10 Books I Wish I Read When I Was Younger

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish which I found out about thanks to Amber over at Me, My Shelf & I. There's a new book-related top ten list every single week and it is a great way to get to know other book-loving bloggers! Everyone is welcome to join in the weekly linky party, even if you can't think of TEN for a certain Tuesday (just think of as many as you can!), just make sure you link back to The Broke and the Bookish if you do!

This week's topic is a FREEBIE, so I came up with:
TEN BOOKS I WISH I READ WHEN I WAS YOUNGER

I always loved reading and had no problem reading whatever school had assigned to me, but, somehow, in my literary travels I missed out on some incredible reads as a child and a young adult. Thinking back on it, I would guess it was because I got my books from either the school's book club, or from my own home library that my father stocked from books that  his school's library was giving up. As a result, I didn't truly explore the shelves of bookstores or the library until I was a teenager. By that time, I was pulled in by the bestsellers up in front and immediately fell into reading fiction for adult audiences. I think this is part of why I love children's and YA books so much now- for me, it is still so fresh and new! The list below is full of books that, after reading, I wished I had found earlier in my life...

1. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis 

If you look through the archives of this blog you will find the reading journal entries from when I first read these books. I was an adult. I was teaching already. Now, after having the experience, I dream of the day where I can read this series aloud to a child of my own - let his/her mind wander through the lands of Narnia, with the fantastic creatures while they talk to Aslan in their daydreams. I loved this series as an adult, but I often wonder how it would have affected me as a child.

2. A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L'Engle 

I remember exactly how I read this book. I was in college, I was home sick because of some food poisoning ridiculousness and I wobbled down to our basement library desperate for something to read. I found A Wrinkle in Time. I remembered my little brother had to read it and I always wished I had. I took it up to bed and read it cover to cover. You must remember that I was once a math teacher, so, at the time I was majoring in Mathematics and loving every minute. I closed the book and just let my mind wander... one thought kept creeping up, Why didn't I read this sooner? The unification of science and fantasy was so beautiful I thought, for sure, if I had read this book as a child I would've gotten my first peak at the beautiful potential of my new found love, Mathematics. Would it have happened that way? I'll never know, but that is one magnificent children's book I missed out on.

3. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett  

Shortly after my aforementioned food poisoning, I was back in bed again due to a car accident (freshman year of college was rough on me!). I hobbled back down to our library, full of tons of books I had read before and spotted one I hadn't: The Secret Garden. There was no better book for me to be reading at that time while I was stuck in bed, in winter with my back in severe pain. I still daydream about that garden and remember that happy feeling it gave me. I feel like I would have enjoyed that secret world as a child and wish I had discovered sooner.


4. Dr. Seuss

Did you gasp? The fact is, I did not start reading Dr. Seuss books until I was at least a teenager. My mother was not a fan of the man's work. Having gotten to know my mother's likes and dislikes over the years, I'm going to say that she probably based this on the pictures alone (my mother was very disturbed by nearly everything Tim Burton). Anyway, as a child, I trusted my parent's judgement implicitly and had to shake free of a bias against Seuss' works before I understood how brilliant they are. Once realizing this, I recognized the sin in depriving me of his work for so long!

5. The Fudge Series by Judy Blume

I read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing when I was in the fourth grade. It was easily my favorite book in all of elementary school. So, why didn't I continue reading the series of books that sprung from it? I. don't. know. However, I will confess to one little snippet of possibly relevant information: I didn't realize there was a series until last year!! OK. wait. That's sort of a lie. I knew about the "Fudge" books, but I never put together that they were related to Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing! Incredible. I guess I needed to see sequential numbers on the book spines, or something...


6. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

I first read this book when I was 21. Now, I don't think I could have handled it in elementary school, like some of Rivera Runs Through It readers, but I definitely should have read this book sooner. In addition to The Lord of the Rings. I know why I didn't: The Hobbit cartoon that they showed around Thanksgiving time scared the heck out of me. Plus any time someone would talk to me about Lord of the Rings, I would think they meant to say The Lord of the Flies, which was one of my favorite books, so the conversation would always shift into me telling them why they needed to read Golding's novel, rather than them convincing me to read Tolkien! Whatever the reason, the fact is, I missed out!


7. Hiroshima by John Hershey

In 2002 I read this book because it was on my students' summer reading list. I should have read this book sooner. Everyone knows how devastating the atomic bomb is, right? I mean, we all agree it is the worst, so who needs to go any further than that? I did. Hershey's book sent the chills up my spine and through my core. I was crying page after page after page. I know I'll never fully understand the devastation, but this book shook me. It said on the cover of my book that everyone who can read should read Hiroshima. I couldn't agree more. I also think, the earlier, the better.


