Welcome to the first instalment of my bookshelf spotlight, and Fantasy Friday.

My plan for Fantasy Friday is to start from the books I read first, and lead you through to the now (and the books and series that are on my shelves unread). Remember, these are just the books I have in my bookshelf. If we were to go back to my first fantasy reads it would have to be Narnia and The Magic Faraway Tree series and probably a whole lot I can no longer remember. But those books are long lost amongst the requirement to get rid of 95% of my books when I was 13, before we moved from New Zealand to Australia.

Well, you already know which book from my collection is the one I read the longest ago – titles and feature photos don’t leave much room for mystery. It is, of course, Watership Down by Richard Adams.

I think I first read Watership Down when I was 7. I can figure out general windows of when I read certain books based on which library I remember getting it from, which meant which house we must have lived in, and therefore what age range I was in. Yes, libraries are of course the time landmark (timemark?) – aren’t they for everyone?

The library had a letter on file from my parents giving me permission to access the young adult section where I found this book. I remember the book was heartbreaking but I also loved it. I think I got my own copy when I was about 8 or 9, and probably read it a couple of times. But I don’t think I have read this since I was 11, so I can’t remember very much about it. One to add to the super-long reread list.

When was the last time you read this book? (Because hasn’t everyone read it?)