My teacher read the Phantom Tollbooth to the class when I was in whenever school and I loved it. I reread it on my own as a kid and read it again as an adult and read it again to my kids. Such a good book.
I love the reminder to share books with younger people 💕 although I think I stumbled across most of my most formative books in the library. So maybe also just take a kid to the library 😄
I didn't read LOTR until much later - almost 27 years old I think! But that for SURE is in my list of adult books that have changed my brain. I thought it was going to be overrated and then I was schooled lol
@Bookborn I finally gave myself permission to simply read chapter 1 and maybe afterward read the endless intros and just dive right in and not be so completist with the pages. Besides, it is a very tiny bit of a slow burn start itself, the story chapter. 📖 👁 💍 🔥 🌋!
I think the book that changed my brain when I was a kid was treasure Island by Stevenson (read it in french, listened to it from a tape in french like EVERY NIGHT). Then His Dark Materials... This book made me feel way less lonely as I grew up as a massive outcast that was "too nerdy and too ugly" and thinking about a friend like Pandalemon was just making me SO HAPPY. And of course, my most prized book that changed the way I looked at reading was The Three Musketeers. I have hyperlexia and my mom was like... maybe try this if you like adventures and more complexe books. AND DAMN... That's a truely perfect adventure book. Dumas is SO AMAZING.
I never read the 3 musketeers, but I'm a huge fan of the Count of Monte Cristo, one of the author's other novels. Do you think those books hold up today?
@@Briaaanz Definitely. Dumas is my favourite author and i absolutely adore the three musketeers and treasure island. Together with Jules Verne's extraordinary voyages novels they shaped my reading habit since i was a kid. Adventure is still my favourite book genre.
I have a feeling he talked to enough kids that one 23 years ago probably wouldn't make a difference 😭but it would be a fun serendipitous moment if it happened
Jumping on the Terry Pratchett train but Witches Abroad!! My older sister was already reading his books and so I read this one when I was 7 and was forever changed. 😱 There was also a kids book called The Enchanted Horse that is not so easily found that changed my brain. I remember I had the Ace of Base cd playing when I read it and now those songs always bring me back to the intense feelings I had from that book.
You read Pratchett at 7?? LUCKY YOU! I only wish. Although his first book I read, Color of Magic, would def go on my list of books I read as an adult that changed my brain. Also, ACE OF BASE. What a throw back.
That was such an amazing list! I hadn't heard of some of them, but then again, school reads generally vary from country to country. However, you did touch some great points - I also find that some books that were recommended really marked what I like on books. And it was fun to watch, while mentally doing the "tag" with me own faves! Great video!
The chronicles of Vladimir Tod got me into reading when I was in Jr. High, it was just eye opening that a kid (well teenager I guess) could have to deal with the things he was dealing with and still expected to be a normal kid to my 13 year old brain. I also really like vampires and this cemented that. American Gods was my real entry to adult fantasy and again I was blown away by the stakes being put on one guy to have to deal with forces so far out of his control and just how well the "villain" characters were coming across to the main character that it wasn't black and white like I was used to from young adult books.
LES MISERABLES by Victor Hugo is my favorite novel of all time, and I first read it when it turned 24. Even though I already loved reading before then, this was probably the book that made me realize how much I could love classic literature.
You're gonna be a whole dork about this but quite literally nothing has impacted me the way A Game of Thrones did. There is just Kyle BT and Kyle AT (Before Thrones/After Thrones). Any other book is just wallowing in the shade that ASOIAF put over my life
Hemingway's short stories are great stuff, I've heard a lot of fan narrations of Hills Like White Elephants. Phantom Tollbooth is such a cool book, and I couldn't avoid Harry Potter growing up. Yes i was in the midnight lines at Walmart for the books 😂 I shower my nephews in books so they many different ones on hand of the inspiration should strike them. Some pivotal books for me at different ages: Prydain, Fahrenheit 451, War and Peace.
Fahrenheit 451 is a great one. I also was in midnight lines for the books lmao but it was at a local bookstore that threw a little party. Some of my fondest memories! I REALLY need something to get giant again so that my kids can experience that.
