Top Ten Tuesdays is a meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. This week we are listing
Top Ten Books I’d Play Hooky With
1. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien: Since we are in the middle of celebrating two full weeks of Tolkien, this may be an obvious choice. However, I think the size alone justifies my taking a day off to read it.
2. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery: A book about a girl who lives live to the fullest and often gets into trouble as a result of her impetuousness seems the perfect fit for someone playing hooky.
3. Bleak House by Charles Dickens: I once considered this my favorite work by Dickens, but I haven’t read it in years and now I’ve forgotten most of it. I keep meaning to return.
4. The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas: It’s the final book in the Three Musketeer series and I haven’t read it yet. I refuse to watch the movie with my friend until I have.
5. The Last Cavalier by Alexandre Dumas: Claude Schopp discovered this, believed to be Dumas’s final major work, in 1988, but only revealed his find in 2005. Though unfinished, the story has all the scope, power, and emotion of his more well-known works.
6. The Civil War: Fort Sumter to Perryville by Shelby Foote: Shelby Foote writes nonfiction so eloquent and absorbing it could pass for a novel. This is the first book in a trilogy and I’ve started it at least three times. However, since it contains over 800 pages, I’ve never finished it.
7. Villette by Charlotte Brontë: I like this novel much more than I like Jane Eyre.
8. The Purgatorio by Dante: I’ve read the Inferno twice and mean to get through the entire Divine Comedy–eventually.
9. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight trans. by J. R. R. Tolkien and E. V. Gordon: An amazing story told in an amazing translation.
10. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas: Revenge, love, and the hope of redemption combine to create an engrossing story. Like most of my choices, this one made the list because of its length.
Pages Unbound | Book Reviews & Discussions 
I do love Anne of Green Gables, but I like them best when she’s older and Gilbert is in love with her 🙂
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I love the whole series, but the first book is always special to me as the introduction to Anne and her wonderful imagination. Gilbert certainly seems to be one of the most-loved love interests of all time, though, and it’s such a relief when Anne finally realizes how amazing he is!
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Oh, Anne of Green Gables is such a great hooky book! Would love for you to stop by to check out my Top Ten.
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I’ve actually not read any of the books on your Top Ten! It’s a very interesting list, though!
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I loved Anne of Green Gables too. And Villette is great!
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Who doesn’t love Anne? 😀 And I’m so glad you like Villette! Not a lot of people seem to have read it–at least not people I know!
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I have Anne of Green Gables on my list too. And I agree with Tina, it’s not just the first book, but the entire series. Anne’s kids are so fun!
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Oh, the entire series is wonderful. I had to choose only one book, though. So I can play hooky with the first one and then read the rest of them! And you’re right. I love reading about her children. You wouldn’t think anyone could surpass Anne’s knack for getting into ridiculous situations, but her children definitely inherited that talent!
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Anne of Green Gables is a wonderful book/series!
Great list!!
Here’s my Top Ten Tuesday Post 🙂
– Kimberly @ Turning The Pages
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Seems like Anne was a very popular choice!
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I love Anne of Green Gables – I definitely have to read that whole series again! Excellent choice.
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Her other books are great, as well. I particularly like the Emily trilogy and Pat of Silver Bush and its sequel.
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Ohmygosh, Anne of Green Gables. I had utterly forgotten about those. Visions of my childhood are coming back to me. 😀
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So far everyone who has commented mentioned Anne! It’s great to see how much she’s loved!
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I also had Anne of Green Gables on my list. Clearly very popular.
I have been meaning to read The Lord of the Rings, though it didn’t make my list.
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I love so many of the selections on your list–The Chronicles of Narnia, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the Little House series, and To Kill a Mockingbird are all great choices!
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I’ve been meaning to pick up Villette one of these days since I hear the people who have read it preferred it to Jane Eyre and I actually love Jane Eyre. Maybe next time I play hooky?
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I think part of my bias is that I don’t like/respect Rochester very much. I realize that is a terrible thing to say and that the fangirls might come after me, but it is, sadly, true. However, I like Villette on its own merits, as well.
I loved that Anne made your Top Ten list, too!
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Rochester is pompous jerk, but I still like him. Although, that may be because when I first read the book as a 13 year old, I thought he was so romantic and dreamy. If I’d first read the book as an adult, it might be a different story!
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That’s a pretty accurate description of him, yes. 😀 My main problem with him, however, is that he lied to Jane on several occasions. He has a nice arc, though, and I think he learns something in the end.
That’s true. I often pick up on different things when I reread a book, especially if I’ve grown in some way since the last time I’ve read it.
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After reading the comments I must admit that I haven’t read Anne of Green Gables! Maybe its time to read it?
And as I’m constantly commenting on your Tolkien posts I don’t think its a suprise to know that I LOVE your first choice and its also on my list 🙂 But I must admit that I haven’t read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight translated by Tolkien so it’s added to my TBR pile 🙂
Here’s my TTT
http://lostinthought-becca.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/top-ten-tuesday-books-id-play-hooky.html
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Anne of Green Gables is truly a wonderful book. It’s not just for children, either, or one of those books you mostly enjoy because it reminds you of your childhood. It’s simply beautiful, and I think you would really like it!
The Lord of the Rings is simply the perfect way to spend a day off! I never like to start it unless I know have time to linger over it–and time to finish it. And the great thing about his version of Gawain is that it’s not only of interest to Tolkien fans–it’s actually recognized as a very good translation. He even kept the bob-and-wheel refrains.
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Lord of the Rings!!!! Woot! I love those books so hard. I’m also pretty excited to be doing a Hobbit read-along with some of my friends later this spring. I love that whole world and the mythology.
And Shelby Foote is one of my “I must read this in my lifetime” authors. I have big plans to read his Civil War set…eventually. Hopefully before I die, lol. Great list, though!
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Read-alongs with friends are the best! Did you decide to read it again because of the movie?
And I’m so glad you’re thinking of reading Shelby Foote! I am so impressed by what he’s done, even if I haven’t managed to get through his trilogy yet!
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Great list! I loved Anne of Green Gables, and I want to read so many others on your list!
My TTT
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I need to read the Anne books on my shelf again and see if I can get the rest of the books in the series from my library because I’ve not read anything beyond Anne of the Island.
I was quite surprised reading The Man in the Iron Mask because I had seen the film adaptation several times and I wasn’t expecting such a different story. I didn’t even realize there were other books besides The Three Musketeers and Iron Mask before I started reading the later!
I have only read Jane Eyre but I intend to read Charlotte’s other work soon!
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The rest of the books are phenomenal! I really love that Montgomery chose to follow her characters after they fell in love. Sometimes books make it seem like marriage is the end of all your adventures.
Really? The film isn’t like the book? If so, I can probably watch it. I’m conflicted now! I’ll probably still read the book first just to be safe, though. 😀 And for the longest time I’d only heard of The Three Musketeers. Once I realized Dumas had written four more books, I couldn’t understand why only the first and the last were popular!
I’ve only read Jane Eyre, Villette, and The Green Dwarf, so her other books are on my TBR list, as well!
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I had rather the same experience with The Man in the Iron Mask, only in reverse. I read the book first, and expected an entirely different movie. Nice thing about it, though, is that you don’t really have to worry about spoilers too much.
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Well, if that’s true, maybe I’ll take up my friend’s offer. She might be relieved to know she won’t have to wait six more years or so for this movie night to happen. 😀 Thanks for commenting!
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