Jun-03-2010, 03:44 AM (UTC)
(This post was last modified: Jun-03-2010, 10:59 AM (UTC) by Farseer.)
It's been interesting to see how we have each approached this task 
! I have done it up to fifteen before, years ago, and could have added so many more back then, which is why I thought I'd push it up to twenty for us. Here's my list - in good faith I have copied and pasted the first fifteen titles from the very first list I ever made, and then just added the first five I could think of this time around, though I can STILL think of heaps more!
1. To Sir with Love by ER Braithwaite
An all-time classic...enough said!
2. The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith by Thomas Keneally
I read it when I was twelve and it has stuck with me...the story is based on an actual event in the life of Indigenous Australian bushranger, Jimmy Governor.
3. I Can Jump Puddles by Alan Marshall
I read this as a child but it also later became significantly important to me and my eldest son on a very personal level, after he ended up not being able to stand or walk for many years without the aid of crutches or a wheelchair. An Aussie classic.
4. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
Much of it possibly stems from years of sharing good times watching the Commonwealth Games with my boxing-mad dad but I loved this book on all levels and also its sequel ‘Tandia’ (which resolved everything after the ending of the ‘The Power of One’ which kept me hanging for years!). The whole story (both books) has a sad and bittersweet ending...the sort of finish that I am kind of expecting for the RotE books.
5. Pygmalian by George Bernard Shaw
Actually a play, I’m pretty sure that this was the inspiration for the movies ‘My Fair Lady’, ‘Pretty Woman’ and ‘She’s all That’ (none of which I particularly like!). I read it as a teenager and just loved the whole concept of being able to change so much of yourself but still have the ability to stay true to you.
6. Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park
I loved this book as a child and have re-read it to my own kids. I’m guessing it’s the whole ‘historical’ aspect that captured me...not to mention that the playground scenes in the beginning of the story totally freaked me out and thus gave me nightmares! I never saw the movie but spent time with Mouche Phillips (who played Beatie Bow) at a horse camp in the Kooralbyn Valley when I was in high school (a tiny bit of name dropping
!).
7. 1915 by Roger McDonald
Along with ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’, this is the book I spent my childhood reading over, and over, and over. I would take it out of the school library, return it, and then immediately take it out again! Based on the events of World War I, it follows the lives of some legendary ANZACs. It inspired an award-winning mini-series which I also loved and need to get a copy of!
8. Dances with Wolves by Michael Blake
Though it was originally written as a spec script, the novel is so much better than the movie! Though he doesn’t appear as an author on this list, I have long loved to read anything with a ‘western’ theme thanks to western writer, Louis L’Amour. I also have a very deep and life-long interest in Native Americans. This book, read when I was about nineteen, allowed me to wallow in both loves (not to mention wolves!). I am yet to read its sequel ‘The Holy Road’.
9. The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy
Despite being a thin book with very easy-to-read text, it took me more than a month to flog through because it was one of the most depressing books I’ve ever read it. I can’t pinpoint exactly why it had such an effect on me but it was like wrapping myself in a blanket of doom each time I picked it up...it just really got to me!
10. These Is My Words by Nancy E Turner
I love pioneering stories (my country background?) and stories with strong female characters. This book was the first of a series of three truly special books and, after reading them all, I know that Sarah Agnes Prine will stay with me forever. Until Robin Hobb, I had it as my favourite series of all time – that’s a big call that I know many will not agree with ...there is nothing ‘fantasy’ about it!
11. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M Pursig
Not all books on my list are ‘favourites’, this being a particularly good example...this one makes an appearance on the thread The worst book you have read !
12. A Solitary Blue by Cynthia Voigt
This was a book that one of my sons had to read during early high school. I was staying in a motel room and was desperate to read something. It was a simple read so I read it in the one sitting but cried, and cried, and cried right through it...it proved to be a rather beneficial cleansing with regard to some of my long-standing abandonment issues! Healing can come from some strange places!
13. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
The book that finally got my husband really into novels (as opposed to mostly biographical-type reads) and he hasn’t looked back since. It was the first of a series of youth books based on the main character, Brian, and it was the first series our entire family read and then discussed animatedly around the kitchen table.
14. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Special memories of reading this to my two sons who couldn’t wait for bedtime every night so we could snuggle up to read more of Anne’s adventures. They were about seven or eight at the time and are not the least bit embarrassed to admit it was one of their favourite books, even though they are now young men.
15. Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
The first book of Robin’s I read, and the first book that made me fall in love with her story-telling...
16. The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan
The first book in the Ranger’s Apprentice series...another brilliant series enjoyed by all in our family. The simple relationships between the characters are hilarious and refreshing...a book series for youths but I LOVE it!
17. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S.Lewis
Along with ‘1915’, this is the book I spent my childhood reading over, and over, and over. Nobody else in the school could get it out of the library because I always had it! It’s also memorable as it was the very first book I read from the ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ series – loved it!!
18. Once by Morris Gleitzman
Through a lot of personal study on religion and philosophy etc, I have read a great deal about the Holocaust over the years and this was an interesting read from a child’s point of view. Another terrific sharing project with my kids!
19. A Rose for the ANZAC Boys by Jackie French
I have sobbed through the last two years’ worth of Dawn Service and ANZAC Day ceremonies I have attended since reading this book, and blubbered my whole way through the book itself. My husband and one of my sons read it and couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about, and I can’t for the life of me explain!! * eyes filling up just thinking about that wilted rose *
20. A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
Ah, my most cherished of all books...which I still have, though it is now without its hard cover. It forever put me on the road to a life of poetry, literature and language!
As you can see, most of mine are simple titles from my childhood, or those I have shared with my family...nothing too note-worthy, and not in order of 'importance' by any means. I may have to come back and do another twenty
!
