I had stopped reading fantasy a long time ago (when I had finished all of Moorcocks books which I still love.) I got to know Brandon Sanderson through writing excuses. That made me wana read something of his. Especially the idea of the cosmere appealed to me (it remained me of Moorcocks multiversum).
I first read Mistborn Final Empire. I was skeptical at first. I read the annotations for each chapter. That made me appreciate it more. By the end I loved it. Then I read Elantris and then Way of Kings then I finished the Mistborn trilogy. By that time I was in love with the world of the cosmere.