I can't remember the exact order I initially read the Chronicles in because it was so long ago. However, I definitely read LWW first. I had no idea there were more stories until I found The Magician's Nephew in my basement and read that. I think I read VDT next, then maybe SC?
I know for sure that I couldn't read PC right away because we didn't have that one. I ended up finding it at a friends' house while snooping through their bookshelves, then rejoicing wholeheartedly because I could
finally read it.
I'm not sure when I read it but I think I may have read it wayyy after I read the other ones.
I'm not sure where LB fits into that mess. I'd like to say I read it last out of all of them since it
is the last book, but I can't remember if I did or not. I do know that whenever I did read it, I cried.
It was such a beautiful ending. ♥
That said, I have NO idea what my preferred reading order is since mine was so out of whack.
I see why some people would read them chronologically but I haven't been too picky about it. I tend to side more with the publication order, just because that's the way it was done for so long. I even sided with publication order initially because I thought that's the order I had read them in... but alas, apparently it is not so. I actually didn't realize till I sat down to write this post just now that I read them so out of order!
If I remember something different than what I've already said, I'll come back and post here, but I think we can safely assume that the order I read the Chronicles in was definitely not the norm.
EDIT: I will say that I agree with what 7chronicles said in the opening post, here:
These academics believe that the mysterious wardrobe, as a narrative device, is a much better introduction to Narnia than The Magician's Nephew — where the word "Narnia" appears in the first paragraph as something already familiar to the reader.
I do think that's a great thought, and it sums up what I've felt on the subject. I tend to side with writing them in the order Lewis wrote them because that feels more organic to me. It's the way Lewis wrote them, and the way they were initially read when they first came out. On the subject of when to read MN, I think it's more magical seeing Narnia made if you've already "been there", so to speak. At least it was for me.
At any rate, I'm a bit torn on this, so I may definitely change my mind at some point.
These are just my initial thoughts on the subject at this very moment.