Reading History

Starting School

I’m sure other people’s parents did this kind of thing, but my mum liked to buy books for special occasions. A book about knickers was sent off to a small cousin who was getting too old for a nappy and a book about swimming would materialise for another learning to swim. One book she has given just about every relative is Starting School. It managed to make the idea of starting prep all the more exciting to the five year-old me, and I have read it probaby hundreds of times since.

Dr. Dog

Who wouldn’t love a dog for a doctor? Me, for one. Despite the fact that all throughout my earlier years dogs were my favourite animal and I desperately wanted one, I’m not too sure how I ended up with this book as I’m almost as squeamish as my mum when it comes to health. But Dr. Dog is hardly medical training material, so I was alright. And it quickly became one of my all-time favourite picture story books.

The Man who was Magic

The Man who was Magic was one of the many books I remember being read to me during early primary school. As it was read at bedtime, I probably missed at least half of the story the first time round as my dad had a tendancy to just keep on reading through the night until he also fell asleep.

Inheritance Cycle

The Inheritance Cycle was the series that got me into reading fantasy (particularly anything relating to dragons) when I was around eight or nine. It's books are Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr and Inheritance, and to be honest I think the main reason I started reading the series in the first place is just so that I could say that I had. They're pretty big books for an eight year old. But now I can't get enough of fantasy. They're also the perfect books for people who enjoy guessing the pronunciation of words.

Ranger’s Apprentice

The Ranger's Apprentice were probably my favourites for a good five or so years. Like a lot of my other favourite forms of entertainment, my brother was reading this series and I took one quick brief look at it, and declared that it was boring. As usual I was wrong, and this series quickly became my favourite soon after I began reading. Set in a made up universe with a medieval type setting, this series along with the Inheritance Cycle led me to become fascinated with the medieval world. And although now I don’t find these quite as entertaining as I did seven years ago, I still read all 11 books of the series as they came out (the last being released only last year), as well as the first of a new series the author is writing.

My Side of the Mountain

There is something I have always found rather intriguing about the idea of people living in the wilderness. This of course, is what initially attracted me to Lord of the Flies, which wasn't quite the story I was looking for. My Side of the Mountain was. This book along with another called The Bronze Bow were the books that got me into reading books that had nothing to do with fantasy.

Toby Alone

After becoming well acquainted with the owner of a nearby bookstore when I was eleven, she gave me three books, (one Toby Alone and another The Eyes of a King) to read and report back to see if they were worth stocking. The other I can’t even remember the name of. It was too similar to Lord of the Rings for me to stomach (I never have really been able to get into J.L Tolkien's books despite being a fan of fantasy) . Though the tale of a boy a few millimetres tall living in a tree may sound ridiculous, there was just something I found very attractive about the book. And the sequel was even better. Toby Alone and Toby and the Secrets of the Tree are definetly on my favourite list.

Eyes of a King

Eyes of a King sticks out in my memory as the book that reduced me to little more than a water fountain. It had me bawling for chapters, and sniffing for hours. This was a new experiance for me since toddler years (when of course you'd cry at everything even remotely sad in a story.) You'd think that I wouldn't like a book that made me so sad as much as I do, but of course that isn't how it works. I don't think I'l be forgetting this book any time soon.

The Name of the Wind

The Name of the Wind is one of the books I have read in more recent times, along with the second book in the series, The Wise Man's Fear. Back to the fantasy genre again, I couldn't put them down, and that's always a good sign.