Books - catching day 4 days in one.

I've missed a few days, due to being lazy. So here's the catch up. I've also added a day on so that I'm on the same day as fringedweller. For the sake of order.

Day 10 - Book from your favourite author
I've mentioned Andre Brink already, author of my favourite book and some fantastic others as well. I've mentioned Dave Eggars, who I will buy the hard copy of anything he writes as soon as I can get to the shop. Neil Gaiman probably deserves a mention here as well, as his is a name I'll search in shop in the hope that something's magically appeared. However, I think this award will have to go to Terry Pratchett as I have been known to drive 30 miles out of my way to ensure I can get a new release on the day of release, and then finished it in the same day. I love Discworld, Young Discworld (and Nation whch doesn't fit anywhere but is superb), and have The Bromlied trilogy as a never-read back up in case there is ever a virus that kills off all writers and there are no books ever again. It's extremely hard to pick a favourite Discworld, although The Witches and The Watch are all at the top. However, I'd have to go with Jingo because basically it's Terry Pratchett does International Politics.

Day 11 - Book you once loved and now hate
A difficult one this, but I think I'd probably have to say Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh. I loved this when I first read it (way before the flm and hype) but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone now.

Day 12 - Book that a friend recommended
"Life of Pi" by Yann Martell. My friend Angie gave me this and, whilst not a triumph of literary genius, it's a good read and one I'd read and give again. Mostly I picked it because of Angie. Angie is the only person I trade books & book recommendations with as we're utterly on the same wavelength. All my other friends are deeply disappointing to me in the book department (in terms of what they offer me and that I can't share my loves with them), but Angie loves whatever I send and I get incredibly excited whenever a book-shaped parcel arrives from her as I'm sure to love it.

Day 13 - Book that makes you laugh
Terry Pratchett gets a mention here, but he's been mentioned several times already (and will be again) so I'll give the floor to someone else. Mark Steel. I'll read anything he writes, and every single one of his books has made me laugh out loud in public at some point.

Day 14 - Book from your childhood
With the exception of the Famous Five books (which I hoovered up as soon as I could hold the books myself as my brothers had them all), I wasn't into a lot of the usual children's books. Mostly because girls in them were pretty pathetic and/or posh. (I know Georgie in Famous Five was posh, but she owned a dog and had an *island* and pretended she was a boy which is what I did, and so was therefore exempt from my already burgeoning class scorn).

The predominant books of my childhood weren't children's books at all, they were the Derek Tangye series. A 30+strong set of books detailing the real life story of a man and his wife and their escape from London to remote Cornwall. I devoured these books, used to dream of owning a little cottage on a cliff and a donkey and being snowed in in winter, and of course, owning the same series of cats that featured strongly in every story. I got to meet Derek Tangye too when I was 11. I went to the actual Minack and had tea with him (a lovely, inspiring sweet old man) and there's a picture of me stroking one of the Minack cats.

( what could possibly be coming next? )