The Phantom Tollbooth is still an all time favorite of mine. As a child I love the language, and seeing how words could be used and flipped and made funny. I loved the travel aspect and the characters. As an adult I realized how brilliant it was. How the plays on words are used to instill valuable life lessons. I’ve listened to the audiobook several times now and I will never stop trying to force people to read it. 😂
This was such an interesting video and NOT at all too long!! I loved your rambling on these books that influenced you so. Also exceedingly jealous you got a genuine 1988-version (haha, that made me laugh) of Harry Potter all the way from England. What. When I moved to the UK for a few years, I picked up British copies of HP, but this was back in 2012 so they were of course not the early ones. I had not read most of the books you mentioned here (shocking!), of course have read HP and EotW. Love the Powell's shout-out (that's such a cool store!!). As I think on my own past, I feel as if I could mention so many books that I loved and read again and again (my mom took me and my sisters to the library every 3 weeks, we were allowed to pick out 10 books each!). One of the early ones that I remember loving (and I really need to find again as it's stuck in my mind) was a book called "Adam of the Road", a book about a young boy in medieval England who gets separated from his dad and has adventures I think? Loved that book and really made me think about storytelling. The books that probably influenced me the most was the Wrinkle trilogy by L'Engle. We had our mom's copies growing up and I read those again and again - definitely my entrance into the sci-fi/fantasy world. Apart from still being some of my favorite books of all time, they influenced me immeasurably in both what fiction I enjoy as well as my own writing style. My poems/stories have a marked resemblance to L'Engle's style (as I've been told by family/friends...very much take this as a compliment!!). Enjoyed this one heartily - thank you for allowing us a little glimpse into your past...
Yes, did you not know that I was able to get a Harry Potter book about ten years before it was released?? 🤪 I love that we all have some random book that nobody has ever heard of as a favorite. It really is a testament to the power of libraries and just "finding" a book among the shelf. I don't do that nearly enough now that I tend to only read recommendations. I think I need to go back to the library soon and just pick something completely random off a shelf that I've never seen or heard of before. Wrinkle in Time is a great book, but I somehow never read any of the others. Maybe I need to go back and fix that now
@@Bookborn if you read the next two (Wind in Door and Swiftly Tilting Planet), would definitely love to know what you think! All these books are freaking *weird* but also beautiful and just do a wonderful mix of the extraordinary and the mundane and I love them.
It's interesting because like you I was 16/17 when the final Harry Potter book released, but I never actually read any of them until I was about 23 and got all the audiobooks as a diversion when I was spending days on my own in an engineering lab doing my Masters project. As such, while I enjoyed them I don't have the same attachment as a lot of folk I know. My teen years were spent reading the Alex Rider series, Doctor Who novels, a smattering of fantasy (particularly Sword & Sorcery and gamebooks) and A LOT of detective fiction. Not the most intellectual of tastes but I very much read for fun rather than to "expand my knowledge". 😅
I think reading for fun is the only way to read, sorry not sorry. Even books you read for fun expand your knowledge and change who you are. None of the books I've mentioned were intellectual... doesn't matter!
I LOVE Special Topics in Calamity Physics. It’s actually on my reread TBR for this year. I rarely run into other SFF readers who have read it but it was pretty popular among litfic readers and I initially picked it up during a litfic phase. (So glad to be back in SFF now!)
Love this!!! I read Harry Potter back in the day of course and I’ve always loved fantasy but for me the most impactful book was city of bones by Cassandra Clare. I always loved supernatural the tv show but was always sad there were never any lgbt characters, then I read city of bones and all the other books because I was finally reading my favorite type of book just with characters like myself. I’m so glad to be in an age where we have so much representation in books
Harry Potter for sure was one of my most influential books too! I was deeply affected by a lot of what I read in high school: Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, The Stranger by Camus, the Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway, Pedro Paramo by Rulfo, Hopscotch by Cortazar, all the Borges books (which is probably what got me into fantasy), and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
I was eight when I read Huckleberry Finn and Tarzan of the Apes. They were the first two with more adult themes. I also remember The Time Machine from around that time and Journey to the Center of the Earth. I would read anything back then. Just devouring things.
Other influential books: Benjamin Franklin's autobiography. Read it in high school and his description of how he tried to be a virtuous man (an early self help book really) had me think about the person I wanted to be and reinvent my high school self. Did it work? Meh... but it did help me think about a lot of who I wanted to become, why, and also let me attempt to experiment with being popular, etc. My Side of the Mountain. I probably would've loved camping/backpacking/etc without it, but wow, I loved that book. As an adult, I found out it has sequels... but nothing compares to that first novel and reading it as a child.
