Tuesday 23 August 2011

Top Ten Tuesday

Hola amigoes and amigettes! (tooootally not a word, I realise...) Welcome to another installment of 'Laura likes to make lists', graciously assisted by The Broke and the Bookish every Tuesday. A slight tweak to this weeks topic- instead of books I loved that I didn't review (and trust me there are plenty of these, my blogs origin being in January of this year) I'm going for authors that I LOVE, and yet have never reviewed a single one of their books! The craziness of me!

Top Ten Authors I Love But Have Never Reviewed


1. Joyce Carol Oates- I went through a whole Oatesian phase, have probably read 5 or 6 of her books, and yet I have never reviewed her wondefulness on any platform other than my own head. I do, however, have Blonde, which I believe is a sort of fictionalised biography of Marilyn Monroe, sitting next to my bed at the moment, so that could all change in the next few weeks!

2. Jane Austen- Of course I've read all six of Jane Austens novels, and all of them long before I started this blog. I just find it a bit sad that I haven't really said nice things about her on my blog. Needless to say, she rocks my world. And maybe I'll reread Northanger Abbey or Persuasion soon and say lovely things about it. Ditto Charlotte Bronte.

3. George Orwell- I love me some political minded, stop all the madness fiction, especially when the British government is the way it is. Nonetheless, I haven't read any Orwell, the master of this, for quite a long time. My plans for an 'Orwell October' could change all of this, mind you... Keep tuned for that one.

4. Tennessee Williams- Other than Tony Kushner, probably my favourite playwright. And yet, no reviews of his work, even though I'm taking part in a GLBT reading challenge. It's possible that studying Cat on a Hot Tin Roof twice in my educational life has done me in, which is a real shame, because the gushing I can do about Williams doesn't even bear thinking about!

5. Margaret Atwood- Ok, so I've only read one book by her so far (except possibly Cat's Eye when I was younger but I don't remember it) but it is pretty much one of the most awesome books I've ever read. The Handmaid's Tale, therefore, is sorely in need of a reread by me, and damn the millions of unread books I own!

6. Annie Proulx- As I think I may have mentioned before, I have a little bit of a love/hate relationship with Proulx. Nonetheless, I have read nearly all her books, am in fact the owner of nearly all her books, and yet I haven't reviewed a single one of them. I'll do a tiny review for you right now: Accordion Crimes is pretty amazing, and you should probably read it if you haven't yet.

7. William Shakespeare-  I really do love Shakespeare- I visited Stratford Upon Avon the other week and it was like the biggest thrill of my life! I haven't read all his plays (to be totally honest, I've only read the pretty well known ones) but I want to, and I definitely want to review them here- must get on that!


8. Paul Auster- I've read about 4 or 5 Auster books and I love love loved every single one of them! Since I have unfortunately nearly exhausted my supply of Auster books, I'm going to have to buy some more before I review them here- but trust me, when I do, it's going to be good!


9. Bret Easton Ellis- As with Proulx, I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Bret Easton Ellis- I have more or less read all of his books, but I sort of feel a bit empty and disheartened at the end of them. I suspect that this is exactly the kind of effect he is trying to provoke in his readers, which means he is very successful at achieving his aims, but whether or not this means I like him or not is up for debate.


10. J K Rowling- I know its a painfully unoriginal thing to say, but I adore Harry Potter so so so much. I'm not going to say that the books got me into reading or anything like that, because I was reading looong before I read them, but they are utterly fantastic. I think it's fair to say that I'm probably going to re-read them again in my life, and when I do I'll tell you the things I think about them (prepare for gusharoony times...)

So that's my top ten. Not quite reflective of this week's topic, but I could pick a book from each of these authors that I liked and haven't reviewed yet, and I will do so if it makes anyone feel any better: We Were the Mulvaneys, Emma, 1984, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Handmaid's Tale, Accordion Crimes, Macbeth, The New York Trilogy, American Psycho, and, you know, all the Harry Potter books! (The Goblet of Fire is probably my favourite). One day, perhaps, I will review these for you. But it won't be today... Looking forward to all your favourite books that haven't made it to your blogs yet too!

8 comments:

  1. I admire how you bravely admitted that you've never reviewed a single book by these amazing authors. Now that you bring it up, there are undoubtedly authors I've also failed to review. For me, it is a feeling of intimidation; I can't possibly review Shakespeare!

    Hope you will stop by and take a look at my post for this week: Top Ten Books You Never Wrote a Review For. And don't forget to sign up for the Readerbuzz August Giveaway!

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  2. i liked how you went by authors. i'm with you about jane austen and jk rowling. great list!

    check out my top ten list this week.

    -Michelle

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  3. OOh, if you review Orwell, do Road to Wigan Pier! That's one of my favourite books! What a great list! I haven't reviewed anything by any of these authors either - most of them are so good, I think I'd feel all intimidated. >.>

    Here's my top ten list for this Tuesday.

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  4. Joyce Carol Oates! Great choice! I read The Gravedigger's Daughter a few years ago and I loved it! But I haven't read anything more...

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  5. Blonde is one of my favorite Oates books!! I can't wait to hear what you think of it.

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  6. Shakespeare almost made my list - I've loved almost everything I've read of his, but I've never reviewed them (probably because I haven't read any Shakespeare since starting my blog two years ago - sad).

    I had to go back and re-read the Harry Potter series last year, with intent to review. I really needed to make a clear, unbiased evaluation of each of the books.. and I think it turned out well.

    I'm reading Orwell right now! 1984. I'll definitely be reviewing it (since I review all my reads now) - but I read Animal Farm years ago and don't have a review for that one.

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  7. I've never read one of Oates' fiction books. I think I need to, because I like her memoir and her short stories. I have nearly all of Ellis as well, but only reviewed one book on the blog. I understand your ambivalence concerning him.

    Come check out my list for the week at The Scarlet Letter.

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  8. Joyce Carol Oates is an author I've always wanted to try. I'm not sure I've reviewed many by a lot of these popular authors either, it's hard to review books so ingrained in culture! My husband is a big fan of Annie Proulx, he's always urging me to read Accordian Crimes.

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