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Top 5 (or 10) Wednesday


Athena

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On GoodReads, and also on blogs and YouTube, there is such a thing as 'Top 5 Wednesday' where every Wednesday there is a bookish topic and then you talk about your top 5 (creator: GingerReadsLainey). For Dutch blogs, they do a "Top Ten on Thursday" (by Emmy from Zon en Maan. For example for this week the topic is 'Favourite Retellings (fairytales, myths, literature, etc.)'. I thought it might be a nice idea to do this here, so every Wednesday (or maybe Thursday) I will post the topic of that week and whoever's interested can post their top 5 (usually involving books, but on occasion it can be about for example book to movie adaptations). The top 5 doesn't have to be in order (ie. 1, 2, 3,...), but it can be if you want it to. Since I know most of us find it hard to choose, we could change top 5 into a top 10 instead, I'll leave that up to the posters, we can just see how it goes. Hopefully there will be at least one reply!

 

So for this week the topic is Top 5 (or 10) Favourite Retellings (fairytales, myths, literature, ...)

 

I have to admit I haven't read a lot of retellings, the main ones that come to mind are the Stilton retellings of famous literary works. I have some retellings I still want to read though. Here's my top 5 of what I can think of right now (not in any particular order):

 

Natsuki Takaya - Fruits Basket series

Melissa Nathan - Acting Up

Juliet Marillier - Trilogy van de Zeven Wateren 1: Dochter Van Het Woud (Sevenwaters 1: Daughter Of The Forest)

Geronimo Stilton - De Avonturen van Robinson Crusoe (Le Avventure di Robinson Crusoe)

Geronimo Stilton - De Avonturen van Koning Arthur (La Avventure di Re Artù)

 

And another 5 (okay, so I couldn't stick to a top 5 :blush2:):

 

Geronimo Stilton - Het Jungleboek (Il Libro Della Giungla)

Geronimo Stilton - Alice in Wonderland (Dutch translation) (Alice Nel Paese Delle Meraviglie)

Geronimo Stilton - De Geheime Tuin (Il Giardino Segreto)

Geronimo Stilton - Robin Hood (Dutch)

Geronimo Stilton - Heidi (Dutch)

 

And here are some retellings I want to read (I'm just throwing this in.. for the sake of it :D):

 

Marissa Meyer - The Lunar Chronicles

Naomi Novik - Uprooted

Rick Riordan - Percy Jackson and the Olympians series (& other series)

Sarah J. Maas - Throne of Glass

Alison Goodman - Eon series

Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer - Between the Lines series (fairytale themed)

Michael Buckley - The Sisters Grimm series

Isaac Marion - Warm Bodies

Other Stilton retellings

 

What are your top 5 or 10 favourite retellings?

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A very interesting idea! :smile2:

 

I don't think I've read many retellings... Only two come to mind: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith and I didn't much like either of them... I gave them both 2/5, but the P&P&Z is better. 

 

Edit: So yeah, in a nutshell: I don't have any favorite retellings :( 

Edited by frankie
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The Child Thief by Brom is a dark retelling of the Peter Pan story that should not be missed - a fantastic combination of wonderful writing and awesome illustrations (he's an artist as well as an author!).

 

I also loved Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith, and can hardly wait to see the film adaptation - I thought the addition of the walking dead to the original story was done very cleverly and handled well.

 

I found Warm Bodies surprisingly good to read, and I've read the first in The Lunar Chronicles, which was quite clever. There was also a YA novel called Sisters Red that I read a few years back and rather enjoyed, and the cover was gorgeous!

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I can't think of too many off the top of my head. I've read Wicked and enjoyed it (more than Sari did anyway!) But I I can't think of any others. I have The Child Thief and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies on my TBR pile and Warm Bodies on my wish list.

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Awwww :(. I hope you find something nice in the future!

 

I don't think I'm actually that keen on retellings, in general, for some reason or another :shrug: So maybe I won't find anything in the future.... But that's just me! Looking forward to next week's top 5/10 :D 

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I had to do some thinking about this, but I'm always intrigued by a retelling and have read some good ones.  Some are more of a new-telling than a retelling, but these are the ones I enjoyed the most.  They all happen to be YA as well.

 

1. Splintered by A. G. Howard (a new twist on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)

2. Jane by April Linder  (the story of Jane Eyre set in modern times)

3. Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale (Brothers Grimm fairy tale)

4. Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay (a modern, paranormal Romeo & Juliet)

5. Cinder by Marissa Meyer (futuristic take on Cinderella)

 

 

I've also read Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George (based on Grimms' The Twelve Dancing Princesses), but I didn't enjoy it as much.

 

 

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This week's topic is: Your Top 5 (or 10) Books to read by the fire (winter / holiday recommendations).

 

Instead of being the first one to type her Top 5, I'll let someone else go first and come back with my list in a little while.

 

Maybe it's just me, but "books to read by the fire" makes me think of slightly different books than "winter / holiday recommendations".

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1.  Mystery in White, A Christmas Crime Story, by J. Jefferson Farjeon

This book would be perfect for reading by the fire.  A mysterious house on Christmas Eve, hemmed in by snow, so much snow, with blazing fires that an unknown someone has lit, and a table set for tea, but with no-one at home...  (I'm currently reading this, and thoroughly enjoying it.)

 

2.  Hercule Poirot's Christmas, by Agatha Christie  (Another mystery for fireside reading!)

 

3.  A Christmas Memory, by Truman Capote  (A nostalgic and bittersweet childhood story.)

 

4.  Comfort and Joy, by Jim Grimsley  (A seasonal M/M romance.  I need to re-read it.)

 

5.  The Night Before Christmas, by Walter Wick  (This is a picture puzzle book that's really aimed towards kids.  But I'm a big kid, and this is such a beautifully photographed book, and so fun to look at.)

