That Book

[EmilyM]

Do you have "That Book"? 

 

The first book you couldn't put down, the book you raced home from school to read, the book you read every night before bed, the book your first love gave to you, the book that changed your life, the book that inspired you?

 

That Book for me was "Christmas at Blackberry Farm".

 

My Mum used to read it to my brother and I every Christmas Eve, it was a wonderful story.  It always held something magical for us.  The idea that this book, being second hand, had a story i knew nothing about.  A story about the family who enjoyed it before us.  Christmas at Blackberry Farm woke my imagination, still now, I wonder who is enjoying our copy of "That Book" and if they ever imagine my story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Chrissy]

'The Book' for me was a series - The Chronicles Of Narnia.

 

I was a voracious reader from a young age, and devoured book after book, but it was this series that truly transported me to another world.

 

I lived and breathed the series every spare moment, dressing (at home) as I thought a Narnian would dress, and even eating foods I thought they might eat. I yearned deeply to be transported there, and a small part of me will be forever disappointed that I haven't been.

 

The other 'The Book' for me is the first book my husband bought me - a beautiful edition of The Hobbit, that included a recording by JRR Tolkien himself reading the part where Bilbo meets Gollum, a stunning map of Middle Earth and postcards with beautiful illustrations. Husband had wanted to get me a special first present, but was a little surprised when I burst into delighted tears and couldn't speak I was so overwhelmed. I knew for sure then that he was 100% the one for me.

Edited April 11, 2013 by Chrissy

[EmilyM]

Wow Chrissy, sounds like you've definitely found your leading man.  Thank you for sharing your story x

[Michelle]

I can't beat Chrissy's story, but I would say it's The Hobbit for me too - we read it during my first year at secondary school, and I have lovely memories of it.

[Kell]

I honestly don't remember as I can't recall a time when I didn't have a book in my hands! I always loved books, started reading at an absurdly young age, and always had a reading age far above my actual age. I do, however, recall loving Ronia, The Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren from the first moment I picked it up. I was given a brand new paperback, not long (I suspect) after its publication in 1983, which would make me about 7 or 8 when I first read it. I read it so much my copy fell apart. Years later, my husband managed to find a second hand copy with the same cover and gave it to me as a gift. Like Chrissy, I cried my little eyes out. Not long after that, I decide to propose to him, so I guess that book kinda sealed the deal for me!

[Drislane]

What a great question EmilyM! Love the answers too.

Mine has to be ‘Hope for the flowers’ by Trina Paulus. I read it aged seven and it sits proudly to this day on a book shelf in my study. As the book cover says ‘It’s a tale partly about life, partly about revolution and lots about hope – For adults and others (including caterpillars who can read)’

The story of Stripe and Yellow captured my imagination like nothing I had read before. I do believe that the tale, the animations and colours within those covers have, in one way or another, held my imagination to ransom ever since. Yes, undoubtedly that was the one for me!

 

[EmilyM]

Brilliant!  I love reading your stories and googling some of the books.

[chesilbeach]

When I first started going out with my partner, he loaned me a few books to try, one of which was The Stone Raft by José Saramago.  It was the first ever translated novel I'd read, and opened my reading horizons to a whole world of books that I would never have considered before, as well as introducing me to an author who I now admire immensely.

[Janet]

I loved Enid Blyton and the C S Lewis' Narnia books but I think the one that stands out for me is Gobbolino the Witch's Cat by Ursula Moray Williams - I never tired of it as a child. 

[~Andrea~]

I think the Narnia stories were the ones that really captured my imagination. Like Chrissy, as a child I was somewhat obsessed, and would have loved to have been transported there.

 

Also in my late teens I read Animal Farm and it blew me away. The power of the story form that a simple story could say so much was really inspiring.

[Brian.]

Mine was a really old battered copy of The Adventures of Brer Rabbit. I have no idea where it came from but I used to read some of it every night and then hide it under my pillow. At the time I thought I was being sly by reading in bed instead of sleeping but much later in life I found out that my parents knew what I was doing all along. They used to leave me to do it because they figured that I would fall asleep when I was tired enough and it wouldn't do me any harm. I don't know what happened to the book but I do keep an eye out for one of the same edition.

[Eleonora]

Mine was Siddharta. My parents had a friend when I was a child. He didn't like children but I was quite unusual so he didn't mind talking to me. One day we went to his house and he said: "Do whatever you want but don't touch that book. It's for adult, you wouldn't undersatnd it." Do you know the beggining of The Neverending story when Bastian enters the bookshop and the man said "Don't pick up this book"? It went excatly the same! I was only 8 and that book introduced me in my own Fantasia: the land made of all the stories written in books. If I still live in that world I have to thank that man and Hermann Hesse' Siddharta.

And yes, I  have a copy. It was a present for my 9th birthday.