Andy – I re-read the Redwall books so much when I was younger that I’m chary of falling back into the cycle (I used to do re-reads through the entire series, in either chronological or publication order), but the temptation is always so, so near. You should go for it! Riddles and longbows and forests and seafaring and comfortingly uncomplicated moral decisions… :)
There’s actually already a Redwall cookbook out, with a seasonal theme, and it looks a. adorable and b. delicious. Yet another thing I wish I had the time to cook/eat my way through.
Luckily The Bloody Chamber is really, really rewarding with repeated visits (…I should get frequent-flier miles for mine), but yeah, there’s really nothing like the first read.

Anda – I thought you wrote “Animorphs Survival Kit” for a second there, and got REALLY excited. Hahahaha, 50% of my brain is still 10.
I have to periodically get rid of books from my collection because of shelf space.
Happens to all of us! Of course my dream is to have so many shelves that it never has to happen again…

Other than that, I just realized that it’s probably a tie between the first Harry Potter book and The Animators Survival Kit for books that have been on my self the longest. My old children s books have a living room shelf, and I have to periodically get rid of books from my collection because of shelf space.

The Bloody Chamber is kinda freaky and yet so sensuous. I’m reading it very slowly, to make it last.

Brambly Hedge is definitely one of my favorite childhood memories. SO adorable! And apparently some of the recipes they make are real–I keep meaning to try the hazelnut biscuits the author put in a different book.

kakaner – I’d say it wasn’t so much the acquisition of it as it was the events surrounding it, and the resultant emotional scarring…

Maureen – I’M GLAD I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE. I used the phrase “sterile promontory” in conversation today and got laughed at. sadface. But every time I read or see Hamlet, I fall a little more in love with him… also don’t know what that says about my personality, but ohh well.
I just looked up the Brambly Hedge books, and now I can’t believe I never read them. I’m dying just looking at the illustrations! Little paws putting up jars of jam, eeeeee. *cute explosion*
Hahaha, I can’t believe you picked Moby-Dick for dramatic readings. How long did it take you? I don’t think I’d have the stamina to get through the whole thing out loud, even over a summer.

Andy – Squee, I can’t believe you got to go to a Brian Jacques signing! Which book did you get signed? And yes, he’s well-known for his love of children – he originally started telling the Redwall stories at the school for blind children where he was a delivery-man. He sounds like a generally lovely person.

Moby-Dick: You’re not missing anything.
I know a couple of people who are wild over it, and being exposed to their enthusiasm always sways me a little… but not enough to actually get me to sit down with it.

Excuse me while I do my dance of happiness that someone else is reading The Bloody Chamber. I had no idea what to make of it the first time I read it (”feminism? what’s that?”), but the language alone exploded me. I’ve been unpacking it a little bit more every time I’ve read it since, but I frequently miss the complete, joyful bewilderment that I felt when I first read it…

Moby-Dick: You’re not missing anything.

I’m reading The Bloody Chamber for the first time at the moment, and it’s kind of leaving me speechless. Just, wow.

I actually *hides in shame* have never read Redwall. But from what I hear, it would make me hungry. Oh! I thought of another one too–Jill Barklem’s Brambley Hedge books. They’re gorgeous little picture books, with amazing detail and they’re always eating these neat foods.

My brother has most of our family picture books, so I didn’t count those.

This summer a friend of mine and I read Moby-Dick aloud. We finished the day before I left. It was actually pretty funny, which we didn’t expect. Some of his metaphors are so insanely over the top that you can’t help but laugh.