Books! (Part one)

It might come as a surprise but I am a complete geek and bookworm.  I adore reading and I always have a book on the go, whether it be fantasy, fictional or novels.  Every Christmas or Birthday list of mine is mostly compiled of books and its an absolute must for me to read at least 12 books at every age (if that makes sense!).

In the past few years I’ve read some incredible stories, many of which have become firm favourites and I’d love to pass a list of some of my favourites on to you guys!

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The selection I’ve chosen today are books which I think are perfect to read during the autumn/winter months, in front of the fire with a chai tea, whilst its freezing outdoors, but I’ve also popped in a few of my favourites that I read this summer.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter by by Jeff Lindsay

dexter

If any of you haven’t watched the Dexter TV series by now, you absolutely must!!! I’ve been an avid Dexter fan for the past three years now and I can’t get enough of the show.  I have converted all of my friends to Dexter lovers and I honestly have never met a person who hasn’t adored it.  Anyway, because of the show I was given the trilogy book for Christmas a few years ago.  The TV show was based on the books by Jeff Lindsay and if you like serial killers, murders and a bit of comedy in your books you’ll really like this read.  However, the book has a few differences to the show (which I won’t spoil for you) but I’ll say now that the programme is better than the book – but the book is fab for a quick read!

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (Not pictured above on shelf)

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One of my favourite books ever because its wonderfully written and it opened my eyes to a different type of book.  Before I read this I read many comedic novels (see Running with Scissors) and general books but this completely changed what I went for after.  This story is incredible and its told through letters and diary entry’s of a father and a daughter, who go in search of Vlad the Impaler (aka Dracula) in modern day times.  I adore everything about this book – the history of the real life Dracula, how the story is told, the characters etc.  I have always wanted to be a detective (from a very young age – odd I know) and this book completely reinforced my desire to go out and have adventures, spend my time researching in libraries and travel the world to uncover mysteries.  I would recommend this to absolutely everyone!

Dracula by Bram Stoker

dracula

Once you read The Historian, I thoroughly recommend reading Stoker’s Dracula.  The Historian fills you in on most of the language and back stories of the legend of Dracula, so this book becomes a much easier read.  I now adore Dracula, its language, and how its told (again) though letters, newspaper clippings and diary entries.  The imagery conjured from the language of the book is beautiful and you may grow very attached to each character.  I adore that the majority of the book is set in old London.  Its a classic tale and a much better one of vampires than that of The Twilight Saga (but don’t get me wrong – I read the whole four book in the series and loved the first and last) but this tale is a great read, albeit a harder one. 

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

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Another classic gothic novel (I got a bit addicted to them this summer).  Before reading this I had never seen a film about Frankenstein, nor knew anything about it, and the book was completely different to how I imagined it to be.  Frankenstein (a young professor at university) gets completely obsessed with the idea of creating life and animation out of nothing, and he succeeds but instantly regrets it when he realises how ugly and disgusting the life he created was.  So he runs and we are told the tale from many different points of views.  I’ll admit that I now adore Frankenstein’s Monster (even though he is always portrayed evil) and I’d recommend to those who want a quick but great read.

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

shutterisland

One of my favourite books from two years ago – Shutter Island has now been made into a film (starring Leo) and the book is just fab.  Again, it made me want to be a detective!  The story line is gripping and eerie and the twist at the end was pretty great so if you haven’t seen the film then read this.

Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

runningiwthscissors

Augusten Burroughs is one of my top three favourite authors, I have every book of his now and I adore them.  He mainly writes memoirs and this particular book is of his childhood.  His mother sent him to live with her crazy psychiatrist and this book explains his time living there and recalls all the mad things that happened.  Some parts of the book are hilarious – laugh out loud hilarious, but other parts of this are quite sad – his parents relationship and just the odd situations that Augusten happens to fall into.  This is a great book for laughing with and I’m sure it’ll get you hooked to Burroughs and his other memoirs!  (This is also now a film – but read the book first!)

The History of Love by Nicola Krauss

historyoflove

I read this over the summer in a few days and I love it.  At the moment I’ve got a thing for books which inspire me to live my life to the fullest and this is definitely one of these.  The History of Love is written through two different main characters – a grumpy old man called Leo Gursky and a young girl called Alma – who are in someway connected yet we aren’t sure how until the end.  A quote which sums this book up – “a novel in the form of a homage to things lost, as well as to unsolved mysteries”.

Looking for Alaska by John Green

 lookingforlaska

Another one I read this summer – about a guy, Miles, who goes to boarding school.  He meets Alaska Young, who he is blown away by and they become close friends.  The book is told in two parts – before and after, but I’ll leave it to you to read it to find out what happens.  This book made me cry (I’m very soppy) and it’s made me look forward to meeting someone new and the butterflies and excitement you get with crushes.

 

There we have it – Part one of my book recommendations.  It was only after I took the photographs for this post when I realised that I missed out my two favourite books ever, by the author Mitch Albom, but they will come in part two – probably sometime in the new year!  I hope you enjoyed this (surprised if you read it all!) and I’m sorry its quite a different post!

Will you be asking for any of these books for Christmas or have you read any of them?  What are your favourite books, recommend them to me and I’ll put them on my Xmas list!!

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15 Comments

  1. December 9, 2010 / 12:09 pm

    I love The Historian! It's my sister's favourite book as well 🙂 I think of these I'd put Shutter Island and Running With Scissors on my Christmas list, and I'd recommend Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind (favourite book everrrr), either Cloud Atlas or Ghostwritten by David Mitchell, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, and for a bit of humour Catch-22 by Joseph Heller! Phew 🙂 xx

  2. December 9, 2010 / 12:12 pm

    Nice selection!

