10 book meme
Sep. 12th, 2014 02:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lauren3210I was tagged by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
inglevine and I am tagging this_bloody_cat, indyonblue, gracerene, celestlyn, and elvishgrrl (please don't feel obligated to do this, and you've probably all been asked already)
Rules: In a text post, list ten books that have stayed with you in some way. Don’t take but a few minutes, and don’t think too hard — they don’t have to be the “right” or “great” works, just the ones that have touched you. Tag ten friends, including me, so I’ll see your list. Make sure you let your friends know you’ve tagged them!
That Mad Bad Badger, by Molly Burkett. I read this book when I was 7 years old, and it was the book that began my read-a-book-in-an-afternoon spree, that hasn't actually let up since. I devoured it in a couple of hours, and I just knew that whatever I did in life, it would have to involve books. It's so funny, and cute, and then heartbreaking, and finally bittersweet, and I wish I still had my old copy so that I could read it to my girls.
101 Dalmatians, by Dodie Smith. As a pre-teen, I suffered quite a lot from night terrors followed by insomnia. Having a newborn baby brother in the house and a couple of sleepless parents, I had to try to come up with my own way to comfort myself enough to fall back asleep, and I chose this book. I would read it from start to finish, and by the end, the nightmares had been chased away and I was able to fall asleep with a smile on my face. It's just, I love everything about it, from the gentle way these two dogs love each other to the network of animals that help them out. I've never been able to watch the film adaptations all the way through, because they always get the bloody name wrong ohmygod and also because they never seem to really convey the true feeling of community and support that I get from the book. It's my favourite childhood story.
Deep Wizardry, by Diane Duane. I found a copy of this by accident in my town library, which is really quite ironic, considering that the first book in the series is actually about a girl finding a book in her town library that leads her into the world of magic! I spent a long time that summer waiting for my magical powers to kick in, to be honest. But this is the second in the series, and it's awesome, because the two main characters turn into whales to save the ocean and there's a shark called Ed'Rashtekareskett - best name ever - and it's all about sacrificing for what's right and doing the right thing and friendship and it's just so good, okay?
The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde. I've talked about this before, but reading this at 15 was really eye opening for me, and helped me realise quite a few things about myself and accept them. But what I love most about this book is how it details how easy it is to fall so far down a hole before you've even realised it, and how conforming to any societal pressure just from the need to fit in isn't a good thing. It's beautifully written, horrifying and so revealing of human nature within society, and I just adore it.
Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte. This is the book that started my shipping, because Heathcliff and Cathy are my OTP of all OTPs. I mean, if you want an example of the type of ships I go for, this is the book to do it. That all consuming, extremely emotional, so much love that it turns to hate and yet you still can't get away from them in your head, kind of love is the thing that stirs me in fiction, and Bronte conveys this with such understated power, with the bleakness of the moors reflected in the tale being told. I love it so much, I even have a quote from it, translated into Gaelic and tattooed around my right ankle: "Be with me always, take any form, drive me mad. Only do not leave me in this abyss where I cannot find you! Oh God it is unutterable. I cannot live without my life. I cannot live without my soul!" Oh Heathcliff, my baby, you make my heart stutter.
Paradise Lost, by John Milton. People who know me well will know I have a thing for the supposed 'bad guy' and getting their story. I studied this epic poem at university, and loved it so much I ended up writing my dissertation on it. I just find it so amazing how Milton managed to write this completely sympathetic picture of the Devil, showing his wrongs and his terribleness, without letting up on his/her reasoning. His descriptions of Lucifer are the epitome of the word sublime.
The Harry Potter Series, by J K Rowling. Of course, this list wouldn't be complete without mentioning this, because this series shaped a lot of things for me. I read them so I could take my baby brother to see the movies, which started off a movie tradition that we still keep up today, despite the fact that he's 23 now and probably thinks I'm an old loser by now. I studied it during my undergrad degree, and then wrote my PhD on the Christian themes within (among other works). It was this series that made me want to focus my masters degree in Creative Writing on children's literature, and it was my work on that that got me my job where I'm at now. Harry Potter means a fucking lot to me, okay.
