Every week over at The Broke and the Bookish a weekly meme called Top Ten Tuesday is held! Every Tuesday has a different Top Ten Topic (posted ahead of time for participants) and this week’s topic is:
Spring Fever: The Top Ten Books I’d Play Hooky With
1. Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning (Fever #5)
This book may be almost 600 pages long, but it is 600 pages that I read in one day the first time around, and skipping work and class to read it again is just what the doctor ordered for Spring Fever! (Fever…Fever…hehehe) Plus, how did I go this long without reliving the hot relationship between Barrons and Mac?
If you haven’t read the Fever series, go pick up the first one, DARKFEVER now!
2. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
The main reason I love this novel is that it was the first book that ever gave me proper nightmares. Vera’s noose? C’mon, one of the most haunting scenes in modern murder mysteries! In addition, I still can only read this book during the daylight, because it still freaks me out a little.
3. Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
With the release of the second novel in her Lumatere Chronicles, Froi of the Exiles, I want to sit down and re-read Finnikin of the Rock in all of its brilliant glory. Not only was Finnikin my first Marchetta book, but it is probably my favorite. (I haven’t read Froi yet) Where better to escape during a hot Spring day than laying in a beach chair reading a fantasy novel?
4. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
Tuck Everlasting might not be long enough to encompass an entire day of reading, but it is a book that everyone should sit down and re-read. Not only does this novel explore the theme of immortality (which is so popular in Young Adult fiction today), but it conquers the topic of first love and loss. Heartbreaking and memorable, you need to read this if you haven’t!
5. This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen
Dessen is the master of contemporary Young Adult realist fiction. Not only does she live in my home state of North Carolina, but she is talented to boot. Whenever I need a pick-me-up I turn to Dessen’s This Lullaby, which is a love story between two unlikely teens, Remy and Dexter. One of my favorite quotes about love comes from this novel, and it lightens my heart everytime I re-read it. I’d definitely play hooky to get to read this again!
6. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
For the past year I have been working on finishing my Master’s thesis, which is on the subject of dystopia in Young Adult literature focusing specifically on Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy and Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series. I’d love to have a day to sit down and enjoy The Hunger Games for its brilliance and story telling rather than to sit and dissect it for political and social commentary. I need to enjoy this story for itself again and not for its political significance!
7. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
I’m a notoriously huge fanatic of Alice in Wonderland and all of its characters. But, since I’ve been in grad school, I’ve seriously neglected my favorite childhood heroine and I regret it! Sometimes when the weight of the world is on my shoulders, I need a little bit of Alice’s nonsense to help lift the weight. If you’ve never read the original novels, you should, because no movie version does them justice.
8. Tangled Tides by Karen Amanda Hooper
I’ve loved mermaids since I saw The Little Mermaid as a kid, and Hooper’s Tangled Tides made me love the lore just as much as the Disney version. Not only does this novel have a wonderful love story, (ahhh, Treygan), but it conquers topics of family, self acceptance, and trust. If you haven’t read it, go read it. You’ll want to play hooky like me to read!
9. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Not only is Bronte’s novel considered a timeless classic, but it is an epic story of heartbreaking loss and the redemption that comes along with it. Catherine and Heathcliff are such great characters (“I love my murderer, but yours, how can I love yours?”) and they go through so much considering Catherine only lives through about halfway through the novel. Young Catherine and Hareton are so great for each other. If you haven’t read this classic, do it. You haven’t lived! \
10. Blood Red Road by Moira Young
Young’s debut dystopian novel deserved a chapter in my Master’s thesis, but alas, I did not discover her amazing novel until after the chapters had been approved. Just as powerful as The Hunger Games, Blood Red Road also tells a story based on the importance of family, the discovery and development of friendship, and understanding your purpose. I’m yet to read it a second time so I can try to pick up on more details than I did the first, so it is definitely worth playing hooky for!
What books would YOU play hooky for?
Moving! 