Repeat readers- what's the book you have been reading for longest, and do you still have the original?

[SwedeDreams]

Prompted by opening up again my copy of 'A wizard of earthsea', in hardback which I stole from the school library in 1985, aged 13. Sorry school. I loved (and still do love) this book.

It's battered and torn but the cover is splendid. Anyone else have a book they have had for ages?

Got it! It's no tumbler, and called casteelkidsstolemygroceries, it's a great recap of Virginia Andrews work here

Pride and Prejudice an edition from the BBC version in 1979 when I was 17. Fell in love with it. Read over and over, it's now falling to pieces but hardly matters as I can quote pretty well all of it......Other than that 'Rebecca' read for the first time about 2 years earlier, not so re-readable.
I still have Paddington abroad (from about 1968) read to me by my father and older sister when I was six and they kept laughing before they could get the words out. I read to both my sons and same thing happened.

Diary of a provincial lady. ..my school library sold it off as old stock so I've had it about 40 years. And a Just William book

My favourite book of all time is 'Shadow of the Moon' by MM Kaye. First published in 1957, I dicovered a hardback copy on my school library shelves. It was dark blue with the title in gold lettering and looked like a dusty old classic from an English literature class. I was spellbound. I read it three times. I managed to get hold of a 1984 edition in a second hand bookshop and since then it has held pride of place on my bookshelf. Quoting from the blurb on the back cover: India, that vast glittering cruel mysterious. And su baked continent burst into flaming hate reds and bitter bloodshed during the dark days of the mutiny ....... Read it!

My very first book was Ferdinand the Bull back in 1952, and I still have that book. It had the most brilliant illustrations, and intriguing words like matador!

Maeve Binchy's light a penny candle . I've read it countless times . Could be time for another go

Just read BFG to my DD aged 6, had to re-Sellotape all the pages into the book as the last Sellotape had lost its stick and gone yellow from when I read it 25 years ago. Lets hope this copy last another 25 years though! I holding Anne of GG for next year and a book called Eva about a girl who wakes up in a chimps body (probably for reading in a couple if years).

Pawprints, Lens Dunham (Girls ) has tattoos of Ferdinand the bull book illustrations

Two Pence to cross the Mersey! Ive been reading it (and other two of the trilogy Liverpool Miss and By the waters of Liverpool) since I was a young teenager. I LOVE the copies I have, they belonged to my Grandmother and they have her name in the front

I still remember certain lines from Jill's Pony Club though it's maybe two decades since I last read it.

As a child the only two I remember owning were "Jill and the Perfect Pony" and "Rosettes For Jill", others I borrowed from friends.

When DD was old enough I introduced her to Jill and we tracked down the whole lot second hand on Amazon and bot enjoyed them thoroughly.

As for remembering certain lines - if we are out for a walk on a cold day and considering cutting it short I am still apt to say "Yes, let's cut for the crumpets" (Jill and the PP) which DD understands, DH now recognises but probably bewilders anyone else.

Confining myself to the old ones it would have to be 'Shadow the Sheepdog' by Enid Blyton which is surprisingly obscure and the Dr Syn books by Russell Thorndike which I discovered whilst on a school trip to St Mary's Bay. My own children have loved them too - we now live on a farm and have a sheep dog and we took them to Dymchurch when they were younger for a Dr Syn Weekend complete with costumes!

The Belgariad by David Eddings is my longest running, continuously owned series (just over 30 years). I'm on a second set of books as I wore the first set out.

I've been finding books I remember from my childhood to read to the DDs, last week I bought '99 Dragons' and have read it to DD1 (6).

Little Woman.

Its my comfort read.