Books from our childhood/teens....d own Hazy Memory Lane

The 39 steps, books by John Buchan, Sir Walter Scott.

Lovely, nostalgic thread. I loved "The Tale of Humpy Horse", which is a Russian fairy story and I was thrilled to find a battered copy on ebay a few years ago. Does anyone remember Amelia-anne and the parrot-head handled umbrella which she filled with cakes for her little brother at a party--and then it rained so you can guess the outcome! I was riveted by "Hatter's Castle" by A.J.Cronin , loved "Pride and Prejudice" and devoured any of Norah Lofts' stories(but not the histories).

Grimes fairy Tales, Hans Andersen, Arabian Nights, Alice in wonderland, LIttle Women, a Victorian book called Sunday Sunshine full of moral tales , Aesops fables. Later in my teens books by Alexandre Dumas, Vanity Fair, Dickens and Thomas hardy.

I just loved all Noel Streatfield books from Ballet Shoes to White Boots. I visited my grandmother at weekends and she always took me to Smiths to choose a book, very happy memories.
I was reminded recently (when I saw the Mounties at the Queen's birthday celebration) of a book which I read over and over - does anybody else remember Susannah of the Mounties - I think it was called.

The Katy book, yes, these along with all the Shirley Anne books, and The Wizard of Oz( 14!!) books I have on a kindle xx

Mallory Towers, oh after reading these I wanted to go to a boarding school, never got there. The Magic Faraway Tree amd The Wishing Chair and I have just bought all the stories in omnibus editions, to re live the wonderful adventures, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Milly Molly Mandy, The Shirley Anne books, Grimms, Tom Browns School Days, Just William, Wind In The Willows, Paddington, the list could go on, not forgetting The Famous Five etc, and Georgette Heyer, (which I have every copy still, ) so in my now 50s I can re read, whenever I want to read something a little different

Wow what fabulous memories! I was an only child and spent a lot of time reading, could read by the age of 4. My mother thought books were a waste of time and would always take them off me and tell me I'd go blind if I kept reading!! lol - so I used to hide in the airing cupboard with a torch
I read Enid Blyton, I wanted to go to boarding school when I found the Chalet School, I wanted to be an adventurer when I read John Buchan (still love him and he was born near here). Wanted to be a pilot when I read Gavin Lyall, wanted to join the merchant navy when I read Treasure Island, almost gave my mother apoplexy when I got into AJ Cronin and wanted to be a communist LOL! But the big major HUGE love of my life is the FuManchu books of Sax Rohmer. Those hidden cellars 7 floors deep under Limehouse Reach and the London fogs... pure magic!I still read every minute I can, in between surfing the net.

Bnan how lovely my daughter would be very jealous her dream job would be owning a bookshop and having a area where people could sit and have a coffee and browse hope one day it will happen for her . I used library when I was young have always read a lot not keen on historical fiction I enjoy murder mysteries, and easy reading in between.

I remember a book named "Swoopy" about a dog with a tail that spun around and propelled him into the sky where he met the Weatherman who used to get his bottles of weather mixed up and produced thunderstorms! Also, of course, Winnie-the-Pooh, which my father would read to me, especially when I was ill.

As a teenager I remember reading "A Town Like Alice" by Nevil Shute. I enjoyed it so much that I told my mum I was ill so I could stay home from school and finish it. I still love it and read it again and again. When I started work at 16 I used to love being able to buy my own books and discovered Monica Dickens. I bought every book she ever wrote - I wish I had kept them. But I still have "Marianna" - my favourite one of hers.

I loved most of the books already mentioned especially Noel Streafields. There was also an American series about a nurse called Sue Barton and her various roles in the health system. My favourite book from about age nine until today is The egg and I, by Betty Macdonald. I laugh every time I read it

What a lot of books you have reminded me of! I loved all of the What Katy Did series, The Water Babies, Heidi, The Mary Poppins book by PL Travers, Wurzel Gummidge. Never a fan of Enid Blyton I'm afraid.
Later I enjoyed Catch 22, Roots, Tolkein - Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
Now I mainly read thrillers, particularly Deaver, Patterson, Reichs and Cornwell.
I wonder how many books I have read in my lifetime. It must be thousands now!

