Top Five Tuesday – Black and Orange Covers

It’s Top Five Tuesday which is hosted by Meeghan Reads, every week we’re given a book related topic and we choose our top five! This month is spooky themed for Halloween, this week we’ve got to find black and orange book covers.

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

This has both black and orange so it’s at the top of my list! I really love this cover I think the black makes it look more dramatic and of course the mockingjay is iconic. The Hunger Games is set in a pretty terrifying world where the people are starving and ruled over by an insane population of ‘elite’ money grabbers.

2. Nightflyers by George R.R. Martin

This book has a black cover and the short stories inside are eerie and creepy so it would make a good Halloween read. All the stories are set in the future and in space but they all have scary elements.

3. The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye by David Lagercrantz

This has both black and orange on the cover too! I love this series, it’s always dramatic and intriguing. In this book Lisbeth decides to try to find out more about her traumatic childhood, with Mikael’s help she discovers some disturbing things about her past.

4. The Miserable Mill (A Series of Unfortunate Events) by Lemony Snicket

This has got orange and black on the cover and it looks great on my bookshelf with all the other books in the series! This book is pretty scary, the Baudelaire siblings go to stay at a lumber mill but are put to work, there’s barely any food and when Olaf finds them he hypnotises Klaus via his optometrist friend. Klaus then takes charge of the dangerous equipment and everyone is in danger.

5. The Sword and the Scimitar by David Ball

I read this book years ago before I went to visit Malta, it’s set on the island over Nico and Maria’s lifetime, they’re siblings but were separated by war and slavery. Malta was constantlybeing invaded and attacked by Europeans or the Ottoman Empire and this book shows that history through the eyes of some Maltese citizens.

The Folklore Book Tag

When Taylor Swift announced her surprise album a few weeks ago I was so excited! The album is so beautiful and probably my favourite from Taylor. I wasn’t tagged for this but I saw Orangutan Librarians post and really wanted to do it, I’m also glad I found a fellow Swifite!

THE RULES

Link to the original creator: Ilsa @ A Whisper Of Ink
Tag at least 3 people.
Declare the rules and list of prompts in your post
Thank whoever who tagged you and link to their post

“I hit the ground running each night, I hit the Sunday matinee.”

Such a great opener to the album, it’s uplifting but feels nostalgic at the same time.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

I read this book in June and I was so invested in it but because it’s a prequel I thought I knew roughly how it would end but I was still stunned and sad. The book also has a lot of folk songs in it and music is an important part of Lucy Gray’s life and her part in the Hunger Games.

“When I felt like I was an old cardigan under someone’s bed. You put me on and said I was your favourite.”

This is probably my favourite, it’s beautiful and poetic and it was the first song on the album that I listened to repeatedly. So many of my favourite lyrics come from this song.

The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton

This books is so beautiful, it’s set in different time periods but in the same house. It’s partly narrated by a ghost who stays at the house and watches over the residents. We see glimpses into her life too and how she died. But it made me happy to know that she cared for the people that lived in the house and that she had found peace there but sad because her life ended so tragically.

“There goes the maddest woman this town has ever seen. She had a marvelous time ruining everything.”

I love the story this song paints, a woman causing chaos in a rich town for fun.

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

This is such an incredible read, it’s set on a planet that scientists tried to terraform for humans to eventually live on it, but things went wrong and instead of monkeys evolving at an accelerated pace, spiders rule this planet. It’s not scary in any way, just very clever.

“I think I’ve seen this film before, so I’m leaving out the side door.”

Good duets are my jam! The harmonies and lyrics are so gorgeous.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Honestly, I have denied the existence of this terrible story since I read it. It’s not canon to me and I think most HP fans feels that way. It’s a screenplay but the characters that we know and love are not accurate, the plot is terrible, it might be better as a play but I found it almost insulting to read.

“And if I’m on fire, you’ll be made of ashes too.”

The underlying rage in this song speaks to me!

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

Most of ASOIAF makes me cry but this book is probably the most emotional. Two words: Red Wedding.

