Which book will I choose to read next?
My idea of hell has two parts. One is to be somewhere without a pen and paper. It seldom happens, but I still have nightmares about how I’ll capture that phrase, that idea. The other is to be somewhere, even at home, with no book to read. Â My bedside table always includes a tower of books. I’m not sure it’s ever been empty. There are old books that I always wanted to read, books I want to reread and then new books.
Childhood Books
At dinner at a friend’s home, conversation flowed from one subject to another, and often back again. We discussed the changing position of Cerberus, a ship in the bay (which was put there as a breakwater ), the various merits of boarding schools, early Melbourne township, town planning consultants, schools vs education and myriad other things. We also discussed favourite childhood books. Not strange conversation for me, but less usual for others of our company.
There were discussions about how rereading of a favourite childhood book had shown just much books for children have changed. (The consensus was that quality is generally much better now). We also talked about titles that went in and out of favour (Little Black Sambo, Noddy and Big Ears). I hadn’t known that the song ‘Alexander Beetle’, sung by Melanie, was actually commissioned to bring one of A A Milne’s poems to music. A 20 year old male talked about ‘The Magic Faraway Tree’ as a favourite. We talked about overt moral lessons in books and whether that was a good thing. Views on that ranged widely.
I’ve recently sorted through my children’s bookshelves. Some books went to the op shop, some into my bookshelves. Each of my children had different favourites, even though they don’t remember all of them. I wonder if the ones I kept are the ones they remember, or the ones that I remember they liked, or the ones I liked. Which of these books would my sons recommend now?
I came home determined to reread novels of my childhood and see how they stand the test of time.
Some of my Childhood Books
January is one of my favourite times to read. I manage to finally make it to the bottom of the pile of books by my bed and the pile by my computer. One Janiuary I decided it was time to catch up on a couple of childhood favourite books I wanted to reread. I moved around a lot as a child, including moving to PNG when I was 10. There wasn’t room to take all my toys and books and many of them disappeared but having grown out of many of them, I hardly noticed. But many years later, as an adult I discovered that my books hadn’t actually been ‘disappeared’ but given to my cousin whose three daughters had read them. Her girls were done with them, so some of my favourites came home again. There were Russian Folk Tales, Tales from Eastern Lands, a bumper collection of fairy tales and a few novels. One of the books that didn’t come back was Johanna Spyri’s ‘Heidi’ although one of the sequels did.
So yesterday I went to the library and borrowed ‘Heidi’ and ‘Pippi Longstocking’ (the latter I’d never read, or didn’t recall). ‘Heidi’ I enjoyed as much as I did as a child. I was amazed to discover that it was written in 1880 (!!) and translated from the original German a few years later. ‘Pippi Longstocking’ I enjoyed too for all the humour and offbeat happenings.
Do I finish every book?
I used to finish every book I started, even if it was a struggle. Not any more. There are just too many books to read. Although there are exceptions. I did persevere with ‘Life of Pi’ by Yann Martel, although finding the beginning chapters very dense and less than riveting. They were interesting, but I really couldn’t work out where they were heading. I’m glad I did keep going though. The ending stayed with me for a long time.
A Range of Books
Now I’m back to broader, more recent books. I’ve got ‘Requiem for a Beast’ and ‘Flavours of Melbourne’. The former caused controversy after recognition in the 2008 CBCA Awards, and the latter is a food history of Melbourne. I’m looking forward to reading about what was eaten in the 1850s Melbourne.
From Libraries and Bookshops
I love the library. I read too much to be able to support my habit without these wonderful places. I do buy books too, particularly Australian children’s books. I’m a big fan of fiction mostly, although I’m growing to enjoy non fiction more and more. Non fiction is seldom bedtime reading for me though.
I like Titles
What makes someone pick up a new book in a bookshop? Why that one? Is it the colour of the cover or the size or where it’s sitting on the shelf? Is it the title?
I like titles. I’ve reviewed ‘What Willow Knew’ by June Colbert. For me, that’s a title! It immediately had me wondering what it was that Willow knew, and why it mattered.
I wonder when in the book-creation process this title came – whether it was the title that generated the story or whether the title was a afterwards thing. Was it agonising to find this fitting title or a natural thing that birthed easily? Willow is not the main character in this mystery, but she colours all that happens. I enjoyed the story, finding it difficult to put down.
For me when I write , sometimes the title come first, sometimes in the middle of writing and sometimes not until after the story is well-finished. If they work as well as this one does, then that’s a fine thing.
I love that I can call reading work. Whether it’s keeping up with what’s being published, reading to review or for research, reading is a wonderful thing.