The Women of the Otherworld Series, by Kelley Armstrong. I love this series so freaking much. There are 13 books in the series, with many different MCs and all of them women, and all of them written perfectly. Like, if you want to read a book about kickass women who are kickass in all sorts of different ways, from scary motherfuckers to territorial mothers to bombshell TV personalities, then this is the series for you. Plus they all have some kind of magical power, which is extra added awesome: we have Elena the disconnected werewolf, who will rip out your throat and then have sex with her husband in your blood if you piss her off; Paige the tiny witch, who wears skirts and blouses and will kill you with her magic if you come near her self-made family; Eve, the ghost of a black witch, who has a small circle of friends she will protect even into the afterlife, but is happy to let the rest sink or swim; Jaime, the redhead necromancer, who'll only pretend to talk to the ghost of your dead aunt while on TV, but will smack you with the heel of her shoe if you get too close; Hope, the daughter of Lucifer, who'll want to watch you die bloody just to suck up all the chaos vibes, but will try her very best not to, even if you're a sucky person who deserves it; and Savannah, the daughter of a black witch and a powerful sorcerer, the only one of her kind (possibly), whose conscience is actually just a promise of a lecture from the people who brought her up. They're all completely different, and yet they're all strong, capable women, who don't sit back and wait for the men in their lives to come and rescue them, and never think twice about saving the people they love. This series highlights what it is to be a woman, how we can be all things at once, and people fuck with us at their own peril. It's amazing.
Vicious, by V E Schwab. As I said before, I've always been attracted to the so called 'bad guys' in fiction, because those are the stories that are rarely told. We're given some cursory backstory for them, but their thoughts and feelings are hardly ever explored, and I'm always left wondering about the emotional reasons behind their actions once the story has been told. This book goes one step further; it takes the idea of a superhero, and it twists everything about it until you don't know which way is up. Just who is the hero and who is the villain of this story? Is it Victor, the sociopathic prison escapee who's determined to bring down his former best friend? Or is it Eli, the all American everyman, whose conviction that he's on the side of right is what drives him? This story doesn't give an answer; what it does is explore both sides of the superhero/villain story with equal weight, until the reader isn't sure which person they should be rooting for, or if they should even be rooting for anyone at all. It's amazing, and people need to read it right the fuck now, to be honest.
The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller. If you haven't heard of this book by now, then you need to go out and buy a copy immediately! Because boys in love! Greek tragedy! Boys having emotional and hot sex! More Greek tragedy! This and this and this. (that last bit is a quote, btw.) I cried so damn hard over this book; it's beautifully written, and you can tell just how much thought Miller put into every single moment as she tracks the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus throughout the story of Homer's The Iliad. It's heart wrenching and wonderful and soul destroying and perfect, and as soon as I get over it I shall be reading again and again and again, just so I can watch my heart shatter into pieces on the floor. God, but it's beautiful.
EDIT: I know I've already done 10, but I need to talk about Rebecca, by Daphne DuMaurier. The social commentary in this book is absolutely flawless; the protagonist who conforms to society's ideals of how a woman should behave being effectively silenced by refusing to give her a name, while the entire story is permeated with the presence of the long-dead Rebecca. The protagonist, and therefore society, sides with Max DeWinter, and decries his treatment by his first wife by refusing to conform, and yet Rebecca's presense is so strong, so completely unignorable, that she continues to invade the lives of others and refuses to be silenced even after her death. The whole book is such a beautiful commentary on how women shouldn't try to fit themselves into the role that society forces upon them, and it's written so flawlessly that most people don't even realise that it's the point of the book until it's already taken root inside them. Beautiful.
Wow, that was fun! People should ask me to talk books more often tbh
inglevine and I am tagging this_bloody_cat, indyonblue, gracerene, celestlyn, and elvishgrrl (please don't feel obligated to do this, and you've probably all been asked already)Rules: In a text post, list ten books that have stayed with you in some way. Don’t take but a few minutes, and don’t think too hard — they don’t have to be the “right” or “great” works, just the ones that have touched you. Tag ten friends, including me, so I’ll see your list. Make sure you let your friends know you’ve tagged them!
That Mad Bad Badger, by Molly Burkett. I read this book when I was 7 years old, and it was the book that began my read-a-book-in-an-afternoon spree, that hasn't actually let up since. I devoured it in a couple of hours, and I just knew that whatever I did in life, it would have to involve books. It's so funny, and cute, and then heartbreaking, and finally bittersweet, and I wish I still had my old copy so that I could read it to my girls.
