Saturday 25 July 2015

Blogger Island with Michelle Toy from Tales of Yesterday

Blogger Island is back after a few weeks away. Sorry but the island was getting crowded and there was way too much book sharing going on. So I had to set adrift a few of the castaways. If you haven't read any of the Blogger Island posts before, this is how it works. I give bloggers the option of taking up to ten books with them to Blogger Island. Those are the books they will be stuck with for the rest of their lives, so they have to choose really carefully.  A bit like Dessert Island Discs, only I'm a bit harsher! 
Anyway this week, I've managed to convince Michelle Toy, from Tales of Yesterday to come on the blog, before I leave her on the island and share the books she has chosen to take with her.
*Waves goodbye to all my loved ones steps on the plane and takes off*

Yes that’s right I am going on a mini-break in a book lovers paradise…Book Blogger Island!  

I’ve heard the weather's nice and please don’t worry I have packed factor 50 child protection sun cream.  I’m sure the lovely Viv will take good care of me…..

Wait!  What was that now?  

I’m not coming back?!  And Viv said I have to empty my suitcase to only include 5 – 8 books!

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

I think I better do as Viv says other wise I may be made a sharks breakfast!

Watership Down by Richard Adams
If you ask me what my favourite ever book is I will always answer this book with a few close seconds!
My English teacher at school used to give me reading lists to take home for me to go and hunt down the books in the library.  One day Watership Down appeared on that list!  
I had grown up with the film Watership Down which thrilled me, made me cry, made me happy and scared the living daylights out of me!
*Flashback to when I thought a gas lamp reflection in my bedroom was an evil rabbit coming to kill me*
But the book is very different from the film adaptation and I fell in love with it.  The detail, the writing style, the rabbits and the scenery made me escape into their world and I cared so much about them….I still do!
This book is a must for me on the island and I would read it over and over again.  My copy that cost 40p at the time is very old and very well loved, but I’m sure it will help me survive!

Dear Nobody by Berlie Doherty
*Clutches hands towards my heart*
This book….where do I begin!  Again suggested for me to read by my English teacher was YA before YA existed about two teenagers and an unwanted pregnancy.  The dual narrative was refreshing with Helen writing to her unborn baby in the form of letters and Chris reading those letters and remembering events whilst Helen is in labour!
*Dabs eyes with tissue…sniffles*
I hold this book very close to my heart.  I remember coming downstairs in my teenage years in my house in floods of tears and cuddling my Mom and I think I can actually say this was the first book ever to cause me to have such a reaction and such a strong emotional feeling (bear in mind I was very much into murder books!) I was distraught for quite a few days.
I want to take this to the island as more of a memory of that time and that age as I always remember where I was when I read this book and the feelings it created …so more of a memory lane book whilst stuck on the island.
*Blows nose*

Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling
Now of course there would be a Harry Potter book on this list and although I wanted to bring the whole collection Viv was very harsh and wouldn’t allow me to cheat ☹
The Prisoner Of Azkaban is my favourite Harry Potter book!  Sirius Black, The Knight Bus, The Dementors, time turners…..it had everything and I loved it!
I ploughed through this book many years ago and it’s defiantly time for a re-read.  I’m hoping some other bloggers have brought the rest of the series with them and I can re-relive the magic all over again!
*Don’s robes and waves wand ….I’m a wizard Chelley*

One Day by David Nicholls
I LOVE David Nicholls and this for me is my favourite!  Set over the space of twenty years we get a glimpse into the lives of Emma and Dexter on the same day every year and watch them grow, fight, experience life and fall in love.  
I cannot put into words how much I adore this book.  My copy is very battered and loved and after recently meeting David Nicholls it is signed!
*stokes the book*
I have re read this book a lot of times and I still find something new every time.  David Nicholls also has this way of making characters so vivid and like they are your best friends that you have known for ages so for me this book would remind me of my friends and family back home.

Tess Of The D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
This is my all time favourite classic!  I love Thomas Hardy!  His scenes are enriched with imagination and beauty and his characters are left etched on your memory.  
Tess for me left a permanent mark!  The book follows the life of Tess when she learns she may be the descendant of a rich family, but things take a turn for the worse and throughout her life fate brings her the lovely Angel Clare *swoons*, but then tragedy strikes and a man from her past crushes everything she holds dear!
I am not ashamed to admit but I think Angel Clare was the first literary crush I had!  Wow!
I will be taking this with me so I can daydream for hours about the gorgeous Angel Clare!
*drools*

An Inspector Calls by J B Priestley

This may seem like an unusual choice but I LOVE this book so much!  
I studied this book for GCSE….okay we won’t go into how many years ago that was, but it made a huge impact on me.  I was very much into adult murder mysteries like Ruth Rendell and Colin Dexter and of course Agatha Christie so when my English teacher presented me and the class this book about an inspector investigating a girls suicide who knocks on a families door and implicates each of them in her death it intrigued me.  
So well written and an absolute classic it gave be plenty of food for thought as the poor person who had to read my GCSE English exam paper probably found out!
*Cheeky Grin*

Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
I would take this book on the island to make me laugh!  I first read this book when I was living on my own and I laughed and laughed and laughed and fell in love with Bridget so much!
And as for Daniel Cleaver……*goes misty eyed*…..there was something about Helen Fielding’s writing that made you smitten by his charms just as Bridget was!
Loved the diary entry style writing too…this book would keep me entertained for hours on the island!
*makes blue soup for the camp*
Cruel Summer by James Dawson
Okay this was my pick for the #UKYADay Blogger Island books edition…….
Yes I know….here I am again picking a James Dawson book I hear you shout (he is one of my faves)!  This may be a predictable pick for me…But seriously I would take this book with me to a desert island and read it over and over again!  I love it THAT much!  It’s definitely one of my favourite UKYA books!  It’s a perfect summer read so I could pass the hours away whilst turning a rather reddish lobster colour on the desert island beach and hallucinate about Gil Grissom and Sangria ;-)   
Look at it this way…what better way would there be to pass the time! With characters Ryan, Kate, Alisha, Greg and Ben around there would never be a dull moment!  Moments full of tension and suspicion and okay the odd dead body occasionally!  And with a romance that will break your heart what better book to read again and again than a story set in a sunny paradise, blue sea, lots of sand and well….basically murder!  
*looks suspiciously at that shadow in the trees and gulps*   
Can I please leave the island now?! 
*cries for Mommy* 
Well that its!  That all I am allowed!  I surprised myself with some of my choices…I hope Viv lets me take them all……

*bats eyelashes at Viv*

I'm considering Michelle's books carefully before leaving her alone on the island. Some pretty good choices there. I hope you enjoy your stay, Michelle...
If you would like to join Michelle on Blogger Island, then either tweet me or leave a comment and I will send you all the details. 


2 comments:

  1. Five of those could have been on my list! Though I think I'd swap Prisoner of Azkabhan for Goblet of Fire!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Equally five could be on my list too! I'm with you on Prisoner of Azkaban, it's when the full scope of the story becomes clear; and I'm an absolute fan of Berlie Doherty :-)

    ReplyDelete

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