Books through the ages..
Books wot I have read : When I was young, anything Moomins by Tove Jansen. Also the Orlando series by Kathleen Hale. Bizarre but great. I have wonderful memories of my grandpa taking me to the local library on a Saturday to pick up one of these and then on to the Co-op caff for a hot chocolate.

A bit older it was Narnia by CS Lewis. Then on to Tolkien (naturally). Teens were mostly Agatha Christie & then I discovered Margery Allingham - great detective novels I think a step up from AC. I also discovered Robert Heinlein who bizarrely enough helped shape my philosophy of the world. Stephen King's The Stand gets a thumbs up for me.

One book that really made me fall in love was Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin. It's an amazing story of (cue Frankie Goes to Hollywood) the power of love. Sounds trite, but it's amazing. It's beautifully written and made me lose my breath (but obv not enough to kill me). I've re-read it a zillion and one times, and it never gets old.

I've got a zillion other authors that I love, but the above are my faves. Oh, and I hate Dan Brown - well done for chucking it out of that train window.
( parttimebabe is almost there..., Thu 5 Jan 2012, 17:27, 5 replies)

I love Winter's Tale. Thanks for reminding me, I need to dig it out again!
(Paperdove, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 0:15, closed)

yay Moomintroll!
(wino.NZ The Ayatollah of rock n' rolla..., Fri 6 Jan 2012, 9:38, closed)

Yeah! Forgot about Helprin
Winter's Tale was excellent, and the first of his I'd read, but my favorite is still Refiner's Fire.
( Squilliam but . . . . *I'm* the one with all the talent!, Sat 7 Jan 2012, 2:48, closed)

Oddly enough I just couldn't get in to Refiner's Fire. I've still got it & will try it again one day
( parttimebabe is almost there..., Tue 10 Jan 2012, 17:51, closed)

I like Heinlein
But his female characters irritate me. Every single one is a stunning, sex mad combat master and a bit lez. Great when you're 14 and horny, but a bit grating if you've a long train journey and several of his books for company. Even the grandma in Space family Stone turns out to be an incarnation of a death dealing, beautiful...etc in The Cat who walked through walls.
( Greenbat, Wed 11 Jan 2012, 0:15, closed)