So I decided to start some packing last night - I finished work at 4pm and despite wasting a large amount of time in the gym I still had some hours to kill before bedtime. This is where the 'better do something useful' mentality kicked in, so I went for the fairly easy task of packing up my bookshelves - the logic being that I could watch tv/movies at the same time. Yup, I'm one of those annoying people who can't just do one thing at a time!
Anyway, I got to thinking and reminiscing about some of my favourite reads - I tend to only keep books that I really loved the first time and know I'll read again, even if it likely won't be for a year or two.
Here's my little collection of 'nostalgia' books - the stories I loved as a child. Pretty much for as long as I could read I've been obsessed by it, we were constantly at the library in the school holidays, and I'd always check out the maximum 6 books! Malory Towers were a series I read over and over, and I still go back to them now. Weirdly I only read the whole Narnia collection maybe 5 years ago when my then boyfriend gave me his childhood collection. Since then I've probably read them about once a year, I love how they all tie together, and the end...ugh, gets me every time!
Ah, the Garfield books. Originally this was my brothers and my joint collection, but he decided to get rid so I rescued them on a whim - I actually still collect them, they're just so fun and easy to read!
A little selection of my paperback fiction - Danny Wallace is one of my favourites for a hilarious uplifting read, although my favourite book has to be '
The Bronze Horseman' by Paullina Simons - forbidden love in war torn Russia, what more does a book need?! Unfortunately my copy went missing somewhere along the way so it's hovering around my Amazon wish list ;)
Some hardbacks - the Harry Potter series of course, which I just finished collecting in HB after some untrustworthy person borrowed my PB collection about 4 years ago and never returned it - one of my pet hates, hence why I'm always quick to watch/read borrowed items and return them soon as I can. The classics I found in my Gran's basement after she died - I've read Pride and Prejudice so far and loved it, even if I only understood about half the dialogue... Unfortunately they also smell like basement, so I haven't quite got round to reading the rest yet!
Ah the non fiction shelf. Strangely, for someone who devours novels, factual books were not something I really picked up unless I was doing a school report, plus by the time I reached college all research was done online, so it's only recently I've gotten into looking in other areas of the bookshop/library. This shelf is a bit of a random mix - local photo books mixed with the history of Barbie nestled in with knitting books all jumbled together with many many movie and cinema books. An alternative way to learn I say! Below is the Total Film/Empire collection and the oversized books, they could only be contained weightwise on the bottom shelf!
The Babysitters Club collection. Hehe, I always smile when I think of these stories - by the time I'd read my 500th or so book the sameness had started to set in, but admittedly it took til I was about 15 to retire them! They now have a new lease of life as I've started collecting again, I have a bit of an ambition (thanks to
this blog) to read them all again, but I don't yet have close to the full set... maybe one day!
And lastly (if you made it this far, yay to you!) my to-read pile - a good deal smaller than it was a couple of months ago, since I've been determinedly ploughing thru it since I decided I had to move. These were all bought for less than 50p, except 3 which were gifts - can't resist a book bargain, gotta get me to the library when I've finished this little stack!
So go on, tell me your favourite book/s and I just might read them next! (eh after my stack is done of course!)
:)