! I have done it up to fifteen before, years ago, and could have added so many more back then, which is why I thought I'd push it up to twenty for us. Here's my list - in good faith I have copied and pasted the first fifteen titles from the very first list I ever made, and then just added the first five I could think of this time around, though I can STILL think of heaps more!1. To Sir with Love by ER Braithwaite
An all-time classic...enough said!
2. The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith by Thomas Keneally
I read it when I was twelve and it has stuck with me...the story is based on an actual event in the life of Indigenous Australian bushranger, Jimmy Governor.
3. I Can Jump Puddles by Alan Marshall
I read this as a child but it also later became significantly important to me and my eldest son on a very personal level, after he ended up not being able to stand or walk for many years without the aid of crutches or a wheelchair. An Aussie classic.
4. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
Much of it possibly stems from years of sharing good times watching the Commonwealth Games with my boxing-mad dad but I loved this book on all levels and also its sequel ‘Tandia’ (which resolved everything after the ending of the ‘The Power of One’ which kept me hanging for years!). The whole story (both books) has a sad and bittersweet ending...the sort of finish that I am kind of expecting for the RotE books.
5. Pygmalian by George Bernard Shaw
Actually a play, I’m pretty sure that this was the inspiration for the movies ‘My Fair Lady’, ‘Pretty Woman’ and ‘She’s all That’ (none of which I particularly like!). I read it as a teenager and just loved the whole concept of being able to change so much of yourself but still have the ability to stay true to you.
6. Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park
I loved this book as a child and have re-read it to my own kids. I’m guessing it’s the whole ‘historical’ aspect that captured me...not to mention that the playground scenes in the beginning of the story totally freaked me out and thus gave me nightmares! I never saw the movie but spent time with Mouche Phillips (who played Beatie Bow) at a horse camp in the Kooralbyn Valley when I was in high school (a tiny bit of name dropping
!).7. 1915 by Roger McDonald
Along with ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’, this is the book I spent my childhood reading over, and over, and over. I would take it out of the school library, return it, and then immediately take it out again! Based on the events of World War I, it follows the lives of some legendary ANZACs. It inspired an award-winning mini-series which I also loved and need to get a copy of!
8. Dances with Wolves by Michael Blake
Though it was originally written as a spec script, the novel is so much better than the movie! Though he doesn’t appear as an author on this list, I have long loved to read anything with a ‘western’ theme thanks to western writer, Louis L’Amour. I also have a very deep and life-long interest in Native Americans. This book, read when I was about nineteen, allowed me to wallow in both loves (not to mention wolves!). I am yet to read its sequel ‘The Holy Road’.
9. The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy
Despite being a thin book with very easy-to-read text, it took me more than a month to flog through because it was one of the most depressing books I’ve ever read it. I can’t pinpoint exactly why it had such an effect on me but it was like wrapping myself in a blanket of doom each time I picked it up...it just really got to me!
10. These Is My Words by Nancy E Turner
I love pioneering stories (my country background?) and stories with strong female characters. This book was the first of a series of three truly special books and, after reading them all, I know that Sarah Agnes Prine will stay with me forever. Until Robin Hobb, I had it as my favourite series of all time – that’s a big call that I know many will not agree with
...there is nothing ‘fantasy’ about it!11. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M Pursig
Not all books on my list are ‘favourites’, this being a particularly good example...this one makes an appearance on the thread The worst book you have read !
12. A Solitary Blue by Cynthia Voigt
This was a book that one of my sons had to read during early high school. I was staying in a motel room and was desperate to read something. It was a simple read so I read it in the one sitting but cried, and cried, and cried right through it...it proved to be a rather beneficial cleansing with regard to some of my long-standing abandonment issues! Healing can come from some strange places!
13. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
The book that finally got my husband really into novels (as opposed to mostly biographical-type reads) and he hasn’t looked back since. It was the first of a series of youth books based on the main character, Brian, and it was the first series our entire family read and then discussed animatedly around the kitchen table.
14. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Special memories of reading this to my two sons who couldn’t wait for bedtime every night so we could snuggle up to read more of Anne’s adventures. They were about seven or eight at the time and are not the least bit embarrassed to admit it was one of their favourite books, even though they are now young men.
15. Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
The first book of Robin’s I read, and the first book that made me fall in love with her story-telling...
16. The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan
The first book in the Ranger’s Apprentice series...another brilliant series enjoyed by all in our family. The simple relationships between the characters are hilarious and refreshing...a book series for youths but I LOVE it!
17. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S.Lewis
Along with ‘1915’, this is the book I spent my childhood reading over, and over, and over. Nobody else in the school could get it out of the library because I always had it! It’s also memorable as it was the very first book I read from the ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ series – loved it!!
18. Once by Morris Gleitzman
Through a lot of personal study on religion and philosophy etc, I have read a great deal about the Holocaust over the years and this was an interesting read from a child’s point of view. Another terrific sharing project with my kids!
19. A Rose for the ANZAC Boys by Jackie French
I have sobbed through the last two years’ worth of Dawn Service and ANZAC Day ceremonies I have attended since reading this book, and blubbered my whole way through the book itself. My husband and one of my sons read it and couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about, and I can’t for the life of me explain!! * eyes filling up just thinking about that wilted rose *
20. A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
Ah, my most cherished of all books...which I still have, though it is now without its hard cover. It forever put me on the road to a life of poetry, literature and language!
As you can see, most of mine are simple titles from my childhood, or those I have shared with my family...nothing too note-worthy, and not in order of 'importance' by any means. I may have to come back and do another twenty
!
"I am the Catalyst, and I came to change all things. Prophets become warriors, dragons hunt as wolves."
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