Meme

There's no better way to procrastinate from doing class work than doing a little meme, especially when it is a book related one!

1. The Book That Changed My Life;
The Willard Price Adventure books. I started reading these when I was about 9. I had always been a good reader but these books awoke a passion for reading in me, I was animal mad and these books were full of dangerous adventures and exotic creatures. I remember reading Arctic Adventure in one weekend which blew my mum and big sister away - my sister took nearly two weeks to read the same book. I began reading furiously after that with my Mum often having to physically take a book off me and scoot me outside, otherwise I would spend all day in my room with my nose in a book (ironically, my Nana used to do the same thing to her at the same age).

2. A Book I've Read More Than Once; See Ya Simon by David Hill. It’s aimed at young teens and is the story of Simon, a 14 year old boy with a kick arse attitude who is dying from muscular dystrophy and told through the eyes of Simon’s best friend Nathan. I was first introduced to it all those years ago at primary school and have read it once every year since. I am even on my second copy of it as I lent it to a friend who loved it so much I never saw it again. I can devour it easily in one sitting, and usually do so in a hot bath with a glass of wine because even though I know exactly what is going to happen, I still cry a small river at the end and it’s easier to hide how much of a wimp you are when you are surrounded by water.

3. A Book I'd Want With Me on a Desert Island; Boatbuilding: A Complete Handbook of Wooden Boat Construction by Howard Irving Chapelle :P Otherwise something uplifting and fun from my TBR list

4. A Book That Made Me Laugh; How to Talk to a Widower by Jonathan Tropper (read my review here)

5. A Book That Made Me Cry; Dancing With Rose by Lauren Kessler. Such an amazingly open account of the author trying to cope with her mother's dementia and becoming a staff member at a care facility to find out how everyone, from the caregivers, family members to the patients (or 'clients' as they are referred to by industry) themselves deal with this most cruel of illnesses. It struck so close to home for me as I watch my darling Nana lose herself to this disease. Bawled like a baby.

6. A Book I Wish I Had Written; The Harry Potter books - wouldn't it be amazing to be able to say you had turned that many kiddiwids onto reading?!? And of course the gajillions of dollars earnt from the books/merchandise/movies etc wouldn't be too shabby either!

7. A Book I Wish Had Never Been Written; Damaged by Cathy Glass. I wish this book had never been written because I wish the things that happened in it had never happened. It's the true story of a foster mum taking in one of a severely sexually abused child. The book gripped me, I couldn't put it down because I wanted that fairytale happy ending to come 'Jodi's' way after all the pain and horror she suffered at the hands of the people who were supposed to love her most. But it never came.

8. A Book I Am Currently Reading; Nearing the end of Wild Lavender by Belinda Alexandra

9. A Book I Am Meaning To Read; Everything on my TBR list!

10. My favourite book of all time; You want me to pick just one??? EEP! After careful consideration...I just can't do it, so here is a top 6 in no particular order

The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
We Need To Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver
Dreamhunter - Elizabeth Knox
To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Water For Elephants - Sara Gruen
Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding