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.

I was given this amongst a pile of other books and it’s taken me a while to get around to reading it. I think I chose this over some of the others simply because of the name. “Gold Mine” sounds a little industrial as if technology is going to get mentioned. It does, a good dose of geology and the gold mining process with a few adventures thrown in. I say few adventures because the story covers several key characters. The hero, and his rise to running the company. The hero’s lover, who happens to be the wife of the villain. The villain, who gradually develops into the villain from being simply powerful but strange. The other hero who saves the day but loses his life, The greedy villain(s) who cause the suffering of many due to their greed. I haven’t mentioned a handful of other characters that set the scene and who are as good and bad as you find in every day life. Having chose this book, I’d be quite comfortably choosing to read another Wilbur Smith novel.