Tag Archives: Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday | Most Intimidating Books

02 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by in Authors, Book Challenges, BookTalk, Meme

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This meme is brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish. Today’s topic is the top ten most intimidating books that we all dread to read for one reason or another. Here is my list of titles:

  1. Ulysses by James Joyce – I will feel like a complete failure/idiot if I cannot get through this book in one sitting. Especially since it is THE most important book in modern literature. EVER. *shudders*
  2. The Waves by Virginia Woolf – Sometimes Woolf can be completely incomprehensible to me. Her writing is like a strange melody with a hidden beat. I have to hunt for the damn thing in all the dense foliage of her prose. ‘The Waves’ completely baffled me and I wound up running to the nearest exit to this weird labyrinth of fiction.
  3. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes – The sheer size of it puts me off. It lives on the shelf next to Milton’s Paradise Lost.
  4. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger – I really don’t know why people call this a great novel. Never really saw it myself. Intimidating when you can’t see what millions of others can.
  5.  Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon – He is so awesome. ‘The Crying of Lot 49‘ changed my taste in books drastically. It was also one of the hardest damn books I’d ever read. What if I don’t get this one?
  6. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand – The books scares me (sheer size), Ayn Rand scares me (have you seen her?) OMIGOD.
  7. 2666 by Roberto Bolano – I have a love/hate relationship with Bolano. I keep expecting the same kind of pleasure I get when I read Borges but get confused when I don’t. Confused and angry. Not quite the same as intimidated, but…
  8. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie – So much controversy around this novel. What if I end up hating it? Will it cost me a well-respected author?
  9. House of Leaves by M.Z. Danielewski – I read this once before. I don’t think I’ll read it again anytime soon. I have never been so scared of words and the things they can unravel both within and without. Danielewski is king. I grovel at his feet.
  10. The Dark Tower series by Stephen King – A mammoth seven book series that I have only briefly dipped into. I don’t know if I can last the distance…

That’s my list of intimidating books guys. How about yours? Are there any above that scare the bejesus out of you? Would you add to the list?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Books That Make You Think ???

11 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by in From Life..., Humour, Meme

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Could it be? Could I be getting back into doing meme’s again? Not likely, but here’s another Top Ten Tuesday post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish with this week’s topic as ‘books that make you think’. And would you believe it those are my particular speciality. Here’s my list in no particular order:

Cover of "Lord of the Flies (Penguin Grea...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Lord of the Flies by William Golding – Not all that glitters is gold… This is a really powerful novel I revisited this year about the latent demon in us all. This is the ultimate story about how an island paradise could become hell as a bunch of harmless school children turn native in the true sense of the word. A good follow-up to this would be the more adult-themed ‘The Beach’ by Alex Garland which I also highly recommend.

Cover of "The Poisonwood Bible"

2. Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver – Another gripping novel about how social norms don’t stand a chance in the wilderness, where survival means to conform or else. Nathan Price, a preacher with a will of iron, uproots his family taking them deep into the Belgian Congo where his plans of educating the savages ends in disaster. Told through the eyes of his wife and daughters, it makes one think about how one man’s right can be another man’s wrong.

Holes (novel)

3. Holes by Louis Sachar – An absolute gem; Stanley Yelnats battle with his accumulative ‘bad karma’ is both inspirational, touching and funny all at the same time. After reading this you will DEFINITELY make sure you don’t have any unfinished business, as it might have a way of coming back.

An Inspector Calls

4. An Inspector Calls by J B Priestley – Not everything is as it seems in this detective  play. It explores the dangers of capitalism and raises interesting questions on the concept of ‘guilt’.

The Handmaid's Tale

5. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood – Dystopian fiction that was so powerful I was actually haunted by it. It invaded my dreams at one point. I can’t imagine a society that would treat women as baby-making machines, but nothing is impossible…

English: "Venus in Furs" taken from ...

6. Venus in Furs by Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch – I call this the ‘thinking persons 50 Shades’, as I am convinced that this book is what EL James took her inspiration from, to the point of ‘plagiarism’, so don’t give me all that crap about it being a Twilight fanfic! *snorts* Anyway, here is something with more narrative meat as it explores themes of love, cruelty and both physical and mental slavery to the desires of the flesh.

Toni Morrison, on jacket of her Pulitzer Prize...

7. Beloved by Toni Morrison – To be able to peer into the depths of one mother’s murderous insanity and be able to call it fatal love… that is the high price Morrison asks of you in this novel. Can you do it?

