I realise now that my tablet/ipad addiction had been getting out of control and was stopping me from reading. So this is the story of how one book series changed that (or at least helped a bit…).

My “eureka read” is in two parts and my “eureka moment” takes place with a sixth month gap. It all started last summer. Two weeks with no internet on holiday in Spain. I wasn’t upset about that because I know tablets eat my time and I wanted to enjoy every minute of my holiday; I’d been looking forward to it so much.

Ambitiously I packed about seven books hoping to read one every two days but I only got round to reading one. That was Gone by Michael Grant and I’m so glad it was that, because that book really took my breath away.

It’s got everything: super heroes, peril, kids running the world, aliens, relatable characters (and yes I wanted to be Sam, the troubled leader, at least at first), even (if you want it) romance. Michael Grant’s writing is utterly enthralling, it reminds me a bit of watching Doctor Who, where you watch one episode, then another, there are loose ends and then suddenly all the strands pull together in an explosion of clarity. The way everything coincides perfectly, it’s amazing!

This is how Michael Grant writes. There are so many sub-plots and constant cliffhangers, you want to read so quickly to find out what happened in the previous subplot, then you get a new subplot and then before you know it you’ve hardly breathed while you’ve read the whole book in a matter of days or even (for some people) hours.

It amazes me that I could EVER be distracted from reading books that are this good and I when I came back from my holiday I really, really thought I’d keep the reading habit up and I started Hunger, the second book in the Gone series, on the plane on the way home. But once school started (and I had my Wifi back) I dropped it again. I know… I know…

So what made me come back to The Faze? The ipad broke (don’t judge me, I’m so pathetic) but the thing is when it’s a cold morning at 6am and I don’t want to get up until 7am, that’s an hour when I want to be bed but I’m awake and I had NOTHING to do, or so I thought. It was that moment when I saw the orange letters of Hunger looking up at me through my guitar amp wires.

I picked it up, blew the six months of dust off it, and was instantly nose two cm away from the pages – and I was reading a page a second, absolutely hooked. I hadn’t picked up a book to read to myself the whole time even though my whole room is covered in books. I always think it will be more relaxing to watch YouTube on an iPad or tablet. But I realised I was thinking about Hunger on the way home from school and I couldn’t wait to get home and read. I was so excited, terrified and amazed that a bit of paper could be more enthralling than a screen. I really think it’s a turning moment for me because I watching YouTube on my PC and I was so bored. I actually turned it off and started reading.

I’ve shocked myself, really shocked myself. I’m under my duvet, reading again. Now there are four more books in the series, I’m starting to feel sad about finishing them now I can read a book in two weeks. Luckily I’ve got the whole Cherub series and Alex Rider lined up. So that’s my eureka moment and my eureka read, what’s yours?

This is the first in our new Eureka reads series when site members (and writers, who are also readers) tell us about a book that made something go pop in their brain. Site members (and if you’re under 18, love reading and not a member sign up here) should send ideas to childrens.books@theguardian.com and we’re interested in author eureka reads too!