On the Way to BEA

Today kicks off the first day of BookExpo America with the Blogger's conference. Jenn N has promised to take a lot of notes for those of us that weren't able to go.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday NaomiRuth and I (Rebecca T) will be joining Jenn in the trek to the city and I am so excited to get to go all three days this year!

I've had the chance to go several times before (one of the benefits of living fairly close to New York City) and it's always a blast!

Here's a couple of the authors I am particularly looking forward to this year:

Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) - Let's just say that I am minorly obsessed with everything he has ever written and I may even have saved the cardboard display topper from the The End display we got in at Borders when that book came out. I got to meet him two years ago and it was the total highlight of the day for me. Jenn, Claire, and Naomi teased me about the ridiculous grin that was plastered on my face for the entire afternoon.

Shannon Messenger - I met this lovely lady through her blog and I'm so excited about her debut novel and the chance to meet a bloggy friend in person!

Lois Lowry - Oh. My. Werd. I am so excited words escape me.

Shannon Hale - I love her YA books so so much and I got to meet her a couple of years ago at BEA and we chatted with the people at her publisher's booth (Bloomsbury) for like half an hour because they were the coolest people ever.

Maureen Johnson - I read 13 Little Blue Envelopes during my trip to Italy last year and completely fell in love with this author.

Wendy Delsol - I got her book Stork  a few years ago and loved it. She's super sweet and I know her on Twitter and getting to meet her in person is amazing!

Any of you going to be at BEA? We'd love to meet you!

Also, stay tuned because we'll be picking up some books to share with all of y'all too!

More, More, More !

Some stories are full of characters that we love so much, we hate to leave them.  Fortunately, many books often have sequels that allow us into these beloved characters lives time and time again.  Unfortunately, all good books and series must come to an end but if we had our way, and could get the original authors to pen some new stories, here are some sequels we'd like to see.

Claire really loved "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children," by Ransom Riggs and hopes their is a sequel planned.  I do too as the ending certainly set up for further adventures with the children.  It looks like we'll get our wish as the author posted on his site, http://www.ransomriggs.com/ that he was currently working on a second installment !

Jess P. would appreciate a sequel to" Time of the Witch" by Mary Dowing Hahn.  She is curious to see how the characters were afterwards as the ending wasn't, "all rainbows and unicorns."  I have to add that sometimes unicorns aren't very nice either.  See "Cabin in the Woods," if you don't believe me.

Rebecca wishes it were possible for a new "Winnie the Pooh" story by A.A. Milne.  She found the original tales a lot of fun and subsequent stories by a new author just didn't do the series justice.

I would be thrilled if Megan McCafferty wrote another story about Jessica Darling.  Despite five novels about her, I can't get enough.  Jessica finally got together with her true love Marcus in the last book, and I'd love to hear if they got married and if so, what their married life is like.  Knowing Jessica Darling, she'd have some biting commentary about bridezillas, wedding planning, and the pressure to start a family.

What about you guys ?  What sequels would you like to see ?  Share with us, don't be shy !

What's Your Pleasure

There the books you're embarrassed to admit you like. You enjoy them but feel others will mock you for liking it.  They're guilty pleasures.  I'm sure everyone has one or several !  Here are some of our book guilty pleasures.

"Thirst" by Christopher Pike is "so cheesy" to Albert that he's embarrassed that he likes it so much.

Claire says her guilty pleasure is "The Little House on the Prairie" series, both the older and newer entries in the series.  Really Claire? That's not at all embarrassing, what are you hiding? 

Eileen, a self proclaimed nerd, loves learning new words and thus the dictionary is her guilty pleasure.

Rachel loves humor books like "Stuff White People Like," by Christian Lander or "F My Life," by Maxime Valette.  That's not that embarrassing either, being in "The People of Wal-Mart" by Andrew book that Rachel has laughed over though would be. 

Rebecca, loves to indulge with the Privilege series by Kate Brian. She says, "Adriana is the perfect psychopath!"  I agree with her and I feel a little guilty now for introducing her to this series about a crazed but loveable boarding school socialite who will stop at nothing-even murder-to get her way.

