Top Ten of Our Mum's Favourite Books!!

Happy Mothers Day!! In honor of Mother's Day we asked our Mum if she would like to make a list of her ten favourite books for us to post for Top Ten Tuesday! So here are her answers! Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and you can find all past and future topics here.

1. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

This was my introduction to the escape of fantasy. A world better and yet more challenging than our own. A world of possibility and overt danger. Our Year 3 primary school teacher read this to us every Friday afternoon a chapter at a time. Still love it.

2. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Having acquired my own copy of The Hobbit, I used to bike to Sarehole Mill to sit and read under a tree Tolkien would have known! I then borrowed The Lord of the Rings from the library. It was a bit of a battle to get as the librarian didn't think I was old enough to manage it. But I fell in love with Middle Earth and I still want to be an elf! I attempted the Silmarillion aged 10 but had to admit defeat there, and didn't read it again until my 40s when it finally made sense.

3. Gobbolino The Witches Cat by Ursula Moray Williams

About a lucky little cat who gets to cheat destiny thanks to his loving sister.

4. Magyk by Angie Sage

Again a fantasy world I love! I read this first as I had a policy of checking books before allowing my children to read anything new (a policy I started with Harry Potter which negative reviews had made me concerned about but found they were brilliant and passed them on). So many brilliant characters in the Magyk series! I love YA Fantasy worlds.

5. The Eragon series by Christopher Paolini

You just cant have one without the others. So, so brilliant. I want to be a Dragon and an Elf.

6. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

The person in history I would most like to meet and spend a day with. Although I'd probably never leave!

7. Biggles and Co. by W.E. Johns

Difficult to pick a favourite from the series as I've read them all (I think). I wanted to be Ginger but I adored Algy, like most fans apparently.  Biggles Special Flying Detective Squad was my idea of the perfect job. How disappointing it was to find the Squad never existed! Looking back at them now I can see a lot of problematic elements (eg. racism).

8. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

My go-to book when I was sad and wanted to believe the foolish/naive could have a happy ending.

9. The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield

One in a series of four books that challenged me. 

10. Zoo Quest to Madagascar by David Attenborough

The first David Attenborough book I ever read and still my favourite. His ability to write and embroider a world inside my head in exquisite detail is matched only by the ability of his voice to do the same. 

You can also find us on Goodreads (Ann and Clare), Facebook and Instagram to keep up with what we are reading.