Saturday 6 April 2013

Whisked away

I know I must have said it numerous times recently, but rather than just talking about wanting to read, I've actually been reading.

You see, I've never been a reader...... my mind tends to be a little.... wandering, and after reading half a page for the third time and still not remembering what it said, I'd given it up as a bad job.

Imagine my surprise when I picked up a book (admittedly a children's book) a couple of weeks ago and read so hungrily that when totally out of the blue I was given a book by a friend a couple of days later, it was the best present I never knew I wanted.

The Little White Horse, Elizabeth Goudge, was a book I last read in my teens probably, so magical and lovely that I was Maria in her tower room, with silver stars and crescent moons on the ceiling. Reading it again in my mid-thirties, I was there again, living in Moonacre.

The gifted book, I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith...that's what did it......hook, line and sinker....I am a reader after all....the fact that I guessed the outcome didn't worry me, I loved the easiness of it....the feeling of warmth.....wow, I could have carried on reading it for a good few chapters more.

This second book was finished in a few days, so when I did the normal weekly trip to the library with the boys, I went and asked the librarian for a recommendation. The first two books, having a period setting, had whisked me away, and I loved the feeling, so my criteria was rather easy, nothing stressful,
'what do you recommend?'

she said she liked things that where fluffy, and I had to say, for a novice, that sounded appealing to me too.


I started Jamaica Inn, Daphne de Maurier none the wiser, looking forward to 'fluffy' and a few pages in I'm reading 'gripping'.... this book was finished in a day....the hunger was setting in!


The last book (I finished just today), borrowed from a reading friend,  was a PG Wodehouse....it wasn't gripping, but a good funny read...... I have a couple more borrowed books, next on the list 'Swallows and Amazons' which I am really looking forward to, especially as I remember someone talking about it  without really knowing what they meant....another Elizabeth Goudge....and I am going to pop back to the library, as the librarian's first suggestion whet my appetite, to hear what else she has to say

So.....I like something that whisks me away....something that lets me dream happy dreams......gripping...not stressful...any suggestions? Now I only need to suss out reading and knitting/crocheting......... On the knitting front, I may have started a new blanket.......

8 comments:

  1. Sigh. Crochet and reading don't go together, I'm sad to say :-(

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  2. Faith, I just finished The Last Summer by Judith Kinghorn, it was gripping. I could not put it down, look it up.
    Meredith

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  3. I loved "I Capture the Castle", and every P.G. Wodehouse book I've ever read. Hmmm, now I'm trying to think of book recommendations. How about The Narnia Chronicles by C.S. Lewis? And I love the "Anne" books by L.M. Montgomery, also "Jane of Lantern Hill", "Magic for Marigold", "A Tangled Web", and "The Blue Castle". (We seem to be going with youth books here - but that's okay. A good book is a good book no matter the target audience.) Angela Thirkell is quietly hilarious ... not exactly a whisk-away author but her Barsetshire novels are funny and engaging and easy to read.

    Have a good week! :)

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  4. Oh, I love Capture the Castle as well, I read it as an adult and couldn't believe I'd missed it as a teenager. Thanks for the tip about The Little WHite House, I'm going to look out for it. I'll have a think about what else you might enjoy. X

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  5. I've always been an avid reader Faith, I love all sorts of books and one of my recent favourites was The Secret Life of Bees, set in the deep south in the USA. Divine!
    As for reading and crochet...ho hum let me know if you figure that one out :o) Enjoy the rest of the Easter hols xox Penny

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  6. You sure got your read on! How lovely. Reading can be so soothing and like time travel when immersed into it.

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  7. I haven't got any recommendations for you Faith but I think the other commenters have got you pretty sorted on that one. Might have to look up some of their recommendations myself.
    Reading is such a lovely past time, I'm happy you have finally discovered a passion for it. Maybe it just took you this long to find the right book....
    Happy reading.....

    Claire x

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  8. What a lovely posting. I've been a dyed in the wool reader since pre-school and have even been chosen as a 'giver' for this year's World Book Night which I'm delighted about.

    Recommendations can be great but I always feel really guilty if I hate someone else's dearly loved favourite book. My advice, for what it is worth, is to go to a library or a good bookshop, particularly if it has a nice cafe and just browse the shelves, reading snippets and letting the books draw you in. Never read anything that you feel you 'ought to' as none of us will ever live long enough to read everything we'd like to so if a book isn't doing it for you find another or come back to it later.

    I envy your newly fledged reader status and wish you well on your jouneys to the worlds contained within the pages of your next reads.

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I'd love to hear what you think, and I won't be asking you to jump through hoops (or fill in a captcha) to do it.............