ROMAN GODFREY Hemlock Grove | S01E11

Hello!

Your Top 5 favourite books ? Could be something that you've reread again & again or something so great that you read it once and would not go back to because it was so tragic etc?

Ahhh anon, I was actually already separately drafting a different list of books wot i like just because I feel I've been doing a lot of book hateratin' in my tags lately, so thank you for this!

In no particular order...

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel: I think everyone's read this because it's a bestseller, but it really is that good. It snuck up on me when I first read it. I didn't really process how much I loved it until it was like months after I finished it and I was still thinking about it. I love the themes of how art and humanity go hand in hand, and how the human nature to create will persist. It's a really lovely message from, and one that feels more realistic to the real world than the general trends in post-apocalyptic stuff (which I tend to read a lot). I re-read this during lockdown season 1 because, given the uncomfortable similarities between this book and the early pandemic, I really wanted to connect with that message again. The TV adaptation is also incredible in its own right too.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: I read this for the first time like last year and whether you know the story or not I cannot over-emphasise how much fun it is to read. The absolute adrenaline rush and second-hand embarrassment when Mrs de Winter gets ready for the costume party, and you know it's not gonna go well. Riveting! Horrible! No spoilers but when the reveal finally happened I felt like I'd just done a hit of cocaine. I've made a web-weaving post about this before, but elements of it reminded me so much of Phantom Thread. They're like the inverse of each other. Genuinely such a fun read.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: The only book I read in school that I actually liked. I remember I started reading the homework chapters on the train home from school one day and was so absorbed I kept reading it as I walked home like Belle in Beauty and the Beast, and then I kept reading it when I got home and didn't even eat lunch I was so enraptured, and then my mam came home and found me sobbing at the kitchen table because I'd just finished it, and she was panicking like "what happened?" and I'm like "Lennie just wanted to pet some rabbit 😭😭😭"

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: My childhood favourite. This book is sooooo beautiful. Really brutal, but I'm really glad I read this as a kid, because I think, while adults can still appreciate it, childhood is when this one really hits. Absolutely gorgeous writing. The POV coming from Death Personified is still absolutely genius to me. Another one that I binged (at a sleepover at my childhood best friends house) only to be caught sobbing at the end.

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn: My fave of Flynn's that I've read. Gone Girl is fun but this one is just visceral. The sense of suspense and discomfort in every word of this is so palpable. Thee literal definition of a thriller. There were parts that genuinely made me flinch, but I simply could not look away.

Honorary mentions:

I always really love everything Jon Ronson writes, though idk if I'd ever call any of them my favourites. I think he has a really amazing way of getting horrific people to say the quiet part out loud, and not even realise they're doing it. His books are always so funny. Them and So You've Been Publicly Shamed are my faves among his work. His podcast series called The Last Days of August is also really good.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention them raven cycle books because Adam Parrish is my son. I raised him. Not my favourite books except for all the ways in which they are.

Territory of Light by Yuko Tsushima: I don't know if I'd call this a favourite either, but I always recommend it to people because it's short and easy, and I don't think many people have heard of it. I picked it up on a whim when I was in a reading slump, and I just loved the way the atmosphere is built up. It also plays around with how love and resentment can coexist within a relationship, which is a theme I personally love dearly.