What are we reading? 12/02/2024

[Bill]

Berkley wrote: "I did like Interview when I read it way back in the late '70s or early '80s. The sequel was great fun as well, The Vampire Lestat. But the next one was a dud so I never carried on with any more of Rice's vampire books."

I had pretty much the same reaction: I thought Rice's vampires "jumped the shark" with The Queen of the Damned. Up to that point, I thought the books were an effective updating of the early Gothic novel genre.

The Conan Doyle story "Lot No. 249" is an early version of the mummy as a horror figure.

[Berkley]

Bill wrote: "I had pretty much the same reaction: I thought Rice's vampires "jumped the shark" with The Queen of the Damned. Up to that point, I thought the books were an effective updating of the early Gothic novel genre.

The Conan Doyle story "Lot No. 249" is an early version of the mummy as a horror figure. "

And a very good one, maybe my favourite - though come to think of it I haven't read many. Is there a classic "mummy novel" in the way Dracula is the classic vampire novel?

An early one that I have not read is Jane Loudon's 1824 novel The Mummy! A Tale of the Twenty-Second Century, but from the description it sounds more like an early science fiction work than a horror novel. I'd still like tor read it though.

Forgot to add in my earlier post that I too have avoided the movie version of Interview, partly because of the outrageous miscasting of Tom Cruise.

[AB76]

Very impressed so far with Australian classic The Long Prospect by Elizabeth Harrower (1958)

Her second novel after the dark and eloquent debut novel set in Sydney, this one is set in the industrial town of Newcastle, north of Sydney a kind of dizzying reversal of Newcastle upon Tyne, in that it has the pollution and working class roots but under the warm sunny skies of New South Wales

A 12yo girl living in a boarding house with her 47yo grandmother finds a kindred spirit in one of the boarders, an educated man called Max. Harrower laces her chapters with bitter pathos and social observation, as the young girl finds somebody who looks beyond the streets of Newcastle and into a wider world

[Berkley]

AB76 wrote: "Very impressed so far with Australian classic The Long Prospect by Elizabeth Harrower (1958)

Her second novel after the dark and eloquent debut novel set in Sydney, this one is set in the industrial town of Newcastle, north of Sydney a kind of dizzying reversal of Newcastle upon Tyne, in that it has the pollution and working class roots but under the warm sunny skies of New South Wales

A 12yo girl living in a boarding house with her 47yo grandmother finds a kindred spirit in one of the boarders, an educated man called Max. Harrower laces her chapters with bitter pathos and social observation, as the young girl finds somebody who looks beyond the streets of Newcastle and into a wider world..."

Sounds just a little reminiscent of Carson McCullers's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, and I mean that in a good way. I'll have a look around for this one myself, since I'm still reading late-50s things now and then.

[Bill]

Berkley wrote: "Is there a classic "mummy novel" in the way Dracula is the classic vampire novel?"

Not that I'm aware of. There's an Edgar Allan Poe story about a revived Egyptian mummy, "Some Words with a Mummy", but it's one of his humorous stories, satirizing ideas of civilizational progress.

[[deleted user]]

The Return by Joseph Conrad is the shortish story of a comfortably-off and complacent gentleman, living by the late-Victorian code of masculine restraint, who suddenly finds he has a crisis in his marriage, and receives a profound insight about himself and life. It is like an intense, twisting one-act drama, save that a lot of the development is internal. Individual turns of phrase are striking, e.g. “the delightful life of crescents and squares.”

Apart from Heart of Darkness, which I read years ago and didn’t especially like, Conrad’s novels form an embarrassingly large hole in my reading. I know he’s been discussed here many times, but I’m not very sure which to try next, after this admirable tale.

The foreword by Colm Toíbin in the Hesperus edition (as always, read after, not before) was also interesting, making the case that the husband’s evolutions of feeling show the influence of Henry James, not a name I usually connect with Conrad.

[Berkley]

I haven't read a whole lot of Conrad but from my limited experience, I've been most impressed with Nostromo and The Secret Agent. Of those two, I'd say try The Secret Agent first: Nostromo is fairly long so you might want to save that one for later.

I didn't particularly care for Lord Jim, but that could be partly because we did it in school. I do rate Heart of Darkness highly, though, so our tastes may differ when it comes to this writer.

