These are a few of the books (from our bookshelf) that have managed to make a permanent impact on my reading habits. I've read most of these until they fell apart (literally) and some of them have been discreetly (OK, not actually discreetly) moved into my book case. And no, not all of them were age appropriate when I first read them.
1. The Time Machine - By H.G. Wells
I'm pretty sure that this is the first Science Fiction book I read, understood (after many years of re-reading) and loved. The thing with books like this, is that you start expecting fantastic to happen in everything you pick up once you've read something that oozes epicness such as this one.
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
That's it. I'm sticking with Science fiction. I want to write about killer computers, I want to write about walking on Saturn and I want to know why ' It's full of stars!'. This is one of the greatest pieces of science fiction ever written and I am so glad that my parents (or grand parents) left a copy at the bottom shelf, within my easy reach when I was dying for something to read back when I was 11. Although I didn't get everything at first read, it was a great book even when I was 11 (and I thought that the dawn of man portion was real). I might have read this at least a 100 times since then. Epic, Yes!
3. The Children of Men by P.D. James
I read this when I was around 13 or 12. I really liked the broken down doll on the cover and decided to check out the blurb. Since I had nothing else to do (not true, I may have had a mountain of homework but probably wasn't in the mood), I decided to pick this up and read it. And IT.WAS. GOOD. It's one of those rare books with the ability to take you to the situation that the writer is describing. P.D. James is an amazing writer who managed to create vivid images in my head with each line of this book. It's the first Dystopia novel that I read and was unable to put the book down for weeks ( I tend to do that a lot. If I like a book, I'll read it until I can't bear the sight of it) Haven't read it yet? Do read it, before you watch the movie.
4. Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin
This is a good one. A really good one that everyone knows about. Once I found out that our book case had hidden gems here and there, I decided to raid it and came up with this diamond of a book. I actually started reading at the second chapter (don't worry, I have the first chapter practically memorized by now) and couldn't put it down until I had finished reading every single word. Unfortunately this one is not in my bookshelf at the moment thanks to whoever it is that decided to take it and not return it. But, I managed to read it enough times before that happened. Now, if only I could find the movie...
5. Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
This is my favourite book. Why? I've read it about 500 times and it's still on my night stand, (for you know, easy reach if I feel like reading it again?) This was in my shelf for ages. I didn't pick it up for years because my brain was sort of programmed (by Clarke and Asimov) to look for aliens/spaceships/AI and other odd things in the blurb, this one caught me with this,
"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood."
Anyway, I'm in love with this book mainly due to the story. It's a rags to, well, less worn rags story like no other. It's got it's fair share of 'it's like I'm actually there' moments and of course, it's incredibly candid and real and, you genuinely care about the people in the book. What else would you expect from a memoir?
After the Rosemary's baby incident, I kept all of my good books well out of sight from anyone who might feel like 'borrowing' them. I refuse to part with my battered, dog eared and cat trampled paperback. Ever.
So, what are your favourite books?
