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Sesame Street
The earliest memory I have of learning letter shapes and sounds was from watching Sesame Street. This program made learning fun and motivated me to be a good reader. -
Dr. Seuss
I remember asking my mom to read the Dr. Seuss books with me when I was first learning to read. My favorite book for many years was "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street". I thought that we were so cool because we had a huge tree in our backyard, and it was called a "mulberry" tree! -
My First Fantasy Novel
Dragons of Autumn Twilight, by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, was the first real novel I ever read completely and on my own. It opened me up to a fantastical world of dragon riders and magical spells. -
Dungeons & Dragons
Once I found a series of fantasy novels I liked, I searched for more like them while I waited for the next one to publish. I found Dungeons & Dragons. I read and reread every rulebook and background material book I could find to satisfy my young teenage mind. -
LDS Seminary
In 9th grade, I started to attend early morning seminary at my church every day before school. This required me to read scriptures and I found a different experience in these holy books than I had in my fantasy novels. I learned to appreciate not only different genres but different styles of reading. I had studied textbooks in school and read my novels for pleasure, but this fell somewhere in between. -
R.A. Salvatore
R.A. Salvatore's first published book was "The Crystal Shard" and with it, he quickly became my favorite author. In the last 30 years, I have read over 40 novels and novellas from this author. He inspired me to study creative writing and learn more of his craft. -
Ender's Game
After I had been married for a few years, my wife convinced me to try reading some of her books, instead of just buying more of my own favorites. One author she likes is Orson Scott Card, and she recommended I read "Ender's Game". I loved it! This reminded me to always be willing to read new things and to not "judge a book by its cover", so to speak. -
Harry Potter
When Harry Potter first came out, it seemed a little too low of a reading level for me to enjoy, but by the time the second one came out, I had a daughter in kindergarten with which I wanted to share a fantasy story. It was the popular take, and our whole family got sucked in. This series also really made it clear to me how much better a written book can be versus a film adaptation. Our imaginations are pulled into a book by all the small, yet significant details of the story. -
Brandon Sanderson
In 2005, another new author named Brandon Sanderson published his first book, titled "Elantris". I loved the character development of the story and I immediately connected with him as a reader. Later, as I learned more about him and continued to read his work, he became my new favorite author (and still is). -
Ready Player One
Right before Christmas of 2016, a friend of mine, who also grew up in the 80s, gave me a book by the name of "Ready Player One" and commanded me to read it. It really made me nostalgic and reminded me of things from my past I had forgotten about completely. This showed me how reading, in a way, can transcend time and reality. I was in the real present, reading about events in a fictional future, and remembering events from my personal past. The power of reading!
