A Childhood of Reading | The Tiger Who Came to Tea and Harry Potter

From Funny Bones and Mog, to Jacqueline Wilson and Harry Potter, to the books I read now, I have loved books for as long as I can remember. Loved is probably an understatement. I love books more than anything else in life and it's been like that for a long time. I can't imagine my life without a full bookshelf. I can't go into a town and not go in a bookshop, whether that's Waterstones or an independent store like Mr B's Emporium in Bath, or a charity shop with old, well-read second-hand books. 

The children's section in Mr B's

Books have been my comfort, my escape, a way for my imagination to run wild since I was young. One of my first memories of reading is going to my local library with my mum to borrow a selection of picture books. I remember Funny Bones, this one about a black cat that I can't ever remember the name or find online and The Tiger Who Came to Tea. There's so many more I could list, like Dear Zoo and The Jolly Postman. 

Getting older, I remember the reading schemes in primary school, of reading Bif and Chip's adventures, of being ahead of my reading age. The sheer pleasure of picking a book from the shelf that was suitable for your reading age, choosing the right colour sticker. 

From the age of about 8 and up I was obsessed with Jacqueline Wilson like every other female reader I knew. I remember receiving a book-set by Wilson for my 8th birthday, including The Story of Tracy Beaker, The Bed and Breakfast Star and Double Act. 21 year old me freaked out in my second year of university when Jacqueline Wilson hosted an event in Bath (the city I lived in for 3 years), she talked about her latest book and her past, and although I was sat in an auditorium full of very young children with their parents I treasured every single minute of it. I loved Roald Dahl too, especially Matilda - I still love it as an adult. We had a school trip once to the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre and I still remember it as clear as day today. 

A section of my bookshelves

It seems I associate a lot of my childhood with certain books. And even as an adult, certain books have entered my life at such pivotal moments. I can recall times in my life simply by remembering the book I was reading at the time. 

As an early teen, I remember Twilight, The Hunger Games and any book that had the layout of a diary; I loved books that were the character's diary. I read a lot of John Green (like most teenagers), I read The Book Thief and treasured it. However, the most annoying thing about being a teenager and reading during secondary school is I don't actually remember many of the books I did read. I know I read loads. The school library became my go-to when I was dropped off at school too early and had time to spare. I read so much the librarian had to break it to me that I wasn't allowed to read the 'higher age' books, they were for the students aged 16 and up, but I was dying to get my hands on them. Why wasn't I allowed to read them? Hadn't my librarian seen me every day for at least 3 years constantly borrowing and reading books? Didn't she realise I could read anything and nothing was too 'adult'? I even read the Fifty Shades series when I was 15... Which although I was capable of reading, I'm not sure as an adult now (at 23) I would ever, ever consider reading those books. 

If there's one thing I could go back and do, it would be to make sure I recorded every book I read, like I do now on Goodreads. Just so I could look back and remember each book!

After finishing secondary school I think I lost reading a little bit. I had been bullied for my interest in reading, for how much I liked to read and I think it got into my silly teenage brain that reading wasn't what cool people did. Lol. So maybe I did stop reading for a period of time. It picked up again when I started my A-level course, because I had to read! And because I had a part-time job which meant I could go to Waterstones and treat myself to any book I fancied. This is exactly when my reading escalated, when I started buying as many books as I could afford. They were stacked up in my bedroom without a bookcase at first, but as the stack got impossibly taller and taller the only next logical option was a bookcase. 

I studied English Literature, English Language and Creative Writing at A-level so obviously my love of reading didn't falter. Next I completed a BA degree in Creative Writing and I'm in the process of finishing a young adult novel. Reading and writing has always been the greatest thing in my life. Visiting bookshops and buying books fills me with so much joy. Books have the power to make readers feel every emotion under the sun. They can take you anywhere; you can go anywhere with a book and you can travel the world by reading someone else's story. And best of all, you can carry a book with you always, paperbacks can easily fit in your bag and now the Kindle exists!