One of WordPress’ recent daily prompt questions asked us to name 3 books that impacted your life and why.
To which I responded (previous post) with
- Be Your Own Life Coach by Fiona Harrold
- Miles Davis Autobiography
- Indian Cookbook by Mridula Baljekar
But then again given I have been an avid reader for 50 of my 56 short years so far, it is impossible to settle on just 3 books.
Any given day I probably would come up with 3 different books from those mentioned and that is why I decided to expand the list below with a raft of books that were immeasurably impactful.
Before doing so though, it is worth exploring how books etc became central to my personal development.
In the Beginning
So attending primary school in Old Harbour, Jamaica (late 1970s) meant you were surrounded by like minded classmates who were passionate readers and storytellers. Reading fictional books such as the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series became like a sport. There was a race to see who could read the entire collection.
If you got your tiny hands on a certain Hardy Boys book that none of your mates read you were the talk of the school backed up by envious stares. If you owned such sought after novels, you lent them at your own peril as that book would now pass through so many hands; never to return to the owner.
The Old Harbour library was where we’d hang out waiting for the latest Hardy Boys to reach the shelves. If you found such books you’d hide it in the non-fiction section until you could return the previously borrowed books. A trick that worked a treat.
Plus I’d rely on our librarian (Linda Spence) to nudge me whenever the latest novel was about to hit the shelf. By then we’d also caught the Agatha Christie bug.
The local library became our home after classes where we would peruse fiction and nonfiction books.
In between all this I was also drawn to my older brother’s book collection that was African Caribbean/American centric and in hindsight ahead of its time for our local community including the library.
So imagine as a ten year old trying to understand my brother’s copy of Franz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks and not having a scooby doo (London slang for having no clue).
[I was ever so grateful to Mrs Spence for supporting my passion for reading. In the 1990s whenever I returned from London I would carry a load of Caribbean centric books and donate.]
1980s
At Glenmuir High, English literature and Caribbean history were my favourite subjects and where I began to appreciate the works of writers from across the Caribbean such as George Lamming, Samuel Selvon and Claude McKay. Although when I first saw the size of House of Mr Biswas by V.S. Naipaul I said no chance
During the summer holidays and some weekends I’d say to mum “soon come” and take the train the 20+ miles east to Kingston and visit the 2 landmark libraries, Tom Redcam and the Institute of iJamaica. Not that I ever told mum or anyone else where I was heading.
The Institute of Jamaica was my favourite place as the archives held – especially of newspapers from decades ago – was manna. I was in Cookie Monster mode whenever I saw old images of Old Harbour in old editions of The Gleaner.
One wet Friday in September 1986 I collected my A level results in Kingston and by the following Wednesday I was sitting in Queens Park library, North West London, amazed by the volume of books on those shelves, especially Caribbean based ones.
In the months to come in that part of London I immersed any free time in getting to know my 4 local libraries (Queens Park, Kilburn, Swiss Cottage and Willesden) all within walking distance and thinking how lucky those residents were to have such unlimited resources on their doorstep.
Whenever any of my friends/acquaintances are moving to a new town/country I always recommend they spent time in the local library as that will help them to understand the wider community.
1990s
By the early 1990s I was working in the West End of London where my office was just a stone’s throw from all the major bookstores such as Foyles, the largest bookstore in Europe. Paradise!
The beauty of that area of London was not just the large mega bookstores such as Foyles, Waterstones, Borders, Books etc, Blackwells but also the numerous smaller independent specialist bookshops in the arts, music, film, theatre, architecture, music and sex.
There was one popular bookshop that sold only crime novels.
Sportspages on Tottenham Court Road was the bookstore to hang around whenever a sporting celebrity was promoting their memoirs. That’s where I’d shake hands with many former West Indies cricketers and retired boxers.
For the next 3 decades I would spend countless hours in those stores between the South Bank and central London.
But back to some of other books that impacted me
- Everyman’s Encyclopedia – Still the best investment my mum made when she bought the collection from a salesman in early 1970s London. Foundation of how I learnt things since the age of 6.
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill – Still living by the standards learnt.
- Influence by Robert Cialdini – Those techniques work.
- What Every Body is Saying by Joe Navarro – Terrific body language book. Saves you time and energy out there.
- How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie – Still relevant all these decades later.
- 10 Minute Life Coach by Fiona Harrold – A good reference point.
- Ways of Sunlight by Sam Selvon – indirectly prepared me for life in London as an adult but also developed my interest in short stories.
- Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon – Based on the windrush era but relevant to me in late 1980s London.
- The Black Jacobins by C.L.R. James – Inspired my interest in Haiti and those African French Caribbean writers like Fanon.
- The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey by Marcus Garvey – Garvey created a progressive template that pushed me and those black friends and acquaintances I came in to contact with to excel and encourage others..
- 1001 Inventions: Muslim Heritage in Our World – Certainly widened my horizon beyond the usual Western narratives.
- Dancehall: The Story of Jamaican Dancehall Culture by Beth Lesser – A monster of a photo book that inspired me to create my own photo books.
- Tony Benn Diaries – This former British Labour Party political giant published fascinating diaries and it inspired me to do the same since going on 20 years. Scary and laughable when I look back at my own content.
- The Penguin Guide to Jazz by Richard Cook and Brian Morton – In the 1990s this 1000+ page book had reviews of every single Jazz album available on CDs and is to blame for my large jazz CD collection. Financially impactful of course.
- Sylvia Plath Letters Home – Since the 1980s loved exchanging long letters and her published collection of letters helped me scribe private letters in a more creative and somewhat emotionally liberated fashion. Still exchanging such long letters/emails with a couple friends for nearly 30 years.
Better leave things right there before I get carried away.
wingswithme 