However, I'm don't feel guilty for liking "Privilege" or, "Private," the series it spun off of.  I am embarrassed to admit that I can't put down the "Fifty Shades," novels.  I read the first as a lark, which I reviewed here and I just got the sequel on Friday and I have almost finished it.  I can't get enough of the over the top romance, ridiculous over used phrases and laughable dialogue.  I think my friend Jen, is right in her comparison of "Fifty Shades" to the ultimate cult film and my film guilty pleasure "The Room."  For more on that, read here.



Now, please share your dirty little book secret with us.  There really should be no shame in enjoying a book no matter how cheesy or laughable.  So don't be shy, share !

The Name Game

Many current authors use pseudonyms.  Yesterday, Alan wrote about JD Robbs' Eve Dallas mysteries.  JD Robb is the alias of best-selling author Nora Roberts.  Kate Brian, the best-selling author of the Private series also writes YA under her given name, Kiernan Scott.  YA and chick lit author Meg Cabot has also written under the name Jenny Carroll.  The most famous pseudonyms are probably Dr. Seuss and Mark Twain aka Theodor Geisel and Samuel Clemens, respectively.  Authors use pseudonyms for various reasons to market themselves for different genres, age groups or when working with different publishers. Or maybe they just want to spice up their given name. 

A lot of who worked at Borders and write for this blog also love to engage in creative writing too.  Whether it be for fun or dreams of being published or produced.  Rebecca has written Christian fiction and her sister, Naomi, has written fantasy fiction. Claire has been working on an epic western. I write screenplays.  Despite all this writing, we can't get enough !  I started thinking, what pseudonyms would we use ?  We thought we'd share them with you.  Maybe one day, you'll see our books on a shelf under one or both of our names !!

Rebecca and Naomi are planning collaborating their talents and writing a dystopian series using the collective name, Reyna McNicol.  I like, it sounds a lot more mysterious and intriguing than Suzanne Collins.

Jess P. would like to write children's books under the name, Pardetym.  

Rachel would like to write fiction mystery/horror/fantasy for Independent Readers under the name, Eerie James.  I can see her giving R.L. Stine a run for his money under this name !

After finishing her western, Claire would go on to write mysteries Romance and Mystery novels under the name Kathy Brooks.

Our resident comedian, Alan, would write Erotica under the name Harry Thoracks.   

I write my screenplays under my own name and with my trusted writing partner but I'd love to write a YA series that is a contemporary version of Sweet Valley High.  Something contemporary and soapy but still sweet with a moral.  I'd use the name Cupcake Arquette a blend of my favorite my food and my celebrity dream man, David Arquette.

 What about you?  What pseudonym would you use or do you use?

March Book Club: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Being a little short on time this week, here's the GoodReads description of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children:

A mysterious island.

An abandoned orphanage.

A strange collection of very curious photographs.

It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

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Spoilers Ahead! While we don't give too much away, we do talk about the book as though we've read it. Take a look at what we had to say about this month's book, or you can skip straight down to the end to see which book won out for next month's read!

Claire: I loved this book so much. I felt it was so well written, some of the sentences were so expressive and emotional that it blew my breath away. I don't normally read books with male protaganists but this one caught me right away. Even with school I finished the book in three days. I was sad when it ended because I didn't want to leave the characters. I hope that there are more books to come, and it did end with a cliff hanger so there could be more (hopefully)! I am so glad that we picked this book. I loved the way the author combined the old photographs with the story. So different from anything or any story I have read. I can't say enough good stuff! Loved it!

Jenn N:  

Like Claire, I normally don't read books with male protagonists. However, I am so glad I read this book. I found Jacob to be extremely relateable. His emotions were so well written. My heart broke when his grandfather passed away. I loved the depiction of their relationship. I also appreciated that the story wasn't rushed. Jacob grieved and went through obstacles before he even began to solve his grandfather's mystery. I loved how the vintage photos perfectly fit the story and didn't seem contrived at all. This book was unique and brilliant; I can't wait to see what happens next.

Rebecca T: There were a lot of things I enjoyed about this book, but I think my favorite was the home itself. I loved the idea that these people were being held in time and that Jacob could cross over into it. I love when stories play with time and do it well. The thought of being caught in the day before a horrific event is fascinating to me. The uncanniness of the story combined with the pictures made for a very intriguing read and, while it wasn't really one of my favorite books of the year, it was one I couldn't put down.

