WHAT BOOK OR BOOKS ENSNARED YOU WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG? WAS THERE A CERTAIN ONE THAT YOU RE-READ SEVERAL TIMES BECAUSE YOU LIKED IT SO MUCH? DID ANY OF THESE INFLUENCE THE WAY YOU WROTE OR APPROACHED LITERATURE LATER IN LIFE?
Several years ago, I did a long interview with Texas author Clay Reynolds. Unexpectedly, Mr. Reynolds revealed that he had been suffering from pancreatic cancer. I sent him this last question even though I didn’t know if his health would ever improve. He emailed me back to say that the question was a good one to answer, but he was in no state to answer it (he died shortly thereafter).
That led me to wonder: how would I answer my own question?
I ended up writing a long essay and then recommending friends and other writers give their own answers in the comment section. I created this website to help people learn about what books people read in childhood and influence them still today. Also, this can be an interesting way to learn about new authors through the childhood books which influenced them.
I put up this website on May 24, 2026, so it’s definitely a work in progress. For the next few weeks I’ll design the website so that it’s less about me and more about these books, these magical tomes which were magical to me and possibly magical to you as well.
Eventually I’ll write up some guidelines for how to submit your childhood reads. For now though, you can write your comments at the bottom of this blogpost or contact me Robert Nagle directly via email. (Put “Magical Tome” in the subject line to make it more likely for me to see it.
Thanks.
Robert Nagle, Editor of Personville Press