8. The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King

When I was a kid I was a chicken (note: this should not be interpreted as me stating I am Captain Courageous now!), I didn't want to read (or see) anything scary or related to horror. At the end of junior high and in high school, I noticed a lot of people talking about how great Stephen King books were. Now, you have to remember (if you are old enough to) when I was younger they used to run these Stephen King commercials selling a bunch of his books and advertising The Stand - the commercials alone had me hiding behind the couch cushions! By the time I hit high school, the buzz was just too much, I had to check out Stephen King. I took it slowly. I picked up a book of short stories called Four Past Midnight. I loved it immediately (the story The Langoliers still ranks as one of my favorites!). However, I wasn't sure I was ready for a big, long scare. That's when I was told about The Eyes of the Dragon, a fantasy book King wrote. I loved this book and it wasn't that scary. I should have read that book in junior high, at least! Then my near-obession with King that lasted through most of high school could have started a couple of years earlier!

9.  Comic Books/Graphic Novels

One of the great joys of my childhood was "after church." After church on Sundays we, as a family would go to either the art store (omg! drawing and coloring materials!!) or to the comic book shop. I would love walking up and down the aisles looking at all of the art, the titles and seeing brand new stuff every week. I was confused by the books that looked by magazines and always put off by the fact that they were up to number 84, 604, or something like that, so I'd stick to collections like Calvin and Hobbes or Garfield and scope out the shelves for drawing books. I was shy, so I never asked about the comic books - not even my parents. I suppose they thought I only liked the other stuff and had no interest in the comic books I passed by. This is why I didn't really start reading comic books until I was dating my husband. Now, I love them. I think the medium is fantastic and too often overlooked by book lovers. I know I don't have to worry about history repeating itself with any of our own children - we are a comic book family now. It's just who we are.

***THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM***

 

10. The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

I read the first book in August 2000; I was 23 years old. It was three years after the book had been published, but I wasn't too far off the bandwagon. I was hooked and ran out to get book two before third book's release. When a Barnes & Noble opened up the block from me before the release of the fourth book and I was able to attend the midnight release parties for the final four books in the series, I was filled with euphoria at the sight of the children all around me. 

And then, a little itty bitty piece of me was envious. 

Where were these wonderous book parties when I was a child? Where were these stories? As tiny witches and wizards ran by or were found dozing in between bookshelves I tried to imagine what their lives must be like - dressing up like characters in a book, talking endlessly with friends and the world (via the Internet) about the things that they read, and then seeing that world come to life on the movie screen. There was no equivalent experience in my background to compare it to. I was so happy for them all, knowing, more than they did, how unique their generation's childhood experience was.


For the Harry Potter series, I have a slight adjustment to my wish. I do not merely wish that this book series somehow gets transported in time to when I was younger; I wish that I was younger when we all read the books! I want to know what it feels like to be a tiny witch sleeping in a bookstore.


What's On Your List?

Do you have any books that, after reading, you thought, It would have been great if I could have read that _____ years ago! ? How about the "impossible dream" category? Were there any books published after you were "of age" to read it and wish you were part of its true audience? Let me know in the comments! Also, let me know what your favorite childhood/YA book is so I can make sure I read it!!

Book Love Found in The Palm of His Hand

Two weeks ago I took Morgan Dragonwillow up on an offer to join her, Tui Snider and Susan Silver in teaming up to take on a fantastic online writing community called StoryDam. It has been a wild ride ever since and the one thing I love most of all is, of course, meeting the community of writers that come to StoryDam for inspiration, collaboration and support. One of the first members I met in the first #StoryDam twitter chat I participated in was Dorian Carr Jr.

At that time, Dorian was calling himself an "aspiring writer" even though, when you visit his blog, DJ's Cave of Darkness, you will find excerpts of his current work in progress, A Vampire's Search for a Heart. When I saw this, I immediately sent Dorian a message telling him to drop the "aspiring" and to recognize that, whether he was ready to admit it or not, at the age of 18 he was already a writer! He agreed and we've been twitter buddies ever since.

So, can you guess what happened next? I'm getting predictable at this point... I went ahead and asked him my question - you know the one - What was your first book love? Dorian's first book love and his method of reading it were both new ones for me, so this interview was quite enlightening.