So what's for next month? We've decided to take a break from Young Adult and take my suggestion to read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society! We hope you'll join us and stop by next month to see what we thought. And while you're waiting feel free to check out our Facebook or Twitter feeds or deck yourself out in some new Booksellers Without Borders swag over at our Cafe Press shop!

Are the odds ever in our favor?

At 12AM on March 23, 2012, our group will be gathering at a local theater to see the much-discussed and long awaited "Hunger Games," movie.   This will be the first film based off of Suzanne Collins' best-selling dystopian trilogy wherein teenagers are forced into a death match by their tyrannical government. 

While gritty and dark, this series has been praised by my former co-workers, and now fellow bloggers, for years.  At first I was reluctant to read such a dark tale but as soon I picked up "The Hunger Games," and started reading, I couldn't put it down.  It's not just a bleak tale, it's about fighting not just against a bad government but fighting to be yourself and fighting for what you believe is right, just and moral.

So, this book to film adaptation, needs to be done just right.  We've all seen the trailers and you can view the trailers, here.  As of late, our discussion has been on whether this film will due justice to the novels.  We thought we'd share our discussion with you.

Rachel, who I believe was the first of us to read the series weighs in, "I'm excited and dreading the movie at the same time. I just hope they keep the integrity of the story and don't try to glam it up. Also, this is not a love story. I hope they don't play up the 'omg Peeta and Gale are sooOoOo dreamy' aspect. I also wish we were in Katniss's head for the movie and I'm pissed that they're leaving out Madge. How would Katniss have the money to buy the mockingjay pin? And even if she had the mone,y she wouldn't buy it because it wouldn't be benefiting her family. The reaping scene looks spot on, though."

There is an article about "The Hunger Games" in this week's "Entertainment Weekly",  which notes that producers were determined to the relationships between Peeta, Gale, and Katniss as described in the novel. 

I think we can all agree with Claire's reaction, "I am relieved to hear there is no playing up of the 'love' of Peeta and Katniss. I saw the scene for the reaping and it looks amazing. I can't wait to see the arena and the people watching and in the games."

Eileen is, "...extremely curious about the entire film. My first thought was it's going to be too far away from the story and too Hollywood-ized. But since Suzanne Collins wrote the script I'm not sure what to expect. I'm most excited to see how they visualized the arena."

Naomi is also, "I am excited about it all...I most want to see Rue's scene. If they mess that up I'm going to find their butts and kick 'em. If they do it right I shall pat their heads in appreciation."

Rebecca shares in her sister's opinion," I am so excited for every part of this movie! After something I read today, I'm especially looking forward to some of the things we'll see inside the capitol and the games that we don't get in the books since Katniss doesn't see it.  Every video clip I've seen makes me cry, so I'm most concerned about bringing enough tissues to the theater!"

I am excited to share an evening with my good friends and enjoy the freedoms not allowed in the bleak future described in these novels.  I was also glad they weren't going to soup up the romance factor between Peeta and Katniss or Katniss and Gale.  I think the film will showcase just how horrific and intense the battles and oppression were described in the novel.  Also, even though you shouldn't like those in "the Capitol," I must admit their costumes, hair, and make-up are beautiful !

So what do you guys think?  Please share with us below.  Even if it's a snarky comment, it's OK!  We have snark in our own group.  This is what Alan had to say when asked what he liked about "The Hunger Games, "I like the part where the zombie steals the shuttlecraft and tries to fly it into a black hole, but Peeta crushes it's skull with a Dymo label maker."

So please share your opinion below.  The odds are ever in your favor that we might like it!

BFFs

There are many types of characters in literature.  Those we admire, love, despise, envy or a mix of all those qualities.  Then there are those we'd just want to hang out and be ourselves with, our literary best friends.  Who would you want your literary best friend to be?  Here are our picks.

Alan would enjoy adventuring with John Clark, a recurring character in Tom Clancy's novels.  He's the last person on earth anyone should mess with, so he's a handy guy to have around.

Claire would love to hang out with Flavia from the "Flavia De Luce" series by Alan Bradley. Flavia is unlike any 11 year old she knows.  Flavia is so adult and yet such child.  She would also enjoy girl talk with the women from the "Number One Ladies Detective Agency" by Alexander McCall Smith because she loves all they have to say, and she would like to be told that she is traditionally built.

