The Lord of the Rings (which I read at 12, my dad got it out of the Grown-ups section of the library for me, but he only went every three weeks. I'm a fast reader, and I had to wait all that time to discover what happened after the terrible cliff-hanger at the end of The Two Towers)
The Midnight Folk by John Masefield
The Armourer's House by Rosemary Sutcliff (well, anything by Rosemary Sutcliff, really)
I loved getting book tokens for birthdays/Christmas/Easter. Because then no one could suggest I spend it on something other than books. Though sometimes I actually got the books as presents. My 6th birthday was memorable. I had read The Hobbit, from the library, and loved it. So I really, really, wanted to know what happened next. My lovely mum (who, incidentally, I had pressurised into teaching me to read before I ever started at school) had a chat with her dad. So my granddad popped into his local bookshop, and asked for "The Lord of the Rings, for my granddaughter's 6th birthday" and was sent away with a flea in his ear, because he must have got it wrong. A number of clarifying phone calls later. he insisted. On the day, I was delighted to unwrap the single volume paperback version of the complete work (yes, it fell apart years ago). As part of the present, my mum started reading it to my big brother and me, as a bedtime story. And yes, she did the voices. But it was too exciting to wait for. So there were 2 bookmarks: the first was where my mum was up to, the next was where my brother had read ahead, and the 3 and furthest on was where I had reached. I have devoured that book so many times (approximately annually). Don't let sexism, or ageism, stand in the way of your reading!
And of course I missed one. "Charge! or How to play Wargames" by Peter Young and J.P. Lawford. Perfectly suitable for, say, 12 and up. I suppose I didn't think of it because (a) filed in non-fiction and (b) I was about 16 when I first ran into it. Not the first book about playing with toy soldiers--that would be Tristam Shandy or The Tin Army of the Potomac--and not the most famous, which would be H.G. Wells' "Little Wars" but it's the classic, frequently reprinted and always fun . If you've got a boy on your Christmas list, it's a good bet. (I've known some excellent female wargamers, but they've been a very small percentage.)
Yes, I know. Sooner or later, I'll get staked out on an anthill, to demonstrate someone's commitment to tolerance and inclusivity.
The Paper Bag Princess, by famous Canadian author Robert Munsch, in which a princess rescues a prince from a dragon. It’s a children’s book and is very popular in schools and children’s libraries.
I was born in 1963 in the US. We lived next door to the elementary school, which kept its library open all summer. I read EVERYTHING! I particularly remember loving Kidnapped and read it several times. What is a Christmas Annual? We didnt have those. We did have the many volumed set mysteries like Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, and the Bobbsey Twins, which I loved above all else and which I think imprinted on my brain a love for books with adventure excitement and humor that I can binge on - a niche that Ms. Taylor’s books fill perfectly!
Hello Amie, Christmas Annuals were compilations of the best items from the weekly children's comics. My father would not buy me the Eagle comic or annual because it was first published by a Church of England vicar and my father was a Methodist minister. I now live in Canada and in 2007, when I was 57, my sister sent me an Eagle Decennual? containing items from all the 1950s annuals. I'm just glad I finally grew up to enjoy Terry Pratchett, Jodi Taylor and from USA, L. E. Modesitt.
Oh, spoilt for choice! Sutcliff's "Sword at Sunset," of course--the "adult" version: there was a bowdlerized one. Any of the Heinlein Juveniles, but a special place for "Tunnel in the Sky" "The Star Beast" and "Starman Jones." The still unsurpassed "Scarlet Pimpernel." "The Lord of the Rings" they can read at 12, but it will be a different book when they re-read in their mid to late teens. "Princess of Mars" and the first four sequels. They'll need to be just a little older for Leigh Brackett's Mars stories and the cream of Georgette Heyer--"The Reluctant Widow" and "The Unknown Ajax"--or, for that matter, Jennifer Cruise. But the one I tracked down and have stashed at my son's house waiting for my grandchildren to be just old enough is Malcolm Jameson's "Bullard of the Space Patrol." Tried and failed with my son, but I'm not giving up. Love me: love Bullard.
I've read all those classics, plus most of the ones you suggested. My dad used to take me to the library. I think because he didn't have any sons, he pointed me towards the "boys" books. I read loads of Wilbur Smith as a teenager but also ALL of Jane Austen which impressed my English teacher as he had done the same. My dad suggested "The Hobbit" when I was about 12, which I loved but it took me years to read "Lord of the Rings" - I couldn't get past "The Fellowship" for years!!
I remember Dean's childrens classics. I was given 3 copies of theiredition of Great Expectations - then i hated it, now I think it's a great book, but it isn't for chidren.
My suggestions: The dark is rising Susan Cooper, Charmed life Diana Wynne Jones (actally most Diana Wynne Jones) and Journey to the River Sea Eva Ibbotson.
Most of what I read as a child weren't classics, apart from the obvious, but I preferred A little princess to the secret garden.
I have a personalised poster in my reading nook (actually it's the summerhouse) of my top 10 books. Jane Eyre, The Secret Garden, Persuasion, Little Women, Queen's Play (Dorothy Dunnett), To Kill A Mocking Bird, Rebecca, Young Bess, A Trail Through Time and Lord of the Rings. So all female authors apart from Tolkein. These are the books I've enjoyed time and time again from the age of 7 or 8.
Factual reading is history more often than not about strong women, like Elizabeth 1, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France (the She Wolf) and the women of the Wars of the Roses.
As I was born in 1958 I was also subject to gender stereotyping, which may be why I rebelled by mainly preferring books about strong females of various ages.
