You might have seen the post on Facebook going round asking you to list ten books that have 'stayed with you'. After a second friend nominated me I started properly thinking about it, and then started making a list, and then researching authors and titles when I couldn't remember what 'that book' was called.
I read LOADS when I was younger. Monthly trips with Dad to Basingstoke library on a Saturday morning were childhood highlights, and then my sisters and I would spend the afternoon sprawled across sofas, floors and bunkbeds devouring our choices. The only detention I ever got was for reading a novel in class. Sad but true. Reading taught me to spell, helped me do well at school and taught me quite a lot about American teen culture (among other things, I hope!).
If I liked a book I'd generally read all I could by the same author, which is why I found it very hard to pick just ten books. And why my list includes quite a lot of series. I could be ashamed of my list of books. It does not include many 'classics'. Then again, I've never claimed to have great taste. I just like a good story, really. Also, I haven't read half as many books in the second half of my life. Since I was 14, studies and jobs and a social life have generally replaced reading books and used up my concentration juice. Now a book has to be quite easy-to-read for me to stick with it, or at least grip me from the beginning, whereas when I was younger I'd rarely ever stop reading a book halfway through (except if it ended up being scary!).
Even as I write this more and more books are popping back into mind (and I wish I had kept a record), I can even picture whereabouts on library shelves they were placed, even if I can't remember the titles or authors. I generally remember the stories though. I can't think of any books I've read more than once, I guess the main draw is wanting to find out what happens, so once I know, I don't really see the point.
So anyways, here's Katrina's list of books she remembers reading - which I guess makes them all significant in some way, because I'm sure there's tons I don't remember. These are the ones that I've loved, or have inspired me, or I think were written amazingly, or I couldn't put down, or represent certain seasons of my life - you can guess which are which :-)
Vaguely in chronological order...
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Famous Five, Mallory Towers and loads of Enid Blyton
Lots by Jacqueline Wilson
Lots by Judy Blume
Adventure series - Willard Price
The Babysitter's club series - Ann M, Martin
Sweet Valley twins series - Francine Pascal
The Street Children of Brazil - Sarah de Carvalho
Little Women and others by Louisa May Alcott
The Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
Children of the Voice - Ishmael
The Diary of Ann Frank
BFG then later on 'Boy' and 'Going Solo' - Roald Dahl
The Hiding Place - Corrie Ten Boom
The Surya Trilogy - Jamila Gavin
Zion Chronicles and Zion Covenant series - Bodie Thoene
'The Atonement Child', 'The Last Sin Eater' and various others by Francine Rivers
Red Moon Rising - Pete Greig
Blue like Jazz, Through Painted Deserts and others by Donald Miller
Velvet Elvis - Rob Bell
The Shack - William P. Young
Punk Monk - Andy Freeman & Pete Greig
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khalid Hosseini
The Brothers K - David James Duncan
Dark Star Safari - Paul Theroux
The Irresistible Revolution - Shane Claiborne
The New Conspirators - Tom Sine
'Mukiwa: A white boy in Afric'a and 'When a Crocodile Eats the Sun' - Peter Godwin
On writing - Stephen King
Don't lets go to the dogs tonight - Alexandra Fuller
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and the rest of her autobiographical books - Maya Angelou
The Fifth Figure - Jean Binta Breeze
The Poet, The Warrior,The Prophet - Rubem Alves
Half of a yellow sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Inheritance of Loss - Kiran Desai
'The Poisonwood Bible', 'Prodigal Summer' and 'The Lacuna' - Barbara Kingsolver
Mountains of the Moon - I J Kay
I'm sure I'll add to this list as I remember more. Funny a lot of them are non-fiction, but they still told stories or I identified strongly with them in some way...
I read LOADS when I was younger. Monthly trips with Dad to Basingstoke library on a Saturday morning were childhood highlights, and then my sisters and I would spend the afternoon sprawled across sofas, floors and bunkbeds devouring our choices. The only detention I ever got was for reading a novel in class. Sad but true. Reading taught me to spell, helped me do well at school and taught me quite a lot about American teen culture (among other things, I hope!).
If I liked a book I'd generally read all I could by the same author, which is why I found it very hard to pick just ten books. And why my list includes quite a lot of series. I could be ashamed of my list of books. It does not include many 'classics'. Then again, I've never claimed to have great taste. I just like a good story, really. Also, I haven't read half as many books in the second half of my life. Since I was 14, studies and jobs and a social life have generally replaced reading books and used up my concentration juice. Now a book has to be quite easy-to-read for me to stick with it, or at least grip me from the beginning, whereas when I was younger I'd rarely ever stop reading a book halfway through (except if it ended up being scary!).
Even as I write this more and more books are popping back into mind (and I wish I had kept a record), I can even picture whereabouts on library shelves they were placed, even if I can't remember the titles or authors. I generally remember the stories though. I can't think of any books I've read more than once, I guess the main draw is wanting to find out what happens, so once I know, I don't really see the point.
So anyways, here's Katrina's list of books she remembers reading - which I guess makes them all significant in some way, because I'm sure there's tons I don't remember. These are the ones that I've loved, or have inspired me, or I think were written amazingly, or I couldn't put down, or represent certain seasons of my life - you can guess which are which :-)
Vaguely in chronological order...
Famous Five, Mallory Towers and loads of Enid Blyton
Lots by Jacqueline Wilson
Lots by Judy Blume
Adventure series - Willard Price
The Babysitter's club series - Ann M, Martin
Sweet Valley twins series - Francine Pascal
The Street Children of Brazil - Sarah de Carvalho
Little Women and others by Louisa May Alcott
The Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
Children of the Voice - Ishmael
The Diary of Ann Frank
BFG then later on 'Boy' and 'Going Solo' - Roald Dahl
The Hiding Place - Corrie Ten Boom
Zion Chronicles and Zion Covenant series - Bodie Thoene
'The Atonement Child', 'The Last Sin Eater' and various others by Francine Rivers
Red Moon Rising - Pete Greig
Blue like Jazz, Through Painted Deserts and others by Donald Miller
Velvet Elvis - Rob Bell
The Shack - William P. Young
Punk Monk - Andy Freeman & Pete Greig
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khalid Hosseini
The Brothers K - David James Duncan
Dark Star Safari - Paul Theroux
The Irresistible Revolution - Shane Claiborne
The New Conspirators - Tom Sine
'Mukiwa: A white boy in Afric'a and 'When a Crocodile Eats the Sun' - Peter Godwin
On writing - Stephen King
Don't lets go to the dogs tonight - Alexandra Fuller
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and the rest of her autobiographical books - Maya Angelou
The Fifth Figure - Jean Binta Breeze
The Poet, The Warrior,The Prophet - Rubem Alves
Half of a yellow sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Inheritance of Loss - Kiran Desai
'The Poisonwood Bible', 'Prodigal Summer' and 'The Lacuna' - Barbara Kingsolver
Mountains of the Moon - I J Kay
I'm sure I'll add to this list as I remember more. Funny a lot of them are non-fiction, but they still told stories or I identified strongly with them in some way...
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