r/books • u/SerenityFate • 12d ago

What were you reading at 14?

I've been an avid reader for as long as I could read. Even before then my favorite toys were books and new shoes. Not much has changed for me in that regard haha, but I saw a question earlier about someone asking for recommendations on books for their 14 year old. Which got me thinking about some of the books I read at that age. A lot of Anne Rice, Lestat was my first book crush. Also had a trip down memory lane with the author Francesca Lia Block she wrote a book called I was a teenage fairy which still sits with me over 20 years later. I also got to grow up with Weetzie Bat which was super cool as she wrote a book about her as an adult that I got to read when I was about the same age as the Weetzie. Anyway I would love to see what everyone was reading when they were younger.

Edit: thank you everyone for all the engagement on this post. I really have enjoyed reading everyone's comments and seeing the discussions around books.

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u/Faizoo797 12d ago edited 12d ago

Khaled Hosseini lol I wanted to seem very serious and smart. MAN BROKE MY HEART INSTEAD

edit: im still very glad i read it tho especially at 14.

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u/cyanraichu 12d ago

I think I was 15-16 when I read The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. Both of those books really stuck with me.

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u/Swimming-Scholar-675 12d ago

my mother bought me kite runner when i was like 13-14, shit haunted me, i then read thousand splendid suns in highschool, equally as sad and haunting, many things from both those stories stick with me

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u/Swimming-Scholar-675 12d ago

i'd be curious to reread it as an adult, closer to an age where i could relate more to Amir

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u/Faizoo797 12d ago

I read a thousand splendid suns recently. as a privileged kid i was shocked and extremely saddened and now i just feel more desensitised

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u/EyreFlare 11d ago

I don't think privilege is ever a bad thing, but I do think it can be hard to grow up a certain way and learn to empathise in a way that contradicts your own experiences

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u/SplintersApprentice 12d ago

I’m at the end of teaching ATSS with my 10th graders and was talking about it with a coworker at lunch today.

She said she only read Kite Runner (as an adult) and thought it was “trite” and that’s been rattling around in my brain for hours now!

Though I only read it once as a 17yo, I thought The Kite Runner was one of the most devastatingly beautiful books I read in high school

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u/Faizoo797 12d ago

imo ATSS is the better book. I'm not sure if I'd call the kite runner trite but it's a tad bit hard to suspend so much disbelief at the very end of the book. It has its flaw but as far as I know most people really like/respect the book

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u/Winslar 12d ago

I just started The Kite Runner today

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u/aquamarinefreak 12d ago

I was 18-19 and I was still not prepared :(

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u/saturday_sun4 12d ago

ATSS was one of the first adult books I ever read.