The Reading List. A wonderful sharing initiative by Keri Bainborough

Keri, from one of my favorite blogs, Midlands Musings has put up a reading list and has asked for a few of us  to put our own lists together so that we can share great reads. You can view her list on her blog here, and you should because everyone is raving about how fantastic her recommendations are. I have a big little addictive personality, and when I get in to a book my life basically shuts down for two or three days. I'll be up until three in the morning with it, I'll sneak to the bathroom at work to read it and completely lose track of time. When I love a book, it's like when I like a song and I play it on repeat for a week, for hours until I'm sick of it. When I find a new series and watch seventeen episodes in a row, and when I finish a book I get really sad because it's like saying goodbye to a whole little world and characters that I've really grown with. 

During early high school years when I struggled to make friends and didn't fit in anywhere. When the senior girls loathed me and I was too young and scared to do anything about it. I took comfort in Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. I'm sort of grateful for those troubled years because they ignited my love for literature in the only hiding place I could find during break times - the school library. 

I haven't read as much since I had the boys. Thinking back, since I met Graeme and a lot of me changed and got a little bit lost in our busy lives. In him. In the boys. My friend Claire gave me The Time Traveler's Wife to read and it's been discarded to my bedside table, because starting a book is a huge commitment for me. It's almost intimidating. I've read so many books over the years that haven't made it past the second chapter in my life, but apparently this one is good. I've read books that have completely changed my life and way of thinking. The Catcher in the Rye changed me for good and I will never get back to the person I was before it. Holden Caulfield sucked me in and never let go. He is the protagonist and the antagonist is his internal struggle and understanding of  humanity, life, the world - everything. I've been reading a lot of biographies and newsy things - I have this history series with saucy titles like "The World's Greatest Serial Killers" and "The World's Biggest Crooks and Con Artists". It's all very Huisgenoot, but it's kept me busy. 

Lately I'm reading a lot of books like "The Princess and her Potty", "Mog the Forgetful Cat" and "The Gruffalo". I'm excited to get back in to reading, especially to keep me company between 8 and 10pm at night - as SOON as I've finished the latest season of Greys - obviously. So here is a list of my ten favorite books and authors to date, for various reasons.

You can get all these book descriptions from Loot, who I have worked with before. So these titles are all available on their online store. This post was not sponsored by them, but they do offer free delivery and their copies of these books range betweetn R40 and R200. Now I'm about to order a few of Keri's list, and I'm going to be taking a little bit of myself back, book by book as I fall in love with reading all over again. 

Also follow Lee, Kirst, Tash Marais and Andrea who will also be providing their top ten books. Happy reading erm, readers.