Every bookish girlie has gone either a Greek mythology, Jane Austen, or Stephen King era in their youth. I don't have the hard data, but I am speaking from experience.
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My mythology love came later, it was always horror and fantasy first. Enid Blyton I think was my early reading, that then Point Horror as a really young kid. I also loved the babysitters club 🤣
The female gaze of how men are perceived not just by singular women, but groups of women like JA does is something all readers should take a gander at more often.
Actually I ended up reading a ton of Clive Cussler and Chalet School Stories when I was a teenager. I am so not a fan of King or Austen. Not really into Greek myths either.
It was Alcott for me. I read more Brontë than Austen, I didn’t read a full Austen until late-teens. But once my parents banned contemporary fiction at 12 I was reading Alcott and Brontë because it’s what my mom allowed until I figured out how to hide books from my fam.
What is this 'gone through' that you speak of? Well, I did go through a Greek mythology spell, but I knew I'd found my book person when I read Carrie in 1974. I was 18. I just had my 69th birthday, and Stephen King is still it (no pun intended).
Every bookish girlie has either worshiped the gods, rejected the suitor, or feared the monster—only to realize, in time, that sometimes the gods are cruel, the suitor is a fantasy, and the monster just wants to tell a good story.
Stephen King all the way. I vividly remember going to HS early to hide in the library to read the Langoiers and listen to Dave Matthews. The Stand is by far my favorite.
I have been through them all 😄
Mythology = pre-teen,
Stephen King (+other American horror) about 14,
segued to Georgette Heyer and regency romances shortly after and that led to Jane Austen and then the Bronte sisters.
..Then sci-fi period (Ray Bradbury, Anne McCaffrey & Isaac Asimov, I am old).
Mythology to an extent from the language&myth,anthropological, sociological,theological,moral/ethical curiosity than the fantastic aspect. Lots of greek philosophers tho!
More explored theorums&technical manuals
First book beyond that
The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life
Terrible book by the way. Did leave me with many🔥 questions about how can some people consider themselves elite,entitled and owning a sense of priviledge belonging to a small pocket of thriving which can't be penetrated without virtue signaling some pop culture ideal of "success" or "intelligence"
I admit to liking some mythology, but LOTR was my bible. I didn't learn to appreciate Jane Austen until my 40s. I've only read one book by King, "The Stand". He's not my jam. My childhood was spent with, believe it or not, Robert Browning, Shakespeare, C.S. Lewis, James Thurber, Madeleine L'Engle.
Shakespeare for me. I read all of the dramas and comedies, lended to me by a secondhand bookshop owner. I couldn’t afford the vintage collection that I coveted (I was 15, not exactly rolling in it) so he let me check out one volume at a time for a $5 refundable deposit.
I’m an outlier I guess. More into the classics (Little Women, Jane Eyre, Scarlet Letter) & dystopian (1984, Animal Farm, Brave New World).
These days, definitely into Middle Grade as well as historical fic, Japanese translations, and some speculative fic. Always a non-fiction in progress too. 📚
I won’t disagree. When I wasn’t reading The Carpetbaggers, Peyton Place, and Valley of the Dolls, this bookish girlie ran on the Greek mythology track.
Yes as a bookish girl I was influenced by a wonderful book of Greek myths as a child in the 1970s which my daughter then enjoyed and we still have it wrapped in bubble wrap as it’s spine has disintegrated and we can’t find anyone to rebind it
I was obsessed with Greek mythology from the age of around 8 to 15. The books of Roger Lancelyn Green illustrated by Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone literally changed my life.
I read (and still try to read) every Stephen King novel ever written. I have three advanced degrees, four advanced certifications, no criminal history and vote Democrat.
And I owe a lot of it to being a bookworm. #thankyouliterarygeniuses
Genuine question: have you ever written an analysis or essay about his body of work?
I can't read them all, but I re-read The Dark Tower series every few years (and am now penning my first novel which is directly inspired by those 7 books)
Took Latin all 4 years of high school, and Edith Hamilton Mythology was one of the required books. I was into Roman mythology (most of it admittedly stolen from Greek).
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hardy boys and arthur c. clarke
Actually I ended up reading a ton of Clive Cussler and Chalet School Stories when I was a teenager. I am so not a fan of King or Austen. Not really into Greek myths either.
Agatha Christie - I do love Hercule Poirot but NOT Miss Marple. Read all the Poirot stories.
Austen is my now and always.
🙋🏽
A lot of mythology, as well as King(Clive Barker too ^.^)
I am who I am.
I must be a bookish girlie
In my old age, Jane is the one that endures.
Mythology = pre-teen,
Stephen King (+other American horror) about 14,
segued to Georgette Heyer and regency romances shortly after and that led to Jane Austen and then the Bronte sisters.
..Then sci-fi period (Ray Bradbury, Anne McCaffrey & Isaac Asimov, I am old).
More explored theorums&technical manuals
First book beyond that
The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life
Plus, and LOT of science fiction. Dragons, wizards, and fairies, oh my!
Thunder series (horses) 6th grade)
VC Andrew - junior high/high school
Austin in my 30s
King seven years ago
These days, definitely into Middle Grade as well as historical fic, Japanese translations, and some speculative fic. Always a non-fiction in progress too. 📚
And throw in a year of obsessing over Agatha Christie.
😜
And I owe a lot of it to being a bookworm. #thankyouliterarygeniuses
I can't read them all, but I re-read The Dark Tower series every few years (and am now penning my first novel which is directly inspired by those 7 books)
Started reading King at 10!