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‘I was lost in a world of crystal skulls’: readers on the books they got for Christmas

Our readers pick the presents that changed their lives, from Roald Dahl box sets to tales of Sydney street gangs

• Alison Flood on Like This Poem: ‘This genius anthology probably set the course of my life’

• David Barnett on Usborne’s The World of the Unknown: ‘Even the cover was terrifying’

• Rebecca Liu on Men Are from Mars, Women are from Venus: ‘An emotional bootcamp of sorts’

• Sam Jordison on The Colour of Magic: ‘I was swept up in the misadventures of Rincewind’

What a festive joy it has been to read about the books you remember getting for Christmas – and also to see how many of you, like me, adored Kaye Webb’s I Like This Poem. Whether it was the Rupert annuals received yearly by LancsLionheart, or the boxed set of Roald Dahl’s children’s books which auspom started on Christmas Day and worked through over the rest of the holidays, it just goes to show that there’s nothing better to find under the tree than a book.

For LawrenceWindrush, a 14-year-old in 1980, it was his sister who gave him Arthur C Clarke’s Mysterious World. “During the Christmas week I was lost in the world of crystal skulls, the Yeti and UFOs. The world seemed magical and exciting – anything was possible among all the wrapping paper, turkey sandwiches and nuts. Exciting times.”

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from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/3H7KKdp
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