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.
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