Tuesday, September 12, 2017

TOP TEN TUESDAY: Ten books from ten years ago

 

 Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke and the Bookish each week. The topic this week is favourite books from when you started blogging. It was ten years ago (which I forgot to mention last February) that I started blogging, so by January in 2008, I had posted a list of hte books I read and highlighted the top ten + one of the year. I read a lot of good books that year! If I look back at the list I'm not sure these are the ten I would have picked but there is nothing wrong with any of these and I have fond memories of each. Some of the books from 2008 that I didn't pick as best include Half a Yellow Sun, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen, We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver, The Road, and The Tale of Despereaux. Those could easily be on a top ten list from that year.

Hey Nostradamus! - Douglas Coupland
I just finished a Coupland book in August (Marshall McLuhan) and this was the book that made a huge Coupland fan. I went on to read many, many more.
 
 The Gun Seller - Hugh Laurie
 I still remember what a crazy, fun book this was. A spy-thriller comedy. This was during the House days and the book I read from the library was signed! I should have kept the book and paid for a new one for the library.
 
 

The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory
I loved it at the time, but I only ended up reading one more Gregory epic novel. I'm sure I'd still enjoy her books and I don't know why I haven't read more.
 
the perks of being a wallflower - stephen chbosky 
My fourteen year old daughter just read and loved this book this summer. She saw the movie on Netflix, and then wanted to read it from the library. We recently bought her her own copy. Classic teen book with all the feels.

The Bone People - Kerri Hulme
 So many reasons why I shouldn't have liked this but it hit me at the right time and I loved it. Hulme never really wrote anything else at this level. The Bone People won the Booker Prize in 1985.
 
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling
Can it be ten years since The Deathly Hallows was released?  I stayed up late late the night I got this book so as not to be surprised by anything online. Plus, others in the house wanted to read it and weren't as fast readers as I am.

I Am the Messenger - Markus Zusak
Here's a book I think is time for a reread. I have such great memories of how much I enjoyed this book and this was my first Zusak.
Never Let Me Go - Kazou Ishiguro
My first Ishiguro but not my last! I went on to read five of Ishiguro's novels and he is such a good writer. None of the books are similar in style or topic and this one was so deliciously creepy.
 
 
Cloud of Bones - Bernice Morgan
Morgan, the Newfoundland writer, has written so few books. In fact, this is the last book she wrote from 2007. This was released over ten years after her previous books, Random Passage and Waiting for Time, so maybe she's working on a new novel.
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
I listened to Neverwhere last year and it was still a wonderful, delightful fantasy through the London underground. Still recommend. And I'm still reading Gaiman - I read The Graveyard Book this spring.
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving   
Another long, epic novel. I think I read this at the end of the year so the recentness may have led to it being on my top ten list for that year. It was a great read, but I don't have the 'you must read this' memory of Owen Meany.  
 
Have you read any/all of these great books from ten years ago?

2 comments:

  1. I read Neverwhere more recently and loved it. Such a great novel. I really like Gaiman's books. Harry Potter is the best. Among the best, anyway. :-) I hope you have a great rest of the week, Elizabeth. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. I haven't read any of these though Neverwhere just recently landed on my TBR after I read and loved The Graveyard book. The Other Boleyn Girl is on my TBR as is Owen Meaney but I need to look for the rest.

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