Top 10 Rebels...

Oh wow, top 10 rebels in literature...  the Top Ten Meme by The Broke and the Bookish...  what an exciting list to think of.  I suppose my idea of a rebel who is someone who stands up for what they believe when everyone around them is following a different line...

1.  Harry, Hermione and Ron in J K Rowling's wonderful series.  When everything is against them, they still come back standing up for love, truth and dignity and fighting against evil and brutality.

2.  Lyra in Northern Lights, I just love how this child has the courage of her convictions to stand up against adults and to try to protect and save her friends and later to give up her own happiness to save the worlds.

3.  Mary in The Secret Garden.  She is an unhappy unwanted orphan who through her courage to do what is right, brings happiness back into a house and the lives of its very unhappy occupants.

4.  Hiccup in How to Train Your Dragon...  well yes, I suppose I am a child at heart, but it is really cool the way he succeeds in changing his whole village from wanting to kill dragons to actually liking them.  What can I say, I like dragons!

5.  Toad from Wind in the Willows.  I know he is a complete scalliwag and gets everyone into trouble even ends up in jail but at the end of everything, his heart is in the right place.

6.  Anne in Anne of Greengables.  Oh I loved this strong minded girl with her clear views on life.

7.  Salander in the trilogy by Stieg Larsson.  I really enjoyed this wonderful woman.  She is so resilient and when things go wrong has the most amazing computer hacking skills and survival instincts.

8.  Snape in Harry Potter series... Oh I really loathed Snape, he was truly dispicable, and then my feelings for him were turned on their head as I read about his death and heard his story and his life long love for Lily Evans.

9.  Scarlett in Gone with the Wind.  A strong woman who is willing to do just about anything to succeed.

10.  Princess Mononoke in the Studio Ghibli film of the same name...  I know this is slightly rebellious as it is a movie not a book.  But she is truly amazing in her fight for justice and nature.

This was a great list to compile.  

On My Bookshelf (1)...

Having started joining in with the meme In My Mailbox... on a Sunday which is a lot of fun...  but it made me think... I have a large collection of books... many I have read... many I intend to read... many on the To Be Read pile... but others languish On My Bookshelf...  they may have been read or they may be patiently gathering dust while they wait...  some I hope to review over coming months... while others may not be reviewed (after all there are well over 4,000 titles to choose from)...

The House of the Wolfings

by William Morris

first published 1888, republished 2003

The Roots of the Mountains

by William Morris

first published 1889, republished 2003

"If you like Tolkien's Aragorn, if you admire the bravery of the Riders of Rohan, if you long for more adventure in an unspoiled wilderness, or if you wish Tolkien had more romances between men and women, then you will be delighted by this tale from William Morris."

Oh yes, yes, yes...  

Another pair of books on my forever wishlist arrived with me... well, umm, a while ago and yes, I fully intend to read them... just not quite sure when...  What a talented man William Morris was... an amazing designer, business man and author of some of the first fantasy novels...

In my Mailbox (1)

I am new to In My Mailbox meme run by the Story Siren which is one that really appeals to me...

Oh I wish I had a pretty mailbox that would be able to hold my parcels... but in the event of not being at home to accept deliveries it is more likely to be In Blue Bin which is usually scrawled across the Royal Mail Card...  saves a trip down to the sorting office and a long queue waiting to collect the package...

I know I have eclectic tastes and my book choices run through all sorts of genres...  This week:

The Summer of the Bear 

by Bella Pollen

I saw an interview with the author on the Book Show and thought this would be an enjoyable read.

"In the summer of 1979, a tamed grizzly bear is tempted by the lure of freedom and the wild open sea...

Meanwhile, the sudden death of British diplomat Nicky Fleming has left his wife closed down with shock.  Relocated from Cold War - riven Germany to a remote Hebridean island, Letty Fleming is haunted by the unthinkable - was it an accident, murder or suicide?  And how can she ever begin to explain to her three children that their father may have betrayed his country?

As the family's secrets threaten to tear them apart, it is only the strange but brilliant Jamie who manages to hold on to the one thing he knows for sure:  his father has promised to return, and Nicky Fleming was a man who never broke a promise..."

The Man Whom the Trees Loved

by Algernon Blackwood

written in 1912 and republished by Dodo Press

Oh I am bouncing up and down with excitement about the arrival of this short book (only 70 pages).

"Algernon Blackwood was a master of tales of the supernatural.  His horror stories... seek to induce a sense of awe... and are masterpieces of atmosphere, construction and suggestion."

Between Shades of Gray

by Ruta Sepetys

"Between Shades of Gray is an extraordinary and haunting novel based on first hand family accounts and memories from survivors of Stalin's purges.  Its story will steal your breath and capture your heart."

The Leaping Hare

by George Ewart Evans & David Thomson

I have wanted this book for such a long time.  I really love books about folklore and myths and fairy tales.  I also just adore hares.  This book has been on my wishlist for such a long time.

