Here are some of my all time favourite reads (in no particular order)
“So beautifully written it made me ugly cry.”
I ADORED this book. I read it in one very emotional rollercoaster of a day. I laughed out loud and I blushed to the roots of my hair for Lou. This book is so beautifully written it made me ugly cry. Without giving away too much of the storyline, Lou is 26 years old when she is employed to care for Will. Will is a young, handsome, rich, upper-class high-flyer. After a terrible accident, Will is paralysed. Now, to be clear, Will is not a nice young man. He is angry and resentful, and he makes Lou’s life a misery. Despite this, and his physical disability, Will is incredibly sexy in a dark, brooding sort of way. Think Christian Grey without the whips and chains. The tragic love story that follows is breath taking. I highly recommend this book for all the ladies!
“Bags I be Six!”
Being a bit of a “super-hero” fanatic, this series was right up my alley. Aimed at YA market, it spent 7 weeks at the #1 spot on the NY Times bestseller list. I loved everything about this book, even the made-up name of the author. “Pittacus Lore” (the pseudonym of James Frey and Jobie Hughes) is Lorien’s ruling elder. The basic plot, which does the book no justice: nine infant aliens with extraordinary powers being hunted down on Earth by the evil invaders who destroyed their home planet. They can only be killed in order and the first 3 have already been eliminated at the onset of the book. Number Four is now running for his life. Enter the legendary Six, and the action is explosive. I am waiting impatiently for the release of The Fall of Five (book 4), which releases this month (Aug 2013). This is the book that is going to make or break this series. After the amazing I am Number Four and the even better Power of Six, Rise of Nine just kind of sucked.
“Compellingly stomach-churning.”
Room is a book that I still can’t stop thinking about 2 years after reading it. I recently started writing a YA novel, written from the perspective of a 15 year old girl. After 3000 agonising words, which actually caused me physical pain, I tossed it. I just couldn’t stay in that mind set long enough. using words like “hawt” and LOL-ing every second sentence. As a result, my respect for Emma Donoghue’s book grew in volumes. The story is told from the perspective of a five-year-old boy, Jack, who is being held captive in a small room along with his mother. Donoghue conceived the story after hearing about five-year-old Felix in the Fritzl case.
This book is astounding. And gross. And captivating. And scary. And heart-warming. And awful. You need to read it to understand.
“Don’t judge the Twilighters”
Okay, so anyone who is rolling their eyes and passing judgement, just remember that this book has sold more copies and broken more records that I care to count and that love it or hate it, Stephenie Meyer is laughing all the way to the bank. A sobering thought, isn’t it. Personally, I LOVED it. I read like a woman possessed, and yes, I fantasised about Edward Cullen. A lot. I am not going to drone one about plot and characterisation because everyone knows what this series is all about. If you haven’t read it – SHAME on you!
“Literary Snobbery”
I was fortunate enough to select Victorian Literature as one of my honours degree subjects and spent a year devouring the classics. From Jane Eyre, to Dracula, this year is one that truly was the peak of my literary snobbery. Aside from the fact that these books are beautiful, there is something very rewarding about reading a classic. It makes you feel clever. And refined. And D-E-E-P. I have to say that Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre are two of my firm favourites, with Tess of the D’Urberville’s a close second. These are the kind of books that you re-read.