Top Ten Tuesday | What's in a name?

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Best Character Names' and as soon as I read that I forgot every clever/fun name I've ever heard. I thought of doing some kind of theme, but in the end I decided to go for ten character names I just happen to like for various reasons. These aren't necessarily my favourite character names but the first ones that came to mind - on with my list!

Orc Dave from Rat Queens by Kurtis J. Wiebe and various artists: I love Rat Queens, it's like World of Warcraft meets Dungeons and Dragons and a lot of drunk women, and one of the things I loved most about the first volume was the introduction of a group who call themselves the 'Four Daves' with each member being distinguished by their race. I love the idea of four men in a high fantasy world sharing the name Dave, and Orc Dave is adorable.

The Dragon from Uprooted by Naomi Novik: It's no secret that I didn't enjoy Uprooted as much as I hoped I would, but I did like The Dragon a lot purely because he was such a grumpy git and, therefore, very deserving of the name.

Kaz "Dirtyhands" Brekker from Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo: I fell in love with this book earlier this year and I think Dirtyhands is such a brilliant nickname for a gangster.

Atl from Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: There's such a unique take on vampires and various vampire species in this novel and I love Atl, but I also love her because I don't think I've read a novel before that's included a character with an Aztec name.

Sabriel from The Old Kingdom by Garth Nix: This one's just a pretty name! I've always liked it; the title of this book is what first drew me to it when I was around 13 or 14.

Stanley Yelnats from Holes by Louis Sachar: If my surname was Yelnats, I would not hesitate to call my son Stanley if I had one. It's just a wasted opportunity if not, right?

Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: Katniss is another name for the sagittaria or arrowhead plants, which is a very fitting name for an archer, I think, without being an obvious link!

Sirius Black from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling: Speaking of obvious links, as much as I love Remus Lupin I'm never going to get over the fact that Rowling essentially named her werewolf Wolf McWolf. I do love Sirius's name, though; I like the name Sirius anyway, but that Sirius is the dog star is a nice touch for a man who can transform into a dog, and a much less beat-you-over-the-head touch than Remus Lupin.

Dolphin from The Illustrated Mum by Jacqueline Wilson: I loved Wilson's work when I was younger and I never forgot Dolphin and the simplicity that her mum named her that because she likes dolphins. As a little girl I couldn't help thinking it'd be a very cool name to have.

Carswell Thorne from The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer: There are all kinds of fairy tale-inspired Easter eggs throughout this series, but I loved the tip of the hat to Rapunzel when the witch pushes the prince out of the tower window and he's blinded by thorns with this one.

Which names made your list this week?

Top Ten Tuesday | Unique, just like everyone else

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Top Ten Of The Most Unique Books I've Read', which is a topic with a whole lot o' scope. How do we judge what's unique when every single one of us reads different books and even reads the same books in a different way? But there's no need for me to get all philosophical.

Here are ten of the most unique books I've read, all for different reasons, and if you haven't read them yourself I recommend them! Or at least most of them...

Holes by Louis Sachar: I was lucky enough to read Holes in school, and when I was first told I was going to read it I wasn't impressed. It's essentially described as a story about boys digging holes but it turned out to be so much more than that and I have such fond memories of it now.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young: This one was a unique read for me because of the way it's written. Usually I find it hard to get into books written in dialect, but this book pulled me through it and I ended up loving it. I still haven't read the sequels because it turns out I'm rubbish at reading series, but I do still love this one.

Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: As always, I refuse to miss a chance to mention this book. I love witches and I love stories about witchcraft, but there are a lot of samey ones out there. Signal to Noise, however, is such a fresh witchcraft story; it's set in Mexico in the 1980s, where fifteen year old Meche learns to cast spells with her vinyl records. It's so good and you need to read it immediately.

The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig: I don't read many time travel books, but I think the way time travel happens in Heilig's debut is such an exciting, new way. The characters in The Girl From Everywhere don't find secret portals or build time machines, instead there are certain people who can sail to places on a map - but there's a catch, if they find a map to 17th century France then they'll travel to 17th century France. It's just so cool, and a really fun novel, too!

