Top Ten Tuesday: You Make Me Feel

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is one that will have us all remembering those books that just made us feel a little bit more. It is: Top Ten Books I Had VERY Strong Emotions About. If you haven't already, remember to head over to The Broke and The Bookish ´http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.com/ - who are behind this amazing Tuesday tradition. They are one of the best blogs out there if you ask me.

10) "The Crimson Petal and The White" by Michel Faber
This is one amazing story. It is about a prostitute in 19th century London who falls in love and to some extent loses both her identity and her freedom. It is very touching and it made me incredibly APPRECIATIVE that I a women today, not 150 years ago...

9) "The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic" by Sophie Kinsella
This is not a book that I like. Actually I was so ANNOYED by the frustrating lack of self-awareness and common sense of the character that the story ended up being irrelevant and all the fun parts of the book were lost on me because I was so ANGRY with the airhead heroine.

8) "The Book, The Film, The T-shirt" by Matt Beaumont
Told from many many angles with several characters, all of them with their own voice. One of the FUNNIEST books on my shelves, it never fails to make me LAUGH.



7) "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" by J. K. Rowling
Probably the Harry Potter book that touched me most deeply. The dictatorship of Umbridge and the absence of light was almost too much for me. It was so tough to read through, I almost couldn't deal with the pain that Harry went through and it almost HURT physically to read through it.



6) The Sooke Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris
This series never fail to make me feel COMFORTABLE. I love Sookie and her southern charm and she never makes to make me feel all WARM inside.



5) "The Little House on the Prairie" by Laura Ingalls Wilder
I was quite young when I first read this one and the other in the series and it was a book that stayed with me for a very very long time. One of those that I kept coming back to, reading over and over again and marveling at the strength of the characters. The family values displayed in it really really MOVED me.

4) "We Need To Talk About Kevin" by Lionel Shriver
Scary, so scary. If you are pregnant and even just a little bit worried about whether or not you will be a good mum, it is not the right time to read this one. Or maybe it is. The ultimate fictional story about nature vs. nurture, questioning whether or not a person can be born evil. Really made me WORRIED about becoming a mother.

3) "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J. K. Rowling
Read the last pages of this book on a train and cried. I could not stop myself. It was so sad, the end of an era and I was so not ready to say goodbye to Harry. Luckily this is one of those books that can be read and re-read because because it was both SAD and HAPPY at the same time.



2) "Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo" by Christiane F.
I was thirteen when I first read this one - the truthful and heartbreaking account of a teenage drug addict and prostitute in 1980's Berlin. It was the book that really made me realize that what I saw on the news actually happened to girls who were just like myself. Such an eyeopener and very very emotional read, it made me really SAD.



1) "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
Most be the scariest book I have read in the sense that it all seems so real. This could happen. Reading this book actually scared me, not in the thriller-sense, but in the what-is-the-world-coming-to-sense and I actually ended up writing an article about it for a political blog as well as buying it as birthday presents for friends. Amazing book that really had me SCARED.

Top Ten Tuesday: Jerks, asshats...

This tuesday the top ten list is counting down a list of the top ten jerks and asshats that we have met while reading. Not in real life obviously but on the pages.For more info on Top TenTuesday and to read a really great blog, go to The Broke and The Bookish (who started this fantastic meme) at http://www.brokeandbookish.blogspot.com/

Here comes my top ten - some of them worse than others:

10) Keir from "Inexcusable" by Chris Lynch. What is really interesting about Keir is that he is the main character and narrator as well as being a real jerk who has a problem with understanding that a no is a no.

9) Edward and Jacob from "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer. Both are pretty controlling and both seem to think that being in love is an excuse to treat a girl rather badly. Still, the books would be rather boring without them :-)

8) Mr. Collins from "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen. One of my favourite minor characters ever - he is an eternal source of laughs and I never tire of reading the proposal scene over and over again.

7) Greg Fuller from "The Book, The Film, The T-shirt" by Matt Beaumont. Easily swayed by a skirt and constantly nursing a hangover/migraine due to some problem that he himself has created - and always counting on his wife and PA to bail him out. Such a jerk.

6) Professor Sturrock from "All in the Mind" by Alastair Campbell. Will not say why because of spoilers but if you've read it, you know what I mean...

5) Kevin from "We Need to Talk about Kevin" by Lionel Shriver. Why Kevin is a jerk is the question that this book revolves around and if you haven't read it, I highly recommend that you do - it is great!

4) Mr. Vuoso from "Towelhead" by Alicia Erian. Such a creep, a real asshat. Gave me chills down my spine when I read it because he repulsed me so.

3) Cardinal Richelieu in "The Three Musketeers" by Alexandre Dumas. Oooh he is a really nasty one, always has a trick up his sleeve to try to get his way. A bit of a perfect literary villain.

2) William Rackham from "The Crimson Petal and the White" by Michel Faber. I will not give any reasons as I am afraid to reveal spoilers

1) William Hamleigh from "Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett. Not even just a jerk but a real nasty piece of work. I hate this guy, really absolutely hate him.

Which jerks have you met on the pages of books?

Top Ten Tuesday: From book to film

How many great books out there have been ruined by being made into a film? It's like the stars, you can keep counting but you will never get to the final tally because there are so incredibly many. However, there are a few successes as well and I have to admit that I often get really excited when it is announced that a book I like will be made into a film. Today's Top Ten Tuesday topics is just that: books that I would like to see made into films!

10) The Eleniad series by David Eddings. An absolute favourite series of mine that features knights, stubborn horses, cool ladies and lots and lots of action.

9) The Book, The Film, The T-shirt by Matt Beaumont. Advertising agency filming a commercial with two divas, lots of crazy assistants, a boss with a major ego and PA who is doing more than her share of the work. And that is only the beginning. Would be a great comedy!

8) The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff The history of the mormon church and the mystery of a murder.

7) The Exception by Christian Jungersen Adult women in an office environment bullying each other... Could be made into a really thrilling, dark movie.

6) Anything steampunk. I am only just getting to know this genre but already I can see that there is huge potential for great films here!

5) The Fingersmith by Sarah Waters Who's fooling who? And why? Set in a dark England full of crooks, this could be a great costume drama.

4) The Darkangel by Meredith Ann Pierce. When Ariel is abducted by a huge winged creatures and taken to his castle to serve as maid to his ghost wives, Ariel has to overcome to her own shyness and fear to help the ghosts become free of their captor. One of the best paranormal/fantasy romance/action books I have ever read.

3) The Sopranos by Alan Warner. A Catholic girl school choir on a crazy road trip - should make for a great movie!

2) Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. Harry Potter for adults - what more can you want?

1) We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver The nature or nurture dilemma is at the heart of the scary novel about a child who becomes a high school killer and his mother who seeks to understand why.

Which books would you like to see made into films?