Have you ever read a book and thought “I wish I’d wrote that.”

Name your favourites on this thread and the reasons why you enjoyed it so much.

I’ll start the ball rolling and recommend:

“Papillion” by Henri Charriere

In my opinion is one of the finest adventure books ever written, The author tells the story of how he was wrongly imprisoned for a crime he did not commit and sent to penal colony of French Guiana, he escaped & was recaptured after travelling over a thousand miles in an open boat and sent to the notorious Devils island. In the following 13 years he made another nine escapes and had more adventures in this time then most people would in a lifetime.

This is an extraordinary story of indomitable human spirit, it is beautifully and simply told, as though the author is speaking directly to you, the story is superbly paced and flows so well that’s its difficult to find a place to stop, when you turn the final page you actually feel sorrow that the experience is over.

The story is supposed to be a true one, it certainly has an authentic ring to it, although Charriere probably exaggerates some aspects of the story but that takes nothing away from the fine job he did of writing this book.

Incidentally The film “Papillion” starring Steve McQueen isn’t a patch on the book, but it would be almost impossible to capture the essence of this book in a film, it is almost as though you are inside the authors mind.

I'm going to give this some thought and will get back to you.

Anything by Allan Bennett.I would rather write like him than anyone else.

"His Dark Materials" by Philip Pullman..

I like the diskworld books but my favourite book of all time, and the one that made me actually WANT to write is War of the worlds by H.G.Wells. Its simple yet has immense impact even by todays standards and for a 7 year old it had a long lasting effect on me.

Yes, it warped my mind.

Such a simple question, but so hard to answer.
I'll have to think about that.

but my favourite book of all time, and the one that made me actually WANT to write is War of the worlds by H.G.Wells. Its simple yet has immense impact even by todays standards and for a 7 year old it had a long lasting effect on me.
Yes, it warped my mind.


Good point - I instantly thought of Philip Pullman because he is such a technically good writer.. but I suppose "The City & the Stars" by A.C.Clarke had the biggest impact on me...

Its not very well written, there are no female characters in it (apart from 2d s.types). BUT as a 11 year old I said "Woooah" and "Coooooool" all the way through - and read it about 3 times in the space of a year..

Good point - I instantly thought of Philip Pullman because he is such a technically good writer.. but I suppose "The City & the Stars" by A.C.Clarke had the biggest impact on me...

Its not very well written, there are no female characters in it (apart from 2d s.types). BUT as a 11 year old I said "Woooah" and "Coooooool" all the way through - and read it about 3 times in the space of a year..


Now, for someone to read a book 3 times is really something.!! Ive never done that with any book , not even Allan Bennetts.!

Now, for someone to read a book 3 times is really something.!! Ive never done that with any book , not even Allan Bennetts.!
At the moment Im reading The Hogfather by Terry Pratchett and this is something like the 12th time Ive read it.
I lost count of the times Ive read War of the worlds, but a good story is like a good piece of music. You get more from it each time its encountered.

It doesnt inspire me to write as I just can't manage it but...

I'd like to be able to write simple, non-corny, laugh out loud humour with dry one liners/insights and a clever story.

Camberwell Beauty by Jenny Eclair (and Im not a fan of hers normally)

It's not great literature and won't win any awards but its simple yet clever and sad yet happy. A perfect beach book.

I think that the books that inspired to write were actually crappy novels. I think many of us at some time have read something and thought ‘Even I could do better than that’. I do remember reading the Diceman though and being very pleasantly surprised by the premise of the story, it appealed to me a lot. Not the writing so much as the premise or ideas in the story. For the combination of ideas and great writing I would say Perfume and many of the stories of Edgar Allan Poe had an influence on me. I love Poe’s vocabulary. As I’m not based in the UK right now I like to read books that are based in England and set the scene for your imagination to latch on to.

I think that the books that inspired to write were actually crappy novels. I think many of us at some time have read something and thought ‘Even I could do better than that’. I do remember reading the Diceman though and being very pleasantly surprised by the premise of the story, it appealed to me a lot. Not the writing so much as the premise or ideas in the story. For the combination of ideas and great writing I would say Perfume and many of the stories of Edgar Allan Poe had an influence on me. I love Poe’s vocabulary. As I’m not based in the UK right now I like to read books that are based in England and set the scene for your imagination to latch on to.


Yes, you can write better than a lot of authors that ive read.

Yes, you can write better than a lot of authors that ive read.

That’s very kind.

I’m kind of thinking about trashy novels you find in hotels, it seems amazing that so many are printed when there so awful.

That’s very kind.

I’m kind of thinking about trashy novels you find in hotels, it seems amazing that so many are printed when there so awful.


Yes, some of them are appalling.I cannot for the life of me understand anyone reading books by Catherine Cookson and the like.The stories are always the same(poor girl meets rich guy) as to be unbelievable.I hate romances in any case but some of these stories are laughable.They are an insult to a persons intelligence. But look at the volume these authors sell, so somebody must read them. :loopy:

This is a very difficult one to answer. I am personally a big book worm and read anything and everything.

