Monday, May 2, 2011

Top Ten Tuesday - Books Recommended

This week its Top Ten Books Recommended at The Broke and the Bookish

Here are mine:

1) Pride and Prejudice - First read this book after the BBC mini-series came out and I loved it.  When I hadn't read it for over a decade, I fell in love with it again.  Now that I am reading it once again, I am finally admiring Austen's genius.

2) Jane Eyre - Read this book when I was in grade 8 and its one that I have loved and revisited since.  And especially in my adult years, I have really come admire the book.

3) East of Eden - Read this book back when Oprah used this as one of her book selections a number of years ago and really enjoyed it.  Read it again a few years later and really caught the nuances of the book and really appreciated its grandeur.

4) The Robber Bride - My first truly adult novel that I read when I was 15.  This book allowed me to journey into a world that I had previously avoided and when I first read this book, I really couldn't turn back.  It was a turning point in my reading life.

5) Alias Grace - It was shortly after reading The Robber Bride that I read this book and was just mesmerized by Atwood's storytelling.  I suppose it didn't hurt that it had a historical element and made me further intrigued about the story of Grace Marks.

6)  The Root Cellar - This book has stayed with me for a long time, even though I haven't read it in quite sometime.  Just the notion of going back in time is romantic enough, but the fact that it goes to a period in which so much has been written about in American history intrigued me even more.  I guess it started a love affair with the American Civil War that really hasn't abated and only seems to continue.

7) A Handful of Time - As with The Root Cellar, it got me at a time when I was just coming out of reading books, such as The Babysitters Club, and even now as an adult reader, I found the book just as interesting as when I first read it as a tween.  Loved the notion of going back to a different time, but this time to learn more about a mom the main character barely knew.

8) A Tale of Two Cities - While my grade 11 English classmates were rolling their eyes while reading this book, I was really enjoying it.  I am so glad that my english teacher put this on the reading list.

9) Jacob Have I loved - Read  this in grade 7 when I was looking for something to read in a brand-new school library and I wasn't disappointed.  Had the books I was looking for been available, I would have read that one instead, but because the school librarian had put the book in the collection, I was able to turn from the books that I was comfortable with to books that I would be challenged with.

10) All Quiet on the Western Front - I first read this book in my grade 12 English class and really didn't see the point of the book, but my first History class that I took at the university level had this in the syllabus and I groaned at the thought.  But once I was able to understand the historical context of the book, I enjoyed the book and respect the message that Remarque is trying to get across.


I apologize if I did the meme wrong; its my first one.  Have a good day :)

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like your picks a lot, robber bride was great! Jane Eyre was one of my picks as well. Still haven't read A Tale of Two Cities.. *hangs head in shame*

Ashley said...

I've heard of most on your list, but haven't read a lot of them. I will say though, that I really struggled with Jacob Have I Loved because her sister was just SO D**N SELFISH! And she just didn't GET it. Sigh. It's a mark of truly great writing, when it evokes such strong emotional responses.

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

I don't think there is any way to do the meme wrong (unless it is by not participating!) Welcome. Come back next week. It's fun.

Here's my gratitude list: Top Ten Books I'm Happy Were Recommended to Me. I hope you will stop by!

Anne said...

Great list! I have East of Eden on my list as well, it is one of my favorite books.

Sidne said...

stopping by to read your Top Ten. Pride and Prejudice, not many have not read that one except me i guess.

Anonymous said...

Great list and welcome to the meme, it's pretty awesome isn't it? :)

Books4Learning said...

Jacob Have I Loved is a good one. Pride and Prejudice is one of my all-time favs. I want to read Jane Eyre and Tale of Two Cities. There are just too many good books out there to read and not enough time!

Birdie said...

A Tale of Two Cities was 12th grade for me--summer reading--but I had the same experience. I'm glad I'm not the only one :)
Good list!

bibliophiliac said...

East of Eden is one of my all time favorite books. Great list!

LBC said...

East of Eden is a good one. I was trying to think of books my husband recommended, and that is definitely one. It should be on my list.

Check out my list here

What Strange Paradise - Omar El Akkad

 Title: What Strange Paradise ( Bookshop.org ) Author: Omar El Akkad Published: 2022 (first published 2021) Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Li...