Krakauer on Koalas; or Auto-Buy Authors (Top Ten Tuesday)

This week, the theme of Top Ten Tuesday (as hosted by The Broke and the Bookish) is authors whose books I would always buy/read, regardless of what it might be about.

So, in no particular order...

Jon Krakauer
To be fair, Krakauer has written on a range of subjects, from his earlier books about mountain climbing and the 1996 Everest disaster, to the story of Chris McCandless in Into The Wild, to his more recent books on fundamentalist Mormons and the war in Afghanistan (told through the story of Pat Tillman and the cover up of his death).

Philip Roth
Having recently read and reviewed Roth's final novel, this is more a case of wanting to read all of the novels of his I haven't read yet (at last count, I had read 14/27). [Read my review of Nemesis here.]

Armistead Maupin
I feel like I am always eagerly awaiting a new Maupin novel, and the next one (focusing on Anna Madrigal, one of his best-loved characters) is no exception.

Stephanie Perkins
I think this is a case of really gelling with an author's style and voice, and I appreciate the way Perkins writes realistic conversations and gives her characters hormones! (I guess that sounds weird, but I like that she lets her characters think about sex in a normal way.)

Erlend Loe
There are quite a few Loe novels I haven't read, because sadly I can't read Norwegian... but as soon as more are translated, I will be scrabbling for a copy! [Read my review of Doppler here.]

Siri Hustvedt
I read Sorrows of an American a couple of years ago, and ever since then I have gone back and read all of her other books, too. Absolutely wonderful novels, particularly Sorrows and What I Loved.

Jeffrey Eugenides
Eugenides comes out with a book so infrequently, but they're always a joy when he does. [Read my review of The Marriage Plot here.]

Okay, so just seven this week, which is maybe just as well!

Don't forget the blog-birthday giveaway this week - two pairs of young adult books to win!

Top Ten Tuesday Unwrapped: Books to give as gifts

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's theme was a freebie, and after a few false starts, I finally decided to make a list of books that I like to give as gifts.


AKA: Books I think are awesome.

AKA: Books I hate to lend to people, so I just buy them as gifts instead.

via

(I have to choose the gift-receiver carefully, because my awesome may not be their awesome. So I guess these are the books I give as gifts in an ideal world.)

(I like lending books to people, on the whole. It's fun to share, and it's even more fun when someone enjoys the book you've recommended to them. And as someone who has dropped many a book in the bath, and carried them around in my bag, I don't tend to worry that they're going to break the spine or anything like that (although I draw the line at used condoms, which my mum, who works in a library, once found sandwiched between the pages of a returned book). But there are a handful of books that I just don't like to lend out. I like to have them with me, just in case I want to re-read them. I worry that they might not find their way back to me. Irrational, yes.)

Here's my list:

1. Into The Wild - Jon Krakauer

This is one of my favourite books. I like to know it's there if I want to read it, but more than that, I feel very strongly about it, and I'd be disappointed if the person I'd lent it to didn't feel the same.

2. Tales of The City - Armistead Maupin

A recurrent feature on my TTT, and another all-time favourite. I have lent this book out on occasion, but again, I'd be disappointed if it didn't go over well. My copy is a little worn these days. :)

3. The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides

I'd had this book for a long time, and I have given it as a gift once or twice to preclude me having to let someone borrow it - terrible I know!

4. For Esme, With Love and Squalor - J. D. Salinger

My copy of The Catcher In The Rye has been missing for a while (I think my brother has it), but For Esme is harder to get hold of, and I like to keep it close.

5. The Plot Against America - Philip Roth

I have lent this to my friend's boyfriend, but I like to give this as a gift just because it's such an amazing book. (See, I'm not a total book-hog!)

6. Naive. Super. - Erlend Loe

Another TTT mainstay. I can't help it. I love this book. The Boy has my copy, but that's as far as it goes.

7. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

If I give you this as a gift, it's normally accompanied by "READITREADITREADIT" in a scary whisper. Just FYI.

8. The Sorrows of an American - Siri Hustvedt

My first Hustvedt novel, and one I shove into other people's hands freely. In the nicest possible way. :)

9. Fever Pitch / High Fidelity - Nick Hornby

You know, when Nick Hornby was good. I wore my copy of Fever Pitch to death as a teenager.

10. Elvis, Jesus and Coca Cola - Kinky Friedman

Or really, any Kinky Friedman mystery. I lent all the ones I own to my dad recently, who introduced me to these years ago. I like to give people copies in the hope of spreading the word. :)

Sandy toes and ocean waves: Top Ten Beach Reads

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is: Top Ten Recommended Beach Reads.

I am a bit of a sun dodger in the summer, but I do love being by the sea, and beach + book is never a bad way to spend an afternoon!

1. Death on the Nile - Agatha Christie

Holiday murders and the heat of the desert.

2. Amy & Roger's Epic Detour - Morgan Matson

One of my favourite road trip books!

3. Tales of the City - Armistead Maupin

Short, snappy chapters and lots of fun characters.

4. The Summer I Turned Pretty - Jenny Han

A nice beach-themed read.

