Top Ten Books/Authors I'm Thankful For

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. 

I'm feeling awfully thankful for books this week--especially because with a break from school, I'll actually get a good chance to read those books I've been trying to finish! (Unless my family is too distracting, which is entirely possible...)

10. Jane Austen. Her books were some of the first classics I really loved, and I'm grateful she wrote plenty because it means I still have more to read! One thing I love about Austen is that she writes with a sort of veiled sarcasm that I've come to appreciate a lot more as I've gotten older.

9. William Shakespeare. Believe it or not, I started reading and loving Shakespeare when I was only 13. (I don't know how much I really understood, but I felt like I understood a lot...) I think the first play I ever read was King Lear. Since then, I have come to love Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Richard III, Hamlet, and especially Othello. (I get shivers just thinking about creeper Iago...)

8. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I read this when I was about 12 and I loved it. I have a fun edition with a soft cover that I got for Christmas. For me, this book represents everything magical about childhood.

7. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. I read this recently and I feel like I can't help mentioning it in every conversation (or blog post). This book has made me really excited to dig into more Victorian literature.

6. The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton. I read this book earlier this year and it's been one of those books that has actually changed the way I think, in just a small way. It has made me more grateful for my life and the little miracles I get to witness every day. Maybe a re-read is in order...

5. Elizabeth Gilbert. Call me a "chick lit" girl, but I really enjoy reading Gilbert. Her writing is so genuine--and hilarious! While other writers inspire me as a reader, Gilbert inspires me as a writer.

4. C.S. Lewis. I really enjoy both his fiction and his Christian apologetic writings. I think both Christians and those questioning Christianity ought to read Lewis. I really like that he isn't afraid of the hard questions, and I think too many of us are. Do we really want to ask about the seeming paradoxes of life and religion? Lewis has really helped me navigate those dark waters.

3. Stephen R. Covey. I've ended up reading a lot of self-help books for some reason (I'm not quite sure why), and Covey's books have helped me so much. Even though I haven't read them in a while, I still think about the principles. The principles in Covey's books aren't just quick fixes; they're principles for a great life in general.

2. Charles Dickens. I've only read two of his books, and practically every day I feel the pull to read more. I really want to get into Our Mutual Friend or Bleak House. I feel like I've barely scraped the tip of the iceberg, and I really can't wait to read more Dickens.

1. Victor Hugo. I've loved Les Miserables ever since I read it a few years ago, and it changed me more than any other novel I've ever read. I'm serious. I read The Hunchback of Notre Dame this year for the first time and loved it too (although not as much as Les Mis).

Oh no! I've already listed ten and I haven't even mentioned the Bronte sisters (Heathcliff! Mr. Rochester!), Gone With the Wind (Scarlett! Rhett!), To Kill a Mockingbird (Atticus! Scout!), or Hemingway, or The Great Gatsby, or The Scarlet Letter...drat. Well, I guess that's the great thing about counting your blessings...it's too hard to stop!

What books/authors are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? 

Top Ten Books I'd Want on a Deserted Island

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. 

Here are the top ten books I would want on a deserted island...whether or not I've read them.

10. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. This book is everything I could want in a book, not to mention it's extremely long! I've been wanting to re-read it ever since I read it for the first time, so on a desert island I could really dig into it.

9. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. I can't die without reading a thick Dickens tome, you know. Sometimes I dream about the day I get to read this book...

8. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. A few days ago I wrote about being afraid of it, so I'd finally get a chance to face my fears. ...Yay.

7. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. After three ridiculously long books to keep me busy, here's a book I would read on days when I was feeling depressed about, you know, being stranded on a desert island. And I would finally get more time to finish it.

6. My Jane Austen collection. (That might be cheating, but technically it is one book...) I could re-read some of the great ones and finally get into the ones I haven't read yet (i.e., Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey).

Top Ten Books I'm Most Excited to Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. 

Today is a Top Ten Tuesday freebie and since my literary excitement is still new and fresh, I thought I'd write about books I'm excited to read! (Both from my Classics Club list and otherwise.)

