Aw Diddums

Mood: Starving
Listening to: Nothing

Moving this blog to WordPress. This post can be found there.

I have seen this book meme around a few times and nobody was tagging me for it, mostly because they don't know me. Today I thought I could do it anyway - and then I dropped in to visit Pacian at Space Cat Rocket Ship, and he tagged everybody who visited! So here's my excuse.

1. One book that changed your life.

They probably all changed my life by degrees, influencing my thoughts or giving me fresh inspiration. I can't think of a single book that changed my life more than any other. Nothing pushed me down a specific career path. I didn't want to become a vet after reading If Only They Could Talk by James Herriot, nor did I decide to become a secret service agent and circus acrobat after reading E. E. 'Doc' Smith. Maybe I'm not all that impressionable, and found it easy to see past the glamour to the gore, hard work and sadness, or maybe I've always been more interested in writing than living...

2. One book that you've read more than once.

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell. Slim, old, English. Amusing and sad. Must have read it four times or so.

3. One book that you'd want on a desert island.

Something fat and entertaining that I've never read before. Or the complete set of books by Jean M Auel. Or something that would tell me how to build a rudimentary shelter, or how to crack open coconuts without losing the juice. I would want a complete library on this desert island, as well as some blank journals in which to write about my experiences.

4. One book that made you laugh.

Merry Hall by Beverley Nichols. It's attractive, refreshing, funny, and very English. I suggested it to an informal Book Club. Most of the other members lived in America and said they went to their libraries and couldn't obtain it, as it wasn't available. Some of them tried to buy it and discovered it wasn't cheap. So they gave up, which was disappointing - but one determined lady returned to her library and said she would like to read this book if they ordered it in - and they did! She took it home and read it, and so did her husband, and she said she's glad she went to all the trouble as it was just their cup of tea.

The Book Club fizzled out quite quickly because nobody ever seemed to want to get a recommended book for this reason or that (I found a surprising number of the books in charity shops or on eBay, so it wasn't that difficult) - but I still feel something important was accomplished... there's a library out there that has a good book in stock because of this short-lived club and because of a member who wouldn't give up.

5. One book that made you cry.

Jennie by Paul Gallico. Fantasy novel about cats. Very charming, detailed, interesting and sad.

6. One book you wish you had written.

The Unlikely Ones by Mary Brown. Fantasy. I wasn't expecting much from it as it had just fallen into my hands in a bundle of unwanted paperbacks... but it was imaginative and charming, and I'm not going to give it away!

7. One book you wish had never been written.

A few rather dark books I got rid of so quickly I can't even remember what they were called or who wrote them. I do this with horror books, especially cruel or satanic ones.

8. One book you're currently reading.

Only yesterday I finished Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison (a slim science fiction novel which should be required reading for everyone. I wrote a little about it here). Have just started Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa by Peter Godwin. In the preface he says Mukiwa is intended as a memoir rather than an autobiography.

9. One book you have been meaning to read.

One I got recently which I've had my eye on for some time and still haven't begun is The Magicians' Guild by Trudi Canavan. It's the first book of a fantasy trilogy.

I tag.... well I'll opt out like Pacian and tag every visitor to this blog who hasn't already done this particular meme. Aw, go on.

Lunch time....!

PS: Pacian pointed out he is reading more than one book at present. Actually, so am I, but I was too embarrassed to say. The other book I'm reading is beside my bed. It's Paddington Marches On by Michael Bond.