There are some unfamiliar ones amongst these - I'm interested that there is quite a British influence here?
My mother had three main avenues for discovering new books: The Hornbook (sometimes she'd get a babysitter and go read the really old back issues at the university library), British book catalogs (I think she ordered most frequently from Baker books - we got so many wonderful things that way!), and serendipity (expeditions to used bookstores were a regular part of my childhood).
...and yes there was a very Anglo slant to our literary education! My mother even ordered old A and O level exams for us to do for fun together (we were an eccentric family!). It is only as an adult that I have begun to appreciate American literature - how much of that is innate preference and how much environmental training I'm not sure.
My mother still has most of the books we had as kids, but she hasn't wanted to part with them! Fortunately, I began building my personal book collection at an early age...
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Re: part 2 - the rest
My mother had three main avenues for discovering new books: The Hornbook (sometimes she'd get a babysitter and go read the really old back issues at the university library), British book catalogs (I think she ordered most frequently from Baker books - we got so many wonderful things that way!), and serendipity (expeditions to used bookstores were a regular part of my childhood).
...and yes there was a very Anglo slant to our literary education! My mother even ordered old A and O level exams for us to do for fun together (we were an eccentric family!). It is only as an adult that I have begun to appreciate American literature - how much of that is innate preference and how much environmental training I'm not sure.
My mother still has most of the books we had as kids, but she hasn't wanted to part with them! Fortunately, I began building my personal book collection at an early age...