5. The Rehearsal - Eleanor Catton

Blurring the lines of truth amongst a group of high school girls.

6. The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides

Delicious and absorbing.

7. The Boyfriend List - E. Lockhart

A quick, fun read perfect for a sunny day!

8. Five on a Treasure Island - Enid Blyton

The ultimate in beach-side adventures, where the kids have their own island to play on to their hearts' content.

9. Riding The Magic Carpet: A Surfer's Odyssey to Find the Perfect Wave - Tom Anderson

This is a little bit of a cheat, because I just received this book for my birthday, but it seems like exactly the kind of thing to read by the sea!

10. You could always have a snooze! (Remember the sun cream.)

Top Ten Tuesday: 30 years from now...

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the lovely ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is: Top ten books published in the last 10 years that you hope people will still be reading in 30 years' time.

This exercise has mostly just convinced me of how old I am getting. :)

1. The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth (2005)

My favourite Roth book, and such a powerful comment on history and tolerance.

2. Naive. Super, by Erlend Loe (2005)

A book that appears on these lists a lot, because it's so simple and so heartbreaking and so uplifting all at the same time.

3. The Little Friend, by Donna Tartt (2002)

Mostly this is here because I love Donna Tartt, and I hope people will still be picking up her books in 30 years.

4. The Ruby Oliver books, by E. Lockhart (2005 - 2010)

Growing up, a lot of the YA books I read were from the 1980s, but the good ones always stuck in my mind, and the less-than-contemporary setting never bothered me. Teenagers are teenagers, and good YA is good YA.

5. Mary Ann in Autumn, by Armistead Maupin (2010)

Because if they're reading this, then they're probably reading the rest of the "Tales" series too...

6. The Sorrows of An American, by Siri Hustvedt (2008)

I am a big fan of Hustvedt's novels, and this is probably my favourite of hers.

7. The Unit, by Ninni Holmqvist (2007)

Feminist dystopia for the win!

8. The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins (2006)

Not for everyone, granted, but this is an important book to me.

9. Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides (2002)

Just sneaking in at ten years old... I love Eugenides' novels, and I would hope that they'll still be popular in years to come!

10. Anna and the French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins (2010)

Another excellent bit of YA that I think deserves to still be on shelves in a few years time!

What's on your list?

Spies, detectives and girls who kick butt: Top Ten Tuesday

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

This week, the theme is Top Ten All Time Favourite Characters in Books.

1. Harriet M. Welsch (from Harriet The Spy by Louise Fitzhugh)
I wanted to be this kid so much when I was young. She had adventures, she writes everything down in that notebook, she wears that huge yellow coat, and she isn't afraid to say what she thinks. And, you know. SPY.

Michelle Trachtenberg as Harriet M. Welsch, via

(Also, the character of Harriet in The Little Friend by Donna Tartt, another novel I love, is apparently based on Harriet Welsch to some degree.)

2. Arya Stark (A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin)
For being the ultimate in spunky girl heroine, and for knowing how to swordfight instead of what dress would be the most appropriate at any given function.

Maisie Williams as Arya Stark, via 

(Arya beats out Jon, Ned, Tyrion and Daenerys in my Top ASOIAF characters. It's a tough list to top.)

3. Anna Madrigal (Tales of the City series by Armistead Maupin)
Pot-smoking, free-living, transsexual landlady and all round awesome woman. For everything from her short-lived relationship with Edgar Halcyon to her adoption of the Barbary Lane misfits.

Olympia Dukakis as Anna Madrigal, via

4. Kinky Friedman (Kinky Friedman series by Kinky Friedman)
The fictional embodiment of the very real Kinky Friedman. Cowboy Kinky lives in a loft in Greenwich Village, solving mysteries with the Village Irregulars and smoking huge cigars.

The (real) Kinky Friedman, via

5. Hercule Poirot (Poirot stories by Agatha Christie)
My favourite Agatha Christie detective by a mile. Meticulous and methodical, I am always intrigued to see where his "little grey cells" will take me.

David Suchet as Hercule Poirot, via

6. Nina Geiger (Making Out series by Katherine Applegate)
Nina was the wise-cracking, cigarette-smoking (but not really, because she didn't light them) sidekick to the series' main protagonist, Zoey. While Zoey moped about and wrote romance novels in her diary, Nina told jokes and wound up her ice queen sister, and ended up with nice guy Ben.

7. Hermione Granger (Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling)
There are a lot of characters I like in the HP books, but Hermione is still my favourite. She's smart and kind and isn't afraid to get dirty. And she gets all her homework in on time.

Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, via

8. Rob Fleming (High Fidelity by Nick Hornby)
Rob makes lists. Lots of them. He also bases most of his life on what he's learnt from pop records. "What came first, the music or the misery?"

John Cusack as Rob, via

9. Elizabeth Windsor (The Queen and I by Sue Townsend)
While no great fan of the actual Royals, the Queen as she appears in this book turns out to be a stoical, humorous woman who despairs at keeping the rest of her family in check.

10. Holden Caulfield (Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger)
I wouldn't say that Holden was the most likable character, but he's still one of my favourites, with his musings about girls and life and his obsession with outing everything around him as "phony".