I read the Hobbit in middle school and even though the LOTR moviesnhad only just come out a year or two before it just sucked me in and helped me see how cool fantasy was. I loved the Harry Potter books and two or three movies that were out by that point, but for some reason I never thought of it as fitting in the fantasy genre until high school. The other that comes to mind followed a dark time in my life unfortunately, I got extremely sick, had some close brushes with death and lost a lot in my life. The upbeat hopeful stuff of my youth just wasn't connecting with me during that time. Then I picked up Game of Thrones and it's grim tone resonated with where I was at and was oddly therapeutic. Im glad to be in a better headspace now, but that period and book broadened my horizons and have definitely gotten me to read adult fantasy I likely wouldn't have been interested in before.
Probably the most important/influential book for me was JRR Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring. I was in remedial classes all thru elementary school (long unfair story as to why involving a crappy kindergartner teacher, my bday, allergies, school fair, and a failed placement test), including the bottom tier English class. Anyway, the teacher came up to me and asked what I was reading. I showed her first LOTR book. I thought I was in trouble for reading that instead of the boring assigned reading. "Do you understand it?" "Um... yeah, but it's not the first time I've read it". She had me moved to advanced classes the same day. If it hadn't been for that teacher and that book, I wonder how long I would've been trapped in the remedial classes (which had already been almost my entire time in elementary school).
Harry Potter was pivotal for me as well, though I was a HS Junior. I hated fantasy and stuck my nose up at it.🙊 Forced to read The Odyssey in 8th grade was torture. Because HP was so popular I was refusing to read it until I saw the first movie trailer when I was a junior. It peaked my interest and I immediately picked it up...... and became obsessed.😆 I haven't read any of these other books except The Wheel of Time which I started in spring 2004 and my mind was consistently blown with almost every book. I loved the "slog". As incredible as other fantasy series are now like Stormlight Archive I don't think any series will be able to top the mind blowing affect HP and WoT had on me in my early fantasy years.
Agreed Alicia, something about the early fantasy books you read seem to have a bigger impact. Its because of that, that even when people point out real flaws in HP or WOT, I just don't care. I can't care! They mean too much to me.
This video was not too long. I love to hear you talk about books that influenced you because the enthusiasm is infectious. I’m not much of a fantasy reader, have only read two of the authors mentioned (Rowling and Hemingway), but it’s the way you talk about books and writing that makes your videos so interesting. Would love to hear more about your intellectual journey. I know that fantasy here is your bread and butter, but what about other books that have affected you? Ever read Rachel Carson or Tracy Kidder or any of the numerous books on Alan Turing? You seem like the sort of person who would know about stuff like this. Anyhow, thanks a bunch and keep the videos coming
A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L'Engle. The Hobbit, (etc). Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card. Radix, by A. A. Attanasio. Xenogenesis, by Octavia Butler. The Catswold Portal, by Shirley Rousseau Murphy. The Enemy Papers, by Barry Longyear. The Steerswoman, by Rosemary Kirstein. bonus, Brandon Graham's run on Prophet, by Image Comics.
Dragonlance at first, and then The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, and then The Sandman, and then Sapiens, and then Malazan and probably a bunch I'm forgetting, ha.
Gosh, I haven't thought about the Phantom Tollbooth for probably 15 years or so (i.e. since I read it as a kid). I remember almost nothing that happens except that there's a character called the Dodecahedron, which is how I learned that word!
This is a great idea. There are so many books that impact you in different ways through the years and for me this is still happening. My list would include: The Elves and The Shoemaker, Watership Down, 2000AD (comic), A Stainless Steel Rat, The Colour of Magic, Dune, Mythago Wood, Rumours Of Spring, Shogun, Magician (& the whole Riftwar Saga), The Empire Trilogy, Moonheart
For me, it probably was an X-Files book that I bought in the early '90s with my allowance. It was the first non-Goosebumps book that I bought with my own money. I was 20. No, I'm kidding. I was about 11.
Flowers for Algernon is probably the single most influential book in my life. It's the book I've gone back and reread more than any other. Rounding the top 5 would be House of Stairs by William Sleator, which sparked my interest in psychology. Ender's Game/Shadow, which made me interested in philosophy. The Gray King, which is the 4th book of The Dark is Rising, but I read it first. It's where my love of reading started.
