Booking Through Thursday: Indoctrination

When growing up did your family share your love of books? If so, did one person get you into reading? And, do you have any family-oriented memories with books and reading? (Family trips to bookstore, reading the same book as a sibling or parent, etc.)

I was very well nurtured as a child. Both my parents are big readers, and all my houses (cause I've changed lots) have always been full of books. I remember when I started school the first thing I wanted to learn was reading. And sure enough I was the fastest reader in my class. Big books in our library were only for me:D

I don't remember my parents reading me bed-time stories. But they must have, 'cause at age 4 I knew my favourite picture-books by heart. I know that one day I let my granny think I could read, because I knew every single word in them! I still have all my favourite books as a child. One actually belonged to my dad so it's really old!and almost destroyed. I don't know why I loved it so much, it was so sad. It was about a girl with white hair who was living with an evil step-mother. One day she meets a circus boy and decide to run away with the circus people in their caravan. I only remember the ending, where the two kids die of cold in a hollow tree. I remember asking my mum to read me that book over and over. She must have been sick of it.
Then came the feminist picture books, about a girl, Isolina, who wanted to see the world. Or about the little mermaid who decided that all that pain wasn't worth it for a man and decided to go back to the sea with her sisters. Those were wonderful.

After 5, when my parents split up, I had two different experiences with books. In my dad's house in Sicily I read almost all of my dad's childhood books, like Tom Sawyer, Treasure Island, the Paul street boys (wonderful, I'm not sure if it's well known in the English-speaking world) and Peter Pan.

My mum instead used to buy me lots and lots of books, first picture books than novels. She had an open account in our local bookshop, and she used to spend way to much money there. So I don't remember a time in my life where books weren't present.

One of my fondest memory is in my dad's girlfriend house where I lived for few years as a teenager. Girlfriend was also a huge reader and had this MASSIVE living room with 3 or 4 couches, and shelves full of books. We kids weren't allowed in but I often used to sneak inside just to choose another book. I discovered Remarque, and Maugham, and other Italian authors. I had so much time for reading!
Those were the times *sigh*