The world lives in lockdown, the future is uncertain, bookshops have closed (boo,hiss) and this is the moment when I intend to start writing about something that never changes: the passionate pursuit of great books—terrific stories so well told that for a moment the real world recedes and all that concerns the reader is the world of the book.
I am awaiting the publication of my own first novel, a book that I hope readers will fall in love with, a story that I trust will both engross and entertain them. That book is called A Most English Princess—but more about that later. Today I want to mention 10 books that started me off a reader, which convinced me that the best moments of life would be spent glued to the page. These are my favorites, pre-age 15. You most likely have your own Starting Gun Ten, and I'd like to hear about them. Here are mine to kick off the discussion:
1. Laura Ingalls Wilder, all, but particularly The Long Winter.
The Long Winter
2. Louise Fitzhugh, Harriet the Spy Harriet the Spy
3. Elizabeth Enright, The Saturdays The Saturdays
4. Lucy Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables Anne of Green Gables
5. E.L.Konigsburg, From the Mixed Up FIles of Mrs Basil E.Frankweiler From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
6. C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
7. Mara Kay, Masha Masha
8. Hester Burton, In Spite of all Terror In Spite of All Terror
9. Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind
10. Nancy Mitford, The Pursuit of Love The Pursuit of Love