The Lovely Eggs Top Ten
This week we have a great Top Ten from the Lovliest eggs about....The Lovely Eggs!
Top 10 Fiction. Here’s a list of my Top 10 novels. I’ve loads more in my list than this and hard to choose favourites but here are ten of the best on my shelf…
1. A Confederacy of Dunces- John Kennedy O’Toole
This book was so joyous I actually sat up in bed, bumped my head and clapped! O’Toole just knocked it out of the park with this one. Ignatius Reilly is one of literature’s greatest characters.
2. In Watermelon Sugar - Richard Brautigan
Richard Brautigan has got to be one of my all time favourite authors. His style is like nothing I’d ever read before and I was immediately hooked. This was the first book of his I ever read and is still my favourite.
3. All That I Have - Castle Freeman
All of my favourite authors are dead, apart from this one. The man is an absolute genius and one of my favourite ever authors (including all the dead ones). His characters and style is so unique. And although he’s relatively unknown he’s one of the best around. This book is a cracker but they all are.Take a risk and discover the wonders of Castle Freeman!
4. Pillars of the Earth- Ken Follett
I’m not really in for best selling authors. But I make an exception for Ken Follett. Pillars of the Earth is the first in a Trilogy of books set in the medieval town of Kingsbridge. I’m a bugger for medieval history anyway but this is excellently written and a complete page turner. I think the 4th in the series has just come out but not in paperback yet so I’m hanging out. His other Century trilogy series is also amazing and gives you a great insight into 20th history.
5. Ham on Rye- Charles Bukowski
Charles Bukowski was one of the first authors that made me realise that reading books didn’t have to all be about posh people, "Pride and Prejudice” style. We did all that at school and I hated it. It said nothing to me about my life. Reading Bukowski at 15 made me sit up and realise that books didn’t have to be like that. I’ve read all his novels. Love all of them. Ham on Rye is Bukowski at his most vulnerable.
6. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance- Robert M. Pirsig
I remember hearing a lot about this book before I read it. I mean it had a reputation. In a sense it was quite ‘hard’ to read but I think that sometimes it’s worth pushing through. And this one is definitely worth it.
7. Illusions - Richard Bach
David introduced me to Richard Bach and this book. It’s a tiny little thing and when I read it something just clicked. Everything he was writing about just made sense to me and it fitted with how I saw life and wanted to live it. Sometimes you’ve just got to let go!
8. Another Roadside Attraction- Tom Robbins
This is a trippy off the wall story about a couple who open a hotdog stand (“Captain Kendrick's Memorial Hot Dog Wildlife Preserve.”) It’s absolutely bonkers and goes to a whole new level when the mummified corpse of Jesus Christ arrives on the scene. This is probably my favourite novel by Tom Robbins but they are all good and equally barmy.
9. Sutree- Cormac McCarthy
There’s a few authors that I’ve read absolutely everything they have ever written and Cormac McCarthy is one of them. I just can’t get enough of his style. It is absolutely bang on.
10. Roots- Alex Haley
My cousin bought me this book for my birthday. Knew nothing about it before that and had no idea they based a TV series on it in the 1970s. It tells the heartbreaking tale of the American slave trade focusing on the main character Kunta Kinte, who is kidnapped from Africa and taken to America as a slave. The book follows his life and his ancestors in a gripping, sad and beautiful story. It also gives you a great insight into the history of African Americans today.
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