    I read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein when I was a teenager- like you said, I sympathised so much with the monster's drama! The "Historian" book seems like my kind of read, going to check it out 😉

    I would suggest to you Herman Hesse, he's among the classics and IMO everyone should read at least one of his books! My favourites are "Demian" and "Siddhartha".

    xx

  3. December 9, 2010 / 12:18 pm

    i love reading other people's book recommendations! so this is a great post 🙂 have you read the Millennium trilogy, The Girl with the Dragon tattoo? xxx

  4. December 9, 2010 / 12:35 pm

    Dani – Its amazing isn't it! I'm going to read it again soon 🙂
    Wow, thanks so much for the recomendations! I will look them up and add them to my Xmas list! I've been recommending the Cloud Atlas before so I'll def get that! Thank you so much! I'll let you know what I think once I've read them XX

    Cbsg – If you like Frakenstein you'll love The Historian, let me know what you think of it!
    I will look him and his books up now, ahhh thank you so much!

    City Girls Fashion box – I haven't read that triology yet, but I really should, I've heard so much good praise about them! Thank you xx

  5. December 9, 2010 / 1:06 pm

    ooohhh, you made me want to read a lot again! unlike you though, i have a horrible horrible memory and i enjoy a lot of books but would almost never be able to recommend a list of them to my friends because after a while I keep forgetting I have even read them. I super hate that.
    Anyway, this Dracula story is intriguing, I come from the country where Dracula is supposed to live (Romania) and having heard so much rubbish about this character, I developed a little hater syndrome towards everything connected to it. Silly, I know, but you made me curious now. I think I shall read more stories about it.
    On the other hand, I super love the fact that there are still people who enjoy reading and collecting books. So yay to you! 😛

  6. December 9, 2010 / 1:41 pm

    I actually loved this post 🙂 I've read Frankenstein and I was surprised too because even though we are always told that the monster is evil, it's all about indifference and prejudices rather than someone being "evil".
    I was told to read J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye and William Golding's Lord of the Flies in English class a couple of years ago (I was an exchange student in the US, ha) – both are famous books and both stuck in my mind. Have you read them?
    Right now I'm reading The Complete Jack the Ripper by Donald Rumbelow and I find it quite interesting even though it's not actually a novel. 🙂

  7. December 9, 2010 / 3:18 pm

    I've never read any of these but I think I may have to! 🙂
    I love reading also – loads of different types too.

    I love Kathy Reich (some of her books are on my xmas list) and Marian Keyes – they do great books. Also loved Steig Larsson trilogy.

    Other books: The Lovely Bones, The Shining, The Silence of the Lambs, A Clockwork Orange (I read this for college believe it or not! Lol), We Need to Talk About Kevin, How to Kill a Mockingbird…

    Currently reading The Snowman – Jo Nesbo (Pretty good, I think so far) xx

  8. December 9, 2010 / 3:46 pm

    I haven't read nearly as much as I would like to lately.

    But I'm getting ready to start The Historian this weekend.

  9. December 9, 2010 / 7:05 pm

    Wow! Thanks so much for posting this!! Almost all of them are going on my Christmas List for sure!!!

  10. December 9, 2010 / 7:26 pm

    I love this post.
    I'm always looking for new books to read and I am definitely going to get The Historian after reading your little description. xx

  11. December 9, 2010 / 8:17 pm

    Birmingham Lady – You should keep a list of books you've read after you read it! You can find my lists of read books here http://listography.com/snooksy
    Ah I understand how you can be bored of everything Dracula, but maybe you should read The Historian – you might recognise alot of places they go to in it! I've always wanted to go to Romania, I'm definitley going to visit Transylvania in the next few years! xxx

    Nora – Ahhhhhh!! I'm Completely obsessed with Jack the Ripper (as crazy as that sounds!), I have many books on him and am just fascinated by it! SO good to meet another girl who is the same!
    I've heard of both of those books, but never read them, I will do though! Thank you!

    Makeup addict – I've read the lovely bones but none of the others so I'll check them out on amazon!!! Thank you!! xx

    Sunny and Star – Ahhhh I hope you enjoy it! Do let me know what you think!

    Gracieincolour – 😀 Good to know you enjoyed it! Let me know what you think of The Historian!! xxx

  12. December 9, 2010 / 9:03 pm

    After seeing the movie I have Shutter Island on my must-watch list! I got Dracula from the library once but someone reserved it straight after me so I never finished it ):
    I just finished reading Shiver, and its sequel Linger. They're really sad but I love them both!
    I also recently read The Virgin Suicides. It's such a brilliant book and written beautifully.
    xxx

  13. December 10, 2010 / 1:28 am

    i've been dying to read john green's books for ages, they're on my amazon wishlist for xmas! also asking for the girl with the dragon tattoo, etc, because i feel like the only person on the planet who hasn't read them haha.

    i'd also LOVE to have the dexter book on my shelf. just because it looks so menacing! recently i finished the hunger games trilogy, by suzanne collins, those books are fantastic and i can't recomment them highly enough if you haven't read them (:

  14. December 10, 2010 / 5:52 pm

    I'm currently reading Frankenstein in English Literature A2 and I really don't like it. I think it's very long winded and has a lot of information that isn't relevant to today's audiences (the description of places etc).

    I love Shutter Island, both the book and the film. It's the only book/film conversion were I actually prefer the film. Probably because Leonardo Di Caprio is beautiful haha! xx

  15. May 7, 2012 / 1:17 pm

    Hi your blog is one of my favourties :). this post has inspired me to do something similar on my own blog and I really enjoyed remembering all the great books I have read. Check out the post if you'd like? xx

    A Scholar Life

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