I want to start a somewhat different sort of conversation here: What made you into a book reader?

[hippywife]

44. As best as I can pinpoint it

I believe my love of reading might have begun, or was at least enhanced and accelerated, when my most beloved grandmother gave me Little Women as a gift. I can't remember my age exactly, maybe around the time I was 10? While it may not have been my first encounter with reading, I only know it's the first book I have a very clear recollection of reading and enjoying so very much, and I haven't stopped since, with the library a central focus of my life from elementary school to present day, and reading well beyond my years in those early days.

I know not everyone enjoys the same past times or has the same interests, and that's fine, but I can't imagine a life without reading. It's been much more than passing entertainment, it's also been a door opened to learning so much about the world.

Though I haven't had as much time to read as I would like, I cannot go to bed without a book, and manage to make it through plenty of them quite quickly just doing that.

ETA: I nearly forgot the complete set of Funk and Wagnall's encyclopedias. I don't recall if my parents had purchased them or they were a gift from someone else since we didn't have much money, but I always enjoyed reading through those rather than using them to look up individual topics. The set was comprised of many volumes small enough for a child's hands.