[AB76]

Berkley wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Very impressed so far with Australian classic The Long Prospect by Elizabeth Harrower (1958)

Her second novel after the dark and eloquent debut novel set in Sydney, this one is set in..."

interesting, i havent read that McCullers novel

[AB76]

Russell wrote: "The Return by Joseph Conrad is the shortish story of a comfortably-off and complacent gentleman, living by the late-Victorian code of masculine restraint, who suddenly finds he has a crisis in his ..."

this is on my pile, big Conrad fan here though Lord Jim was the only novel that dissapointed me so far. i read a lot of conrad a good 20 yrs ago, some re-reads are due

but i read Victory about 5 yrs ago for the first time and it was a majestic, brilliant read, alongside his early short stories and The Shadow Line subsquently, again, all were gripping and fascinating reads

So i would suggest Victory, The Shadow Line or if you are interested in a non tropical setting The Secret Agent(set in london) or Under Western Eyes (concerned with Russian exiles)

[Paul]

AB76 wrote: "Berkley wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Very impressed so far with Australian classic The Long Prospect by Elizabeth Harrower (1958)

Her second novel after the dark and eloquent debut novel set in Sydney, th..."

The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter is a perfect book. Just luminous. Not a happy one, but a true, eye-opening one.

[Berkley]

Paul wrote: "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter is a perfect book. Just luminous. Not a happy one, but a true, eye-opening one."

She's one of the best American writers, for me. I'm still looking for Clock Without Hands, the one novel I haven't read.

[AB76]

Paul wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Berkley wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Very impressed so far with Australian classic The Long Prospect by Elizabeth Harrower (1958)

Her second novel after the dark and eloquent debut novel set ..."

I am interested in what i call the "southern quartet" of female writers, that is O'Connor,Welty, McCullers and Lee. I have read some of their works and it ties in with my australian female reading of the past few years, which includes the Harrower novel.

[MK]

Berkley wrote: "Paul wrote: "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter is a perfect book. Just luminous. Not a happy one, but a true, eye-opening one."

She's one of the best American writers, for me. I'm still looking for Clo..."

Have you thought about asking your library to get it through ILL (Inter-Library Loan). You could see if it is nearby by looking it up on worldcat.org.

[Berkley]

MK wrote: "
Have you thought about asking your library to get it through ILL (Inter-Library Loan). You could see if it is nearby by looking it up on worldcat.org. "

Good idea, I'll keep that in mind if I still haven't found a copy by the time I'm ready to read it. It was published in 1961 and I'm still going through some late '50s reading, so it will probably be a few months yet.

[Paul]

AB76 wrote: "Paul wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Berkley wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Very impressed so far with Australian classic The Long Prospect by Elizabeth Harrower (1958)

Her second novel after the dark and eloquent deb..."

I've read some (or in McCuller's case most) of the work of all 4 authors and McCullers is my favorite by a very long distance. O'Connor, for me, is very hit or miss as is Welty. I've had the idea of revisiting Harper Lee in the back of my mind to see if it stands up to my 15 year old's impressions, 43 years on down the line. Who knows if it will ever get to that point?

[AB76]

Paul wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Paul wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Berkley wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Very impressed so far with Australian classic The Long Prospect by Elizabeth Harrower (1958)

Her second novel after the dark and..."

i sort of feel that books that were fixed in my teenage mind would be transformed if i re-visited them but am not sure if for the better or worse.

while my organised reading began at 24, after uni, i read a lot before that but with no real aims, i liked reading and at school was always ahead of my reading age but oddly i never really read like i do now. Some of it was probably rebellion against the syllabus of english lit in school, i was all about A Clockwork Orange and "cool" textst not Hardy, now i would always choose Hardy over Burgess.

[Paul]

AB76 wrote: "Paul wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Paul wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Berkley wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Very impressed so far with Australian classic The Long Prospect by Elizabeth Harrower (1958)

Her second novel after..."

That's the same conundrum that I have. I particularly wonder if I'd find Holden Caulfield somewhat sympathetic, or Kerouac coherent. Books that I really did enjoy... I am somewhat averse to ruining the memories.

[AB76]

Paul wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Paul wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Paul wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Berkley wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Very impressed so far with Australian classic The Long Prospect by Elizabeth Harrower (1958)

Her secon..."

maybe at 50 years remove it could be attempted,, if both you and i make it into our mid 60s...lol

memory may be a bit foggier then...

