Undemanding

Everyone who's a reader will understand that need for simple books. When you just can't handle the deeply fascinating/troubling/emotional/thought-provoking/whatever-else-you-may-read of your regular genre, and just need a little literary brain hug. The further into semester I get, the less challenging are the books I read. At the beginning of this semester I was still reading The Tyrannicide Brief, which is big for me - I'll read anything fiction, but non-fiction and I struggle, and so now I'm back to my exam staple of light tales. Usually it's Terry Pratchett by this stage, but after highly recommending these ones to a friend for this time of semester, I thought I'd re-read them too. Again. For the millionth time. They're just so lovely and nice. He'll 'cleanse' a cow, describe all the grossness in a charming way, then head in for a cuppa with the farmer and his wife, and learn a little lesson from it all. All while in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales, which he describes wonderfully. And I love this particular edition of all the books - I've collected six out of seven at book stalls, second hand shops and all those books bargain places. Still waiting for number two to turn up somewhere... But the covers just add wonderfully to the whole vibe of cosy.

In my opinion there are good books and there are bad books, but just because a book is simple and uncomplicated doesn't make it unworthy of being a book. The only qualification for a book to be a book is that it makes people respond. Whether it helps someone pass the time amiably on a long flight (Contest - Reilly), or stays with them for the rest of their life (Dracula - Stoker), if they struggle through but don't mind it in the end (The Children's Book - Byatt), or re-read it over and over, savouring the imagery and childhood memories it evokes (The Secret Garden - Hodgson Burnett) then it's a worthy book.

So that's my piece on books.



And yes, I know there's TV versions of the Herriot books, I happen to have them out from the library and waiting for me to finish exams, right at this very moment.

Also, I reserve the right to change my mind on any of those books at any time. They just happened to be what I could see on my shelves that mostly fitted into each category. Other examples might have included Anna Karenina, Cloudstreet, Obernewten or Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Many books.