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Original poster

Ok bookworms help me out here.

96 replies

dingdongmeggymooonhigh · 29/11/2005 22:50

Having seen a few threads recently about much loved and cherished memories of wonderful books read as a child has made me a little envious.

I was never read to as a child or encouraged to read ever which I can't do anything about now other than having a go at reading some of those books now!I'm thinking of making up for lost time.I don't know where to start though.

I have really made every effort to get ds interested in books which is working, he is hooked!

Could you recommend something to get me started, just one thing, Harry Potter doesn't really appeal I was thinking of something more old school that I could get my teeth into?

OP posts:
TwoIfBySea · 01/12/2005 14:15

Fennel thats the one!

First time I had heard the name Hermione and didn't know how to pronounce it until lately. And the parrot would use rare words all the time so they wouldn't be forgotten. I still have my copy, ready for dst to be old enough to enjoy it.

Marina · 01/12/2005 10:53

Blu, my pile of books on the quilt would be all of the Little House on the Prairie series. If ever stories were travestied by their TV adaptations Lovely books.

morecoffeeplease · 01/12/2005 10:30

How about 101 Dalmations? Truly a book for all ages of reader!
A while ago I went through a phase of reading "boys own" type classics and they're really good, cause they're pacy and entertaining - I really enjoyed Last Of The Mohicans and King Solomon's Mines, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

fennel · 01/12/2005 10:09

Nightynight, does the "me too" refer to:

a) crush on Biggles
b) being Titty
c) being a current member of Swallows and Amazons society?

hmm. how many embarrassing admissions have I made on just one thread?

was the Talking Parcel about a parrot and a steam engine called Hermione? I LOVED that book.

AussieSim · 30/11/2005 22:28

Watership Downs! I loved it! I must reread it I think.

singersgirl · 30/11/2005 22:02

Haven't read the whole thread but for me "Anne of Green Gables" and "The Secret Garden" would be top of the list, followed by "The Railway Children" and other E. Nesbit books. I have re-read these so often. I also loved Noel Streatfeild.

Nightynight · 30/11/2005 20:59

fennel, me too me too

JackieNo · 30/11/2005 20:54

Is that ballerina/concert pianist one 'The Swish of the Curtain'? Can't remember who it's by, though.

TwoIfBySea · 30/11/2005 20:51

The Wolves Of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aitken which I absolutely adored.

The Talking Parcel by Gerald Durrell.

As well as the others mentioned here, specially Anne of Green Gables.

orangina · 30/11/2005 19:43

oooh, something something sadlers wells i think.....

orangina · 30/11/2005 19:43

what about those lovely books about the girl becoming a ballet dancer who is in love with her friend who is such a good pianist he will (of course) become a concert pianist.... can't remember the name.... can anyone shed light? They are FAB !

fennel · 30/11/2005 19:27

Blu, I was always Titty

Original poster
dingdongmeggymooonhigh · 30/11/2005 18:59

Wow Blu that is lovely It's never too late though eh? Hence starting this thread.

OP posts:
Blu · 30/11/2005 18:10

If I could choose to do one thing from my childhood all over again, it would be to read the whole Swallows And Amazons series, and all those hours spent fantasising that I was Nancy and spending childhood holidays in the Lake district in complete imaginitive immersion.

binkie · 30/11/2005 17:16

dingdong, as a guess I think Diana Wynne Jones (who writes so well she the oppposite of disappoints if you discover her as an adult) would be ideal to start with. Here's a list of all her books .

Also, it's more of a teenage than child book, but if you haven't ever read Cold Comfort Farm (Stella Gibbons) you have such a treat in store. I think you would like it.

moondog · 30/11/2005 16:08

I'd never go and see a film of a book I'd liked.
It would ruin it for me.
Tried 'Five Children and It' with dd-it was like eating a burger as opposed to a Wagyu beef steak.

Gem754 · 30/11/2005 14:27

Nobodies mentioned Lorna Doone

Shame you find it hard to read books after seeing the films as the movies, by nessessity, leave so much out. HP s a great example of this, but so is everyother movie of a book I've seen.

fennel · 30/11/2005 14:21

have to disagree with Acnebride, Swallows and Amazons was great. got me keen on sailing at a young age.

am actually (and this is really rather embarrassing) a member of the swallows and amazons society. not sure why, my brother-in-law joined and he joined us all in a friendly gesture. they have a surprisingly interesting newsletter.

fennel · 30/11/2005 14:20

I liked Jennings too

was also a fan of Biggles in fact had a bit of a crush on him.

Original poster
dingdongmeggymooonhigh · 30/11/2005 14:18

Crikey Moses I have been so stunned at the wonderful suggestions here so many books I have never heard of. I have finally got round to writing that xmas list that dh has been pestering me for and it has perfume,lingerie,bookssssssssssssssssssss a mahoosive list of them!
Moondog Stog of the dump - made me laugh!
Aloha, stop making your ds sound just so adorable it's making me broody for another baby.
Binkie I've seen the films and I'm not very good at reading the books after, it may sound daft but it loses the appeal, a bit like if someone tells you the ending of a film IYSWIM. I don't read now, books that is but voraciously get through magazine after magazine and sunday supplements like they're going out of fashion and I want to change all that

OP posts:
moondog · 30/11/2005 11:21

Secret Diary of Adrian Mole and any of subsequents always crack me up (I have grown old with him-he's exactly my age!)

acnebride · 30/11/2005 10:26

can i just say that if you try Swallows and Amazons itself and struggle a bit, do give one of the others in the series a go - S&A the original book is IMO quite chewy and hard to take whereas Winter Holiday, Pigeon Post, Picts & Martyrs and We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea would have anyone salivating.

Watership Down.

TinyGang · 30/11/2005 10:24

Just William! I still read them now

binkie · 30/11/2005 10:19

Can I resist a book thread? Even though it makes me feel guilty?

dingdong, pretending for the moment that you haven't already been given as many brilliant suggestions as anyone could want, what sort of (grown up) books do you like best? (I'm intrigued by you saying HP doesn't appeal - is the school stuff, is it the fantasy, is it that it's not really top-drawer prose?)

Marina · 30/11/2005 10:15

Twiga, I ADORED Willard Price! Good old Roger and Hal. Did you also like the Paul Berna adventure stories translated from the French (A Hundred Million Francs etc).
I can't wait to read Jennings with ds again. Mumsnet rocks

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