As it’s Mother’s Day and my mum likes books as much as I do… Here are some of her favourites!
“I would choose either Animal Farm or 1984 (both brilliant, although 1984 is too rambling at the end and apparently Orwell was going to edit and shorten the story but died before he could do so). I would also pick The Handmaid’s Tale, Pride and Prejudice (I like Emma but P&P is my favourite) and The Railway Children (much preferred it to The Phoenix & the Carpet) as I love steam trains and had a childhood fantasy about living next to a railway line. Another is Anne of Green Gables (the relationship between Anne and Diana was a bit like that between my friend Penny and myself – she was always getting into scrapes and I was seen as the “sensible” one). My favourite Dickens is A Christmas Carol, even though it gave me nightmares as a child. Also, either Rebecca or My Cousin Rachel (can’t decide which). My fave “chick lit” is the Shopaholic series – I find them so funny.”
I think we share similar reading tastes, although I read a lot more non-fiction and I’m not as keen on dystopias or chick lit. We both like classic authors and have a fondness for children’s literature. This means we can share and recommend books!
Do you like to read the same books as your mum or other family? I wonder if one ‘inherits’ reading tastes…
This is such a lovely post. My mum hates books with a passion, the one time I remember her trying to read one, she got bored halfway through a chapter and had a 3 hour nap!
Thanks! 🙂
Oh dear, sorry to hear your mum is not a book fan!
Lovely post, found myself agreeing with all of your Mum’s choices. I do pass a lot of books to my mum. We both really like Lucinda Riley books, particularly the Seven Sisters series.
Thank you! 🙂
It’s nice when you can share books. I haven’t tried Lucinda Riley’s books yet… there are so many authors I haven’t go around to!
My mom taught me a love for reading but we completely different things. 🙂
That’s great that you both love to read! I’m guessing you don’t borrow books from each other then 😉
I keep forgetting that Mother’s Day is held on different days depending where you live in the world. Our Mother’s Day here in Canada is held on May 12th this year.
I share some of my mother’s taste in books, but not all. Her love of reading in general was instilled in me from a very young age and she taught me to read before I started school.
I think that ‘Mothering Sunday’ is tied to Easter or the church here, I’m not sure. But yes it can be confusing that different countries have different dates for it!
Coming from a book-loving family can really influence a person’s reading – my kids adore books and I hope they always will.
Thanks for your comment 🙂
I wish my mom was a reader too unfortunately she’s not. But my dad is, although we don’t share similar tastes in genres hahaa but we both like historical fiction and biographies 🙂
That’s nice that you and your dad like both those genres 🙂
My dad reads travel guides and manuals, but not what you might call actual books.
Great post idea for Mother’s Day!
Thanks! It came about because my mum was reacting to my ‘top 30 books’ blog post and I got her permission to use her response for a blog post! Later on, I decided that Mother’s Day would be the best time 😀
I love it!
Ah, this is so cool! My mum & I both love Anne of Green Gables 🙂
I think that’s pretty much where our overlap stops…
I love Anne of Green Gables too!
I guess you don’t really lend each other books then if you have different tastes 😉
Your mom made some great choices. I agree with the rambling at the end of 1984.
Thanks! Yes, it’s a long while since I read 1984 but I remember the end chapters were hard to get through.
Your Mum has such good taste! Also, this is a lovely idea for a post. My Mum is fiction-averse and only likes biographies of people that she’s heard of (limiting the number drastically) aren’t trashy (cuts down that figure further) and don’t name drop other celebrities. I’m trying to get her to read Michelle Obama’s Becoming but she said she doesn’t know anything about American politics ?
Thanks! 🙂
Oh dear, there can’t be many biographies which fit those criteria. I was thinking of reading Becoming. I’m sure you don’t need to know about politics to read it, and even if so, there is Wikipedia 🙂
My mother can’t use Wikipedia! She can barely use a debit card ?. I’ve just finished Becoming and it’s not that focused on the mechanics of politics but I still think she’d hate it. I never know what books to buy for her ?
I love this post! My mother and I have extremely different reading tastes and, really, always have. On the other hand, both my son, daughter and I enjoy many of the same authors and genres. We share books and make recommendations to one other quite often.
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed reading this. We can’t always share the same reading tastes as our families, but I’m glad that you and your children like some of the same books.
What a lovely post! Your mum has great taste! My mum also loves Rebecca and My cousin Rachel and got me into Daphne Du Maurier because of it 🙂
Thanks! Yes, I think I got into Daphne’s books via my mum too! Starting with Rebecca 🙂
Snap!