You Must Read These!

I love this week's Top Ten Tuesday topic from The Broke and The Bookish.  I want to encourage reading and I'm always ready to recommend books.  I think my list is pretty diverse.  I try to recommend books based on the person because I like for everyone to have good reading experiences.  These are a selection of books that aren't just favourites, but one's I think other people will like.  In no particular order the Top Ten  Books I Recommend The Most:

1. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood - One of the best books ever.  It's so eerily possible.
2. A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini - Another best book ever.  Good if you are interesting in the problems in the Middle-East from the perspective of someone who lived there.  Also good if you're interested in women's rights (and who isn't?).
3. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins - I've described this book as Extreme Survivor.  That still holds true.
4. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King - King's epic.  It's also good for those who don't necessarily like horror, because this lends itself towards fantasy.
5. 1984, by George Orwell - You want to know where "Big Brother" comes from?  Here it is.  It is so scary.
6. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells - Classic Science-Fiction: Wells' commentary on the British class structure, with our cannibalistic descendants.  I plan or re-reading this one soon.
7. The Shopaholic Series, by Sophie Kinsella - So fun!  Good for the beach, to relax, to forget about the world.
8. Flush, by Virginia Woolf - It is short and clever.  It's a great way to test out Woolf if you're not sure about diving in, probably the least like her other books.
9. Kindred, by Octavia Butler - It's been over a decade since I read it, but the story has stayed with me and I don't think it will ever leave.  To me, that's pretty powerful writing.
10. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley - Easily my favourite of the classic horrors.

So, read these books.  I highly recommend them.  What do you think I should read?  Recommendations?

Monday Fun: A Quick Bookish Survey!

To beat the Monday Blahs, The Broke and The Bookish posted A Quick Bookish Survey!  Head over to their site to see their answers.  Mine are:

1. The book I’m currently reading:  Matchless, by Gregory Maguire - A retelling of The Little Match Girl.

2. The last book I finished:  Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley - An amazing classic.  See my review here.

3. The next book I want to read:  The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle, by C.S. Lewis - I'm so excited and sad to be finishing the series.

4. The last book I bought:  The Phizz Whizzing Collection, by Roald Dahl - So many good books, for such a small amount of money.  I couldn't resist.

5. The last book I was given:  There are four that I was given while book swapping with a couple friends:
A Handbook to Literature, by Hugh C. Holman
Love Stories in This Town, by Amanda Eyre Ward
The Bird Woman: A Novel, by Kerry Hardie
The Impostor's Daughter: A True Memoir, by Laurie Sandell
- I don't really know anything about any of them, but they all seemed interesting and I hope to read them eventually.

Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus

I always think about that title, but I try not to get too analytical, since I just want to enjoy the story…

Frankenstein is a fantastic story.  Mary Shelley’s writing is fluid and eloquent.  This is the second time I’ve read Frankenstein and I loved it every bit as much now as I did the first time I read it.  I first read Frankenstein over a decade ago for a class in University.  Back then, I thought I knew the story of Frankenstein, but I didn’t.  If you haven’t read the book, you don’t know…  There’s a mad scientist, of a sort, but he’s not old.  He’s quite young.  I think he’s only 19 when he decides to create “the creature.”  The scientist’s name is Victor Frankenstein.  Frankenstein never gives his creature a name.  He just refers to him as his creation or the daemon, or some other negative term.  By Victor Frankenstein’s end, the ship captain that he is telling the story to says he looks old and frail, but it must come from what Frankenstein endured.  This second time reading the story, I found myself thinking about how old he was.  Really, I think he might not have been out of his twenties.  

There is romance and tragedy throughout Frankenstein.  There is a lot of death, lost love and remorse.  Sometimes I think, if Frankenstein had started out by taking responsibility for his actions, so much life could have been saved.  Instead he blamed the creature and his madness.  I sympathized with him, but I also found him frustrating (in a good way).  Shelley also created a sympathetic antagonist with Frankenstein’s creature.  He speaks so eloquently, he is intelligent and thoughtful.  He may look hideous, but he does not start out “demonic”.  He longs for companionship, but no one can get past his appearance.

I kind of wonder what happened to Victor’s brother, Ernest….  I’m also left wondering the true fate of the creature… and the ship captain.

Frankenstein is one of my favourite books.  I think I’ll still be reading it in the future.  Shelley wrote an enduring and inspiring piece of fiction that I will be recommending for years.

Word of the Week(s)!

