Desert Island Books

I sometimes listen to Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4. For those not in the know this is when a guest chooses eight pieces of music they would take with them to a desert island. They already have the Bible, or another appropriate religious work and the complete Works of Shakespeare and they are allowed to choose one other book and a luxury. In a quiet moment one day I invented a new programme - Desert Island Books where the castaway gets to choose eight books to take to their desert island. I of course would be the first castaway!

This desert island could be anywhere in the world. Unlike Robinson Crusoe I would not be shipwrecked to get there! It would have all mod cons - shelter, food and drink - no survival techniques would be necessary. I would have plenty of time to read!

The trouble with being limited to a certain number is what to choose and what to leave out. Should I take thick books with lots of pages or should I stick to books by authors I enjoy? Should I try something educational - maybe learn a new skill? Or should I take something practical - survival skills in the wilderness or how to build a shelter from three branches? Or maybe I should take a mixture of them all!!

My first choice would be a book by Miss Read. I have been reading her books since my teenage years but I still come back to them when I want a familiar story that is comforting but not too taxing! I recently introduced my 15 year old daughter to Miss Read so taking one of her books would remind me of Katie. But should I choose a Fairacre story or a Thrush Green one? More decisions! Perhaps I'll go for Time Remembered as I haven't actually read this one before.

As I have a book to remind me of Katie I now need books to remind me of the rest of my family. Milly-Molly-Mandy stories by Joyce Lankester Brisley are amongst Hannah, my eldest daughter's favourites. So maybe Further Doings of Milly-Molly-Mandy.

My youngest daughter, Sarah, is reading the Harry Potter stories at the moment. She gets very involved with the books and has long and involved conversations with my husband about the plot. Having never read any Harry Potter I could start with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. That would be a long book I've never read before.

Whilst on this Desert Island I would miss my cats so I would have to have a book about cats. But should it be fiction, factual or about a particular breed? My cats are all part Siamese so perhaps I ought to take one of Doreen Tovey's books about her Siamese cats. Or maybe I should have an anthology such as Collected Cat Stories by Stella Whitelaw or A Treasury Of Cat Stories by Era Zistel. Oh this is so difficult!! I think I'll go for The Cat-Lover's Bedside Book by Grace Pond - because I like the picture on the front!

So that's four books chosen! As I wouldn't have to find food and shelter on this desert island I should have time to learn something while I'm there. Maybe I could take up drawing and painting so I could write and illustrate a book about my time on the island. The Ladybird book Learnabout Painting would provide me with a starting point and who knows - I might create a masterpiece!!

Encyclopedias, dictionaries and almanacs fascinate me. I enjoy dipping into these books and am often sidetracked when looking something up. Something like The Hutchinson Encyclopedia would keep me amused for hours as I start by looking up one thing and get sidetracked by another item.

I don't want to take too many 'big' books - they are heavy to carry! For my seventh book I would choose one of the Observer books. They are small but packed with lots of information. There are so many to choose from - Wild Flowers, Common Fungi, Mushrooms and Toadstools, Opera, Cathedrals, Birds, Kitchen Antiques (I wonder if I might find that some of my kitchen equipment is described) or even the Observer's Book of Observer's Books. No, I think I will take the Observer's Book of Weather to help me work out what the weather might be about to do on my desert island. Of course in my dream the weather will always be perfect - not too hot, not too cold, just the right amount of sun and rain!

Now for my last choice! Well this isn't one you would find in any shop and maybe it isn't strictly speaking a book but it would contain photographs of my family, pets, special people and places. But maybe I should work on improving my photography techniques and take photos of my desert island so something like The Complete Photography Manual would be useful. But if I take this I couldn't take the photograph album. Perhaps the album could be my luxury? Or would that have to be a camera? I know - I'll have both. The photograph album isn't really a book - it could be a digital photo frame. As this is my programme I can make the rules!

There you are - eight books I would take to my desert island. The choice has been difficult and there are many, many more books I would love to take with me - an endless list in fact. On reflection I think I would rather be marooned in a book shop - either Stella's or Rose's - than on a desert island. Then I would have several thousand books from which to choose and never be short of reading material. The only problem is - where would I start?

Contributed by Catriona Charlesworth

For other articles please visit our archives.