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli: My favourite book of 2017 so far, it's still gives me the warm fuzzies just thinking about it. The protagonist, Molly, is overweight, but something about this book is truly miraculous: the story isn't about Molly wanting or trying to lose weight. I know, it's astounding, isn't it? Read this if you haven't already, it'll make you feel better about the world.

Wise Children by Angela Carter: Sadly I'm not the biggest Carter fan, aside from The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, because her work is just a little too weird for my tastes - Wise Children is no exception. I had to read this during sixth form and it's just bizarre. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it yet, but any book that ends with a seventy-five woman sleeping with a one hundred year old man who she knows is either her uncle or her father is definitely unique in my book. And bloody weird.

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix: Sadly, this story about a haunted store rather than a haunted house turned out not to be as different as I was hoping, but the way it's been published is definitely unique. Horrorstör has been published to look and feel like a department store catalogue and I love it for that alone.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin: Probably the most unique high fantasy book I've read, which doesn't really say much because I haven't read much high fantasy since I was a teenager and have only started getting back into it in the past year. The way this book is written is unique, the characters are unique, the relationships are unique, the ways magic and science intersect are unique. It's a brilliant book and you should read it.

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson: I've yet to come across any other books in which the narrator is a nameless pornographer recovering from severe burns. That's pretty unique to me!

The Meat Tree by Gwyneth Lewis: This is a retelling of one of the stories in The Mabinogion. Now The Mabinogion is already weird in and of itself, and this sci-fi retelling took it to a whole other level that, to be honest, I didn't really enjoy. I haven't read anything else like it, though!

Which books made your list this week?

Jess Suggests | Middle Grade

Last month I read two middle grade books - Malkin Child and Witch Hill - and they got me thinking about some of the books I loved reading when I was younger; books which I still love to read now. So today I thought I'd share with you some of my favourite middle grade books, books I think readers of any age can enjoy!

Skellig

by David Almond

When a move to a new house coincides with his baby sister's illness, Michael's world seems suddenly lonely and uncertain. Then, one Sunday afternoon, he stumbles into the old, ramshackle garage of his new home, and finds something magical. A strange creature - part owl, part angel, a being who needs Michael's help if he is to survive. With his new friend Mina, Michael nourishes Skellig back to health, while his baby sister languishes in the hospital. But Skellig is far more than he at first appears, and as he helps Michael breathe life into his tiny sister, Michael's world changes for ever . . .

Skellig was the first ever book I was assigned to read in secondary school - when I was around eleven/twelve years old - and it's been one of my all time favourite books ever since. Something about this story seems to pull in everyone who reads it; I don't think I've met a single person who's read this book and forgotten about it. This book is gorgeous, and I highly recommend it!

Inkheart

by Cornelia Funke

Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father, who repairs and binds books for a living, can "read" fictional characters to life when one of those characters abducts them and tries to force him into service.

Characters from books literally leap off the page in this engrossing fantasy. Meggie has had her father to herself since her mother went away when she was young. Mo taught her to read when she was five, and the two share a mutual love of books. He can "read" characters out of books. When she was three, he read aloud from a book called Inkheart and released characters into the real world. At the same time, Meggie's mother disappeared into the story.

I feel like the Inkworld Trilogy isn't talked about enough in the book community, which is especially confusing when we take into account that this is a book about books! Inkheart, like a few of the other books on this list, is often classed as YA rather than middle grade, but personally this trilogy doesn't feel like a YA trilogy to me. It has a very middle grade feel to it, and I mean that in the best possible way. A lot of YA nowadays is romance heavy, but this book is nothing short of an adventure book; it's the kind of story that will remind you why you love reading - give it a try if you haven't already!

