My Favourite Fictional Fathers/Father Figures

It's my Dad's birthday today, so I thought I'd share with you some of my favourite fathers, and father figures, from fiction!

Hans Hubermann from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I don't think I've met a single person who loved this book who didn't also love Hans. He's such a comforting presence throughout the book, which is just what's needed when you're reading a story set in Nazi Germany that also happens to be narrated by death. He was definitely one of my favourites.

Silas from The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Bod does have a father in Mr. Owens, but it's Silas we see more of throughout The Graveyard Book and it's Silas who leaves the bigger impact on Bod. I loved their relationship; while Mr. and Mrs. Owens were loving parents, Silas became that cool godfather who teaches you things your parents don't want you to know yet.

Sirius Black from the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling

Speaking of cool godfathers, my list wouldn't be complete without mention of Sirius Black. Some people may argue he's not exactly an ideal role model but at least, unlike Dumbledore, he never cared for Harry while the whole time knowing he was being raised to die at the right moment. Sirius is unfailingly loyal - his animagus is a dog, for heaven's sake - and he's funny and brave and loving. James was his brother by everything but blood, and after his death Sirius is never the same. It still breaks my heart that Sirius never got the chance to clear his name and live as a free man, buying himself a nice little bachelor pad and taking Harry away from his horrid relatives.

Denny Hall from If I Stay by Gayle Forman

I loved Mia's parents so much, especially her father. Denny is witty and fun and adorable, and I really liked the way he was portrayed in the film, too. I found the advice he gave Mia so comforting to read, and it certainly doesn't hurt that I picture him as a hot kind of dad...

Who are some of your favourite fathers/father figures?

Top Ten Tuesday | Best Books of 2014!

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 out everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Top Ten Books I Read in 2014', and I have to be honest initially I wasn't too sure if I was going to take part this week for several reasons, the main one being that it isn't the end of 2014 yet and I could still read something that's going to blow my socks off! But I just couldn't resist the temptation to share my favourite books of the year.

(Although I did find this week a little difficult. I read a lot of good books this year, but not as many as I thought I had; I think one of my reading resolutions in 2015 will be to try and stay away from those disappointing reads!)

So, in the order I read them, here are my top ten reads of 2014 (so far)!

American Gods by Neil Gaiman: The very first book I read in 2014 ended up being one of the very best books I read in 2014. People call American Gods Gaiman's masterpiece, and after reading it for myself I can understand why. I can't wait for the TV adaptation!

Cress by Marissa Meyer: By far the best installment of The Lunar Chronicles so far. I love this series so much and I devoured this book as soon as I got it. I can't wait to get my hands on Fairest and Winter!

Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers: I was fairly sceptical about the His Fair Assassin trilogy at first, but it proved to be my most pleasant reading surprise of 2014. I enjoyed Grave Mercy far more than I thought I would and absolutely adored Dark Triumph; Sybella is such an interesting character and I love Beast, too.

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks: Even if you're not a big fan of historical fiction or of historical fiction set in the 17th century, this book is worth checking out simply because it's written so beautifully.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson: Horror as it should be written. This book was so creepy and I really enjoyed reading it - I definitely recommend it to any horror fans out there!

Feed by Mira Grant: If someone held a gun to my head and told me to pick my absolute favourite read of the year, it'd have to be this one. I expected to like Feed. I expected to like it enough to want to read the rest of the books in the trilogy. I didn't expect to love it so much that just the mere thought of it still makes my heart ache. I have so much love for this book it's unreal.

The Undressed by Jemma L. King: One of the three poetry collections I've read so far this year blew me away. There wasn't a single poem in this collection I didn't like, and I'd love to see more people reading it.

Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier: This year I finally started reading du Maurier and fell in love with her. So far this year I've read two of her novels, the other being Rebecca, and while part of me feels as though it should be Rebecca on this list purely because it is such an amazing piece of literature, I really loved Frenchman's Creek. It was so much fun and pulled me out of a post-MA reading slump that I desperately wanted to be pulled out of.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman: I loved American Gods, but October was the month in which I discovered my favourite Gaiman book. It's hard to choose a definite favourite between American Gods and The Graveyard Book because they're so different, but there's just something about The Graveyard Book that steals your heart and I loved reading every page.

Christmas at Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop by Jenny Colgan: Not every book we read needs to be a thought-provoking masterpiece that changes the world. Sometimes it's nice to just sit down with a nice book and enjoy it. This book surprised me; I thought it'd just be a bit of festive, cheesy fun, but it actually turned out to be a very touching, emotional book.

Which books made your top ten?

Review | The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Book

by Neil Gaiman

My Rating: 

After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own.

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family . . . 

After spending the majority of my teenage years struggling to read Neil Gaiman's work and convinced that he wasn't for me, I've managed to read three of his novels this year. My first read of 2014 was American Gods (reviewed here!), then in April I read Stardust, and now, as Halloween approaches, I thought it was finally time to read The Graveyard Book which, before this month, I'm fairly certain has been unread and sat on my shelves for almost ten years. Oops!

I've always loved bizarre, peculiar and spooky stories, so you'd think The Graveyard Book would be right up my alley, but the last time I tried to read it (several years ago now) I just couldn't get into it. In fact I struggled to get into the majority of Gaiman's stuff when I was younger; in the words of C. S. Lewis, I think I needed to wait until I was "old enough to start reading fairy tales again."

