My Favourite Books

In honour of World Book Day, I'm rehashing an old post of mine that I wrote for a blogging challenge back in 2011 when I was asked to name my three favourite books. However, naming just three books that are my favourites is nearly impossible so I just ignored it. Here are the books that I could read over and over again:

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Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass: This is an easy choice for me, I have loved both of these books since I was a small child. I keep hoping that one day I'll fall down that rabbit hole and end up in Wonderland myself.

It all started when I was three years old, I would watch the Disney version over and over again, just repeatedly pressing the VHS tape in (Remember - be kind, rewind). I even had multiple copies of the film, just in case in my haste to rewind one of them broke. I then had them read to me, and then began reading them myself. Don't ask me how many times, I don't know the answer!

My love of Alice in Wonderland is well known and the icing on the cake for me was when I was asked to pose as Alice for a fashion shoot.

Jessica Stone Photography

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series: Yes, I am one of the millions of children who grew up reading Harry Potter. I waited anxiously for every book, and was never disappointed. And I remember getting every one!

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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone: At the sixth grade book fair!

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I read the first one so quickly that I was able to go back to that same book fair and purchase Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: I was in Indiana visiting my grandparents at the time. They went to the supermarket for me and picked it up. I scarcely left my room that day (pretty sure I even had my meals in there).

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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: I wasn't feeling well the day it came out, and was disappointed as  I wanted to go out and get it. My mom was out shopping and she brought it back in a gift bag!

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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Also a present from my mom, although I don't remember if it came in a gift bag. Knowing her, probably. :)

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: I was in Barnes and Noble Bookstore on the 20th of July 2007, waiting for the midnight bell to chime the 21st so that I could collect my order. I figured I should do it at least once! And I'm very glad I did!

For more of my thoughts on Harry Potter, please read A Harry Potter Summer.

Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones: I read this Junior year of high school in my American Literature class (thank you Ms. Starry!) and absolutely fell in love. It is not the lightest of reads, but if you don't mind being a bit unsettled then I'd recommend it! (And don't bother watch the film, it's crap -- for lack of a better word)

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One Day by David Nicholls. My newest edition to the list! I remember when it come out last year being intrigued but I had so many books on my 'to read' list that I decided to read it later. By the time later came, I forgot about it. Thankfully, the film came out and I was reminded about it. (I have yet to see the film).

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Labyrinth and Sepulchre by Kate Mosse are absolutely fantastic! I love how they dive back and forth between modern and the middle ages (in the case of Labyrinth) and turn-of-the-century (in the case of Sepulchre). These books have everything: intrigue, murder, love, a touch of fantasy, and my favourite aspect - history. Luke introduced me to Labyrinth, for which I'm very grateful or I never would have found either of them.

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Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island: Various stories from Bill Bryson's tour of England (before moving back to America) is epic. That's right I used the word epic to describe this work. I actually laughed out loud when reading this, not once but on several occasions. He's so witty! I wish I could write about my experiences in England with as much talent. (I suppose that's why he gets paid the big bucks and I don't) His other books are worth mention as well. As The Times says "not a book that should be read in public, for fear of emitting loud snorts".

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Stephen Clarke's A Year in the Merde: Another laugh out loud read! I read this while living in France, another Luke recommendation. It is all about an English man who moves to Paris. Stephen Clarke's cultural observations on the French are spot on, and most of the time barely exaggerated. The sequels: Merde Actually, Merde Happens, and Dial 'M' for Merde are also worth nods, but in my opinion they weren't quite as good as he original.

So there you have it! Some of my favourite books of all time. If you're looking for something to read, I would confidently recommend any from this list!

Erin x

Born on the Fourth of July

It was on this day in 1776 that the Continental Congress officially adopted the Declaration of Independence declaring independence from Great Britain. Of course, it took a little thing known as the Revolutionary War to really get the message across to the Brits. Thankfully they don't hold grudges and we have that "special relationship" that allows us to be friends today.

