Ten books. in the start of the next part... Autumn 2014.

I was tagged on Facebook to write about the ten most influential books that I have read and, as I put so much effort into it, I thought I’d add it of on to here…

Fried Green Tomatoes (Fannie Flagg) - I saw the movie first which I also love, but the book is much darker, it goes far more into the racism which was present throughout the 20th century. I also love that the relationship between Idgy and Ruth is just an accepted part of the story without any need for explanation. I read this book when I feel a need to join the Threadgood family again.

The Chrysalids (John Wyndham) - I used to be a huge Stephen King fan and I believe that the best place to find good books are in the reading history of favourite authors, as finding the influence for favourite musicians is a great way to discover artists you may have bypassed. Stephen King loved this book so I read it and it’s one of my ‘keepers’. Most of my books go to charity, there are only a few that are allowed to stay. I love his concept that the evolution of humans will go in a big jump as we have stopped our own evolution currently by the use of technology to fulfil needs that we would, otherwise, evolve to fill.

K is for Killer (Sue Grafton) - this was the first of the alphabet series I read, it was free on a magazine and I thought ‘why not’. I felt a strong connection with Kinsey at the time. She was a single, strong willed, McDonald’s loving runner who loved small spaces! Me to a T (at the time). I still love Kinsey and the only things that are different are that I gave up my quarter pounders with cheese and got married.

Five go on an adventure (Enid Blyton) - my mum bought us all a book to read on the journey to a holiday destination (which could well have been camping in Scotland!) An hour or two into the journey I had finished the book. This time it was George that I wanted to be - like her I wanted to be able to run and climb ‘like a boy’. Of course, I have since learned to be happy with being me and not compare myself favourably or otherwise to boys…

Heidi (Joanna Spyri) - empathy, real empathy oozed out of me when Heidi rushed out of Clara’s townhouse in Frankfurt to see the fir trees, only to discover the sound had been cart wheels. I sobbed, utterly dripped snot and tears, as she became thinner and began sleepwalking. And my heart soared with joy when she was back on the alm with the grandfather. I was so young that my feet didn’t touch the floor as I sat, bent over, book in my lap and reading until my mum had called me several times to come downstairs. I no longer have my original copy but I’ve replaced it and read it last year.

Driving over lemons (Chris Stewart) - the first in the autobiographical series by the original (pre fame) drummer of genesis. Following the impulse purchase of a farm in rural Andalucía was great fun, reading their failures and successes. It was a perfect ‘if they could do it, I do could It.’ Sort of book. One day… One day....

Collins Spanish dictionary - it’s huge and cost a small fortune but it hasn’t failed me yet. I have various small Spanish dictionaries dotted around the house which come in handy no matter where I am when I need them but this is the matriarch of my dictionary family.

Swan song (Robert R. McCammon) - I’ve only read this once and it took a long time to actually pick it up and read it. The description starts ‘in a future world born of nuclear rage,’ post apocalyptic films were all the rage during my childhood, in which simmered the Cold War and i always had an underlying dread of things nuclear; the threat of The Button (the white house and the Kremlin both one, allegedly) was something i tried to avoid. My head truly buried in the sand. I. Just. Didn’t. Want. To. Know. I was in my thirties when I read this and it was good. Very good. While playing with one of my greatest fears. I haven’t felt an urge to read it again but I’m glad I did.

Empire of the Ants (Bernard Werner) - all novels have been written, there are no new ideas, just different (and wonderful) ways write them. So to meet this novel was like someone opening a large, iron door with a sudden, clanging movement. Wow!

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (Rachel Joyce) - it started off quite jolly and slowly became darker, opening my eyes to human weakness and how it can affect us as we get older. My favourite moment was his escape from his followers, only to return because he felt that he owed it to them, even though he hadn’t wanted them there in the first place.

Honorary addition. Into the darkest corner (Elizabeth Haynes) - this, as most people know, was written by a friend of mine. It’s a fantastic book that describes the characters so perfectly that you can see them, the OCD of the main protagonist actually made my breathing become laboured. The suspense from the different time settings. All of it. I couldn’t write this list without this book.