When I was compiling my Autumn TBR for Top Ten Tuesday I decided to include The Graveyard Book in the hope that I'd finally read it this year, and after I finished Blood Sinister (reviewed here!) that's just what I did.

My verdict? I loved it! In fact reading this book a second time made me wonder how I couldn't get into it the first time around, because once I'd begun I didn't want to stop. I didn't want this book to end.

I loved the idea of a child being raised by ghosts, and all of the characters were exquisite. Bod, in particular, is a charming protagonist. Gaiman's imagination is just so vast and wonderful that I feel as though I could bump into any one of those characters in the street - including the dead ones! From Silas to Miss Lupescu to Elizabeth Hempstock, I loved them all.

The story ended up being told differently to what I'd expected, but that was definitely a positive thing! I assumed that the majority of the book would revolve around Bod's quest for vengeance rather than Bod's childhood spent on a graveyard and all the adventures and peculiar characters he meets, and I'm so glad it was the latter - I can't remember the last time I read a book starring a younger protagonist that was so told so simplisticly but so beautifully. I wasn't bored for a second.

I'm torn between American Gods and The Graveyard Book as to which is my favourite Gaiman book; they're both such different stories, and while I adore American Gods and think it's Gaiman's masterpiece, I think The Graveyard Book might just be my new favourite. This book reminded me of being a child again. It's melancholic, and has a haunting fairy tale quality to it that swept me up and took me away from everything for a few hours.

I loved it. If you haven't already, read it!

J.

What's Up Wednesday! | 02/04/14

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop created by Jaime Morrow and Erin L. Funk as a way for writers and readers to stay in touch!

What I'm Reading

At the moment I'm reading a collection of John Donne's poetry - he's always been one of my favourite poets - and I'm reading my first Sarah Waters novel! I mentioned Fingersmith in my 2014 Booket List as the Historical Fiction novel I'd like to read most this year, but before jumping into that one I'm reading Affinity.

I'm also taking part in the Hogwarts House Reading Challenge over on tumblr, and because I'm a Ravenclaw I have to try and complete these challenges over the course of April!

This week the challenge is to read a book with a blue cover, so I think I'm going to pick up Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book; it's the littlest book of his that I own and I'd love to finally cross it off my TBR list.

What I'm Writing

It's day 2 of Camp NaNoWriMo and I've already made some changes. Because I'm rubbish.

As I mentioned in my post on Friday I wanted to work on a 20,000 word prequel novella to my current WIP, and while an entire novella is something I really want to work on, just the thought of working on another full-length piece, when I haven't got everything figured out for my novel just yet, had me wanting to bang my head against a wall. Add to that that I only got home from a very busy, very exhausting term at university on Sunday, and that I just want to relax this April, and you might be able to understand why the entire 20,000 words is no longer a possibility.

So instead I've set myself a new goal of 15,000 words, and I'd love to use those 15,000 words to write a small selection of Historical Fiction short stories, most of which I can turn into parts of the novella some time in the future!

One other short story I'd like to work on this month is a 5,000 word Beauty and the Beast retelling! Eggplant Literary Productions are looking for poetry and fiction submissions until 30th of April for Spellbound & Spindles, a pair of anthologies containing retellings of fairy tales which feature POC, LGBT and disabled characters, as well non-Western European and non-North American settings. 

So I'm still going to be busy writing away over April, just not as busy as I initially thought - I need a break!

What Inspires Me Right Now

Yesterday I was surrounded by Historical Fiction and Historical Dramas. As I mentioned above I'm reading Sarah Waters' Affinity, and then I watched The Awakening, a spooky film set in the 1920s, and then last night I watched the first episode of the new Channel 4 drama New Worlds, which is set in England and America during the 17th century.


As someone who enjoys writing Historical Fiction it's a lot of fun to experience it in so many different forms, and so many different eras! I'm rather picky when it comes to TV shows - the only shows I regularly watch are Game of Thrones and Hannibal - but I think I'll watch more of New Worlds; I particularly enjoyed the storyline that took place in Massachusetts and starred Alice Englert (Lena Duchannes from Beautiful Creatures) and Joe Dempsie (Gendry from Game of Thrones).


Are any of you watching New Worlds?

What Else I've Been Up To

On Sunday my parents picked me up from uni and we made the five hour drive down to South Wales. It's so nice to be back home, in my bigger bed and just be pampered for a few weeks - I was so tired after this term that my first night back home I slept for eleven hours! Then on Monday I got my hair cut which I was so looking forward to; I love having long hair, but it had gotten to the point where it was all dry and split and horrid, and now it's a lot healthier and lighter and just nicer.

Last week I had a meeting with another tutor who made me feel a lot more confident about my prospective PhD thesis, so now I can start looking into what I'd like to write about in much more detail and start making a list of prospective universities. I already have two I'd definitely like to check out and a possible third, but I'd like at least four or five.

That same day I also found out that I'm going to become an auntie for the fourth time this October! For so long my sister kept saying she wasn't going to have any more children - she already has a little boy and a little girl - but I had a feeling she'd have at least one more. Now I have to see if, nearer the time, I can guess correctly what the baby's going to be. So far whenever my sisters or one of our cousins has had a baby I've always guessed the sex correctly. Maybe this year I should start making bets...

What's new with you?