Seven random facts: Book edition

Monie at Reading with Monie has tagged me for the book edition of the seven random facts meme.

Here are seven random book-related facts about me:

1. One of my fondest memories as a child is going to the local municipal library with my mum and sisters every Friday evening. The library was housed in a room at the back of the church and I read nearly everything it had to offer, whether kid-friendly or not. I remember trying to read La Mare au Diable (The Devil’s Pool) by George Sand when I was about 10 but giving up because it was too hard to follow.


2. When I was in grade school, the students were only allowed to use the library as of grade 4, but my parents pulled some strings so I could go as early as grade 3. Needless to say, I was thrilled! (I also read nearly every book in that library!) My mother was later instrumental in making sure all kids could use the library, from kindergarten on.


3. Most of the books I read are written by women. Only about 10% of the fiction I own is written by men.


4. I haven’t read over a third of the books I own (and there are over 1300 books in my library).


5. When I started actively collecting books as a teenager, my intention was only to keep books I really really loved, so I would often buy books I had already read. (I still do this occasionally.)


6. I once wrote a letter to Susan Swan complaining about the ending of The Last of the Golden Girls. Months later (it had taken a while for my letter to be forwarded to her), I received a very gracious reply in which she explained why she had chosen to end the book the way she did. I was quite impressed that she’d replied to me, although it didn’t change the way I felt about the book.


7. I’ve been part of a women’s writing group for the past 17 years. We meet monthly to write together, taking turns facilitating each meeting. Whoever facilitates reads excerpts from books or articles and then suggests exercises for us to do. In this way, I’ve been introduced to many new writers, including Barbara Kingsolver and, more recently, Elizabeth Gilbert.

Now the question is, who to tag next? I hereby tag:

1. Kathy at Bermudaonion’s Weblog
2. Ti at Book Chatter
   
3. Cindy at Cindy’s Love of Books
4. Sandra at Fresh Ink Books
5. Nicole at Linus’s Blanket
6. Ramya at Ramya’s Bookshelf
7. Iubookgirl at Reader for Life

Apologies in advance if I’m tagging anyone who’s either been tagged before or is not interested in this sort of thing!

The rules are as follows:

• Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
• Share seven random and/or weird book-related facts about yourself.
• Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
• Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog!

If you want to participate but haven’t been tagged, feel free!