10. The Romance of the Forest by Ann Radcliffe. This isn't on my list, but I need to read it for a class. I'm actually really excited about it! I'm severely deficient in pre-Victorian novels (except for Shakespeare), so I'll be glad to get one under my belt. Especially because a) it was written by a woman, and b) at the time it was written, novels were just starting to get popular. Aaaand it's a Gothic novel. It just intrigues me...

9. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. Oh, Dickens! I'm really excited to just get my teeth into this book. It's been a while since I've read a really massive novel, and I also want to get a lot more familiar with Dickens (hence my many titles by him on my list of classics). Plus, one of my professors mentions it and how wonderful it is every couple weeks, and she is one of my favorite professors (despite some horrific expectations, but that's another blog post).

Top Ten Kick-Butt Heroines

Thank you to The Broke and the Bookish for this Top Ten Tuesday meme (sans profanity)!

10. Margaret Hale from North and South. One of the things that got me about this book right away was its fantastic heroine. Margaret is tough and fights tooth and nail to protect and take care of her family. She's willing to defend a man she dislikes in front of an angry mob, even taking a hit for him. She never backs down, even in the face of death.

9. Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice. I actually hesitated to put her name because it felt cliche, but just because Elizabeth is well-liked doesn't mean she doesn't deserve a place on my list. Lizzie does what she wants without following proper societal "rules," but she does what it takes to protect her family's reputation. She's determined to marry for love and won't let any other circumstance prevent her from doing that.

8. Juliet Ashton from The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Juliet is the heroine of my all-time favorite non-classic novel. Juliet makes people laugh in the worst of times in England and then reminds them of what's important once the worst is over. She has her priorities straight--she's willing to run into a burning building to save books. She's protective of those she loves and tough with those who don't love her. I secretly want to be just like her.

Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara

7. Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With the Wind. In some ways I hate Scarlett, but in truth, I really, really love her. She doesn't care what anyone thinks of her, unless they're a man and she wants to get something out of them. She's clever and cunning and does what it takes to get what she wants. She takes care of her own and never looks back. She's tougher, stronger, and more determined than any other character in the story.

6. Aibileen from The Help. Heroine of another non-classic, Aibileen is one of those people you can't help but love. She works long and hard for her family, but she's tougher than she seems. She's talented and strong and everyone knows that God answers her prayers the most.

5. Viola from Twelfth Night. In the face of tragedy, Viola decides to run off and earn her own living dressed up as a man, but she knows when it's time to tell the truth. She's clever and witty and works hard to gain favor, but she can talk her way out of an uncomfortable situation. She doesn't let anyone tell her what to do.

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

You know that feeling you get right after you read a really good book? That sighing, that warm bubbling in your heart, that sudden wonder you have for everything around you? It had been so long since I had felt that, but I felt it again as I closed the cover of Elizabeth's Gaskell's North and South. 

As I was reading, I kept asking myself, Why haven't I heard more about this book? I think it's slightly appalling how little recognition this book gets. With all the rage surrounding Jane Austen these days, you'd think Elizabeth Gaskell would get a break. This book has all the romance, social charge, and gender issues of Austen novels, but fewer scenes of people just sitting around waiting for men to come and entertain them.

England, the setting of North and South

(No offense to Jane Austen. I really do love her. But if I'm being completely honest, her books just aren't as exciting as this one.)

The characters in this book are so absolutely beautiful and real. I also love that Gaskell can weigh in on the debate about the workhouse horrors without obviously taking a side. She sees both sides of the issue, unlike many of the other authors of her time, and she presents them fairly.

The characters of Margaret and Mr Thornton and their relationship captivated me. There are just so many themes and ways to read the characters.

Margaret: Haughty, proud, and distant to strangers, but unabashedly loyal to her loved ones. She gives up her own comfort throughout the entire book in order to save her family members from discomfort. She hides her own despair in order to please everyone around her. But is she in the right? As admirable as her self-sacrificing is, is it right to be completely unfair to oneself in order to please others? She nearly kills herself with the stress of taking care of everything and not allowing anyone to help or even comfort her. In trying to help everyone, she completely isolates herself from them. Is she truly doing right by them and herself?