All my books were chosen by my mother, and therefore limited to Little Grey Rabbit, Milly Molly Mandy, and Enid Blyton. Also Grimm and the odd book my mother had from her childhood. She went to the library on shopping day but only got her own books and it was too far for me to go on my own. I also had a magazine called Sunny Stories but my reading was not up to them and no-one read them to me. I did advance slightly when I went to boarding school at 11 as I borrowed other people's books (no school library, appalling school!). We were given a reading list at the beginning of the summer holidays and I was presented with the statutory five chosen from the list by my parents. I remember ploughing through Kim which I loathed. Surprisingly when I eventually left home I read avidly and still do, though am terribly fussy and abandon books with bad grammar! DGS aged 4 lives 3 hours away, but right from the start we have taken him books whenever we visit and he always has a bedtime story (as our children did).

I remember reading Heidi, The Borrowers, The Water Babies, Little Women, Black Beauty, and Oliver Twist. I devoured Enid Blyton books about boarding schools. As a teenager I discovered Edna O'Brien and was often puzzled about what I was reading! She was quite open about sex, and I didn't understand the half of it.

I enjoyed Enid Blyton especially The Famous Five, I also loved the Mary Plain series but can't remember who wrote them. The Just William books where so funny, I hope to introduce my grandchildren to them at the earliest opportunity

My grandmother had a book called Poppy's Presents by Mrs F.O. Walton which I used to look forward to reading when I went to stay with her. The presents were twin babies that her mother had but then became too ill to look after them so Poppy had to.
It is really religious indoctrination but I didn't really pick up that bit as a child.

Walton was very sympathetic towards people in very difficult situations who at the time would be called feckless or lazy and she tried to make people understand their situations.

Another good thread! Enid Blyton, Noel Streatfield and Oliver Postgate for me. I also liked the Katy series and Flambards as well as Winnie the Pooh.

Surprised no one has mentioned Noddy or Beatrice Potter, although I liked the pictures more than the stories.

Another favorite was/ is The Just So stories. MY DC loved those too and we are now introducing them to DGC.

The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton. Oh and I loved all the Jennings and Billy Bunter books. My favourite book of all time - and I still read it at least once a year - Three Men in A Boat. Laugh out loud funny.

I had a full set of The Bobbsey Twins. Can see them now-sort of dull orangey-brown covers .No idea what happened to them.
One of the greatest joys of my life was being able to join the town library and use it in my lunch hour when I went to secondary school. We lived in a tiny village and until then I was dependent on what my mum picked from the Mobile library .I devoured anything and everything
I became a librarian and reading is still one of my greatest pleasures

Monica Edwards - The Punchbowl Farm series, and the Romney Marsh books I loved these. And still have them on the bookshelf.
The Famous Five.
Monica Dickens Nursing books.
But my all time favourite which I stil read now The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge.
My Sister had a book called Kandy meets the bunnybabes which she loved as a child, I managed to get her a copy from America for one of her birthdays

Harris27; the Katy books were by Susan Coolidge.
They are What Katy Did
What Katy Did at School
What Katy Did Next
Clover
In The High Valley.
The last 2 are about Katy's sister Clover.

Thank you so much for starting this thread. I've just been transferred to my book-loving childhood. Most of those chosen by others are also my favourites - Malory Towers, oh yes! I remember walking along the pavement on holiday reading it and being steered, patiently, around obstacles by my younger brother. I just couldn't stop. I recently found a copy in a charity shop and it's still brilliant. I also loved the Water Babies, by Charles Kingsley, but my earliest book memory is Milly-Molly-Mandy being read by my first year teacher on Friday afternoons in Infants. The scene where she took herself to her bedroom with her knitting to escape something (can't remember what - probably being asked to help her mum), sat on the floor and lost herself in her knitting. That's still me today!

goose my earliest book memories are of Ginger, also Pen and Gwen. 'It was the first day of the holidays, Pen and Gwen were sleeping late. Mother penguin came and called them, Hurry! breakfast cannot wait!' It's well over 60 years since they were read to me and I later read them to my sister, but those opening lines have been etched into my memory.

I could remember how much I enjoyed reading Patricia Lynch's books which were in my primary school's library. I thought I'd love to re-read them now I'm retired but found they were long out of print. To my joy, however, I managed to pick up two of her books - 'The Turf Cutter's Donkey' and 'The Bookshop on the Quay' - from Abe books. It was truly delightful to read them again after so many years and the stories were as lovely as I'd remembered them.

Virtually all of the above and Malcolm Saville (Lone Piners), still have The Secret of the Gorge oh and also Children of the New Forest by Captain Marryat set in the time of the Civil War. I'm sure lots more but memory dims.....