Top 10 Tuesday: Favourite books from before blogging

Top 10 Tuesday is hosted by the fancy folk over at The Broke and the Bookish. This week's prompt is: 10 books you loved before you started blogging.




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It's actually kinda hard to work out which books came before blogging because there have been SO MANY since I started this a couple of years ago. But I think I managed to whittle down a list which all came before blogging, but aren't entirely made up of books I read as a kid. Actually, this list has made me realise how badly I want to reread some of these books, and I really should since they're all so wonderful. Next challenge: reread all of the books on this list and write full reviews for them all. Yeah!

1. Harry Potter by J.K Rowling

This was the first series that I desperately hung out waiting for the next installment. When I look back JKR was pretty killer at getting the books out quickly, but for a 14 year old it felt like FOREVER. Lucky for her the books are so amazing they're worth twice the wait.

2. The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys by Chris Fuhrman

Probably one of my most beloved books, my copy is so tattered and sad but I will never throw it away. It's full of heart, and the characters are brilliant and man, I cry like a newborn EVERY TIME I read it.

3. The Chrestomanci Series by Diana Wynne Jones

Another childhood favourite series. It's a blend of fairytales, wizardry, alternative timelines and a dude with multiple lives. Awesome.

4. The Stand by Stephen King

I read a lot of Stephen King books before this and a bunch after, but The Stand is probably my favourite of the lot. It is epic, but so well crafted and the story never gets away from him. It's HUGE, but it's so great I felt like I read the whole thing in 5 minutes.

5. The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson

I could probably list any of a number of HST's books here, but The Rum Diary is one I always come back to. It's a little less crazy and intense than his usual books, and I just find the story of the American journalist in Cuba to be captivating. Plus HST can write, oh my stars can he write.

6. And the Hippos were Boiled in their Tanks by Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs

I loooooove Jack Kerouac, but I also find the stream of conscious writing a little exhausting. And the Hippos is written with William S. Burroughs and it jumps between chapters written by the two. It's a nice way into Kerouac's unique way of writing and viewing life without jumping in the deep end.

7. Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Just when I thought vampires were dead (thanks Twilight) I found this book and I couldn't put it down. It is the most amazing story of vampires and love/friendship and it beats the crap out of EVERYTHING else in the genre.

8. Four Fires by Bryce Courtenay

I went through a huge Bryce Courtenay phase, and Four Fires was always my favourite. It spans multiple generations in an Irish-Australian family and deals with things like adolescent pregnancy, PTSD and homosexuality in the 1950s-1960s. It's phenomenal.

9. Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner

This is like the Australian version of Little Women except 1000 times better. When publishers were demanding Australian children's books be English kids in a harsh and unforgiving landscape facing the terrifying natives (yeah, real winners those British publishers) Ethel Turner told them to shove it and wrote a story about the awesomeness that is Australian children. What we get are a rag-tag group of kids who are completely different but all love each other and the land they live on. It's great. Go read it already!

10. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Oh man, this series is so enjoyable. It's almost too enjoyable. No, that's nonsense, there's no such thing and even if there were this wouldn't be it.  It's hilarious, bizarre, the characters are delightful....just yes.