Do you go ga-ga over Great Expectations or does Wuthering Heights leave you weak at the knees?
Maybe you'd back Jilly Cooper's Riders or shiver with delight at Stephen King's The Shining?
If you had to pick your favourite novel, would you plump for Pride and Prejudice or hold up Treasure Island as a priceless gem?
Well, now is the time to decide if you're a Dickens devotee or a Faulks fan because the search is on for Calderdale's favourite novel.
To celebrate the National Year of Reading, which officially gets under way in April, Calderdale Libraries are launching the Big Read campaign, asking readers which is their perfect bedtime book (or any other time of the day for that matter).
"Picking your favourite novel might be tricky for some because if people are like me, then they'll have a few favourites," says Anna Turner, Calderdale Libraries reader develop-ment officer.
"But others might be able to name their favourite novel straight away. Maybe it will be something they read as a child and is still special to them. Whatever it is, we'd love to hear from them. It will be interesting to see which books are nominated," she says.
The Big Read will be officially launched at the Halifax Central Library on Thursday, April 3, by bestselling author Andrew Martin.
York-born Andrew is the creator of Jim Stringer, engine driver and amateur sleuth who has appeared in five novels to date (a sixth is due out in June.)
His second novel, The Blackpool Highflyer, not only brings a new twist to tales of Edwardian England – but it also puts Halifax on the map.
"The town features in the book because Jim drives the train from Halifax to Blackpool and while I was researching I spent a few days in the town.
"In fact I spent quite a bit of time searching through the library and archives, reading back copies of the Courier," he says.
"I think Halifax is a great place for inspiring writers.
"It has such wonderful history and architecture and much of it is still around. I got an old historical map and walked around the town trying to inhabit a Halifax long forgotten. I was so immersed that at one point, I stepped into the road, forgetting all about the traffic – and nearly got myself run over."
Andrew, a former Spectator Young Writer of the Year, qualified as a barrister before becoming a freelance journalist and author.
His first novel, Bilton, was published to great acclaim in 1999, followed three years later by The Bobby Dazzlers.
His Jim Stringer novels began with The Necropolis Railway.
As well as a full-time writer, Andrew is an avid reader.
"Some writers try not to read, in case they are influenced, I suppose," he says.
"But I love to have a book on the go and while I'm writing about Edwardian times in the Jim Stringer books, then I do like to read books from that period.
"It gives you a real flavour of the language and colour of the time" he says.
His favourite novel can be narrowed down to three titles – Charles Dickens's Hard Times, The Tap Dancer by Andrew Barrow ("The funniest book I have ever read") and Russell Hoban's futuristic novel Riddley Walker ("People have either never heard of it or if they have read it, they love it").
"I do worry that people don't read as much as they should today and they are really missing out.
"That's why I am thrilled to be backing the Calderdale Big Read. I really hope people take the trouble to vote," he says.
A book for every month of the yearEACH month during the National Year of Reading will have a theme – and Read All About It is April's topic.
In May the theme will be Mind and Body. The journals of Anne Lister and the much-loved children's book Funnybones will feature.
June will be Reading Escapes, about our favourite books to read by the pool and July will be Rhythm and Rhyme.
Dozens of events , including drop-in sessions, visiting authors, quizzes and competitions are planned at libraries throughout Calderdale during the coming months and people of all ages are urged to take part.
- Tickets for the Andrew Martin Calderdale Big Read event, which will also be supported by local authors Jill Liddington and Glynn Hughes, on Thursday, April 3, at 7.30pm, are available from Halifax Central Library.
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