Last week I mentioned that I was reading The Wolves of Willoughby Chase sequence again and quite a few of you lovely people have commented in various places about how they’d loved these books (well, obvs, as I have excellent taste). So, in the spirit of this I shall be sharing more of my childhood favourite series for your education and entertainment or something. I still have all of them on my shelves upstairs or on my Kindle. What have I missed though?
The Dark is Rising sequence – Susan Cooper. Quite Arthurian, set in Cornwall, Wales and Buckinghamshire. Do not watch the film, which was bloody awful despite a good cast.
Little House series – Laura Ingalls Wilder. Pioneering America, heavily romanticised. As an adult all that moving around must have been quite stressful for poor Ma, but it seemed exciting at the time.
The Maggie books – Joan Lingard. For older children, set in Scotland with a side quest to Canada.
Anne of Green Gables series – L. M. Montgomery. Poor Anne-with-an-E, with the carrotty hair and the trials and tribulations.
The Moomins series – Tove Jansson. Family-oriented trolls living in Moominvalley, hibernating through the winter and surviving Hemulens, Grokes and the Hobgoblin. If I ever have a craft shop it’ll be called The Hobgoblin’s Hat. I already named one of the Things after the author.
The Narnia books – C.S.Lewis. I spent a lot of time looking in old wardrobes but failed to find the lamp-post.
The Worst Witch series – Jill Murphy. Poor Mildred Hubble. I don’t blame her for turning Ethel into a pig. She deserved it.
Nancy Drew mysteries – Carolyn Keene. All of these were returned to me a couple of years ago and there will be a full reread. Nancy Drew is still about in various forms but I’m very old school about these and have no truck with them.
The Green Knowe books – Lucy M. Boston. Still haven’t managed to visit.
Willard Price’s Adventure series. So exciting. Everything I know about how to capture birds of paradise is thanks to Hal and Roger Hunt. So far I haven’t had a chance to use this knowledge. I don’t still have these, and suspect that they may not have aged well.
There were many more, of course, and lots of standalone novels that live in my memory and occasionally bubble up (meaning I need to go and find them again and re-read) – but that will be a post for another day.
Other things making me happy this week:
- Chilly walk with friends and hounds
- Lurking in my lair
- Booking in things to look forward to in what’s turning out to be a gloomy January (no snow here!)
- Family snow-watch – the one in NI won
- Optimistic graffiti in Angel
- Catching up with the work gang
- Other people cooking dinner
This week has a private view at the Soane, Thing 2 promising to cook on Monday, shortlisting for our Community Gardener, starting the Attic24 Wildshore Blanket CAL – it’s all go!
Kirsty x
What I’ve been reading:
Is/Cold Shoulder Road – Joan Aiken
All of a Winter’s Night – Phil Rickman (Audible)
The Lost Paths – Jack Cornish
The Great Deception – Syd Moore
The Dead of Winter – Sarah Clegg
What Kirsty did next 