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Question of the Month
“What was the first book (or book series) you really fell in love with?”
But let's get book serious here. The first book of real substance that I fell in love with was the King James Version of the Holy Bible. I'd grown up fascinated with my father's giant sized Bible. He would sometimes read from it or quote from it. Sometimes he sounded like a preacher when he'd recite Biblical passages.
I received my own personal copy of the King James Bible in 1958 when I was seven years old. This Bible was given to me by Frank Van Valen, the pastor at the church we attended at the time. On a blank page near the front of the book he inscribed, "This book will not keep you from this book, but sin will keep you from this book." I still have this copy of the Bible. The cover is coming off, but the book is in remarkably good condition considering the wear and tear it has undergone.
Now, if we are thinking about secular books then I'll go with two series that were published by the same company and in a sense went hand in hand. The Tom Swift, Jr. books was a series of science fiction novels and the Hardy Boys series were mysteries. I had complete sets of both at the time I stopped collecting them, though I think more were published after that. Those collections were my pride and joy sitting on a bookshelf in my bedroom for many years. I've gotten rid of most of that collection over the years, but I've managed to hang onto a few of each. In recent years I've even actually reread some of those books and they weren't half bad even now reading them as an adult. I guess that's one reason why I loved them so.
Do you remember Little Golden Books? What was the first book that you ever received where someone inscribed a message to you? There were many books series like the ones I mentioned: Was there a set that you owned as a child?
