Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week: books I'd want on a deserted island. Limited to ten! Pah! Though, to be honest, this was one where the first few were very easy and then I spent ages agonising over the last handful. And I decided against taking books I hadn't read, because even though a deserted island would be the perfect opportunity to plough through Middlemarch, for example, what if I didn't like it and lamented the books I'd left behind?
I may be overthinking this.
1. The Cricket Term by Antonia Forest - my favourite book by one of my favourite writers. This was the first book of Antonia Forest's that I really loved and the reason I understand cricket and can yell appropriate things while watching the Ashes. I think it's one of her best books - although as soon as I say that I remember the others and they're all damn good.
2. The Complete Works of Jane Austen by Jane Austen (shockingly) - I own the individual volumes but if I'm on a deserted island I want one of those big compendium editions with all six novels and the tiny print and it might be difficult to hold/read but I will have all of Austen with me!
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling - my favourite of the Harry Potter books. I am having some Harry Potter with me.
4. Night Watch by Terry Pratchett - this is where it got tricky, because I reread Terry Pratchett a lot and there are about ten of his books which I have on a near permanent loop of tired/tipsy late night reading. But I went with Night Watch because it has a fantastic plot, it's Vimes being Vimes, and there are all sorts of fun moments as younger versions of familiar characters pop up. Teenage Vetinari badassing it up at the Assassin's Guild is one of my highlights.
5. The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett - this is a bit of a cheat, as I need to read the rest of Lymond, but if I'm sticking to books I've read then it's this one because it is awesome. And because nothing too bad has happened yet, I get the feeling the rest of the series is going to get mean (in a good way).
6. Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers - I could take all of the Harriet Vane books - and it was a toss up between this one and Gaudy Night - but this is fun because Wimsey's around for a lot of it. Much as I like Harriet as singleton sleuth in Oxford, the two of them pairing up to fight crime with Bunter sidekicking is more fun.
7. Paper Towns by John Green - I reread this book every so often and wonder why I don't add it to my permanent cycle of rereads. It's my favourite John Green (though I haven't read The Fault in Our Stars) and the road trip, oh the road trip. I want that on my deserted island.
8. Maurice by E.M. Forster - this was the first Forster I read and it's still my favourite. It's a gay love story written in 1913 and Forster himself said that he didn't think there would ever be a time in which it could be published. It's a beautiful, simple book and one I'd recommend to people wanting to try some Edwardian literature.
9. Nick and Norah's Inifinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan - need I explain this? Everyone I've leant this book to has devoured it in one sitting and then raved to me about how much they love it, which is the best thing that can happen when I lend my books. A fun read that also says a lot about life and made me want to go to New York (some day I will achieve this, some day).
10. Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer - this last spot had some contenders - The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford and The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss amongst them - but this won because, well, because I like it so much. I do admit to skipping the first few chapters on most rereads and going straight to the awesome banter sections, but it is such a fun book and my favourite Heyer.
The complete works of Jane Austen is a GREAT choice! (:
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