Thank you so much to the fabby Jasmine from Ebony Black Lines for offering to do a guest post for me! She is a really friendly book blogger and you should definitely check out her blog and follow. But make sure to come back to this awesome guest post after! :D
Ok, so, here’s the deal; this is my first guest post but I want you to stick with it right till the end. It may not be very good but still, I’m going to be talking about books and who passes up an opportunity to talk about books??!
Here’s my list of my top ten favourite books but ironically, I don’t think I’ve written reviews for many of them ( if I have I’ll include them )..Ah well...That gives me something to blog about anyway!
BOOK ONE:
Book Of A Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
When Dashti, a maid, and Lady Saren, her mistress, are shut in a tower for seven years for Saren's refusal to marry a man she despises, the two prepare for a very long and dark imprisonment.
As food runs low and the days go from broiling hot to freezing cold, it is all Dashti can do to keep them fed and comfortable. But the arrival outside the tower of Saren's two suitors--one welcome, and the other decidedly less so--brings both hope and great danger, and Dashti must make the desperate choices of a girl whose life is worth more than she knows.
With Shannon Hale's lyrical language, this forgotten but classic fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm is reimagined and reset on the central Asian steppes; it is a completely unique retelling filled with adventure and romance, drama and disguise.
Angry at her for not marrying the ruler of a nearby kingdom, Lady Saren's father locks her and her maid in a tower. He plans to leave them there for seven years. It is Dashti, the maid's, responsibility to keep them fed and in good condition, no matter how hot or how cold it may be.
With evil lords, unresponsive guards, and dreamy suitors knocking on their tiny window on a daily basis, they have enough views of outside life to keep living through to the next day. But when all signs of outside human life suddenly vanish, they find themselves in a race against time to save the eight realms and their own lives.
This particular story has a fairy tale feel to it... and it was incredibly entertaining.
I started the book, and was like, "Why is this written from the lady's maid's point of view and not from the lady's point of view." Yeah, that becomes very clear within just a few pages. I really loved Dashti—she was such a fascinating character!
Lady Saren and her handmaid Dashti. You’d think the first a strong princess, a brave one… another one of those in your face, I’ll do as I please versions of princesses. She’s not. You’d think Dashti, meek and obedient. She is. Despite that fact, it’s still Dashti who shines in this one because the princess was often at times too delicate, too soft, too shy… and just not quite all there.
I started and ended this book in a single day (despite having household chores, homework, and a to-do list longer than it's ever been before). I was caught up in the world of Dashti and her dear Lady Saren. Their tale brought me to tears and made me laugh.
This novel was definitely an enjoyable read that kept me turning pages as fast as I could!
BOOK TWO:
Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
"Ani shuddered. The city was as beautiful as a birthday cake from afar. It was not so friendly when one was out of luck. She glanced out the window toward her little room. It had never felt like home, but it felt safer than any place she had known. Maybe after I return to Kildenree and all is set to right, she though, I'll come back here again and be queen after all."
Princess Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, was born with a word on her tongue and a duty that never weighed comfortably on her shoulders. Far more so than people, she understands the birds of the air, the old stories in which every created thing has a language, and her horse Falada. Uncomfortable with strangers and royal tasks, Ani nonetheless tries her best to live up to the standard of her mother, a beautiful woman with the gift of people-speaking (the ability to sway others to her thought simply through her speech). Then the queen makes a decision that will send Ani far away from everything and everyone she knows, into a strange new world of danger and deception where the crown princess with a word on her tongue will have to find the strength to save two nations.
Yes I admit I am in love with Shannon Hale's books and I would read them all if I could- but my library computers seems to be against me and stops me from ordering them..*sighs with self pity*.
Ani’s journey is more than just princess to goose girl to hero; it’s also a journey of self-discovery, of strengths and weaknesses and dreams, of finding the courage to do what is right rather than what is easy. It’s learning to trust others despite fear of betrayal, it’s learning to trust oneself, but most of all, it’s about learning who we really are apart from anyone else’s definitions of us.
It’s a fairy tale, in all the best ways.
Every time I read it, I’m captivated by the journey Ani/Isi ( her alter ego as goose girl ) makes. She progresses from a girl who is, let’s admit it, fairly useless in the broader scope of things, and grows into someone tempered by pain and experience, someone who can lead, wants to lead, and someone who will champion the people no one else sees. We should all be so lucky to grow so well. It’s not without its pains and its falls, and certainly it’s not an easy journey to take, but it’s one filled with such richess of character, or the joy in quiet moments and simple things, that we’re all better for understanding it.