Uncle Sam and John Bull

All over America this day will be celebrated by thousands of barbecues (I can practically smell the charcoaled hot dogs) and red, white, and blue cakes. Inevitably, after one too many beers drunken renditions of patriotic songs will pop up, which let's be honest are must better than their sober counterparts. My friends favourite was the highly inappropriate theme song from Team America, which if you're easily offended I wouldn't bother looking up. Alas in the United Kingdom, the Fourth of July means none of these things and I'll have to go another year without my hot dog and drunken renditions.

The Fourth of July saw the birth of a nation in America, but in the United Kingdom it was the birth of another great. On this day in 1862, in a rowing boat on the River Thames, somewhere between Oxford and Godstow, Lewis Carroll was telling a story that got curiouser and curiouser by the minute to Alice Liddell and her sisters. This story would become the basis for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, one of my all time favourite books.

John Tenniel's A Mad Tea Party

So less we forget, today we celebrate the birth of two greats - the United States of America and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. A truly great day to celebrate!

 

Erin x

Through The Looking Glass

As of this past Thursday Luke is officially a graduate of the University of Manchester (with a 2.1 no less) and I'm so happy I was able to attend the ceremony. I have only ever attended a graduation ceremony that I took part in, so it was nice to sit in on one from a different perspective. The ceremony occurred in Whitworth Hall, a location Luke and I had visited on our trip around the uni. I took photos of it in a previous entry, it is the place that looks exactly like Hogwarts!

The ceremony was short and sweet, in fact much shorter than I was expecting - only an hour long in fact. It appears the English have managed to get all the pomp and circumstance into their ceremonies without making them long and drawn out. Something much appreciated as the room was stifling hot.

After the ceremony, I joined Luke's mum, step-dad, grandad, and dad at a pub across the street for a celebratory pint or two before the family sans Luke's dad went out for a lovely Italian dinner at Felicini's in Didsbury (basically a posh suburb of Manchester). Felicini's caters to the more Mediterranean side of Italian cooking, I had stuffed vine leaves for starters (by far the best I have ever had) and pan-fried gnocchi with goat's cheese, spinach, and sun dried tomatoes for my main. Before ending the evening with a selection of ice creams (fig and marscapone; cherry; double chocolate). The meal was the cherry on top to a lovely day!

I found out something new this weekend, July 10th is Alice's Day, a celebration of everything to do with Alice in Wonderland and Lewis Carroll. This knowledge came to me quite by accident. Luke and I are currently at Neil and Nic's watching Oli and Doogal (their previously mentioned Basset Hounds) which is not to far from Oxford. Saturday morning Luke and I were talking about going to Oxford, and he asked me if I had anything in particular I would like to do there. Of course being an Alice fanatic I asked if by chance there were any Alice in Wonderland museums in Oxford, last time I was there I couldn't remember hearing of any. A Google search told us all we had to know.

Alice's Day is described as a frabjous day celebrated in Oxford (birthplace of the story), I'm still unclear if it's celebrated anywhere else. There are a number of activities to choose from. Luke and I went to The Botanic Garden to enjoy a picnic that Luke had packed and watch 'The Hunting of the Snark', a ceremony based on one of Lewis Carroll's nonsensical poems "that charts the impossible voyage of an improbable crew to find an inconceivable creature." The Botanic Garden was a personal favourite of the Liddell family for a day out. Alice Liddell served as inspiration for Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, as it was written for her one summer's afternoon on a family outing along the river.

After our picnic, Luke and I had a wander around Oxford, down to Christ Church (which Carroll was the Dean of). We found the famed Alice's Shop which basically was like walking into a fantasy land for me, everything you could think of in an Alice theme. I had every intention of purchasing a souvenir but it was an incredibly small shop, on an incredibly hot day which meant it was stuffy and unbearable - I left the shop much earlier than I would have liked feeling faint. This was remedied by a stroll around Christ Church Memorial Gardens, where we had an interesting experience watching a demonstration on honey bees. We were able to post up and watch the bees coming in and out of their hives while listening with stethoscopes to their buzzing.

After our walk through the gardens, Luke and I fully intended to go to the Bodleian Library, which was having an exhibition of early edition Alice books, including one illustrated by Salvador Dali. To our dismay we arrived three minutes too late as the library had just shut. Oh well, there is always next year, for a feel an annual tradition coming on!

Alice's Shop with Christ Church in the background.

Erin x