 

Labyrinths

8. Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges – Endlessly and deliriously looping pathways of questions without answers and answers to unknown questions. Borges plumbs the depths of your unconscious and offers it to you in beautifully executed prose. Less is more.

Cover of "The Cellist of Sarajevo"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. The Cellist of Sarajevo – Novel about the terrible siege of Sarajevo. Told through the eyes of a handful of characters, it allows us to experience life lived in the  crosshairs of a sniper rifle. Powerful examples of humanity and the reason WHY people go to war.

107-365 170410 Ice-Nine

 

 

 

 

10. Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut – You never really knew it before, but after reading this you will certainly realise how our world could (for all we know) be run by absolute madmen.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg (touche to no.10), what’s your top ten ‘thinking’ novels?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Book Confessions

28 Tuesday Aug 2012

Posted by in From Life..., Humour, Meme

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I’ve not written a meme for a LOOONG time, but I came across Shannon’s blog entry Top Ten Tuesday: Book Confessions and liked her responses so much I thought I’d join in. I do have my own queer reading habits that I’ve honed for years – but I think some of you will probably identify with the more common ones that we are all guilty of.

1. I am a consummate library goer – never was to begin with (always liked my books  clean with a sense that they were ‘mine’) but financial circumstances and an awareness for trees/paper have made me one. In fact, I’ve probably bought about 5 books in the last three years. All the rest I have taken out the library or scavenged off friends.

2. I am never without a book. I have them in my bag, on my phone, on my laptop. Everywhere. If I don’t have anything to read I start getting panic-attacks.

3. Sometimes I can get panic attacks/ dizzy spells in book stores just LOOKING at books. Despite being a book lover, I can’t spend more than 15 mins in a library. I start feeling sick. It is strictly ‘go in, give books back/ take books out, quick exit’ with me. It sucks!

4. I read in the toilet, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. So there.

5. I read three books at a time. In fact I usually end up walking away from the library with either 1, 3 or 5 novels. Lately I have realised this comes from my junior school days when I figured out that the only way to progress from the ‘brown’ sticker books to the yellow ones was to read through the entire collection. For those interested I never made it to the yellow section (that’s where the Enid Blyton books lived), but I did get my parents to buy them for me. That’s how readers are born.

6. I don’t use bookmarks. I dog-ear. A terrible habit caught by my mother, another consummate reader who likes to dog-ear from the middle of the page. THE MIDDLE.  Great, big diagonal creases that no amount of folding backwards can erase…

7. Lately I like to read in silence either in the early morning, or late at night. It’s my time to relax/ get ready for whatever is ahead of me.

8. My daily challenge, no matter how many books I have on the go is 50 pages a day. If I have 3 books, then I must read 150 pages. I often dog-ear my daily portions which means I know exactly how many days a book will take to finish.

9. If someone insists that a book is really good, I won’t read it. I am very suspicious of other people’s taste and rarely read what other’s recommend. It’s the only type of snobbery I have.

10. When I’m going through bad/ uncertain times I read to escape and relax. Some books are like my happy zone, I swing by and revisit certain scenes/ chapters to top up on positive thoughts. ‘Anne of Green Gables‘ has had many visits.

So, what are your reading quirks?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Characters (and Literary Figures) That I’d Name My Children After

09 Wednesday Feb 2011

Posted by in Meme

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Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because of a fondness for lists. We’d love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists! Each week a new Top Ten list is posted complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join.

This weeks question is: What Are Your Top Ten Characters (and Literary Figures) That You’d Name Your Children After?

Wow, this is a good one! I guess I haven’t really thought about it much, but there are a few nice names out there that I like. Here goes.

1. Sumire (Sputnik Sweetheart – Haruki Murakami) I like the name Violet. I like its Japanese counterpart even more. In fact I fell in love with the name long before I read Murakami’s excellent novel, with Enya’s beautiful song ‘Sumiregusa’. It sounds so elegant and dainty. Perfect for a little girl!

2. Matilda (Matilda – Roald Dahl) I would dearly love my child to be as book-mad as me. If that doesn’t happen, at least I can give her a name that has become synonymous with the bookworm. I loved reading Matilda as a little girl. She (along with Anne of Green Gables) were some of the only characters I could identify with.

3. Nimue (In folklore, Merlin’s lover) I can’t remember the exact title of the book, but it was in a trilogy by a fairly famous author that I came across this enigmatic figure. I love Gaelic names.

4. Irene (The Forsyte Saga) I fell in love with the BBC televised version, and decided to read it at once. Irene is a wonderful female literary figure. She is strong-willed, decent, has a mind of her own. Many people try to bend her and break her, but she just keeps going. Also, I love the way the name is pronounced in this instance, with a stress of the ‘e’.