“I’ve never been a natural, all I do is try, try, try. I’m still on that trapeze, I’m still trying everything to keep you looking at me.”

Another of my favourites, it’s so soft almost like a lullaby and again the imagery is perfect.

The Boleyn King by Laura Andersen

This is a historical AU where Anne Boelyn gives Henry VIII a son so he doesn’t have her killed. William grows up with Elizabeth and Anne lives to old age and at the start of the book Henry dies so it’s the perfect book for me!! I love all the new characters in it as well.

“Just like a folk song, our love will be passed on.”

The lyrics are so cute in this one, it’s also very relaxing.

The Famous Five series by Enid Blyton

Me and my sisters used to love these books, some of the copies we have were my Mum’s so they’re even more precious. I miss the Famous Five and their adventures, I think my favourites were when they went to explore the small island near their home, they had the whole place to themselves.

“But I can see us lost in the memory, August slipped away into a moment in time, ’cause it was never mine.”

So chill and gorgeous, it makes me want to sway along.

Atonement by Ian McEwan

This book is set mostly during the summer, on a hot summer’s day in 1935 the Tallis’ are having a dinner party but the evening takes a dark turn. I’m actually re-reading it at the moment!

“And my words shoot to kill when I’m mad, I have a lot of regrets about that.”

This is probably the most ‘me’ of all the songs, I feel very connected to it and it makes me quite emotional.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

This book is a tough read but it captures perfectly the isolation and loneliness you feel when depression takes over.

“You showed me colours you know I can’t see with anyone else.”

This song has beautiful melodies but I don’t connect as much to the story.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by JK Rowling

I remember when I first read this staying up late to finish it and being heartbroken by the ending so then I couldn’t really sleep. It definitely affected me for days, especially knowing that the next book would be completely different because Harry wasn’t going back to Hogwarts.

“And isn’t it just so pretty to think all along there was some, invisible string, tying you to me.”

This is a pretty song, I’m not sure I believe in fate but this song could convince me!

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

This book! I was struggling with anxiety and wasn’t feeling motivated at all even reading wasn’t as fun but then this book came into my life, it is phenomenal and one of my favourites ever.

“You’ll poke that bear ’til her claws come out and you find something to wrap your noose around.”

This reminds me of I Did Something Bad with the lyrics about witches, but it’s slightly less angry. I absolutely love it.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Katniss is a fierce and brilliant but also blunt and stand-offish. She’s Panem’s hero but she doesn’t want to be, the power and responsibility that comes with troubles her. The trauma Katniss suffers is awful but she steps up anyway to try to save everyone.

“Only twenty minutes to sleep, but you dream of some epiphany. Just one single glimpse of relief, to make some sense of what you’ve seen.”

This song is so beautiful and it makes me cry almost everytime I hear it.

Lost Among the Living by Simone St James

It’s set in 1921, Jo’s husband disappeared in WWI and she is still mourning his loss but she currently works for his aunt, travelling through Europe with her acquiring art work. When they return to England Jo sees her husband’s childhood home for the first time. She is also haunted by his cousin’s ghost. It’s a chilling tale, the whole atmosphere makes you feel cold and on edge.

“I’m only seventeen, I don’t know anything, but I know I miss you.”

The country feels of this song make me happy!

Brienne of Tarth and Jaime Lannister from ASOIAF

These two give me life, when they’re separated in AFFC but still keep thinking about each other, it’s adorable because they don’t realise how in love they are.

“But I’m a fire and I’ll keep your brittle heart warm.”

This gives me chill vibes and the lyrics are once again beautiful.

Tyrion Lannister from ASOIAF

Tyrion breaks my heart, he has been bullied and treated like rubbish his whole life by strangers and his family. I would definitely protect him with my life, Tyrion is incredibly clever and funny, Westeros needs more people like him!

“You knew it still hurts underneath my scars from where they pulled me apart.”

This song is gorgeous, I love the melody and it’s definitely one of my favourites.

Versions of Us by Laura Barnett

This is about those ‘what if’ moments and how three characters lives could have turned out if they had chosen different paths. It sounds right up my street, I love the idea of parallel versions of ourselves but it was quite difficult to follow and I had to keep reminding myself what was going on.

