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Jessica, the PirateCanary:
“A friend of mine got me a copy of Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, for my 16th birthday. At that point I’d read Neverwhere by Gaiman, and nothing by Pratchett. The book was amazing, and I set out to read whatever I could get my hands on by both authors.
This resulted, of course, in the immediate discovery of the Discworld novels (Pratchett), and the eventual discovery of the Sandman series of graphic novels (Gaiman), two of my favorite fantasy series of all time. I don’t think one standalone novel has been the springboard into so many other wonderful books before or since for me.
I don’t see the friend who gave me Good Omens often anymore—we went to different colleges after graduation and fell out of touch—but he gets a special distinction in my memory for being someone I can trust in matters literary, which is a gift I’m always thankful for.”
The Book Canaries 
I have to mention two books.
For the first, I recall my parents going on holiday once when I was little. During the course of their trip they visited my aunt and cousins. And they returned home with “Who’s a Pest?” by Crosby Bonsall – proclaiming it to be my cousin Conan’s favourite book, and he wanted me to enjoy it, too. This from a cousin at the other end of New Zealand, who I saw very rarely. That in itself was special. But, the book is a great little read, even given that I never fully understood it until I read with an adult’s sense of narrative recently (with the birth of my son). Sometimes I wonder how much of my own personality was influenced by that tale…
Second, I am grateful for stumbling upon “The Crow Road” by Iain Banks in my last year of high school (a long, long time ago). It was sitting on a special stand on the end of a shelf of the school library, and the striking black and white cover caught my eye. I borrowed it, read it, and found it extremely enjoyable. And that was my first real foray into the world of “adult” fiction (other than those books assigned by teachers). I remember suddenly feeling that I had not read enough books and that I must do something about it…
Those are both great book memories! I don’t remember what my first ‘adult’ fiction book was, but I remember that feeling as well, that there were so many books that just NEEDED to be read.
I’m late, I know! 😀
But I just wanted to humbly submit the one series that changed my life and outlook forever: Mercedes Lackey’s The Last Herald-Mage trilogy.
Why? Because it was the first time I could read about two male characters falling in love in a way that could be beautiful. And believe me, in my country where “intercourse against the order of nature” is a crime? It made me sit up and open my eyes. Sure, there were parts of the series that were melodramatic, but damn, it made me bawl my eyes out back in the day.
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