I was probably in 7th or 8th grade when I saw the cover to "The Shadow Rising" on one of Barnes & Nobles' bookshelves. Unlike most other fantasy series, including mainstays like The Lord of the Rings, this cover was different: it seemed more like a Western and something about the way the woman in the blue dress seemed to be getting her own bowl.

I think I flipped the book open to a random chapter and started to read Nynaeve, Egwene, and Elayne's back-and-forth. It was such a different type of interaction that I was hooked - I'm all for ancient battles, swords, and high drama, but there was such a focus on women being smart, planning, and going between subterfuge and romance that I had to read it.

I did not realize it was a series, and that I jumped ahead, until I returned to the bookstore. Pretty sure I just missed the other books in the series on that first trip.