The best book that you ever read when you were growing up.

The passing of James Herbert got me thinking about this. The Fog was probably the second best book that I read as a teenager. Sex (between ladies!) and horror. What’s not to like?

The best was The Hitch Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy.

I’ve not read it since about 1985 but I think I’ll get it to read on my phone. Who’d have thought it? An electronic device that gives you access to all the information about everything “although much of it is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate”.

I tried The Lord of The Rings. Couldn’t get past Tom Bombadil.

Over to you…

One of the Harry Potters. Maybe the 4th one (Goblet of Fire).

Diary of Anne Frank. The world changed a lot for me that week.

Sci-fi the way it should be! 1st read it when I was 9; shame the rest of the series were between rubbish and shockingly bad.

And that film… 😕

I’ve read this book many times as a boy. I loved it.

Genius.

reach for the sky by douglas bader…pretty inspirational and i had an issue reading so it was the first hardback i read.

met some veterans last year who all agreed he was a prize twonk…he properly bullied folk and was intensely arrogant.still was a good read

I read The Suicide Club by Robert L. Stevenson when I was 10 or 11 and I remember being totally absorbed by it. I think that was the first book that really grabbed my imagination. Alas, I then turned to the darkside and my soul was lost forever (and I don’t mean road bikes or Cotic).

Not one for the purists, but I remember loving Michael Moorcock’s The Golden Barge.

The first books I loved (aged 8 or so) was The Hardy Boys series. Ah, simple times. I desperately wanted to be called Frank… which was a bit weird for a Welshboy in the early 80s.

Flight Underground by James Hamilton-Paterson – I borrowed it so many times from the library that the librarian eventually just gave it to me, and I still have it.

It’s perfect. It’s got jet aircraft and trains and tunnels and a spy and a boy who lives in an old air-raid shelter and his friends who communicate with ham radios. It’s just wonderful.

I read The Chamber by John Grisham when I was about 13/14…..really affected my opinions of the value of life etc.

As a kid I read this one first ,then all his other books back to back.

Made me want to be a zoologist,that didn’t happen ( damn you careers advisers ),but I knew that I wanted to travel and see some of the places that he went to.

@Rob, that copy of Dune is in exactly the same state as mine was and still is. IIRC there’s a nice piccy of Francesca Annis somewhere near the back 🙂

1984

The C Programming Language by K+R

Lots of Steve Jackson Fighting Fantasy, turn to page 115 if you defeat the geek

read the Tim and Tobias series when I was at primary loved it, that was pretty much it til I started reading again in my twenties

@ llama… Fighting Fantasy! I’ve not thought of those for years. Some in that series were geekishly brilliant.

The Weirdstone of Brisingamen
The Machine Gunners
Emil and the Detectives

I had this on audio tape. Loved it. That’s brought back some memories.

Tom Swift And His.. well, you name it really

The Machine Gunners

Classic – “Where we goin’ now?” 🙂

‘Charlie & the Chocolate Factory’ – still got the copy I had at ooh, about 12.
‘Born Free’.

jack port: internet hero.

although, to be fair, some were less rip-roaring adventure than others

James Herbert through my teens.

I still have this:

@ stu1972

I can’t believe posted that! I bought my copy when I was a kid at the local church fair on the book table, the proceeded to read it and read it again.

Thanks for the reminder!

and

Charlie & The Chocalate Factory when I was ten. The anticipation as he unwrapped the bar! Clockwork Orange at fifteen. Hadn’t a clue what he was saying for the first few pages. Then I got it and flew through it. Got some money for my sixteenth…bought a CO t-shirt, Levis orange tab jeans and Talk About The Passion ep. Lived in those clothes until they fell apart. Still got the record though.

This is the sort of quality they get these days 🙁

I seem to remember the Tom Sharpe books Porterhouse Blues and Blott on the landscape fondly.

jack port: internet hero.

I hear that’s an amazing book, Phil!

And the best thing is – it’s still available on Kindle!

Is it a rhino who’s had a hot curry?

Made me cry 🙁

Loved Roald Dahl’s ‘Danny the champion of the world’. Made we want to go trout tickling and pheasant poaching.

Under 12 it would be any of the Swallows and Amazons books.

Read a lot of Sven Hassel in my teens as well as Stephen King