Thinking as far back as I can, my first experience with a book is Corduroy by Don Freeman. Even though I like some books, I feel that my first experiences with reading were not very good. It began with the starter books that have about five words on a page and a lot of pictures. I think the reason I didn't have good experiences is because it seemed like I was being forced to read those books when I was little. I liked Courduroy, but the first book I remember liking is The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. My parents would always read this book to my brother and I right before Christmas, when we were little. But since Courduroy and The Polar Express are picture books the first real book I liked is Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater. I liked this book because it had a good story and I was able to choose to read it myself instead of being told to read it.
My reading journey has been quite hectic. At first I didn't really like reading, because it took so long, but as I found better books and read more, it began to go by faster. Again when I was little I didn't really like to read but then I started the Magic Tree House Series and then began to like reading more. After that I started to read some of The Great Illustrated Classic books and also really liked those too. But as soon as it started I began hate reading again when I got into 2nd and 3rd grade when we were given book reports. When I was little some school books were toture to read while a good book was enjoyable. It's strange, at times I hate reading, but other times it's great. I'd rather read a book I chose thats alright than an assigned book that I hate. As a reader I am comfortable, I just hope to be able to read faster and stop procrastinating.
I began to like reading again in 7th and 8th grade, because of books like Harry Potter and To Kill a Mockingbird. But when I started highschool I lost interest in reading, because for awhile I couldn't really find any books that could keep my attention or interest. But recently over the summer, I read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Though the books were intended to be for summer reading, after getting into The Hunger Games it was more for enjoyment. These were really well written books and have gotten me interested in reading again. I am hoping to read the third and final book in the series Mockingjay, but have yet found the time too. Like I said before I am comfortable reader, I always try to read faster, and stop procrastinating and my goals as a reader are to read more and to be able to analyze things better.
