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:
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.
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!
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!)
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!)
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.
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!
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!
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.
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!
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?
