Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.
Each week they will post a new Top Ten list that one of their bloggers over at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join.
This week’s topic is: Top Ten Favourite Books I Read Before I Was A Blogger
It’s amazing how hard this is to pick. I mean – I’ve always loved reading. And books. It’s a huge reason why I decided to start my own book review blog just under a year ago.
But for some unknown reason it’s really difficult for me to think of my ten favourite book from a year ago…
Must be because…
(Sorry. Couldn’t help myself from using a How I Met You Mother gif)
But now that I’m thinking about it I do have many favourite books from before I was a blogger. They may not be all that quality in terms of literary merit but they were my favourites for a number of reasons.
Watership Down by Richard Adams
This was one of the first non-childrens books that I remember reading – and I loved it. It’s still one of my all time favourite books and one that I think everyone should read.
Animals don’t behave like men,’ he said. ‘If they have to fight, they fight; and if they have to kill they kill. But they don’t sit down and set their wits to work to devise ways of spoiling other creatures’ lives and hurting them. They have dignity and animality
Persuasion by Jane Austen
There are some books where sometimes the reason why I love them has nothing at all to do with the novel itself. I got this book as a gift for my sixteenth birthday and I took it with me on a school trip to Italy for six weeks. Whilst I do love the story, Persuasion reminds me where I was in my life at that time when I first read it. First love, first overseas experience, first time getting lost in a European city and trying to explain to the foreign police that you’re not a terrorist – you just really wanted to take a picture of the police car for your scrapbook…
There could have been no two hearts so open, no tastes so similar, no feelings so in unison
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
“He held up a book then. “I’m going to read it to you for relax.”
“Does it have any sports in it?”
“Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True Love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest Ladies. Snakes. Spiders… Pain. Death. Brave men. Cowardly men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles.”
“Sounds okay,” I said and I kind of closed my eyes.”
Enough said.
I Am David by Anne Holm
This is the book that my fifth grade teacher read us and it’s one that I’ll always remember. It may not be the best book ever written but it’s the first book I remember hearing/reading on the topic of the Holocaust.
Johannes had once said that violence and cruelty were just a stupid person’s way of making himself felt, because it was easer to use your hands to strike a blow than to use your brain to find a logical and just solution to the problem.
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
These books got me though high school Chemistry… perhaps not the smartest idea to sit in the back of the classroom and indulge myself in a fantasy world instead of learning about ionic bonds and the wonders of Organic Chemistry. Nevertheless – I think Aslan is totally more relevant to my life these days than anything I learned about science …
“They call him Aslan in That Place,” said Eustace.
“What a curious name!”
“Not half so curious as himself,” said Eustace solemnly.”
The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss
I admit it. There are times when I mostly liked things because my older brothers hated them. That’s what happens when you’re a little sister desperately trying to gain their approval. Not sure how it works. Not sure it does. But the fact that they hated Dr Seuss and his nonsensical rhymes is a huge reason why I loved them so much.
And this mess is so big
And so deep and so tall,
We cannot pick it up.
There is no way at all!
The Girl Most Likely by Rebecca Sparrow (not a YA novel)
Because sometimes it’s nice to know that even the people most likely to succeed and make the most out of life sometimes take a wrong turn. And plus – this book is funny.
Shadowland by Meg Cabot (as Jenny Carroll)
Hot ghosts, a kick-arse teen heroine. I think this book is what started me off on my kick-ass supernatural kick that is a theme that still prevails in what I read today. Meg Cabot is still one of my favourites and I’ll read anything she writes.
They just kept grinning at me from over the stupid sign, Dopey because
he’s too dumb to know any better, Doc because – well, I guess because he might have been glad to see
me. Doc’s weird that way. Sleepy, the oldest, just stood there, looking … well, sleepy.
Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta
The first book I read by Melina – but by no means the last. She has such a great style of writing. I’ll follow her to any genre - contemporary fantasy, episodes of Dance Academy… – and adore her work.
She asked me what type of contraceptive I use.
Underwear. Keeping it on prevents pregnancy.
and finally…
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
Cause this wouldn’t be a TTT written by me without HP appearing somewhere on my list…
It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.
There is my list for this Tuesday. I’m sure I’ve forgotten to put some of my pre-blogging favourites but these are ten books that I adore.
Feel free to leave me a comment – I love reading them! Any of these books you loved? Hated? Any you think I need to read? Thanks for visiting!
