dunno how old i was and it obviously wasn’t the first time i’d read but i believe my brain turned on to make a memory of gleefully poring over a kid fantasy for a reason— stories opened the world for me even as a little’un
Aug 3, 2024
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so i can’t tell you exactly what kicked that off for me. i will say, what exacerbated it was seeing a girl in my second grade gifted and talented class reading harry potter and the goblet of fire and i was jealous bc the book was thick as hell and we were only 7!! so i started the series out of spite so i could get to the fifth book before she did.
becuase i read so many books as a child, i would say they’re All formative to me in some way. but when i saw this ask, the first book i thought of was “the miraculous journey of edward tulane”… this may sound sad but it was the first book i remember ever making me cry. i didn’t know you could be connected to a book like that until then, so i think of it warmly and fondly. it’s like wow there really are new worlds and beating hearts between pages…
(i also remember reading another book that made me cry when i was slightly older. it was about a girl without a shadow who had some sort of cat familiar that followed her around. i remember fighting tears so hard but also can’t remember the title for the life of me.)
(a series of unfortunate events had me hooked too. i think i was into some pretty somber stuff loool).
2d ago
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I remember Where the Wild Things Are and other art books the most. Reading The Hobbit when I did (9 or 10?) was pretty important to me. A good mix of adventure. I learned to use a dictionary really well because I had never seen many of the words in the book. Growing up in rural eastern Kentucky coal fields I didn't get a lot of help from the adults around me in that regard. I also still remember the feeling of tension and fear in the scenes with the ogres and Gollum having some comedic elements here and there to make being a little afraid fun.
Then I probably got into fantasy novels well above my age shortly after. lol Piers Anthony made several of his books anatomy lessons.
2d ago
as i was reminiscing about book of my youth, i uncovered another buried memory.
due to growing up poor circumstances, i was constantly getting free books from different programs as a kid.
i remember when i was around 13? maybe 14? one of these books i received was “primavera” by francesca lia block. i think an older lady chose it for me based on the cover alone because i should NOT have been reading this at that age. it was a fantasy which excited me, but i soon realized it dealt with heavy themes and a lot of erotic elements that i didn’t truly understand. but the entire story remains vivid yet distant in my memory.
i think i'm gonna take the plunge and read it again 13 years later. i remember the settings and prose being sooo vibrant and beautiful and i wonder if i would have newfound appreciation for it as an adult.
i still love the cover and wish i still had my copy. but i think i quickly got rid of it after the big “what the fuck?” i felt when i finished it. i def thought my mom would find it and lock me in a dungeon for being a freak bc i slightly enjoyed it even when i was confused.
2d ago
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