Thank you for that video, you have a talent to really provoke deeper reflections. From your list the only think I read was Wheel of Time, unfortunately I read it only recently, so where I enjoyed it, the series impact on me wasn’t life changing, but I suspect it would be if I read series as a teenager or very young adult. To make a list of reading that changed my brain I need to include comics and audiobooks. All of the below works have entertaining plot, lively characters or rereading value and every single one changed in some way my life: 1. “Rork: Fragments” by Andreas, Belgian comics which was my first encounter ever with fantasy or science fiction and showed me the power of mystery and graphics in storytelling. 2. “Forever War” by Marvano and Joe Haldeman, Belgian comics adaptation of Joe Haldeman’s book, my first encounter with space science fiction, teach me a lot about futility of war. I read actual book many years later. 3. Tolkien’s “Hobbit” and “LotR”, just simple made me love fantasy for good. 4. “Colour of Magic” and the rest of Pratchett’s Discworld teach me about humor and social commentary. 5.“Witcher” by Andrzej Sapkowski showed me the power of retelling of known stories (most short stories are based on legends and fables) and teach me a lot about xenophobia and racism (note this is about human versus non-human: elfs, dwarves, gnomes, etc.) 6. “Sandman #13 Men of Good Fortune” by Neil Gaiman - this story proofed for me that comics in US have much more to offer than just superhero and this work finally convinced me that I should read more short stories, and Gaiman for years become my favourite author. 7. “Memoires of Ice” by Steven Erikson, first of 3 books which broaden my mind on world building, this one helped me see the big scope, with many continents, many players and gods directly involving in the plot. This was the one when I realized that epic fantasy with high stakes and more characters that I can remembered is exactly what I looking for in these genre. 8. “Cromwell Stone” by Andreas, Belgian comics that showed me how to in convincing way present Lovecraft inspired terror. 9. “Game of Thrones” and the rest of A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, that one teach me about credibility of imaginary world, never before or after I had this impression of big depth of presented world, that there is much more than close surrounding of characters and all of the world exist from millenniums and have rich history. For last 15 years Martin is my favourite author. 10. “Opowieści z Meekhańskiego Pogranicza: Północ-Południe” and “Opowieści z Meekhańskiego Pogranicza: Wschód-Zachód” by Robert M. Wegner, Polish series that showed me the power of careful world building from small details to big scope, nothing is too blunt, too general or too messy, just exactly as needed, just most memorable lands and locations. 11. “A Knight of the Seven Kingdom” by George RR. Martin, audiobook narrated by Harry Lloyd, this brilliant reader’s interpretation changed the way I consume books these days, rather listening than reading. 12. “Baśń o Wężowym Sercu” by Radek Rak, narrated by Piotr Grabowski. one of the most original book I have ever read (or listened), which connects real history and legends of Southern Poland with an element of fantasy together. This book was recognized by literary awards that never before have been won by fantasy work and equally appeal to long time fantasy/science fictions fans and people who never ever read anything even loosely rooted in these genres - before this book I wouldn’t believe it’s possible in my country.
Only read two of yours, Phantom Tollbooth and Eye of the World. Of those, Phantom Tollbooth was a big deal for me in my childhood, along with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in Wonderland. In high school, I credit The Plague by Camus for bringing me back to reading, and The Lord of the Rings and Harlan Ellison’s Alone Against Tomorrow for shaping how I think. In College, the most influential fiction I read was Moby Dick, A Farewell to Arms, Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and Pride and Prejudice. Eye of the World gets credit for bringing me back to fantasy. I started it because I was running out of long, great classics and shedding some of my snobbery (which is not entirely gone).
I always kinda into Fantasy but moreso Percy Jackson and the Darren Shan books but A Game of Thrones was instrumental for me becoming a Epic Fantasy fan. Not Fantasy, but Perks of Being a Wallflower greatly impacted me at seventeen.
I actually visited Powell's Bookstore when I visited Portland in 2006 (I was 23). I bought a large 3 volume complete works of Shakespeare there and carried it around with me while me and my friends went bar hopping. Oh and I'm reading the fourth Wheel of Time book now. I read Eye of the World around the same time I found your channel and somehow that imprinted your face and voice for how I imagine Egwene. I hope that's okay with you.
I picked up a book of Hemingway short stories and Special Topics in Calamity Physics today. It is all your fault. 😁 And I grabbed the Phantom Tollbooth from my daughter's book shelf so I could read it.
Besides Harry Potter... I am going to say Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck. I remember uncontrollably sobbing at the ending and first time I remember a book's ending hurting so much.
Sadly I can't remember the age I was except it was probably early high school, however two strange books come to mind. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, in class we only read Romeo and Juliet, I did not like their story. I was SHOCKED that so many GOOD plays were written by him that I would have missed without that giant book. It made me not discount authors because of one book. Then it was my mothers college book on the Greek myths. The rich, creative, expansive, weirdly connected stories were so captivating to me. The thought that so many hundreds of years ago, these stories were common blew my mind.
