Fresh from my bookshelf
I love books; absolutely adored them!!! I’ll take a good book over a great movie any day or the week, and over the years I’ve probably swashbuckled and thrilled and scared and laughed my way through thousands of wonderful titles.
The thing is, as well as being an avid buyer of books, I’m also an avid seller. Or at least I used to be. So if you look at my bulging bookshelves you wouldn’t get an accurate insight into the kind of books that have influenced my life. You’d just get a snapshot of the titles I’ve bought recently.
So, instead of showing you my bookcase, I’ve decided to show you five very special titles. These books, probably more than any other books by any other writers, have shaped the person I am and the writer I hope to become.
Some amazing writers haven’t made my five. Stephen King and Michael Crichton should be on the list.
IT by Stephen King is an incredible book and one I completely immersed myself in for a month when I was a student studying journalism in Halifax twenty years ago. Stephen King is an incredibly skilled writer and IT is a wonderful book about growing up and the power of childhood friendships. I loved it!!
The late Michael Crichton was a terrific author. His book Disclosure opened my eyes to the power and validity of a well written thriller and I devoured all of his books as soon as they were published. Sadly, Michael has gone now, but his legacy remains. What a writer.
So, I hear you ask, which wonder-writers have managed to nudge Stephen and Michael off my list? Well let’s get to it and see…
1. The Hobbit, J R R Tolkien
The Hobbit is the first book I remember reading; or at least the first book that really grabbed hold of me by the lapels, gave me a shake, and dragged me deep into its pages.
It’s a wonderful story, staffed by incredible characters – all set in fantasy world that is every bit as believable as the one we inhabit ourselves.
I adore Bilbo Baggins. For me, he is the most powerful and engaging character in children’s fiction, closely followed by Gandalf.
I was so inspired by the story that I quickly bought Lord of the Rings. I was eleven at the time and LOTR proved to be a bit of a challenge for me to finish; it took me twenty years to finally escort Frodo through Mordor. Worth the wait though!!!
2. Sharpe’s Waterloo. Bernard Cornwell
I love the writing of Bernard Conwell. He’s probably my favourite writer. His Sharpe books are written with pace and incredible authenticity, but with such lightness too that they are a real joy to read.
His Bowman and Viking series’ are incredible, and Bernard is one of the few authors whose books I will rush out to buy in hardback as soon as they’re available.
I was never one for history at school but Bernard Cornwell’s books have ignited a real passion for British history that one day I will pursue with vigour. I aspire to be half the writer Bernard is; if I achieve that lofty height I might be quite good.
3. The Firm, John Grisham
John Grisham changed my life. Or rather, his book The Firm changed my life.
It was a book that I picked up off the shelf at WH Smith’s simply because I liked the cover. The image you see here isn’t the book I originally bought; I sold that to raise a bob or two when I was once skint. But the words inside are exactly the same, I guess, and it was those words which fired my ambition.
The Firm is a very powerful story. It’s a thriller, but it’s also quite frightening because it takes an everyday boring subject and spins it with such menace.
John Grisham showed me the power of story telling. He proved forever that story telling is such an art form that a skilled practitioner can take any subject and weave a thread of magic through it and hypnotise the reader.
The Firm and its writer reminded me why I wanted to be a author; to entertain, beguile, bewitch and captivate. I wish I’d written The Firm.
4. The other side of the dale, Gervaise Phinn
If John Grisham changed my life, Gervaise Phinn saved it. Well, sort of.
I was in a job I really hated, surrounded by people I simply didn’t like, wondering how I’d got there and how the heck I was going to get out. I was really, really depressed and looking for somewhere to escape to when I spotted this book on the shelf at Waterstone’s.
The cover captivated me. I loved its simple illustration and the blurb on the back cover hinted at a simple, uncomplicated life that I craved.
Falling into its pages each lunch time was exactly what I needed, and an effective antidote to the mind-bending bustle of city life that was driving me insane. This book, and the others in the ‘Dales’ series kept me sane and gave me hope.
Gervaise is a very skilled writer and his simple tales are told with such charm and warmth that I often dip into them whenever I feel low. Who knows what I might have done if hadn’t found his books: maybe I’d have run off and joined a circus?
5. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer.
I have so much to thank Eoin for. He’s my literary hero. There, I’ve admitted it.
More than anyone, Eoin showed me that writing for children could be fun and enthralling. He proved that you don’t have to dumb your books down to appeal to children. In fact, Eoin’s work proved that children’s books can be just as clever, just as dark and just as thrilling as the very best books written for grown ups.
Eoin is why I chose to target the world of children’s fiction.
The Artemis Fowl story simply took my breath away. It hooked me from page one in a very similar way to The Firm. It then continued to dace me from page to page with a story and a voice that read like music in my mind.
Eoin is such a gifted writer. His work rivals anything I have ever read that has been written for the ‘grown up’ reader. And his books are filled with such imagination, verve and creative wonder that I take my hat off to a true literary genius. Harry Potter has nothing on Artemis Fowl.
2 comments:
Interesting book choices. I haven't read Colfer or Phinn, but I have read the others.
I'm with you on a good book over TV any day, lol!
I totally agree with your assessment; you don't have to *dumb* down books written for youth. We sometimes forget how smart kids are as we get older. Write a good story, create a real and interesting world peopled with equally interesting characters and you'll grab them.
I enjoy reading some YA stories even now. One reason? No slams here, but authors today rely on sex and sizzle too much. Now I like sex and sizzle as much as any other, but when you intend to use that the set up is different. YA, especially in paranormal and fantasy, the EMPHASIS is on the characters, their world, and their adventures. Sometimes they're much richer stories because of that.
Regardless of age, we all want to be entertained with a good story.
I agree that being told a story is paramount and that good YA has a lot to offer to adults.
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