I tagged myself

I enjoyed reading Jules' so much. People's individuality is so interesting.

1. Do you remember how you developed a love for reading?
I do have a story. When I was in second grade I was very quiet. Duh. But anywho, I guess I decided I did not want to read. Finally, my teacher tried to psych me out and said, "Okay, Liliana, you do not have to read with the class." But by golly, I psyched her out because I sat quietly at my desk with my reading book closed and refused to read. Finally, one day she took me outside and talked to me. I've been reading ever since.

I don't remember any of this. My mom tells the story to people and that's how I know it happened. My mom said she never did know what that teacher said to me, but she is forever indebted to her for it.

2. What are some books you read as a child?
I remember those Little Golden Books too, and loved them. I remember the cover of The Pokey Puppy. When I was nine I discovered fairy tales. I read every fairy tale book I could get my hands on. I still remember being in the fairy tale aisle and putting my head sideways to peruse the titles. Some of the stories scared me but they also had a moral in them. I think they taught me to be a person who didn't steal or be mean and cruel to others. I sat in a big, red, vinyl rocker when I read them. The back was greasy from people's hair. When we moved it took a big chunk out of the wall where it kept hitting the wall. I'm sure the landlord appreciated that.

3. What is your favorite genre?
Currently, history.

4. Do you have a favorite novel?
I think Old Yeller.

5. Where do you usually read?
Gee, I read a lot on the computer so that's sitting up. But I'll sit or lie on the sofa or in bed to read too. I can't stay in one position too long like when I was younger.

6. When do you usually read?
All day if I have a good book and my husband comments on that. I read my bible in the morning. Other stuff, piecemeal during the day.

7. Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?
Heavens no.

8. Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?
Not anymore, but as a college student I studied on the sofa, hunched over, huddled at the end of the sofa. I had to stop the pendulum on the grandfather clock because it drove me crazy. Husband thought I was whacked that the ticking of the clock could bother me so much.

9. Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library?
Buy or library. Sometimes when we travel I pick one up here or there. Travelers leave books around because they're too heavy to carry.

10. Do you keep most of the books you buy? If not, what do you do with them?
I used to keep them all. I LOVED THEM ALL BECAUSE THEY WERE MINE. I used to like that wallpaper that has books all over it until finally I had my own, real library that looked just like the wall paper. We leave our finished books at laundromats now. I still miss my book called The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Bauer. It's so big and heavy.

11. If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them? Were they some of the same ones you read as a child?
None are what I read as a child. I read Go Dog Go and Goodnight Moon to our son a billion times.

12. What are you reading now?
The biography of Martin Luther.

13. Do you keep a TBR (to be read) list?
No.

14. What’s next?
The Book of Deuteronomy.

15. What books would you like to reread?
One my mom has in a Chinese cedar chest. It's old and has fantastical pictures of fairies and angels. As a youngster I was captivated by the pictures.

16. Who are your favorite authors?
John Krakauer, Jan Karon, but actually books impressed me more than the authors. I remember stories like Of Human Bondage, Shakespeare's Othello which my husband read with me line by line for a college class, Moby Dick (hated that one), Sylvia Plath's stuff, depressing, Listen to the Warm (a book of poetry by Rod McKuen...I read one out loud for ninth grade language arts class and I still remember by heart, "Miniskirts and pop art ties, are more than modern man can bear), The Jungle by Upton Sinclair affected me in college. Read it for political science.

President Reagan's mother told him that as long as he could read a book, he would never be alone. I remember that. When Ronnie's Alzheimer's set in he would sit at his desk and look at pictures of horses after he could no longer read. He was a rider and loved horses all his life. I think I may have seen a photo of him doing this and it made me so sad.