Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Top Ten Books I'd Play Hooky With



Top Ten Tuesday is hosted weekly by the lovely ladies at The Broke and The Bookish.


For the sake of not boring you all with the same ten books I always post, I arbitrarily decided that "books I'd play hooky with" means light, spring/summery reads that you could take to the park and read in an afternoon. Of course, it turns out that none of my books are exactly what most people think of as "beach reads" (I know, you're shocked, right?) so some of them may be kind of...um...borderline.

Milrose Munce and the Den of Professional Help
Douglas Anthony Cooper

For the crime of talking to people who aren't really there (otherwise known as ghosts) Milrose Munce is sentenced to Professional Help. With the help of fellow Professional Helpee Arabella, he must find a way to escape before he can be Cured. This book is hilariously absurd and lots of fun to read. There are grotesque ghosts and explosions and other fun things, so you should definitely check it out.


Rachel Hawkins

Another light(er) book, Hex Hall is funny, sweet, and cute. When Sophie uses her witch abilities in public one too many times, with disastrous results, her father sends her to Hecate Hall, a sort of school for supernatural delinquents. Though she's supposed to be safer there, it turns out there's even more danger at Hex Hall than there was in the normal world.

Hounded
Kevin Hearne

Atticus O'Sullivan, snarky Druid extraordinaire, stars in this urban fantasy about the Celtic pantheon. It's always interesting to see different myths crop up in UF books, and Kevin Hearne does a great job incorporating Irish mythology as well as more well-known legends like vampires, werewolves, witches, and all sorts of gods and goddesses.

Darynda Jones

Not a page of this book goes by without Charley Davidson saying something Impressively Witty. Yes, it's a little ridiculous, but it's fun, which is the point of this list. Charley can see and interact with the dead, an ability she's used to help her father and uncle, both detectives, and to start her own private eye business. But it turns out there's a lot more to her ability than she ever imagined possible.

Sandman Slim
Richard Kadrey

Have you noticed that my idea of "light" frequently involves lots of explosions? This is like the cherry on top of the whipped cream on top of the ice cream of the "explosions" pile. There's lots of death and destruction, but it's fun death and destruction. Sort of. Okay not really. Stark returned from Hell intending to wreak vengeance on the people who killed his girlfriend. Fine, I have no idea why I put it one here, except that it reads like a really exciting action movie. That's fun and light, right?

Robert Kroese

I think I've read this book about six times and it's been hilarious every single one. If Douglas Adams wrote a book about the Apocalypse, it would look like this, but not as good. Plus, you should definitely read it this year, before the world ends in December. It's double theme appropriate!

Sunshine
Robin McKinley

I absolutely did not put this on here just because I want to include it on every list I ever write. Nope. I'm totally impartial. But it does have a heroine whose magic is tied to sunlight, and part of it takes place in the summer! You can just ignore all the blood and gore and death and those kinds of things. It's called Sunshine, therefore it is appropriate. QED.

Rick Riordan

Look, I found some books that actually are light! It's just a coincidence that they're at the end of the list. And there are still definitely people trying to kill other people in them. But they fit my definition of light, which is pretty much that they make you laugh while trying to kill your favorite characters. Anyway.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is an absolutely wonderful series. It contains actually accurate Greek myths (I'm looking at you, The Goddess Test), lovable characters, and a truly great story. Percy's narration is a lot of fun to read, and these books are easy to get through. Great for a warm afternoon!

Leviathan
Scott Westerfeld

Why is it that a girl pretending to be a boy is always such a fun story? Leviathan has not only that, but cool steampunk/...bioengineering steampunk? I have no idea what to call the Darwinist creations. Terminology aside, Leviathan is great for it's setting, characters, and story.


Patricia C. Wrede

This was easily one of my favorite books growing up, and it cemented my love of dragons forever. Princess Cimorene doesn't particularly enjoy being a princess, and has no desire to get married. So she runs off and becomes a dragon's princess, leading to some excellent scrapes and situations.






So that's it for this week! What did you pick for this topic? Leave your links in the comments!

18 comments:

  1. I've been meaning to read Hex Hall! And I have The Lightning Thief waiting for me in my Kindle right now...Great list! Thanks!

    Here's <a href="http://julie999.blogspot.com/2012/03/top-ten-tuesday-books-to-play-hooky.html> mine </a>

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  2. I haven't read most of the titles on your list, I'm afraid. But I loved the entire Hex Hall series!

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  3. I want to read more Patricia C. Wrede, maybe I'll go with DWD next :) Thanks!

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  4. Great list! Hex Hall sounds pretty good. Would love for you to hop on by.

    http://ajarndtbooks.blogspot.com/

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  5. What a fun list! I'm interested in Dealing With Dragons - but scared to add even more books to my TBR pile. Maybe I'll give it a go, anyway. :)

    Ree @ Literary Obsession
    My TTT Post

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  6. Great list! I've added some more to my TBR list! I heard great things about Robin McKinley and read Chalice, but was sort of ambivalent toward it. Maybe I need to dive into Sunshine instead!

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  7. I haven't read any of the titles on your list but I can see that I'm going to have to add some to my already overflowing TBR list.

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  8. Hounded! It was recommended to me by a friend but I had forgotten the title and the author... whoops!
    But your list has reminded me so thanks!

    I too really enjoyed the Lightening Thief. I think I'm one of the few who actually prefer the film (only because I like that they're a little older) than the book but the books are great!

    - Kate

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  9. Awesome list! I haven't heard of many of these but, looking at the descriptions, I would still like to play hooky with them! I love books that make you laugh while your favourite character is about to get mutilated!

    My TTT: http://pocketfulofbooksblogger.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/top-ten-tuesday-playing-hooky-with.html

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  10. Hi there, just popping in... I really need to start reading the Charlie Davidson series, it sounds great :D

    I’m also your newest follower!

    :) Here is my choice...
    Top Ten Tuesday

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  11. Loved Hex Hall series. Did you read the last one? Crazy ending and hoping for another one! Great Choices!
    My Top Ten

    Happy Reading!
    Amanda @ Sisters Unedited

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  12. Great list! I think I need to read Rick Riordan's books :) and Dealing with Dragons looks great too, I love dragons!
    Happy Reading :)

    http://lostinthought-becca.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/top-ten-tuesday-books-id-play-hooky.html

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  13. You convinced me, I am making a date with Mercury Falls.

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  14. Fun list =) Some great books here that I love, and some that immediately went on my TBR list. Your last four especially probably should have made my list (Leviathan was the only one that actually did) but 10 was just not enough to get to all of my favorite "hooky" reads lol

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  15. There's so many great books on this list! I also tried to go for the "light, spring/summery" books and kind of FLOPPED myself, but oh well.
    So many of these books need to be under my eyeballs right now! Hex Hall was great and I LOVE LOVE Percy Jackson! But Sunshine, Milrose Munce and Mercury Falling all sound awesome. I'm adding them to my TBR Monster right now. :-)

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