My parents raised me the best they could but with one working night shift, and the other an entrepreneur, (certainly not their fault or mine, that's just how our society is structured) babysitters, after school programs that were cheap, and being a latchkey kid was my existence. [Continued]

#NoDemUnder1k

My go-tos are small, used independent sellers. The prices are reasonable and the selection eclectic. I don't mind finding notes in books provided they're legible, often offers a different perspective from my own. They frequently get their stock from estate sales, so nicely bound, hardly used books.

After reflecting on this further, I have the same philosophy on novels as I do people: No matter how bad a person or a novel is, I can't help but hope that they can manage to turn it around by the end. Though people tend to be more successful at this than novels, since their ending remains unwritten

I guess I'd knit some tiny hats for them to wear.

I figure if I could suffer through Atlas Shrugged, I can probably make it through anything, even if it is out of spite. Life is better than the book is better than the film is better than the reviews.

I always try to read to the end, even if I have to read half and let it cook. I just picked up Stephen King's 'The Stand' after 20 years. Took me forever to read de Sade, but I did it, much to my distaste. I'm still only halfway through the Notebooks of Da Vinci, but I hold out hope. You never know.

Upon reflection, I have to amend my answer. Technically, "The Eyes of the Dragon" was my first.

Salem's Lot for me, probably roundabout 8.

This was more of a free association thing. Any words that looked tasty, I would cut out, and then try to make nonsensical but syntactic phrases with tangential terms, thus allowing the reader to choose for themselves which path to follow, and what meaning to parse.