Around a year ago Dorian was browsing the Amazon Kindle Store on his iPod and found a title that intrigued him; it was Heku by T.M. Nielson. Although he wasn't much of a reader - in his words he said, "I felt like reading was the worst thing in the entire world" - he decided to download this fantasy vampire romance book to check it out.

For Dorian, it was the genre and the unique title that initially grabbed his attention. Here's a brief description of the book, from Amazon, to give you the idea:

Chevalier has never been told no. For thousands of years he’s sat on the Equites Council, ruling body of his heku faction, and for thousands of years his every order has been followed immediately and without question. One of the most important rules of the heku, is that no one is to feed from unwilling donors. Following a tip that a young mortal woman is being brutally attacked by his own kind, he seeks her out and immediately begins to experience unnatural feelings for the woman.

According to Dorian, "After reading this book and series [nine books], I felt like reading was my life."  If that's not the truest sign of a first book love, I don't know what is.

As a point of curiosity I asked Dorian whether he had his own Kindle or if he was using a family one when he made his wonderful discovery. That's when he surprised me, he told me he downloaded all nine books to his iPod! I found this fascinating and my eyes teared when reading this confession. In fact, in my shock, I had to ensure I understood what Dorian had told me...

@carr_dj do you read most of your books this way, or are you an old school book guy also?
— riverand (@riverand) April 16, 2012

@riverand yes... ^_^ why does that surprise you?? O.o
— Dorion Carr Jr. (@carr_dj) April 16, 2012

Admittedly, yes... that surprised me a bit, but I told Dorian I had read parts of books on my iPhone in desperate times, but never a whole book, or a whole series. Then he had one more response to floor me:

@riverand yep!! ^_^ I love it! Lol. I still have like 30 books to read on my phone :D
— Dorion Carr Jr. (@carr_dj) April 16, 2012

THIRTY books in the palm of his hand! WOW! I'm a techie, but I guess I'm not a tiny-techie these days, what amazing times we live in. Wondering if my exclusion from the tiny-tech idea was a sign of my age, I asked Dorian if many of his friends read books this way, his response may be familiar to some of you life long book lovers out there:

@riverand all of.my friends, sadly.... Dont read books : ( at all.... Its just me
— Dorion Carr Jr. (@carr_dj) April 16, 2012

They'll come around, Dorian, they just haven't found their first book love yet!

While Heku and the entire series by T.M. Nielson will forever be remembered by Dorian as his first true book love, he's had at least two more that he shared with me: Being Human by Patricia Lynne and Rae Wilder Series by Penelope Fletcher.

I am so happy that Dorian decided to share his book love story with me us this week. He has given me an entirely different perspective of the various views our stories continue to come in, which also reminded me of this great cartoon from the New York Times a couple of weeks back entitled "The Book of the Future":

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/03/30/books/review/snider01.html?ref=review

Well, whatever way you find your stories this week - in a handheld device, in an eReader, via audiobook, on your desktop, or in a good old fashioned book - enjoy your reading!

So what IS your preferred method of reading a story?

Are you an iPod/iPhone/handheld reader?

Are you a lone reader amongst your friends? 

Feel free to email me when you're ready 

to share your own Book Love Story! 

Taft 2012's Author Jason Heller Talks Book Love

Last month I read and reviewed a compelling book entitled, Taft 2012 by Jason Heller. I was so impressed by its unique tale and its fun storytelling that I decided I needed to know more about the man behind the words. I searched out Jason Heller and, when I found him, I asked him the question you know I am always burning to ask, "What was your first book love?" He satiated my book love curiosity by agreeing to do an interview for the Book Love Series.

Jason Heller, like many I ask, had many book loves, but said that he, "really connected with and obsessively re-read," David Eddings' classic, five-book fantasy series, The Belgariad. According to the David Eddings Wiki:

The series tells the story of the recovery of the Orb of Aldur and coming of age of Garion, an orphaned farmboy. Garion is accompanied by his aunt Polgara and her father Belgarath as they try and fulfill an ancient prophecy that will decide the fate of the universe. Along the way, various "instruments", or helpers, of the prophecy join their quest.

Jason received Pawn of Prophecy (the first book in the series) as a gift from his uncle. As Jason puts it, "He knew I had an interest in fantasy (mostly because my earlier reading of Tolkien, of course!), and he probably thought, 'Hey, this looks fantastical enough for Jason!'" It looks like his uncle was right. Jason was hooked seemingly on sight. When I asked him what he thought first drew him in, he wrote of seeing Garion, the farmboy in the book.

