Inspiring Blogs!

Many thanks this morning to Jill London (at whose blog you will find a gorgeous film clip about the life of Tove Jansson) who has handed to Steel Thistles the Very Inspiring Blogger Award...

In order to claim it I have to tell you seven things about myself, but I think I'd rather tell you about seven inspirational books. And because I usually talk here about fiction - and fantasy fiction at that - I think I'll break the rule and talk about non-fiction books which have inspired me.  In no particular order:

1:  Gods and Myths of Northern Europe by HR Ellis Davidson.Penguin, 1964. I've had this book for ever, it's about the best scholarly introduction to the study of Norse mythology that you'll ever find, and I recommend all her other books too.

2:  Parallel Worlds by Michio Kaku, Allen Lane, 2005.  Fascinating and readable exploration of alternative universes and our place in the cosmos by a physicist who's also a big fan of science fiction!

3:  The Mind in the Cave by David Lewis Williams, Thames & Hudson, 2002.  Spine-tinglingly compelling book about what was really going on with prehistoric cave paintings.

4:  Union Street by Charles Causley, Rupert Hart-Davis, 1957. Poems with a strong streak of the ballad in them, which I fell in love with at an early age.

5:  Memories by Lucy M Boston, Oldknow Books, 1992. The memoirs of the wonderful author of the 'Green Knowe' children's books.  She would spend each summer tending the garden of her 12th century manor house, and each winter writing a book and making a patchwork quilt.  The ideal life!

6:  Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin & Catherine Johnson, Bloomsbury 2005.  High-functioning autistic Professor Temple Grandin's insights into the way animals think and perceive the world.

7:  A History of God by Karen Armstrong, Ballantyne 1993. A history of the ways three major monotheistic religions have thought of God, and how we have shaped them and they us.

Right!  Time for me to head back to work - but I'd like to pass on this Inspiring Blog Award (again in no particular order) to the following bloggers:

1: Esmeralda's Cumbrian History and Folklore

2: Windsongs and Wordhoards

3: Beneath the Bracken

4: In the Labyrinth

5: Writing in the House of Dreams



If you want to play, this is how: display the award logo on your blog. Link back to the person who nominated you. State 7 things about yourself (or 7 inspirational things: I've just changed the rules!) . Nominate other bloggers for this award if you choose and link to them (notifying those bloggers of the nomination). And that’s it .