Books give you wings. They trap you, yet set you free at the same time. They provide a haven, a refuge, a retreat. They are comforting, yet often unsettling. They give us empathy and insight, knowledge and understanding. They are brutally intimate, yet we are completely alone while we read. We discover authors who speak the same language as our hearts, and lift our souls because they have crafted words so cleverly. To not read is to not breathe or live properly. I can think of few things sadder than not having the amazing super-power of being able to read, or having the power but not using it. These are some of the books I most love.
The Count of Monte Christo by Alexander Dumas This is at the top of my list of favourite novels. It’s a long read and slow in parts, but the tale of adventure is gripping. It is about love, jealousy, betrayal, endurance, revenge and hope. Monte Christo was first published in 1844 in serial form and was extremely popular at the time of publication. My father was an avid reader and this was one of his favourites, which I read on his recommendation. His 2 volume copy was dog-eared and tattered from his, mine and other family members' reading and re-reading of it, so one year I had it rebound in leather as a surprise. Now that my dad is gone, it lives on my bookshelf when my family members aren't reading it. |
Wilfred Gordon Partridge McDonald Written by Mem Fox and Illustrated by Julie Vivas This is the most beautifully written and illustrated picture book I know. I have read it many times to early year level classes and to my own children and, to this day, I have never been able to read it all the way through without choking up and shedding a tear. Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge lives next door to a nursing home. When he finds out that his special friend, Nancy Alison Delacourt Cooper is losing her memory he sets out to find what a memory is. The words are crafted with warmth, wit and dignity, and the dreamy watercolour illustrations complement the heart-warming tale. |
The Music of Dolphins by Karen Hesse I discovered this beautiful book while teaching in the Caribbean. Although a work of fiction, it is based on real life experiences of people who have worked with feral children. It is a children's book that follows the story of Mila, a feral child raised by a pod of dolphins around the Florida Keys and Caribbean. The novel cleverly uses a narrative structure that parallels Mila's increasing comprehension of the English language. At the novel's opening, when Mila is with the dolphins and cannot speak English, the story is told from a neutral third person perspective, but from Mila's point of view. The text moves to simple English as Mila learns the language, becomes more complex as her emotions increase, reverts to simple English when she yearns for the dolphins and, finally, goes back to third person. This was the magic of the book and the Year 2 class I read it to fell in love with it, as I did. |
Just After Sunset (short stories) by Stephen King
Not being particularly fond of horror stories, I had never been a fan of Stephen King until I came across this wonderful collection of short stories. I had just assumed horror and beautifully crafted words did not go together, so I was surprised at how skilfully he writes, how cleverly he captures the ordinariness of some act or some thing in the turn of a phrase. The 13 darkly delicious tales that explore death and loss in the deep, dark corners of one's mind are compelling and beautifully written. King hooked me with these stories. |
Eleni by Nicholas Gage. This emotionally charged book is the true story of the author's mother and her murder by communists in Greece in 1948. It threads together the historical, cultural and deeply personal story of Eleni Gatzoyiannis who, during the Greek civil war of the late 1940s, was captured, tortured and executed in the village of Lia for attempting to save her children from the grips of communist guerrillas. Goodreads sums it up best: 'Eleni takes you into the heart a village destroyed in the name of ideals and into the soul of a an heroic woman.' |
All of Bill Bryson's travel books
Always reliable for a good belly laugh, Bill Bryson is one of those people who can make you laugh at people or places with affection rather than ridicule. I first discovered Bryson while working in Singapore. I had to travel several hours a day by train to get to work and his books made the time fly, although I got some very strange looks from the serious Singaporeans as I laughed out loud, sometimes uncontrollably. As well as great travel books such as "Notes From a Small Island" and "Neither Here Nor There", he also writes very interesting books on a variety of topics such as language and science. |
And more:
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tann
Mystic River by Dennis Lahane
Cloud Street by Tim Winton
The Book Thief by Mario Zusac
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn
Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tann
Mystic River by Dennis Lahane
Cloud Street by Tim Winton
The Book Thief by Mario Zusac
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn
Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams