Inspiration! I need inspiration....let's see.
The first eight books on the first eight shelves of my bookcase.
Mmm. These books are so eclectic and awesome that you probably won't believe that I picked them in the manner described. It does help that I recently completed a charity clean out of the ones with pink covers.
1. America and it's People. Volume 1 To 1877. Clint and Bert and I visited America a few years back. We stayed in motels and, except for one night, all shared a room. It was Grim. I've never forgiven Clint for having two pillows every single night while Bert and I had one each. Why didn't I steal the pillows out of one of the motels? Far too honest for my own good is what I am.
2. PowerShot A40: Camera User Guide. In all the time I used my old camera I barely opened this guide. I detest instruction books and guides. But I'll keep it just in case Hannah, current owner of my ex-camera, should ever want it.
3. The Colour: Rose Tremain. Still unread. I note it is partly set in Norfolk which is where my darling Katy lives.
4. Made in America: Bill Bryson. The first Bryson book I ever read. I am one degree removed from Bill Bryson.
5. The Norsemen: H.A. Guerber. This book was given to me by a man called Joseph who was a resident in one of the hostels I worked in. Joseph was an eccentric man who dressed in quasi-biblical garb and carried a staff and an acoustic guitar at all times. As befit his biblical appearance he was, on at least one occasion, stoned by some of the brave youth of Dunclug. His guitar was damaged. He, luckily, was not.
6. Dance With A Poor Man's Daughter: Pamela Jooste. This book's setting is South Africa during the time of apartheid. I visited South Africa a few years after its abolition and witnessed black Africans queuing up to cast their votes in the second election and I listened to the bile that poured out of the mouths of many of the white South Africans. We were never made more welcome anywhere than among the black people in Keiskammahoek and I spent one very scary night in a broken down jeep convinced I'd meet my end torn limb from limb by baboons.
7. Anglo-Saxon Attitudes: Angus Wilson. I think I might have read everything Angus Wilson ever wrote. I remember absolutely nothing about any of them but I think I enjoyed them. A treat for my (really) old age will be re-reading everything again.
8. Northern Ireland: The Background to the Conflict, edited by John Darby: John Darby taught me at Coleraine. On my first day at uni I wept on the way from the train to the college. I was about 38 and I'd never thought I'd go to university. I was wrong.
The Concise Version
- I am too pussy to steal.
- I harbour grudges about trivialities.
- I'm a hoarder.
- I have met someone who has met Bill Bryson.
- I used to work with homeless people.
- I love the smell of South Africa.
- I forget what I've read.
- I'm a late developer.
