Twenty books in twenty days (part two)

 

Books that have stayed with me.

As previously mentioned on Social Media I took part in a challenge to list a book that had stayed with me or influenced me each day for twenty days - it has been just the sort of icebreaker I can get behind.

However the challenge was just to post the book jacket with no reasons why you picked it and after picking my books I though I actually want a record of why it is these 20 books that feature.

Like online there's no order to these books, and while are some firm favourites and have been for decades some of the books that came to my mind really surprised me.

Invisible Women - while I knew that things weren't really equal for men and women despite laws and loud claims by men, this book really opened my eyes as to just how much of the world is set up for the default male and not most of the population.

Carrying the Fire - I don't think that this was the first biography/autobiography from the early era astronauts that I read but it certainly the best. A great mix of personal story and science and entirely readable, it is one of my great regrets that I never got to meet Collins as he comes across everywhere as such a nice person.

Black Beauty - I think my original copy of this one was once my dad's and despite being not a huge horsey person (and mildly allergic to them or their hay) I loved this book - even though it is quite bleak in places!

Diary of Anne Frank - I think that this was the first book about the Holocaust that I read, and it is one that I return to on an infrequent basis, along with other works - scholarly and biographical - related to Frank. 

Birds Without Wings - while Captain Corelli's Mandolin is the more famous book it was the epic sweep of this one that really blew me away, and I loved the way that de Bernieres mimics Homer in his turn of phrase.

Alanna: The First Adventure - I could have picked any of Pierce's books set in Tortall but this one was the first I read after (somewhat surprisingly) finding it on the shelf in my school library. I still buy Peirce's books as soon as I can and just hope that the one she's been talking about for a few years does see the light of day.

The Shell Seekers - this was another of the first 'grown up' books that I read in my teens, again I think it was a recommendation from my mum. It is a sweeping, multi generational family story with a strong WW2 setting and as well as this I think it also helped develop my appreciation of the Impressionist school of painting.

Rewild Yourself - after my brain haemorrhage we started spending a lot more time out in nature, and then with the pandemic limiting where we could go this book was ideal for focussing the mind on how just some small actions can keep you grounded while still expanding your connections with the natural world. While a lot of books in the nature writing genre are fascinating only this and Lev Pariakian's Light Rain Sometimes Falls have reinforced that you don't need to do big things/ take big trips to make the most of the world around you.

The Flowers of the Field - another sweeping, multi generational family story that I read and reread as a teen/ young adult, this time with a WW1 focus. The sequel, A Flower That's Free, is also good but if I shut my eyes I can still 'see' scenes from this one, and the main character (Thea) is one of my favourites in all the books I've read.

The Cut Out Girl - as I think can be seen from this list I do like to read books about the period in history from about 1900-1950, and when I  look through my full reading diaries for the past 20 years this becomes clearer. This book has stuck with me so much because thanks to The Diary of Anne Frank and other similar accounts from Holland during the Nazi occupation I had formed a fixed idea of this period of time and here Van Es presents a new point of view. I've since found other books and documentaries that add to this  and so it deserves its place on this list because it is always good to learn new things and have your opinions challenged and to remember that the victors/survivors write history.

Twenty books in twenty days (part one)

 

Books that have stayed with me.

As previously mentioned on Social Media I took part in a challenge to list a book that had stayed with me or influenced me each day for twenty days - it has been just the sort of icebreaker I can get behind.

However the challenge was just to post the book jacket with no reasons why you picked it and after picking my books I though I actually want a record of why it is these 20 books that feature.

Like online there's no order to these books, and while are some firm favourites and have been for decades some of the books that came to my mind really surprised me.

Vintage 1954 - It was hard to pick a single Antoine Laurain book as I've loved them all and eagerly await the translation of his new books. I surprised myself by picking this one and not An Astronomer in Love (which I liked so much a colleagues and I nominated it for the Dublin Literary Award), however when I shut my eyes it was this one that popped into mind and so on the list it went!

Testament of Youth - this book was so important to me as a late teenager and in to my early 20s and I think that it is the book that really started my love of autobiographies and also my interest into WW1 in a wider context. This was a case of not returning to a favourite however as when I reread it a few years ago it wasn't quite the profound book I remembered.

