Top 5 Wednedsday: Books I’ve Felt Betrayed by

Top 5 Wednesday is hosted by Samatha at Thoughts on Tomes. The guidelines and topics can be found on the Goodreads group.

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Beware the Ides of March! What books (or characters) did you feel betrayed by, for whatever reason…big or small. 

It’s an interesting topic, so let’s get started:

1. Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice

First of all, I LOVE the first three books of The Vampire Chronicles. Love them to pieces and always will. The fourth one, Tale of the Body Thief, was not that good but, though I had some issues with it, it didn’t disappoint me completely. Memnoch the Devil was quite bad… And that made me so sad. From the day I read it, I decided to treat The Vampire Chronicles as a trilogy, because it really went downhill for me. Still, Lestat is amazing, so everything is forgiven. XD

2. The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

I loved The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel’s Game, so when the third book in the series came out I was more than excited. Though The Prisoner of Heaven ties up the two previous books, it wasn’t as magical as they were. It was, and I’m so sad to say it, quite boring…

3. The Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

I didn’t expect much of this book, but when I started it I though I might be wrong. It seemed it would be interesting. And then – it wasn’t. I don’t care about the forbidden love of the two main characters! I wanted magic, and danger, and mystery! But a forbidden love story was all I got.

4. The Fire by Katherine Neville

This book is a sequel to The Eight, a book I found very interesting. It is a perfect example of why I prefer standalones to series. This sequel was completely unnecessary. And boring. Though I read these books quite a lot of time ago, I still remember the general storyline of The Eight, but I have forgotten what happens in this one. I only remember the disappointment.

5. On the Road by Jack Kerouac

I really though I would love this one. The premise seemed great, and many people love it. In the end, I didn’t like it at all. Reading it was a painful experience to me and I almost didn’t finish it. Don’t hate me, please!

So, that’s it! No hard feelings, eh? 😉

Top 5 Wednesday: Books I Want to Re-Read

I’ve found out about the Top 5 Wednesday group on Goodreads quite some time ago, and I always wanted to participate but never did… Now it’s the time to start doing it! Maybe not every Wednesday, but as often as I can. They have some very interesting ideas, just like this one.

So, here are the five books I’d like to re-read:

1. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.

I loved this book! I’ve already read it two times, but I feel the need to re-read it. And soon!

2. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo

I’ve read this book in college and it immediately became my favourite. And favourites have to be re-read. 😉 I don’t own a copy, though, but I’ll get it soon.

3. The Cemetery of Forgotten Books series by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

These books are so lovely, dark and cosy at the same time. I would definitely like to re-read them.

4. Just Kids by Patti Smith

An amazing book like this one has to be read many times!

5. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

My all-time favourite, I’ll probaby read it many, many times more. 🙂 As you can see in the picture, the book is already very battered.

I hope I’ll have the time to actually read them all again in the near future. 😉

My Top 7 Books

Since my blog is mostly book and literature-related, I thought it would be fitting to make a short list of all-time-favourites. I won’t go into much detail, I’ll just explain shorty why I like them, but you’re welcome to ask me anything you want. Why top 7? Well, I didn’t want a huge list, but top 5 just wasn’t enough so 7 it is! XD

These are not in any particular order, I feel it would be almost impossible to rate them like that. So, here we go:

1. The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

The series that made me fall in love with books once again, and is probably the reason that I’m such a bookworm today. My love for this series cannot be put to words. 🙂

2. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

When someone asks me what my favourite book is, I usually say Frankenstein. This book is amazing on so many levels… Looking at the world through the creature’s eyes makes you think about human nature and humanity in general, about all the evils we do and the injustice many have to face. The book incorporates so many different elements – from Gothic to SciFi, questions related to science and philosophy. The ultimate question – who is the real monster: the creature of Frankenstein – is up to you to answer.

3. The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

The book is set in the Middle Ages, and that always attracts me. It’s devastatingly sad and dark, but the style is the complete opposite. Hugo is sarcastic, even funny, while all the characters’ stories are heartbreaking. And it works so well… I just love everything about this book.

4. The Seven Churches: A Gothic Novel of Prague by Miloš Urban

This book’s subtitle is a good introduction to what you can expect. A bit of history and architecture of Prague, a bit of spookiness and gore, and also a murder mystery. And and amazing ending! The book is incredibly atmospheric, I dare to say kafkaesque (and I love Kafka!) and medievalist (yes, the Middle Ages again). There’s just so much to say about it and that’s what makes it so great.

5. The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

I just love Zafon’s writing, and I had to mention him in this post. I chose The Angel’s Game because it’s my favourite, but I would recommend The Shadow of the Wind and Marina as well. The Shadow of the Wind, The Angel’s Game and The Prisoner of Heaven are actually a series, but the last one was a bit of a disappointment. However, the other two were so good that I decided to overlook that.

6. 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

You might have noticed that I like a bit weird books. So, of course, I adore Murakami. 1Q84 made me fall in love with him, but you won’t be sorry for trying Murakami in general. His books make me feel like I’m on some other planet, and they draw me so much into their strangeness that I start to expect strange things to happen in real life, too.

7. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

And in the end, something completely different. Nothing strange, nothing weird, but still so engaging and wonderful. Honestly, I didn’t expect much of this book, but it surprised me. Another wonderful perspective on humanity, human feelings and weaknesses. And Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything is Illuminated is great, too.

And here the list ends. I’ll probably remember a book I loved but didn’t mention here but what can you do…