Perhaps it's cheating for me to take part in a book blog meme when I'm not entirely a book blog. There are only 10 posts on here that I've tagged as book reviews, and some of them barely count. The majority of them are related to my Harry Potter challenge. I love reading, but find I lack the time to do so these days. I'd love to do more reviews of books, but for now please take this list as some examples of books I love. I saw this meme through Enbrethiliel at Shredded Cheddar, and The Broke and the Bookish host these weekly top ten lists. Feel free to join in and add your own!
These are presented in the order they occurred to me rather than by importance. I can't really rank them that way.
1. Homeland by R.A. Salvatore
The chronological first (fourth written) in the Drizzt Do'Urden series is my favorite. The matriarchal society of the drow fascinated me and there's a part of me that likes Zaknafein more than Drizzt himself.
2. The Stand by Stephen King
Watching the mini series had me asking my dad to borrow his copy of the book, and once I read it I had graduated from young adult fiction completely. I think its length would make it almost impossible for me to review, but I still love it.
3. Sandman Volume 4: Season of Mists by Neil Gaiman
Nearly all of the Sandman series is fantastic, and definitely belongs in a category with novels in the same way that Watchmen does. The story of Lucifer quitting his post and watching these gods scramble to take control of hell is a great one, and a hint toward what Gaiman would later do with American Gods.
4. Animal Farm by George Orwell
Perhaps not as revolutionary or as smart as 1984, there's still nothing that can match the feeling I get when I get to the last sentence of this novel.
5. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Phillip K. Dick
After enjoying Blade Runner I went looking for the novel it was based on. I didn't know I was going to find one of my favorite dystopian novels when I did so.
6. Groucho and Me by Groucho Marx
I'm not one for nonfiction in general, but I couldn't wipe the smile off my face when I read this autobiography. I felt like I could hear him reading it to me, his distinctive delivery was obvious in every line. It feels weird to have a crush on a man who died before I was born, but it is what it is.
7. Candide by Voltaire
It's not often I read a book all in one weekend, no matter how short. But I couldn't really put this one down. A fun and endlessly witty satire.
8. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Have you figured out by now that I really love dystopian novels? You're also now finding out that I really love made up languages.
9. Watership Down by Richard Adams
I swear by the time I finished this book I was thinking in rabbit speak. This one would honestly be very hard to review because there aren't proper words to express just how much I love it.
10. The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
I really would need to read this one again to give it a proper review. But I remember a lot of the short stories in this collection had a strong impact on me and it's my favorite of his that I have read.
Judging from what you said about A Clockwork Orange, I think I have a fantasy series you might really like. Ever hear of Stephen R. Donaldson?
ReplyDeleteNope, but I'm interested to know more.
ReplyDelete+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteOh, man! I love your list!
Isn't it true that the novels we love the most but think we could never do justice to in words are those which seemed to awake the most powerful feelings in us?
I almost put a Ray Bradbury book on my own list, too: Dandelion Wine. To this day, I can "taste" the memory of that wine on my tongue--and I haven't read the book in years!
And I think that Animal Farm is at once a stronger and more subtle satire than Nineteen Eighty-Four. I think people underestimate it because it's a "talking animals" novel. =P
Perhaps another reason why Animal Farm isn't as highly regarded is because we've already seen the USSR fall, whereas there are many things in 1984 that are still relevant today. But I obviously have a soft spot for "talking animal" books, so I don't want to believe that's the reason for it. :)
ReplyDelete+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteTrue: not many new readers will "get" the names Napoleon and Trostsky the way the original readers did.
Still, names aside, we all get who the pigs, the dogs, the horses, the donkeys, and so on in our own societies are. Animal analogies never grow old. Just ask Uncle Aesop. ;-)