Wednesday 30 October 2013

Step with me into another realm ...

For once, this post has nothing to do with wirework, jewellery making, colour, or any of the other things involved with my main obsession - although it does affect it indirectly, in the form of occasional inspiration.

Like many people, my first love has always been books.  Specifically, reading fiction - tales spun from someone else's imagination, and crafted into a story with passion and skill.  From the moment I first learned to read, books have provided a way into a fantastic realm, occasionally a way to escape from every day life, and - often without realising it at the time - a way to learn.


That delicious joy of curling up in the warm on a cold, rainy Sunday, with what is basically a pile of paper and ink, and allowing it to transport you to somewhere you have never been before - or perhaps, somewhere you have been and are keen to revisit - is for me, without equal.  When I find a new author whose writing sucks me in and makes me feel, it's a two-fold pleasure, because not only do I have their current work to savour, there is always the likelihood that there will be more to come.  Or if there is no anticipation of new work, there's often a back-list to search out and devour.

For me, the most important part of a novel is the characters.  The plot is important - after all, you haven't really got a story without one - but if the writer can't make me believe in the characters, laugh when they laugh, cry when they cry, then for me they've failed.  But when they succeed - oh my, they've got me for life!  (At least when it comes to re-reading - I will freely admit I have abandoned authors when they've lost me along the way somehow.)


So what I would really like to know is what is your favourite novel/series?  Don't be shy - I'm no snob when it comes to reading (or music).  If it has value to you, then it's worthy.  My favourite books have been The Wraeththu trilogy by Storm Constantine since I was a teenager - I fell in love with the characters and I've never fallen out of love with them.  The books are fantasies set in a post-apocalyptic world and they are all character-driven, with a central love story running through all three.  The characters get their share of heartbreak and joy, and as a reader, so do I.


So please share with me the book(s) that you'd have to take to that fictional desert island - I am always looking to be sucked into another realm ... :)


Credits for royalty free photos:

Books Isolated by Supertrooper
Without Fear by Jennifer Ellison
Forests in Danger by xedos4

14 comments:

Unknown said...

I have to say, if I could only everyread one series of books ever again, it would be Harry Potter. I can't help it, I'm a Potterhead! Love it. JK Rowling was pobably the best thing to happen to my childhood! And I still listen to the books probably 3 times a year at least... I would read them, but I can make stuff while listening :D

I also love Stephen King's books, he is brilliant. Oh, and The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern quickly became one of my favourite books when I read it earier this year - she needs to write more books now!

Louise said...

Ah, Harry Potter - I've read them all, too (although I was an adult when I started them!). I think JK Rowling was also the best thing to happen to the children's book scene - that mad rush to buy each new book was such a fabulous encouragement to children to read!

I love some of Stephen King's earlier books, too - The Talisman is one of my all-time top 10. :)

Not heard of Erin Morgenstern, so I shall have to seek her out - thank you so much for joining in and sharing. I do love books! xx

Unknown said...

Well where do I start all Harry Potter, all Stephen King live bag of bones, Dean Koontz. "The Mist of Avalon" is awesome. True blood books, The Hobbit and I can go on.and on.

Unknown said...

Well where do I start all Harry Potter, all Stephen King live bag of bones, Dean Koontz. "The Mist of Avalon" is awesome. True blood books, The Hobbit and I can go on.and on.

Kim said...

The Lord of the Rings is my favorite series. I also love David Eddings, Terry Brooks, A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, all the Harry Potter books, Mercedes Lackey and Anne McCaffrey (her Pern dragon books are my favorites), Anne Bishop, Patricia Briggs, Molly Harper is hilarious, Melanie Rawn, the Hunger Games trilogy, I could go on , but that should give you a good start lol. I love books, and I am a voracious reader - beads and books are tied for my favorite way to spend my spare time.

Louise said...

Oh yes, I loved some of Dean Koontz's earlier stuff, Emma, and I read most of the Sookie books, too. :)

Lots of fabulous fantasy there, Kim - never heard of Molly Harper or Melanie Rawn, will have to check them out. Beads, books and wire - ah, heaven ... :)

LostnThought said...

Bruce Coville's The Unicorn Chronicles. My daughter brought the first book (Into the Land of Unicorns) home when she was in 7th or 8th grade. I was bored one rainy day and decided to read it. WOW the man has a way of describing and telling the story so intense that you are instantly transported to the land of Luster and I love love loved it! I ended up getting all the books as soon as they came out and counted down until the next one!
He has other stories/books but I stuck just to the unicorn ones.

Louise said...

Ooh, another one I haven't heard of - I shall have a look for that one too! :)

Kirsty.A said...

I have to second HP and Deborah Harkness. I've just stsrted the Night Circus. I have to recommend Jostein Gaarder (read The Christmas zmystery in Advent) but my alltime faves areclassics; Little Women, Rebecca and Jane Eyre

Louise said...

I will add Jostein Gaarder to my list, Kirsty - thank you! I love Little Women, I've read it loads of times, but not recently, I shall have to rectify that. :)

HollybirdBeads said...

My favourite has to be the His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman. Inventive, fantastical yet also real, and they mix science and religion in a way that I find very beautiful. I think I actually need to read them all again after writing this comment!

Louise said...

I read the first one, and remember thinking it was great - but for some reason I never got as far as the second one. I have a feeling I've still got it somewhere, so I shall dig out the first one and read it again. Isn't it fabulous the way writers can touch your heart and make you feel such a connection with their characters? Thank you for that, Nicole! :)

Dawn said...

Dissolution by C J Sansom is brilliant. I love medieval murder mysteries, and this one - first of a series - ticks all the boxes. Just one of those can't put down books. :-)

Louise said...

Ah, that sounds interesting, Dawn - I haven't read many medieval mysteries, although I'm a sucker for fiction set in that period. Thank you! :)