Top Ten Tuesday | Back to School

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 a freebie! I wasn't sure what I was going to talk about at first, and then I thought I'd talk about some of the books I really enjoyed that I had to read for school and university.

Books I Read for School

Skellig by David Almond: I don't know how well Skellig is known overseas, but it's become a bit of a children's classic here in Britain. Skellig was the very first book I had to read when I started secondary school and I loved it so much. It's enchanting and spooky and hopeful, and one that I recommend you read however old you are.

Holes by Louis Sachar: Pretty much everyone knows this book, right? It's another modern children's classic in my book, and another one I was given to read during my early years of secondary school. I don't actually own copies of Holes or Skellig, so I think I may have to treat myself soon...

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë: I was introduced to Jane Eyre when I was 14, and I've loved it ever since; in fact it's probably Jane Eyre I have to thank for my love of Victorian Literature today. It's a brilliant story, and personally I think Jane is one of the most fantastic heroines ever.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: Sadly British schools now only look at British Literature when it comes to the GCSEs, which is a real shame and just plain wrong. There's a lot of fantastic British Literature out there, but there's also a great wealth of international work that I wouldn't have known about if I hadn't encountered them during my GCSEs. Anyway. Rant over. When I was in school we were always given a piece of American Lit to read, and we ended up with Of Mice and Men. I didn't have very high hopes for this when I was first given it, but despite its short length it's probably one of the few classics I find myself thinking about quite a lot, even now. It's not a particularly happy story, but it's a great place to start if you're a bit wary of classics!

Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare: Okay, okay, so I know Shakespeare's plays are really meant to be seen and heard rather than read, but I had so much fun reading this one during my A Levels. It certainly helped that I had an amazing English teacher.

Books I Read for University

Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie: And now we move onto the university books. I read this in my first year of university when we were studying postmodernism, and any fans of retellings really need to pick it up. It's such a fun story and there are so many references to old stories from 1001 Nights to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: I did a course on Romanticism during my second year of university where I ended up studying Frankenstein. I now consider it one of my favourite classics, and I think Mary Shelley was a genius.

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu: Carmilla is a pre-Dracula vampiric Victorian novella. Try saying that five times fast. I had to read it for my Victorian Gothic module and it's probably my favourite book from that module, and is now another of my favourite classics. It's so good, and great for anyone who's intimidated by classics!

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins: I had to read The Moonstone for my Victorian Popular Fiction module and I fell in love with it. I'm fascinated by imperialism in Victorian Literature, the representation of India and its people, and I ended up writing an essay about imperialism for this module which I got a first for! This is thought to be the very first detective novel, and it's brilliant.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett: This is the other classic I talked about in that essay. I loved the 1993 adaptation of this book growing up, but I'm ashamed to say I didn't actually read it until I studied it at university. I loved the book; it's become another favourite, and it's another book that's a great starting point for anyone intimidated by classics.

What did you talk about 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 Tuesday | Books About Friendship

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

I only discovered this feature this morning and as soon as I saw it I just knew I had to join in! I must give an honourable mention to the lovely Erin, who I first discovered on Tumblr and whose blog introduced me to this feature.

This week's theme is 'Ten Books About Friendship', and as someone who loves friendship in fiction (and who thinks it's somewhat underrated when compared with romance) I'm very excited about this theme! So, without further ado, here's my list:

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Let's face it, a list concerning fictional friendships just wouldn't be complete without the inclusion of the book that first introduced us to Harry, Ron and Hermione.

One of the great things about the Harry Potter series as a whole is its focus on love outside of romantic love, which so many stories seem to focus on nowadays. I love how highly this series favours friendship.

Lirael by Garth Nix

I mentioned Lirael in my Top 5 YA Heroines list, and one of the things I mentioned loving most about her is that throughout the entirety of The Old Kingdom trilogy Lirael has no romantic entanglements. I enjoy reading romance as much as the next person, but as someone who's single it's nice to come across a book now and then which says 'you know what, it's okay to be alone and focus on your friendships'.

Lirael's main relationship is with the Disreputable Dog, one of my favourite fictional sidekicks, and their friendship is just gorgeous. If you haven't checked out this trilogy then you really should!

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

At first glance Year of Wonders probably doesn't seem like a book about friendship, it certainly isn't marketed as one. It's a wonderful piece of historical fiction set in 1666 in Eyam, Derbyshire, where the townspeople have elected to quarantine themselves to prevent the spread of the plague. It's such a powerful book, and well worth reading.

I've often seen it marketed with emphasis on a love story, but in all honesty the real love story in this book is the friendship that grows between Anna, our heroine, and Elinor, the pastor's wife. It really is a beautiful book.

(I reviewed Year of Wonders here if you're interested!)

Cress by Marissa Meyer

Okay so I'm probably cheating a little bit here because Cress is a novel about many things, but one of the things I love most about this book (and this series in general) is the friendships that develop between the characters. I particularly love the little trio that is Cinder, Iko and Thorne - they're so much fun!

(And I reviewed Cress here!)

The BFG by Roald Dahl

Who didn't love Roald Dahl's stories as a child? Growing up in Britain I was practically raised on every children's story Dahl wrote. The Magic Finger and Fantastic Mr Fox were always my favourites, but I've always had a soft spot for The BFG. It's an endearing little story, and the friendship between Sophie and The BFG is beautiful.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Here we have one of my favourite classics. The friendship that grows between Mary, Dickon and Colin in The Secret Garden is just exquisite. This is another gorgeous little book, and an ideal read if you're a little intimidated by classics and don't know where to start!

Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman

Like Cress, Noughts & Crosses is a book about a lot of things, but friendship is certainly one of its biggest themes. The relationship between Sephy and Callum is one of the most stunningly heartwrenching relationships I've come across.

If you're a fan of YA and you haven't read this book yet please, please do, but I feel I should warn you that it will break your heart into a million pieces!

Secrets by Jacqueline Wilson

If you'd asked me who my favourite author was when I was a little girl I'm pretty sure I would have said Jacqueline Wilson. I devoured her books when I was younger - it didn't matter what they were about, I loved them all - and when I think about fictional friendships, Secrets always comes to mind.

When I was little I had four different primary schools because we moved around a lot with my Dad's work; I would have loved to have had a secret friend hiding in my attic.

Skellig by David Almond

Speaking of secret friends hidden around the house, I first read Skellig in school when I was around 11/12 years old and I've loved it ever since. 

The story follows Michael who, after moving to a new house, finds a peculiar man with wings in the back of his parents' new garage. It's an amazing, heartwarming story, and well worth a read if you haven't read it already!

Pirates! by Celia Rees

Last but not least, Pirates! is a piece of MG/YA historical fiction which follows Nancy, the daughter of a plantation owner, and Minerva, the daughter of a slave, who flee to the high seas so that Nancy can escape an arranged marriage.

I've loved Celia Rees's novels since I was an early teen - in fact I have a blog post about Witch Child here! - and Pirates! was the first novel of hers I ever read. The relationship between Nancy and Minerva is much more important than their romantic entanglements and I just love that. If you're interested in piracy but you're tired of reading about boys having all the fun, then you should definitely check this book out!

So there we have my top ten! What are yours?