It is not just about books, but books and education and curiosity about life are central. To clarify: the book is about growing up. Even if our parents' world and now ours has altered, how we go forward will always be shaped by what lay before. Do you know Giacometti’s “Walking Man” statue? Books our parents loved and believed in and so molded not only them but also their kids, us! Then in turn our kids. Books about nature which led to a need for a microscope.

Books I had at home, they are mentioned here: The Natural Way to Draw, Field book of ponds and streams an introduction to the life of fresh water. Maybe the book works best for those of us born in the forties and fifties. You get adolescence, not an easy time for anyone. You get the history of Pittsburgh, the red scare of the fifties and the books we all read. The book follows the author from five years of age through her high school years, her summers on Lake Eire with her grandmother, rock collecting, bicycling, music, her interest in drawing, then later boys, literature, history, current events. I believe that readers of our generation will recognize much in this book that strikes a chord. She was born in 1945, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I also loved this book because I am a child of the 50s just as the author is. There is lots of humor, but you have to think as the author does to perceive it. She captures the joy of youth – be it singing at the top of your voice or “flying down a street” with your arms flailing. She captures how a child becomes aware of their own individuality. I loved this book because of the wisdom of the author, what she says about growing up, the process, the path. For me the soft tone fit the beauty of the lines. Some may think she doesn't read with enough spark. She leaves it up to the listener to interpret the lines, to recognize the subtle humor.

She reads softly, but you hear every word she says.

First let me praise the audiobook narration by Alexandra O'Karma.

Dillard an american childhood