FOLLOW THE BLOG AND GET MORE FUN IN YOUR INBOX!

Thoughts & Discussion

[Giveaway] The book that made me love reading

or Why I Tell People My First Book Was Harry Potter, Even Though It Wasn’t.

(P.S. There’s a Giveaway at the end of this post).

In fifth grade – when I was around 10 years old – the teacher asked us to read a book with more than a hundred pages, so we could write a report afterwards. Our school at the moment was so new (they were still building classrooms when I enrolled!) that we didn’t have a library, and at that point I had not a single book at home. I told my dad that I need a book for school, ANY BOOK, with at least a hundred pages. He told me he would ask his coworker if he had one I could borrow.

Two days later he came home with a book titled The Last Opportunity: A Novel on Personal and Marital Improvement.

That was the book his coworker lent him. For a 10-year-old girl. Who had to write a report afterwards.

My dad looked kinda uncomfortable when he handed it to me, but said that his coworker really liked that book so maybe I could learn something from it.

I didn’t really think much of it at the moment, as the only thing that mattered to me was completing my assignment. I grabbed the ugly brown book (which looked exactly like the one in the picture) and started reading it.

And you know what? I loved it.

I had never read a long story or a book without pictures. My only approach to books were those fables that come in textbooks from grades 1 to 4-ish. And there I was, reading a marital improvement novel about a guy who wanted to divorce his wife. And enjoying it like crazy.

The details are blurry now, but I remember how vivid and colorful and emotional I found it. I also remember a chapter where the main guy was in jail and how I found it so exciting! I could imagine his cell and his outfit just from his descriptions. That book had no illustrations but it contained long detailed sentences that woke my imagination.

When I finished that book, I was truly another person. Not only did I learn a lot about loving and caring for my wife, but I discovered the fun and excitement of reading. I told my dad that I had loved the book and went on to write the cheesiest book report ever. (This report might have sparked my love for writing).

My dad told his coworker that I had loved the book and he let me keep it. He said the guy was really happy about someone else loving his book. I guess it actually saved his marriage or something.

I told my dad that I wanted to read another book someday. But living in a kinda poor neighborhood without libraries or book stores, his only choice to find a new book was the supermarket. Also, being 2001 and without a computer with internet access, he didn’t know how to find recommendations. So my dad went to the small book section of the supermarket and found a table with books from the same author I had read. Score!

He got home late one day with a new book for me, some contemporary novel about teenagers and unethical debauchery (totally ignoring the fact that I was ten). My mom was really proud that I was reading a second book just for pleasure. And my dad said that I had picked a really good habit and that he would buy me another book every time a finished one.

Poor dad. He didn’t expect me to finish my books in two days.

After some months of going through all the too-adult-for-me novels from that same author, my dad came home with exciting news. There was a new movie coming out about a boy wizard. He didn’t know the name, but heard a coworker say that the movie was based on a book and that the author had been so successful that she went from being poor to being rich.

The next time we went to the supermarket, my whole family looked through the shelves trying to find a book with a young wizard on the cover. My dad found it. It was called Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. It looked like it was fun!

Of course, as you might know, I fell in love with Harry Potter. It started my journey through countless fantasy novels, where I found my real niche. And my love for it pushed me to keep borrowing books, devouring them and begging my dad to take me to the library downtown, even if we had to take two buses.

So, any time someone asks me how I got into reading and I don’t have time to tell them the long story about the accidental marital improvement book, I just say Harry Potter.


I’m really happy I got to share the story of my first book! I would love to read everyone’s story, let me know in the comments!

And if you’re here for the giveaway, here it is:

Some awesome bloggers decided to team up (and invited me) to share our book love in a blog post. And also donate a book we loved to put it in a raffle.

The winner of this giveaway will get all the books we selected: A Tree Grows in BrooklynCaraval, My Lady Jane, The Sun is Also a Star, and The Next Together.

(My contribution was My Lady Jane because I wanted to add some humor to the book bundle. And also didn’t dare giving away the first book I read).

Becky Bedbug posted – The book that shaped me

Vicki in Neverland posted – The books that made us love reading

Two Different Worlds postedThe books that made us love reading 

Make sure to visit their blogs to read more inspiring stories about first books and the love for reading 😀

To enter the giveaway use the form below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This article has 19 comments

  1. twinfish8

    Ah I love this post so much Celeste! You genuinely had me cracking up laughing and I love that the tale of your first book was such a unique one. I think from now on you should always tell this story and not say your first book was HP – because this is way better haha.

    Thanks for taking part in the collab lovely! x

    Angi http://www.twodifferentworlds.com

    • prettygeekery

      Thank you so much :D!
      Hahaha, I will try to tell this story more often!

  2. Naina

    Omg they was soo amazing to read. Loved it. Well mine is boring I think I got into reading by going to the library at a young age. Nothing special. And you will hate me for this but I have not read any of the HP books. For shame. lol i do hope to read them someday tho. And I would love to win the giveaway, tho I could only enter by following your newsletter as I don’t have twitter. Thank you for sharing your story.

    • prettygeekery

      What?? No hate at all! (just a little bit of surprise). I bet you would like Harry Potter since you already read fantasy novels :).
      Good luck on the giveaway! And thank you so much for your comment, it means a lot <3

  3. thelovelyshelf

    What a sweet story!! I love this. I remember when I got into reading, and it was such a magical experience! I loved hearing your story!

    • prettygeekery

      Yay! Thank you!!
      It really is a magical experience, I’m really happy I got to know a lot of book lovers lately. Sharing the book love is awesome :D.

  4. Tess

    What a great story! I learned to love reading by taking whatever my teenage brother was done reading. At eight I borrowed his copy of the Hobbit and was hooked! My mom and stepdad were fighting a lot so I’d make a blanket fort and escape into the Shire. When things were really bad my brother would take over and read to me. Books became my escape. 😊

    • prettygeekery

      I totally get you and admire you for finding strength when it was a difficult time. I love that books can bring us a magical instant escape. Thank you so much for sharing your story! I l love The Hobbit, by the way, though I read it many years later in life.

  5. Maria Ortiz

    😂 I love this story so much. I can’t really remember what was the first book I read but I do remember that it was my 4th grade teacher that inspired me to keep reading. She tested my abilities and pushed me farther and farther to read higher level books at at 4th grade I was reading 8-10th grade level books. I remember her being so proud of me and it made me feel so good 🙂

    • Celeste

      Hahaha, I can identify with your story. It makes me think that you were a straight A student.. were you? It’s great that your teacher encouraged you to keep reading, and that you kept reading years later! Thanks for sharing your sweet story 😀

  6. Kensie

    The first books I remember reading all by myself were The Magic Treehouse series – my mom or dad would read me & my sisters a chapter & then I’d sneak out of bed to find the book & then read the rest of it under my covers with a flashlight! 😅

  7. riainthecity

    Oliver Twist is the book that made me fall in love with reading! oh that and Treasure Island!

  8. elm0sh

    What a story!
    I cannot really recall my first book
    I was lucky enough to have a bigger brother (7 years older) so i always had books around
    i clearly remember in high school reading a lot of poe, lovecraft, burroughs and anne rice….which is weird that in college i started reading harry potter cause all of the buzz surrounding the books and that is how i got the young adult bug 😛

    • Celeste

      whoa! I think you went even more adult with your first books, hahaha. I also started reading more YA novels in college (even got a lot of children’s book from the library there!).

  9. thebookprophet

    I actually have no idea what my first book was to be honest, but this was a wonderful story!

Let's chat!