Top Ten Tuesday #7: Top Ten Books I Read Before I Was A Blogger

 


Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish.



















I've read a lot of books in my lifetime; I've only been reviewing for about two years. So this list is comprised of those that stick out in memory from the late nineties to 2011. The original topic was "top ten favorite books from before I was a blogger" but I edited idea that more to my taste. Some that I list are great, some are nostalgic, and some are just really, really bad.


#1. A Song of Ice and Fire (A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, and A Dance with Dragons) by George R. R. Martin


I've read and reread these books many times since I first found them, but I've enevr reviewed them. Even A Dance With Dragons, which was published after I started blogging, was never a review goal for me. It;'s too daunting - the scope, the endless characters, all without spoiling? Impossible. I do love this series (it's home to some of my all-time favorite characters: The Hound, Rhaegar Targaryen, Ned Stark, Arya), but it firmly belongs to my "just read and enjoy" list.


#2. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling


I've loved Harry Potter since I was 11 years old. It's crazy to think, but this series has been a huge part of my life for more than half the years I've been on this earth. To even think of a life before Harry is  hard for me. I'd loved reading before, but Harry was that series, the one that showed me all kinds of books - historical, fantasy, romance, mystery - can catapult you into times and places unknown. I can't even imagine trying to critically analyze these books - another reason I'm lucky it wrapped up before I launched my reviewing ambitions. I'm lying -- Jo please write more of them!


#3. The first 8 books of the Discworld series (The Color of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Equal Rites, Mort, Sourcery, Wyrd Sisters, Pyramids, and Guards! Guards!) by Terry Pratchett


Fantasy that is funny is hard to do. Moreover, it's hard to do well. Terry Pratchett is beloved by many for this series and it's easy to see why. Funny, irreverent, silly, and not afraid to poke at the tropes and cliches of its genre, Discworld books tend to be short, to the point and endlessly amusing. I stopped reading the series in 2010, I got distracted, but I plan to get back to them soon. Maybe I'll review Eric, book nine, but with more than thirty sequels after that to read it's quite a daunting enterprise.


#4. The first three of the Black Jewels series (Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, and Queen of the Darkness) by Anne Bishop


Unlike the others listed so far, which I left off because I love them too much to attempt, this series infuriated me when I read it back in 2009. I was angered, disappointed and creeped out by much of what happens over the course of these three books. I've read books that were worse, in terms of writing and character, but so much of these novels add up to a miserable read. I will never read anything from this series, ever again.


#5.The Prince of Tides, Beach Music and South of Broad by Pat Conroy


Pat Conroy is a master at voice and intricate plots. While neither of the other two books I've read has ever matched up the amount of feeling The Prince of Tides caused within me, I can't help but be continually impressed with this author. The Prince of Tides pops up a lot - in my recommendations to friends, in my rereads when I need something that I know will be good - and I would never be able to analyze the Wingos. Lowenstein has that on lock, anyway.


#6.The first three Dark Tower (The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three, and The Wastelands) novels by Stephen King

I readily admit I am not a King fan. I've tried a couple novels of his over the years (The Eyes of the Dragon, Lisey's Story) in addition to these, and have never found any of them worthwhile. This series had potential and it was utterly squandered. I was mildly intrigued with the first, dismayed by the second, and utterly bored by the third. Even the thought of reviewing these books has me both frustrated and contemplating a nap.


#7. The first 10 of the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Mystery series (Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas, Club Dead, Dead to the World, Dead as a Doornail, Definitely Dead, Altogether Dead, From Dead to Worse, Dead and Gone and Dead in the Family) by Charlaine Harris


I read the first five of these before this series went crazy popular and, well, just insane. Charlaine Harris does not know when to say goodbye. Sookie (god, what a dumb name) went from naive to the most desired woman ever to just plain annoying over the course of the series. The books can be fun, but they are utter fluff. I wouldn't be able to coherently, and sincerely, write reviews for 10 novels that are practically interchangeable with one another (Sookie has someone new fall in love with her, someone dies in Bon Temps, Sookie needs to be saved, romantic entanglements ensure. Fin.). Just.. no. This series should have been definitely dead (ba dum tsh!) by book seven.


#8. The first four novels in the Walsh Family series (Watermelon, Rachel's Holiday, Angels, and Anybody Out There?) by Marian Keyes


I just love these books. They're cute, contemporary, filled with lively and funny and real characters. Yes, the plots can veer a bit in formulaic territory, but the characters, and the various interactions among the Walsh sisters, make each read so much fun. Anybody Out There brought me to tears and remains my favorite, but Rachel's Holiday is a close second -- though that might change when I get to read Helen's book, The Mystery of Mercy Close. All I know is I want to get a drink with Marian Keyes.


#9. Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay


I'm glad I read this before I started reviewing. I honestly might be shunned if my unfavorable opinions were more widely known. Everyone I know that loves fantasy, loooooves Tigana, recommends Tigana, would not ever stop talking about Tigana. So I tried it. And I was bored from the getgo. The storylines seemed so derivative, the characters wooden. It was not for me - though I was impressed by Kay's writing to keep buying his books. I have Under Heaven AND River of Stars waiting to be read. I can only hope they improve upon their predecessor. I may retry this one again someday, but I doubt it.


#10. The Dune Chronicles series (Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse: Dune) by Frank Herbert


To me, Dune is the end-all, be-all for interplanetary science fiction. Maybe even for the whole genre of scifi. Nothing else in that area has involved me or interested me as deeply as Frank Herbert's magnum opus (we do not speak of the "novels" by his son and Kevin J. Anderson.) It is the standard against which all other comers are judged. It's extensive and so intricate; it set the mold for fantasy and scifi authors as much as Tolkien's LoTR did. (Hey Robert Jordan? As much as I love the Aiel, and I do, they are Fremen-lite.) Cultures, customs, plots, warfare, Herbert's scope is impressive and impossible to review. The later books may have flagged as the scifi angel got more and more convoluted, but this is a hallmark series.

New Additions to the TBR!

I went on a spree again this week. Hey, it's almost my [redacted]th birthday - so I refuse to feel bad about buying more books when I have hundreds bought that I have yet to read. They were on sale - so it makes sense, right? RIGHT? Ahem.

Anyway:

Tor Teen was kind enough to send me a physical ARC of Renegade (The Elysium Chronicles #1) by J.A. Souders

Since the age of three, sixteen-year-old Evelyn Winters has been trained to be Daughter of the People in the underwater utopia known as Elysium. Selected from hundreds of children for her ideal genes, all her life she’s thought that everything was perfect; her world. Her people. The Law.

But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into their secluded little world, she’s forced to come to a startling realization: everything she knows is a lie. Her memories have been altered. Her mind and body aren’t under her own control. And the person she knows as Mother is a monster.

Together with Gavin she plans her escape, only to learn that her own mind is a ticking time bomb... and Mother has one last secret that will destroy them all.

I bought Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio - I got the Nookbook because it was the Daily Find for $2.99

Seattle, 1933. Vera Ray kisses her three-year-old son, Daniel, goodnight and reluctantly leaves for work. She hates the night-shift, but it’s the only way she can earn enough to keep destitution at bay. In the morning—even though it’s the second of May—a heavy snow is falling. Vera rushes to wake Daniel, but his bed is empty. His teddy bear lies outside in the snow.

Seattle, present day. On the second of May, Seattle Times reporter, Claire Aldridge, awakens to another late-season snowstorm. Assigned to cover this “blackberry winter” and its predecessor decades earlier, Claire learns of Daniel’s unsolved abduction and vows to unearth the truth—only to discover that she and Vera are linked in unexpected ways.

and Better World Books was having a 50% off if you buy five sale.... so, naturally, I bought 8 books.

Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan

 
 

Tender Morsels is a dark and vivid story, set in two worlds and worrying at the border between them. Liga lives modestly in her own personal heaven, a world given to her in exchange for her earthly life. Her two daughters grow up in this soft place, protected from the violence that once harmed their mother. But the real world cannot be denied forever—magicked men and wild bears break down the borders of Liga’s refuge. Now, having known Heaven, how will these three women survive in a world where beauty and brutality lie side by side?

The Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes

 

Welcome to 66 Star Street . . . In the top-floor flat lives music exec Katie. She spends her days fighting off has-been rock stars and wondering how much cheesecake you'd need to eat yourself to death. Below her, a pair of muscular Poles share with a streetwise cabbie named Lydia, who has a sharp tongue, an even sharper brain but some unexpected soft spots. On the first floor is Fionn - a gardener who prefers the company of parsnips to people. But he looks like a fairy-tale prince and when he's offered his own television show, he's suddenly thrust into the limelight. And at the bottom of the house live Matt and Maeve, who are Very Much In Love and who stave off despair by doing random acts of kindness. But a mysterious visitor has just landed at 66 Star Street, bringing love, friendship and heartbreak, and a new-found optimism. Old secrets are working their way to the surface and all their lives are about to change in the most unexpected of ways . . .

