![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Nicked from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
borusa.
"In your LJ post, list 10 books that have stayed with you in some way. Don't take but a few minutes, and don't think too hard -- they don't have to be the "right" or "great" works, just the ones that have touched you."
1. Power of Three - Diana Wynne Jones. I am a huge fan of DWJ and almost every DWJ book is special to me, but this one is my favourite. It was a book I read and re-read all the way through secondary school and I just loved it and was (and am) very fond of the central character Gair and the friends he made.
2. Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien. Well, yes. I met it early enough that it was my first epic fantasy adult fiction. Enough said.
3. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen. I had terrible trouble reading this at first, but I really wanted to like it because I have caught the 1980 TV series and fell in love with it. I didn't understand it, mind, or not all the subtlety, but I then wanted to love the book. Perseverance paid off.
4. Paladin of Souls - Lois McMaster Bujold. Tricky to pick my favourite of hers (Memory, Diplomatic Immunity and Curse of Chalion are all runners) but I think Paladin has it because of Ista. The central character has a wonderful take on the world from having spent much of her life being thought mad.
5. Sparkling Cyanide - Agatha Christie. This is my favourite Christie because of its structure - the six suspects at the start and because it makes sense when you put it together. Again, it helped that I saw the TV movie first.
6. Space Hostages - Nicholas Fisk. This went on a two-week holiday when I was about twelve and I read it and re-read it. It's got the kids in charge theme and also a lot about bullies. And I love the ending.
7. The Art of Murder - Jose Carlos Somoza. This was a blind pick I made for a bookclub on the basis that I liked the author's previous book (The Athenian Murders); it was a lucky gamble. This book has some real horror in it, but the world of humans-as-art worked so well and I liked the series of murders and how it was solved.
8. King of Shadows - Susan Cooper. A close second is The Dark is Rising but I find King more emotional and engrossing. It helps that I like A Midsummer Night's Dream and I cry every time I read it.
9. The Colour Purple - Alice Walker. This was a book I met for the first time through my Open University degree and fell in love with it. I like Celie a lot and just some of the phrases. One of them goes something like "I never met God in a church, just a bunch of folks hanging around, kinda hoping he'd show." In contrast with much of my list, I loathed the film and thought it was sickly and completely out of character with the book.
10. The Ice King - Michael Scott Rohan. I can see a lot of flaws in this book these days. The middle aged guy who has every attractive young woman in the book (OK, two) throwing themselves at him. The "split the party" theme. But, at the end of the day, it's still got Viking gods and atmosphere. Plus it made excellent background to a couple of roleplaying games.
Honourable mention to Enid Blyton who sent me looking for caves as a child, Prachett because he was Xmas every year, Brookmyre for video game fans made fiction heroes, L M Montgommery for sweet but witty, CS Lewis for everything but the moralising and Dan Abnett who hooked me on WH40K.
borusa."In your LJ post, list 10 books that have stayed with you in some way. Don't take but a few minutes, and don't think too hard -- they don't have to be the "right" or "great" works, just the ones that have touched you."
1. Power of Three - Diana Wynne Jones. I am a huge fan of DWJ and almost every DWJ book is special to me, but this one is my favourite. It was a book I read and re-read all the way through secondary school and I just loved it and was (and am) very fond of the central character Gair and the friends he made.
2. Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien. Well, yes. I met it early enough that it was my first epic fantasy adult fiction. Enough said.
3. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen. I had terrible trouble reading this at first, but I really wanted to like it because I have caught the 1980 TV series and fell in love with it. I didn't understand it, mind, or not all the subtlety, but I then wanted to love the book. Perseverance paid off.
4. Paladin of Souls - Lois McMaster Bujold. Tricky to pick my favourite of hers (Memory, Diplomatic Immunity and Curse of Chalion are all runners) but I think Paladin has it because of Ista. The central character has a wonderful take on the world from having spent much of her life being thought mad.
5. Sparkling Cyanide - Agatha Christie. This is my favourite Christie because of its structure - the six suspects at the start and because it makes sense when you put it together. Again, it helped that I saw the TV movie first.
6. Space Hostages - Nicholas Fisk. This went on a two-week holiday when I was about twelve and I read it and re-read it. It's got the kids in charge theme and also a lot about bullies. And I love the ending.
7. The Art of Murder - Jose Carlos Somoza. This was a blind pick I made for a bookclub on the basis that I liked the author's previous book (The Athenian Murders); it was a lucky gamble. This book has some real horror in it, but the world of humans-as-art worked so well and I liked the series of murders and how it was solved.
8. King of Shadows - Susan Cooper. A close second is The Dark is Rising but I find King more emotional and engrossing. It helps that I like A Midsummer Night's Dream and I cry every time I read it.
9. The Colour Purple - Alice Walker. This was a book I met for the first time through my Open University degree and fell in love with it. I like Celie a lot and just some of the phrases. One of them goes something like "I never met God in a church, just a bunch of folks hanging around, kinda hoping he'd show." In contrast with much of my list, I loathed the film and thought it was sickly and completely out of character with the book.
10. The Ice King - Michael Scott Rohan. I can see a lot of flaws in this book these days. The middle aged guy who has every attractive young woman in the book (OK, two) throwing themselves at him. The "split the party" theme. But, at the end of the day, it's still got Viking gods and atmosphere. Plus it made excellent background to a couple of roleplaying games.
Honourable mention to Enid Blyton who sent me looking for caves as a child, Prachett because he was Xmas every year, Brookmyre for video game fans made fiction heroes, L M Montgommery for sweet but witty, CS Lewis for everything but the moralising and Dan Abnett who hooked me on WH40K.