*I started Word(s) of the Week ages ago so that I could share all the new, brilliant, crazy words I kept coming across in my readings of fiction, articles, blogs, etc.*

This week (month) I'm thanking two brilliant ladies for words.

I don't know if this really goes
with the word...

From Casual Vacancy, by J.K. Rowling:

Obstreperous (pg 53):

1. Attended by, or making, a loud and tumultuous noise; boisterous.

"The obstreperous mirth swiftly turned into yells of dismay."

2. Noisily and stubbornly defiant.

I think my toddler can be obstreperous.... 

Prurience (pg 216):  The quality of being prurient.

Prurient: 

1. Uneasy with desire; itching; especially, having a lascivious anxiety or propensity; lustful.

2. Arousing or appealing to sexual desire.

3. Curious, especially inappropriately so.

From Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley:

Rembrant

Syndics (pg 31)

1. A government official, a magistrate, especially one of the Chief Magistrates of Geneva.

2. (law) An agent of a corporation, or of any body of people engaged in a business enterprise; an advocate or patron; an assignee.

Maybe I should turn this into "new words whenever I get time to share them"....?

Boo! Top Ten Books To Get In The Halloween Spirit

What books get you in the Halloween spirit?  The Broke and The Bookish want to know (and so do I!)  I think the three horror classics are a must for lovers of the genre (Dracula, Frankenstein and Jekyl and Hyde), but there are others that have a pretty big and/or fun creep factor (Stephen King, anyone?).  Here are my top ten books to get into the Halloween spirit, in no particular order.

1. Dracula, by Bram Stoker
2. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
3. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
4. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson
5. Nightmares and Dreamscapes, by Stephen King
6. The Island of Dr. Moreau, by H.G. Wells
7. Night of the Living Trekkies, by Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stahl (This one is a bit of a cheat.  I haven't read it yet, but I plan on it to get in the Halloween Spirit.)
8. The Vampire Lestat, by Anne Rice
9. The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova
10.Almost any horror novel with Zombies, Vampires, Werewolves or Witches... or maniacal Clowns.

I limited myself to one Stephen King book, not one of his most famous, but still a creepshow.  Also, I think being a Grahame-Smith regency zombie would be a great costume!  I know that Lestat is Rice's second vampire book, but I like it better.  What gets you in the mood for Halloween?

When It Gets Chilly, I’ll Be Curling Up With… The Top Ten Books On My Fall To-Read List

This week’s topic from The Broke and The Bookish was easy… and yet, in a way hard…  Here are the top ten books on my fall reading list.

1.  Insurgent, by Veronica Roth

2.  Undead Reckoning, by Mike Slabon

3.  Everything’s Eventual, by Stephen King

4.  A Thousand Orcs, by R.A. Salvatore

5.  Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley

6.  Clockwork Angel, by Cassandra Clare

7.  The Girl Who Played With Fire, by Steig Larsson

8.  Bodily Harm, by Margaret Atwood

9.  Binu and the Great Wall, by Su Tong

10. Night of the Living Trekkies, by Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall

Some of these books have been on my list since the Spring…even Winter…  I just can’t seem to read ten books a season (that’s 40 books a year… totally not happening).  So, though I’ve wanted to read them for ages, they just keep getting pushed back.  Plus, I’m easily distracted by other books and influenced by my mood.  There are some great, new/different books on the fall list though.  I’m saving Frankenstein for October.

What’s on your Fall list?

Halloween Reads

I know it's late in the day, but I still want to get my list out there.  Today The Broke and The Bookish want to know, what are your top ten books to read around Halloween.  In no particular order:

1. Dracula, by Bram Stoker (*note:  currently reading)
2. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
3. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson
4. Anything by Stephen King
5. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Seth Grahame-Smith & Jane Austen
6. Interview with a Vampire, by Anne Rice
7. The Sookie Stackhouse books, by Charlaine Harris
8. World War Z, by Max Brooks (*note:  planning on reading this soon)
9. Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood
10. How To Survive a Horror Movie, by Seth Grahame-Smith

I don't know how Seth got two books up there....

Hello Again!

Late in the day, but I couldn’t resist this list. From The Broke and The Bookish, the Top Ten Books I Want To Re-Read:

1. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
2. Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery
3. Haroun and the Sea of Stories, by Salman Rushdie
4. Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
5. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson
6. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
7. Lives of Girls and Women, by Alice Munro
8. Flush, by Virginia Woolf
9. Life of Pi, by Yann Martel
10. Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling

My first list reached 18 before I stopped myself. I’ve read some great books and there are many I would like to read again. Even though I have an overflow of new books to read, I‘ve decided to revisit my old favourites. I’m re-reading Jekyll and Hyde and I recently re-read The Great Gatsby. I’m looking forward to getting to some of these books soon.

