Here’s the deal. List 10 books that have stayed with you in some way. Don’t think too long or too hard. They don’t have to be the “right” books, or great works of literature, just books that have affected you in some way. I was nominated by my cousin and have chosen books I have enjoyed in the past 30 years…
it is difficult to choose, because i have loved many books over the years, some more flawed than others, but have love being thrown in these worlds. they arent in any specific order, exept perhaps age when first read!
1. the bagthorpe saga by helen cresswell – the first 4 anyway! these were my sisters’s books and i nicked them and got caught out due to excessive laughing under the duvet! absolute zero – what a hoot!
2. the dark is rising series. totally fab books. like my cousin I also started with book 2 and then accumulated the rest. I still read these 
.
3. rosemary sutcliffe – most of them! prob the roman eagle of ninth series best by a whisker, but also mark of the horse lord [ok also slightly roman!]. I bet half of them were bought by aunty M
3.5 Anne of Avonlea and the rest. I loved these books and searched to buy more. SB was really happy to have been given a set by canadian aunty m – they do say cousin k in the fly!
4. sharon penman – prob sunne in splendour, but could be falls the shadow – both books belonging to my mum though have subsequently bought and enjoyed the elinor of aquitaine series
5. lord of the rings. tolkein .sorry, love it. loved it so much i set fire to my bed with my lamp whilst sneaking it under the covers. mum confiscated the book! bought every scrap of related writing i could find!
5.5 the lion witch and wardrobe and the last battle in partic by css lewis. they have stuck. prince caspian for the film…
6. i’m not quite so keen on them now, but at the time I couldn’t put down the thomas covenant books. i have them all… [i jsut cant stop a series, even if it ends up not feeling quite worth it – all of dune – yep! you can rely on me to have the lot!! how can i be more than half way through, they are not going to fit?
6.5 gate to women’s country by sheri s tepper. some very good ideas in that book! I share a love of this book with Jax
7 the handmaids tale by margaret atwood – again dystopian future with some hope, read whilst i was a teen i think. [do you know, i dont think any of dad's books are going to end up on here. me and mum would greedily read our holiday books, and then sigh and read his when we had run out. he brought kane and abel by jeffrey archer with us 3 years in a row!]
7.5 neal stephenson. probably anathem, though quite a few i have liked. i think i bought this for my cousin one xmas as so enjoyed it
8. peter hamilton, quite a few of these as well, but probably the greg mandel series. it is serious work to make peterborough cool! [ok, so it is in the future
8.5 iain m banks – everything! but am going to say feersum endjinn, just because of the spelling [or not] as well as the storyline. i like his non sci fi as well – perhaps whit
9 peter hamilton and blue remembered earth. I am thinking that is enough sci fi. I really enjoy reading sci fi tho!
9.5 I have very much enjoyed wolf hall and bring up the bodies by Hilary mantell as well
9.75 the kitchen gods wife by amy tan. oh deear, I am getting desperate to fit in all these other books i loved. who was that cake book i stayed up all night reading of yours Jasotp?
10. sir gawain and the green night by michael morpurgo, for the joy of reading it aloud to the girls. it is a wonderful thing to actually say the words of.
comments
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clan of the cave bear nearly made it [but not so keen on sequels] and the wolf series of michelle paver in the historical fiction section
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alan garner and robert westall were near squeaks into my childrens section, and have gone back to add lion withc and wardrobe, as think that has stuck with me. prob the owl service was always flowers not owls!