My father never went to school and my mother left as soon as she was old enough to "go into service" as a housemaid in a big house (which didn't last long as she was a day-dreamer, and it was the very tail-end of that sort of thing anyway), but both of them were readers so I grew up in a house with lots of books. My father, taught to read in the army, was a reader of Science Fiction and Murder Mysteries, both of which I inherited (although I'm more of a Fantasy fan than Science Fiction - my eldest sister used to borrow my Fantasy books), and I was bought books and given book tokens (my favourite form of present once I learned to read). Books were where most of my pocket-money went too - my mother taught me to get the most out of it by seeking out second hand books, so I haunted the charity shops, house clearance places, and jumble-sales thoughout my childhood, and still have most of the books I accumulated then.

I can't really imagine a house that doens't have books. It's a horrible thought.

Teddy