Last Saturday my son happily trotted off after work and purchased new furniture for his bedroom (it was a desk and chair, but he bought it with money he had earned, so it's almost as adult-like as buying a new bed). This resulted in an industrious afternoon of cleaning, rearranging, discarding, and eventually constructing.
The room that had previously been filled with the accoutrements of boyhood now tells a different story. A teenager lives there. Apparently overnight he shucked off the emotional attachment to broken Transformers and dragon figurines, and to my horror, his book collection.
I will admit that I sifted through the "rubbish" pile and rescued a number of items before they found their way to the wheelie bin, but I had to acquiesce to his plan to sell the majority of his books for purely logistical reasons - we don't have the space to store them (his bookshelf is now surplus to requirements and I managed to find a space for it in my studio, where it currently houses all manner of floral bits and pieces, so there's no room for books).
I have kept every book that I have enjoyed reading, which is why libraries are so wonderful. If you borrow a book you go into that relationship knowing that the physical book was never meant to remain with you. I used to visit a second hand bookstore in Toowoomba, and for the most part I treated that as a library, buying and selling books each visit (except for the ones I really liked - I kept those). When I buy a book it's with the expectation that I will enjoy it, and therefore it's probably mine forever. I do try and read them more than once, but lately I haven't had time for physical books, so I devour my literature in audio format.
Most of the books Cody parted with this week we had read together. A nightly routine of a few pages of a chapter book before bed lasted until a couple of years ago when he told me, "I can read them myself now". I think it had more to do with not wanting to wait for me to keep reading. We still listen to audiobooks in the car though, so I haven't lost the joy of that shared experience completely.
We enjoyed the Harry Potter series, Cressida Cowell's How to Train Your Dragon and The Wizards of Once series, Justin Fisher's Ned's Circus of Marvels series, Ransom Riggs' Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children series, many, many Enid Blyton stories (I'm still questioning how 9 and 10 year olds were going on week long camping trips to an island unaccompanied except for Timmy the dog), a lot from the master story teller Roald Dahl, and the series that ended it all for me, Joshua Khan's Shadow Magic series. I'm keeping those books to catch up - I didn't get past the first book because Cody went on to read them without me. I'll get around to finishing them one day.
On audiobook we have enjoyed several Emily Rodda books, and the incredibly moving Morris Gleitzman series including Once, Then, After, Soon and Now, as well as revisiting a few favourites.
A book of mine that I enjoyed as a youngster and read to Cody is The Rusty Kee Adventures by Garry Hurle. The tale of an orphan on the Victorian Goldfields had more impact on me than Cody I think. I read it several times, such was my investment in the main character's search for teeth, keys and parents.
My favourite book of all time is Monte Walsh by Jack Schaefer. It began as a series of short stories, and was padded out to a novel, which was first published in 1963. The snippets of events, the way the long, descriptive sentences are structured to conjure a detailed mental picture, the characters themselves, and the way it makes me laugh and cry are the reasons it tops my list. Here's a short section in which the friendship between Monte and Chet forms.
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry is a literary masterpiece, made more popular by the television mini-series starring Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones as the two main protagonists. The quote I end my blog entries with is from this book, and my son is named for the character who uttered those words. One of our family traditions is to watch Lonesome Dove at Christmas time, and we know many of the lines word for word. Again, for me it's character construction that I enjoy about this book. As with many incredible novels it stands alone in that the prequels and sequels didn't hold my interest in the same way.
In no particular order my list of other favourites are as follows:
Diana Gabaldon's Crosstitch (Outlander) series
Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher series, and Corrina Chapman series
Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan novels (TV'S Bones)
Everything Kate Morton has written
Oscar de Muriel's McGray and Frey books
Wilbur Smith's early novels about the Courtney family
Georgina Clarke's Lizzie Hardwick series
Meg and Tom Kenneally's Monsarrat series
Bryce Courtney's Four Fires
Jackie French's Matilda saga (although Too Many Pears is my favourite Jackie French book).
I have borrowed and enjoyed every title the CHRC Libraries on Borrow Box have by the following authors:
Rosalie Ham
Kim Kelly
Fiona McIntosh
Tea Cooper
Belinda Alexandra
Lesley Pearse
Elizabeth Gilbert
Victoria Purnam
Monica McInerney
Mary-Anne O'Connors
Toni Jordan
Sophie Kinsella
Rachel Johns
Johanna Nicholls
JH Fletcher
Sheila Newberry
Catherine Law
Kimberley Freeman
Anna Romer
Lesley Truffle
Jennifer Robson
Marian Keyes
Maggie Alderson
Liane Moriarty
Deborah Challinor
If audiobooks are your thing you probably have a list of favourites narrators as well. I do, and I love that I can search by narrator name when looking for new titles. Mine are;
Jennifer Vuletic
Caroline Lee
Katy Sobey
Kate Hood
Humphrey Bower
I'm always pleased to find an author with several publications to their name so I can work through the list. I did that with these series;
Winston Graham's Poldark series
MC Beaton's Hamish Macbeth books
Rowena Summers' Cornish Clay series
Jean Fullerton's East End Nolan Family series
Joy Dettman's Woody Creek series
They kept me occupied for quite a while.
Here are some other titles that I have enjoyed, again, in no particular order.
The Silk Weaver's Wife - Debbie Rix
The Promise - Lucy Diamond
The Lost Summers of Driftwood - Vanessa McCausland
The Good Woman of Renmark - Danny Fraser
The Secrets We Keep - Shirley Patton
The Dictionary of Lost Words - Pip Williams
The Emerald Tablet - Meghan Wilson-Anastasios
The Opal Dragonfly - Julian Leatherdale
Winter Sisters - Robin Oliveira
The Brooklands Girls - Margaret Dickinson
When Shadows Fall - Kaye Dobbie
The Lost Pearl - Emily Madden
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart - Holly Ringland
The Winter Sea - Susanna Kearsley
All That Jazz - Dee Williams
The Forbidden Garden - Ellen Herrick
Hothouse Flower - Lucinda Riley
Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens
Girl in Between - Anna Daniels
A Room at the Manor - Julie Shackman
Love and Other Puzzles - Kimberley Allsopp. I just finished that one this week. I particularly enjoyed all the rom-com references. It may have been the mention of Joan Wilder that made me think of The Jewel of the Nile (see short video clip for explanation if you've got no idea what I'm talking about). Hurry up with your next novel Kimberley!
Low Key was the theme last week for 52Frames. Once I rearranged and tidied the studio I made space to set up a shot for that theme. I wanted to try low key in colour, having only ever tried it in black and white. I was going for the dim lights of a bar. In my head there were coloured lights, but I couldn't find any that actually worked, so I improvised with white fairy lights and cellophane. An exceedingly poor substitution, as it turned out. I think I'll add this to the list of things to re-shoot (if I ever get around to it). After I had finished playing around I got to the drink the whiskey. My brother is a good distiller, and weevils in the grain are no deterrent – this weevil whiskey is quite good. All the best spirits and brews have a story I’m sure.
It's been quite a party, ain't it
Purple Fairy
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