Showing posts with label Malorie Blackman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Malorie Blackman. Show all posts

Wednesday, 2 July 2014

Childhood favourites


The books that I read as a child seem to have been the books that stuck with me through my teen years and into adulthood. They are always my go to books when I am feeling down and they are always the books I recommend to others regardless of age- I actually think that kids and young adult books deal with very serious issues in a more sensitive and understandable way. Anyway, I am about to go into my third and final year at university, which means *drum-roll please* DISSERTATION. I can't quite believe how quickly it has all come around. So a couple of months ago I made the decision to do my dissertation on the influence of classical mythology on modern childrens literature- i'm thinking Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson etc. But it also got me thinking about the books that really made up my childhood, so here goes.
Elsewhere Gabrielle Zevin
Right, so I bang on about this book a bit too much, but I genuinely love it. If you want to see what I have to say about it you can see here and here. To sum it up, as someone who rarely reads books twice, I have read this over and over again which I feel shows just how much I enjoyed it! Elsewhere is an interesting take on an afterlife where the main character Liz finds herself journeying over to this afterlife named Elsewhere and we as the reader get to see how she copes with coming to terms with the end of her life and the afterlife she is now faced with.

Star Girl Jerry Spinelli
This is pretty much a book about non-conformity, as an almost teen when I read it, I felt like I could relate to it on a personal level. We all go through that stage where we feel the pressure to conform, I used to wear wacky clothes- bright colours, clashing prints etc and the only thing that got me through those awkward years was the fact that I didn't care what people thought. Star Girl is a beautiful character and she is a part of a beautiful story.

Chinese Cinderella Adeline Yen Mah
Around the age of ten I went through a bit of an oriental phase, the Chinese Cinderella books really opened the world to me and they encouraged me to expand my knowledge and go on and read the likes of Wild Swans by Jung Chang. Chinese Cinderella is an autobiographical account of Adeline's childhood, she covers what it was like to feel unwanted and her fight to prove herself. It is moving and touching and definitely worth a read. 

Journey to the River Sea Eva Ibbotson
This is another book that I have read over and over again, it shows the exotic Amazon through the eyes of a girl, Maia, who has never seen anything quite like it. Her excitement is contagious and I remember reading it in awe as the most exotic place I had ever been to was Scotland. It is beautifully written and I would recommend any Eva Ibbotson book.

Harry Potter JK Rowling
I'm pretty sure that it is impossible to write a childhood favourites list without including Harry Potter, they pretty much dominated my childhood. I remember the excitement of them being released and how my dad and I would race to see who could finish it first. I miss having the sort of excitement that is on par with christmas eve and I have never found a book that has got me quite so excited. 

The Lottie Project Jacqueline Wilson
When I was in brownies I did a collectors badge, whilst everyone else brought in beanie babies or other soft toys, I lugged in my ever growing collection of Jacqueline Wilson books. I was addicted, in fact my mum eventually had to intervene because when I was supposed to be moving on to more young adult/adult books, I was still tearing my way through Jacqueline Wilson. Whilst most of my childhood books have been passed on to cousins, the Jacquiline Wilson books have stayed with me. I particularly loved The Lottie Project as I went through a stage where every book I read had to be set in the Victorian times. Favourites also include Double Act, the Illustrated Mum and Lola Rose. Wilson deals with very serious and upsetting issues in such a way that makes it easy for children to understand.

A Series of Unfortunate Events Lemony Snicket
My dad used to bring these back from America for me before they were released in the UK. They follow the unpredictable adventures of three orphans and their attempts to escape Count Olaf. The first three are amazing, after that I found they became a bit unpredictable but I loved The Ersatz Elevator and The Austere Academy too. 

Daisy Chain...Joan O'Neill
My favourite Joan O'Neill book is actually Daisy Chain War but my room is currently a mess of towering piles of books and for the life of me I couldn't find it. This was a favourite during my WW2 phase.

Back Home/ A Little Love Song Michelle Magorian
Michelle Magorian really fuelled my love for WW2 fiction, my favourites were actually Back Home and A Little Love Song, but I think they have been swallowed up by my room.

Noughts and Crosses Malorie Blackman
I find it really hard to put into words how I feel about this book, if offers a view into a world where racism is at the forefront, in a Romeo and Juliet style, cross Sephy falls in love with nought Callum. Dear me did I cry at the end of this, it will leave you feeling numb. There are three other books that follow in the series as well as a short story so if you love it then the story continues.

Let me know what your favourite books were when you were younger!

Eilidh 

Saturday, 26 April 2014

Books that have shaped my life

I wouldn't say that these books have changed my life, but they have most certainly shaped it, together they have made me the person I am today and they are books that I will never forget.

The Secret History: Donna Tartt x
I finally read this last summer after years of being told that it was right up my street! The story focuses on a group of Classics students who immerse themselves in the subject a bit too much. It is a bit of a murder mystery, but not in the conventional sense. The way it is written is amazing and Tartt somehow manages to lull you into believing that what this group of Classics students is doing is actually perfectly okay. 

One Day: David Nicholls x
So this was a very hyped book due to its incredible success and then the film that followed. It is a love story but not in a really soppy way, I read it before the film came out so I fell in love with it before the film (and Anne Hathaway's sketchy accent) could influence me. In regard to the film, I actually really liked it, although I would say that the book is definitely better! This book had me laughing and crying in equal measures and to me that is a sign of a good book. 

Wild Swans: Jung Chang x
Wow well this book is really thought provoking and inspiring. I read it when I was 10, probably long before I should have read it, but I was going through an Oriental phase, I had just read the Chinese Cinderella books and I found this lying around my Grandmas house. It is biographical and follows the lives of women from three generations of a family, it covers concubines and communism and it will most certainly get you thinking! 

Elsewhere: Gabrielle Zevin x 
If you follow my blog you will have seen this pop up in a previous post which you can find here, I won't go into too much detail, but it gives a really interesting spin on afterlife. Also, although it is aimed at teens, it is a book that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to adults.

A Thousand Splendid Suns: Khaled Hosseini x
I was torn between putting this one or Hosseini's latest offering, And the Mountains Echoed which I would actually go as far as saying I preferred. Both are amazing books that cover really topical issues such as the treatment of women in Afghanistan. His books are upsetting and thought provoking, they will make you cry but they will also make you think. The reason I chose A Thousand Splendid Suns is because I read it when I was 14/15 and it had stuck in my mind ever since, it is the sort of book that never leaves you. 

Noughts & Crosses: Malorie Blackman x
Again, this is a book that I read quite a while ago, maybe when I was 12 or 13 and it is the sort of book that never leaves you. It deals with racism, violence and romance among many other issues, but it does it in a book that can be read by teenagers. 

I would love to know if you have read any of these books or if there is a book that you believe has shaped your life! 

Love
Eilidh 
X