Your first book in English

[Outofbreath]

Which book was your first that you read fully in English?

For me it actually was George Orwell's 1984, which wasn't that easy to read.

About the same time I read through complete Sherlock Holmes by Conan-Doyle, which was a much easier read.

[Conchita]

My very first novel in English was Jacqueline Susann's "Valley of the Dolls". But at school we had been reading "Harold and Maude", by Colin Higgins.

[Chocolatee]

I can't recall what the title of my first english book was. Before I began going to school, I remember my mom showing me children's books and teaching me how to read. I am lucky to have a teacher for a mom, even if her specialty is science. :)

[Sheri]

My mom, who is an English teacher introduced me to the exciting world of books when I was still young. With the quantity of books that I've read, I can not actually remember my first book.
But the first book that I get to appreciate, really appreciate is the book The LIttle Prince by Antoine Saint-Exupery.

[Pamela]

And my first book in English was "The Man of Property"written by J.Galsworthy :D

[Torsten]

I'm not 100% but I think the first book I read in English was Four Days by John Buell. That is, it was the first book I chose myself -- rather than having to read something because I was told so by somebody else. I remember buying that book in a small shop (all shops on/in Malta are small) when I was in Valletta where I was taking an English class...

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[Englishuser]

Hi Torsten,

[Torsten]

Hi Englishuser,

I think Malta is quite good if you want to relax and get an impressive suntan. The country basically consists of two rather small islands that host two cities and a two castles. There are almost no trees or any other plants for that matter. As far as I know, Malta's economy depends on tourism nearly entirely.

They seem to have one of the largest fireworks company in the world -- when I was there, they would launch several firworks every single day. Also, the people I talked to appeared to lead a fairly laid back life style. Because of their history and geographical location, the Maltese language and culture is a mixture of Arabic, Italian, English and other European languages.

I think every Maltese citizen speaks English a second language and they are quite open-minded. Another thing I liked about Malta was that soft drink made of bitter oranges. When I was there I would consume a dozen or so bottles of that beverage and I have never come across something similar since. (Even Bionade was not as good).

What about you, have you ever been to Malta?

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[Jamie (K)]

The first book I read in English was almost certainly some Dr. Seuss book. It was either The Cat in the Hat; Green Eggs and Ham; or One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish. The book I most enjoyed having read to me was Horton Hatches the Egg. I make my adult ESL students read Yertle the Turtle, and almost all of them like it. Dr. Seuss is great for having English expressions stick in your head.

The first book I read in German was Drei Kamaraden (Three Comrades) by Erich Maria Remarque. After that was Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis) by Franz Kafka. These are standard books that are read in German classes in America. Like most Americans, I thought The Metamorphosis was surrealistic and slightly scary, but after I had lived in Central Europe for a few years, and understood people's behavior there, I thought it was hilariously funny.

The first book I read in Czech was Encyklopedie pro nejmensi (Encyclopedia for Little Ones), which was a translation of the French book Petit Nathan. The first novel I read in that language was probably Mimner, aneb hra o smrd'ocha by Jiri Grusa, which is a very strange surrealistic novel with an untranslatable title.

[Englishuser]