I've always been an avid reader.  Or so I thought of myself, at least.  It was after a discussion with Sarah and Caro (@portraitofawoman) that I've come to realise that I have huge gaps in my reading, especially "foundation" books most people have read growing up.

After careful consideration, and fooling myself into a grandiose idea of doing this as research I've gone and bought myself a batch of these books to read and no doubt, enjoy.

Here they are, in no particular order (mostly as they came out of their Amazon box / Waterstones bag)

I have had The Weirdstone of Brisingamen on my shelf for a long time.  An embarrassingly long time.  I'm really looking forward to meeting Alan Garner via his writing.  I have a copy of his gorgeous Collected Folktales too, which I am keen to read.

The Secret Garden I nabbed from W'stones Oxford Street.  You will note that it says "Penguin Threads" on the spine.  That is because the cover is embroidered.  For real.  By this incredible lady.  How can books this beautiful not want to make you read them??

Sarah bought me a copy of The Dark is Rising some time ago - I read part of it and then got distracted by the movie which was awful.  And I'm a sucker for good vs evil and I know this is a seasonal read, so I'm tucking into this over the Christmas holidays.

The Giver is something I remember the girls at The Booksmugglers mentioned so that naturally went onto my list of classics to buy.

The Sword in the Stone by TH White - I know, I know - as someone who loves mythology and legends and fairy tales, how I've bypassed this classic is beyond me.

The Little White Horse - My friend Sue sang its praises and of course, I am an easy sell, so there it is, on my pile.

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase - again Sarah being the enabler recommending it to me, along with half the people I speak with on twitter.

Tuck Everlasting looks like a snack-sized book but one that I suspect I'll fall in love with.

The Indian in the Cupboard - it's sort of always been on my radar, but I've never read it.  Now's my chance.

Storm Catchers - I can't remember why I bought this one, I think I just liked the sound of it...

The Phantom Tollbooth...mysterious packages in the post? A strange land...? Count me in on this ride!

The Children of Green Knowe appealed to me because I am fickle and I had to own it because of the cover.  It is so pretty.  But the story sounds good too.

And there we have it - these are my personal challenge for 2012.  I suspect I should be able to get to them all within a couple of months and I will no doubt bore you to tears by telling you how fabulous they all are.   Because most of you have probably read them all growing up and know this already.

I am keen to continue reading more books of similar ilk so please do leave comments here to recommend more books for me to look at.  I will honestly say that books you may think I've read, I probably have not read.  When I say I grew up reading cowboy books / Westerns, I'm not joking. Books of the classic bent for kids that I have read are:


Uhm.  I think that's it.  See how much I'm lacking? Hit me with those recommends.  I've given myself a gift card for Crimbo so will be using that during the year to purchase more titles.