5. Mercedes (Count of Monte Cristo) Another great female character, but one who would be rather suited to the name ‘Dolores’ than ‘Mercedes’ what with all the despair she has to endure. Great name though.

6. Bleda (Atilla’s Treasure – Stephen Grundy) You can’t find these books that readily anymore, which is a shame as I managed to get my hands on this copy and absolutely loved it. Bleda is not a fictional character, he was the brother of Attila the Hun. If I have a boy, I’d like him to have a strong name, evocative of warriors of yore.

7. Asena (name of a legendary she-wolf – Mongolian mythology) as you have gathered, I like my Eastern tales. This one comes from a very little-known myth of the people of the Steppes, when they were hunted down to the brink of extinction, until one lame man from the tribe escaped, was taken in by a she-wolf, who went onto bear his bloodline once more.

8. Rem (Deathnote) … ok it’s not literary, it’s manga, but I love this series so MUCH! Rem is a shinigami (demon-spirit), and I think the name sounds too cool to pass it by. This is believe it or not a female character, but looking at her always made me think ‘you’re a guy’. So Rem would be for a boy.

9. Minerva (Harry Potter) I’ve always like this name. Minerva was a goddess of chastity, the hunt and other things. She comes second in line after Diana or Artemis.

10. Edmund (Count of Monte Cristo) Great character, great name, great plot. Though a little out of date for today’s times.

So, that’s my list. I wonder what you think of it, or if you have any of your own that you would like to share.

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‘Top Ten Tuesday’ | What Would You Read On A Desert Island?

30 Wednesday Jun 2010

Posted by in Meme

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Just stumbled across a meme over at ‘Broke and Bookish’ called ‘Top Ten Tuesday’ and it sparked my fancy.

Each week there is a new post about a top ten list of books, this time it’s about which books you would take with you if you were on a desert island. Well, here’s my top 10:

1. Robinson Crusoe – Daniel Defoe 
I read this over 5 years ago and it still stands out as a highly enlightening tale about how one man starts from scratch, almost remaking, reshaping and rediscovering his own version of ‘civilisation’. It was a moving account of facing the terror of loneliness, and learning the powerful lesson of self-sufficiency.

2. Complete Works of Hans Christian Anderson – H. C. Anderson 
Among those who have come and gone, no one can tell a tale like Anderson. I have been an avid reader of his stories since childhood. They are timeless, beautiful and full of a high class of morality that is almost non-existent these days. His tales are humbling and at times, wonderfully scary.

3. Journals of Virginia Woolf – Virginia Woolf
Entertaining, witty, sharp and full of the painful yet dazzling moments of ‘human’ nature; this journal would help to keep one sane on a desert island. At least I wouldn’t forget what ‘home’ would be like. Woolf is a rare breed of writer how threw caution to the wind and dared to show the fragility and frightening dexterity of the human mind. She is as close to a heroine as I’ll ever get.

4. East of Eden – John Steinbeck
Because I want a book I haven’t read yet. Something I know is good, even better than ‘Grapes of Wrath’!

5. The Complete Works of Alexandre Dumas – Alexander Dumas
I consider Dumas to be one of the greatest fiction writers of all time. His work is simply marvellous. I would have all the time in the world to slowly devour every single one of his books.

6. The Sprawl Trilogy – William Gibson
I know it’s 3 books, but you can’t read one and not the other two! Gibson’s world fascinates me. I take great pleasure in just tuning into that strange universe where everything is always just slightly on the peripheral of meaning.

7. Ficciones – Borges
My list is never complete without a bit of Borges. I think I’ll throw one in just in case I’m feeling a bit hyper, and need a good mental workout! Borges can take you places you never thought you could go to…

8. Diary of Anais Nin – Anais Nin
The list is getting harder now! But I don’t think I can do without some Nin to keep my emotions in flow. Her writing makes me feel at home.

9. Anne of Green Gables – L. M. Montgomery
A children’s classic makes its way onto the list! I’ve read this book so much that I’ve broken the spine. Anne is one of my favourite characters of all time. Always getting into trouble, always full of lif, curiosity, imagination. She reminds me of myself when I was a little girl. I would always get into ‘scrapes’ as she puts it.

10. A blank notebook…
Well, it said a ‘book’ and it didn’t say if it had to have something written in it. While making the list I had a bit of trouble selecting titles. Reading is all very well, but what if I had something to write about? Like Crusoe, I think I’d want to document my life on the island, and writing is the best way of making sense of things.

Well, that’s my list. What would your list be? Would love to hear your comments!