I read because my mother read. She taught me to read, then she took me to her very special place. Boots Lending Library. They used to have them upstairs in every Boots store in the UK. You paid to borrow books - not much, but my parents didn't have much money - but reading was that important to her.

She paid a few pennies for me to borrow books, too. Going to the library with my Mum was one of