Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Want to Reread

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week a list which could go on forever with me.  I constantly reread, often just picking up a favourite (usually Terry Pratchett or Antonia Forest) and skim reading chunks for comfort.  So, am going to keep this to books I want to reread in full/which I haven't read for ages.

1. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - I've only read this once, although  I've read every other Austen multiple times.  I read it second year uni and remember finding that it dragged, that Fanny was annoying me, that it was altogether too Moral for my liking, but I also feel like it's Austen and I should now give it another try.

2. Nation by Terry Pratchett - when I read this in June I don't think I paid enough attention; I was so convinced something bad was going to happen that I didn't take the time to enjoy what was happening.

3. The Player's Boy by Antonia Forest - one of the few Antonia Forest books I've only read once, I want to reread it partly because it's Antonia Forest and partly because I'm going through a bit of a Tudor historical novel kick at the moment.

4. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel - I'd like to read this in one sitting.  When I read it last year I ended up taking a massive break partway through, so that I not only had to get used to the writing style again but also remind myself who some of the secondary characters were.

5. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters - now that I know the plot (oh evil tricksy twists) I think it would be interesting to read for the sake of spotting 'clues'. 

6.  The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - just because, really.  This time I'd like to savour the book rather than rush through it in a mad haze.

7. Friday's Child by Georgette Heyer - this was the first Heyer I ever read and I can remember vague bits of the plot and a slightly drunken discussion about Hubris vs Nemesis that had me in stitches.

8. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark - a book that I think I'd appreciate more now that I'm older.  I liked it the first time around but wonder if I maybe didn't get as much from it as I could have done.

9. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien - first read when I was eighteen (after I read Lord of the Rings), I haven't touched it since and think it would bear a reread if I can get past the beginning with the gate crashing dwarves and all the other unfunny overly jovial bits.

10. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco - another book that I might get more from now.  If I'm honest a lot of books I read at uni could probably do with being reread.

Review: The Silver Branch by Rosemary Sutcliff

Published: 1957
Pages: 246
Series: The Dolphin Ring Cycle #2
Read: 22nd - 23rd September 2011
Challenge: N/A
Status: Borrowed but buying
Reason I Read It: I really liked The Eagle of the Ninth and am now determined to read all of Rosemary Sutcliff's books.

Synopsis: Violence and unrest are sweeping through Roman Britain. Justin and Flavius find themselves caught up in the middle of it all when they discover a plot to overthrow the Emperor. In fear for their lives they gather together a tattered band of men and lead them into the thick of battle, to defend the honour of Rome. But will they be in time to save the Emperor... (from Goodreads)

First line: "On a blustery autumn day a galley was nosing up the wide loop of a British river that widened into the harbour of Rutupiae."

Review: Rosemary Sutcliff is one of my favourite 'new' authors of the year.  The Eagle of the Ninth was fantastic, Outcast was good if depressing until about 1/5 from the end, and I definitely want to read all of her books even though this will no doubt involve tracking a few down second hand.  The Silver Branch sits somewhere between those two in terms of how much I like it (I think it's going to take a lot to knock The Eagle of the Ninth off its top spot in my estimation) and is the book I knew least about as I started reading, both plot- and history-wise.

Because I thought I knew something about Roman Britain.  And I did, it's just that my education always focused on Julius Caesar, Claudius and Boudicca and then fastforwarded 350 years to the Romans leaving us to panic over a lack of luxuries and the fear of invasion.  So, because I never bothered to do any research of my own, I never knew someone called Carausius set himself up as Emperor of Britain and northern Gaul in 286 AD (thank you, Wikipedia) or that he would be the Emperor featured in The Silver Branch.  I genuinely thought Justin and Flavius would be dashing off to Rome and that there'd be a pellmell dash over Europe in a similar style to Marcus and Esca's journey to Scotland in The Eagle of the Ninth.  That the book is set entirely in Britain and that through this I learned a bit of history (and now want to read more on the time period) is an unexpected bonus of reading the book.

I also hadn't realised that both Justin and Flavius are descendants of Marcus, and that the Eagle from the first book would play a part in this one.  Or that the book would turn into an espionage drama halfway through, with lots of sneaking around and secret paths above the town - I love stuff like that.  Add in a couple of courageous last stands and a fantastic closing battle and the book was full of things I enjoy that I hadn't expected to find.  Sutcliff's prose is always beautiful, her plot raced along even during 'quiet' moments and I felt like I learned something.  I am going to have to read the rest of this series.

Rating: 9/10

In My Mailbox #3

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren. 

This week: I join a library in a neighbouring county and squee my way round their young adult section (except not really because it was a library so it was silent squeeing and a lot of grinning; if there's CCTV footage I probably look deranged).

The Silver Branch by Rosemary Sutcliff.  Reason: I'm really enjoying Rosemary Sutcliff, and this is the next in her Roman Britain series (after The Eagle of the Ninth).

The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff.  Reason: Follows on from The Silver Branch in the Roman Britain series, and sounds pretty interesting/dark.

Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers by Louise Rennison.  Reason: I'm loving the Georgia Nicolson books, and in this one she's off to America.

Startled By His Furry Shorts! by Louise Rennison.  Reason: As above, next one in the series.

Luuurve is a Many Trousered Thing by Louise Rennison.  Reason: Once again, more Georgia Nicolson.

Stop in the Name of Pants by Louise Rennison.  Reason: The penultimate in the series (I have the last one on order at my local library).

