I wouldn't say that any book has changed my life really
However, there is one book that I read on holiday that really got me back into reading, and I'm glad for that. I was quite a voracious reader as a child, but it sort of dropped by the wayside when I got older, and it was only when I decided to sit an English A level at 26 that my appetite was whetted a bit. Half a dozen texts to get through, including one book I would definitely recommend - Beloved, by Toni Morrison. Powerful, disturbing but bloody good.

However, One Fine Day In The Middle Of The Night, by Christopher Brookmyre, really set me back on the road to reading.

Normally, my holidays wouldn't allow much time for reading, but this one was planned as a chill out and relax trip to the South of France. I can't just lie on a beach and do fuck all as I get bored too easily, so I went on a book hunt. Mr Brookmyre's works have very distinctive covers, which was what caught my eye initially. Then I read the blurb on the back and thought it sounded worth a go.

I devoured it within two days. When we got back to Blighty, I sought out the rest of his works. But One Fine Day remains my favourite - a tale violence and mayhem at a school reunion on an oil rig converted into a floating holiday island. Marvellous, and often very funny.

*Makes note to purchase 'The Tale of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks' asap*.
( Davros' Granddad a voice of calm reason in a world of spastics., Thu 15 May 2008, 17:56, 7 replies)

I also love Brookmyre
the bit in that book where the guy vomits out of the vent made me snort coffee out of my nose. I prefer the stand alone books to the "series" type. It's All Fun & Games ... was brilliant at well. The scenes on the boat when mum goes to the rescue were hilarious.
(TheWeeWitch hasn't been here much recently .., Thu 15 May 2008, 17:59, closed)

Although
I do like the way that often very minor characters in one book become a major character in another. Hector Mcgregor, for example.
( Davros' Granddad a voice of calm reason in a world of spastics., Thu 15 May 2008, 18:00, closed)

Brookmyre is a genius
If you like him, try Carl Hiassen. US equivalent. Not quite so close to home for us Scots but still supremely black and funny.
(loutre I've said too much, been too unkind, Thu 15 May 2008, 18:01, closed)

Oddly enough
I bought a Hiassen compendium a while back, but haven't got round to reading it yet.
( Davros' Granddad a voice of calm reason in a world of spastics., Thu 15 May 2008, 18:03, closed)

Beloved
Lovely book. Only read it a couple of years ago, well worth the read...infinitely better than The Color Purple.
( chickenlady b3ta's very own Elizabeth Taylor, Thu 15 May 2008, 21:48, closed)

Brookmyre and Hiasen
are among my most recent additions to the "own what this person's written" lists as well.

Brookmyre has the gift of writing genuinely enjoyable dialogue. The way he paces his books seems to completely agree with my mental reading speed too, which helps.
( Mockingbird Practitioner of SCIENCE, Fri 16 May 2008, 9:27, closed)

@Davros
www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/3499147/Attack-of-the-Unsinkable-Rubber-Ducks-Signed/Product.html

Got my son this for crimbo. Bargain.
(porkylips looks better as the sun goes down., Fri 16 May 2008, 14:08, closed)