Rating the songs:

This is quite difficult because I love so many of them, I’ve gone from favourite to least, here you go:

cardigan

this is me trying

mad woman

mirror ball

epiphany

hoax

exile

betty

the 1

the last great american dynasty

my tears ricochet

august

seven

peace

invisible string

illicit affairs

I’m tagging anyone that wants to do this, I had so much fun making this post and listening to the album endlessly!

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins Review

“Nothing you can take from me was ever worth keeping.”

I was drawn in completely at the beginning. Of course we already know the Panem of the future, but this version of the Capitol still has rubble in the streets where the District 13 bombs hit. The citizens still remember the war and they are full of venom, full of bitterness. They still have their pride and now they have the power back. It was interesting seeing things from the Capitols point of view. I still didn’t sympathise with them because they disgust me. But a lot of people did object to the Hunger Games.

“If starving to death was a natural cause. He wasn’t entirely sure. Was it natural if hunger had been used as a weapon?”

I loved Lucy Gray (Snow’s tribute) straight away, she is bold, sassy and wonderful. Snow is very clever and always eager to please but he still has compassion. I have no idea how it came about but I did start to feel sympathy for Snow. Despite knowing how he turns out, I found myself hoping that he would somehow not become the evil President of Katniss’ day.

We see the Hunger Games taking the shape of the ones we know. The spectacle, the show that the Capitol put on to subdue the Districts. It’s terrifying seeing all the horrible things that we know one day will harm countless children and make the whole event into a show rather than the slaughter that it is.

“If the people who were supposed to protect you played so fast and loose with your life…then how did you survive? Not by trusting them, that was for sure.”

I loved all the little things that remind us of the original series. Like mentions of Mockingjays etc. The music that travelled down the generations, lullabies and nursery rhymes. Even some poems from before the apocalypse were made into songs by some citizens.

I didn’t want the book to end, because it was so brilliant and because I knew it must end in heartbreak somehow. Something must happen to Snow and I wasn’t in a rush to find out.

Truly an incredible read. Collins kept me on my toes the whole way through. Especially towards the end, I felt like I couldn’t dare to breathe. I am very emotional at the end of this book. The Coriolanus Snow we knew was cold, manipulative and evil. But we’re not born evil, and nor was he. If you like The Hunger Games series this is a must read.

“I think there’s a natural goodness built into human beings. You know when you’ve stepped across the line into evil, and it’s your life’s challenge to try and stay in the right side of that line.”

End of the Decade – My Favourite Books from the Past Ten Years!

It is so strange to think we are at the end of the 2010s, it’s been a pretty dodgy decade in many respects but I have read some fantastic books! Most of the books weren’t published in the last 10 years but it’s when I discovered them.

1. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

The fullness and complexity of these books and the characters has kept me coming back to it, I’ve read the first three books a few times already. The more you read it the more in depth you see the story. I am so happy I’ve found ASOIAF, even if it does make me cry a lot!

2. Dominion by C.J Sansom

The book is set in the 1950s in Britain except the Nazis have taken over, we never fought them. It is one of the most terrifying and genius books I’ve ever read. It felt so real, I was so distressed! Our main character works for the government and is unhappy with the changes taking place so he joins the freedom movement lead by Winston Churchill. He feeds them important files but then he gets involved with protecting a Jewish scientist who has been locked in an asylum. If the Nazis find out where he is, the world is doomed. I strongly recommend this book, it’s incredible.

3. The Millennium series by Stieg Larsson and David Lagercrantz

This series is so brilliant and dark, it’s terrifying at moments but it always comes back to the characters and how genius they are. Lisbeth who has had to fight her whole life against truly evil people who are still out to get her and Mikael who thrives on exposing conspiracies, which has got him into trouble a few times.

