Krista Chesal, Content Solutions Specialist

I read A Slip of the Keyboard: by Terry Pratchett. It’s a collection of his non-fiction writings with a personal introduction by Neil Gaiman. I read it cover to cover rather than pick bits and pieces like I generally do with collections of this type.

As a long-time Discworld fan, it was a treat to read and be reminded of how much I enjoy Sir Terry’s voice and point of view.

Throughout the piece, he either mentions or is writing about books that inspired or were meaningful to him. I took notes and ended up with enough inspiration for months!

The ones I short-listed include:

• Smith of Wootton Major, by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Elidor, by Alan Garner
• P. D. James’ Children of Men, Time’s Arrow, and Fatherland
• Works by Brian Aldiss
• Methuselah’s Children, by Robert Heinlein
• Michael Frayn’s The Tin Men
• Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five
• Philip K. Dick’s Man in the High Castle
• Terry Gilliam’s movie Time Bandits
• John Masefield’s Kay Harker, in The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights
• G. K. Chesterton’s The Napoleon of Notting Hill
• Mistress Masham’s Repose, by T. H. White
• The Evolution Man by the late Roy Lewis
• The Specialist, by Charles Sale
• The Leaky Establishment Dave Langford
• Michael Frayn’s The Tin Men
• Sir George Frazer’s Folklore in the Old Testament

I intend to work my way through this list. My hope is that, if I can filter enough great works through my brain, I’ll be able to produce even a fraction of the magic Sir Pratchett did with his.