10 Books That Changed My Life….

I’m having a bit of a tiff with Facebook at present. I don’t want to be on it.

That doesn’t mean that I’m not interested in what my friends are up to, just that I’m over the game requests, the what movie/book/medieval/zombie character are you quizzes, the boundary creep between astro and personal, the… well, you get the idea.

I’m also not into tagging…usually… I especially detest being tagged in photos that I’m not in, to participate in challenges I have no interest in…as I said, you get the idea.

Which is why the post I was tagged in the other day- one about the 10 books that influenced my life- is turning into a blog post. So thank you to the lovely Aileen…and I mean that.

Books have always been an escape for me- from reality, into my imagination. They’ve also helped me escape noise- from the noise of the house when I was a kid, from the noise of the world now I’m all growed up.

I’m a series girl, and I’m a re-reader…so here goes:

1. Asterix and Obelisk.

I loved these guys, and I read and re-read everything in both the Merriwa Shire Library and the library at school.

2. Enid Blyton

Ok, apparently this is politically incorrect. Whatever. The point is, these books got me reading chapters, real chapters. I pictured magical worlds of faraway trees, schools where people spoke funny and played games with sticks with nets on the end of them, where kids and dogs could explore caves and foil the plans of smugglers.

3. Nancy Drew

I wanted to be Nancy Drew- I wanted to be that smart, I wanted a friend like Ned, and I wanted to drive in a jalopy…just what was a jalopy, anyway?

4. The Hardy Boys

These guys were great on their own- the literary equivalent of a boy band- but it was a marriage made in heaven when they teamed up with Nancy.

5. Trixie Belden

Where Nancy was smart and a little conservative, Trixie seemed more laid-back, more sporty, more ready for action. She spent more time outside, doing outside stuff.

6. Pride and Prejudice

What can I say? I read this book at least once every couple of years and I will forever be grateful to the English teacher in my HSC year who brought it alive for me. It is probably my favourite book in the world.

I’ve read all the Austen’s, but Lizzy is by far my favourite female character and, as desirable as Darcy is, I reckon I would have fallen for Wickham…I also would have fallen for Willoughby (Sense and Sensibility)…. What can I say?

7. Wuthering Heights

Probably the second most read book in my house. I love the song too- just saying… It’s all that dark, brooding passion. It’s also the way Heathcliff is able to transform himself and have that intense love, and maintain a grudge over so many years. It’s Scorpio and Pluto brought to life- although I didn’t know that back then.

8. A Tale of Two Cities

Yes, Dickens is making my list. Reading this one was like reading a movie. I could see it, I could hear it, I could smell it, I could feel it.

9. Bridget Jones’s Diary

Of course.

I think there’s a little of Bridget in most of us- and isn’t that what chick lit is all about?

10. Phryne Fisher…and Corinna Chapman

Two completely different heroines from the keyboard of Kerry Greenwood. The setting is Melbourne- Melbourne as I know it now, Melbourne as it used to be. And as for Corinna’s boyfriend, Daniel the investigator…yep, I would have too.