The Lord of the Rings (which I read at 12, my dad got it out of the Grown-ups section of the library for me, but he only went every three weeks. I'm a fast reader, and I had to wait all that time to discover what happened after the terrible cliff-hanger at the end of The Two Towers)
The Midnight Folk by John Masefield
The Armourer's House by Rosemary Sutcliff (well, anything by Rosemary Sutcliff, really)
I loved getting book tokens for birthdays/Christmas/Easter. Because then no one could suggest I spend it on something other than books. Though sometimes I actually got the books as presents. My 6th birthday was memorable. I had read The Hobbit, from the library, and loved it. So I really, really, wanted to know what happened next. My lovely mum (who, incidentally, I had pressurised into teaching me to read before I ever started at school) had a chat with her dad. So my granddad popped into his local bookshop, and asked for "The Lord of the Rings, for my granddaughter's 6th birthday" and was sent away with a flea in his ear, because he must have got it wrong. A number of clarifying phone calls later. he insisted. On the day, I was delighted to unwrap the single volume paperback version of the complete work (yes, it fell apart years ago). As part of the present, my mum started reading it to my big brother and me, as a bedtime story. And yes, she did the voices. But it was too exciting to wait for. So there were 2 bookmarks: the first was where my mum was up to, the next was where my brother had read ahead, and the 3 and furthest on was where I had reached. I have devoured that book so many times (approximately annually). Don't let sexism, or ageism, stand in the way of your reading!
What about the Frogmorton Farm series. Best 'children's' stories I have read since I was 65.
The Eagle of the Ninth, which I first read when I was ~8, and I’ve re-read (also ~) every year since!
And of course I missed one. "Charge! or How to play Wargames" by Peter Young and J.P. Lawford. Perfectly suitable for, say, 12 and up. I suppose I didn't think of it because (a) filed in non-fiction and (b) I was about 16 when I first ran into it. Not the first book about playing with toy soldiers--that would be Tristam Shandy or The Tin Army of the Potomac--and not the most famous, which would be H.G. Wells' "Little Wars" but it's the classic, frequently reprinted and always fun . If you've got a boy on your Christmas list, it's a good bet. (I've known some excellent female wargamers, but they've been a very small percentage.)
Yes, I know. Sooner or later, I'll get staked out on an anthill, to demonstrate someone's commitment to tolerance and inclusivity.
The Paper Bag Princess, by famous Canadian author Robert Munsch, in which a princess rescues a prince from a dragon. It’s a children’s book and is very popular in schools and children’s libraries.
I was born in 1963 in the US. We lived next door to the elementary school, which kept its library open all summer. I read EVERYTHING! I particularly remember loving Kidnapped and read it several times. What is a Christmas Annual? We didnt have those. We did have the many volumed set mysteries like Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, and the Bobbsey Twins, which I loved above all else and which I think imprinted on my brain a love for books with adventure excitement and humor that I can binge on - a niche that Ms. Taylor’s books fill perfectly!
Hello Amie, Christmas Annuals were compilations of the best items from the weekly children's comics. My father would not buy me the Eagle comic or annual because it was first published by a Church of England vicar and my father was a Methodist minister. I now live in Canada and in 2007, when I was 57, my sister sent me an Eagle Decennual? containing items from all the 1950s annuals. I'm just glad I finally grew up to enjoy Terry Pratchett, Jodi Taylor and from USA, L. E. Modesitt.
Oh, spoilt for choice! Sutcliff's "Sword at Sunset," of course--the "adult" version: there was a bowdlerized one. Any of the Heinlein Juveniles, but a special place for "Tunnel in the Sky" "The Star Beast" and "Starman Jones." The still unsurpassed "Scarlet Pimpernel." "The Lord of the Rings" they can read at 12, but it will be a different book when they re-read in their mid to late teens. "Princess of Mars" and the first four sequels. They'll need to be just a little older for Leigh Brackett's Mars stories and the cream of Georgette Heyer--"The Reluctant Widow" and "The Unknown Ajax"--or, for that matter, Jennifer Cruise. But the one I tracked down and have stashed at my son's house waiting for my grandchildren to be just old enough is Malcolm Jameson's "Bullard of the Space Patrol." Tried and failed with my son, but I'm not giving up. Love me: love Bullard.
I've read all those classics, plus most of the ones you suggested. My dad used to take me to the library. I think because he didn't have any sons, he pointed me towards the "boys" books. I read loads of Wilbur Smith as a teenager but also ALL of Jane Austen which impressed my English teacher as he had done the same. My dad suggested "The Hobbit" when I was about 12, which I loved but it took me years to read "Lord of the Rings" - I couldn't get past "The Fellowship" for years!!
I remember Dean's childrens classics. I was given 3 copies of theiredition of Great Expectations - then i hated it, now I think it's a great book, but it isn't for chidren.
My suggestions: The dark is rising Susan Cooper, Charmed life Diana Wynne Jones (actally most Diana Wynne Jones) and Journey to the River Sea Eva Ibbotson.
Most of what I read as a child weren't classics, apart from the obvious, but I preferred A little princess to the secret garden.
I have a personalised poster in my reading nook (actually it's the summerhouse) of my top 10 books. Jane Eyre, The Secret Garden, Persuasion, Little Women, Queen's Play (Dorothy Dunnett), To Kill A Mocking Bird, Rebecca, Young Bess, A Trail Through Time and Lord of the Rings. So all female authors apart from Tolkein. These are the books I've enjoyed time and time again from the age of 7 or 8.
Factual reading is history more often than not about strong women, like Elizabeth 1, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France (the She Wolf) and the women of the Wars of the Roses.
As I was born in 1958 I was also subject to gender stereotyping, which may be why I rebelled by mainly preferring books about strong females of various ages.
A Wrinkle in Time!