Top Ten Unique Character Names

1. Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. So pretty much all the names in this book are the best - Jem Finch, Scout Finch, Boo Radley... but Atticus is the most memorable of all.

2. Uriah Heep from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. Dickens had a knack for unique names. There are sooo many to choose from, but Uriah Heep is up there for me because it perfectly encapsulates the creepy, icky character it's meant for.

3. Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. The name is so brilliant he only needs one.

4. Hans Hubermann from The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. Such a friendly, delightful name for a friendly, delightful fellow.

5. Lady Amalthea from The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. A lovely name befitting a unicorn in human form.

6. Bastian Balthazar Bux from The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. Not two, but THREE alliterative names. It doesn't get much better than that.

7. Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride by William Goldman. Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

8. Bellatrix Lestrange from the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. Rowling's writing is filled with one-of-a-kind names, but Bellatrix Lestrange's is my fave.

9. Lisbeth Salander from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I didn't love the book but I do love the name. It's a strong name for a strong character.

10. Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote. A light, lyrical name for a deceptively dark and complex character.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. 

Top Ten Most Memorable Secondary Characters

1. Anyone from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Each character in these books are amazing. I love that nothing is black and white, and each character is complex and realistic – magic notwithstanding. Neville, Luna, Snape, Dumbledore, Hagrid, Dobby, the Weasleys, the Dursleys, McGonagall... there are so many I love, and love to hate.

2. Jeffrey Lu in Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey. Jeffrey was one of the highlights of Jasper Jones for me. I loved his cheekiness and positivity, and was rooting for him in the cricket match and beyond.

3. Anyone in David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. My favourite thing about Dickens is the quirky collection of characters in all his books, but David Copperfield is a particular fave. Betsey Trotwood, Mr Micawber and Uriah Heep (shudder) are some of the most memorable literary characters ever.

4. Finnick and Cinna in the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. I couldn't pick between these two. I love them both and they make me want to cry.

5. Jimmy in Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta. One of my fave characters ever. I missed him in The Piper's Son, so I was super excited when Marchetta said Jimmy had popped back in her head and would be in an upcoming book!

6. Matthew Cuthbert in Anne of Green Gables. I can't say anything more because I will start to cry. Not even joking.

7. Squire Hamley in Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell. The old fashioned, rough-around-the-edges squire with a big heart is great on the page, but even better as portrayed by Michael Gambon in the 1999 mini-series. Fave line: "I'm not saying she was very silly, but one of us was very silly and it wasn't me."

8. Mrs Bennet from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I know Mrs Bennet isn't everyone's fave, but she just makes me laugh - especially when combined with her weary but witty husband.

9. Mia's family from If I Stay by Gayle Foreman. Another one that makes me cry. It was so nice to come across a genuine, close family in a YA book. Of course, they don't stay that way... sigh.

10. Hareton in Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Heathcliff who? Seriously, I am so not a fan of abusive abuser Heathcliff. Hareton on the other hand, is an actual puppy dog who I want to adopt.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Opening Lines

1. "Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show. To begin my life with the beginning of my life, I record that I was born (as I have been informed and believe) on a Friday, at twelve o'clock at night." - David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. 

2. "The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone... she was no longer the careless colour of sea foam, but rather the colour of snow falling on a moonlit night." - The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle.

3. "My father took one hundred and thirty-two minutes to die. I counted. It happened on the Jellicoe Road." - On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta.

4. "First the colours. Then the humans. That’s how I usually see things. Or at least, how I try. ***Here is a small fact*** You are going to die." - The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

5. "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." - Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.

6. "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." - 1984 by George Orwell.

7. "All children, except one, grow up." - Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie.

8. "Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that... Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail. Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail." - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

9. "This is my favourite book in all the world, though I have never read it." The Princess Bride by William Goldman.

10. "Jasper Jones has come to my window. I don't know why, but he has." - Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Pre-Blog Reads

I find it a lot harder to remember the books I read before I started blogging. One of the reasons I actually started this blog was to keep track of what I read, and it has been helpful in that way. These are the books that stand out in my memory from the days before I recorded my thoughts on every book I read...

1. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. This was my favourite book for a long time. It would still hold that title, except I feel like it's been so long since I read it, I need to revisit it to reconfirm - or rethink - my love.

2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I used to reread this every year - sometimes more than once a year. I haven't read it since I started blogging. I miss it.

3. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I think this makes my top ten practically every week, no matter what the topic is. It's such a stunning book.

4. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. It gives me All The Feelings.

5. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. Mr Thornton. 'Nuff said.

6. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. An absolutely haunting dystopia, it contains some hope in its tale of the strength of the human spirit.

7. The Princess Bride by William Goldman. This is another book that is a top ten repeat. It makes me smile every time I read it.

8. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Strong characters, beautiful imagery, a fantastic plot and powerful writing. One of my all-time fave stories.

9. Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta. My best friend throughout my teen years, and still a great novel to read as an adult.

10. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding. I don't think any other book has made me laugh so much as this one.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Talking Point: Book Hangovers

Symptoms

• You feel like crying when you finish a book, not because it was particularly sad, but because you don't want it to end.
• You find yourself unable and/or unwilling to start a new book, because you're not ready to let go of the last one.
• You go back and reread your favourite passages - or, in extreme cases, the whole thing.
• You imagine what the characters are doing now or how they'd react in certain circumstances. Serious afflictions may even lead to fanfiction.
• Everyone you know starts to look panicked whenever you come their way. You're not sure why - you only want to remind them again that they MUST read this fabulous book.
• You squee when you come across others who have a similar love for the book and instantly become their friend.
• You start to lose your ability to form coherent sentences and instead begin to express yourself in gif form (which is not particularly practical in real life).
• You can't concentrate on anything and wander around in a daze for days.
• When you finally do start a new book, it inevitably disappoints you, because it just can't live up to the last one.
• You want to take the book to bed at night and cuddle it.

Hi, my name is Belle, and I'm suffering from a book hangover. You see, ever since I finished Melina Marchetta's The Lumatere Chronicles, no book has been able to satisfy me. Granted, I've only tried three, and they could just be bad books - but I get the feeling that even if there were outstanding, I still wouldn't enjoy them as much as I normally would. My heart is still in Lumatere.

I was trying to think of previous book hangovers I've had, and the one that immediately sprang to mind was when I read Stephenie Meyer's The Twilight Saga - which of course is light-years away from The Lumatere Chronicles (and not in a flattering way). Still, despite all its faults, The Twilight Saga got under my skin. First I tried to cure my hangover with more vampire books. Then I ended up just rereading the whole saga.

Another time I remember is when I finished David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. It's quite a hefty book and took me a little while to read, but when it was done I was left wanting more. Not because the ending wasn't satisfying, because it was - rather, I had enjoyed the world of the book so much I wanted to stay there awhile longer. I read some other Dickens books to remedy the situation, and I enjoyed them, but none grabbed my heart quite so much as David Copperfield.

So now, I have this book hangover I need to cure. Do I just bite the bullet and reread the trilogy (though I would feel guilty about all the completely unread books staring at me from my shelves)? Try and find another fantasy series that I may love as well (even though I'm not a massive fantasy reader and wouldn't really know where to start)? Or just plough away through mediocre reads until the hangover lifts? Tell me, dear readers, have you ever had a book hangover? If so, what was the book, and how did you get over it?

Top Ten Books I'm Thankful For

1. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. For allowing me to inhabit a world full of quirky characters that felt so real and so dear, I was left wanting more after nearly 1000 pages.

2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. For giving the world Mr Darcy and Lizzie Bennet, arguably the greatest hero and heroine of all time, forming the greatest love story of all time.

3. Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta. For being a good friend throughout my teenage years; for making me laugh and cry; and for making me feel like I wasn't alone, that what I was feeling was normal, and it was all going to be OK.

4. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. For being so beautiful it moved me more than any other book ever has, and for teaching me that Death isn't such bad company - at least for a few hundred pages.

5. The Princess Bride by William Goldman. For bringing me joy every single time I read it.

6. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery. For teaching me that being a freckled, kinda strange, imaginative and talkative red-head is awesome, no matter who calls you "Carrots" (especially if people call you "Carrots").

7. Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants by Ann Brashares. For snapping me out of my judgey, anti-YA ways.

8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling. For distracting me when I was stranded at Heathrow airport for two days with a chest infection and a broken rib and no idea when I'd be able to get home.

9. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. For putting me in the Christmas mood every year... and for The Muppet Christmas Carol.

10. Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright. For making me so mad I just had to express my anger - and so I started this blog.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Reading Icons: Charles Dickens

"My father had left a small collection of books in a little room upstairs, to which I had access (for it adjoined my own) and which nobody else in our house ever troubled. From that blessed little room, Roderick Random, Peregrine Pickle, Humphrey Clinker, Tom Jones, the Vicar of Wakefield, Don Quixote, Gil Blas, and Robinson Crusoe, came out, a glorious host, to keep me company. They kept alive my fancy, and my hope of something beyond that place and time..." - David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Top 5: Characters I Love To Hate

For TGIF this week, Ginger at GReads asks: "Love-hate relationships: Which characters do you love to hate?"
 

1. Voldemort from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling: Voldemort is one sexy villain. Not literally, of course. He's pretty scary-ugly, in that case. But he's got charm, charisma, intelligence and power that are totally attractive. Shame he's crazy.

