Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
The rules are simple:
- Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.
- Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
- Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists.
- Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment on her weekly post.
This week – March 1, 2022 – the topic is:
Books I Enjoyed, but Have Never Mentioned On My Blog
This wasn’t an easy one to do, because I have been writing book reviews for so long, that I’m sure I’ve mentioned several novels I have loved but never wrote about. Still, let’s see if I can do this, listed in no particular order, and without any further ado… Here are 10 books I’ve loved but never reviewed on my blog.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. This is one of the books I read when I was just a kid – probably when I was in 7th or 8th grade. I never got good enough in French to read it in the original, as did many of my High School friends, but I did buy a translation into Hebrew for my kids. I’m sure this is one of those books that is so iconic that as much as it is probably an all-time favorite of many readers, few people have actually reviewed it on their blogs (at least I’ve hardly ever seen a review). I mean, what is there to review, right? It is a masterpiece for all ages!
Tess of the D’Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy. This is one of those books that I can remember so vividly that I’m sorry I read it so long before I started reviewing books. I’m sure my copy is from my British born husband, because before I read this, I don’t think I ever read anything by Hardy. While I also have a copy of his novel, The Return of the Native (a present from my father-in-law, according to the inscription), I’m afraid I never got around to reading it. However, I have it on my Classics Club list, so maybe I will get to it some day – maybe even sooner rather than later.
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (translated by Alison Anderson). If I hadn’t read this, I wouldn’t have gone on to read her debut novel, The Gourmand, which I liked a whole lot, and I certainly wouldn’t have gone on to read her last novel, A Single Rose, which was my #1 favorite novel of 2021. I wish I had a copy of this to keep on my shelf, but I borrowed it from a friend of my sister’s, and (like a good reader) gave it back promptly. Needless to say, I am a fan, and I’ll keep a sharp watch out for anything else she does that gets translated into English.
The Ladies of Missalonghi by Colleen McCullough. I could probably fill up this whole list with just books by McCullough that I’ve read and loved, but never reviewed. I’m picking this one because it was a commissioned book, and therefore is quite different from most of her other works (including The Thorn Birds, which I also read and loved, but didn’t review), but also because it was plagued by rumors that McCullough plagiarized it from The Blue Castle, a 1926 novel by L.M. Montgomery. I don’t know if the rumors were true or not, but I loved McCullough’s book. Maybe I should read Montgomery’s novel to compare them.
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. When I found an edition of this book with a translation into modern English by Nevill Coghill, I decided to give it a try. I’d heard quite a lot about this collection of connected, short stories, as any student of English literature would. Well, I was surprised at how interesting this book was, and I was glad I didn’t have to read it in the original, otherwise I’m sure I wouldn’t have been able to finish reading it (in fact, I’m absolutely sure of this. I know, because I remember trying to read a copy of the original and I gave up immediately).
The Enchanted Places by Christopher Milne. No, I don’t read non-fiction often, and hardly ever autobiographies, but once in a while a book just jumps out at me, and this was one of those. This is an account by the real Christopher Robin of how his life was as a child, seeing as he was once the most well-known little boy in all of England. What got me about this book was how charmingly innocent and lovely his writing was. I now see he wrote more after this, including a follow up to this first book. Maybe I should check out some of these – his writing is just delightful!
Someone is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe by Nan and Ivan Lyons. Okay, so, I don’t recall where or how I got this fun, culinary, murder mystery book, but I totally adored it! Then they made a movie out if it staring George Segal, Jacqueline Bissett, and Robert Morley – which was a surprisingly good adaptation. The thing is, I feel like I’m all alone with loving this book, and enjoying this sadly unknown film. I’d love to hear from anyone else who has read this, or the sequel about killing great chefs in America, as well as three other culinary, murder mystery novels, all of which I’m adding to my “wish list” since I see they were all re-released in 2018!
The Tommy & Tuppence Mystery Series by Agatha Christie. There are only five books in this series, although one is a collection of short stories. What I loved about these sleuths was that they aged so nicely throughout the series. I’m really sorry that I only read library copies of these, since I’d love to re-read them, and have my own collection on my shelves. (So if someone wants to buy me a nice birthday present (I turn 65 this year), this boxed set looks like just the thing… nudge, nudge, wink, wink!)
The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler. This book was my introduction to Tyler’s work, and I’ve been a fan ever since (even though I haven’t been as faithful of a reader as I could have been). I’m going to be reading her upcoming novel “French Braid” soon (got the ARC), and I can hardly wait. I’m also starting to fill in some gaps from her back list, and I recently bought a copy of her “Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant” so I’ll hopefully get to that one soon. I just adore her quirky characters, and how she seemingly writes so plainly, which is always deceptively evocative!
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje. Okay, I’m sure I’ve mentioned this on my blog a few times, but it is my #1 favorite book of all time, and I’ve never had the courage to write a review for it! Maybe some day I’ll re-read it and write a review for it, if I can – but I’m not sure there’s much I could say without effusing all over the place. Still, until then, I’ll allow this to be my biggest gaping hole in my list of book reviews. (Sorry, I hated the movie. Okay, I didn’t hate it, but it was NOT a good adaptation of the book, at all! In any case, I’m glad I read the book before I saw the movie.)
What about you? What are your some books you loved but haven’t written about on your blog?
