Bookslut on gateway books

What got you hooked on reading science fiction? According to the Bookslut:

Most genre fans can point to one book that led to their own descent into speculative fiction addiction. It’s generational, of course. For some, it might have been Wells, Verne or Burroughs. Others might point to Lem or the other Burroughs or Moorcock. Twenty years from now, it’s hard to know who might be cited. Gibson, maybe, or Gaiman. Despite the fact that it makes old-school hard-assed fans bite their fists, I’d like to think that it might be Rowling who draws the next batch into the fold.

The name that comes up most frequently, however, is Heinlein. Robert A. was my own gateway drug and I still have vivid memories of my first hit. It was in my local library (the Northland library in Pittsburgh, if you’re scoring at home), where I spent most of my late-elementary school summers, checking out enough books each week to cause the librarian to ask ?are you really going to read all of those?? every time she checked them out.