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Top 5 (or 10) Wednesday


Athena

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A difficult one, not least because there are so many!  I've concentrated on books written specifically for adults - there's a whole load of Divergent/Hunger Games/Twilight YA type books that I've no intention of reading, having dipped in and found them massively wanting - and anyway it seems unfair as I am distinctly not a YA!

 

So here's just a few - I've tried to name specific books, but one or two are representative of a genre or author.

 

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith (and anything else to do with horror, especially 'funny' horror).

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown (or anything by Dan Brown)

Finnegan's Wake by James Joyce (tried the first couple of pages - incomprehensible)

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (and its like)

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

Atonement by Ian MacEwan (tried and tried with MacEwan, and have given up)

In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust (7 volumes?!)

 

and any number of mis-lit volumes and celebrity biographies!

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I would say never say never to World Without End :)

 

I have to agree with

 

1) Harry Potter

 

and

 

2) Game of Thrones

 

they just don't appeal to me.

 

and I have to add anything by

 

3) Haruki Murakami

Edited by Anna Begins
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Just thought of another one - Lee Child.  I know he's popular on here, but I got halfway through Worth dying For and had to ditch it through utter tedium, it was when he took 4 pages to describe hot-wiring a car that did it for me.

Edited by Madeleine
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and I have to add anything by

 

3) Haruki Murakami

 

Yes, he has the same effect on me.

 

I've just thought of another.  I loved Lord of the Rings, was indifferent to The Hobbit, but have absolutely no intention of reading any of the other Middle-Earth books, including The Silmarillion.

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1. Any more Tom Clancy - I've had my fill with the 2 or 3 I've read already

2. Fifty shades - just...no

3. The Twilight saga - really not my thing

4. Any more Dan Brown - read the first four, that was enough.

5. Catch-22. I have tried, but the words just slid past the corners of my eyes and away. Couldn't get beyond the first chapter

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Nice answers, I can see several books that occur on multiple people's lists.

 

This week's topic is: Characters You'd Want as Family

 

Author's Note:

-- You can say this in a broad way or be specific (i.e. _______ would be a cool aunt, ______would be a great older brother, etc.)

 

Personally I never think about characters this way to be honest. I like to read about them in books but I don't know about spending time in real life with most of them (since it is so tiring for me). The only one that comes to mind right now is be Geronimo Stilton (from the books by the same author), because he seems like a calm and gentle man/mouse (yeah.. I don't know how that would work being family but hey.). For a lot of the other characters I read about, I love reading about them, but I don't think we could be friends in real life or that they would necessarily understand me (and my disabilities). But that's okay, because I'm happy to read about them as book characters. But maybe someone else will come to mind. I'm pretty happy with my family anyway to be honest.

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Just on last week's - glad to see I'm not the only person who has no time for Haruki Murakami! Probably the only writer in existence who makes me want to throw a tantrum!

 

On this week's, I can't say I've ever read about any characters and thought 'I wish they were part of my family'. I'll think about it though.

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This week's topic is: Books You Want to See as TV Shows.

 

For me the first ones that come to mind, are:

 

1. The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

2. The Night's Dawn trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton

3. The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson

4. The Commonwealth Saga, The Void & Chronicle of the Fallers by Peter F. Hamilton

5. The Ranger's Apprentice & Brotherband series by John Flanagan

 

There are plenty more I might want to see as as TV shows, but these came to mind first. I tried to go for book series as I think they make better TV shows than a single standalone book, generally. I'd love to hear your answers.

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1) The Century Trilogy by Ken Follett (Fall of Giants, etc.)

I think this would be a much better movie than it was books

 

2) The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

 

3) something by Jodi Picoult, maybe Nineteen Minutes

 

4) Killing Floor (Jack Reacher #1) by Lee Child

 

5) Legend Trilogy by Marie Lu

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1) The Century Trilogy by Ken Follett (Fall of Giants, etc.)

I think this would be a much better movie than it was books

 

2) The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

 

3) something by Jodi Picoult, maybe Nineteen Minutes

 

4) Killing Floor (Jack Reacher #1) by Lee Child

 

5) Legend Trilogy by Marie Lu

 

Oooh, I'd watch most of those :).

 

I believe a film is being made.

 

It is: http://kristinhannah.com/news/

Sounds good :).

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This week's topic is: Characters You'd Want as Family

 

Author's Note:

-- You can say this in a broad way or be specific (i.e. _______ would be a cool aunt, ______would be a great older brother, etc.)

 

 

 

I know I'm late with this, but have discovered a particularly endearing character in the series I'm reading, The Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard. Miss Milliment is the elderly family tutor, she is large, rather unattractive, and with very little money. Until she joined the Cazalet family in the country for the duration of  WW2 she lived in a squalid bedsit, her clothes were very shabby and often held together with safety pins and a prayer. She is very knowledgeable about a large range of subjects and the kindest and wisest lady, with just the right words of encouragement for her pupils. Because she has never had much, she is so appreciative of every little treat. I would love to have her for an aunt, I feel great affection for her. I'm using some of her wise words in my present signature.