[[deleted user]]

Berkley, AB - Many thanks for the guidance on Conrad. Will report back in due course.

[[deleted user]]

The Track of Sand – Andrea Camilleri

My first Inspector Montalbano. I read it in a day and really enjoyed it – good atmospherics, good plot, several funny passages. We were in Sicily some years ago and are contemplating a return visit later this year. (The in-laws are from Corleone.) I think a few more Montalbanos would be excellent prep.

[[deleted user]]

scarletnoir wrote: ".. I have no interest in modern vampire films."

I agree, even though the family watch them all. For me, Nosferatu is the one and only.

[Berkley]

Russell wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: ".. I have no interest in modern vampire films."

I agree, even though the family watch them all. For me, Nosferatu is the one and only."

I've watched or re-watched a lot of classic Universal and other horror the last couple of years and I still like the Lugosi Dracula. I also saw for the first time the Spanish-language version shot with different actors but on the same set and it's interesting to compare them. The first Hammer Dracula is also still worth seeing for the sets and of course for Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. I also like the Nosferatu remake with Kinski and Adjani (though it is in no way a replacement for the original). And Guy Maddin's Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary is worth a look in spite of its silly title, if only because it's Guy Maddin and I think everything he's made is worth a look, that I've seen.

I didn't re-watch Nosferatu as I'd seen it not too many years before, but I think the vampire movie that impressed me the most during this intermittent horror binge was Carl Th. Dreyer's Vampyr (1932): very strange and dream-like and all the more effective because of it, to my mind.

None of the Dracula movies are a faithful adaptation of the Stoker novel, which to me would require a longish limited tv series. The opening sequence alone, from Harker's journey to Dracula's castle up to his escape attempt (cliffhanger!) should be three or four episodes, to my mind. Or if it was a series of films, that should be one complete film in itself.

[scarletnoir]

Russell wrote: "The Track of Sand – Andrea Camilleri

My first Inspector Montalbano. I read it in a day and really enjoyed it – good atmospherics, good plot, several funny passages. We were in Sicily some years ag..."

I liked nearly all the Montalbano books... many have amusing passages, but some are darker in content. There are a couple of duds very late on - one was originally intended as a TV script, and perhaps wasn't meant to be a 'Montalbano' at all. The books provide a good amount of Sicilian atmosphere, as well as some historical and social background. You can easily tell that Camilleri is basically a 'leftie', with sympathy for the poor, the immigrants etc.

The TV series with Luca Zingaretti is a real pleasure - the actor captures the personality perfectly, despite not looking anything like the Montalbano of the books.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0920489/...

There is also a series of prequels which shows Montalbano's early years in the police force - 'The Young Montalbano':
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2259665/...

This stars Michele Riondino - again a very good choice, and probably closer to the description in the books iirc. They only made 13 episodes - a pity, as it was very good.

[scarletnoir]

Paul wrote: "I particularly wonder if I'd find Holden Caulfield somewhat sympathetic, or Kerouac coherent."

I very much enjoyed 'Catcher' and 'On the road' - though that one somewhat less. iirc, I was not all that young when I read them, so I'd probably still enjoy them fine.

'Catcher' is definitely a Marmite book - some love it, others hate it. The narrator's 'voice' either speaks to you, or it doesn't.

[Gpfr]

scarletnoir wrote: "Russell wrote: "The Track of Sand – Andrea Camilleri
My first Inspector Montalbano. I read it in a day and really enjoyed it – good atmospherics, good plot, several funny passages. ..."

I liked nearly all the Montalbano books..."

I've liked them, too — I haven't read the very last ones. As I may have said here before, I prefer the French translation. I think the translator has done a better job with Catarella in particular. Whether I've read in English or French just depends on which I got hold of though.
I've seen a few episodes of the series while in the UK and enjoyed them too. I guess they've been on French TV as well, but I haven't come across them.

[AB76]

Munich 1919: Diary of a Revolution by Victor Klemperer has started well

The famous diarist was 38, he had been working as an NCO in Vilnius during WW1, in the censorship dept of the German Army after volunteering in 1916.