I think the three most import books that I've ever read for me personally are the following: 1) "A Game of Thrones" by George R. R. Martin - I read it in high school a few years before the TV show was even announced. Before reading this book, I hated reading lol I had read Harry Potter and enjoyed it, but that was because I was reading it with my dad as a kid. I don't think I would have enjoyed HP nearly as much if I wasn't part of father-son bonding time lol Game of Thrones, however, was the first think I read fully on my own that truly immersed me 2) "Mistborn: The Final Empire" by Brandon Sanderson - This book, in conjunction with Sanderson's free lectures on writing here on YT, which I read and watched respectively a few years after getting out of high school, are what made me commit to the idea that I was capable of writing my own stories. I've written plenty since then, I just haven't gotten published yet lol but the dream is still alive haha 3) "Rejoice, A Knife to the Heart" by Steven Erikson - As much as I love Malazan, I think this is Erikson's single best piece of work to date. I was in a pretty bad place mentally when I read this. I have never been so uplifted by any piece of media as much as this one and had that high last for so long afterwards. This book was super important in restoring my faith in myself and in humanity lol The world doesn't have to suck as badly as it does, we have the power to choose to be better, both individually and as a collective.
I must have relayed same story so often on Bookborn about none other than Eye of the World by Robert Jordan, from the awesome brief author bio to the epic prologue that floored me and to the quiet descriptive heartfelt beginning chapter proper and build up! Recommended by bro in law when I was trying so hard to get through the seeming endless prefaces, intros, and prior histories in Lotr:FotR paperback! What's possible in prose and characterization! 🎉 📚! Pardon my story ad nauseum! ☸️ ⏳️ 👁 🌎!
The one that jumps to mind first for me is Ender's Game. It was the first book since (maybe) Elfstones that I really connected to the character and when I finished it I remember setting it down and just... Thinking. I was blown away.
When I was little, my parents bought me a collection of original Anderson and Grimms' fairy-tales. It is a proper grim dark fantasy. However, Disney was there to make it lighter. The reading experience did have a powerful influence on me and made me love the fun, sadness, happiness, and even horror of these worlds between bòok covers. That was my no..1
A life changing book for me was A Wrinkle In Time. The MCs story resonated with me and where I was at in life. Even though I haven’t reread it an a while I still think about the MCs journey.
The first fantasy I was exposed to was when an elementary school teacher would read A Wrinkle In Time after lunch. After that I remember Bradberry's Illustrated Man in junior high and then getting into Piers Anthony when someone I considered very smart would bring in A Spell For Chameleon to read in free time during our Continuous Math class.
I was always in to Sci-Fi/fantasy but didn’t get into reading it until my senior year of high school in a Sci-Fiction class that I took. It was considered a blow off class but the teacher was passionate about it and I loved the class. We read 2001: A Space Odyssey as well as watching the movie. I loved that book and it definitely made me want to explore the genre more. And a Kubrick snob 😂 So thanks Mr. Westenberger
Can I ask if you have ever read His Dark Materials? That is probably my all time favourite book series, even now I can read it and get something completely different out of it each time. The characters as well are very interesting and the way the author builds together the journeys of the hero/heroine is beautifully done. It's one of those books again which is termed as YA, but it is definitely adult fiction and some of the older characters are just as good as the younger ones, Mrs Coulter being a case in point. I really enjoy your videos on fantasy books generally. 😊
Another great idea for a video. I'm older than you by a ways (I'm 57), so here are some of my formative books: (1) The Lord of the Rings (Tolkein), (2) Crime and Punishment (Dostoevsky) (assigned read senior year), (3) Call of the Wild (London), (4) Lord Foul's Bane (Donaldson), (5) Johnny Tremain (Forbes) (First Chapter Book?), (6) The Gods Themselves (Asimov) (First Science Fiction?). Thanks for stimulating some nostalgia.
I didn’t read LOTR until later in life, around 27 years old, so it didn’t qualify for this list, but I absolutely believe Return of the King changed my brain. I still haven’t read my first Asimov yet but I have a feeling I’m going to love him
I never got into Donaldson. I tried over and over again cause I knew so many fans... but nope. Read his series and was never my cup of tea. I think maybe cause of the main character's early actions in the first novel squicked me out, and me knowing that leprosy is actually entirely curable with antibiotics soured me immediately. I've never had crime& punishment or the I've by Forbes u mentioned. Yay Asimov! I loved his "New Guide to Science" non-fiction book he did
@@Briaaanz 40 years later, I see your point clearly. When I was a young teen though, the idea that I could step into "Middle Earth" (as it were) by walking through a portal in my own world, captured my imagination.