Jennifer C. wants to have a pillow fight with Menolly from Anne McCaffrey's "Pern" series. Menolly is smart, funny, independent and loyal. She also shares her love of music and animals.


Jess P. would love to be best friends with Mary Ann Spier from "The Baby-Sitters Club" by Ann M. Martin.  She imagines herself crying along to sappy Hallmark commercials with Mary Ann and trading needlework tips. 


Mallory dreams of  putting on those magical jeans and be friends with the girls from "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" by Ann Brashares.  She loves the amazing bond that  Tibby, Carmen, Lena, and Bridget share.  Despite geographic distance and life's ups and downs, the girls remain the best of friends  

Luna Lovegood, Hogwart's unpopular outcast (from the "Harry Potter" books by J.K. Rowling) would love Orange County.  She has two ladies vying to be her BFF here.  Both Rebecca T. and Jess B. admire Luna's loyalty, intelligence, and quirkyness.  Rebecca T. and Jess B. also feel they'd be sorted in Ravenclaw House and thus the friendship would blossom after some shenanigans in the common room.


Rachel, who has a cat named Luna, would rather head up north to befriend Anne Shirley from the "Anne of Green Gables," novels by L.M. Montgomery.


Finally, I'd enjoy shopping with Stacey McGill from "The Baby-Sitters Club."  She was always my favorite.  She could've put her math skills to good use by tutoring me in school and I would love weekend trips to New York City with her.   Plus, if Jess P. is best-friends with Mary Ann, we could all hang out together all the time !


Who is your literary best friend?  Share with us below, friends !

We Love Love Stories !

Tuesday is Valentine's Day.  In honor of this special day, we're sharing our favorite love stories with you.

Alan loves Edgar Rice Burroughs and he loves the relationship between Tarzan and Jane in the first three "Tarzan" novels.  He also finds Ginny Weasley's love for Harry Potter, as depicted in J.K. Rowlings' novels endearing.

Rachel also finds love in the "Harry Potter" novels.  While Severus Snape may seem like nothing but a bitter wizard at first, as the series progresses, you'll see that he was once a young man who was very much in love with Harry's mother Lily.  Despite that love being unrequited, he never stopped loving her.  Rachel feels that love tops all.

Claire is true to her first love.  As a child she loved "The Little House on the Praire" novels by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Today she admires the great love stories interwoven into the novels.  What girl wouldn't like to find a great man like Charles Ingalls or Almanzo Wilder?

Jess B. lusts for "Heart of the City," by Ariel Sabar.  She says that it's amazing  stories of love in NYC that asks the question if iconic landmarks can bring true love in "environmental psychology."

Jess P. wants to skate hearts in the ice whenever she reads "My Sergei," by Ekaterina Gordeeva.  From Gordeeva's point of view she describes how she met and fell in love with her ice skating partner Sergei.  The duo went on to win many Olympic medals before his tragic death.

My favorite is the relationship between Jessica Darling and Marcus Flutie in Megan McCafferty's "Jessica Darling" novels.  I loved how their relationship progressed over the five books in this series.  They have their ups and down and after Jessica broke Marcus' heart in "Fourth Comings," you wonder if they'll ever get back together.  Then, after years apart, they run into each other at the airport in "Perfect Fifths," and - well I don't want to spoil the ending but I did say it's may favorite love story ;) 

Happy Reading Everyone !  What are some of your favorite love stories?  Share with us below.  Please follow us on twitter, @borderlessbooks and  "Like" us on Facebook.  Don't break our hearts, please do it now !

 

Meet and Greet

As booksellers, we've been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet some great authors whether it was at our store, a trade event, or a road trip to an author signing.  Still there are many authors we haven't met.  Here is our wish list of authors we'd love to chat with.

Alan wants to meet Edgar Rice Burroughs.  If you've been reading this blog regularly, you'll remember that Alan is a big fan of this classic science-fiction writer who fostered his love of reading.

Claire would like to sit down with Alan Bradley and Alexander McCall Smith.  She loves Bradley's "Flavia de Luce" series and admires Smith's uncanny ability to write from a woman's perspective so well

Jess B. would've liked hole up with J.D. Salinger for a bit and tell him how much his works like "A Catcher in the Rye," inspired her.  If she did have the opportunity to meet him, I bet her cake pops would've roused him out of seclusion.

