The object of this master thesis is to study the reading practices offive women as they themselves remember them from theirchildhood and youth in the middle of the 20th century. The study inparticular targets the respondents’ reading in relation to the normsfor girls’ and young women’s reading at the time. The thesis takesas its starting point the presentation of the respondents´ readingmemories, based on motifs, preferences and experiences. Equallyimportant is the presentation of the relationship between thesememories and the social discourse their reading practices were partof. The qualitative interview is the method used to collect theempirical material. Theoretically, the analysis is inspired by theconcept of the history of reading and by the sociology of literature.The analysis shows that the respondents grew up in homes withpartially dissimilar conditions for the forming of reading practices.The differences seem to be linked to social standing, material andeconomic situations, levels of education and geographicallocations. They are mirrored in both access to literature, choice ofbooks, reading environment and in the way the respondents lookupon reading and its importance. Nevertheless, there aresimilarities between the respondents in so far as reading was apleasurable activity, giving them freedom to create their ownseparate worlds. Reading was also a step in the process ofbecoming women. This is reinforced by their mothers´ role inintroducing books and keeping the girls’ reading interest alive. / Program: Bibliotekarie