The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog 
For me, it’s a number of Barbara Kingsolver books. I read her earlier novels before I started blogging.
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Great post, really enjoyed it. Almost all of your favourite books here are also my favourites, especially “The Little Prince”, “The English Patient” and “Tess of the D’Ubervilles”. It’s the first time I hear about “Someone is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe” and I am excited to find out more about it, a culinary murder mystery sounds like my cup of tea, thanks!
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It really is fun! I mean, it may not be great literature, but I enjoyed it so much, I’m seriously thinking of buying the other books by them.
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From this list I’ve read The Little Prince, The Elegance of the Hedgehog and The Canterbury Tales. I loved TLP, was unsure about The Elegance (though I loved the setting and idea of it) and found The Canterbury Tales… unexpected! I keep meaning to read The Accidental Tourist and finish The English Patient. I’ve not read much Ondaatje – only Warlight – but I was duly impressed and know I need to read more of his work (especially with being Canadian)! Great post, and thanks for the reminders!
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You’re welcome!
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I had a hard time with this topic, too. I’ve been blogging for so long that I feel as if I’ve talked about every book I’ve ever read a hundred times over! LOL.
I’ve never read anything by McCullough, but I did just download THE THORN BIRDS. I’m excited to finally read it.
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
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I love Tommy & Tuppence. Have you seen the old BBC adaptation? It was a lot of fun, captured the sort of madcap energy the two had.
Here’s my list this week: https://speedyreadercom.wordpress.com/2022/02/28/8-books-i-enjoyed-but-havent-mentioned-on-my-blog/
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Yes, I did see the BBC series – many years ago. It was very sweet, but it was only them when they were young.
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I’ve read (and liked) some on this list. You probably know that McCullough was accused of plagiarizing Lucy Montgomery’s “The Blue Castle.” I read and liked both books (Montgomery’s was much better) and can see why the accusation. Some passages were almost word for word.
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Yes… I’ll have to read Montgomery’s book.
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I think you will like it.
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I drew a total blank on this week’s topic! I’ve been blogging for long enough that I feel like I’ve mentioned ALL the books I love at least once. (But, if I’d had the energy to work on it, maybe I could have come up with at least a few .Oh well). Nice list! I do want to go back and re-read Tess at some point. Ah, and interesting about the plagiarism allegations. I just read The Blue Castle, so I think I”ll have to check out this book to compare.
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I love Tess of the D’Urbervilles and the Tommy and Tuppence mysteries (although I haven’t read all of them yet). I’ve never really considered reading The Canterbury Tales but reading a modern translation sounds like a good idea. Maybe I’ll give it a try!
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Some of my favourites in your post – and I haven’t reviewed them either, as I read them years ago long before blogging began. I read The Little Prince,Tess of the D’Urbervilles and some of The Canterbury Tales when I was at school. The Tommy and Tuppence books I read much later and I have reviewed four of them.
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So many books we have in common. I have read the first four plus “The Accidental Tourist”.
My TTT this week is all about trilogies.
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I wasn’t overly impressed with The Ladies of Missalonghi, but The Thorn Birds is one of the greatest novels of all time and I think I was expecting that, because it was the same author, it’d be just as good, so it probably didn’t have much of a chance with me!
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I just looked, and, even though I’ve marked it as read three times on Goodreads, and I’ve read it (haltingly and with much assistance) in English, French, Spanish, and Italian, I have never reviewed The Little Prince.
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If I enjoy a series and read beyond book #2, I don’t tend to blog about the other books as they are little interest to most readers unless they already know the books.
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Oh, you know… that’s very smart! Yes, I sometimes read a review and think I might be interested and then I find out that it is book 12 of a series and I think… oy!
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As you know, I’m not really a book blogger. I do review every book I read on Goodreads, but that’s about helping my awful memory as much as anything. I was pleased to have read exactly half of your list!
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Cool!
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So many I fear!
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Really!
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Oh…a plagiarism story!! I still haven’t read JoJo Moyes Kentucky novel for that reason.Very interesting that the English Patient is your favorite. I agree–the book was light years above the movie.Very good post!
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I never was interested in Moyes work (too romancy for me), and now I’ll never read anything she writes!
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I really liked Me Before You and One Plus One. Also one of her earlier ones–Ship of Brides because the war brides fascinate me. But, yes, they are mostly light reading. I’d read about her “research trip” to Kentucky. 2 weeks. In a motel. Right……. I smell an unscrupulous agent or publisher in that mess somewhere. Of course SHE got the movie deal not The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek author Kim Michele Richardson who knew the area. Happily the plagiarism thing helped her book. I’m reading the sequel now from Net Galley.
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I’ll be reading the sequel soon as well! I can hardly wait. (Two weeks research… sheesh!)
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There are some good ones on that list and some ones I haven’t read. I have written about all the books I have read since I started blogging (well, up to a point, because right now I’m about nine months behind my reading with my blog), but there are lots that I read before I started blogging. The House of Niccolo series by Dorothy Dunnett (anything by Dorothy Dunnett, but I think I’ve reviewed all her others), Tess of the D’Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy (looks like I HAVE reviewed Tess), bunches of Dickens novels that i haven’t reviewed yet, waiting for a reread. Gosh, I know there are others, but I can’t think of them right now.
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Yeah, this was hard to do. Tess… LOVED that book!
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