4. The Book Thief by Markus Zukos

Just genius, narrated by Death as he tells us about his run-ins with Liesel as she discovers her love of reading. Her foster father teaches her to read, soon she is stealing books from Nazi book burnings. Liesel lives in Germany during WWII and her world is made more dangerous when her foster family hide a Jewish man in their cellar. This is one of the best books I’ve ever read, I’d never read a book that centred around the innocent German people during WWII before and this was written superbly.

5. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

These books have so many important themes about corruption and controlling governments and its such a chilling premise, children fighting to the death for the entertainment of the elite. As a reader it made me have a good look at our own media and how toxic it can be. Aside from that the characters are real and flawed and I love them.

6. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

This book is one of my favourites ever! It’s like my dream book with past lives/WWII but it’s better than anything I could have imagined. We follow Ursula through her life from birth to her many different deaths. In each life different choices are made. It’s such a magical book and so different from everything I had read from Kate Atkinson before, I’m so glad I found it!

7. The Long Earth series by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter

Sci-fi heaven, one day on Earth, hundreds of children disappeared at once, they moved to a parallel world with a devise that had gone viral on the internet. Soon adults realised what was happening and humanity was changed forever. Humanity spread out into the connected worlds where we made new homes for ourselves. In my favourite book of the series, scientists found a way to reach Mars and found its own string of parallels.

8. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

This book is about Esther Greenwood’s struggle with mental health, Esther has moved to New York to try and be a journalist but soon finds herself breaking down. It is so powerful and such an important book, I’m very glad I read it.

9. The Power by Naomi Alderman

Just epic! Through some strange evolution young girls suddenly gain the power to channel electricity through their hands. They can shock others, hurt them and kill them. They can also release the gift in older women. A shift is happening, no longer are men more powerful. The book follows different young women and one young man on their journeys through this fascinating time. But is life better under woman’s rule or are all humans inherently corrupt?

10. The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton

I love this book so much! I read it this summer and fell in love with it. It’s a story about time and how precious stories are. How houses can hold memories forever but not always in a bad way, Birchwood Manor is a place of safety and comfort.

There we are, bring on the 2020s and all the books they will bring!

Top Five Tuesday- Dystopian Novels

A new Top Five Tuesday, the prompts are created by Bionic Book Worm. I love dystopian fiction! It’s probably going to be the genre I end up writing (if I ever get around to it!) I realised while making this list though that I have barely read any dystopian novels so I’ve got some from my TBR list.

1. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

This series is brilliant, war broke out many years ago and has left America sparsely populated. The remaining citizens have been split into Districts. They each have a main trade and they all give their supplies to the Capitol. The people of the outer districts live in poverty, they once tried to rebel and take back their freedom but the Capitol won and obliterated District Thirteen. Since then, every year as punishment the districts must sacrifice one girl and boy to fight to the death in an Arena made and controlled by the Capitol. Such a chilling premise, children killing one another just to win their ‘freedom’. Except as we find out over the series even the winners aren’t free from the Capitol’s clutches.

2. The Power by Naomi Alderman

This book starts out as a feminist dream world but ends up proving that power corrupts everyone no matter their gender. Overnight teenage girls discover they have a power that no one else does. They can create electric currents through their hands. They can burn, shock and seriously injure others, they can also awaken this power in other women. The book follows different young people during this shift in dynamic. The book is so cleverly done, in the first half I was so happy to see a matriarchy taking shape but in the second half I was so shook to see how some women of this fictional world were using their power, just like men have done for hundreds of years. It’s definately worth a read.

3. 1984 by George Orwell

I can’t believe I haven’t read this book yet especially when it is more apt than ever. Published in 1949, it’s set in a bleak future, a world where everyone is being watched constantly, everyone has to stay in line, keep to the rules or risk severe punishment. I really need to read this as soon as possible!

4. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

This is also on my TBR list, aliens have invaded Earth in waves. Not much of humanity is left, no survivors trust each other as the aliens can disguise themselves as one of us. Cassie is all alone trying to find her brother, until she meets Evan and together they try to survive. This looks interesting, I love a good alien invasion!

5. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

I haven’t read the book yet but I have been watching the show. It’s seriously terrifying because it’s so believable. When birth rates deplete massively worldwide, panic breaks out. Most of the world gets over it but in the USA, a religious cult takes over. They round up any mothers and force them to have children with the repulsive cult leaders. They call them Handmaids. Other countries tried to help but have failed. I find it difficult to watch most of the episodes so goodness knows what it’ll be like reading the book, but I definitely still want to read it!

What are some of your favourite dystopian stories?

Top Five Tuesday – All Time Favourites

A new Top Five Tuesday, the prompts are created by Bionic Book Worm. This week we actually get 10 picks which is definitely needed my favourites! I’ve probably mentioned all of these at least once before because I can’t ever forget about them!

1. Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

Because I grew up reading HP I genuinely think the books have shaped who I am! I could read them forever, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read them over the years but the magic is still there whenever I go back to Hogwarts.

2. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

I think I will always be obsessed with these books, the characters, the complex plot. I still don’t know everything and I’ve read all the books at least twice. George has created such a real (and incredibly cruel) world that I can’t possibly tear myself away.

3. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

The characters in the Forgotten Garden are the main reason it’s one of my favourites. Eliza Makepeace is a writer herself, she lives in the early 1900s and is adopted by her uncle when her mother dies. Her mother had run away from her privileged life to marry for love, Eliza doesn’t ever feel truly at home in the grand house but she adores the gardens. The story crosses generations going between Eliza’s world to Nell and then Nell’s granddaughter Cassandra who both live in Australia. It’s a magical story that I fell in love with when I first read it.

4. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

This book is so incredible it’s kind of my dream book, it’s set in the 1920’s-40’s and it all about the possibilities of life and the decisions we make affecting our lives. We follow the Todd family, specifically Ursuala through their lives. It’s another one of my all time favourites. We follow Ursula down different paths and some of the possible lives she could have led during WWII. I can’t tell you how much I love this book and how beautiful it is.

5. The Book Thief by Markus Zuask

I absolutely love this book from start to finish. Death is the narrator and his passages are so profound and beautiful. The book is set in 1940s Germany. Death tells Liesel’s story, how she found a book by her brother’s grave and found a love of the written word.

6. Atonement by Ian McEwan

It’s set from 1930s-40’s and then jumps to the early 2000s. Briony Tallis is a curious, over-confident child, she likes to write and perform plays and this summer is no different. Except she winesses something and doesn’t understand it’s innocence. An accusation is made and lives are changed forever. This book is so beautiful and the time it’s set is such a scary but fascinating time.

7. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

I will always come back to this series because of the emotional connection I have to it and how brilliant it is. It’s set in a post apocalyptic version of America. Humanity lives in strict districts and under harsh rules imposed by the Capital and it’s repulsive inhabitants. Every year they force children to fight to the death, for their entertainment and to remind the districts what happens when you rebel. But one girl in District Twelve is about to change all of that, unintentionally she gives the people hope and the courage to fight back.

8. Dominion by C.J. Sansom

It’s 1952, Germany won the war. Britain surrendered after Dunkirk. Germany are still at war with Russia but we are under Nazi rule. The press, radio and television are controlled. Resistance is growing though with the leadership of Winston Churchill. This book is truly brilliant and utterly terrifying. I don’t think I’ve read a scarier book. So convincing it made me physically shudder in parts.

9. Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

This book is my favourite from the Discworld series so far because of its impact on me. It’s about the City Watch of Ankh-Morpork during a revolution. The Watch make barricades with the people of the city to protect themselves from a serial killer and some of the Watch themselves. The leader in it all is Sam Vines who has somehow travelled back in time so he is now at the revolution twice. Once as a new officer and again as an experienced policeman near to retirement. The book is funny of course but is also filled with so much truth about the nature of humanity.

10. Children In Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

This book is so good. Humanity are branching out into the stars, a project has identified different planets to terraform and make suitable for human life. But it’s also an evolutionary experiment, they send down insects and animals and some of our primate ancestors. But there are people back on Earth who believe this is wrong, we are meant to live and die on Earth. They sabotage one of the spaceships. The captain sends the monkeys off towards the planet along with the evolutionary accelerator. Then she is trapped in a tiny escape pod, orbiting her planet, transmitting a distress signal. 100 years later survivors of Earth find the planet and attempt to make it their home, but something has gone wrong. There are no monkeys here, instead the world is covered in webs. I loved this book, it was so interesting!

