Books!

[lls_mutant]

Gakked from magnetic_pole:



10.) Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett. I sometimes feel like I'm the only one in the world whose favorite Pratchett series is the witches series, but it is. Probably partly because of Nanny Ogg, who I want to be when I grow up.

9.) The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot. Nothing like the movies, mind you. Much better. Mia is such a lovable, quirky, dorky sometimes, strong, amazing heroine. Now THERE'S a great female role model for young girls.

8.) Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey. I love the Pern series- always have. But Menolly's story always was my favorite, back when Anne wrote well (not as fond of the later books). Although I also quite like the Freedom series as well.

7.) Scarlet Feather by Maeve Binchey. A story about two friends who start a catering company in Ireland. I love a lot of Binchey's books- she's my romance novelist of choice- and the other two that almost made the list were Circle of Friends and Tara Road. They're just such intimate, lovely, realistic books.

6.) The Princess Bride by William Goldman. Funny, poignant, and amazing, and even though the movie was 100% awesome, the book was even better.

5.) Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. One of the first books I can remember reading. I loved it then, I love it now.

4.) A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. They are so freaking awesome- I owe ignipes a major debt for turning me on to these. Is September 30 here yet????

3.) Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. Heh- when I was taking my AP English test, this was my "go to" book for the essay. I had it pretty much memorized, and I figured it was long enough that it could answer anything.

2.) The Harry Potter books, by J.K. Rowling. No, I'm not picking just one.

1.) Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I read this when I was very lonely in China my junior year of college, four years after I'd read and adored The Fountainhead. The combination of the book and living in a Communist country for a bit completely reformed my political opinions. I don't agree with every last thing Rand says (I'm a Christian and I find her depictions of love rather disturbing at times), but the whole concept of responsibility and her concept of morality really resonates with me. Interestingly, I read somewhere that this is considered the second most influential book, with the first being The Bible.



I was going to babble a bit more, but it sounds like Trevor's up. Off I go!

Comments

[magnetic-pole.livejournal.com]

Oh! I do love reading folks' lists. I didn't know there was a book behind the Princess Bride. (Although that makes sense, when I think about it.) I need to read it! That's one of the few movies I've ever watched so many times I can't count. *adores* Enjoyed seeing what you enjoyed! M.

[aome.livejournal.com]

You know, I'm not sure I knew you'd lived in China. I knew you knew some Chinese, but I don't think I knew how you'd acquired that knowledge. What did you study there?

I agree with the inclusion of 9, 6, 4 and 2. I'm not sure what, exactly, I'd classify as an absolute favorite (aside from HP) but those were all exceedingly enjoyable. I read GWTW on my own when I was about 19 years old and enjoyed it mostly because I really didn't know a damn thing about it aside from the fact that it was a Civil War tale and "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn", so it was a lot of enjoyment just out of discovery, if that makes sense.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

The book is awesome- it's so funny. But The Princess Bride is also one of the best adaptations ever- it was SO faithful to the book. You'll love the book as much as you love the movie.

Bye-bye, boys!
Have fun storming the castle!

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I loved there for a month. I actually studied Chinese for three years before in school, and then went for a month my junior year. (My school had an odd calender.) The class was called "Language and Culture in Beijing", which essentially meant we studied in the morning and wandered around Beijing in the afternoon :)

Oh, btw- you'd asked about small children and WALL-E. I liked the movie, but I found it exceedingly cynical and rather mature. They'd like the robots, but there might be a lot of other stuff to explain.