101 Dalmatians, by Dodie Smith. As a pre-teen, I suffered quite a lot from night terrors followed by insomnia. Having a newborn baby brother in the house and a couple of sleepless parents, I had to try to come up with my own way to comfort myself enough to fall back asleep, and I chose this book. I would read it from start to finish, and by the end, the nightmares had been chased away and I was able to fall asleep with a smile on my face. It's just, I love everything about it, from the gentle way these two dogs love each other to the network of animals that help them out. I've never been able to watch the film adaptations all the way through, because they always get the bloody name wrong ohmygod and also because they never seem to really convey the true feeling of community and support that I get from the book. It's my favourite childhood story.
Deep Wizardry, by Diane Duane. I found a copy of this by accident in my town library, which is really quite ironic, considering that the first book in the series is actually about a girl finding a book in her town library that leads her into the world of magic! I spent a long time that summer waiting for my magical powers to kick in, to be honest. But this is the second in the series, and it's awesome, because the two main characters turn into whales to save the ocean and there's a shark called Ed'Rashtekareskett - best name ever - and it's all about sacrificing for what's right and doing the right thing and friendship and it's just so good, okay?
The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde. I've talked about this before, but reading this at 15 was really eye opening for me, and helped me realise quite a few things about myself and accept them. But what I love most about this book is how it details how easy it is to fall so far down a hole before you've even realised it, and how conforming to any societal pressure just from the need to fit in isn't a good thing. It's beautifully written, horrifying and so revealing of human nature within society, and I just adore it.
Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte. This is the book that started my shipping, because Heathcliff and Cathy are my OTP of all OTPs. I mean, if you want an example of the type of ships I go for, this is the book to do it. That all consuming, extremely emotional, so much love that it turns to hate and yet you still can't get away from them in your head, kind of love is the thing that stirs me in fiction, and Bronte conveys this with such understated power, with the bleakness of the moors reflected in the tale being told. I love it so much, I even have a quote from it, translated into Gaelic and tattooed around my right ankle: "Be with me always, take any form, drive me mad. Only do not leave me in this abyss where I cannot find you! Oh God it is unutterable. I cannot live without my life. I cannot live without my soul!" Oh Heathcliff, my baby, you make my heart stutter.
Paradise Lost, by John Milton. People who know me well will know I have a thing for the supposed 'bad guy' and getting their story. I studied this epic poem at university, and loved it so much I ended up writing my dissertation on it. I just find it so amazing how Milton managed to write this completely sympathetic picture of the Devil, showing his wrongs and his terribleness, without letting up on his/her reasoning. His descriptions of Lucifer are the epitome of the word sublime.
The Harry Potter Series, by J K Rowling. Of course, this list wouldn't be complete without mentioning this, because this series shaped a lot of things for me. I read them so I could take my baby brother to see the movies, which started off a movie tradition that we still keep up today, despite the fact that he's 23 now and probably thinks I'm an old loser by now. I studied it during my undergrad degree, and then wrote my PhD on the Christian themes within (among other works). It was this series that made me want to focus my masters degree in Creative Writing on children's literature, and it was my work on that that got me my job where I'm at now. Harry Potter means a fucking lot to me, okay.
The Women of the Otherworld Series, by Kelley Armstrong. I love this series so freaking much. There are 13 books in the series, with many different MCs and all of them women, and all of them written perfectly. Like, if you want to read a book about kickass women who are kickass in all sorts of different ways, from scary motherfuckers to territorial mothers to bombshell TV personalities, then this is the series for you. Plus they all have some kind of magical power, which is extra added awesome: we have Elena the disconnected werewolf, who will rip out your throat and then have sex with her husband in your blood if you piss her off; Paige the tiny witch, who wears skirts and blouses and will kill you with her magic if you come near her self-made family; Eve, the ghost of a black witch, who has a small circle of friends she will protect even into the afterlife, but is happy to let the rest sink or swim; Jaime, the redhead necromancer, who'll only pretend to talk to the ghost of your dead aunt while on TV, but will smack you with the heel of her shoe if you get too close; Hope, the daughter of Lucifer, who'll want to watch you die bloody just to suck up all the chaos vibes, but will try her very best not to, even if you're a sucky person who deserves it; and Savannah, the daughter of a black witch and a powerful sorcerer, the only one of her kind (possibly), whose conscience is actually just a promise of a lecture from the people who brought her up. They're all completely different, and yet they're all strong, capable women, who don't sit back and wait for the men in their lives to come and rescue them, and never think twice about saving the people they love. This series highlights what it is to be a woman, how we can be all things at once, and people fuck with us at their own peril. It's amazing.
