Top Ten Tuesday is the creation of the blogging team over at The Broke and the Bookish. Each Tuesday, there's a new top ten to explore, and this week the theme is the top ten books to-be-read this 1. Breath for the Bones | Luci Shaw
This was recommended for school one semester. I bought it, started it, fell in love with it, and didn't get to finish it. It's an exploration of art and faith, and it was gentle and powerful. But I only got a third of the way through, so I'm looking forward to reading more.
2. Out of the Silent Planet | CS Lewis
The brilliant CS Lewis and his bizarre science fiction. I got halfway through this one (and own the other two in the trilogy as well) and this time, I want to finish it.
3. My Seventh Monsoon | Naomi Reed
This looks to be amazing. It was a gift from friends for my birthday last year, an autobiography about a Sydney woman transported to the Himalayas. I'm excited about this one.
4. By Hook or By Crook | David Crystal
'A linguistic travelogue' exploring words and their weird histories.
5. The Clumsiest People in Europe | ed. Todd Pruzan
This was a delightful across-the-world gift from a lovely friend (hi, Asea!). It's darkly hilarious -- the naive and even bigoted 19th century observations of a woman called Mrs Mortimer, calling out the peoples of the world on their failures and foibles.
6. Taj and the Great Camel Trek | Rosanne Hawke
A children's story set in the untamed years of Australian exploration and centering on twelve-year-old Taj, an Afghani camel driver. Rosanne Hawke is a wonderful Australian YA author (and one of my lecturers, to boot!).
7. Loser | Jerry Spinelli
Jerry Spinelli is golden, and I think this very quirky story is set to break my heart a little bit. I'll have to report back when I'm done.
8. The Shifting Fog | Kate Morton
This is the only one on my list that I don't have a lot of enthusiasm about. On a purely aesthetic level, this is 566 pages of narrow margins and small print -- and I generally do not have the time or patience for intensely wordy books. Also, the story -- a moody mystery -- is told predominantly in flashback, and I am not a fan of flashback. But I want to make myself finish this.
9. The King's Speech | Mark Logue & Peter Conradi
I saw the movie, and now I want to read the book that inspired it. Real history, y'all!
10. Ransom | David Malouf
I've started this one already, but got distracted. It's a powerful prose retelling of Homer's Iliad, and the writing is delicious.
Four of the ten books are Australian, so that's a nice percentage for local reading. What would be on your list?
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Conversations:
Samantha R -- it was very cool and fun indeed!
Laura Elizabeth -- peaceful is right. That sunset was amazing!
I super love Kate Morton's books! The Shifting Fog was the first of hers I read. I really enjoyed it, it's quite Atonement-y, if you've read that book. I hope you enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteI am waiting to read Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. It's on order from the library. Two of my favourite writers... together... it had better be good!
I am making a conscious effort to read more fiction. I made this decision after I finally started reading again after being far too busy and stressed with assignments. It's such a good destressor and I feel so much better after reading than after watching TV. I want to find some good fantasy novels. Any recs??
I must confess none of these are on my TBR list... Must go and investigate! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by @ the Broke and the Bookish!
That looks like quite the tantalising list of books to be read. I hope you'll give your feedback on the best of them and let us know which ones we should be rushing out to acquire for ourselves. :)
ReplyDeleteDid you know that Tolkien was disappointed with C.S. Lewis's space trilogy? He thought Lewis was too influenced by their mutual friend Charles Williams (whose books, of which I've read only summaries, sound Extremely Strange).
ReplyDeleteLewis's space trilogy is indeed...rather different, especially That Hideous Strength, which is probably the oddest book I've ever read.
But there are gems in all three books, and I hope you enjoy them!
That list looks yum! My Seventh Monsoon is fabulous.
ReplyDeleteAhh . . . autumn is almost here, my edit is done (I think) and it is just about time to start reading again. Currently on my bookshelf I have a copy of The GlutenFree Girl's book, and another "healthy" book called "Clean". (Rather facinating - don't really agree with his whole life philosophy, but the medical side to it is spot on.)
ReplyDeleteI just picked up Flora Thompson's "Larkrise to Candleford", and since I loved the BBC series I have high hopes that its 2.5 inches will contain much goodness. :)
I've requested "The Help" from our library, as well as Mary Beth Walen's "She Makes it Look Easy".
Hmmm - come to think of it, I'm really not familiar with any of those authors. All new stuff for me at this point. Your list brought a few new authors to my attention, so maybe next month I'll explore some of them. :)
Is spring just about there?
Cara