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What a great idea (I loved Spike Milligan's interpretations of the Bible by the way, very funny).  My top 5 winter/fireside reads are (in no particular order)

 

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - moors, madness, old houses, bad weather , etc

 

Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier - more moors and bad weather, plus it all comes to a head over Christmas

 

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver - set in the Arctic Circle during winter, so no daylight for 2 months and very cold

 

The American Boy by Andrew Taylor - set in a mixture of London and the countryside, mistaken identity, unrequited love

 

Lord of the Rings - just a wallow, perfect for holiday reading and it has such a dark, wintry feel to it

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Some interesting ones there, Onion Budgie and Madeleine :).

 

Here are mine. I think of different things with 'reading by the fire' and 'winter holiday recommendations'.

 

Winter / Holiday Recommendations / Christmas

 

Carolyn Nash - The First Day of Christmas

Eowyn Ivey - The Snow Child

Scarlett Bailey - The Night Before Christmas

Chrissie Manby - Benson Family 2: A Proper Family Christmas

Cecelia Ahern - The Gift

 

I would also recommend Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol if I'm allowed an honourable mention or something.

 

By the fire I think of reading more big, long books such as (because we have the fire on not just in December but also earlier in the year or the first few months of the new year if the weather calls for it). Usually though I don't pick a book any differently if I'm sitting in front of the fire, I just continue on reading what it was I was reading and pick what I feel like reading. But I generally think of big books like:

 

Stephen King - IT (this is an October read for me, but we have the fire on in October sometimes)

Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson - The Wheel of Time series

Peter F. Hamilton - The Night's Dawn series

 

I don't know why though I think of big epic books by the fire. I think it has something to do with staying in front of the warm fire and not wanting to get up again :lol:.

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I didn't automatically think of wintry/Christmas/snow themed books as my fireside reads, but some did come into my thoughts straight away. I cannot explain why it was these books, but here is my top-of-the-head five;

 

Magyk by Angie Sage

Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince by JK Rowling 

A Maiden's Grave by Jeffrey Deaver

No Good Deed by Manda Scott

Judas Child by Carol O'Connell

 

Looking at the list I'm baffled as to my choices; two magical stories, and three thrillers/crime stories. Obviously toasty fires make me think of magic and murder!  :giggle2:  

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Obviously toasty fires make me think of magic and murder!  :giggle2:  

Haha :giggle2:.

 

I can second the recommendation for Magyk and the Harry Potter book, I really liked them both.

 

I should read some more of the Magyk series, my sister owns most of them but I haven't got around to borrowing them yet and reading them.

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Haha :giggle2:.

 

I can second the recommendation for Magyk and the Harry Potter book, I really liked them both.

 

I should read some more of the Magyk series, my sister owns most of them but I haven't got around to borrowing them yet and reading them.

 

Read them, read them, read them! It is such a clever and imaginative series. I love it!

 

Darn it Gaia, you given me an urge to re read them...................... :P  

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Looking at the list I'm baffled as to my choices; two magical stories, and three thrillers/crime stories. Obviously toasty fires make me think of magic and murder!  :giggle2:  

 

:lol: 

 

I've missed the last two questions but I'm a bit too tired to give them some serious thought at the moment. I'll have to come back! :smile2: 

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I'm not sure what to answer either, at the moment I'm keen on continuing some series that I'm reading. I've got quite a few series yet unread, but I'm really not sure which ones of those I'm going to start next year. It'll depend on my mood.

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The series I am particularly looking forward to reading in 2016 is Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan novels, there are four in the set, the first being My Brilliant Friend which is sitting impatiently on my book shelf, all four have been published so I am so hoping that I like them, as if I do I will be able to read them all without having to wait! 

 

I also have the first two of The Little Beach Street Bakery series by Jenny Colgan, I'm not sure if they will be my kind of thing but I'm keeping them in reserve for when I need something light to read.

 

The only other series I have on my TBR shelves is the first in Elizabeth Jane Howard's Cazalet Chronicles series, The Light Years. There are five in the series and they are fairly big books, but they do cover one of my favourite eras, WWII, so I am very much looking forward to getting started.

 

Sorry, I couldn't get to 5!! :)

Edited by chaliepud
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I don't have any series that I want to start, but there are a few I want to continue, so I might answer with those, if that's OK.

 

Boris Akunin Erast Fandorin

Alan Bradley Flavia de Luce

Kerry Greenwood Phryne Fisher

Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse

Terry Pratchett Discworld

 

I'm hoping to read two books from each series, but three from Charlaine Harris (which will mean I finally finish the series).

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The Tudor Court series by Philippa Gregory

Gone Saga by Michael Grant

Matched trilogy by Ally Condie

The Selection trilogy Kiera Cass

Six Tudor Queens series by Alison Weir

 

That's what's scheduled for this year, at least :)

 

OH!  And I will complete Brandon Sanderson's The Reckoners trilogy this year as well, with Calamity.

Edited by Anna Begins
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The topic for this week is Top 5 Books of the Year. We have kind of already answered this in other threads, so I fully understand if no one wants to do this topic. I've compiled my list (it's hard to pick between books though, but I managed to narrow it down to 5):

 

Brandon Sanderson - Alcatraz 1: Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians

Jodi Picoult - Perfect Match

Diane Chamberlain - The Silent Sister

John Flanagan - Ranger's Apprentice 1: The Ruins of Gorlan

Brandon Sanderson - Mistborn 3: The Hero of Ages

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