A book meme!

[dimity_blue]

I like books. And, apparently, stealing memes from swordznsorcery.

1. Can you remember the first book you read?
I was a child of the 60s (well, just about) so it would have been a Janet and John book. My mum taught me to read when I was about 3 or so. The first thing I remember reading was a Flintstones comic. I was about 4 then.

2. What was the last book (electronic or otherwise) you read?
Out of the Past by Patricia Wentworth. One of the Miss Silver series.

3. Do you read for enjoyment, work or both?
Enjoyment.

4. What is your favorite genre of book to read?
Detective fiction, especially the 'golden age' books: DL Sayers, Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, Patricia Wentworth.

5. If you could visit your younger self, what book would you tell yourself to steer clear of?
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. Ginger's death left me devastated. I'd also tell her to not watch Watership Down.

Comments

[leesa_perrie]

Ah yes, Watership Down has upset many a child me thinks. And yet, for all that I could be a sensitive child, it didn't upset me! *shrugs*

Watership Down was why we got a rabbit (called Bright Eyes, of course!), and why I was rabbit mad for many of my younger years!

[swordznsorcery.livejournal.com]

My family had Blackberry, Pipkin and Hazel. :D That film had a lot to answer for!

[leesa_perrie]

LOL!! I suspect there was a sudden increase of rabbit sales after it!

[dimity-blue.livejournal.com]

I think rabbits are cute, and the song Bright Eyes is gorgeous, but that film? Ugh! I'll never watch it again.

[snailbones.livejournal.com]

Black Beauty gutted me too - they didn't exactly pull the punches with children's books back then, did they?

[dimity-blue.livejournal.com]

Not at all. Poor Ginger. :o(

[swordznsorcery.livejournal.com]

Margery Allingham is terrific. I like her Campion books best, but her others are worth a go too. I particularly enjoyed "Black Plumes" from the non-Campions. Have you read any Edmund Crispin? His Gervase Fen series is great. Not actually written in that era, but set then (they were written in the forties). And Leslie Charteris's Saint and EW Hornung's Raffles books as well of course.

[dimity-blue.livejournal.com]

I'm sure I've read Black Plumes but a long, long time ago. I do love her Campion books - and the TV series too, though I wish they'd made Traitor's Purse.

I haven't read any Edmund Crispin (thanks for the rec), nor the Saint or Raffles books. I loved the Raffles TV series but only know The Saint from bits and pieces of the TV series.

[swordznsorcery.livejournal.com]

The Saint books are nothing like the TV series. Templar's far more dangerous and deadly in the books. The later (post-war) ones weren't so good imho (and were often by ghost writers). Templar didn't fit so well into the modernising world. But the earlier ones are brilliant, and in Pat Holm they feature a truly terrific, swashbuckling heroine. And of course one who has never been used in the movies, or on TV. :/

"Traitor's Purse" is a brilliant book. Yes, it's a shame the Beeb didn't cover that one when they serialised it. About time for a remake! It's always Agatha Christie these days...

[debris_k.livejournal.com]

I second the Saint of the books not being anything like the TV series (and lets just deny that Val Kilmer ever attempted to play him, that movie was just an insulting flop with no relation to the actual Saint whatsoever) in all the best ways, I only read one book (back when I was a student and I was so thrilled to even find it at all) but I loved it.

[swordznsorcery.livejournal.com]

A lot of the books have recently been republished, and Amazon/eBay are great for rounding up older, second-hand copies if you're interested. Wiki has a useful list of the books (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Templar#The_Saint_book_series) to refer back to. Lots of fun. :) Unlike Val Kilmer!

[debris_k.livejournal.com]

Thanks, your reminding me of the series will probably end with my reading the whole series eventually. :)

[debris_k.livejournal.com]

I was surprised by how much I liked the whole Cadfael book series, it's one of the rare ones I finished feeling like I'd like to do a reread (or in my case a re-listen as I usually do audiobooks), and that the characterizations remained solid for most of the chars throughout all the books was golden (as it's so rare, I've come to find, even within books but esp. within book series). I also really liked the Frost series by R. D. Wingfield, much grittier but so awesome (and written with humor, another rare thing), and the Phryne Fisher (more recent) series by Kerry Greenwood.

I'm only reccing these because I've been finding books to try in your posts and among their comments for a while now so wanted to offer something in return. :)

[dimity-blue.livejournal.com]

I love the Cadfael series! They're so rich in detail. I also really enjoy Ellis Peters' modern detective stories. I think I've mentioned Never Pick Up Hitchhikers! and City of Gold and Shadows before.

I liked the Frost TV series but haven't tried the books. I haven't read the Phryne Fisher series either.

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

I love this meme. :) Am going to steal, so I'll save my comments, but the US and Canada had our very own Janet and John books: Dick and Jane. I found my mom's old copy when I was little, and from the looks of what I can find on google, it was pretty much the same idea.

[dimity-blue.livejournal.com]

I saw that the US had their own version too - maybe they were Dick and Jane.

Have fun with the meme!