other readers in your life

I've noticed that many of you caught your love of reading from your mothers. I didn't have that influence. My Mom had 11 children in 13 years, and her focus was feeding and clothing us. She had no time or inclination for reading, though she told the best stories while we sat around the supper table after the meal was done.

My sisters and I just sort of caught the bug on our own. We walked to the library almost every day, coming home arm in arm and trying to read the same book at the same time while in transit.

There was no library of kids books lying about the house except for an exceptional set of Book Trails. The only bookcase was situated behind the couch, and held the Encyclopedias, my Dad's old college literature texts and a very random collection of other stuff. There was a heating register back there as well. So it was a great hidden spot to drag a pillow to and spend an hour reading. In the summer, I found crawling under the front porch with a book was a good way to avoid being called to chores.

I have no memories of being read to. In the middle grades, my Dad began sharing the poetry he loved in those lit texts. He and I would stay up late and read them to each other. I recall this as a very special time, not shared with any siblings. He rarely read more than the newspaper until we were older, and then we shared authors such as Tolkien during the early 70s.

Two of my sisters still share books with me; and our girls are as passionate as we are about the books. The boys of the family missed out, both brothers and sons, though we each married men who read. My husband introduced me to great science fiction, which has been a main reading theme through the years.

I eventually worked my way around from working in the field of agriculture (watch that pattie there!) to being a childrens librarian and then working at Borders for several years. I've had a nodding acquaintance with book lovers in my community through those channels, and helped kids catch the bug - er - bookworm. I'm back at USDA because of the paycheck; and besides family, youse (yinz, if you're from Pittsburgh) guys are my other readers.

was so very, very lucky growing up in terms of reading opportunities. In the basement we had a better reference library than any single branch of the public library and much better than the school library. We even had National Geographic going back to the 1930s - with the indexes. We had a bunch of Time/Life series books, we had all the classics already there in the basement, not real fancy bindings, but good solid trade paperback, usually. We had the Yale Shakespeare from the 1930s.

Then there was the public library system, one of the best in the US, I believe. We went regularly. Once my brother and I learned to read, everyone in the house had a few things going at once. Dad and I went through authors like Helen McInnes together.

For magazines there was Time, National Geographic (naturally), National Geographic World, Highlights, Cricket, Science News, Scientific American, Amercian History Illustrated, British History Illustrated.

As children, my brother and I belonged to book of the month club. Presents always included books.

When Scholastic books came to our school, there was generally one box of books for me and maybe a few other books for other folks :-). I didn't really spend money on anything else.

I don't know that I remember being read to. There are pictures of various relatives reading to me when I was small, but then, I don't ever remember not being able to read.

I don't have as much time to read as I used to and my tastes have diverged a bit from what my Dad likes to read - and his reading tastes have turned a little more towards what my stepmother likes to read - police procedurals, mostly. Dad and I still share a love of historical fiction, though. My Dad's sister and I have the most similar taste in reading - I pick her up from the airport tonight - it'll be great to spend time with her. I have her birthday presents ready - books, of course and a selection of books in the headboard of her bed. My boyfriend and I both read, but different kinds of books. I enjoy finding books for my brother, but since his daughters arrived, he's had less time for reading. He and I both enjoy Terry Pratchett. My mother died 22 years ago - it would have been so much fun to share this website with her and all the new authors and books I've been finding here. She was a gentle soul, and would really have appreciated the pre 1950 books we talk about here.

Now we are all reading to my nieces - it's been fun finding new authors (Mo Willems, anyone?) as well as sharing favorites. One of my lists on LT is books to get for them as they grow.

This is where I find the most folks with similar tastes in reading to me and the best recommendations for new books and new authors, but I did get my start at home.

My mom was a voracious reader, and a very frequent visitor at the public library. She continued to read constantly until she fell ill and died at age 66.

My dad preferred non-fiction, engineering journals and the like. At age 84, he's been enjoying Louis L'Amour and other fiction works that he'd never read before.

I know I was read to, but don't recall much of it. Before I could read, I would take a book out of the living room bookcase, and pretend to read it (it was usually upside down, ha!).

We always had lots of books around, including my two older sisters' collections (which I snitched all the time) and my dad's My Bookhouse set, plus a series called A Picturesque Tale of Progress, both which were from his childhood.

I was such a voracious reader, I was constantly at the library, and my overdue fines were horrific! My mother would call me to come help her with something, but I often was not aware of it if I was reading. She used to say, "Oops, there she is, with her nose in a book!"

I'm still pretty voracious, reading almost anything I put my hands on. For some reason, despite reading to my children and exposing them to the library and love of books, neither seems to have carried that love to adulthood. My son does like to read graphic novels and comics, but I'm not aware that my daughter reads at all. :(