15 Authors in 15 Minutes

I found this exercise at Whatcha Readin’, Books? (and decided to put up my results on both my blogs). The instructions are pretty simple and I enjoy the results. So:

• List fifteen authors (poets included) who've influenced you or who stick with you.
• Select the first fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. No particular order required.
• Don't take too long to think about it.

Here is what who I thought of:

1. Stephen King
2. Margaret Atwood
3. Michael Ondaatje
4. William Shakespeare
5. Douglas Coupland
6. William Wordsworth
7. Samuel Taylor Coleridge
8. Virginia Woolf
9. Mary Shelley
10. R.A. Salvatore
11. Gwendolyn MacEwan
12. H.G. Wells
13. Hanan Al-Shaykh
14. J.K. Rowling
15. Khaled Hosseini

This didn’t take me as long as I expected it too, only about two minutes. I actually had more than 15 for when I finished, but then I looked at the list and saw that I was reaching, trying to be too intellectual about my choices. Of the authors I have here, some of them I’ve read quite a few of their works, others I’ve only read one or two. Each of the authors have influenced me as a reader and a writer.

That was the official (?) exercise. However, instead of just giving you a list of authors, I thought that I’d also give you a title by each of them, if you’re so inclined to try one of them out and are not sure where to start I have a suggestion.

1. The Dark Tower 1: The Gunslinger
2. A Handmaid’s Tale
3. In The Skin Of A Lion
4. A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream
5. The Gum Thief
6. A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal
7. Rhyme Of The Ancient Mariner
8. Flush
9. Frankenstein
10. The Crystal Shard
11. Trojan Women
12. The Time Machine
13. Only In London
14. Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone
15. A Thousand Splendid Suns

What authors have influenced you? Leave a link below if you make your own list and I’ll stop by.

Top Ten Scariest Books

 

What do I do about this week’s top ten?  The Broke and The Bookish want to know what the scariest books are.  I decided to look for books that induce a feeling of tension/the creeps or have horrifying events, not necessarily "fear-producing".  Here is my top ten, in no particular order.

1. 1984, by: George Orwell – This one actually scared me. The situation, what’s happening to Winston, the lies, the watching, all of it.

2. Misery, by: Stephen King – I mentioned this one in a previous Top Ten list. It’s so creepy that I haven’t even read it yet.

3. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by: Robert Louis Stevenson – Classically creepy and very interesting.

4. Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, by: Mary Shelley – Also another classic. Mary Shelley really knew how to create a compelling Monster. I think any horror fan needs to read this.

5. The Raven, by: Edgar Allen Poe – I know it’s a poem, not novel, but it’s still one of the creepiest things I’ve ever read.

6. The Turn of The Screw, by: Henry James – Are ghosts driving her crazy or is she just crazy? I’m inclined to think the first.

7. Under The Dome, by: Stephen King – I wasn’t scared by the dome itself, what disturbed me was what the people trapped inside were doing to each other.

8. The Handmaids Tale, by: Margaret Atwood – I know it’s not a horror book, but I was afraid for Offred pretty much all the time.

9. A Series of Unfortunate Events, by: Lemony Snicket – I tried to decide which one was the scariest. Maybe it was number 2, or 1 or 6. Even though they are children’s stories, they are all full of tension.

10. Nightmares and Dreamscapes, by: Stephen King – a collection of scary short stories. “Popsy” has stayed with me for years.

I could have put more Stephen King books on the list, but I thought three was more than enough. I also considered Anne Rice, with The Witching Hour and Interview With A Vampire, but I don’t know if I was actually scared/tense when I read those books.

The Book Mine Set: The Great Wednesday Compare #4- Frankenstein VERSUS The Turn of the Screw

Vote for your favourite scary tale. Mary Shelley versus Henry James.

The Book Mine Set: The Great Wednesday Compare #4- Frankenstein VERSUS The Turn of the Screw

The Book Mine Set: The Great Wednesday Compare #4: Frankenstein VERSUS The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Vote!

The Book Mine Set: The Great Wednesday Compare #4: Frankenstein VERSUS The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

The Book Mine Set: The Great Wednesday Compare #4- The Wizard of Oz VERSUS Frankenstein

Who's your favourite?

The Book Mine Set: The Great Wednesday Compare #4- The Wizard of Oz VERSUS Frankenstein