There’s a painting of boy on the cover of Pawn of Prophecy, the first book in the series, although it isn’t technically for young adults. As it turns out, Eddings’ intimate, detailed, warm, and sympathetic rendering of the book’s hero, the young farm boy Garion, instantly hooked me.


I wondered if Jason felt that he could relate to Garion, or any of the characters in the series, or if his reading was an experience of complete escapism. I absolutely love his answer, "Both. That’s what I loved about fantasy, and that’s why I still love that genre more than anything else. It’s total escapism—and yet, the best fantasy is very much about real emotions, real struggles, and the real world.
"  Isn't this so true? Don't we all find ourselves running to magical, mystical lands on the backs of our books, only to more deeply understand our own realities? We may not even consciously realize that is what we are doing at the time, but who hasn't left a good book with a greater understanding of some piece of the world?

Jason also reminded me of one of the beautiful memories of the pre-Internet world. It was so much easier to be surprised then...

I was around ten at the time, and Pawn of Prophecy had just been published. So I had the additional benefit of being able to buy each new book as it came out—and totally savor it. Back in the ’80s there was no Internet, of course, so I wasn’t instantly clued in as to the release schedule for The Belgariad. I would just go to the mall, walk into the bookstore, and boom, there would be the next installment in the series. It was like Christmas!


I have similar memories of seeing new Calvin and Hobbes books by Bill Watterson and my fantastic experience of reading Stephen King's The Green Mile as he originally wrote it - as a serialized novel. It truly was just like Christmas to see the continuation of your story on the shelf on what otherwise seemed like an ordinary day.

Jason has been a life-long reader, even before he fell into book love with this series. He said, growing up feeling "awkward and self-conscious around other kids...  heaven was sitting in a quiet room, getting lost in the pages of a book. Still is, really.

" He's lost count of all the times he's re-read this series, but knows he's, "read all five books of the Belgariad—plus all five books of its sequel series, the Mallorean—at least a dozen times. Every time I read it, it’s like going home." So, of course, he recommends the series to others,

The Belgariad doesn’t get a lot of critical respect, but it still holds up as a solid, witty, well-told, coming-of-age tale. Yes, it’s bursting at the seams with clichés, and it clings fanatically close to the whole hero’s-journey archetype. But I didn’t know that as a kid—I just knew it moved me, dazzled me, and swept me away.




And in the midst of dazzling and sweeping Jason away, the series also taught him. First he learned through Garion, as he learned on his journey,

Garion is taught many lessons as he matures and comes into his power (not to give too much away!) throughout the series. The biggest lessons he learns are from the blacksmith Durnik, who works on the farm with Garion and goes on to be one of his companions on his journey. Durnik’s basic philosophy—which I only wish I was better at adopting!—is this: Work hard, do it well, and let it be its own reward.

Then, as a whole, the series taught Jason personal lessons of his own.

It taught me that I had more strength than I realized. That’s an incredibly important thing to be told as a kid, especially one who grew up in some pretty adverse conditions (not to bore you with my sob story!). In fact, it’s something we all need to be reminded of from time to time.




 While Jason won't be sharing his sob story with us today, he gave a fantastic list of book loves to keep us engaged for quite some time. Get your to-read lists ready, here are some wonderful recommendations,

A list of a few books that have changed, and continue to influence, my life would have to include

• J. G. Ballard’s The Crystal World, 
• China Miéville’s Perdido Street Station, 
• Gene Wolfe’s The Book of the New Sun, 
• Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, 
• Frank Herbert’s Dune, 
• Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, 
• Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, 
• Greil Marcus’ Lipstick Traces, 
• Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Left Hand of Darkness, 
• Umberto Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum, and 
• everything by M. John Harrison. 
• Oh, and I can’t forget Michael Moorcock’s iconic Elric series. I do, after all, have an entire arm of Elric tattoos! If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.

I don't know where to begin! I've read some of these, but definitely not all, including The Belgariad series. However, to this list I would like to add the book that made this all possible, Jason's own work Taft 2012. I found it timely, fun and inspiring and have been recommending it to friends on a regular basis. 

I am grateful to Jason Heller for participating in the Rivera Runs Through It Book Love Series. You can follow Jason on Goodreads, Twitter or on his blog.

Now it is your turn! If you are ready to share your own book love story with the world, e-mail me at blogwithnv@gmail.com.

A Book Love Begins With Bilbo

I knew when I wrote my post on first book loves that the name J.R.R. Tolkien would come up. Eric Storch sent me an e-mail on the day I published that post which began with the following sentence: "I just read your post and without hesitation I can say my first book love was “The Hobbit” ..." I was so excited. I could tell from the content of that e-mail alone that Eric was the epitome of who I had imagined. I contacted him with my interview questions and, personally, have found his story of book love fascinating! So, without further adieu, here is Eric's story of his first book love, in his own words...