Frostbite by Richelle Mead.  Reason: I read Vampire Academy recently and now I need to know what happens next.

The Dead Girls' Dance by Rachel Caine.  Reason: I read Glass Houses earlier this year, had this book from another library before I moved, and now I've found it again.

The Missing by Lisa McMann.  Reason: I love Wake and hadn't realised that Cryer's Cross had been published in the UK (probably because they changed the title) which may have been why I meeped when I saw this in the library.

Valiant by Holly Black.  Reason: The sequel to Tithe (though I really want Ironside for Corny).

Wish Me Dead by Helen Grant.  Reason: I've read Helen Grant's first two books recently and I'm a fan.  And once again I hadn't known this one existed.

Before I Die by Jenny Downham.  Reason: I've heard a lot of good things about this book, and it's been on the shelf at my local library for ages calling to me so I finally go it out.

The Hollow by Jessica Verday.  Reason: I've been wanting to try some of Jessica Verday's books for a while, and there it was on the shelf.

Review: Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Published: 2010
Pages: 323
Series: Hex Hall #1
Read: 18th September 2011
Challenge: A to Z Title (cheating a little to get X)
Status: Owned book
Reason I Read It: A review by the Story Siren.

Synopsis: When a spell she performs backfires, Sophie Mercer is sent to Hecate Hall, a school for magic users who have risked exposing themselves (and by extension their world) to humans.  While there she discovers things which her non-magical mother has kept hidden from her, and falls foul of a group of three powerful teen witches.

First Line: "Felicia Miller was crying in the bathroom.  Again."

Review: On the surface, this book may seem a bit like 'more of the same': school of magic, bitchy girls, cute boys, weird goings on and a teacher making the protagonist's life hell.  I think if I saw a brief summary of Hex Hall - like the one I just gave - I might overlook it, but I'd really be missing out.  At no point when reading did I find the book unoriginal, which may be because the magic system and the world feels different to anything I've read before.  There's depth and history and a means of combining magic users, fey and shapeshifters within a world that also features werewolves, demons and vampires and doesn't feel overloaded.

A large part of my enjoyment came from Sophie herself, who isn't perfect or beloved by all (blerg to first person protags like that) but is full of snark and faults.  She makes mistakes and has to pay for them, and a lot of why she is how she is comes from the actions of other people, rather than gifts handed down from on high that show up when she needs them.  How things are going to play out in the sequel are beyond me, which is a feeling I like in a book when it's done as it is here: I want to know because I think Rachel Hawkins will surprise me, rather than because I fail to see any logic to what's going on.

My only real problem with this book is that it is a first in a series, so there are threads left hanging at the end which I imagine will be resolved in Raising Demons (see my predictions below) and Spellbound.  Having said that, I enjoyed everything else about the book: the characters, the world, the magic system - although, again, there is a sense that as it's the first in a series there is more to be discovered.  I think this is a book which raises more questions than it answers, but I trust Rachel Hawkins enough to know that there will eventually be answers - and that they won't annoy me the way some 'revelations' in books do.

Rating: 8/10

Do I Want More? Hell, yes.  Good thing I have Raising Demons, though shame I have to wait till next year for Spellbound.

Predictions: For the next book (Raising Demons) and spoilerful for this one, so highlight to read: Archer isn't evil, he just isn't, there'll be a perfectly rational explanation for the whole Eye thing.  I think a lot of the groups who are purported to be Evil will turn out not to be, or will at least not be as one dimensionally bad as the Council would have people believe. 

Challenge Updates: The whole damn lot of them

This year, I signed up for a few challenges: 1st in a Series, 2nd in a Series, Victorian Literature and the A to Z Title challenge.  I've completed 1st and 2nd, done the bare minimum of Victorian reading (5 out of 5-9) and have only Z to go on the title challenge (Dr Zhivago).  So, time for some updates because I have read a lot of books this year and have so far only managed to review 4/113 - that's 3.5% which is rubbish.

I'm not going to list what I've read for each challenge, as that is on the Challenge page, but I am going to make a few plans and hope that by sharing them I actually complete them (seriously, me and Emma Woodhouse have far too much in common when it comes to book related plans).

1) Complete the A to Z challenge.  Dr Zhivago is scaring me a little because a) it's my first ever Russian novel, and b) I've tried to read Anna Karenina and oh good Lord the names.  Why must everyone have so many different names?  It is confusing for the reader.  This is what is worrying me the most, I think, that I'll get so confused I'll give up.  I must not give up.

Middlemarch by George Eliot (1871)
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray (1848)
Tom Brown's Schooldays by Thomas Hughes (1857)
Villette by Charlotte Bronte (1853)

There are also libraries I can raid, possibly to find shorter Victorian novels.

3) Review at least half of the books I read for these challenges.  Some of them crossover - so far I have read 55 individual books for these challenges, and have reviewed 3 of them (Ash, Sisters Red and Treasure Island).  I borrowed quite a few of them from the library, or don't have them in my current flat, so I'll be doing those which I actually have with me so I can reread/check facts before reviewing.

4) My final, ongoing challenge is Project Fill in the Gaps.  I've read 16 from the list this year, taking my overall title to 29/100.  I'd like to get to 30.  Some of the books I read for other challenges overlap with this one, and the Victorian novels listed above fit on it, so I should be able to complete this.  Review target: half of the books I've read this year.

So, not too much to be getting on with there.