Alright, my nephew challenged me to front up with my seven favourite books , and to post them for seven days on Facebook.
Now, my first impulse was, No.
And my second impulse was also – No – I have too many things to do…also, I have too many favourite books.
But what do I have to do as an author more important than reading, and telling people how wonderful books are. So I started with an easy one.
Book 1 The Hobbit.
I’d already recommended it here for readers eight and older. So it was pretty easy to whip up a tribute:
Book 2: Down Below Station by C.J. Cherryh
My tribute started thus – “Okay, book 2 of my seven favourite books challenge – and I’m completely struggling. How can I keep my picks down to just seven! It’s an impossible task.
I thought maybe Iain M Banks…his “Culture” series is amazing. And then I went to this page on my website… https://ponderbooks.com/favourite-science-fiction-books/
And I saw “Down Below Station” (hopefully the picture appears-it’s the old timey cover!)
OMG I can’t say how much I loved this book. I was put onto it by a close friend and at the time I was stunned – a CJ Cherryh book I hadn’t read…
It was gritty – but not too gritty, and the world…universe is totally immersive. You’re absolutely rooting for the people. A lot of readers on Goodreads complain about the density and complexity of the book – while others note those are the very reasons they love it. I’m definitely in the latter camp.
So, if you want to read a spectacular, almost perfect, slightly old-style sci then this is perfect. Also, the female characters are great, and that’s always refreshing in sci-fi!
And lastly Book Three of the seven day seven favourite books challenge is
Book 3: Lavinia by Ursula Le Guin
Yes, I have some more lined up. But they might not hit my blog – apparently I’ve been doing the challenge all wrong by including descriptions.
Oops. Never mind. Maybe I’ll cheat a little and explain my choices on the blog, intead.
Have fun reading
A.J.
