Tagged for a Meme on Reading!

There's a meme about reading going around and I've been tagged by Elle of A Complete Thought. I love to read so this one is right up my alley. Here goes...

1. Do you remember how you developed a love of reading? Oh, I do indeed! I am the oldest of six children and my family did not have much money when I was growing up. But library books were free and the library was right around the corner from our house. It was a treasure trove for me and my brother, Richard, who is 15 months younger than I am. In the summer time especially, any spare moment we could find, the two of us were either going to the library to pick out books or reading them. We went to the library almost every day and I well remember how we got in trouble with the children's librarian for "bothering" her since we "couldn't possibly be reading all those books." But the truth is, we were! Those books were new worlds to discover for us and we'd each take one to our respective trees, climb up and read for hours.
   
2. What are some books you loved as a child? My very favorite childhood books were the Betsy, Tacy and Tib books written by Maud Hart Lovelace and illustrated by Lois Lenski. I can't think of those books without thinking of the illustrations too! And I loved the way the books became more difficult reading as Betsy, Tacy and Tib (and I) grew. I also loved the Flicka, Ricka and Dicka books by Maj Lindman. Richard read Snipp, Snapp and Snurr by the same author and I read some of his picks along with my own. There also was a series of books about a mouse named Florence that I loved as much for the illustrations as the stories but I can't remember the titles or author or anything more about them. Anyone have a clue? So like Elle, I was a series reader. Oh, and of course, there were the Nancy Drew books as I got older. And Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. And the Anne of Green Gables books by L.M. Montgomery. And I loved any biography I could get my hands on...a love that continues to this day. Okay, I guess I'd better force myself to move on to the next question.
3. What is your favorite genre? I love non-fiction and I as mentioned in the previous answer, I love biographies. To me, there is nothing as absorbing as getting inside the life of someone whom I admire or find intriguing and learning about the forces...social, familial, historical, spiritual or whatever...that shaped that person's life.
4. Do you have a favorite novel? It is really hard for this avid reader to pin down one particular novel as a favorite but I am thinking that the novel that I reflect on most often over the course of my life would have to be Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. But Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe as well as Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen are right up there too!
5. Where do you usually read? Well, its not in a tree anymore! In bed before I go to sleep or on the couch with Charlie on my lap when I take a reading break during the day.
6. When do you usually read? Whenever I can steal a few moments! I've been known to read at the stove while cooking but I prefer to read for a half hour or so while I have lunch or a cup of tea during the day. I also read for about 20 minutes at night before I sleep.
7. Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time? Yes, I try to limit myself to no more than three...one fiction, one non-fiction (biography, theology, etc.) and one "picture book." Now what I call a picture book is really also non-fiction but its a book that incorporates a lot of pictures about an interest of mine...needlework, gardening, cooking, tea, a beautiful area I love. Something I can look at when I am really too tired to read but it meets the need to hold a book and flip through pages.
8. Do you read non-fiction in a different way or place than you read fiction? I try not to read non-fiction in bed when I am too tired to fully absorb it but sometimes I do because that is just the book that is absorbing my thoughts at the time.
9. Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library? I am a big fan of the library. But there are some books I just want to own and some I've been introduced to by generous friends who lent them to me.
10. Do you keep most of the books you buy? Yes, because the ones I buy are generally the ones I really do want to own. But I do selectively lend them.
11. If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them? I have a precious daughter with whom I read Little Women when she was about 14. She couldn't understand why parts of it so deeply moved me and, since I had not read it since I was 12 myself, I also was surprised at my reactions to parts I barely remembered from that early reading. I also tried to introduce Emily to the Betsy, Tacy and Tib books but found that she wanted the joy of discovering new books for herself just as I had.
12. What are you reading now? I'm (re)reading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, (re)reading Knowing God by J.I.Packer and my "picture book" of the moment is a knitting pattern book lent to me by my dear friend, Carol.
13. Do you keep a To Be Read list? Yes, and some of them are stacked on my nightstand. Hehe.
14. What's next? Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Practical Religion by J.C. Ryle. My "picture books" are never planned!
    
15. What books would you like to reread? I am in the process of rereading the Jane Austen books right now in conjunction with rereading her biography, Becoming Jane Austen by Jon Spence.
16. Who are your favorite authors? Well, I love Jane Austen (can you tell?) and Louisa May Alcott and Harriet Beecher Stowe and J.I. Packer and John Brown. But there are so many I haven't read that I am sure would be favorites if I just read them!

Oh, this has been so much fun! Thanks, Elle, for tagging me! Who else would like to join in? How about Kim from Hiraeth, Rebecca of Rebecca Writes, Ann from Whatever Things...and Islandsparrow! And you, if you haven't been tagged yet! But now, I've got to go read a few pages. Oh, and if you are too busy reading or whatever to play right now, please don't feel any pressure. Only play if its fun!