About every other month I spend a few hours on the phone talking to one of my sisters who live far, far away. One has settled on the west coast and one on the gulf coast. We only see each other once a year and sometimes even more time goes by between visits. When we talk, we go on and on for hours. One of our favorite topics is books. We all recommend new authors to each other, share our opinions on the recent works of our favorites and, of course, they mention my books. They're always very kind.
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My sisters and I have been sharing books since we were children. I had a favorite aunt who would give us her books when she finished with them. Aunt Louise read mostly short Harlequin romances she bought at the grocery store. We had no public library where we lived in the back of beyond farmlands. Our elementary school didn't even have a library until I was in fifth grade. Each teacher kept a few shelves of battered paperbacks in her classroom. I had a few rich friends who would share books they actually owned with me such as the original Nancy Drew books. Once the school added the library, I think I read every fiction book shelved there. When I moved on to high school and saw the much larger selection I knew I'd found a home. The librarian became a good friend. She would make sure I had first chance on all the new books when they arrived.
My children have much better access to books than I did growing up. It's easy to share the love of books with them. Still, I'm grateful for my friends, sisters, Aunt Louise and those wonderful school librarians for sharing their love of books with me. The librarians are long ago retired and we lost Aunt Louise over thirty years ago but I still have those wonderful sisters and now my sons and daughter.
Who did you share books with in your early years? Are those same people still part of your life? Are you passing the love of books on?
