The Malu Literature Challenge (Top Ten Non Fiction Books)

Member Name: Shazzy

Product:	Top Ten Non Fiction Books
Date:	14/11/03 (61 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: If you've got a good book to hand, you'll never be bored

Disadvantages: If you live in a small house you quickly run out of space

This opinion has been written as part of Malu’s challenge. Why not join in the fun? Just copy the questions and add your own answers.


~ What is your favourite genre?

To be honest, I find the thought of a favourite genre rather scary. There may well be a genre that I read more than others but if that’s so, and even I don’t knew whether it is, it’s purely coincidental. I’d worry that if I started to pidgeon hole myself by saying that I favour this or that (or even a bit of the other), I’d subconsciously starve myself of lots of great books. I’m a book-a-holic who would read a book about anything and by anybody rather than read nothing at all. And anyway, if it wasn’t for reading books I didn’t think I’d enjoy, I’d never have read half the books I love.


~ Do you read the classics, the great authors of the 18th and 19th century?

Who are the great authors? Dickens, Hardy, The Bronte Sisters? Surely an author’s greatness is subjective?

I didn’t go to school much from the age of 13 onwards so was never forced to read the classics and consequently never really gave them much thought until well into adulthood. I did read ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ when I was quite young though and when Kate Bush hit the charts with ‘Wuthering Heights’ I tried reading Emily’s book but confess to not getting far. I’m currently reading ‘Pride & Prejudice’ by Jane Austen. Whether or not she’s a great author I really couldn’t say until I’ve finished the book but it’s a classic (it says so on the cover - ‘Penguin Popular Classics’) so I guess the answer’s yes.


~ Are you interested in thrillers?

What’s meant by interested? Do I have a special interest that reaches beyond simply reading them? No, not at all. I do read them though; is that interest en
ough? I read a lot of Desmond Bagley during the 80s and, if they count as thrillers (I’m never sure of where one genre ends and another begins), I got through a few of Peter Robinson’s ‘Inspector Banks’ series whilst laid up in hospital recently and finished Patricia Cornwell’s rather disappointing debut ‘Post Mortem’ just a few weeks ago.


~ What about horror stories?

They’re scary and they make things go bump in the night. Seriously, a good horror can take some beating but unfortunately, there’s a lot of dodgy stuff out there. I love old Victorian ghost stories but what really amazes me with horror is how the authors come up with the ideas in the first place. I mean, there are some pretty weird ideas behind the likes of Stephen King and James Herbert. Incidentally, ‘Others’, by James Herbert, was the last horror I read and it was excellent!


~ Do you read Science Fiction?

No, not as a rule. Not because I don’t want to but because I rarely come across anything that tickles my fancy. I read George Orwell’s ‘1984’ back in the 70s although only because everybody seemed to be reading it at the time, but on the whole my knowledge of science fiction is pretty scant.


~ How many Harry Potter books have you read?

None, and for the time being, that’s the way I intend it to stay. The same goes for ‘Lord of The Rings’ and everything Terry Pratchett’s ever written. One day I might get the urge, I learned a long time ago never to say never, but I can’t see it happening in the foreseeable future.


~ Have you ever read and enjoyed biographies or autobiographies?

Absolutely. I’m always curious about other people’s lives; it’s a substantial part of what being a woman’s about, isn’t it? I’m not even particularly fussy about who’s sou
l's being bared either. Rich and famous or just ordinary old Jack On The Street, people’s lives are always interesting.

Actually, I’m not quite as nosy as that sounds. I’m not particularly interested in people’s dirty washing unless it’s of some relevance to a major life-changing event, but dirty secrets just for the sake of them, no thanks. And although books that cram in every aspect of a person’s life are all well and good, some even very good, I tend to prefer those that, although not (auto)biographies in the strictest sense, deal with a certain aspect of a person’s life, such as their career, as in Paul Britton’s ‘The Jigsaw Man’, or the fulfilment of a dream, as in Chris Stewart’s ‘Driving Over Lemons’.


~ Do you remember any of the books you read and loved as a child?

Definitely! Doesn’t everybody? I mean, marvellous authors such as Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton and wonderful stores like ‘Black Beauty’, ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’ and ‘The Railway Children’ are surely all once read, never forgotten?

I wonder how many remember the first book they ever read? I certainly don’t, although it was probably a ladybird book about Jill & John or something similar.


~ Have you reread these books as a grown-up?

I’ve often wanted to but I’m not sure they’re meant to be read by the analytical minds of grown-ups, with the possible exception of ‘Gulliver’s Travels’. They’re perfectly happy to live on as memories and why change something that’s fine the way it is?


~ Is there a book of which you can say it has influenced you?

Oh yeah, for sure! Books are more than just fiction aren’t they? Surely everybody’s been influenced by factual books at some time or another? After all, lots of them are de
liberately written to influence us (just think of all those make-over books).


~ Which are you favourite authors?

I generally steer clear of anything that expects me to name a favourite because I find them so difficult to answer. Favourites change depending on moods, don’t they? One day it could be a toss up between Bill Bryson and P.G. Wodehouse, the second day it may well be Anne Holt or Agatha Christie and the third may find me longing to read some Graham Masterson or Dean Koontz and so it would continue. In a world full of talented writers, how can anybody possibly choose just one favourite?


~ Which book would you take with you on a desert island?

May Grete Lerum’s ‘Livets Døtre’ (Life’s Daughters). Apologies to those who’ve never heard of it, let alone read it, but there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind. It’d keep me entertained for a while as it’s in 55 instalments, all of which can be read as stand alones but far better when read from beginning to end as it’s a saga following a fictional Norwegian family from the early 18th century through to the present day. Lerum is, in my opinion, nothing short of genius for the way she portrays her strong female characters and their lives; women who I’d no doubt find inspirational if stuck on a desert island on my tod. I’d probably end up talking to them but that’s besides the point.


~ What is your attitude towards translations?

I don’t really have an attitude as such although I’m sure the world would be a poorer place without them. Sure, some of the original ‘feel’ can be lost in translation but I’d rather lose a little than the whole thing.


~ Do you buy, borrow or steal your books?

Judging by the amount of overdue fines we pay in this household, I sometimes think we’re solely responsible for keeping our local lib
rary in new stock. We do buy lots of books too, car boot sales are a great source of cheap books, but we have a huge storage problem so far too many end up in the loft. Small houses should be illegal!


~ Do you prefer hardcover editions or pocket books?

I don’t really have a clear preference. Hardbacks look better on a shelf and will probably still be around long after paperbacks have been sent for recycling but paperbacks are more comfortable to read and fit nicely into my handbag. I’m really not fussy, just as long as what’s written between the covers is worth reading.


~ Have you ever tried Audio Books?

No. My son has them because he can’t read but they don’t appeal to me. They’re certainly a valuable alternative to the written word though.



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