Two books that changed my brain chemistry is Guards! Guards! and Small Gods by Terry Pratchett. I never read books that were so good at calling out the faults of humanity and still remained optimistic about humanity. Also, a lot of what I consider a hero to be and what a good leader should be were formed from this book.
Terry Pratchett didn’t make the “decade rule” but I’d be shocked if it wasn’t included when I eventually list books that change me. Color of Magic was my first and it def affected me
Growing up we did not have any novel books at home, but we had some old books that my cousin read for school, ' greek mythology, Noli me Tangere' after i finished them, i asked my mom if she could buy me a novel, she had no money for that, but luckily my cousin in law loved to read, and she gave me her Lord of the rings and the hobbit book set. When i got to highschool, i would borrow books from our school library almost every week.
This was a really cool video to see, I think about this for the books I used to read when I was a kid. Now that I’m 24 that seems like a couple of lifetimes ago but there’s so many good memories from visiting my local libraries. You should make a video about how reading is different since libraries have become less and less relevant
If you are interested in it, I have found most adults have a very hard time reading the first book. I'd skip it (watch the movie if you need to). The story is there to be had, but the reading level of the first book tends to make it difficult for many adults going back to read and move on to the next books where the story really develops.
I think if you read Murakami as a formative author in your life, you'll have a wildly different perspective than reading him as an adult. His youthful protagonists yearning for something bigger, struggling with defining themselves, and the way they step across a threshold into adulthood would all likely hit as being very profound. Whereas if you read him as an adult (like me), all you see is the self-insert cool loner main character, women being used for nothing but sex and plot contrivance, and stories that don't really go anywhere. I read three of his books and he very quickly became my least favorite author. It'd be interesting to see if my opinion would be different if I'd read him as an angsty dramatic teenager, but I feel like it wouldn't.
@@Bookborn I read three of his books back to back to back because I had three friends who swore up and down that his books were incredibly. I no longer trust those friends haha. I read an interesting interview called "a Feminist Critique of Murakami" done by Mieko Kawakami with Murakami about his work and it was really interesting. Unfortunately I ended up coming away from it just thinking that, at best, Murakami is just subconsciously very sexist.
I was OBSESSED with The Two Princesses of Bamarre. It was maybe my favorite Gail Carson Levine book and I did love all of them. I may have to get my hands on it for a reread now.
I'm so glad you brought this book up!! When I first read it I could not put it down. As an Elementary school child I remember staying up until 2 in the morning to finish it. The way that book ends!!!! I love it! It's masterful! I've never read anything else that strikes that bittersweet balance quite as well.
@@Bookborn that are a great middle grade/YA introduction to "epic fantasy". Lots of favorite tropes, great animal companions, different magic systems, strong complex female characters.
I read the Tortall books for the first time in my 40s and really enjoyed all of them except the Beka Cooper trilogy. Also tried the first series in her other universe but didn't much like those.
I've only read Harry Potter and Eye of the World from those books. I would say both were formative for me. I read both for the first time in my early 20s, around 2001-2003. Eye of the World especially changed my trajectory of reading. I had only read Lord of the Rings at that point as far as high fantasy went. WOT really got me into fantasy and is still my favorite fantasy series to date. I feel like I missed out on kid and YA fantasy because I got into fantasy so late. When I was young I mostly read stuff like Baby Sitters Club and Sweet Valley Twins. At about 8-10 yrs old, I picked up Anne of Green Gables and other works by that author, LM Montgomery. In High School, I was really into Agatha Christie. Those two authors (Montgomery and Christie) I still reread every once in awhile and still love and enjoy. 😊 I was also like you about self censuring, lol. My mom gave me Outlander when I was 16/17 and I wouldn't read past this one scene, lol. I'll probably still pick them up at some point, since I've read stuff like Song of Ice and Fire.
I was was very lucky to have a sister who just threw books at me and she read very widely as far as genre; so very very young I attached myself to fantasy and realized it was my favorite. Fun that you read HP as an adult; I’ve heard mixed reviews - some love it and some don’t get it. If you ever want or choose to have kids, you can always experience the kid stuff again with them! I’m getting some stuff I missed that way :)
@Bookborn Yeah, I guess I didn't have any family members who read fantasy. 😕 That's a good idea to experience books with your kids. My husband and I may adopt a child. We're already in our early 40s. We got married late. I always wanted to share Anne of Green Gables with a daughter. Lol, my experience around the time the HP movies were coming out is it seemed that everybody liked them, adults and kids. One of my college roommates recommended them to me and my mom and step-dad read the books, as well. You'd meet the odd person here and there that hadn't watched or read but they were odd, lol.
