This week’s Inheritance Books are from Ruth Long, YA/ Fantasy writer writer and my friend from the RNA. Ruth was kind enough to do a special Halloween edition of Inheritance Books earlier featuring the old books in her care. This time she’s talking about her own personal favourites.

Hi Ruth, welcome back to Inheritance Books. We already know about your librarian work, can you tell us a bit more about yourself and what you write, please?

I’m a writer and a book lover for as long as I can remember. At home I have shelves groaning under the weight of books which are usually shelved two deep and stacked on top as well. Don’t believe me? See the picture below.  Not what you expect from a librarian, is it??? And this is just the top half of one of the many bookshelves. The whole family are booklovers. We hoard everything.

I write fantasy of all kinds for all ages. And oddly enough fantasy is my favourite genre as well. I write epic fantasy and paranormal romance as R. F. Long. I write for teen as Ruth Frances Long. My most recent novel is “The Treachery of Beautiful Things” and my next “A Crack in Everything” will be out next year.

 Which book have you inherited from the generation above? Why is it special?

The earliest book I really remember treasuring was a copy of The Lord of the Rings. I must have read it about ten times. So much so that it fell apart and had to be stuck back together. We made a new spine for it from masking tape. Every page was worn thin, folded and tattered. I read it and re-read it, finding something new every single time. There’s so much in there – different strands of story as the plot follows different characters, poetry and songs (everyone gives out about Tolkien’s poetry, but I love it), and the vast wealth of legend and folklore he created as the basis of his world. But at the core, it’s a story about friendship, duty and loyalty.

The family copy of The Lord of the Rings has long since vanished as it probably disintegrated from use and has been replaced with a new, hardback, illustrated copy. It’s very beautiful. But not quite the same. It has pride of place on the top shelf nonetheless.

Ah now, I prefer The Hobbit <puts on hard hat and hides under a table>. I got a bit bored in the middle bit of LOTR books (I did finish them though, it was a matter of pride!). 

Which book would you like to leave to future generations? Why?

Hug by Jez Alborough. This was one of the first book I read with my kids. The copy (now beaten battered and chewed and stuck back together in a fine family tradition as you can see from the photo) came with a little Bobo the monkey teddy (now beaten battered and chewed and currently missing/hidden somewhere at the bottom of the pit of cuddly toys, aka one of the kid’s bedrooms). All very much loved. It tells the story of a baby monkey who is lost. As he walks through the jungle he sees other animals with their parents sharing hugs. Finally he finds his mummy and all is well. It’s especially wonderful as there is so much emotion contained in this little story, but the story itself contains only the words “Hug”, “Mummy” and “Bobo!”

Yay! I like Hug! Actually, I like ‘Some dog Do’ as well (also, by Jez Alborough). 

Thanks for sharing your Inheritance Books with us, Ruth. All the best with your books. 

You can buy Ruth’s books from Amazon, Indiebound or Book Depository. You can find out about Ruth from her website (www.rflong.com), Facebook (R. F. Long and The Treachery of Beautiful Things) and Twitter (@RFLong).