Welcome to Shari’s Top 5! This is a new feature I have created to showcase my personal top 5 of various books, shows, toys, music, films, food, etc, whatever I fancy focusing on for each post really! To kick off the first post in the feature, I have chosen to share my top 5 books that I own with you! I hope you enjoy this new feature and do comment and let me know what your top 5 is!

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Shari’s Top 5: Books

5. Space – Our Final Frontier by John Gribbin

This book came out in late 90s/early 00s and was to accompany the BBC television series. This is my favourite non-fiction book because my parents bought it for me when I was 16. I’ve always had a fascination for Space and the Planets and before Covid I used to visit the local planetarium very regularly.  Of course, the science in this is probably a little dated now, but it contains some beautiful imagery of the stars and planets!

 

4. Watership Down by Richard Adams

This is a very old edition that my parents used to read to me as a kid and my Mum gave it to me. I’ve read it so much that it is falling apart now, but I would never change it up for a newer edition as it has sentimental value. I remember this was one of the stories that first inspired me to become an author. And yes you guessed it, many of my childhood self’s stories involved bunnies!

 

 

 

3. Remember Me by Christopher Pike

I first read this book when I was 14 and there was something about Shari’s story that really drew me and stayed with me even when I had outgrown the teen-horror genre. I don’t know how many times I have read this book over the years and I think I probably know it off by heart! When I changed my name at 18 I decided upon Shari Ann as she is probably a character I relate to most out of all the novels I have ever read. Ann is also my Mum’s middle name and I wanted to keep the family connection through this too. 

 

2. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

As you all know, I love dinosaurs and Jurassic Park is my all time favourite film! I was 8 or 9 I think when it first came out and I can recall watching the film and never being so scared in all my life (and I loved that!). When the film was released, Mum borrowed the book from our local library and when she had finished I asked to read it. I have always been a very fast reader, even as a child, and was already reading books that were aimed at children older than I was. I said I could read it in an afternoon and understand it. And I did! I’ve always been more life-smart than academic-smart so this remains one of my best moments academically! 

 

1. The Silver Brumby by Elyne Mitchell

When I was growing up I had my ‘horse phase’ where I was completely obsessed with them. And my most coveted book was The Silver Brumby. Back in the 90s it had been out of print since the 70s I think and there was no Internet like it is now so I couldn’t just find a second hand copy on eBay. So my quest for it involved trawling through countless car boot sales and visiting second hand bookshops searching for it. I eventually found all the books in the series (which I still have too!) apart from this one. I was only able to get a copy when Collins finally issued a reprint! 

 

So these are my Top 5 books! I found it really interesting when I sat down to plan this post, that when I thought about it most of these books have some connection with my family and childhood. In fact they all do to some extent! I’m sure the choices will surprise many people who know me and were expecting horror, science fiction and fantasy novels to dominate!