Yeah there's always something special about those books you picked up as a kid and then read over and over again lol. For me that was the Gregor the Overlander series which was written by Suzanne Collins before she did the Hunger Games which was good but I still prefer Gregor. And then the Eragon books that was my introduction into more of the traditional fantasy story.
Oh, that's a great idea. Here are my most influential books: The Three Detectives - These were my first real books that I read and started my love of reading. (Age 7) A Children's Bible - I was baptized but was never religious and am not now, but this book was a great curated book for kids that doesn't read like a religious text but more like a novel. So many of my values were shaped by this book, empathy being the best quality. (Age 8) The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson) - It's my generations Harry Potter, and it had the same effect as HP on you. (Age 10) A Game of Thrones - It changed my taste in books, movies, and series so drastically that you could divide the content I consumed into a pre- and post-ASOIAF. (Age 16) Bonus - My first visit to the library was like visiting a magical world. I just couldn't believe that there were so many books and that I could read them all for free. The first book I wanted to read was The Three Detectives, but my teacher told me I was too young and to wait until I was in second grade. I was so grateful to her for showing me the library, and at the same time so mad that she forbade me to check out the book. The first day of second grade I went to the library and read all 110 books over the next few months :D
I've just finished reading Neil Gaiman's non-fiction essay collection, and in it he talks about how children are great at knowing what they are ready for; and it's really inspired me to never say "this book is too old for you" as long as it's not like...ADULT adult. I love that story and am glad on the first day of second grade you made all your dreams come true.
I got into reading in 4th grade by reading Animorphs (borrowed those from my school library). After those I got first three Narnia books as a Christmas present... Later I learned that my parents bought the whole series and intended to give me the books as a gift on holidays, but I devoured the books so fast, they decided to give me all the books! After that I got into Harry Potter and I read the first four books that were out at the time. Since then I was addicted to fantasy and I started reading Eragon and His Dark Materials. I started reading The Wheel of Time in high school and I read all the Jordan books. I live in Finland and so far all the books I read were translated into Finnish (Harry Potter has the best translation so far). The Gathering Storm wasn't translated so it started my English reading journey. Nowadays I read and listen to English audiobooks almost exclusively and it has improved my skill in English language considerably. Nowadays I'm still obsessed with The Wheel of Time and I'm a big fan on the Cosmere and The First Law series. That was quite a ramble and all I can say I'm thankful for my old school library for all the awesome books that got me into reading :)
You've basically named every single book I love, so I really identify with this reading journey 😂Only books I never got into was the Animorphs- our teacher read one outloud to us (I can't remember if it was the first or second book) but the kid gets permanently stuck as an animal and that freaked me out so much I never continued. Seems so silly now LOL
OH!! Yayy okay I loved a Wild Sheep Chase and Kafka and 1Q84 now that I think about it I would probably notice the sexist themes even more, even thinking back I can recognize them. But I SO agree with you, I was obsessed. I read Kafka in between my read throughs right after feast for crows and before I read Dance of dragons, which had just came out. At that point it was so refreshing to switch up to Kafka and I think really just impacted me because I had just done such a dense read through of Martin’s books. Haha aw your channel is helping me enjoy some nostalgia and also you’ve now read more Martin than me, im making my way through fire and blood, I fell behind 😂 thanks for these videos though. Funny enough I love Hills like White Elephants too. The song “Elephants” by Rachel Yamagata is very good and reminds of that story in a way. Also I can’t believe your assigned high school reading was murakami. Haha I thought I was so cool knowing of those books back then
The number one thing I took from Kafka was actually the character of Nakata …I just loved him and actually think about him sorta often. I should re-read and see what I think now
As my eldest kiddo has started reaching the age of dipping into chapter books, I've been doing reflections like this a lot lately and it's so fascinating to see what's still a classic, and what's now out of print! I was absolutely *obsessed* with a book called The Rebel Fairy, but like Lost Magic, it basically doesn't exist anymore. XD But so many of the books I remember were pressed into my hands by my school librarian, I am so grateful for her!!
I love hearing about all the Angel school librarians. I’ve never heard of the Rebel Fairy but the title alone sounds like something I would’ve been obsessed with as a kid 🤣
I've only read one RA Salvatore, I need to try more (well unless you count the Star Wars film-to-book he did for either Ep 1 or 2, which I also read lol)
@@Bookborn I occasionally revisit his Drizzt stuff. I don't know if I ever will again, but I did so within the decade, there a oodles of those books nowadays. I tried to quickly look up how many, but let's just say it's over 40 by now.
