A friend tagged me on Facebook to share the 10 books which have stayed with me in some way. Like me Sandy’s an avid reader so knew I’d be able to rattle off some favourites.

I have to admit though… it was much harder than I expected. And I have *possibly* cheated a little. So, without further ado, my 10 favourite books – in vague chronological order:

1. Almost everything by Enid Blyton

Noddy, The Wishing Chair, Naughty Amelia Jane, The Faraway Tree  (etc) – I still remember (40 years later!) going to the local library to borrow Noddy  books as a child. Enid Blyton (along with my parents) introduced me to books and instilled in me a love of reading.

2. Famous Five and Secret Seven, also by Enid Blyton

I’ve separated these because they came ‘after’ the others. I loved the camaraderie between the boys and girls and they kickstarted my love affair with crime fiction.

3. Trixie Belden novels by Julie Campbell Tatham (and others!)

An early girl-power influence perhaps, but either way, offering up a great (young) female role model.

4. Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsey

I read the book before I saw the movie but I loved both and I was intrigued. I remember when the missing chapter or excerpt was going to be released, I was one of those people hanging out for some insight. Instead…. #meh.

5. Ordinary People by Judith Guest

Again this was a double whammy for me as I loved both the book and the movie. It was one of the saddest books I’ve ever read. A family disintegrating: heartbreakingly painful.

6. Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

The first book that made me laugh out loud. I read it in a sitting and snickered the entire way through. It still makes me giggle. (Less so the film in this instance!)

7. Complete Novels of Jane Austen

Long-term readers of the blog will recall I was shocked at how much I enjoyed Miss Austen’s writing. (So it wasn’t all about Colin Firth after all?!)

8. The Lamorna Wink by Martha Grimes

I love Martha Grimes’ Richard Jury series… indeed I must write something about it. However, this novel stayed with me for all of the wrong reasons. The Superintendent and his band of helpers are investigating a death and disappearance when they discover a child porn ring. Even worse. Snuff films. I read this novel about 15 years ago, but the description of two children dying for the amusement of others is something I will never forget.

9. Room and Lost & Found

Emma Donoghue’s Room  became a fast favourite when I read it a few years ago and I again fell in love with a book written from a child’s perspective just a month or so again via Brooke Davis’s Lost & Found. (Perhaps it’s a To Kill A Mockingbird  throwback!)

10. Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey

I’ve only just finished this book and it touched me beyond comprehension because it gave me some insight into the mind of someone with dementia. Whether Emma Healey’s translation was accurate we may never know but I like to think I got a glimpse of my (late) father’s muddled mind… and it was reassuring.

Anyone else participated in this challenge?