From the heart of this dark, evacuated campus
I can hear the library humming in the night,
a choir of authors murmuring inside their books
along the unlit, alphabetical shelves,
Giovani Pontano next to Pope, Dumas next to his son,
each one stitched into his own private coat,
together forming a low, gigantic chord of language.
~Excerpt from Books by Billy Collins

I just realized the public library is going to be closed for two days for the Thanksgiving holiday. You know it’s not like I go to the library every day, but I do like knowing it’s open. It’s like my security blanket in case I run out of books to read. I know, crazy talk here.

So if I get to leave work a bit early tomorrow you know where I’ll be.

I know I’m late but finally I’m answering Kate’s meme. It’s been so fun to read everyone’s answers. Here are mine.

1. How old were you when you learned to read and who taught you? I can’t remember but my mom said I was probably around four. My parents read to me every night so I guess I learned from them.

2. Did you own any books as a child? If so, what’s the first one that you remember owning? If not, do you recall any of the first titles that you borrowed from the library? I had a small stash of books (I still have them). One of my favorites was a Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales hardbound edition. The other one was Pedro El Oso, which I just I just realized was this book. Same cover. Wow, I wonder if my Spanish edition is worth that much.

3. What’s the first book that you bought with your own money? It’s a toss up between Ghosts I’ve Been (I’ve always enjoyed ghosts stories) or The Red Trailer Mystery, a Trixie Belden mystery. We used to have a Little Professor bookstore near our house and I remember walking to the store by myself with my money in my little purse. I was so excited. Sigh, I miss Little Professor.

4. Were you a re-reader as a child? If so, which book did you re-read most often? I wasn’t really but I do recall reading Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret more than once.

5. What’s the first adult book that captured your interest and how old were you when you read it? I’ll fess up and admit it was probably Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews. I also remember reading Jean Plaidy novels. I started to stray from the YA books around 8th grade.

6. Are there children’s books that you passed by as a child that you have learned to love as an adult? Which ones? I don’t read any children’s books now. There are some that sound like they would be fun but really there are just too many other books in the fiction section calling my name.