Here in the United States, it’s Mother’s Day. My mother is a retired nurse who rose to the position of Inservice Director (head of continuing education) at the local hospitals and nursing home.
Like many good mothers, she read to me when I was little, until I picked up the habit and became a voracious reader on my own. She encouraged my reading, although sometimes she despaired of my reading material–she was raised religiously conservative and my tastes were somewhat morbid.
Our family was tight on money, but we loved books, so boxes of heavily used books came from auctions and garage sales. It was there I picked up my love of old books, worn and yellowed, with titles obscured by time.
Tell me about your favorite mother from books, or a story about your mother and reading.
Thanks for sharing this Scott. My mother instilled a love of reading in me also and at an early age. I am still a voracious reader and one of my mottos is “Too many books, too little time.” I still feel like a kid in a candy store when I go to the library:)
I do as well. I found myself near a library I hadn’t visited before just the other day. It’s a Carnegie library, and most notable for a strong Native American books section (the neighborhood is heavily Native American for historical reasons.)
First off…you’re a hard man to get ahold of ;). After you commented on my blog, I clicked on your Google + profile, but your blog wasn’t listed. So I tried and looked for you on Goodreads, but the only user with the same name as yours didn’t strike me as the right person. So I made a last, desperate attempt…since you mentioned a blog challenge, I googled for your name along with the words “blog challenge”, and finally find a post – and blog – that matched the content of your comment. You have to give me points for being persistent! 😉
As for mothers and reading – I not only had a mother who read to me, but a grandmother too. And I learned to read at a very early age (on Disney’s comic strips!). My mum owned a good number of books by Agatha Christie (along with some Ellery Queen and Rex Stout) that introduced me to the world of mystery novels…still one of my fondest loves. And of course, I always got books for my birthday and for Christmas…
I’m listed as SKJAM! on Goodreads. Hadn’t known that Google + wouldn’t reveal my blog, will need to fix that. Thanks for taking the time to search!
I too got into mystery novels at perhaps too young an age. I need to reread some Agatha Christie now that I am more experienced and can better understand some of the clues and cultural references.
Love to read! One of the things I remember best is Mom and I going to the public library once a week to pick out books to borrow and read! I always had such fun!
A public library is indeed a blessing!
Books were such a huge part of my life growing up. As the youngest child I was not only read to by my parents but also by my older siblings. Once I learned to read I read everything I could get my hands on. My parents were always reading, even when they were old and their sight was failing they always had a book in hand.
I appreciate the local library having a goodly supply of large print books for folks whose eyesight is a little weak.
My mother definitely encouraged me to read and was an avid reader herself. Nothing was off limits. I still remember the time she was called by the school for letting me read a biography of Arnold Rothstein, a Chicago gangster during Prohibition. The book had detailed information about his lifestyle. She refused to back down and I went ahead with my book report on said gangster.
Usually it’s the other way around, with the parents objecting to what the school lets children read.
Mind, I do try to indicate when the review covers material that kids might want to get their hands on, but parents may object to.