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

High in his attic bedroom, twelve-year-old David mourns the death of his mother, with only the books on his shelf for company. But those books have begun to whisper to him in the darkness. Angry and alone, he takes refuge in his imagination and soon finds that reality and fantasy have begun to meld. While his family falls apart around him, David is violently propelled into a world that is a strange reflection of his own -- populated by heroes and monsters and ruled by a faded king who keeps his secrets in a mysterious book, The Book of Lost Things.

Taking readers on a vivid journey through the loss of innocence into adulthood and beyond, New York Times bestselling author John Connolly tells a dark and compelling tale that reminds us of the enduring power of stories in our lives.

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

At his coming-of-age party, Matteo Alacrán asks El Patrón's bodyguard, "How old am I? ... I know I don't have a birthday like humans, but I was born."

"You were harvested," Tam Lin reminds him. "You were grown in that poor cow for nine months and then you were cut out of her."

To most people around him, Matt is not a boy, but a beast. But for El Patrón, lord of a country called Opium--a strip of poppy field lying between the U.S. and what was once called Mexico--Matt is a guarantee of eternal life. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself, for Matt is himself. They share identical DNA.

As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister, grasping cast of characters, including El Patrón's power-hungry family. He is surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards and by the mindless slaves of Opium, brain-deadened 'eejits' who toil in the poppy fields.

Escape from the Alacrán Estate is no guarantee of freedom because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he doesn't even suspect. Around every turn in this vivid, futuristic adventure is a new, heart-stopping surprise.

A College of Magics (A College of Magics #1) by Caroline Stevermere

 

Teenager Faris Nallaneen is the heir to the small northern dukedom of Galazon. Too young still to claim her title, her despotic Uncle Brinker has ruled in her place. Now he demands she be sent to Greenlaw College. For her benefit he insists. To keep me out of the way, more like it!

But Greenlaw is not just any school-as Faris and her new best friend Jane discover. At Greenlaw students major in . . . magic.

But it's not all fun and games. When Faris makes an enemy of classmate Menary of Aravill, life could get downright . . . deadly.

 Daughter of the Empire (The Empire Trilogy #1) by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts

Magic and murder engulf the realm of Kelewan. Fierce warlords ignite a bitter blood feud to enslave the empire of Tsuranuanni. While in the opulent Imperial courts, assassins and spymasters plot cunning and devious intrigues against the rightful heir.

Now Mara, a young, untested Ruling Lady, is called upon to lead her people in a heroic struggle for survival. But first she must rally an army of rebel warriors, form a pact with the alien cho-ja, and marry the son of a hated enemy. Only then can Mara face her most dangerous foe of all -- in his own impregnable stronghold.

Curse of the Mistwraith (Wars of Light and Shadow #1) by Janny Wurts

 

The world of Athera lives in eternal fog, its skies obscured by the malevolent Mistwraith. Only the combined powers of two half-brothers can challenge the Mistwraith's stranglehold: Arithon, Master of Shadow, and Lysaer, Lord of Light. Arithon and Lysaer soon find that they are inescapably bound to a series of events dictated by their own deepest convictions. 

Yet as the sorcerers of the Fellowship of Seven know well, there is more at stake than one battle with the Mistwraith: between them the half-brothers hold the balance of the world—its harmony and its future—in their hands.

The Ships of Merior (The Wars of Light and Shadow #2) by Janny Wurts

 

Janny Wurts’s epic tale of two half-brothers cursed to life-long enmity continues in this spectacular second volume, now re-released with a striking new cover. The half-brothers Arithon, Master of Shadow, and Lysaer, Lord of Light, have defeated the Mistwraith and dispersed the fogs that smothered Athera’s skies. 

But their victory comes at a high price: the Mistwraith has set them at odds under a powerful curse of vengeance. The two princes are locked in deadly enmity, with the fates of nations and the balance of the world’s mystical powers entangled in their feud. Arithon, forced out of hiding, finds himself hounded by Lysaer and his mighty army. He must take to his natural element – the seas – in order to evade pursuit and steal the initiative. However, his efforts are impeded by outside magical factions, not to mention a drunken prophet sent to safeguard his life, but who seems determined to wreck his cause by misadventure.

Did you buy any new books this week? I seem to be in a fantasy kind of mood, so a lot of my buys were in that genre. It's been a while since I've dived head first into my favorite genre, so I am looking forward to my reads!