I love the idea of a kindle; being able to carry around an entire library on one tiny thin little portable reader. But then in another sense I despise the idea of them; they remove all the fun from reading. There’s something magical about the smell of a new book, the feeling of turning pages, the bright and colourful covers, the afternoon spent wandering around a book shop browsing the different sections, but best of all, the splendour of an ever-burgeoning book shelf. I’m the same with CDs; I’ve never downloaded any music in my life and don’t plan to. I like CDs and books. What can I say, I’m a tactile person.
I don’t get much chance to read these days, I’m either studying or doing one of the trillion other things I’ve got on the go at the minute but as the years have come and gone I’ve still managed to cling on to a lot of my favourite books and I’d love to share some of them with you.
Firstly, here’s how my shelves look at the minute. I was thrilled when Gordie moved in as it pretty much doubled our book collection (he used to be a fond reader too).
As you’ll note, the shelf on the left is an “allsorts” shelf, it has files with all of my OUSA work, school governor work, maps, bills and whatnot – boring, but at least they’ve got a home.
Sci-fi novels
My favourite author of all time is Arthur C Clarke. I’ve got my Dad to thank for that one. I certainly don’t have all of his books, but I love reading sci-fi novels so here’s my favourite shelf.
OU shelf
As you may or may not be aware, I’ve signed up for far more OU modules than I’ve been able to complete (it happens doesn’t it, stuff gets in the way), but I’ve kept all of my module books over the years and have an ‘OU’ shelf.
Favourite book
When I was about 13 or 14 my Dad suggested I read Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C Clarke as it’s his all time favourite book. It quickly became mine too. I must’ve read it more than a dozen times and I never tire of it, each time I re-read it I discover something new or ‘get’ the book from a different angle (most recently I’ve noted a lot of religious inferences in it). I had a fantastic ancient copy which was all dog-eared and worn but I left it on a bus by accident, I was gutted at having to buy a brand new copy.
Another favourite
Another favourite is Iain Banks’ The Wasp Factory. It needs no explanation, it’s just an amazing book, quite sick and twisted in some ways, but then I’ve never been one for boring run-of-the-mill stuff.
Short story
My last OU module made reference to Country of the Blind by H G Wells so I bought it. It’s just a short story but it’s truly incredible. You’d think that “in the country of the blind, the one eyed man is king” but Wells manages to show that not only is this not the case, but turns the whole notion of a ‘normal society’ completely on its head. His portrayal of social science fiction scenarios is superb
Non fiction
Given the choice, I think nowadays I’d prefer to read a non-fiction book. Sleep Thieves is one of my favourites, as my favourite pastime I’ve always been intrigued by sleep and why we can’t survive without it and this book goes some way to explaining why.
Childhood memories
I like to remember wonderful things from my childhood and Tom’s Midnight Garden is one of them. I love the escapism it provides and when I re-read it in my mid 20s it was every bit as magical as it was when I first read it as a pre-teen.
From my teacher
I finished my GCSEs in 1996 and English was my favourite subject. My teacher was a delightful little Scottish lady called Mrs McHale and if it weren’t for her I wouldn’t be where I am today because she was that one teacher who had limitless faith in my abilities. As a Christmas present she bought me two books; Jane Eyre and the Wordsworth Book of Sonnets and wrote an inscription in both of them.
Yet to read
Of all the books on my shelves I’ve still not read far too many of them. When I’ve got the time and the concentration I’d love to tackle this one, it’s the kind of book I’m fascinated in but probably not clever enough to study with the OU.
May the magic of getting lost in books never die.