2. Soames Forsyte from The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy: Soames is such an interesting character. Brought up to believe in the value of possessions in an era when women were seen as exactly that, he just doesn't understand how to treat his forward-thinking, freedom-seeking wife. He loves her dearly, but he can't express that love in healthy ways, driving him to some pretty horrible acts. Still, you can't help but feel for him.

3. Uriah Heep from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens: Ugh, Uriah Heep makes my skin crawl. He is so disgusting and devious, with his "'umbleness". But he's so wonderfully constructed, I really love his character, even though I really, really hate him.

4. Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte: Pretty much every single character in this book is horrible, but Heathcliff is the worst. He's the "hero" of the novel and yet he's quite evil, using and abusing those around him to suit his own sick schemes. The love that exists between him and Cathy is so twisted, it hurts everyone that comes into contact with them. He's by no means heroic, but he sure is compelling.

5. Captain Hook from Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie: He may be a murdering, thieving pirate, but hey, he's a gentlemen about it. He's a stickler for "form" and enjoys the finer things in life. And really, who could blame the guy for having it in for Peter Pan, the boy who leaves a trail of fairy dust and mischief wherever he flies... not to mention the little incident with Hook's hand. 



Which characters do you love to hate?

Top Five: Fave Books of All Time

I was obsessed with Ever After when I was 12. One of my favourite lines was when Prince Henry asks Danielle to pick a book that she likes, and she replies, "I could no sooner choose a favourite star in the heavens." At the time, I thought this was, like, way deep, and quickly adopted it as my own attitude towards books. Now I just think it's super cheesy, but I have to admit it still kinda applies. As an avid reader, I come across so many books that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE (and a few that I hate, hate, hate), but over the years I've managed to whittle down a rough top five list of books that stay with me and repeatedly draw me back in. So, here goes: 

1. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. Dickens is my favourite author - I just adore his beautiful prose, quirky characters and sprawling stories - and David Copperfield is the epitome of these things. I always feel sad when I've finished reading it, not because of the ending, but because it ends. Even though it's mega-sized, I still can never get enough of Davey boy and the inhabitants of his world - from Betsey Trotwood and Mr Micawber to Steerforth and even the icky Uriah Heep. OK, I just talked myself into reading it again right now.

2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Picking up this book is like diving into a big, comforting pool of marshmallows, hugs and sunshine (corny, but true!). I first read it when I was 16 and have revisited it at least once a year since then, but my introduction to the story happened when I was nine and the amazing BBC series aired here. I watched my gran watching it, and I remember her explaining to me what prejudice meant and then telling me all about Elizabeth and Mr Darcy and their pride and prejudices (of course). She then lent it to me on VHS, and I still have her copy of episodes four to six. I treasure it, even though I can no longer watch it (thank goodness for remastered DVDs).

3. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I read this for the first time last year and was immediately blown away. I initially resisted reading it because it's narrated by Death and it sounded a tad morbid for my liking, but I was SO glad I persisted because it's just brilliant. I tell everyone I know that they HAVE to read it (it's missing from the pic above because it's currently on loan); I just can't rave enough about this beautifully written, surprisingly uplifting Australian (!) masterpiece.

4. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. This haunting tale really strikes a chord with me in the way it deals with love and loss. Frankenstein's desperate attempt to avoid losing everything he holds dear has the opposite effect, and I can't help but wish this was different every time I read it. Of course, that wouldn't make the book anywhere near as powerful and I wouldn't love it nearly as much. But I am a sucker for happily ever afters.

5. The Princess Bride by William Goldman. This book has it all - it even says so itself: "Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest ladies. Snakes. Spiders. Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles." It just makes me happy. 'Nuff said.

Bookish Fun: Game for history/Dickens nerds

My mum always says I was born in the wrong era (I am kinda obsessed with the past). But she also exclaims, "EW, imagine how bad their breath would be?!" every time a couple kiss in a period drama (way to ruin the romance, Mum!). So, when put in that light and mixed together with corsets, major gender inequality and the likelihood that even if I did live in the past, I probably wouldn't be a fancy lady but rather a scullery maid or, if I was lucky, a governess making eyes at the master, I do consider myself better off living in the modern day. Mostly. 

But, if by chance I was to fall into a time machine or discover a secret entry to David Copperfield's drawing room in my closet (holla, Lost in Austen), it's comforting to know that I would be able to survive and, in fact, be "the picture of politeness" if this fun little game (via Jezebel) is anything to go by. Although, apparently, I would have been better as a man in the Victorian era. As a woman, I was let down by my proclivity for dresses that bared a bit too much arm. Whoops.