Vampirates: Demons of the Ocean

by Justin Somper

Conor and Grace are twins, recently orphaned after their widowed father's death. Rather than being adopted by the town's busy-bodies, they decide to set sail in their father's last possession, his sailing boat. But a vicious storm sees their boat capsize and the twins are separated. Two mysterious ships sail to their rescue - each picking up one twin before disappearing into the mist. Conor wakes to find himself on a pirate ship and is soon being trained up with a cutlass. Meanwhile Grace finds herself locked in a darkened room, as the vampirates wait for night to fall and their feasting to begin... Determined to find each other, yet intrigued by their new shipmates, the twins are about to embark on the biggest adventure of their lives...

This book is just so much fun! It might not be a literary masterpiece or a stunning piece of writing, but it's a fast-paced, action-packed story, and frankly I refuse to believe that everything we read has to leave us with some powerful message. Sometimes we just need to read something fun and enjoy it - this book is great if you're in the mood for an adventure!

The Secret Garden

by Frances Hodgson Burnett

When orphaned Mary Lennox comes to live at her uncle's great house on the Yorkshire Moors, she finds it full of secrets. The mansion has nearly one hundred rooms, and her uncle keeps himself locked up. And at night, she hears the sound of crying down one of the long corridors.

The gardens surrounding the large property are Mary's only escape. Then, Mary discovers a secret garden, surrounded by walls and locked with a missing key. One day, with the help of two unexpected companions, she discovers a way in. Is everything in the garden dead, or can Mary bring it back to life?

This book is a classic, and I just had to include it on this list because I guarantee that you can enjoy this book whether you're six or sixty! This story is nothing short of lovely, and as well as being one of my favourite children's books, it's one of my favourite classics, too. In fact this book is a great place to start if you're intimidated by classics, or if you're a younger reader who's looking to start reading them!

Holes

by Louis Sachar

Camp Greenlake is a place for bad boys, where the belief is: "if you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun, it will turn him into a good boy." When Stanley Yelnats, accused and found guilty of a crime he did not commit, is sent to Camp Greenlake he really doesn't think it can be so bad. Stanley and his family try to pretend that he is just going away to camp like the rich kids do, and he promises to write to them every day. But the harsh realities of the camp, and the evil Warden with her lizard-venom impregnated fingernails with her own reasons for making the boys in her charge dig so many holes, sometimes make dying seem like a great idea. When Stanley leaves the camp to go in search of his friend Zero, their journey towards freedom becomes a battle with hunger, thirst and heat in the shadow of Big Thumb--a mountain so entwined in Stanley's own family history that he knows if they can reach it they will somehow find salvation.

We started with a book I read in secondary school, so I thought it was fitting that we end with another. Like Skellig, there's something about Holes that just seems to stick with everyone who reads it. This story has so many layers; it'll make you laugh as much as it'll make you cry, and stay with you for years to come. The film adaptation is also worth a watch! 

Have you read any of the books on my list? What are some of your favourite middle grade books?

J.

Top Ten | Book to Movie Adaptations (Part One)

Lately in the film world it seems as though there have been more film adaptations of books than films which have been written as just films. Film adaptations aren't just a recent phenomenon, however, they've been around for a long, long time; there are plenty of terribles ones (*cough*Eragon*cough*) but every so often a film is adapted so perfectly, or so uniquely, that it pleases readers of the book and even introduces film buffs to the original source material.
     So, without further ado and in no particular order, here are the first five of my personal top ten book to movie adaptations!

Holes, dir. Andrew Davis (2003)

Based on Holes by Louis Sachar

As it was a book I was assigned to read in school, Holes was a book I was certain I wasn't going to like. Oh how wrong I was. Holes follows the story of Stanley Yelnats IV who, after a severe case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, is accused and found guilty of a crime he didn't commit and sent to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention and correction facility where the 'inmates' are made to dig holes in the desert to build their character. But all at Camp Green Lake is not as it seems. The story includes a family curse, a doomed love story, a teacher-turned-outlaw, a hunt for treasure, yellow-spotted lizards and some onions. This story is not to be missed.

     I enjoyed Holes immensely and, luckily for my class, we were able to watch the movie adaptation in school too; we'd read a section, and then see how it had been adapted, and while there are some differences, as there always are in movie adaptations, I personally think it's very true to the book. The core feeling of the story is there, so whether you've read the book or not this is a film you simply have to see. But if you haven't read the book, what are you waiting for?