This diary mixes his journalistic reports in 1919 with his memories jotted down in 1942, as he starved in wartime Dresden. His passage back from Vilnius to Munich occurs in Nov 1918, told in 1942 notes.Germany is alive with revolution, soldiers councils everywhere, he stops in Leipzig and then travels on to Munich. The trains are all packed full of de-mobbed soldiers and sailors, the city is bedecked in the white and blue flags of Bavaria and he finds it in a kind of festive, curious mood, people finally freed from the Prussian led war and its impact on society.

In his first reports from the time, the tone is different, he favours a witty sometimes upbeat style. Noticing that for such a nationalistic city with little love for the rest of Germany, that all the main leaders of the revolution in the city are non-Bavarian and Prussian in manner and approach's to life(though interestingly all Jewish as well). Klemperer calls it a bohemian revolution and one of the main leaders was Ernst Toller, the famous playwright.

These are the heady early days before the violent right wing suppression of the revolution by the Freikorps, who contained many future Nazi's and Hitler himself was present in the city.

[MK]

Russell wrote: "The Track of Sand – Andrea Camilleri

My first Inspector Montalbano. I read it in a day and really enjoyed it – good atmospherics, good plot, several funny passages. We were in Sicily some years ag..."

I miss Montalbano. I listened to Grover Gardner read a bunch of them from my local library. A real treat - I may just start over and listen again.

[Bill]

AB76 wrote: "Some of it was probably rebellion against the syllabus of english lit in school, I was all about A Clockwork Orange and "cool" texts not Hardy, now i would always choose Hardy over Burgess."

Well, I've read all of Burgess' novels and none of Hardy's (though I've read one short story and the massive The Dynasts - the last one, ironically in light of your post, prompted by Anthony Burgess' recommendation). But I can't say it stemmed from rebelliousness; A Clockwork Orange was loaned to me by a teacher (albeit a teacher of German, not English lit).

My rebellious reading was probably embodied first by comic books and then by fantasy novels. In contrast to others here who avoid revisiting youthful enthusiasms, I have found that the books I really liked in my earliest reading days (H. G. Wells, Tolkien, Peake, Eddison, Doyle) have held up quite well on later re-readings.

I was kind of surprised on re-reading Something Wicked This Way Comes a few years ago, that the prose was rather "fancy" - heavy with similes and metaphors. I originally read that at such an early date that I had little to compare it to; I can see that it provided a bad model for my own first excursions into writing prose. But the story itself remained ripping - imaginative, tense, and creepy.

[AB76]

Bill wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Some of it was probably rebellion against the syllabus of english lit in school, I was all about A Clockwork Orange and "cool" texts not Hardy, now i would always choose Hardy over Bur..."

i would like to think if i revisited a childhood or teenage fave i would find new things in it to love

Two books i have re-read in last 7-8 years, did provide this in fact

One was Mooominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson.as a kid it really unsettled me but in a serious way, i could feel there was a message there and of course it turns out ok in the end. As an adult, i read it and reflected on how i felt aged 8 but i also was enthralled by the atmosphere and its locations, just as keenly as when i was 8

The other is Brother In The Land by Robert Swindells. This was a fave of mine aged 10-11, the nuclear bomb stories were real for me at that time, it was still the mid 80s, the cold war. As a kid this book scared me by suggesting what actually could happen, it wasnt an idle threat, at least aged 10. i remember the blast map of a nuclear attack on London, the radius of fallout would have reached the shires(aggghh). As an adult i was suprised how violent and adult it seemed, my 10yo neice did not want to read it this summer and she reads loads but not scary books!

but as yet. i havent revisited a teenage fave

[giveusaclue]

scarletnoir wrote: "Russell wrote: "The Track of Sand – Andrea Camilleri

My first Inspector Montalbano. I read it in a day and really enjoyed it – good atmospherics, good plot, several funny passages. We were in Sici..."

I think we were both disappointed with the last few Montalbano books scarlet. I vaguely remember talking about this perhaps last year, but given that Camilleri was 90 or so, perhaps we ought to cut him some slack for the pleasure he has given us with his previous books .

[Bill]

Berkley wrote: "I didn't re-watch Nosferatu as I'd seen it not too many years before, but I think the vampire movie that impressed me the most during this intermittent horror binge was Carl Th. Dreyer's Vampyr (1932): very strange and dream-like and all the more effective because of it, to my mind."

