— Books, Lists —

Summer Reads of Childhood Today

July 19, 2019

Childhood summers evoke memories of lazy, long days spent reading (well, mostly). Our school kept the library open for a few hours everyday during the vacations; which meant, I walked the path to school almost everyday during the summers as well, as long as we were not away visiting relatives in other towns.

So here are a few reads I recall enjoy reading (faint memories but they are there)

The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde

I recall picking up a huge book of short stories (not an Oscar Wilde collection though) one summer day from the school library. The one story that stayed with me forever from that collection was this one – The Canterville Ghost. Oscar Wilde does have the power to bring me to tears effortlessly. Hoping the library still has that book bringing the joy of reading to the kids today..

The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne

‘20,000 Leagues’ was I think my first Jules Verne book (or was it ‘Around the World in 80 Days’?). I invariably returned to Jules Verne whenever I had the urge to read science fiction. This was another pick from the school library. It is indeed a testament to technological advances that so much of Verne’s fiction is reality today 🙂

The Famous 5 and the Inca God

Our summer trips to Madras (current day Chennai) inevitably lead us to the most wonderful, magical Higginbothams. It was the stuff made of dreams for me; a majestic, beautiful building filled with books where I could browse to my heart’s content.

On one of these trips with my dad, I found a comic version of The Famous 5. As you can recall from other posts, this is one of my favorite Blyton series. And though I think I preferred the novel type book to this comic version, it was the thrill of discovery and that simple joy of being with my dad that remains with me to date. The book itself is elsewhere but safe. Someday, I will bring it to my library 🙂

Note that this book is not a original Blyton book but was written by another author inspired by Blyton.

Another Note: I love that Higginbothams has managed to stay strong as a bookstore even today. It is one of the oldest bookstores in India (1844).

And the Others

Of course, there are countless other books I read over infinite summers. But I just picked a random few here today. As a slightly older reader (from tween to older teen), I read Hardy, Austen, Nevil Shute, Alistair Maclean, and more.

And I never stopped reading comics and magazines I had always enjoyed

  • The Amar Chitra Kathas, Tinkles, Targets, Indrajal Comics, Chandamama, Archie, Marvel and DC comics (many of these are/were comics/children’s magazines in India)
  • Readers Digest, India Today, Frontline, Women’s Era, Femina and other magazines (many of these are magazines published in India)

Dear Reader, What About You? What were your childhood summer reads? Do let me know..

And so my bookish summer continues…..

This was for Day 18 of my bookish summer.. as I take a blogging journey along with fellow  UBCers and other blogger friends all around the world. Once again, thank you for your support always!

Here are my previous Bookish Summer posts:

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