30 Week Book Challenge #1 - Your Favourite Book

So here we are! The start of a 30 Week Book Challenge (meant to be 30 Day, but I decided I couldn't keep up with that) where each week I will share with you one of my picks on a given topic. Before I start, I'd better to say I nicked this challenge from here - that post, as well as all the participating posts after it, are written by the lovely Nadine Rose Larter, author of Coffee At Little Angels.

Anyway, first up is my favourite book. This is so much harder to choose than I expected! I enjoy so many books, and often I form some sort of emotional or meaningful attachment to them, that it's hard to choose one over the other. Nevertheless, after much deliberation, I have opted for a book which I haven't read in years, but which I plan to pick up again soon: 'The Clan of the Cave Bear' by Jean M. Auel.

No surprises - it's set at the time of the cavemen, when there were two tribes, one distinguished by their darker features, the other is known for the people's light colouring. The paler clan is more physically and psychologically advanced than the other, and one might say more 'clever'. One little girl from the lighter clan is orphaned, and taken in by the rival, darker clan, and throughout her life she both confuses and stuns her guardians with her bright mind.

Not my usual sort of book, I know, but somehow it has just always captured my interest. The era of the cavemen is one we know very little about, so perhaps it is this insight into their lives which intrigues me. Perhaps it was the allure of an exceptionally bright young girl being far more advanced than anyone she knows. Perhaps it's just the descriptive writing style or the plot. I'm not really sure why I like this book so much, but I just do!

It is the first of a series, but it is the only title I have read. From what I understand, the rest of the series goes a bit downhill, so I have no intention of reading anything else from it. I don't want to ruin the magic!

I originally saw and enjoyed the film version of this when I was tiny - I was probably only about 6 or 7 at the time - well before I ever knew it was a book. Some years later I saw the book for sale and couldn't resist buying it, which is a decision I'm really pleased I made! I must have been pre- or early-teen when I first read it, so it took me quite a while to get through (it's 587 pages) and some of it went over my head, but I really enjoyed it.

As I say, it's been years since I last read it, but recently I've put it back in my TBR pile, as I'd love to re-read it again and see if I still enjoy it much as I always did!