Top 10 Favourite Books
Therefore, I wanted my first Top 10 list to be about my top 10 favourite books.
Disclaimer: None of these photos belong to me. I found them on Google Images. If you would like me to remove any of these photos I will. I don't want to offend anyone on this blog.
I'll always remember picking this book up for the first time. I was in year 5, and I always hated reading those daft little age-appropriate reading level books. I was reading Stephen King's Eye of the Dragon from 9 years old thanks to my Dad. This was before Harry Potter and Jacqueline Wilson books were readily available in schools. I just found the reading level books so boring, so when I was told to go pick my next book from the book shelf in the library I went exploring. And I've got a feeling this book was accidently left here by a teacher; there was no other Discworld book to be seen. My teacher wasn't going to let me take it unless she asked my parents. She had me pick a Biff and Chip book just incase. Thank goodness my Dad said yes. This was probably the first book I read with the word 'shit' in it. It was brilliant and I really enjoyed this book. It's still my favourite of the Discworld books. It's probably strongly responsible for my dark sense of humour too!
Sophie Kinsella has got to be one of my favourite authors. Her books are some of the funniest, and give a good description of what single working women in their early twenties have to put up with. I did meet her at the launch event for 'Mini Shopaholic' and she is the most down to earth woman I have ever met. She wanted my purple bag, which unfortunately I'd gotten as a swapsie from a friend so I had no idea where she could get one. Sorry Sophie! But anyway, back to this book. It's a tale of a single woman finding love but with the help of her dead great aunt. Not exactly a day to day ocurrance but it is hilarious and I love it. I mean, imagine..... on second thoughts don't imagine that!
Yes, like pretty much every person in the world (apart from my Mam) I love these books. They are just so creative, and the tale of good vs evil is definately one of my favourite themes. I was convinced to try this by a second hand books salesman on a family holiday. I had the first book read in about a day! I have read them all and the films, even though they have their faults they are great adaptations of the books.
When I heard that there was a film of these being made I thought I'd best read the books. I don't like watching the film first. I don't know why, I just do. To be honest I didn't have high expectations when my sister said it was Twilight with blood. After reading, I kept ondering when sparkly vampires and buffed up shapeshifters were going to turn up. The closest you get if the Capitol people and a cat woman. If you haven't read them, that's all I'll say. I really would recommend these books to everyone. I'm glad I did have such low expectations going into them, it did make them so much better in my mind. Can't wait to see 'Catching Fire' this month!
Yet another proof that woman are just as good as the men at making up fantasy worlds with a lot of action. The Liveship Traders Trilogy is on of many stories set in the Realm of the Elderlings and the Six Dutchies, but it is my favourite. It's full of strong female characters and kept me guessing all the way through (Wikipedia was no help with this luckily). These characters are certainly not black and white in their personalities; each has a darkside even if they're a character you're cheering for since page one. I mean, come on! One of the 'heroes' is a frigging pirate who rapes and murders your favourite characters! I really liked him all the way through, strangely!
I used to have to be so careful describing this series before Game of Thrones came to the masses thanks to HBO. It made incest, patricide/matricide and many other grim stuff that was taboo on the TV before sort of an acceptable theme. Still think that sounds wrong, but I'll try my best to describe this series without you cringing in disgust.
These books follow the same reincarnated characters over four lives. So as you can imagine there are a few moments where brother falls for sister, grandfather falls for granddaughter. But that is just a tiny bit of the series. It's full of magic mixed in with the early histories on Brittain all the way up to World War Two. I honestly love these books, and if you can get through some of their darker themes you will really enjoy these books.
I bought this book in America so I would have something to read on the plane back to England. I was 8. I did have a more mature attitude to books from an early age. I was addicted to King's books after Eyes of the Dragon, which my Dad saw as the most child friendly of his books. Firestarter is a short book by King's standards (The Stand, anyone) so it was ideal for a plane journey. I was still reading it when i got home. It's such a dark story based on a few conspiracy theories that our governments know more about us than they would let on. This story is great for anyone who does like a fast paced story with a heartwarming centre; the father-daughter relationship is lovely but so sad at times from the history prior to the books beginning. It is a must-read.
I did cry when I heard Brian Jacques had died. He was such a lovely man who had led an amazing life. Just read his biography at the back of any of his books. I used to be so shy (more than I am now) back when I was a teenager, but I was dead exited that Brian was coming to Waterstones. I'd already read all of his books up until that point. I'd brought my worn-out copy of Redwall for him to sign, the cover was nearly off by that point! He was so friendly and picked up that I was nervous pretty quick. He gave me a tip to help with nerves, and I still do it to this day.
Brian had a way of writing very human characters in stories that children and adults would enjoy. Although, they are woodland creatures. I still find Cluny the Scourge has the scariest villains introduction I have ever read. It is amazing, and is only a page long.
And I've just reminded myself I don't have these on my kindle...... give me a minute!
If anyone mentions Sam Raimi in the same sentence as these books.....no..... just seriously..... don't! That series made me so angry!
When everyone else was reading Song of Fire and Ice, I was reading these. I did try to read them at the same time but I got myself confused. I chose to wait until after 'Confessor' was released before I picked up Game of Thrones. Apart from the underlying theme that Diplomacy trumps Dictatorships being shoved down your throat at every opportunity after the 5th book these are a good read. Richard and Kahlan were my favourite couple in any book series, and men-torturing leather-clad Mord-sith made this such an interesting series. I loved them.
And them Sam Raimi happened. Why did it have to happen??? I think the only things he kept the same were:
- There's a sword called the sword of truth that can only be weilded by a Seeker.
- The names.
- Mord-sith were red leather when they're 'training' a man (not as kinky as it sounds).
Sorry if you liked the series. I had been bitched at on You Tube several times over this, but I seriously hate this, and the fact that HBO is making such a fab job of Song of Fire and Ice just rubs salt into the wound. In fact, they should buy the rights to do these books afterwards. Please HBO. Save this series!
Rant over guys.
Sorry :)
- Mathilda- Roald Dahl
- Song of Fire and Ice Series- George R R Martin
- The Silver Sword- Ian Serraillier
- The Distant Echo- Val McDermid
- The Eye of the Dragon- Stephen King
- The Hobbit- J R R Tolkein
- The Green Mile- Stephen King
- The Wheel of Time- Robert Jordan
- Threshold- Sara Douglass
- Asterix the Gaul- Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
The book that started my obsession with reading. I got this for Christmas when I was 7 or 8. When I got round to reading it, I had it finished within 6 months. It is honestly the most amazing book I have read to date, and like a certain actor who played Sauron I still read this once a year. Sad, I know but I just love it so much. There are other books on this list that are similar to Lord of the Rings, some a bit faster paced, but this was the granddaddy. This book inspired all those other books. This made fantasy worlds cool and more than just a short story about magical creatures that made your shoes while you slept. This book took years to write, and has fully developed fantasy languages that linguists still study and speak today. And it will be no surprise that I love the films of these books too. Anything Lord of the Rings related I enjoy; yes, even the Lego game.
See you next time.
Byeeee!
xxxx