DAY 78

Today I am grateful for: my library

Actually today I am grateful for 2 things:

1 - My love of reading

2 - My book collection (aka Linda's library)

I'd like to thank my mother for instilling a life-long love of reading in me as a child. Maybe it's genetic, maybe it is a learned skill, but however it came about I am truly thankful.

As a reader, I am never bored, or lonely, or short of amusement. Anytime I want, I can wander down to my bookshelves (with over 400 titles) and pick a story that suits my mood. I can laugh, I can cry, I can fall in love, I can find happiness, I can go to war, I can be brave and courageous, I can solve crime, I can save lives, I can travel back in history, I can learn something new, I can dream, I can imagine, I can live. Not to say I can't do some of these things myself in real life - but it's nice to just be a passenger to life sometimes.

I am never short of new books to read - as for the last couple of years I have been systematically working my way through the Angus and Robertson 'Top 100' list. Updated yearly it is a great list of what other book-lovers around Australia are reading and loving.

If you want to see what I have been reading for the last three years, my virtual bookshelf is here.

Here are some of my alltime favourite books. Even just looking at the covers makes me want to curl up with one of them somewhere cosy, with a cup of tea, some tunes and a purring cat on my lap. This is happiness for a book lover.

The Time Travellers Wife | Audrey Niffenegger

An utterly convincing love story of a time traveller and the girl who captured his heart. This book needs to be read to be explained. The movie was good, but the book was much better.

Life of Pi | Yann Martel

I hear they are making this in to a movie as well – should be interesting. The story of an Indian boy who survives a shipwreck but must also survive existing on a life raft with a Bengal tiger, a zebra, a hyena and an orang-utan.

The God of Small Things | Arundhati Roy

I remember reading this book when I was on uni work experience in Brisbane, and sitting on the train, writing down some of the beautiful phrases in this love story set in India. It explores the tragic fate of a family which “tampered with the laws that lay down who should be loved, and how”. An insightful novel of the class system and how it dictated interactions.

For weddings and a funeral | John Marsden

A collection of poems suitable for weddings and funerals. I read this so much during my teens that some of the words are burned forever in to my brain.

‘She walks in beauty, like the night | Of cloudless climes and starry skies; | And all that’s best of dark and bright | Meet in the aspect of her eyes | from ‘She walks in Beauty’ George Gordon, Lord Byron

Across the Nightingale Floor | Lian Hearn

Part love story, part adventure, part magical – this trilogy is a compelling story set in mythical ancient Japan.

The Power of One | Bryce Courtenay

If you have never read this book you are missing out on something huge. The movie does not do this book justice. Set in South Africa, it follows the life of Peekay, an orphaned boy growing up with an understanding that colour doesn’t matter and that even small victories can still bring joy.

Evening Class | Maeve Binchy

I have always loved Maeve Binchy’s writing. She has an open writing style that makes you think of her characters as real people. Evening Class is one of my favourites – following an uncanny group of adults taking an Italian evening class in modern day Ireland.

Belgarath the Sorcerer | David Eddings

My first introduction to the fantasy genre was the ‘Belgariad’ series by Eddings. I never thought I would like it – but I ended up loving it. Escapism. Romance. Chivalry. Ultimate evil and good. Triumph.

Brilliant.

The Summer Tree | Guy Gavriel Kay

More advanced down the road of fantasy. This trilogy is like nothing I had read before. Intertwining folklore, mythical figures, current day and foreign worlds and so much more, this is one of my favourites.

One for the Money | Janet Evanovich

To date there are 15 books in this series, and Janet is not showing an sign of stopping. This is a pioneer in comical crime fiction. The heroine is a bumbling bounty hunter by the name of Stephanie Plum. Mix in an overweight ex hooker side kick, a young at heart grandmother, a smokin hot Cuban mentor and an Italian police officer love interest – this series is one that I read yearly and never tire of them all.

Mao’s Last Dancer | Li Cunxin

True story of Li and his journey from bitter poverty to stardom as a ballet dancer in Mao’s cultural ballet.

The Thoughts of Nanushka | Natt Witcomb

More poetry – but a book full of the musings of Nanushka.

Sometimes I wish I could be

right inside the minds

of the ones I love –

what would I do?

probably nothing

just dwell there

and watch them

going mad –

Cloudstreet | Tim Winton

Classic Australian fiction. Two rural families flee to the city and find themselves sharing a great, breathing, shuddering house called Cloudstreet. For twenty years they roister and rankle, laugh and curse until the roof over their heads becomes a home for their hearts.

A Million Little Pieces | James Frey

A controversial memoir of a young mans walking away from a life of crime, drugs and self loathing. A brutally candid , extraordinary and deeply moving book that makes you think about your own life as much as his.

Twelve Times Blessed | Jacquelyn Mitchard

Another story I come back to time and time again. The story of an entrepreneur single mother who finds love in a younger man, the stigma attached to this, family, love, forgiveness and loss.

Twilight | Stephenie Meyer

Before all the hoopla about Twilight I was already a lover of the books - just wanted to put the record straight. A unique storyline exploring what might happen if a vampire fell in love with a human. I wonder if the basic premise of Twilight is that ‘we always want what we can’t have’.

The Girl in Times Square | Paullina Simons

Another yearly favourite. Part crime novel, part love story, part family drama – this is an excellent book that I really love to read over and over again. Simons is a talented writer, with each of her novels following a different genre. I really enjoy each of her books.

My Sister’s Keeper | Jodi Picoult

Another deeply talented writer who picks up controversial topics from contemporary life and crafts them in to a believable courtroom/life story that leave me unable to put them down. I think Jodi must start every novel with “what would happen if…..” and just goes from there.