Long Before Forty - C.S. Forester (1580)

This is a autobiography C.S. Forester wrote about his life up to the age of 31 or so, written when he was about forty.  It also contains the background on his development of the Horatio Hornblower novels, written many years later for "The Hornblower Companion."  I found this very enjoyable reading - Forester has  a dry wit and a wonderful way of explaining things, and told a very interesting story about his upbringing, with primary emphasis on his schooling and how he drifted into wanting to become a novelist.  What I enjoyed particularly was his description of reading as a boy, devouring encycploedias and books at the local library (which sounded a little familiar...)