TOP TEN TUESDAY: CHARACTERS I’D FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Could Elizabeth Bennett be witty in 280 characters or less? Would Becky Sharp go into debt to become an Insta influencer?

I struggled not to go overboard with this week’s challenge. We were asked to pick ten – that’s right, just ten – literary characters to follow on social media. 

The Internet – A Love Story

They say you don’t truly love something until it’s gone. I disagree. I always knew how special the internet was to me.

Very young people won’t remember the awful time when we lived without instant… well, instant everything. Real paper maps, timetables and rows of encyclopaedias have all been replaced by a wonderful word: Google.

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve fallen back in time. Nope, I haven’t been sucked into a wormhole. It’s worse. I’m moving home and there’s a delay in getting broadband.

Top Ten Tuesday: More Please! Books That Need A Sequel

Hello readers! Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday. This week’s theme is ‘standalone books that need a sequel’.

If you’d like to create your own list, give it a go. Top Ten Tuesday was launched by The Broke and the Bookish and has been hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl since January 2018. To find out more simply visit the host website by clicking here. 

Review: The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Have you heard of Marmite? This salty, yeasty sandwich spread is famous in the UK. It’s a source of national division, nearly on a par with Brexit: People either love it or hate it.

The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet is a Marmite book. Some readers say it’s the best thing ever, others want to spit it out.

I found this story, like Marmite, to be flavoursome and delicious. I’d be happy to spend the day reading it while eating spoonfuls of my favourite, sticky condiment straight from the jar.

Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I’d Love To Swap Places With

Hello readers! Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday. This week’s bookish theme is ‘characters I’d swap places with’ and it’s a tricky one.

From pirates to persecution, betrayal and bereavement, the protagonists I love have a lot thrown at them. Do I admire them? Yes. Would I want to be them? Absolutely not.

Today, I’m looking for heroines with happy endings and stories that only contain ‘mild peril’.

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Places I’d Love To Visit

Hello readers! Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday. This week’s theme is ‘places mentioned in books’. Participants have to pick literary locations they’d love to visit.

I’ve decided to add my own twist and will be looking at my favourite libraries in fiction. These wonderful spots would make any book-lover’s heart beat faster.

4 Ways Children’s Literature Gave Me Unrealistic Expectations About Life

I had an adventurous childhood. I flew with dragons, scaled beanstalks and met a whole zoo’s worth of talking animals.

When I pulled my head out of a book, real life was fun but more… mundane. My friends and I never foiled gangs of international smugglers and the back of my wardrobe remained disappointingly solid (I know because I checked).

As I got older, I realised that good parenting might be the cause. Lake-side holidays involved lifejackets and supervision instead of Swallows-and-Amazons-style neglect.

Taking Turkish Delight from witches was also a big no. I’d been given the stranger danger talk and, unlike Edmund, I’d listened. 

Now that I’m in my 30s and “adulting” I’ve had to look reality in the face; I’ll never ride a sparkly unicorn into battle and wouldn’t want to anyway.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I (Still!) Mean to Read

Hello readers! This week’s Top Ten Tuesday looks at the books I added to my must-read list over the last few months. The topic is ‘books I didn’t get to in 2018’.

These weekly lists were launched by The Broke and the Bookish and have been hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl since January 2018. If you’d like to find out more, or plan to get involved, simply visit the host website by clicking here. 

18 of the best opening lines in literature

What makes a great first sentence? Explosions, romance, love or hate?

I recently read Anna Burns’ Milkman and the amazing opening blew me away. I realised that the first line can make books famous or ensure readers put them down almost as soon as they pick them up.

Top Ten Tuesday: New-To-Me Authors I Read in 2018

Hello readers! Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday. This week’s topic is new-to-me authors I read in 2018.

This meme was launched by The Broke and the Bookish and has been hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl since January 2018. If you’d like to find out more, or plan to create your own list, simply visit the host website by clicking here.