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This week's topic is: Characters You WOULDN'T Want to Trade Places With

 

Author's Note:

--We always talk about how cool it would be to be a character in our favorite books, but who would you not want to trade places with?

 

For me, there are many, many answers to this, as I wouldn't want to trade places with almost all of the characters I read about (I'm comfy in my own life and hate change - I would definitely not do well in a fantasy or science-fiction or historical environment). I'd have to think on which ones would be the 'worst' ones.

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Tris in Divergent and Katniss in Hunger Games! Um... Laura Ingalls Wilder, how about Offred from Handmaids Tale. I'm like you, I wouldn't want to trade places with most of the characters I read either!

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Nice answers, everyone :).

 

This week's topic is: Gateway Books to Your Favorite Genre

 

Author's Note:

--What books do you think are good to introduce people to your favorite genre? If you have more than one favorite genre, feel free to split it up to cover both.

 

That's an interesting question. I have multiple favourite genres, so I'm going to have to think about this one.

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What a great topic!

 

The book which got me seriously into historical fiction was Philippa Gregory's "The Other Boleyn Girl".  Will try to think of some other genres now.

 

Catherine Cookson's "Mallen" series probably got me into family sagas, although I suppose you could call it historical fiction as well.

Edited by Madeleine
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Here are some of my picks, though I found it difficult particularly for science-fiction, because a lot of the books I love, aren't that accessible. For contemporary fiction I found it difficult and mostly just picked some of my absolute favourites.

 

Fantasy

J. K. Rowling - Harry Potter 1: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (& the rest of the series)

John Flanagan - Ranger's Apprentice 1: The Ruins Of Gorlan (& the rest of the series, for middle-grade but very good and accessible)

Maria V. Snyder - Study 1: Poison Study (YA, I've read the original trilogy but not yet the newer ones)

David B. Coe - The Lontobyn Chronicle 1: Children Of Amarid (& the rest of the trilogy, this trilogy got me into fantasy for adults)

Anne McCaffrey - The Dragonriders Of Pern 1: Dragonflight (also an early fantasy / science-fiction book I read)

Christopher Paolini - The Inheritance Cycle 1: Eragon (I haven't read books 2 - 4 yet)

Brandon Sanderson - The Emperor's Soul (a novella)

Ursula K. Le Guin - Earthsea 1: A Wizard of Earthsea (I've only read 1 - 4)

Geronimo Stilton - Fantasia 1 (& and more of the series if you desire but they are standalone stories, for children / middle-grade)

 

Science-fiction

Orson Scott Card - Ender 1: Ender's Game (children's / YA?)

Terry Pratchett - Johnny Maxwell 1: Only You Can Save Mankind (children's / middle-grade)

Beth Revis - Across the Universe trilogy (YA)

Daniel Keyes - Flowers for Algernon

Ernest Cline - Ready Player One (not sure if YA or not)

Audrey Niffenegger - The Time Traveler's Wife (time travel element)

 

Contemporary fiction

Jodi Picoult - My Sister's Keeper

Diane Chamberlain - The Midwife's Confession

Catherine Ryan Hyde - Don't Let Me Go

Kristin Hannah - Home Front

Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time (YA)

John Green - The Fault in Our Stars (YA)

R. J. Palacio - Wonder 1: Wonder (children's / middle-grade)

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This week's topic is: Books That Took You the Longest to Finish

 

Author's Note:

--These are the books that you had on your nightstand "in progress" for months or years. The books that you took weeks to read because they put you in a slump. Those books that were an uphill battle. These are books you started and actually read, not books you've just had on your shelf the longest.

 

I'd have to think hard about this. For the past few years, I don't think any book has taken me longer than about a month. Before then, I can't really remember, I'm sure some books took me longer than a month though. I'm sure they'd be long books, but it's not because they were an uphill battle but because I didn't have much time and energy to read, I was busy with other things. I can't remember any book that put me in a slump, that took quite long to read. So, if it had to be books that were an uphill battle, that put me in a reading slump, that took me months and years to read, then.. there aren't any that I can think of right now. I read one book at a time, I can't read multiple books at once.

 

What about anyone else, are there books that took you months to finish?

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Benson at Sixty by Michael Carson.  I got 100 pages in, and then left it sitting on my side table for a whole year.  After that, back it went on the bookshelf for a further two years before I picked it up to finish it.  It wasn't a bad book, just slow-paced, and not as humorous as Carson's earlier novels.

 

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.  I loved this! -- but it took me months to read.  Stop/start, stop/start.  I was already familiar with the history, so perhaps that's why.

 

They're the most recent ones.  I'm sure there are more, but I can't think of them offhand.  :)

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