re: What hooked you on reading & what is the first book you remember reading?

Henry Huggins, before Ramona took over the entire series.

Encylopedia Brown.

Ripley's Believe it or Not had a great series of paperbacks. That and the annual Guinness Book of World Records books were staples at our house.

I moved on to Edgar Rice Burroughs after that. From junior high through high school I read every one of his published works.

My mother read to me every night from the time i was an infant. She began teaching me phonics when i was 4 and gave me Fun With Dick And Jane. Then I found Green Eggs & Ham and the rest of Dr Seuss. Wish she was still around. I owe her everything.

For poetry, Shel Silverstein was top notch
As far as magazines go, I was always waiting for my next issue of Kids Discover
Every time my mother took me to the grocery, I begged for another Goosebumps book
C.S. Lewis's Narnia series was probably the first thing that got me into some more serious kids books when we read it in my 3rd grade gifted course
Then when I got to middle school, I couldn't put down the Harry Potter series
As a teenager, my favorite books were Nineteen Eighty-Four and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Came out in 1991. I remember reading about it in cinescape magazine. I was 12 I think. Got my dad to buy me a copy. First book I read for entertainment.

Was hooked and read every Star Wars book until the stupid yuzon vong or whatever it was started. When I was about 14 I started reading Michael Chricton. Did john Grisham and Tom Clancy around 15-16. Read my first Stephen king at 17.

Continued expanding from there.

First series I ever read.

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Instead of an allowance my parents instituted a system wherein I received $1 for every 100 pages read. It worked really wrll to gey me into reading and pretty soon i stopped keedping track of pages read and was just doing it for fun

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That is a great idea. I just told my daughter I would give her $1 for every book she read this summer.

I remember reading books about Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone, etc, when I was a young kid. Stopped reading for a while to smoke pot. Picked up reading again in the Navy and it's been pretty consistent ever since.

I love these stories.
My parents didn't read. So when I went to my grandmothers I read her books.
My side of the mountain, little big man, the minds of billy Milligan, all quiet on the western front. All books I read at around 10. LOL! And they still remain some of my favorites.
At some point I talked my mom into bringing me to the library and waiting for me outside. That is where I discovered Steven king. I devoured every single book of his that the library had. I was younger than 12-but my parents didn't read so they weren't going to check for content.
I got my daughter to read my side of the mountain and she loved it. she's 12 so we will wait to introduce her to some of the above mentioned :-) my 10 year old hates reading but I still have hope. All it takes is a few good ones that they really like.
A bunch of you replied with Tolkien. I am embarrassed to say I didn't read him until college.

The book that hooked me on reading - Slaughterhouse 5. It was assigned to us in the 9th grade. The parents flipped out, so I knew the book had to be good. Blew me away.

First book I remember reading? Euphonia and the Flood. My dad got me this book. Loved it as a kid.

A land remembered by Patrick Smith. Amazing book, probably have read it 4 times now.

As an audult, lonesome dove brought me back to reading. Didn't really get into reading until I completed that one at 23. I dont recall reading for pleasure from ages 15 to 23. Sure for school.... I'm a binge reader now, where when I do read, I may read 4 books in a month and none for a couple. Rinse and repeat. Usually reading series books like Michael Connelly's.