Childhood favourites?

[Jess A]

I knew it was Welsh, but I did not know it meant 'bird' or that it was a female name. Interesting!

Aderyn - how did you find Auel's books? I got bored after the third one, but I must admit, that was also a series which influenced me when I was a teenager, although I must have been 16 or 17 when I read them. The first two (Clan of the Cave Bear and Valley of the Horses) were my favourite. Then the character became too 'perfect'!

 

[aderyn]

Aderyn - how did you find Auel's books? I got bored after the third one, but I must admit, that was also a series which influenced me when I was a teenager, although I must have been 16 or 17 when I read them. The first two (Clan of the Cave Bear and Valley of the Horses) were my favourite. Then the character became too 'perfect'!

I'm reading the third book, 'the mammoth hunters' now. I agree the first two are the best. I'm still finding it interesting, and I'll finish the series as I have an interest in how Auel wraps it all up.

 

[Anders Ämting]

Childhood? I guess that would be the Oz books - I read the entire original series by L Frank Baum as a kid. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende also had a huge impact on me, and to this day I consider it one of the greatest books ever written.

And to think that today, most people only know them by the vastly inferior movies. *sigh*

On the other hand, I was never that fond of Tolkien. I liked to Hobbit, but I never got through the actual Lord of the Rings trilogy. I had to wait for the movies to find out how it actually ended.

...In retrospect, I guess all this might explain a few things about how my style developed.

 

[Jess A]

I was not a fan of LOTR either. The books did not grip me as a kid or an adult and the films bored me quite a bit. They were visually beautiful, and that was all that I got from them. That's not to say that I think they are crap. I just didn't enjoy them!

 

[Anders Ämting]

I was not a fan of LOTR either. The books did not grip me as a kid or an adult and the films bored me quite a bit. They were visually beautiful, and that was all that I got from them. That's not to say that I think they are crap. I just didn't enjoy them!

Oh, I liked the movies. I just didn't have the patience to plow through the books.

I ended up reading David Eddings instead. He was easy to like, though I found his books got progressively less inspired as they went along. Might just have been me getting older, though.

 

[Evilyn]

Glad to see a few have listed Brian Jacques, when I was a child he was my favourite author and still to this day I can pick up one of his worn books from my shelf and read a few pages if I am feeling low and they always cheer me up, especially when he starts describing all the lovely food the characters eat.

I also read a lot of Terry Pratchett but I have to admit I found some of his books a little hard to get into..

I had this book that I found preowned in the library called Summer of fear - Can't recall who wrote it now but I read that quite a few times, it was about a girl that this family take in but she is a witch and tries to take the mothers position in the family..was quite good.

I am also a late starter with the Terry Goodkind series having only just started reading them, I am over halfway through Sword of Truth and am really enjoying it.

 

[Jess A]

Glad to see a few have listed Brian Jacques, when I was a child he was my favourite author and still to this day I can pick up one of his worn books from my shelf and read a few pages if I am feeling low and they always cheer me up, especially when he starts describing all the lovely food the characters eat.

I have a Redwall cookbook. Somebody made one many years ago and posted it online - I printed it off. I have made the sugar crumpet things (I forgot what they were called in the books) many times. They are very delicious. They are simply plain biscuits/cookies with melted butter/margarine, sugar and cinnamon on top. Some of it looks simply disgusting! I was always intrigued by the otters' hot-pot stew (?) or hot shrimp stew. I am not sure that I agreed with the recipe.

 

[aderyn]

Oh, I liked the movies. I just didn't have the patience to plow through the books.

I ended up reading David Eddings instead. He was easy to like, though I found his books got progressively less inspired as they went along. Might just have been me getting older, though.

I loved David Eddings books as a teenager. Recently I tried reading them again - the 'Elenium' series. I found it predictable and tedious. And I HATE the way he writes women! Talk about Madonna-whore complex!

 

[gerald.parson]

The Hobbit, Wayside School is Falling Down, Lampters of Clayborne, The Lion, witch, and the wardrobe.

 

[Jess A]

Hmm ... not sure if I put these in. Gabriel King's books - 'The Wild Road'. About cats. William Horwood's Wolves of Time series. I also liked Garry Kilworth's books about animals.

 

[Arkius]

For me probably rangers apprentice :3