I’m always pushing books on my sister. Ones I tell her to read, ones I tell her to buy, ones I tell her to stop judging a give a go anyway. Sometimes they’re for a particular reason; a lesson I want her to learn, but mostly, they’re just excellent reads. Here are the five books I most want my little (she’s nearly 17, so not exactly little, but whatever...) sister to read:
Beauty
Queens, Libba
Bray
My sister has actually bought
this, she’s just intimidated by the length. Beauty
Queens changed my perspective on many things to do with being a girl in the
21st Century and opened my eyes to ways we are oppressed that I didn’t
even realise. She also made points about the social roles of a woman and the
ridiculous ideals of female beauty, all wrapped up in a hilarious, addictive
and engaging desert island story. The woman’s a genius.
Graceling,
Kristin
Cashore
Kristen
Cashore is another that made me look at women and feminism in another light. Katsa
isn’t your typical heroine; she knows what she wants and who she is and falling
in love only strengthens that. She isn’t compromised in the slightest. She’s
the type of heroine you want people to see as their role model. Oh, man, now I want
to re-read Graceling...
How
to Love, Katie
Cotugno
This is my favourite book of
2013 so far. I fell unexpectedly head over heels for Reena and Sawyer’s story
and I’m telling everyone to read it, regardless of genre preferences. It’s
beautiful, heart-achey, realistic and hopeful. I just...read it. Now.
How
I Live Now, Meg
Rosoff
Meg
Rosoff’s debut is quite possibly my favourite book. It opened my eyes to the
sheer possibilities of novels. There are no rules for Rosoff in her fiction and
no subject is too much to handle. I’d never read anything like it, and I still
haven’t. I just wish my sister would take my word for it and dive in...
Junk,
Melvin Burgess
I think everyone should read
this book. It’s as simple as that really. Shocking, controversial and
beautifully written; it changed YA in so many respects and I regard it as a
classic. Junk is a book that is still
being banned, seventeen years after publication, and that in itself makes it
worth a look, right? Anything that stirs up idiots who like to ban books for
such a long time is obviously an important read.
So there you are, the five
books I wish my little sister would read.
Which books would you want your
little sister/daughter/niece to read? Do you disagree with any of my choices?
Sophie
Totally agree, especially with How To Love and Beauty Queens, even though I haven't read it. I sometimes wish my little brother would read more, but he does ok. He's just so slow!
ReplyDeleteI feel super bad because I haven't read any of them. I will correct it with How I Live Now next month and I must buy Beauty Queens soon. I have Junk on my TBR too, so I don't feel tooooo bad now. I'll have to get a move on now and read them.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Sophie! :D
What an interesting post. If I had a younger sister, I would want her to check out The Book Thief (when she's old enough to understand it) and of course the Harry Potter series.
ReplyDeleteI actually haven't read any of these! I'm a terrible reader. I didn't realise Junk was a banned book; I totally want to read it now ;)
ReplyDelete