Ten Books for Spring - Classics and Beyond

It's only taken me several days, but I think I've come up with a good list for this week's Top Ten Tuesday:

1. The Kill, by Émile Zola
Making an exception in my "no more reading challenges" resolution - I plan to read The Kill for Fanda's Zoladdiction event next month.  It's one of Zola's shorter novels and, from what I hear, an interesting one!

2. Ben-Hur, by Lew Wallace (re-read)
I just started Book 2, so I have a ways to go yet.  :)

3. North Korea's Hidden Revolution: How the Information Underground Is Transforming a Closed Society, by Jieun Baek
How do people share information that's illegal, and what information would a person risk their life to access?  This topic appeals to me for both historical and universal reasons.

4. The Accusation: Forbidden Stories from Inside North Korea, by Bandi
"Bandi" is an author in North Korea, whose short stories from the 80s and 90s were smuggled out and published recently.  Saw this while browsing my library's ebooks and thought it would be interesting.

5.  Picnic at Hanging Rock, by Joan Lindsay
Found out about this through O's review... has it been nearly a year ago?!  I like a good psychological mystery.

6.  The Castle, by Franz Kafka
Spring takes me back to college days, when I was stereotypically discovering Kafka instead of reading my textbooks.  The Castle is, I believe, the last work of fiction I haven't read by him.

7. Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë (re-read)
Though I read this book two or three times, many years ago, I never properly understood or reviewed it.  Perhaps it will propel me to finish the Brontë sisters' novels as well (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and The Professor are still TBR).

8. The Island of Dr. Moreau, by H. G. Wells (re-read)
I was recently reminded how relevant this little sci-fi/horror classic is.  Need to read it again and review it in full.

9. George: A Novel of T. E. Lawrence, by E.B. Lomax
What if Lawrence's accident wasn't fatal?  From what I've seen, this is the best-rated historical fiction novel written about Ned, and the concept intrigues me.

10. (wildcard)
Lately I've stumbled across a variety of books that I want to read soon, some of them quite random.  Hopefully I'll get to at least one of them this spring!

Comments

Fanda Kutubuku said…
The Kill is a good choice to enjoy Zola. It provides a lot of beautiful scenery, although not my favorite book. Anyway, good luck with Zola!

I have only read Ben Hur from your other list, but I m curious about The Island of Dr. Moreau!
Marian H said…
Dr. Moreau is short but chilling!
Brian Joseph said…
Thanks for stopping by my blog Marian. I have been reading some of your posts. Your blog is excellent. This is an impressive list. Of the books that I have not read I want to read. I loved the film Picnic at Hanging Rock. I did not know that it was a book. I must read it. Lately there have been a lot of books about North Korea published. I want to read at least one. Both of these look good.
Marian H said…
Thanks for the feedback - I'm so glad to hear that!

So far I've only read two books on North Korea, but I can highly recommend both of them: Not Forgotten by Kenneth Bae, and Dear Leader by Jang Jin-sung. They were very eye-opening, personal stories from different perspectives and hard to put down.
I read Wuthering Heights back when I was in college - happy reading!
Marian H said…
Thanks! I'm looking forward to it. :)

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