Much of my reading time over the last decade and a half has been spent reading aloud to my children. Those children's bedtime rituals of supper, bath, stories, and sleep have been a staple of my life and some of the best, most special times I can remember.
Louise Brown
If you can't return a favor, pass it on.
favors favor return
Another of them died last night. His body was in the bazaar this morning. It lay, with a collecting bowl at its feet, on the charpoy that is reserved for those who die without money or family to bury them. He looked desiccated and his skin had the sheen and color of the dates we eat to break our fast. There are new bodies on that charpoy every week.
sad nonfiction
People still come up to me and ask whether I am Louise Brown or if they've seen me somewhere else before.
people
The importance and influence of books on me has been cumulative: the result of hearing and reading lots of stories about interesting people and places.
reading places results people
The richest most meaningful stories are found in small places: made, carried, crafted, told, and retold by apparently unimportant people.
places people
reading sleep life thetimes time
When I was a child and teenager I read whenever I had the opportunity, but since then I've found it hard to read as much as I'd like, children, work, and pets all providing powerful incentives to escape into a book and a practical reason why I rarely do so.
opportunity pet work
I don't envy men and I certainly wouldn't like to become one now.
men
I like many types of music and probably too many to mention here.
music
Every year I teach dozens of students at the University of Birmingham. Most of the students on the gender and sexuality courses are women. I guess this is because the boys don't think that gender applies to them: that it's a subject for girls.
women gender
The young women in my classes are feisty and clever and believe, often with the passion of youthful optimism, that feminism is a battle already won. I worry for them - and for my daughters, too.
women worry
Reading is my greatest luxury.
reading luxury
It took a brave editor in the U.S. To sign a contract for Dancing Girls, and without her belief in the book, I'm not sure it would ever have found its way into print.
belief
When dad told me Mr Steptoe had passed away, I broke down.
dad
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