To be a writer you must be a reader – a voracious reader – an eclectic reader. I’m one of the generation who learned to read with the Janet & John books – yes I am that old! I can remember the excitement of first being able to decode the squiggles on the page. And reading has continued to provide entertainment, solace, enlightenment, laughter and tears for me ever since.

I’ve been trying to decide what are my best ever reads – and it’s not been easy. But I’ve narrowed it down to  manageable list for rescuing as the ship goes down and I float off to the nearest island for life as a castaway.

I’ve chosen books from childhood, teenage years and all through my adult life. They’re all books that would sustain me as I awaited rescue. So here they are:

Childhood – Enid Blyton’s Mallory Towers (any of the series), J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, Heidi by Johanna Spyri, Susan Coolidge’s  What Katy Did, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Teenage – Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell,  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Adult – Sara Maitland Women Fly When Men Aren’t Looking, Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels, Bill Bryson’s Notes From A Small Island, Carol Shields Unless, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larrson.

Twelve wonderful books – the only drawback to any of them is that their authors’ talents for storytelling make me despair of my own. Still, it gives me something to aspire to.