"A reissue of a rare and remarkable book about every aspect of the life and legend of the wild hare - in nature, poetry, folklore, history and art.  Much of it is drawn from the oral testimony of countrymen (including poachers) still living when the book was written."

What's the best you can do?

What's the best you can do?  First-hand Recollections of a Second-hand Bookseller written by Derek Rowlinson

This was a hilarious read.  Mr Rowlinson, ran a second-hand bookshop in Bangor, Co Down, (Northern Ireland) for many years.  This book was an autobiographical glimpse into his experiences buying books, and selling books to the general book buying populace.  I don't know if I ever actually went into his bookshop before he closed it.  I do hope I did.  

I just have to mention a couple of quotes from the book to give a flavour of this unexpected page turner... 

in a chapter called "General Ignorance" on page 41...

"Coming up to Christmas I overheard one woman ask her friend in a broad Belfast accent "What d'ye want to buy him that for?  Sure he's already got a book.""

in a chapter entitled "Meanness" on page 63...

"I shall never forget the woman who stood at the bookshop window with a Chinese carry-out in one hand and armful of video rentals in the other, whilst her little daughter pointed at a fifty pence children's book I had on display.  "We haven't got money to waste on that," she told the girl peevishly, and shooed her along."

Late in the evening as I finished this short but pleasurable read I found myself thinking how lucky I was to have a mother who also loved reading and encouraged my brother, sister and I to read by using the "Teach Your Baby to Read" system that she bought in the late 1960's.  I can still remember the black and golden coloured box that it came in.

Fascinating to see the different perspective of a second-hand bookshop from the viewpoint of the bookseller in comparison to the person like me who loves to browse their shelves on wet afternoons looking for an out of print delight, although, I often find it easier to find the book online, a second-hand bookshop is an experience for all of the senses. 

Hmmm... Book Numbers...

Booking Through Thursday

Size Matters

What's the largest your personal library has ever been?  What's the greatest number of books you've ever owned at one time?  (Estimates are fine.)

Is your collection NOW the biggest it's ever been?  Or have you down-sized?

What's the fewest number of books you've ever owned (not counting your pre-reading years)?

Gosh...  Tricky questions.  I have always preferred not to actually count all my books because that might make me realise I probably have more books than I actually need.  This is only an estimate because I didn't venture into the attic which also has shelving for books...  I have 10 large bookcases (6 shelves per book case and 1 metre wide).  The novels, autobiographies etc are packed fill their shelves at 2 books deep and averaging 15 books high...  approximately 30 shelves of these 2700 books... and about 30 shelves of non-fiction including recipe books, gardening, art, knitting, patchwork, historty etc...  Okay, that works out at approximately 4000 books in our house (I haven't included all the books that live on shelves in the attic nor all my books that have crept down to inhabit bookshelves in my mum's house... they would be another story for another day)...

I think I can quite honestly say that my book collection is the largest it has ever been.  Now and again, I try to send a few to the charity shop or I sell a few on Amazon but invariable a month later I am searching for the book that I thought I no longer wanted.  I do try periodically to get rid of books that I don't think I will read again or the odd book that I thought I would enjoy reading but never did.  No choice really because I am running out of space and do have piles of books sitting around in front of book cases and use the tops of the bookcases as additional bookcase shelving.

I cannot remember not having books.  My mum always had lots of books.  When we were in our early teens my brother and I used to love going around all the second hand bookshops in Smithfield Market looking for new interesting ones to read.  Then I went to university and continued working my way around the second hand bookshops in Leeds.  When I was travelling home...  (my mum had a friend of a friend who offered to put my stuff into the back of their lorry on their way back from dropping off a load)  I think he was a little shocked when my boxes of books started to come down the 4 flights of stairs...  I even got rid of half of my clothes as I knew I only had a certain amount of space... but the books all came home with me.

I suppose the thing that has changed is what I like to read...  I don't read the classics Hardy, Austen, Dickens etc quite as often as I should and find myself reaching for a fantasy novel more often...

Enjoying the process...

I am really enjoying reading The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle.  About one third of the way through the novel which is written from the Unicorn's point of view (and she has a wonderful personality).

As I sat in the garden in the shade of the lilac tree reading the novel...  I wondered how people read 5+ novels in a week.  Have they found a method of speed reading or do they never sleep?  

It was such a lovely warm day here.  A change from the rain that has pelted down for most of this summer.  One thing I've learned about wet Northern Irish summers is that we need to enjoy the sunshine when it comes out from behind the clouds as it will not last all that long until the next heavy downpour (which drove me, my book and my chair indoors again).

Too many Choices...

After some thought I decided that I would like a to be read pile.  I think it will help to narrow down my choices of which books I want to read next and next and next...

I have chosen some old favourites as well as a few new books that I have been intending to read for a long time and have had sitting in a pile on the floor by the side of my bed.

Now I need to decide which to start with.  I think it will have to be The Last Unicorn written by Peter S. Beagle.  I first read this book when I was in my early teens and really loved it.  That copy has long since disintegrated and this book is the 4oth Anniversary Edition that I treated myself to a couple of years ago.