Vicious, by V E Schwab. As I said before, I've always been attracted to the so called 'bad guys' in fiction, because those are the stories that are rarely told. We're given some cursory backstory for them, but their thoughts and feelings are hardly ever explored, and I'm always left wondering about the emotional reasons behind their actions once the story has been told. This book goes one step further; it takes the idea of a superhero, and it twists everything about it until you don't know which way is up. Just who is the hero and who is the villain of this story? Is it Victor, the sociopathic prison escapee who's determined to bring down his former best friend? Or is it Eli, the all American everyman, whose conviction that he's on the side of right is what drives him? This story doesn't give an answer; what it does is explore both sides of the superhero/villain story with equal weight, until the reader isn't sure which person they should be rooting for, or if they should even be rooting for anyone at all. It's amazing, and people need to read it right the fuck now, to be honest.
The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller. If you haven't heard of this book by now, then you need to go out and buy a copy immediately! Because boys in love! Greek tragedy! Boys having emotional and hot sex! More Greek tragedy! This and this and this. (that last bit is a quote, btw.) I cried so damn hard over this book; it's beautifully written, and you can tell just how much thought Miller put into every single moment as she tracks the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus throughout the story of Homer's The Iliad. It's heart wrenching and wonderful and soul destroying and perfect, and as soon as I get over it I shall be reading again and again and again, just so I can watch my heart shatter into pieces on the floor. God, but it's beautiful.
EDIT: I know I've already done 10, but I need to talk about Rebecca, by Daphne DuMaurier. The social commentary in this book is absolutely flawless; the protagonist who conforms to society's ideals of how a woman should behave being effectively silenced by refusing to give her a name, while the entire story is permeated with the presence of the long-dead Rebecca. The protagonist, and therefore society, sides with Max DeWinter, and decries his treatment by his first wife by refusing to conform, and yet Rebecca's presense is so strong, so completely unignorable, that she continues to invade the lives of others and refuses to be silenced even after her death. The whole book is such a beautiful commentary on how women shouldn't try to fit themselves into the role that society forces upon them, and it's written so flawlessly that most people don't even realise that it's the point of the book until it's already taken root inside them. Beautiful.
Wow, that was fun! People should ask me to talk books more often tbh
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2014-09-12 02:52 pm (UTC)Paradise Lost is another one that has been on my to-read list for awhile now. I definitely have a thing for the "bad guys" and the whole, "two sides to every story" thing.
Oh man, The Song of Achilles sounds so good. I love greek mythology/history/epics.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-09-12 04:36 pm (UTC)OH OH YOU MUST READ SONG OF ACHILLES!!! Like, I have no words to properly convey how wonderful this book is. I had a full on breakdown in the best way reading it, you HAVE to get a copy!!
(no subject)
Date: 2014-09-12 04:43 pm (UTC)I just added it to my to-read list on goodreads! I was looking through the reviews, and one of the authors I really enjoy gave it a glowing review as well, so I am even more sold.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-09-12 04:49 pm (UTC)Oh oh and yesssssss! Once you're done, please feel free to cry all over me, I need all the emotional support I can for this book!
(no subject)
Date: 2014-09-12 02:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-09-12 04:40 pm (UTC)I hope your troubled times are coming to an end, and if you need to talk about ANYTHING my inbox is always open. Love you, sweetie! <3
(no subject)
Date: 2014-09-15 09:13 pm (UTC)I'm putting Song of Achilles, Vicious and the Otherworld series on my to-read list right now.
Oh, and I've finally got round to doing my own 10 book list if you want to have a little peek. I fear it's a bit pedestrian compared to yours! But it's so hard to do. I've been reading independently since I was 7 years old, and my favourite books change depending on my moods. Well, anyway, I've done the best I can!
(no subject)
Date: 2014-09-15 09:37 pm (UTC)I'm going to go have a look at yours now, I love these things, I think that the books we've read that have left such an impression on us really give glimpses into who we are, and I find that fascinating tbh
(no subject)
Date: 2014-09-16 07:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-09-17 09:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-09-18 07:46 am (UTC)