Using a suggestion from Erin today:
When growing up did your family share your love of books? If so, did one person get you into reading? And, do you have any family-oriented memories with books and reading? (Family trips to bookstore, reading the same book as a sibling or parent, etc.)
This is such a great question for a Booking Though Thursday topic! I would have to say that reading in my family was hit or miss. My biggest influence into the world of literature was my grandma. I grew up on a farm, and my grandparents lived about 1/2 mile down the road. I was over there ALL the time. Now my grandma loved her romance novels. She always had stacks of them on her bedside table. But she also loved mysteries and old gothic novels. Every Saturday, the two of us would go to town, and we would stop at the Little Professor Bookstore. This had to be one of my very favorite places!! And every Saturday she would buy me a new book to read during the week. Can you tell I was a Grandma's girl!?? She bought me the entire Nancy Drew series, as well as Trixie Belden. Later on, it was Stephen King, Dean Koontz, VC Andrews and John Saul. It was a Saturday tradition for MANY years!!
When I needed something to read, I would raid her shelves. She introduced me to Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Georgette Heyer, and many others. She was definitely my biggest influence when it came to reading!
I can't ever remember my mom picking up a book. But my dad did. Of course, he was all about the westerns and the mercenary books. Not really my style, so I wasn't jumping to read those! When I was in Jr. High, I found Stephen King and the world of horror. And my dad would always read MY books!!
I have a little brother that is a lot younger than me. He is a big reader today, and I'd like to think that I had a little influence on that! I was 12 when he was born, and I would read to him when he was little. I left for college when he was only in 1st grade, but every time I was home, I had books with me. Today, we share similar taste for the strange, the eerie and the fantastic! We are always trading bags of books each time we get together.
The town I grew up in was so small, we didn't even have a library! When I got married, one of the first things I did was get a library card! I was so excited!! My husband (a non-reader) was truly amazed by this. I honestly don't think he's ever set foot there!! And now, all the librarians know me by name!
Happy Thursday!
18 comments:
Wow, I really enjoyed reading your answer this week! How awesome to have a grandmother who loved to read, who took you to the bookstore and bought you a new book every week. Sounds like sheer heaven to me :) So glad you guys shared a love of reading, and that you were able to pass that on to your brother as well!
Have a great day, and Happy Reading!!!
What a grandma! That's great that she did that.
Stacy and Chris - My Grandma was the bomb! We were so close. And like I said, we had no library. When I was in college, the Alzheimer's kicked in. She just wasn't the same for the last few years of her life. To this day, I still miss her. When she died, my grandpa gave me her favorite ruby ring and all her books! I still have all the old mysteries and gothic novels, but the Harlequins had to go!
Oh, I know what you mean about library card excitement. I just got a library card at our local library a few weeks ago and I'm still giddy!
It must have been great to have such a nice grandma and growing up in a farm! I'm such a city girl:(
I love your post! It got me thinking about why I became such a lover of books. The only reader in my family was my grandmother too but I didn't see her much so don't feel as though this was the real influence. I was a very quiet and shy child so I think it had a lot to do with a way to escape? Great post, got me thinking!
Heather - I know! I was so excited about it! I'm such a geek sometimes!
Valentina - the farm was a pretty great childhood, but by 15, I was ready to move on to the big city!!
What a great story! I enjoyed this post a lot!
My mother was the reader at my home.. she belonged to a book club and read just about anything lol..
Enjoyed reading your answer, Stephanie! And wow, what a great grandma you have!
Happy reading!
That's a sweet story. My grandparents bought me candy and ice cream;-)
What a great story. I can't imagine being bought a book a week -- or living in a small town come to think of it.
I'm doing the Dystopian Challenge too. I just haven't narrowed down my book list yet. I'm looking for YA stuff and new stuff to go with the classics I've read.
Lovely blog, by the way. I'll be back!
You didn't have a library? Ahhh! LOL. My answer is here: http://smsbookreviews.blogspot.com/2007/08/booking-through-thursday-indoctrination.html
What a wonderful grandmother! And great memories to boot. :-)
My grandmother used to try and get me to read more Christian fiction as I was growing up, and I rememeber one summer she loaned me The Chronicles of Narnia. I was shocked she would recommend a fantasy series like that. Little did I know their background. :-) I quickly discovered that they were exactly the type of book my grandmother had for so long encouraged me to read. Haha
Your grandmother is absolutely COOL! If only I had anyone in the family who would shower me with books, books, and more books. LOL.
Happy BTT!
Wow, that is really cool. I also did this one, check it out: http://myutopias.blogspot.com/2007/08/booking-through-thursday.html
What a wonderful memory to have of your grandmother. I love that idea. I'll have to tuck it away for the day that I have grandchildren (hopefully that day is far, far away!!).
Thanks for stopping by my entry. Your story is very interesting. It is really hard to say exactly how we get into reading, but it is really great that we do.
Great memories, thanks for sharing! I have always been the strange one in my family. My younger sister reads now more than she did, which is a lot of fun for me, but she still called me a "freak" when I showed her my blog. :) I trade a lot of books with my dad as well as my mom. I'm working on my brother who is 15 years my junior, he's going to middle school this year! I've been trying desperately to get him to enjoy reading, but he'd much rather play sports or run around wild. I was always a much more introverted child growing up.
And I love what you say: "My Grandma was the bomb!"
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