It's interesting that the three early films each took a different approach to the presentation of the vampire. Max Shreck in Nosferatu was a loathsome, inhuman creature, Lugosi's Dracula a seductive, sophisticated foreign nobleman, and Dreyer's Vampyr presented a threat that almost wasn't there: something in the shadows, seen briefly or peripherally, adumbrated in dreadful dreams and visions.

Arguably, there's a fourth type of cinematic vampire from the same era in the lost silent film London After Midnight (remade in sound as Mark of the Vampire) (view spoiler)[ in which the "vampires" turn out to have been imposture by human actors. (hide spoiler)].

[AB76]

Just made a quick list of my fave books aged between roughly 6 to 12

Duncton Wood (and a book called The Cold Moons)
The Tripods(was a popular kids tv series too) by John Christopher
Knights of God (likewise a popular kids tv series too)
Moominland Midwinter
The Hardy Boys
Famous Five/ Secret Seven
Brother In The Land
Asterix
Tintin
Where The Wild Things Are
Narnia
Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

[Bill]

AB76 wrote: "Just made a quick list of my fave books aged between roughly 6 to 12"

I pretty much only read comic books for pleasure reading up until I was 12. Before that age, in grade school we used to have someone from the public library come to the school once a week with a selection of books we could borrow. They were all books aimed at young readers, and after an initial enthusiasm for Dr. Seuss in 1st grade, I didn't have much interest in what was being offered. I tried a few books (I remember one where two children are shrunk and enter an ant colony) but don't recall that I ever read one all the way through.

Once I entered 7th grade, we had a designated "Library" period once or twice a week in the school library. there I started reading more or less adult books, like H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, which I was enthusiastic about; this led me to purchase paperback books by Ray Bradbury in local drug stores and card shops. One of my favorites from the school library, frequently borrowed, was The Lost World:

I have wrought my simple plan
If I give one hour of joy
To the boy who's half a man,
Or the man who's half a boy.

[Tam]

AB76 wrote: "Just made a quick list of my fave books aged between roughly 6 to 12

Duncton Wood (and a book called The Cold Moons)
The Tripods(was a popular kids tv series too) by John Christopher
Knights of Go..."


The Famous Five (various)- Enid Blyton
Moominland (various) - Tove Jannsson
The Little White Horse - Elizabeth Goudge
The Hobbit - Tolkien
Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
A Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula le Guin
The Owl Service - Alan Garner
The Eagle of the Ninth - Rosemary Sutcliff
The Borrowers - Mary Norton
The Cat in the Hat - Dr Seuss
Mervyn Peake - Gormenghast trilogy
The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster

This is my list from a similar age group, but I am 20yrs older than you! There are treasured memories of books that I read and loved, but cannot remember the author . One was about Australian aborigine life, from a child's point of view. 'And so it goes'!...

[AB76]

Bill wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Just made a quick list of my fave books aged between roughly 6 to 12"

I pretty much only read comic books for pleasure reading up until I was 12. Before that age, in grade school we u..."

I had library periods too Bill, that is where i found a lot of books, in the quiet shadows and cubbyholes of the school library, above the courtyard where kids tumbled back and fro

[AB76]

Tam wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Just made a quick list of my fave books aged between roughly 6 to 12

Duncton Wood (and a book called The Cold Moons)
The Tripods(was a popular kids tv series too) by John Christopher
..."

swallows and amazons was one i read, my mother was a big fan of those novels and i remember a few tv adaptions

the aussie one wasnt Walkabout was it? we did that in school, the boys all waiting for Jennie Agutter in the nude when we watched the movie, the girls not impressed!

[Greenfairy]

Apart fom Tolkien, I re-read Pat O Shea's The hands of the Morrigan quite often. It's a lovely tale.

[Greenfairy]

The Hounds of the Morrigan. drat autocorrect!

[Tam]

AB76 wrote: "Tam wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Just made a quick list of my fave books aged between roughly 6 to 12

Duncton Wood (and a book called The Cold Moons)
The Tripods(was a popular kids tv series too) by John ..."

No it definitely wasn't walkabout, which I remember watching many years ago. It was a lovely, but very unusual story, out of Oz, for its time. Much more common, and I did enjoy them, back then, were stories about the 'brumbies, or wild horses, I think, based in the 'Blue Mountains', but these stories were set a long time ago. But then I was a young girl who preferred horses to just about anything else, in those days. It didn't last that long!.. I eventually owned my own horse, and basically found out that they were, actually, a bit of a pain!.. at least to own... I still love to watch them galloping though, and that was where my horse was at her best, wild and untrammelled...

