When I was a little girl we didn’t have a lot of money so we used to borrow books from the library. I had my own library card from an early age (which was one of my most prized possessions) and whenever my mum, my brother and I would walk down to the library we’d always borrow the limit of what was allowed. We’d cart those books away, happy as, because there were so many new stories to be discovered. Once we got home, I’d lay my selection out on my bed, looking at the covers, reading the blurb on the back, and trying to decide which book I was going to read first. Looking back now, I realise how lucky I was that it was the hardest decision I had to make.
I remember some but not most of the books I borrowed from the library in the earlier years. And I remember I always asked for books for birthdays and Christmas too - whatever author was my favourite at the time, or whatever series I was wanting to read. When one of my older cousins gave me the set of Famous Five novels, my world exploded with wonderment. I must have been about seven or eight and while I already had quite a few Enid Blyton books in my own personal library, I didn’t yet have the Famous Five. I read those books so many times over the years, inspired by George, Dick, Anne, Julian, and Timmy the dog. I so badly wanted to be friends with them, to hang out with them and go on the kind of adventures they did. I still remember them and their adventures so vividly. They were the stories that set me up as an avid reader from such a young age and inspired me to seek out other books, more stories, and new characters to fall in love with.