What’s Your Guilty Reading Pleasure?


Hi everyone

I have a confession to make. I still enjoy reading Little Miss and Mr Men books. You could say they are my guilty please.

In fact, whilst I was recently in London to meet and speak with HM the Queen, at the end of my visit, I bought one Mr Men book and two Little Miss books. Okay, confession number two, I still collect them.

I just couldn’t resist buying this Little Miss Princess book, as I thought it was very apt considering I met HM the Queen.

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So what do I do with all these books? Do I buy them, read them and store them, never to be read again? Wrong. Confession number three. I read them time and time again because I thorougly enjoy them for the follow reasons:

I love the short adventures the characters get up to.

The stories make me laugh.

They make me feel relaxed and calm.

They are light reading before going to bed with nothing particularly scary in them. Although Little Miss Scary and Mr Jelly would probably disagree.

I love the twists, irony or juxtapositon of elements of the stories.

They ease my physical pain by taking my mind off it.

They are fun.

The books are genius, as there is at least one character for everyone to relate to at some point in their life.

They have a good moral to each story. Based on bad being overcome by good but expressed in different ways.

The characters are easy to understand. Any reader can empathise with them very early on in the story.

The illustrations are colourful and simple. Great to look at.

They are great inspiration for anyone who wants to write children’s picture books. That includes me.

Reading them makes me feel good.

Although I have a serious business side to my personality and enjoy writing how to/business books. I also love to write rhyming pictures books for 3-5 years, as I also have a fun, kid-like side to my personality. Both are very different genres but that’s what being quirky is all about.

What’s you guilty reading pleasure? Dare you confess to it?

Write soon
Sandra

18 thoughts on “What’s Your Guilty Reading Pleasure?”

  2. I love the Mr Men books too! Also have a weakness for Watership Down and the Arthur Ransome Swallows and Amazons series. It is great to channel the inner child by reading such books. I can also recommend colouring in as an adult. Have you done that too, Sandra? Best wishes Louise

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  3. Good post, I think I may have to pick a couple up myself now, very inspiring…I do like the Hamish Macbeth series and anything by Leo Kessler which are repetitive but I do like a bit of action sometimes as well.

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    1. Yes, pick up a couple of Little Miss or Mr Men books and laugh your socks off! I think some of them are hilarious, others are sweet, others are – ‘I might have known.’ I like simple humour and that’s why they suit me.
      Sometimes repetitive is good because you know what you are getting and that you are likely to enjoy the next instalment.

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  4. Star Trek books. I’ve been a Trekkie since my late teens and have my favourite Star Trek novels I read over and over again when life becomes a bit much. All of my favourites feature Worf. 🙂

    A few years ago I purchased a new box set of the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I first started reading these books when I was about 9. I’d been watching the series, but as soon as I started reading the books I realised how bad the series was compared to the books, and collected all the books instead. I reread these books at least once a year, and after 30 years of doing so my old original paperback copies finally fell apart. The new box set has already been reread a few times.

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    1. It’s interesting that you turn to your Star Trek books when “things become a bit much.” Because I feel comforted by reading my Mr Men and Little Miss books. At some point I am thinking about writing a book about overcoming depression, using my own experiences. I think kids/teen books are one thing that helps to keep the dark side away.

      I used to watch the Little House series on TV. Why do you think the Little House books are much better?

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      1. First of all, I’m one of those very fussy people who dislikes television series being different from the original books. Also, even as a child I didn’t like Melissa Gilbert’s portrayal of Laura. Gilbert just didn’t come across as mischievous and likeable as Laura in the books. Teenaged Laura in Little Town on the Prairie in particular strikes me as a very fun-loving person, and Gilbert never captured that. If nothing else, I almost always prefer reading the book over watching the series.

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      2. That’s interesting and a very commendable point of view. Believe it or not, although I love writing, I haven’t always loved reading. It fact I didn’t used to like it much at all. Nowadays I tend to read mostly children’s books, how to and business books and those are the three genres I enjoying writing in the most. I have always enjoyed watching movies more than reading books, so I haven’t had both to compare. I can see how annoying it must be if you have fallen in love with a character in a book and the film doesn’t live up to your expectations or portrayal of that character.

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  5. The World According to Humphrey books. About the school, class pet hamster. I read them to my little brothers as bedtime stories, and then sneak the books into my room to read ahead and find out what happens!

    ~ Amy

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    1. That’s great Alastair. Age shouldn’t matter. Do and read whatever makes you happy. I believe age is a state of mind. A person is only as old as they think and feel inside.

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