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Hooked me into reading

I’ve always read.

When I was younger it was Famous Five, Charlottes Webb, Narnia, Matilda or The Witches. I still want to visit Kirrin Island and search for treasure! As a young teenager it was the Babysitters Club, Nancy Drew or Sweet Valley High. As a middle aged teenager (14-15? I'm making things up as I usually do!) it was Maeve Binchy and I think Evening Class was the first ‘adult book’ I ever read. But the one I am going to choose as my book a day today is Lace by Shirley Conran.

From the first line ‘which one of you bitches is my mother’ I was hooked. It was the first slightly racy book I had ever read. Girls who drank ginger beer and had clean all American boyfriends that they simply held hands with were long forgotten in this book. Lace opened my eyes to the numerous other books that were out there. I suddenly stopped looking at the ‘B’ section of the library/second hand book shop and realised there were 25 who other letters that I could consider. You can tell with ‘C’ for Conran I obviously went far!

After I had read it I was immediately on the hunt for my next book and I think that was the difference between Lace and other books I had read previously. Before I could take or leave reading. I enjoyed it but I equally enjoyed drama, or taping as much of the top 40 as I could without having the DJ speaking over the top of it. Afterwards I had to read. I always always always have a book on the go. Even if I finish a book really late at night I will get out of bed and go and choose another one and stick my book mark in the first page just so I'm not without a book. Lace did that. Whereas it’s not a classic and it certainly won’t be winning any Booker prizes it made me an addict and for that I will be eternally grateful.

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