Jess P. would like to take a few minutes for some girl talk with Meg Cabot, the best-selling author who is most known for "The Princess Diaries" series.  Jess would to know Cabot was able to write other books in other YA genres like mystery and supernatural so well.  Cabot wrote other series like "1-800-WHERE-R-YOU," and "The Mediator" under pen names before she rose to fame.  Jess wants to know how Cabot feels about these books finally being released under her real name.

Mallory would've liked to have boarded a wagon with Laura Ingalls Wilder for a bit.  She would like to praise her for being able to write about her life with such detail.  Claire, who is also a writer, would've liked to have met her too.  As a fan of the TV show, I would've like to chat with her a bit as well and find out how she felt about the creative licenses the show took with her life story.

Naomi, wanted to have been able to make a trek to meet J.R.R. Tolkein to talk with him about his work with Icelandic Sagas and his creation of the Elvish language,  Dwarvish history and pretty much anything and everything about Middle-Earth, the Silmarillion and Roverandom.

Rachel, as readers of this blog are aware, is a huge Harry Potter fan.  Needless to say, her obvious choice of author to meet is J.K. Rowling.  However she said, "she's so magnificent that I fear that looking directly at her will destroy any mortal."  So instead she'd like to meet Chuck Klosterman.  She wants to make a great impression on him like the Cracker Barrel Kafka girl in "Killing Yourself to Live" but fears she'd end up saying "ohmagoshiloveyousomuchimahugefan."

Rebecca is currently working on a thesis about the works of LM. Montgomery.  She'd love to chat with the "Anne of Green Gables," author regarding research for her paper.  She wouldn't just be using this meet-up as a way to score an easy-A.  She is a fan of her books and would've loved the opportunity to get to know her better.

Like Rachel, I'm intimidated to meet one of my authors too.  Back when Bret Easton Ellis was promoting "Imperial Bedrooms," I passed on an opportunity to meet him at a signing in NYC.  I was too afraid to go all "fangirl" which I know he'd detest.  I would've to have asked him how much of "Lunar Park," was really his life story and what parts were totally fabricated.  Then I'd want to know if the parts he made up where things he'd wanted for himself in life or just pure fiction.  I'd also like to ask him what makes him decide to get up the middle of the night for to tweet movie reviews and random  musings on pop culture on Twitter.  

Now, who would you like to meet?  We'd love you to share with us!  Post below, "like" us on Facebook (look for Booksellers Without Borders NY," and follow us on Twitter, @borderlessbooks. 

Around the World in 84 Seconds

Books are great, they allow you to escape to another world without leaving your couch.  Here are some of our favorite destinations.

Alan would love to visit Rivendell-Middle Earth as described in Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings" novels.  If you talk to Naomi, who also wants to visit Rivendell, she described it as "...awesome and woodsy and has waterfalls and I could learn Elvish and climb trees and it would be awesome..."  Two booksellers want to visit there so I guess it is indeed doubly awesome.

Albert wants to travel to Caladan from the "Dune" series by Frank Herbert because it seems peaceful to him.

Eileen, would like to make a royal trek to Cair Paravel, the castle from C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia." According to her, it doesn't get any better than a castle by the sea with talking animals and trees.

Jessica P. wants to hop aboard the Hogwarts Express and learn magic at Hogwarts as described in J.K. Rowlings' "Harry Potter" series.  

Mallory wants to live in a town I once wanted to move to too, Stoneybrook, CT from "The Baby-Sitters Club" series by Ann M. Martin.  I agree with her that it's an ideal hometown with a Main Street, good neighbors, kids, and the best friends you could ever have.  

Surprisingly, Rachel, the biggest Harry Potter fan I've ever met, would love to travel to  Felurian's Grove from "TheWise Man's Fear" by Patrick Rothfuss.  I asked her why not Hogwarts, and she replied,  "because who wouldn't want to live with a deadly faerie sex goddess."  I agree, you'd probably have to travel to the dark side of Diagon Alley to find something like that.

Rebecca loves the idea of a city floating in the water, so she'd like to paddle on over to the lost city of Faar from J.D. MacHale's "Pendragon" series.

