I am brand new to the Forums, but I do love to read.

"The Storied Life of A.J.Fikry" by Gabrielle Zevin.

Welcome terraorca!
Your book is a new one on me. What is it about? Can you give us a brief idea?

"The Storied Life of A.J.Fikry"

A newly widowed, middle aged man who owns a small bookstore on a resort island. The book is about his personal trials and tribulations with the recent loss of his wife, his business the bookstore, and the burgeoning life of his daughter. It is life, on an island, seemingly very real.

Thanks I will look out for it.

This is my first post on any of the forums! I have always loved books, my mum taught me to read when I was a baby so by the age of two and a half I was reading books on my own. One of my favourite childhood books was 'Watership Down' by Richard Adams, which I read when I was six, and I also received 'Black Beauty' as a Christmas gift and loved it.
My favourite author now is Stephen King; as a child, my mum would hide her horror novels (mainly James Herbert) in various places to keep them away from me, as she knew I couldn't resist any book, and I'd find them and read them in thrilling little instalments whenever she was busy for a few minutes, the fear of being caught adding to the suspense of the story.
Now I have around twenty feet of shelf space filled with Stephen King's books, and my favourite is 'IT', which I just finished reading for the sixth time.
I read most genres, but I attribute my particular love of horror to those stolen moments of excitement trying to finish a chapter before the book could be snatched away and stored in a better hiding place back in those days before I could buy my own books.

A great story! Can't say I have ever read a Stephen King book, it's not my scene, but you are so welcome to "Bookworms"!

I was also a kid who did a lot of forbidden reading. Mine was mostly "adult" books like "Peyton Place", and a series of books set in the Old South, by Lance Horner and Kyle Onstott. Really, really trashy books, just terrible - searching for them just now to get the spelling right, I saw them described as "plantation porn" and that's about right. I know why I read them - I was thirteen and deeply curious about the secret lives of adults, but what on earth was my mother's excuse? No wonder she kept them hidden.

Thanks! The thing about King is, some of his best work isn't really about scary stuff. I have had friends mock me for liking his work, calling his novels 'pulp trash', but what he writes about are people. Imperfect, real people. Every story is about ordinary people in extraordinary situations - basically, what would we really do if we were faced with our nightmares? How many of us would be heroes, and how many of us would simply take the easy route and succumb to evil? He's famous for being relatable, using real brand names and places to draw you into his world. The monsters are secondary. King's insights into human nature are every bit as stark and brilliant as William Golding or Harper Lee's, who I've also read and enjoyed.
I'm always hunting for new books, so I'm taking notes of everyone else's favourites on here, too. And, of course, if I ever get a Kindle then Skunkee's titles will be the first I'll be downloading!

Ha ha, Agony, you've just reminded me, I once found one of those plantation porn novels too! I don't remember anything much about it except that there was a slave named Monk in charge of the other slaves, and the plantation owner's wife was obsessed with him. I can't disparage my mum too much for reading that one; I'm embarrassed to admit to reading all three '50 Shades' novels myself! I was recommended them by a group of friends and slogged through them all simply because I promised I would. Dreadful! I'm vehemently opposed to burning books, but still.....