Some 15 years ago I read a book which I thoroughly enjoyed. Last month I saw it for sale in a book shop (still in print!) and I had to buy it for some friends for Christmas. I also had to read it again before I gave it to them and surprised myself just how much I remembered.

Jonathon Livingston Seagull is a story about a seagull called Jonathon Livingston. Jonathon isn’t like other seagulls who worry only about fighting for food. Jonathon loves flying. He loves it so much he dedicates himself to improving. This relatively short story (I think you could read it in an hour, perhaps two) is beautifully written, beautifully told and in my mind as significant a read for young people as “Of Mice and Men” (which we had to read in English lessons in secondary school). The story is simply inspiring. Jonathon Livingston Seagull is one of those books that if you mention it to one person, someone else nearby will probably join in with “Jonathon Livingston Seagull, fantastic story”.

The next day I had a text message from my friend “Gorgeous story, had to stay till 1 as couldn’t stop. Fab!” If I ever get these Rootie Ratings(tm) sorted, Jonathon Seagull will get top marks.

When we drove to the south of France in the summer I prepared for a long, long drive. My brother lent me a book on CD, so I could listen as I drove. I’ve never been able to listen to books in the car before as I find the distances too short, I’m rarely in the car for more than an hour and that’s not enough time to get into the story. More than 10 hours in the car on the way through France however was perfect. It also got me an hour into the journey north at the end of the week too.

Life of Pi is a story of an Indian man, retelling a story of his youth (one of the nice things about the Audio CD was the accent of the narrator). His parents owned a zoo, they were moving to another country and the ship they were on sank. How interesting can a story be of a boy trapped on his own in a lifeboat? Ahh, I didn’t mention his friend “Richard Parker”. Richard happens to be a tiger, who also found himself on the lifeboat. It was a wonderful story, full of the unexpected and perhaps reason enough to travel to the south of France again (when else we I have that much time in the car). I find it hard writing about the books I’ve read as I don’t want to give away the story. This story is so unusual I can’t classify it as anything else other than a great read.

Interestingly while looking up the CD on Amazon for the image, Amazon recommended “The Time Travellers Wife” to go along with it. It seems my reading habits are predictable, I wonder if Amazon have a name for the type of books I’ve enjoyed reading? Maybe there are hundreds of other people out there liking and disliking exactly the same books.