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, dir. Alfonso Cuarón (2004)

Based on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

As probably the most famous book series and film franchise out there, a Harry Potter book-turned-film just had to be on this list. In this third installment of the series the threat against Harry's life is not coming from Voldemort but from notorious criminal Sirius Black, who is not quite what everyone thinks and who is much closer to Harry than anyone could possibly imagine.

     Amongst Harry Potter fans, such as myself, this film is often considered one of the best adaptations in the franchise; it's very true to the book, stylistically beautiful and - this is very important! - Harry's hair is perfect. The Prisoner of Azkaban focuses much more on giving Harry a sense of home and family, and giving him a connection to his deceased parents, which is just what he needs given the amount of crap he's going to go through in his fourth year. I love this adaptation.

A Little Princess, dir. Alfonso Cuarón (1995)

Based on A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

This film has a special place in my heart, alongside other childhood classics like Beauty and the Beast, The Swan Princess, and Tom's Midnight Garden. I watched this film a lot as a little girl. A lot. And as I grew older its simple message that: 'All girls are princesses; it is our right' would easily cheer me up if I was feeling glum, because let's face it every little girl wants to believe she's a princess.
     A Little Princess follows the young Sara Crewe, the only daughter of a wealthy widower, who is sent away to Miss Minchin's boarding school in America from her beloved home in India when her father goes to war. When her father is killed in action Sara is left penniless, and she is forced to work as a serving girl for the cruel Miss Minchin. 

     In the original text, Sara is sent to a boarding school in England because she's at the age where wealthy little girls are sent to boarding school. Rather than being called to war, her father instead dies of jungle fever, and leaves Sara penniless after investing all of his money into diamond mines. Like in the film, Sara must earn her keep at the boarding school as a servant girl. Despite the differences, this adaptation is beautiful and very true to the message in the original story.

     Whether you approach the story through the book or the film - or both! - it's a hopeful tale for the princess in all of us.

Treasure Planet, dir. Ron Clements and John Musker (2002)

Based on Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

If you thought the changes made to A Little Princess were severe then you obviously weren't anticipating Disney's take on Robert Louis Stevenson's swashbuckling adventure story. While the title has had a bit of a tweak, the only major difference between Treasure Island and Treasure Planet is the setting; while the former takes place on the seven seas, the latter takes place in space. Pretty cool, right?
     When young delinquent Jim Hawkins finds himself in possession of the map to the infamous Captain Flint's treasure, he sets out on a quest to find the fortune that will solve all his problems, and along the way he befriends a cyborg cook who's missing a leg...

     If nothing else this adaptation is a lot of fun; seeing such a classic story re-told with a steampunk/sci-fi twist brings it to life in a whole new way for a whole new generation. Don't knock it 'til you try it!

The Silence of the Lambs, dir. Jonathan Demme (1991)

Based on The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

"Buffalo Bill" has been murdering and skinning young women, and the FBI need to stop him before he strikes again. Clarice Starling is pulled from training at the FBI Academy to interview the dangerous and charismatic Hannibal Lecter, an incarcerated cannibalistic serial killer, in the hope that his knowledge may prove useful in the FBI's pursuit of "Buffalo Bill". Clarice and Dr Lecter begin to develop a peculiar relationship in which Clarice trades personal information, mostly involving the premature death of her beloved father, for Lecter's insight. Time is of the essence, particularly when the daughter of a US Senate goes missing.

     Only two words are needed to explain why this adaptation is on my list: Anthony Hopkins. In 1991 both he and Jodie Foster won Oscars for their leading roles in this film, which is amazing when, altogether, Hopkins is in the film for just over 16 minutes in total. A 16 minute Oscar winning performance, do you need any other reason to watch the film?

So there we have it, the first half of my top ten favourite book to movie adaptations. Check back next Monday to see the final half of my list!

Thanks for reading! J.