So there are my ten favourites! What are some of yours?

Top Ten Tuesday – Page to Screen Freebie

I personally don’t mind watching films/tv shows before I read the books, although most of the time I do it by accident! Some of the books on my list were made into great films, others not so much.

1. The Hunger Games series

These are first because I think the films stayed really true to the books, Suzanne Collins worked with the directors and writers closely and it shows. Her vision for the book has transferred wonderfully to the screen. I saw the first film of the series before I read the books but after I found out it was a book, I got hold of it as soon as I could! Catching Fire is my favourite book and film of the series, it tranfers so well to the screen.

2. Atonement

I saw this film first as well and I fell in love with it. It’s a stunning film and when I read the book I could see why, the many descriptive passages were so detailed it really transports you to 1940s Britain and France. The endings are the main difference to the film/book, the same thing happens, we’re just told in very different ways. I think the film and book rank equally great.

3. Harry Potter

I read the Harry Potter books first long before I saw the films. The books are so important to me, I absolutely love them. The films are good, I really enjoy them, just not as much as the books, they’re quite a few differences, especially in the later films but it still works. Books definitely win here!

4. A Song of Ice and Fire vs Game of Thrones

Again I started watching the show before I knew about the books, but I caught up pretty quickly. ASOIAF is one of my favourite books series’ ever, George R.R. Martin is a genius! I have a love/hate relationship with GoT. The first two seasons are incredibly close to the books, however the show writers make gradual changes over the course of the show, season five was a complete let down, they diverted so much from some characters stories, I almost gave up. GoT also shows the writers’ true misogynistic natures by having more sexual violence against women in it than any of the ASOIAF books. They cut out some key characters later on and changed some great characters (the Sand Snakes) into vengeful two-dimensional versions. Visually of course GoT is stunning and the actors are incredible but it still looses out to ASOIAF because the writers suck!

5. The Chronicles Of Narnia

I really like the Narnia books, but I actually think I prefer the films! They’re so pretty and magical, I could watch them forever. They haven’t made the whole series into books though which is slightly disappointing, but all of the Pevensie’s adventures have been transferred onto screen.

6. Persuasion

I love this book and I love period dramas so the TV adaptation I watched is right up my street. Sometimes I struggle to follow classics when I read them, Persuasion wasn’t like that but I still really enjoyed seeing it brought to life by actors.

7. A Series of Unfortunate Events

I love these books, they’re so strange and quirky and clever, Lemony Snicket is brilliant! The series has been made into a film and a tv series. The film covered the first three books and just wasn’t good at all. It didn’t cature Snicket’s quirkiness, the whole film came off as odd and bleak. The tv series is much better, not as good as the books, but closer! There is a narrator in the show and the characters talk in the same way that Snicket wrote for them.

8. The Other Boleyn Girl

This book is so good! It’s set in Tudor times and it’s about Anne Boleyn and her sister Mary who had an affair with Henry VIII before Anne married him. The film is good, but some bits from the book are missing and I’m pretty sure there’s more violence in it than the books which is why it’s so far down on the list.

9. Before I Go To Sleep

This book is so gripping and scary. I could hardly put the book down when I read it and years later they made it into a film. Despite the brilliant cast it didn’t really have the same effect as the book, there was tension but it was more confusing. I had forgotten the ending as well so that wasn’t the reason I didn’t like it as much.

10. The Girl on the Train

Amazing book, so cleverly written, all the layers of deceit and drunken confusion from the main character Rachel. The film was ok but again I didn’t feel as much tension or urgency to find out what was going on. Most of the time it felt like we were just watching Rachel have a breakdown. I did remember the dramatic end to the story though for this one so that might be why I wasn’t as invested.

So basically books rule! They’re always going to be better, probably because there’s more detail and we can let our imaginations run wild!

