I was tagged by @lizziethereader, thank you!
First crush on a fictional character:
The first one that I remember is Harry Potter, but it’s hard to say. I probably had crushes before that, but looking back on childhood crushes is increasingly complicated as I realize that I had crushes on so many female characters, and just didn’t consider them crushes at the time. Can confirm I had at least one crush that came out of The Royal Diaries, although I can’t remember which.
A book that made you cry:
There are so many. I cried a lot during The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer—back in the day I cried through the entire first read of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows from Dobby on—The Book Thief never fails to make me sob like a baby. The Ocean at the End of the Lane and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close are two more that always get me.
Book that was spoiled for me:
Anna Karenina. I was literally holding the book open at 100 pages in, reading the book, and a friend came over who had seen the movie and goes, “Oh! You’re reading Anna Karenina?” to which I answered, “Just started!” to which she felt it was appropriate to respond, “I was so shocked when [character] [died unexpectedly at the end of the book]!” I was furious. It’s still one of my favorites though!
First book you fell in love with:
I definitely can’t remember. My dad said the first book I read was The Cat and the Hat—I read it proudly out loud to him, upside down (I had memorized it, I couldn’t read it yet). The first book I can remember falling in love with was Into the Land of the Unicorns by Bruce Coville. The novel that I spent 2nd through 6th grade writing starred unicorns. I might return to it someday. Another big one was The Ragwitch by Garth Nix, which I read so many times I remember the plot even now despite not having read it for years.
First time you couldn’t stop smiling because of a book or character:
Rhy Maresh makes me smile like crazy. Fred and George Weasley are another obvious choice, and Ginny as well.
First person that really impacted your reading:
My family were all so supportive, because they wanted me to be a reader, and I certainly was. My parents shuttled me back and forth to the library, and when I ran out of options in my age level, to the bookstore (although I continued retrieving from the teen and adult sections at that point). They would also defend me against people outside our family who would make it seem like me being too “bookish” would be a bad thing.
Other important figures where my great aunt, who when I visited would bring me to a used bookstore where I found many of my childhood favorites; and my grandfather, who is a professor of folklore and comparative literature, and who would give me old editions of fairy tales and folk tales, giving me an early love for studying them—he also encouraged my writing and would always ask about my reading.
