I always think that the books someone likes gives a real insight into who they are... having said that, I'm concerned what the amount of trash that I read must be saying about me!
I love reading though, always have done, and with few exceptions will read almost anything that's put in front of me. I unashamedly love the Twilight books (and will freely admit I hadn't heard of them until the first film came out), I'm also a massive Austen fan and have failed on numerous occasions to make it to the end of a single Charles Dickens book (I will though, at some point!).
So, here goes. Nothing definitive, this is currently my top 40 list of books - books that I've thorougly enjoyed reading for one reason or another; not necessarily great literary masterpieces, just ones I've found to be good reads.
In no particular order... (and possibly missing some of the girl trash I thoroughly enjoy reading on the train, I've got to keep some semblance of credibility :D)
1. Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J K Rowling
3. Bridget Jone's Diary (the first one) by Helen Fielding
4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
5. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
6. Emma by Jane Austen
7. Persuasion by Jane Austen
8. Charlotte's Web by E B White
9. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
10. The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenberger
11. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
12. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
13. Mister God, this is Anna by Fynn
14. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
15. Wild Swans by Jung Chang
16. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
17. Any one of Jasper Fforde's books, they all make me laugh :D
18. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
19. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
20. First Casualty by Ben Elton
21. Touching the Void by Joe Simpson
22. The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory
23. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever by Stephen Donaldson
24. Amtrak Wars by Patrick Tilley
25. Mervyn the mouse :) :) :) :) the ultimate kiddy book left on my shelf from when I was about three.
26. The Scarlet Lion by Elizabeth Chadwick
27. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet
28. The Duchess by Amanda Foreman
29. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
30. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
31. Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne
32. Katherine by Anya Seton
33. The Hobbit by J R R Tolkein
34. The da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
35. Nightfall by Isaac Asimov
36. Day of the Triffids by John Wyndam
37. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
38. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
39. Sweet Clarinet by James Riordan
40. Winnie the Pooh by A A Milne
Monday, 18 January 2010
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I agree on a few of those books - not read a lot of them! :) I adore The Time Traveler's Wife and I read Birdsong when I was 15, on holiday in Italy - thought I'd hate it but I loved it! xx
ReplyDeleteI like this a lot! It's a great list!
ReplyDeleteNice list. I love reading books but don't have much time - just on the bus to and from work(hence I don't mind getting stuck in traffic!)
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading more about you on your blog.
Sharon x
Ooh, I might do this myself. I'm not sure I could make it to forty though!
ReplyDeleteMy initial aim was to get to 50, but it was harder than I thought to come up with that many really good books, rather than just mediocre ones.
ReplyDeleteBliss - I find travel the best time to read too :) I get the train to work every day and it's 20 mins to myself to read!