You might be interested in Arthur Ransome's story of his travels in Russia, perhaps. I found it fascinating..

[AB76]

Tam wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Tam wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Just made a quick list of my fave books aged between roughly 6 to 12

Duncton Wood (and a book called The Cold Moons)
The Tripods(was a popular kids tv series ..."

i read Ransomes book on Russia last year, it was fab

i remember my grandad got me an aussie book called Rufus The Red Kangaroo, i think he had been on holiday down under and bought it for me, i was 5 or 6 yrs old

[CCCubbon]

I cannot remember now favourite books from childhood but did read Blyton. .. Island of Adventure and so on.
When Primary teaching , that’s 8-11 yr olds, a few stand out ones I know they liked
The Iron Man. Ted Hughes
I am David. Anne Holm
Narnia. ( i disliked the religious push but they didn’t seem to notice)
Stig of the Dump. clive King
The Secret Garden. Burnett
Charlotte’s Web

[AB76]

CCCubbon wrote: "I cannot remember now favourite books from childhood but did read Blyton. .. Island of Adventure and so on.
When Primary teaching , that’s 8-11 yr olds, a few stand out ones I know they liked
The I..."

charlottes web and iron man...i remember them at school and the pheonix was that nesbit?

[CCCubbon]

Yes, Nesbit.
The time spent Infant teaching ( yes, I taught all ages from four, my first class was Reception -Infants 2 years Junior 13 year, Secondary 4 years, Further Education and University 13 years)
i remember they liked Paddington and Spike Milligan rhymes and old tales that I acted out - Three Billy Goats Gruff and so on.

[Gpfr]

On the subject of favourite books from childhood, this was also the theme of an instagram post by Slightly Foxed, with a lovely photo:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C3coh4zMtsx/

[[deleted user]]

My favorites from 6 to 12 overlap a lot with other people’s:

The Eagle of the Ninth (and every other Rosemary Sutcliffe, but that was the best)
Swallows and Amazons (ditto)
Just William (ditto)
Famous Five (and lots of the other Enid Blytons))
Now We Are Six (King John and the india-rubber ball)
The Wind in the Willows
The Secret Garden
Treasure island
Coral island
King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table (in the telling by Roger Lancelyn Green)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (RLG again)
Those trainspotting books with lists of engine numbers
Looking at History by RJ Unstead, the history of England in 4 parts (given me, one a year, by my godfather, which I still have)
A book on Don John and the Battle of Lepanto (which was strange and thrilling)

By 12 I was moving on to The Dambusters, Reach for the Sky, The Wooden Horse, etc, but they belong to a different mind-set.

GP – That is a lovely photo.

[AB76]

Russell wrote: "My favorites from 6 to 12 overlap a lot with other people’s:

The Eagle of the Ninth (and every other Rosemary Sutcliffe, but that was the best)
Swallows and Amazons (ditto)
Just William (ditto)
Fa..."

loved treasure island and wind in the willows too, i'm realising how many books i left off my list now!

[MK]

On this side of the Atlantic, I don't recall any early reading - not even the Nancy Drew series. However, one of my best presents ever was a subscription to Little Lulu probably about age 7. She was such a feisty girl (plenty of youtube animations) and .

Of course I also know where my mystery bent comes from - my parents' subscriptions to Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazines.

[Gpfr]

Don't remember all my early favourites, but here goes ( several overlaps, too):

Winnie-the-Pooh
Little Grey Rabbit
various Beatrix Potter
Milly-Molly-Mandy
The Famous Five
Swallows and Amazons
I Wanted a Pony
The Secret Garden
Ballet Shoes
What Katy Did
Anne of Green Gables
annuals like Rupert Bear

[Lass]

Don’t think I can recall what was quite my earliest book, but do recall parents looking on me, fondly as I read. Have a feeling the book was maybe upside down! Still have battered copies of Little Women, Heidi and Heidi Grows up, along with a collection of Bobbsey Twins, which those of you across the pond may recall? My late Dad, used to buy them for me. No idea where he had heard of them.

[Lass]

And of course, the Katy books.