Fifteen in fifteen

As seen at Reeling and Writhing, here is my list of fifteen books that stick with me, that I could think of in fifteen minutes:

Mr Pinkwhistle interferes by Enid Blyton¹
I capture the castle by Dodie Smith²
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell³
Old Yeller by Fred Gipson⁴
The adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle⁵
The Chinese maze murders by Robert van Gulik⁶
Farm boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder⁷
To kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee⁸
Women of Deh Koh by Erica Friedl⁹
The bone people by Keri Hulme¹⁰
The vivisector by Patrick White¹¹
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson¹²
Lost in translation by Eva Hoffman¹³
The player of games by Iain M Banks¹⁴
The left hand of darkness by Ursula Le Guin¹⁵

This was a great exercise; it made me realise how much reading, and books, have been a part of my life, ever since I learned to read. This is definitely not a “high-brow” list! It’s funny how about half this list is of childhood favourites – I thought of the first eight titles with minimal effort, and they are all books I read as a child. Makes me want to re-read them all (okay, maybe not Mr Pinkwhistle)!

¹This is the first book I ever chose for myself. As a reward for coming first in class, my mother took me to one of the biggest bookshops in town and told me I could choose one book. I still remember how excruciatingly difficult it was. I ended up choosing this one because I couldn’t really choose! NB: I was eight years old, and this was the first and only time I have ever come first in any class.
²Simple: read this as a teenager and loved it.
³,⁴Animal stories: full of facts, fun, sadness, all you can ask for in a book really.
⁵Sherlock Holmes is still a firm favourite that I re-read from time to time.
⁶The first time I read this book was when I raided my granddad’s collection. I remember he also had a few Pan paperback editions of James Bond and Agatha Christie novels. I liked looking at the garish covers but never wanted to read the James Bond or Agatha Christie books; when I finally got into The Chinese maze murders I loved it!
⁷The descriptions of the food Almanzo Wilder ate used to amaze me as a child growing up in tropical Malaysia.
⁸I first attempted this book aged 13 and didn’t understand much of it then. I couldn’t picture small town Alabama, and the race relations described in the book seemed completely brutal and bizarre to me.
⁹I love reading ethnographic descriptions of different societies and communities. I especially love the fact that the stories in this book are from the women’s point of view.
¹⁰Vivid descriptions of Aotearoa/New Zealand.
¹¹Dense and detailed, and the character of Hurtle Duffield is so memorable. I have yet to read more Patrick White, though.
¹²I love the fact that this novel is just a series of reflections by its main character, looking over his life.
¹³Eva’s experiences and difficulties when her family migrates from Poland to Canada. I remember reading this and completely identifying with, and understanding what she went though, and feeling so relieved that some of my experiences were being described so clearly.
¹⁴,¹⁵Two of my favourite science fiction books.