Habit of a lifetime

Yet another meme. It involves books. It involves books that hooked me on reading. It involves reading and trying to remember details that have buried themselves deep, deep in my memory. First seen by me on A Work In Progress (via Kate’s Book Blog) and subsequently cropping up all over the place.

1. How old were you when you learned to read and who taught you?

I honestly don’t know how old I was but I’ve been told that I could read, after a fashion, before I started school at the age of five. It’s possible that I might have learnt while I was at kindergarten but I suspect it was from my mother, who would read to me every night.

2. Did you own any books as a child? If so, what’s the first one that you remember owning? If not, do you recall any of the first titles that you borrowed from the library?

In my memory, we didn’t have many books in our house when I was growing up. But that can’t be right as I recall never being far from a book I don’t remember there being many books in the house while I was growing up — and the books we did have were shared with my sister. We had some Dr Seuss and some Golden books and quite a few books that had belonged to my mother when she was a child. The first book that I remember owning, that was mine, and mine alone, was Bottersnikes and Gumbles. I picked it out myself, from the bimonthly book catalogue that circulated through Victorian schools in the 70s, after much deliberation and no interference from my parents. I also remember picking out Little House in the Big Woods…

Bottersnikes and Gumbles were creatures that lived in the Australian bush. Bottersnikes were lazy, bad-tempered and lived in rubbish tips under sheets of corrugated iron. They were also partial to old jam tins into which they could squish the smaller, more malleable Gumbles to prevent them from running away and escaping servitude.

3. What’s the first book that you bought with your own money?

It was probably an Enid Blyton title, possibly one of the Naughtiest Girl in School series. My sister and I spent two weeks with our aunt and uncle, who lived in Tasmania and hours and a body of water away from our parents, when we were six and seven. My aunt, suspecting that maybe she wouldn’t be able to keep us entertained, had bought some books and small games for us. One of the books was the The Naughtiest Girl in School and that started what was, for me, a bit of a love affair with Enid Blyton. I may well have bought my second Enid Blyton book while I was in Tasmania, with the money my mother had given me for the holiday.

4. Were you a re-reader as a child?

Very definitely. When I had finished my library books, or if I just needed to escape from my siblings, I would dip into the books on my shelf. Anne of Green Gables, the What Katy Did series and Little Women were favourites and read many, many times. Courtney made a good point about re-reading — favourite books, in their familiarity were both security and comfort when everything around was changing so rapidly.

5. What’s the first adult book that captured your interest and how old were you when you read it?

Of Mice and Men was the first adult book I remember reading. I was in Grade 6, so either ten or eleven, and I think maybe it was a little beyond me at that point and I still wonder how it found its way into the primary school library. Not long after Mum gave me a copy of Gone With The Wind to read and told me she had read it in three days. I made it my mission to read it in two. Nope, I wasn’t competitve, not in the least.

6. Are there children’s books that you passed by as a child that you have learned to love as an adult? Which ones?

Maybe not passed by but appreciated differently. I read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as a young girl and I’ve recently been dipping into different chapters. If it’s possible, I love this book more now than I did when I was younger.

Bonus Question: Are there books you remember reading as a child that you either can’t find now or can’t remember the title?

God, yes. I know where to find them — my youngest sister was very good at borrowing my books and never returning them — but I can’t remember the titles of most of them. One day I’m going to raid her bookcase and take them back. Maybe I’ll find Bottersnikes and Gumbles there…

How about you? What were your childhood adventures in reading?