Top Five Tuesday – Books I want to reread

A new Top Five Tuesday, the prompts are created by Bionic Book Worm. I love rereading books, whether it’s one of my favourites or just a story that I’ve forgotten the plot to! These are my next/top rereads:

1. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

ASOIAF has a lot to take in, every time I read them I connect something else in the story or see things from a different point of view. I could reread these books forever. Because of how they’re written, every chapter we’re with a different character in a different part of their mad world so it’s always interesting. I can’t get enough of this series so I’ll be rereading them forever!

2. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

This book is so incredible but I’ve only read it once so I can’t wait to enjoy it all over again. This is kind of my dream book, it’s set in the 1920’s-40’s and it all about the possibilities of life and the decisions we make affecting our lives.

3. Atonement by Ian McEwan

I haven’t read this book in so long and it’s one of my favourites. The film is also one of my favourites. I clearly have a thing about WWII Britain.

4. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

I haven’t read these books since the last film came out, it’s definitely time I reread them again. This is another series that I will always come back to because of the emotional connection I have to it and how brilliant it is!

5. His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman

I loved this series when I was younger and Pullman has written a book that’s set twenty years after the events in the last book, it’s out later this year. I am so excited and I thought I’d better read the series again just to remind myself of all the details! The series is aimed at children but it’s so complex and clever that I think any age would enjoy it.

Harry Potter should really be on the list as it’s another series that I will never not want to read but I only read them all last year so they’ll have to wait!

Top Five Tuesday – Slytherin

A new Top Five Tuesday, the promts are created by Bionic Book Worm. This month’s promts are all Harry Potter themed and this week it’s Slytherin!

I was a bit nervous about this week, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to find enough characters or I’d fall into the trap of picking only ‘villians’/’bad’ characters. But I’m so happy with my group, I genuinely adore all of them.

1. Cersei Lannister – A Song of Ice and Fire

I love this woman so bloody much. There’s no doubt that she would be a Slytherin, even from a young age Cersei wanted to be the Queen (her father probably put the idea in her head but still). She both loves and hates fiercely. Cersei will hold grudges forever. She hated her life married to Robert but she never gave up, she stayed alive for her children and to further her family name. She’s determined, ambitious, sassy, manipulative and protective over a select few. She’s also one of the strongest characters that I know.

2. Finnick Odair – The Hunger Games series

My dear Finnick, he’s such a cutie! I think he’s a Slytherin because of his charming nature, he also spends lots of his adult life fooling the people around him that he likes them and enjoys their company. He’s loyal to his loved ones and his friends in the rebellion. He’s determined and so clever, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to survive in the Capital. He’s a big highlight of the books for me.

3. Margaery Tyrell – A Song of Ice and Fire

Another character who wants to be a Queen. So much that she gets married three times in the books, she’s twice widowed, both her first husbands were murdered. Margaery is charming, intelligent and ambitious. She will do whatever it takes to reach the top, with the help of her family. I really admire her determination and she’s so kind to Sansa when she doesn’t have to be. I think their friendship was genuine. Margaery is such an interesting character and her and Cersei make an explosive pair!

4. Briony Tallis – Atonement

I was inspired more by Briony as a child for Slytherin, which would be when she was sorted, so it works! She’s suspicious, inquisitive, cunning and jealous. She’s also a writer so imaginative and creative, she likes being the centre of attention and performing her plays for her family. Briony isn’t the nicest child but she grows up to regret her actions and becomes a better person.

5. Daenerys Targaryen – A Song of Ice and Fire

Ok so my third Queen from ASOIAF, woops! For me Dany is definitely a Slytherin, she grows up in exile and is told all her life that her birthright is to rule the Seven Kingdoms, that her family had ruled there for generations. Dany already has magic with her dragons but I think she’d love Hogwarts. Dany is intelligent, fierce, brilliant and so kind. She has so much empathy for others. Dany is determined and I hope she gets to Westeros, I just don’t want her to hurt my other babies!!

I think this might be my favourite group which is a surprise! What do you guys think? Anyone else that would go in Slytherin?