I am a reader but my family aren't

This why I try not to jump to conclusions about those who read very little and the pointless argument between books and Kindles.

Both have their place and that place is as variable from person to person as reading tastes and circumstances are.

M0nica, I live in a very small cottage and reading 3 books a week do not have the space to keep any.

Reference books are soon out of date so prefer to research using the internet and prefer a kindle for fiction.

That is why I asked cornishpasty.

I think you had your tongue in your cheek when you wrote what you did, wondering how people would respond to an admission of so few books in the house and on your Kindle. It it recently acquired.

I was and remain the archetypal bookworm. I was taught to read at 3 and have been reading voraciously ever since. I used to get so fed up at being told to put my book away and go out to play. When I had my own children I decided I'd never do that. They'd be allowed to read as much as they wanted.
Funny thing life. Neither of them ever liked reading and always preferred to go out to play!!

There has never been a time since I learnt to read (I was 4) when I've been without a book on the go - sometimes more than one. My grandparents subscribed to two children's periodical story magazines and sent me book tallies (I thing that was the name) towards the cost of a book I could choose for myself. I read every night to the boys when they were young and they became voracious readers - one of them read all the parts of The Lord of the Rings when he was seven and the other, in his teens was hooked on Stephen King. I was a bit shocked when my father handed a copy of a Jackie Collins book to him when he was 16! Nowadays they are busy men without so much time for books and it seems that the small screen has taken over their leisure time.

annodomini did you have Sunny Stories magazine when you were little? I was another early reader and I remember my Grandma reading that to me and then letting me read it to her.
Aveline, I remember being told to get my head out of that book and go and play.
Were you also told that you’d hurt your eyes by reading so much?
We didn’t have a TV but watched it at my Grandma’s. Then then it was ‘watching too much TV will hurt your eyes’.
Now it’s ‘too much screen time will damage your eyes!’
But here we all are, still reading.
My children both love to read and my grandchildren too, not all to the same extent. The lure of the screen is strong for one GS, but he asked for a Kindle for Christmas 2019 and that goes with him most of the time.

I have a kindle but don’t like reading on it! I love books and much prefer to pick up a real book. I enjoy reading but don’t seem to have the time - even in lockdown - that’s a long story!! My DH doesn’t read books only the occasional magazine, I don’t even get round to these! I think I must get more organised and make people round me do things for themselves then I can read! My children were avid readers, especially my oldest daughter, she loves books too. I have shelves of books that were ready for retirement reading, still untouched but I will read them.

Mollygo, yes, Sunny Stories! I was delighted when it arrived each month (I think it was monthly) and simply devoured the stories. Was that the magazine that was owned by Enid Blyton? It might have been the other one which I think was called 'Playways'. I've always loved stories and still do - have no time for the kind of authors who sometimes seem to win critical acclaim and even prizes for novels with little apparent story!

Annodomini I don’t actually know whether Enid Blyton owned it, but thinking back to the content it certainly seemed to be full of stories like hers. This called up such lovely memories of my Grandma.

Mollygo, when I Googled Sunny Stories, I found lots of Sunny Stories Annuals on offer, one of which had an introduction by Crawfie, the Princesses' governess. When I also Googled Playways Annual, the stories there were by Enid Blyton 'and others'. I expect I had either or both of these annuals. If only I had kept them, they'd be worth a bit, but not as much as Rupert Bear!

I was watching a programme about Billy Connelly the other evening and he talked about a book which he'd gifted to many friends - A Conspiracy of Dunces. YESS!! Always knew we had a connection