J'ai adoré ce livre beaucoup!
BOOK THREE:
Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian
Young Willie Beech is evacuated to the country as Britain stands on the brink of the Second World War.A sad, deprived child, he slowly begins to flourish under the care of old Tom Oakley - but his new-found happiness is shattered by summons from his mother back in London . . .
Winner of the Guardian children's fiction prize.
I cannot begin to explain how much I loved this book. I was a bit sceptical at first as I was only young when I - or rather, my dad, read this to me as I had heard it had a lot of violence in it. That was why my dad read it to me - so he could cut out bits if he needed to as my younger brother was going to listen to it as well.
I needn't have worried.
From the very beginning when old Mister Tom takes young Willie in because of the war I was hooked, I could tell Mister Tom had a kind heart underneath the hard looks and gruff manner but when I found out why he had kept himself to himself for so long I felt sad for him. It was not only Willie that grew stronger in himself but old Mister Tom too. Without realising they kepted each other to face things they would usually have shyed away from. It was so sad in places i felt like crying and my dad added to those feelings by ending in places that I would not have myself because of how dramatic it was becoming..I read it when I got older myself and later on i bought it and I have probably read it about 20 times now and I have still not got bored of it!
I have tolf many people about this book when they asked me for recommendations but they would toss it aside with a careless gesture saying,
"Oh yeah I watched the film."
But if you've watched the film, how can that be compared to a book? They are so different!..Anyway..to end my rant here's a piece of 'advice'. (actually it's more of a command!).
Read the book.
And if you've already read it then read it again,
and again....
BOOK FOUR:
The Truth About Celia Frost by Paula Rawsthorne
Celia Frost is a freak. At least, that's what everyone thinks. Her life is ruled by a rare disorder that means she could bleed to death from the slightest cut, confining her to a gloomy bubble of 'safety'. No friends. No fun. No life.
But when a knife attack on Celia has unexpected consequences, her mum reacts strangely - and suddenly they're on the run. Why is her mum so scared? Someone out there knows. And when they find Celia, she's going to wish the truth was a lie.
A buried secret, a gripping manhunt, a dangerous deceit... What is the truth about Celia Frost?
I only recently - in the last five months lol -read this but it has since become one of my favourites. I loved how Celia had no idea of the full meaning of her ''problem'' until quite late on in the book and when the truth was revealed it wasn't as simple as, ok now you know the truth, end of, there was a lot more to it than that and a very big consequence.C elia is different - her blood won't clot. Her over protective mother makes sure all the schools she attends know the dangers posed to Celia, and as the single parent family frequently move, Celia finds herself lonely and isolated - and bullied. The book starts off quickly with a bullying incident, and then gets straight into the conundrum - what really is Celia's problem? Is her mother telling her the truth?
I enjoyed the twists and turns, and the growing friendship that Celia develops - and nice that is was a friendship, not a romance, to be honest I am sick of reading a book then thinking, oh, I didn't know it was a romance. To be honest I don't mind if the story has romance in it, but it's just when it becomes too much or when you were expecting something different. It is a fast moving teen novel, with lots of twists and turns that were mostly very unexpected which I loved about that, it's better to read the story not knowing much because then you will be more surprised and effected by what happens.
BOOK FIVE:
Between Shades Of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
That morning, my brother’s life was worth a pocket watch...
One night fifteen-year-old Lin, her mother and younger brother are hauled from their home by Soviet guards, thrown into cattle cars and sent away. They are being deported to Siberia.
An unimaginable and harrowing journey has begun. Lina doesn’t know if she’ll ever see her father or friends again. But she refuses to give up hope.
Lina hopes for her family.
For her country.
For her future.
For love – first love, with the boy she barely knows but knows she does not want to lose...
Will hope keep Lina alive?
Set in 1941, Between Shades of Gray is an extraordinary and haunting story based on first-hand family accounts and memories from survivors.
Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she dreams. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.
Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously--and at great risk--documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.
I have surprisingly enough ( lol ) done a pretty long review on it so go read that, all I'll tell you is: IT WAS FANTABILISTIC!!
(part two coming soon once my fingers have recovered from typing and my eyes have recovered from staring at a screen for too long!)
~Don't Forget To Smile! :D
Thanks again, Jasmine! I definitely agree with Goodnight Mister Tom and The Truth About Celia Frost - they are amazing! I need to read the other books though, Between The Shades of Grey looks brilliant. I can't wait to hear what your other top five are... :-)
