Winners - Paying it Forward (#PIF) - How much do you Love Books? Contest ed 6

So ...I guess it's my turn now, hehe.

1) Tell us about one of the pivotal moments that cemented your love for reading. Was it a person, a place, a specific book, or a story?

As many have said in the comments, I feel I was born to read, but I did have a few things that heavily influenced my love for reading and for words.

One was my Mom who played countless games of scrabble with me throughout my childhood and teen years. We were often up past midnight, sat on my parent's bed in the still light of her bedside lamp (whilst my Dad slept), just the board and letters lay between us. My Dictionary and Thesaurus were never far from reach. I treasure those memories. When she passed going on 3 years ago, I was helping my Dad to clear out one of the cupboards and came across our old Scrabble set inside a canvas bank bag. The board looked a little worse for wear but it lay intact with all the tiles to accompany it. I rescued it and brought it home with me across the oceans and continents to its resting place here in England where I hope to start playing with my own two boys as soon as they progress from the Junior version.

The second was my Standard 3 teacher at Primary School. She read to us every single day. She had this cute little grey terrier called Socks that used to accompany her to school and we would all huddle on the carpet alongside Socks and become immersed in the wonderful worlds created through my teacher's expressive voice and choice of literature. She read us The Hobbit, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, My Side of the Mountain, The Magic Faraway Tree, and I am David. I also remember reading Bridge to Terabithia whilst in her class.

The third was my discovery of Enid Blyton. Every child should discover Enid. I found myself lost in the Adventures of The Famous Five and devoured every book in every series, such was my love for the cousins and their escapades. They spirited me away to a place of thrills and spills and adventure.

2) What are your top 3 books from your childhood and tell us about your social affinity to one of your faves; how it found a place in your heart.

Well, I kinda answered this in (1) above lol but here are my 4! (breaking my own rules ... I'm not the first haha):

Let's see my erm...10 faves (see what I did there😍😆 - gosh how could I have made you choose only 3???!!!):

The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
I am David - Anne Holme
My Side of the Mountain - Jean Craighead George
Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson
Jonathan Livingston Seagull - Richard Bach
Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) - Antoine de Sant Exupery
The Secret of the Sycamore Tree - Sue Hart
The Journey of the Soul - Victoria Parker Sober
The Flicka Trilogy - Mary O'Hara (My friend Flicka, Thunderhead, and Green Grass of Wyoming)

3) Share with us 3 of your favorite authors and titles that you have read as an adult, where you either had to acquire your own copy for your personal library or would go back and reread for the sheer joy and experience of it

I have read so broadly as an adult, from the spiritual, philosophical, through memoir, pilgrimage, science, neurology, autism, summer reads, historical fiction, and non-fiction... it never ends. I have way too many faves...I'll be here all day if I allow my analytical mind to trawl through and pinpoint the absolute faves. Instead, I'll list a few authors who made an impact on me at various times in my life and the book of theirs that started me off on each journey to read everything that they had written or simply to get lost in the message they were providing in that single book. Through my High School and University Years, I have enjoyed everything from Shakespeare's Hamlet to Jane Austen's Persuasion, Louisa May Alcott's Little Women to Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country, and Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart.

Some of my faves as an adult include (excluding anything technical lol):

Richard Bach - Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Richard Bach's stories of spirituality, life's pursuits, challenges, love, and friendship, written against a backdrop of flight, and woven into thought-provoking stories are an absolute delight.

Shirley Maclaine - Out on a Limb

Shirley Maclaine's memoirs ignited in me a love for the genre. Her outspoken manner cuts across Hollywood and she peppers her memoirs with amusing anecdotes, spiritual awakenings, and a zest for life.

Stan Schmidt - Spirit of the Empty Hand

My love affair with Karate and the martial arts culminated with a face-to-face meeting with Stan Schmidt when he signed a copy of his autobiography for me. I was later privileged to train alongside Sensei Stan during a Karate tour of Johannesburg. He was an incredible master of the art and led his life by the 5 maxims of karate: Character, sincerity, effort, etiquette, and self-control. He was a true inspiration to everyone whose life he touched. I will always remember him asking me why I did karate. My answer was short and simple and from the heart: Because I enjoy it.

He had the biggest smile on his face as he inscribed his book with the message To Sam, may you pass on your joy to others, Osu Stan Schmidt. When I completed his book, I had the biggest smile on my face. I realised why my answer had struck a note with him. His book ends with the line: At least I'm beginning to enjoy it all.

Stephenie Meyer - The Twilight Saga

Philip Pullman - His Dark Materials

Ok...well I broke ALL the rules of my contest, but I guess rules were made to be broken when they are that stupid to start with hehe.

And now for the winners:

The new Hivian winner of the 50 Hive delegation for 3 months is:

@itsostylish - Congrats. Delegation will be with you shortly!

The rest of the winners are as follows:

@deraaa 8 LOLZ tokens
@agreste 2 HBI
@ayesha-malik 8 LOLZ tokens
@flamistan 2 HBI
@itsostylish 10 LUV tokens
@khaleesii 10 LUV tokens
@creativemary 500 POB delegation for 3 months
@yaziris 20 PIZZA tokens
@alekst7 2 HBI
@calumam 2 HBI
@amberkashif 500 VYB delegation for 3 months
@khoola 2 HBI
@queenstarr - 5 PIZZA tokens 'cos nobody goes home empty-handed this month
@rentmoney - 5 PIZZA tokens 'cos nobody goes home empty-handed this month
@preets - 5 PIZZA tokens 'cos nobody goes home empty-handed this month

The process of selection appears below:

Firstly I used the randomiser on random.org to randomise the entries into a new list. Here is this list below:

Then I used the randomiser to randomise all the prizes into a new order. See below:

Finally, I matched the two lists to each other, giving me the winners' names with the prizes they had won. The last 3 people on the first list were left without an official prize, so I have awarded them each 5 PIZZA as a consolation.

@calumam, over to you ;-)

Until next month folks, hopefully I'll be bumping into you on the blockchain, more often than not by design :-)

Sources

Image created in Canva Pro

The Random.org images are screenshots from my phone.