The Red Tent - I think that this was the first (feminist) retelling of a classic/Biblical tale that I read and again it is one that sparked my later interest in the genre.

The Song of Achilles - I felt bad picking this over the sublime books by Natalie Haynes but again this was the first book of its genre and the one that rekindled my love of Ancient Greek myths and legends.

To Serve The All My Days - I loved (and if I'm honest do still love) classic school stories and I think that this was the first 'grown up' book I came across that had this setting. It also has a strong WW1 and WW2 theme so event more boxes ticked! I'm not sure how I discovered this one - I know my parents introduced me to Delderfield's Diana & The Avenue books so it may be thanks to them...

Project Hail Mary - I really liked Weir's The Martian and didn't think that his Artemis was quite as bad as some say but this one was just on a different level - apparently it is about to be made into a film but I can't see how that would work as the pictures in my mind are so strong.

Shakespeare On Toast - after a visit as a tourist to Shakespeare's Globe I became more interested in the plays and Shakespeare himself and this book taught me so much - not least how to actually read the plays. It sparked such an interest that I ended up doing an MA in Shakespeare Studies!

Mossflower - it was a toss up between this one and Jacques' Redwall for this but I remember reading this one multiple times and loving the feel of it. Unusually this was a series that my sister also enjoyed and we used to swap books while we were on holiday. I have to confess that as a quick and constant reader I was probably initially drawn to these books because of their length - pre eReaders and with room in the family suitcase these books were ideal!

Little Women - and being in the UK this does mean only Little Women and not Good Wives too! I think the copy of this I had was my mum's and I know that even now it is a comfort read that I must have finished more than 30 times. I also know that some of my friends don't like it and find it out dated and sexist where as I read it as a fable and also as being quite empowering...

The Island - this book has a Greek setting and is historical so already pretty much had my name all over it, but when I did read it I discovered that it was set in a place we'd visited (and on our very first holiday together) it made the book event more appealing. I've enjoyed most of Hislop's books since this one but because it was about somewhere we'd been before it got 'famous' this one tips the scales as my favourite.

Reading Questions

Meme.

Mt friend Sam over at Books, Time and Silence posted this meme which he had found at Booking Through Thursday and I couldn't resist having a go myself.

1. Favorite childhood book?
My real favourite was a book called The Learning Tree. I got very excited when I found a copy at bootfair recently but when I tried to reread it I found it dire. It had a good environmental message but was so didactic. I hope I didn't make my parents read it aloud too often!

2. What are you reading right now?
I have several books on the go at the moment - Fahrenheit 451, a travel guide, a day by day diary of the German Occupation of Guernsey and the translation of an Arabic novel called The Proof of the Honey.

3. What books do you have on request at the library?
I have about 10 books on request at present, all are books that should be published in the next few weeks and they range from teen fiction through to histories of the Holocaust.

4. Bad book habit?
Buying too many!

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?
I currently have one travel guide, 2 history books, 1 social science book, 1 book about the Second World War, 2 adult fiction titles and a junior fiction book.

6. Do you have an e-reader?
Yes - I have a beBook mini and iBooks on my phone.

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
I tend to have several on the go, usually one non fiction, one in my work bag and a novel. When I am on holiday I tend to read more books but only one at a time.

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
I think about the books I read for longer but I don't choose books with the blog in mind.

9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far?)
House of Special Purpose - John Boyne. I wish he'd stop messing around with history in his books. He is considered such a good writer that his books are being studied and I worry that his versions of the past will soon become accepted as true despite their terrible inaccuracies.

10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?
Adult novel - The Help by Katherine Stockett

Teen novel - Matched by Ally Condie

Children's Book - the very advance copy of Suzanne LaFleurs new book

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
All the time, but a lot more at present as I prepare for our Banned Books event at work.

12. What is your reading comfort zone?
I'm not sure I know this as I read so much and so widely. I don't like very scary books or gory books and crime often leaves me cold but apart from that if it is written I'll read it.

