In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Bedtime Stories.”

“What was your favourite book as a child? Did it influence the person you are now?”

This should be the perfect prompt for me, booklover that I am, but I don’t actually remember any of the stories my mum used to read to me. She has told me many times how she read to me every night and I’m sure that is where my love of reading comes from but I remember very little from my younger years.

What I do know is that when I was old enough to start reading on my own I loved mystery and adventure. I was a big fan of the Famous Five by Enid Blyton and I’m fairly certain I read every book I could find in the local library. I was a bit of a tomboy (and probably still am) so I wanted to be just like George with her dog Timmy. She always stood up for herself and wanted to show she was just as good as the boys.

The other books I was always on the hunt for were the Nancy Drew mysteries. The stories were a bit formulaic (something even a young me noticed) but again I loved this strong, independent, intelligent and brave female character.

I have a suspicion that both Nancy and George are at least partly responsible for my independent streak and my need to prove that I’m as good as anyone else. I was probably a little ahead of my peers academically and these books taught me that intelligence is nothing to be ashamed of and it’s ok to want to learn and compete for the best grades.

I suspect the stories are responsible for my love of solving problems although maybe I loved the books because I liked solving problems. It’s all a bit chicken and egg isn’t it? I have however ended up in a job which is all about working out what happens next, finding information and using lateral thinking to solve problems. Although maybe that’s down to all those episodes of MacGyver I watched. I’m fairly positive I could fix a nuclear reactor with a paper clip and some aluminium foil thanks to MacGyver.

So how about you? Have you been influenced by a book or MacGyver?