As for me, none of these destinations can compete with my pick, Bon Temps, LA.  The small town as described in Charlaine Harris' "Sookie Stackhouse" books aka the "Southern Vampire" series has something none of these other places have, Bill Compton.  I'm crazy about this southern gentleman vampire and would love to make myself at home in his homestead.  I could elaborate but I'll keep those savory details to myself.

However, I think Claire has the best response of all of us.  She's like to live in the "Thursday Next," universe where Detective Thursday Next jumps through various novels to solve crimes.

Where would you travel to?  Please share with us !

Where It All Began

You wouldn't chose to work in a bookstore unless you love to read.  I always find it odd when I meet someone who doesn't like to read.  How could someone not enjoy curling up with a good book and escaping somewhere without leaving the comfort of your couch?  I've loved to read as long as I can remember but how did this love start?  Let's take a look at some of the first books we remember.  

Alan: "One of the first books I remember reading to myself was 'Are You My Mother' by P.D. Eastman. Although I had since then become an avid reader, when my dad gave me 'Tarzan of the Apes' by Edgar Rice Burroughs, when I was 10, I was forever changed. For the next several years, and through several more of the adventures of Lord Greystoke, if I wasn't in a tree with the rest of Kerchak's tribe of anthropoids, I was huddled up with a book." 

Claire:  "I remember being in love with Dr. Seuss books, I know I always had 'One Fish, Two Fish' around. I think the first books that really started my love of reading was the Little House on the Prairie series. I don't remember how how I was, I think first grade, and I remember reading a page and then my mom read a page, back and forth. I remember I got the entire set for Christmas. I loved those books!"

Eileen:  "When I was little my parents and grandparents read to me a lot. Mostly Dr Seuss and Berenstein Bears. In late kindergarten/ early first grade I got 'The Horse and His Boy' and 'Little House on the Prairie', which were my first 'big books' to read by myself. I read them over and over, and have been begging for more ever since!"

Jess P. "My parents always had my sister and I read before we went to bed. The first book I remember reading on my own was 'The Mouse and the Motorcycle' by Beverly Cleary. It was a great story for a younger reader. There were also two other books in the series so I got hooked wanting to know more about Ralph S Mouse!"

Naomi:  "Go Dog Go' by PD Eastman was the first book I remember reading on my own without any help. And then, after that, I just wanted to read everything. It didn't really take much, since I had already been exposed to the love of reading via my mother and sisters."

Rachel:  I had always enjoyed books from a young age and religiously read Dr. Seuss, Jan Brett, and Eric Carle. However, it wasn't until my dad brought home a hardcover copy of 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone' that someone had found in a garbage that I really embraced reading and discovered my passion for magic and fantasy."

 

Rebecca: "When I was really little, my favorite book to have read to me was 'Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss.' I started reading at a young age, so I know I read a lot of books, but the first book I really remember being affected by was 'Little Women' by Louisa May Alcott. I distinctly remember it being the first book that made me cry. It was the first time I realized how powerful the written word can be and the impact it can have on people."  

It seems like Dr. Suess had a big impact on most of us.  He had an impact on me too but the opposite of everyone else.  I was scared of The Cat in The Hat and wanted nothing to do with another Suess book after that!  

When I was little, my dad read to me every night.  It was normally a short story or poem from a book he had as a kid called, "The Bumper Book."  It was full of little short stories and poems like "The Owl and the Pussycat."  He also read a lot of "Golden Books" to me, my favorite was "The Poky Little Puppy."  As I got older and learned to read on my own the first chapter book I wanted was "The Baby Sitters Club: Little Sister #2, Karen's Roller Skates," by Ann M. Martin.  This series was a spin-off of "The Baby-Sitters Club."  I distinctly remember finding this book at the mall at the "Book and Record" store.  Yes, I am old enough to have shopped in a store that sold actual record albums!  I read some of it to myself and my dad read some to me.  I instantly fell in love with the little town of Stonybrook, Conneticut and went on to read all the books in the series and ultimately found my true book love with "The Baby-Sitters Club" series.  I've been constantly reading ever since.  I read a variety of books but I still re-read "The Baby-Sitters Club" books to this day.  Like a great friend, they are a great source of comfort on a bad day. 

What about you ?  Please share with us some of your early reading memories below.