13. Can you read on the bus?
Nope

14. Favorite place to read?
On a sun lounger somewhere warm and sunny! When at home curled up on the sofa or in bed.

15. What is your policy on book lending?
Hmm tricky this one as when I've read something and loved it I want everyone to read it BUT if I've really loved it I can't part with it.

16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
*whispers* yes

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
No, if I am making notes for an essay/presentation I write longhand notes as I am reading.

18. Not even with text books?
Nope

19. What is your favorite language to read in?
English, I can read a little in French and German but it takes me so long that English is easier.

20. What makes you love a book?
Good characters, something that makes me think, something that moves me, reading it at the right time in the right place.

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
If I've loved a book I will try to find the right person to recommend it to, Sometimes if I've disliked a book I'll want to get someone else to read it to see if my objections are general or personal.

22. Favorite genre?
1920s school stories, historical fiction, some fantasy

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
Sci-Fi - I love 'hard' sci-fi rather than speculative but I find one book every so often satisfies this.

Favorite biography?
Usually the last one I've read!

25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
Probably but the genre does nothing for me

26. Favorite cookbook?
I have three Vefa's Kitchen, 1080 Recipes, and Madhur Jaffrey's Curry Bible.

27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
Guernica by Dave Boling as it has led me to read loads more about the Spanish Civil War, a conflict I'm ashamed to say I knew nothing about.

28. Favorite reading snack?

Probably chocolate but I often get so engrossed in the book that I lose track of where I am so don't event snack.

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
Working in the book trade for so long I got used to ignoring the hype around books. Harry Potter became a full on experience as each book launch had to be bigger and better than the last but luckily for me that increased my enjoyment of the wait for the books and I still enjoyed them once I had recovered enough to read them.

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
Some and some.

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
That is a hard one, usually review very personally so if I haven't liked a book I say why *I* didn't like it rather than anything else. I do remember writing a scathing chapter about a book/author in my MA Dissertation and then the author coming into the shop to sign books which was awkward, although of course they couldn't know what I'd been writing the day before!

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?
There are so many good translations out there that I'd rather read them than struggle to read a translation.

33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
Some of the reference tomes I read for my MA. I love children's literature but found some of the theory around them hard going.

34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
I'll generally try anything but I do have a mental block when it comes to Watership Down and Catch-22. I can't get past the first few pages of either novel.

35. Favorite Poet?
I'm not a poetry fan but the First World War poets were amazing.

36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
Around 10

37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?
I often borrow books for the library to see if I like them before buying so I read a lot of the starts of novels but don't always finish them!

38. Favorite fictional character?
This changes all the time but the books I turn to time and again are the Tortall Books by Tamora Pierce

39. Favorite fictional villain?
Again this changes as often as my mood but I have a soft spot (if that is the right phrase for a villain) for Lord Voldemort

40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
Anything, but in quantity.

41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.
Probably no more than a day

42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
Catch-22 and Watership Down spring to mind but I have got better at abandoning books I'm not enjoying.

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
If I'm reading on my iPhone or laptop then the Internet distracts as I keep looking things up as I read. If I'm in bed it is probably sleep!

44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?
I'm not a great fan of film adaptation of books I've already read as the pictures in my mind are generally better.

45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
Most of the ones I've seen.

46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
I can't answer that my mum and my husband read this!

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
Sometimes with non fiction I will and sometimes I'll read the first chapter of a book before buying.

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
Boredom, too much gore, being badly written.

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
If I had more space I would, at present our books on Space, Space Travel and astronomy are grouped together, as are our novels/books on ancient Greece and Rome. My collectable books are all together and so are the travel guides but apart from that you'll often see me tearing the house apart looking for something to read.

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
That really depends on the book, sharing a book is one of the pleasures of reading

51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
Not avoiding as such but I don't tend to read a lot of what are termed classic novels.

52. Name a book that made you angry.
Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
Because I'll read anything this happens all of the time.

54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
I read in hope all the time so there are plenty of books that I try but that ultimately disappoint. Some of the autobiographies/ biographies I have read I have wanted to like more as I like the subject but the books have left me cold.

55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
I try to make all reading guilt free!