@@Bookborn I don't know how tightly they tie together, but yeah, it's listed on GoodReads as The Rat #3. The rest of the series plays out like this: 1) Hear the Wind Sing 2) Pinball, 1973 & 4) Dance Dance Dance.
I became a "book kid" reading the Worst Witch when I was maybe 7yo. Mildred Hubble was probably my first crush, though a girl I went to school with reminded me of her, so which crush came first I could not tell you. I pretty much jumped from that to a few "Animorphs" books from a school book fair then I "borrowed" (stole and did not feel the least bit sorry) a copy of Guards Guards that my brother somehow had (he was never a reader, so no idea why) and become obsessed at age 9-10. When I moved up to secondary school (11+) the librarian would recommend me high fantasy, so I went through a lot of Pratchett, McCaffrey, Eddings, Gemmel, Weis & Hickman (dragonlance, the deathgate cycle) various Warhammer Fantasy books (Beasts in Velvet by Jack Yeovill (Kim Newman) was a particular favourite. Think.... grimdark fantasy Jack the Ripper. DEFINITELY not a children's book. I read it when I was maybe 12-13. Do NOT let a child read it :P) I pretty much skipped over YA entirely. Straight from children's books to adult. I'd already read a LOT of adult fantasy before I picked up Harry Potter, and I only read it after reading some of Rowling's essays and learning she wasn't QUITE as arrogant as I thought (I still think it's absurd people assign her some kind of creative spark for her work. They're decent, but they're hardly ground breaking. I'd read the worst witch almost a decade before she was published, and those books were penned in the 70s. Sure, targeted even younger and very different in tone, depth and intent... but still largely the same premise!)
Interesting list. I read WoT when it came out almost. I remember Robert Jordan well. He was here in our country but I wasn’t that good in English to talk with him at the time. So just listened. Well… I read Dragonlance before that or Salvatore Drizzt… or non-fiction James Cavell’s Nobel House series (I was 16?)… to be interested in Asian history…
The Phantom Tollbooth will always be my favorite book. I have read it many, many times, I own several copies, and I have a poster signed by Norton Juster. I have listened to three different audiobook versions. I love this book! (I also wore out the VHS tape of the movie from my library when I was a kid.)
I have a very distinct memory of reading the Two Princesses of Bamarre in the Costco food court while my mom ran errands. Such a somber ending! Looking back, I think it helped me realize I love well-earned gut punches in my books even though I wanted a different ending too.
Hi, I was wondering if you put this video out intentionally after your last video was about propaganda? (Propaganda=alter brain?) I love the theme. I have a very small booktube channel and would love and support or good vibes. Keep up the great work
Phantom Tollbooth was the catalyst for me. It was the first book I read for myself and I read it in one sitting and re-read it multiple times. Later, Harry Potter. But then the next big hit for me was Ender's Game and all it's sequels and sidequels etc.
My gateway into sci-fi as a kid was 'The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet' by Eleanor Cameron and into more adult sci-fi it was 'The Martian Chronicles' by Ray Bradbury. My gateway into fantasy was 'Elric of Melniboné' by Michael Moorcock. 'Neuromancer' by William Gibson and 'Memory & Dream' by Charles de Lint also had a profound impact on me as an adult.
My “disappearing middle grade book” was The Young Voyageur by Dirk Gingheus. Sounds a lot like your Lost Magic experience-read it over and over, and I doubt another living soul knows of it. The story took place in my home state of Michigan, and was rooted in this stunning history (French fur traders, the Pontiac uprising, etc) and I was blown away that the stuff in the book had happened in places I had actually been to (Detroit, Mackinaw Island). I read so much more because of it. Looking back, it definitely changed my brain, and has a huge influence on my writing journey. Another fun topic!
I have an older sister (about 10 years older than I am) who read to me. Instead of reading aloud my books, she read the books she was reading for fun and for school. This exposure significantly influenced my reading taste and expectations. - By the way, your children might enjoy the Half Magic books by Edward Eager. These are charming and funny older books that did for me what The Fantom Tollbooth did for you.
It wasn't necessarily a particular book but more of a life lesson from my older sister that stuck with me and lead to me reading more. Growing up I LOVED stories, but I didn't like to read. After expressing this, my sister said that she sometimes felt the same way but that you sometimes do things you don't enjoy in order to be rewarded with the things you do enjoy. This is perhaps why I think I still gravitate towards Brandon Sanderson books because his prose is more focused on being a vehicle to tell a story then focusing on itself. I did however love The Wheel of Time even though I had to slog through pages of boring descriptions to get the good stuff.
