The Book Club

I was killing time in a local bookshop the other day, when I spotted a copy of Virginia Andrews' "Flowers in the Attic" on sale. Well you know that I just had to grab it!! I remember reading Flowers in the Attic when I was about 12 years old. It was the first real "grown up" novel I ever read and I LOVED it!! I remember saving my birthday and Christmas money to buy the sequels (Petals on the Wind, If there be Thorns and Seeds of Yesterday - I still remember them!), and just devouring the story of Christopher, Cathy, Carrie and Cory Dollanganger.

The book was not as racey as I remember it being, but still is a good story. Reading it as an adult and as a mother, gave the story a whole new angle for me, which was nice - it made it feel kind of like reading it for the first time.

So having finished the book, I got to thinking about the other stories of my childhood and adolescence that are stand outs. I wonder what it would be like to read them again as a grown up? I have made a little list and I am going to go to the library over the next few weeks and track them down for another go around. I think I'll get a bit of a giggle out of some of them

So my list is -

- The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson - I remember the day I was allowed to borrow from the "big kids" section of the school library (I was in year one at primary school and the only one in my class that was allowed to borrow from anywhere other than the "infants" section!), I was so very excited and I took forever to make my choice. I took the book home and I remember crying when I read it. This was the first time I remember being amazed that a story could seem so real.

- Will There Really be a Morning? by Francis Farmer - I read this book when I was around 10. I was home sick from school and being looked after by my Aunty. She told me I could lay down on the spare bed and read something from her book shelf. On the cover was a beautiful blonde lady who looked a little like photos I had seen on my grandmother when she was younger - which I think is why it caught my eye. Looking back I think the book may have been waaaaayyyyy too grown up for me! I was horrified and stunned and could not put the book down.

- Pet Cemetary by Stephen King - I think I was only barely in high school when I read this - so maybe 11? It started my life long love of all things horror! I now have two entire shelves on one of my bookcases dedicated to King alone. Funnily, I never did read this book again after the first time....

- Child of the Morning by Pauline Gedge - I was in year 10 (around 15 years old) when I read this for a book report for my English class. It is the story of Queen Hatshepsut - the first femal Pharoah of Egypt. I was so inspired by this woman, and felt so empowered after reading her story. It helped that my English teacher was also a published Historian and feminist who was familiar with this figure. She loaned me some books on the Queen and further fuelled my passion for the story, history and english (she was truly a remarkable teacher!). This was my first taste of KNOWING that I was a woman and I could do anything!

Do you remember the books that stand out from your childhood? Do you remember what you thought / how you felt when reading them? Have you read them as an adult and did your thoughts feelings change?

Dont forget that next week I will be reviewing Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L James. I have to admit, I was so captivated by this book that I made my husband buy me the second and third books for Mothers Day!! Holy Cow, what a trilogy!!

Until then, Happy Reading!