teacher who way over did the analysis and emphasised the Xian symbolism in The Old Man and the Sea. Then in college I had a decent prof who covered Snows of Kilamanjaro... :eek: Hemingway wasn't some boring, heavy handed Xian allegorist???

M. T. Anderson. Meh. I read it recently for a class and I found him to be too heavy-handed with the points he was trying to make. It wasn't bad, I just felt like I was being beaten with pedagogy in the back of the head the entire time.


I'm just happy that my computer remains outside of my cranium for the time being, or I would've died several years ago.

Anything by Rafael Sabatini or Edgar Allan Poe.

I was in the other corner! :)

I love books. Always have. I always loved getting books for Christmas and my birthday. They're still my favorite kind of present.

Then you obviously have not been given this:






















http://home.earthlink.net/~stevesphotos03/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/limbaugh_sitys.jpg

...yet. :D

Hemingway wasn't some boring, heavy handed Xian allegorist???

No, just boring. :tongue: Actually, I am very fond of some of his writing, but I also see a lot of it as overrated.

Narnia, Discworld, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy that sort of thing....

Pretty much the same with me. I apparently stopped at 13, (Lord Brocktree is the last one mentioned on wikipedia that I remember reading). Based upon my amazing math skills, that means I read Redwall until about 13.
I don't remember how many Animorphs books I read, but apparently not that many because I had no idea there was an actual story arc that ended.

I also read Goosebumps, and remember 5 or 6 good ones.

Wow, a lot of us read the same stuff. I read Narnia too, and I never actually got the symbolism till someone spelled it out for me (i.e. Calormens are EVIL ARABS!)

I'm just happy that my computer remains outside of my cranium for the time being, or I would've died several years ago.

I would be significantly less bored in several of my classes.

I also want to ask Anderson why not a single person in the universe of his book ever thought to create pop-up blockers, anti-virus programs, or IP-masking proxies.

:D Thanks for that.



That was good, did you read others in the series?

I read quite a lot of Pratchett (still do), and some Willard Price. After about 15 I read a lot of sci-fi stuff: Rama, Dune; though I only read the Ender series last year!

Yep, but I always liked Wizard best.

The The Weird Stone of Brasingamen series, the first 3 Harry Potter books and earlier in my youth, The Misfortunes of Captain Cadaverous and the Roald Dahl books.

The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper was a favorite. I had many.