Here's Eric with his ORIGINAL copy of The Hobbit from 1978!

It Began With A Gift

My first book love was “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien. When I was in second grade in 1978, my father gave me a paperback copy for my birthday. I had never been a big reader and I remember thinking that I was a bit intimidated by being asked to read a novel. Luckily, my birthday always fell on the winter break in late February, so I had a week of being stuck indoors with not much more to do than read the book.

I read the entire thing that week. I had never experienced anything like it. A world of dwarves, elves, wizards, dragons and … hobbits! The book took me to a strange and unknown place – a place I was sorry to say goodbye to when I turned to the last page.

A Reader Was Born 
 
I was hungry for more. My dad also had paperbacks of the “Lord of the Rings” dating from the mid-sixties. Those he let me borrow, and I ate up that story with as much relish as “The Hobbit.”

As the years went by, I delved into whatever fantasy fiction I could find: “The Prydain Chronicles” by Lloyd Alexander, The Elric of Melnibone books by Michael Moorcock, the Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories by Frtiz Leiber, The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula K. Le Guin and so many others. All classic sword and sorcery books.

When I couldn't find sword and sorcery, I discovered mysteries and started reading Agatha Christie, Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Then on to science fiction, mythology, classic literature; I was a book junkie and I always needed a fix.

I always came back to Tolkien though. Since that week in 1978, I have read “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” once every year. So that's … thirty-three times. Yikes! I had never counted it before. I still have those old copies of Tolkien's books. In fact, I still have almost every book I ever bought. The house is full of books! I just can't get rid of my friends.

When the Stories Hit the Silver Screen
 
Over the years, I had always thought that the Tolkien books would make great movies. My father took me to the movies ages ago to watch Ralph Bakshi's animated version of the Lord of the Rings and we were both disappointed when the movie ended half way through the story. I don't even want to discuss the Rankin/Bass debacle of The Hobbit and Return of the King.

When I discovered that a live action version of Lord of the Rings was in the works, all I can say is, “Thanks the powers that be for the internet!” I was able to follow as much of the movie making process as was allowed and grew very excited for the final product. I was not disappointed. I know many Tolkien fans were upset by the changes to the story and out-right omissions, but LotR would just not have been very good as a direct translation from book to film. Changes had to be made and I think Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh did an excellent job with the script to say nothing of how visually stunning all three films are.

Needless to say, with Jackson helming The Hobbit, I'm not worried in the least. I know both films will be great (they are using information from the appendixes of LotR as well as other works that Tolkien wrote to fill in the gaps between the events of The Hobbit and LotR). I can't wait for them!

The Long Term Effects of Being a Tolkien Fan
 
Fantasy fiction has become my life blood. My wife has jokingly said that I need to read fantasy as much as I need to breathe. It's true. It has become a major part of what and who I am. Reading fantasy led to playing role playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons which in turn led to life-long friendships. I have a small group of friends I have known since the mid-eighties who I am still in touch with because of this.

Reading has also led to a desire to write. I write often, though sometimes not very well. I haven't ever been published, but it isn't a serious goal. I write stories that I would like to read, but haven't found written by anyone else. Most often, I'm the only one who enjoys them.

Reading in general and a shared love of fantasy fiction was one of the things my wife and I connected on when we first met. We have been exploring new books together such as The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson and the Shadow March series by Tad Williams. It's been quite a journey.

The Greatest Interview of All
 
If I could ask Tolkien one thing, I think it would be, “What was it like being the first person to discover Middle-Earth? Were you as amazed as the rest of us?” That might be a kind of lame question, but I like to think that he loved visiting Middle-Earth most of all. I know I did. His books gave me a place to go for a short time that took me away from the troubles happen to and around me. His books helped me discover a love of reading and writing. His books helped my find life-long friends and the most wonderful woman a man could ever ask for.

Thank you, Professor Tolkien.

How To Contact Eric

If you are looking to connect with Eric, or read some of his writing, then you need to check these links out:

• Eric's blog is I Can't Brain Today; I Have the Dumb
• On Twitter, you can follow him as @ewstorch_nh
• You can find him on LinkedIn as Eric W Storch 
• On Goodreads, Google+ and Facebook just link up with Eric Storch

Have you read The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien? 

If so, what was your first impression?

If not, what's stopping you?? 

(The movie comes out later this year - you should ALWAYS try to read a book before you see the movie!)