I used to love the Enid Blyton books, to me there were none better. I also like reading the Lucy Atwell annuals …anyone remember them?
When my granddaughter was about 7/8, I bought her a set of Enid Blyton books …primarily as I enjoyed them so much during my childhood. However… she didn’t like them and couldn’t get into the stories mainly because they were still written as in the 40/50s. Our language has changed so much over the years that the books were very dated to her and didn’t hold her attention … even my daughter said the same.
I suppose it was a bit like me trying to get my head around Shakespeare when I was that age.
Saw a copy of the first book that ever really interested me ,in a charity shop yesterday.“Horton Hatches The Egg.” I was tempted to buy it but thought it would be better for some spotty kid to discover it
My first novel was ‘Ivanhoe’ (Sir Walter Scott), a Christmas gift from an Aunt. I thought it was wonderful and was convinced Ivanhoe should have married Rebecca instead of Rowena. Four weeks later the same Aunt gave me ‘The Hobbit’ (Tolkien) for my 5th birthday - and I have been hooked on Tolkien ever since. Was quite indignant when our library would not let me take out ‘Lord of the Rings’ because it was in the adult section - had to drag my Dad there to sign it out for me!
I love books, read very fast, and lose all track of time when I am reading.
I love reading and am a real bookworm. As a child my favorite books were Robinson Crusoe and the Swiss Family Robinson and Children of the New Forest. I remember one book and aunt bought me one Christmas and I read it so many times I knew it off by heart it was called King of the Golden River.
My choice these days are mostly of country life in the Edwardian/Victorian times, particularly farming life. I have read several novels by Mary Pearce and if you have read any of her books then you will know my type of reading.
A good book beats the telly any time.
As a child I enjoyed reading , as an adult my happiest times were bedside reading with my kids , what should take 5 minutes to put the kids to bed would become an hour long affair of reading a book , any book , everyone taking turns at a page each and this thread brought those memories back
Same here. After reading my grandkids the same favourite story every time they stopped with us, they got to know it word for word and woe betide if you tried to miss a few paragraphs or pages. They knew, and made me go back and read the story properly.
I loved Anna Sewell’s ‘Black Beauty’ when I was a kid.
Read it over and over.
I can still recall how it began . . “The first place I can well remember was a large meadow with a pond of clear water in it. Rushes and water lilies grew at the deep end.”
Yes! Ain’t that the truth! I was always torn between oh bugga, I’m desperate to relax and trying to stifle giggles that she was so on the ball when I thought she was drifting off
I admit I really enjoyed reading to The Child. Like you say, all sadly gone.
For myself, I used to read and read and go back to reading Grimm’s Fairy Tales even when I blossomed into adulthood. I’ve still got that book. SO well worn.
Now don’t laugh, but when I was really small I loved looking at one of the cookbooks - the icing on the cakes and intricacies of them and the colours - I thought were wonderful. Time and again I’d get that book out. Anyone would think I had an interesting in baking :surprised:
Same here with my Grandkids…Danny is 6 now and he loves David Walliams books.
Gangsta Granny is a favourite but at the moment working through Bad Dad he is so funny though when it comes to sad bits especially in Gangsta Granny which he has read several times he warns me and reminds me it’s just a story Grandma…so don’t get upset.
They are longer books and I have to negotiate how many chapters I read beforehand but he always renagues on the deal and insists on just one more chapter.
My reading books as a child were many and varied; the usual Beano and Dandy annuals for Christmas, Black Beauty, Robinson Crusoe, one entitled The Kon-Tiki Expedition I recall was fascinating. The one that most sticks in my mind though was Aesop’s Fables, apparently there are over 700 of these fables. My grandfather had a copy of that book which I used to read whenever visiting, which was often.
When I was quite young my grandmother had an obscure Victorian weepie called Froggy’s Little Brother by Brenda, the pseudonym for a minor member of the aristocracy, I believe. I must have read it several times and I reckon the utter injustice it described was what started me in a very Left of centre direction that has persisted to this day.
I was always torn between oh bugga, I’m desperate to relax and trying to stifle giggles that she was so on the ball when I thought she was drifting off 
