10 Books That Made Us Fall in Love With Reading

Most readers can pinpoint the book or books that made them fall in love with reading. It might be a childhood favourite, a classic, something they read in school, or something they found later in life.

So, here’s a list of the books that made us fall in love with reading:

Samantha’s Books

Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret by Judy Blume

I was gifted Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret for my twelfth birthday by my older cousin. Before I opened this book, I hated reading. Despised it. LOATHED IT. Really, what it really came down to was me not being exposed to the kind of books I liked. Here was a book about girls my age going through the same things I was going through. Honestly, I couldn’t put it down. The rest is really history. Judy Blume is my MVP.

P.S. I’ve gifted this book to all the girls in my family on their twelfth birthday. It was a hit every time.

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Hands down, this is my all-time favourite book and what made me fall in love with historical fiction. I have my mom to thank for this one, and my aunt. Growing up, period pieces were always playing and Gone With the Wind was one of them. Not to mention, mom had those fancy plates hanging up on the wall of scenes from the movie. One day in grade school, my mom sat me down and made me watch it. That’s all it took, folks. I could go on forever as to why I love this book, but we don’t have that kind of time. Let me know in the comments if you would be interested in blogs like that!

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Another one made possible because of my mom. She is a huge fan of Pride and Prejudice, but I don’t know if it’s because of Jane Austen or because of Colin Firth. Probably Colin Firth. Specifically, Colin Firth in a wet shirt. Anyways, after reading anything by Judy Blume that I could get my hands on, my parents quickly jumped on my new-found love of reading and started recommending “bigger” books. I guess I was getting through the middle grade books too fast. Books like Pride and Prejudice was something my mom already had lying around. So, I guess it worked out!

Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare

I read Romeo and Juliet when I was in grade eight. Again, this was soon after I started reading like a maniac. My parents and I happened to be in a bookstore when my dad decided to recommend books he read in high school. Shocking to no one who has been to high school, one of those books was Romeo and Juliet. Was I lost at times? Maybe a bit. Thankfully, I bought a book that had a ton of notes in it to help me get all the references that would have been over my head. I want to make a point of reading two more of Shakespeare’s plays this year.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Another recommendation courtesy of my dad. (I guess we can thank my family for all these books.) I’ve only read this twice and plan on revisiting the book after reading this blog. Having the main character be a young girl is what really did it for me. It’s a case of reading the right book at the right time. I am not sure I would have felt the same if I had read this book when I was older.

Amber’s Books

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Harry Potter is and always will be a series that owns a special place in my heart. To put it less eloquently, I am obsessed. I still remember when I first saw the first three Harry Potter books in one of those Scholastic book orders when I was 8. I ordered them immediately, but being too impatient went right to the library to get them. Being even more impatient, they didn’t have the first two books, so I read Prisoner of Azkaban first. This little reader was confused, but the book ended up being one of my favourites once it all made sense! Harry Potter was the spark that lit the fire of my love of fantasy and all things magic. I grew up with the books and will always love them for the place they had in my life.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

This series still has one of my all time favourite book characters, Dustfinger. The magic of this book captivated me from page one. It was gifted to me by my mother because she thought the cover looked cool. Thanks, Mom. As a young reader all I wanted to do was escape to the world of a book, and that is exactly what Maggie gets to do in this beautiful book. I connected with Meggie, I wanted to play with fire with Dustfinger, I wanted a pet like Gwin, and I wanted to open a book and disappear to the world within.

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

This was one of my favourite series growing up and still is to this day. I remember distinctly reading each and every book and falling in love with the story of the Baudelaire orphans. Not just that, but the writing in these books is something I will never forget. It was unique, it was clever, and it was fun. No author has ever made me feel the way Lemony Snicket did while reading these books.

Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene

Did young Amber want to be a girl detective who ran off with her best friends and solved mysteries? Yes, she did. My mom gave me her old Nancy Drew books when I was about 8 years old and it started a life long love of Nancy Drew. Yes, I just bought 17 more of her books this week because they were on sale…I do not have a book buying problem, I just love her books. To this day I love a good mystery and it all started with Nancy Drew.

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein

I read The Lord of the Rings when I was 12 and it really cemented for me how much I love high fantasy novels. Did 12 year old me skim through most of the scenes with Frodo and Sam like I do the movies, yes, but I still loved the world and the writing so much. I love intricate worlds with magical characters, unique places, talking trees, wise old wizards, and grand adventures. My love of Lord of the Rings is also why most of my family just calls my 5 foot nothing self Hobbit. As long as it means I get to eat second breakfast and elevensies, I’ll take the nickname. Alas, no one will ever do fantasy the way Tolkein did and I will never forget the first time I read these books.

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What are some books that first made you fall in love with reading?

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