Top Ten – Novels

Do you have a favourite novel?

Some books come and go.  You read them but they just don’t click or leave an impression.  It was a nice read but not necessarily to be repeated.  Then ever so often a novel will come along that grips you so intensely that you can’t possibly put it down but can’t bear the thought that it will come to an end either.  It makes your heart race while the images from the words are leaping out at you that you feel like you’re physically moving along with the words on the page.  When a story is that good then it’s definitely a keeper for me.  I’ll hold onto that book and it will take pride of place on my shelves.

And the thing about good stories is that you have to try reading them to find them.  Some books will drop in your lap while others, having been recommended just won’t do at all.  Some books are like treading in a swamp of heavy mud and each page feels like it has thousands of words to get through.  You feel like you’ll never make it.  But until you open each book you’ll never know what the words will express.

Reading is a journey of self-discovery.  Each exploration of the words is an individual, unknown but exciting adventure to be had.  One minute you’re in the land of demons, another time in a crowd of friends.  Sometimes you’re fighting dragons and other times you’re chasing after love.  Each turning of the page opens more fun, excitement or even upset which means tromping to the end to find happy solutions that you hope evolves.

Here is a list of my top 10 novels.  Stories that are close to my heart, that I’ve read more than once. They have taken me to some wonderful places and allowed me to meet some pretty impressive characters.  They are books I read before seeing any adaptations of their stories in film or TV.

I think my list says something about the person I am because the stories resonated with me and the characters inspired me (and stayed with me).  The novels gave me hope over adversity and taught me that while humans have many faults and can be bad, they can also be kind and be a force for good.  These books made me who I am today.

What ones on the list have you read?  What top ten novels would represent your life?

1. Heidi by Johanna Spyri
2. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
3. The Animals of Farthing Wood by Colin Dann
4. IT by Stephen King
5. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
6. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
7. A Five Year Sentence by Bernice Rubens
8. The Debacle by Emile Zola
9. Charlottes Web by E.B. White
10. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick

Thank you for reading.