The first book that really got me started was Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket series of unfortunate events, i was reading before that but after them i read more. Library's my second home lol.
The book that inspired me to start writing my stories was Virginia Andrews the Casteel series. Its a story carried across five books. Heaven, Dark Angel, Fallen Hearts, Gates of Paradise and Web of dreams. It was Heaven that made me cry.

Heaven Leigh Casteel was this pretty, smart girl in the backwoods, despite her ragged clothes and dirty face... and her very evil father... and despite her weary stepmother, who worked her like a mule. For her brother Tom and the younger brother and sister, Heaven clung to her pride and her hopes. Someday they'd get away and show the world that they were decent, fine and talented and worthy of love and respect.

Heaven's stepmother ran off, and her evil, greedy father had a scheme, he sold them off to different families and the close family of brothers and sisters were seperated. It continues through the book about how they tried to find each other and escape from the hell that they had been put it. It talks about heartbreak and sadness and happiness and love and it is the most amazing tear jerking story ever.

So i read the books and then i wrote my own story trying not to make it too like V.Andrews but using the way she writes, how she makes it sound like its her own life experience. After a few books like that i started writing other stuff, horror, science fiction, romance, Fantasy, Adventure etc etc.

Definately a must read.
From Fallen

I love reading all types of books but I can't really say they do inspire me to write.

Then again I agree with the not so good books comments and thinking hmm I could do better than that.

I find perhaps life events and just day to day things help me write however still love being a bookworm too!:)

Night Warriors in 1984. I was 14, was swept away to a world of my dreams (nightmares). Wanted to be a writer ever since.

Hi, new here, on the forum, but I've been writing for awhile now, mainly poems and lyrics for my band, but now I'm trying my hand at a novel.

Now, bitchy as this is gonna sound, especially from a newbie, but it seems suprising to me that noone here has mentioned Clive Barker, James Herbert or Stephen King. Now I know that horror is not generally known to be in any way intellectual, but Clive Barker is probably the most intelligent man I've ever read, and his books are just really absorbing, to the point of getting lost within his pages. The perfect starting point would be his Books of Blood series of short stories, or even one of his three novellas, of which Cabal is perhaps the best. Then you can move on to the real meat with his novels.... I won't list them because I'm almost positive that you'll be hooked by the time you read them.

Well, that's my inspiration, anyway....

Hi, new here, on the forum, but I've been writing for awhile now, mainly poems and lyrics for my band, but now I'm trying my hand at a novel.

Now, bitchy as this is gonna sound, especially from a newbie, but it seems suprising to me that noone here has mentioned Clive Barker, James Herbert or Stephen King. Now I know that horror is not generally known to be in any way intellectual, but Clive Barker is probably the most intelligent man I've ever read, and his books are just really absorbing, to the point of getting lost within his pages. The perfect starting point would be his Books of Blood series of short stories, or even one of his three novellas, of which Cabal is perhaps the best. Then you can move on to the real meat with his novels.... I won't list them because I'm almost positive that you'll be hooked by the time you read them.

Well, that's my inspiration, anyway....

On the contrary, some of the best books ever wrote are horror.
I was raised on Dennis Wheatley; I think most adolescent readers start on horror or even science fiction.
I don’t think it really matters what you read; Mills and Boon to George Orwell, just so long as you enjoy what you read.
One of my Christmas presents was Clive Cusslers new one.
Ok they are a bit far fetched; an adult adventure novel, but I find him an addictive read.
I have been accused of trying to emulate Cussler in my writings, is that a bad thing? I fear not.

On the contrary, some of the best books ever wrote are horror.
I was raised on Dennis Wheatley; I think most adolescent readers start on horror or even science fiction.
I don’t think it really matters what you read; Mills and Boon to George Orwell, just so long as you enjoy what you read.
One of my Christmas presents was Clive Cusslers new one.
Ok they are a bit far fetched; an adult adventure novel, but I find him an addictive read.
I have been accused of trying to emulate Cussler in my writings, is that a bad thing? I fear not.

Imitation is the highest form of flattery, just so long as it flatters and doesn't offend

my mother is a freak for anything written by someone who's been dead no less years that she's been alive, at this rate the old girl won't have anything to read by 2008! sorry, mom, love ya.

Anyway, that meant by the time i was twelve i'd gone thru everything from shakespear to tolstoy. evrone ! she made me summarise them for her. anyway, i dind't get all the thee and thous and started writing my own stories to read to her. but at some point i put my pen down-don't know why- and didn't pick it up again. until i read a book they said was shortlisted for the booker and thought '**** me, no one should have to suffer through this kind of ****, i'll write some antidote to all this.' so look out for the best thing to come out of africa since the guy who invented the glyphs;-)

this is jah work, only the mistakes are mine.
blessed rasta