1001-Library Books

 In a bid to get some of the 1001 books that I donated to the 1001-library  moving, I decided to organise two bookboxes for British readers.  The first was postal bookbox, the second a virtual bookbox.  Both started with 15 books and the idea was that people could choose what they want and then pass it on.  I must admit, I also like to pass on books I have enjoyed to a good home.  I look forward to seeing what others feel about these books.

1001-Library UK Bookbox :

This started with 16 books - 

1. Foucault's Pendulum - Umberto Eco's great book.  I read this a few years ago, tough going at time because of all the references, but worth it.

2. A Kestral for a Knave (Kes)  - better known as Kes, the name of the film.  A snapshot of English life, one that, despite the age of book, is easily understood.  

3. Brideshead Revisited  - another book I came to after seeing the adaptation (ITV), the decline of a British Catholic family.

4. The Nine Tailors (Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries) great to see a mystery on the list.  Having lived across from a cathedral, I enjoyed this very much.  The bells, the bells

5. Sputnik Sweetheart this arrived in one of my bookboxes, I read it a while back, another good book from a great writer.

6.Sons and Lovers  - a freebie from The Times.  I was quickly drawn into the plot, very descriptive.

7. The Twins

 - I read this about 5 years ago, having been given it by a friend and found it was on the list.  Twins separated by war, and their meeting, not one of the heavier reads on the list.

8. Call of the Wild: AND White Fang (Wordsworth Classics) (diff. cover)

 - I loved this when I read it first as a child.  For me, one of the great children's classics that can also be enjoyed by adults. 

9.North and South and 10. Cranford   - 2 Gaskell books I put in the box.  I read both while travelling last year and really liked the way Gaskell comments on the life at the time, England on the cusp of great change. 

11. The Secret History - one of my favourites on the list.  I read this at uni, starting in the afternoon, and finishing at dawn.  Excellently written, the dark side of youth. 

12. The Crow Road

 - this has to be one of my favourite books.  I reach for it to reread because I love its darkness, the human relationships.   

13. Schooling   - I had this on my shelf for ages, but now I don't know why I never picked it up.  As with other books on the list, this deals with the dark side of adolescence, in this case a girl at boarding school in England.

14. Fugitive Pieces  - another of my top recommendations from the list.  Again, I read this book in a day, mainly because I became very affected by the story.  Brilliant.

15. - The Unconsoled  - written by one of my other favourite authors, but very different to his other work.  Takes longer to get into, but good.

16. Birdsong  - the horrors of the trenches, told in a, at times, terribly descriptive style.

And the second was a VBB, so people could choose only what they wanted without paying loads of postage.  It started with 10 books I had registered and 6 from blackwidow1971 .

My books:

1.Alias Grace  - Atwoods tale of a murderous maid

2. The White Tiger   - a letter from an Indian businessman to the Chinese Premier
3. Of  Love and Shadows   - from the Chilean writer, Isabel Allende
4. Power and the Glory   - Greene takes his tales of intrigue to the New World
5. Tarka the Otter (Puffin Story Books) - another classic children's book.

6. The Kingdom of the World   - the Caribbean in turmoil, revolution in the air.
7. Pereira Maintains   - life under Salazar, an editor starts to question his life and what is happening around him.
8. Small Island   - West Indian immigrants in Post War London, trying to make a new life for themselves.
9. The Hound of the Baskervilles   - Conan Doyle's classic whodunnit.
 10. Sexing the Cherry - my first Winterston book, but certainly won't be my last.  Very thin book, but powerfully written.

And from blackwidow1971:
1. Out of Africa and Shadows on the Grass
2. The Plot Against America  
3. Looking for the Possible Dance

4. Rituals (King Penguin)

5. The Unbearable Lightness of Being
6. Three Lives (Twentieth Century Classics)