Recommendation Lists Archives - Page 15 of 32

We often rant about how long some books are and how difficult it is to find time to read them, but it’s much more unusual to rave about shorter reads, so I chose this topic for today’s Top Ten Tuesday Rewind.

Top Ten Tuesday was created and is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Books To Read In A Day

1. Cold Water, by Gwendoline Riley – atmospheric and beautiful.

2. All My Friends Are Superheroes, by Andrew Kaufman – imaginative, funny, and romantic.

3. Bonjour Tristesse, by Françoise Sagan – absorbing and tragic.

4. The Plain Janes, by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg – a graphic novel in which four very different teenaged Janes get together and make public artworks. There’s also a sequel, Janes in Love.

5. Breakers, by Julia Clarke – emotionally involving, great characterisation.

6. Life on the Refrigerator Door, by Alice Kuipers – a story told via notes from a mother and daughter to each other. A tearjerker.

7. Milk, Sulphate and Alby Starvation, by Martin Millar– surreal, silly, super.

8. The Butterfly Tattoo, by Philip Pullman – a short thriller with a poignant ending.

9. grl2grl, by Julie Anne Peters – a diverse and really enjoyable selection of stories about LGBT characters.

10. Festival, by David Belbin – four characters’ lives become entwined at Glastonbury festival.

What shorter reads would you recommend?

I’ve decided to do something a bit different this week! I’ve already done my Top Ten Favourite Romances, so this time I’m going to share books that were so beautifully written, I swooned at all the gorgeousness.

Top Ten Tuesday was created and is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Books That Will Make You Swoon

1. Ghostwritten, by David Mitchell – this is one of my favourite books of all time. It’s neither a novel nor a collection of short stories – every section tells a different story and they are all intertwined, but it’s not immediately obvious how they connect to each other. Instead, the connections are revealed as you progress through the book, and when you read it for a second time.

2. All My Friends Are Superheroes, by Andrew Kaufman – this is on my favourite romance list but as a book it’s so funny and short and ultimately lovely that I couldn’t help but put it here too.

3. Nights At The Circus/The Magic Toyshop/The Bloody Chamber And Other Stories, all by Angela Carter (yeah, I’m cheating!) – these are my three favourite books by Angela Carter. They’re all retellings of fairytales or myths with lush description and wry observations, and are extremely good fun to read.

4. Dramarama, by E. Lockhart – why is this out of print? Gossip, glitter, theatre camp, and a protagonist who goes on a really interesting emotional journey. I read it in 2011 and am itching to reread it, it’s so often on my mind.

5. Swordspoint, by Ellen Kushner – this isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but was it ever mine! Swordfighting, decadence, intrigue…writing this is making me want to reread it!

6. Journey to the River Sea, by Eva Ibbotson – a delightfully funny and charming children’s novel that captured my heart. If I ever write a book half as good as this one I’ll be satisfied with my life.

7. Orlando, by Virginia Woolf – easily the most accessible novel by Virginia Woolf, this is a gender-switching gallop through time and I loved it. It’s also totally quotable.

8. Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer – another kids book that is completely genius. Why did I not come up with this idea?

9. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen – it took me a ridiculously long time to get around to reading this but I loved it, mostly because of the brilliant snark…

10. The Complete Works of Shakespeare – because it’s Shakespeare, duh.

How did you interpret this topic? Did you choose swoonsome romances, wonderful writing, both, or something else?

Recommendation Lists

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