This week's topic is:
TOP TEN BOOKS IF YOU LIKED X AUTHOR
No big surprise that I couldn't pull through a complete top ten this week since I only made it to number five last week, but this week's topic was just as challenging for me! One of my issues with this particular list (which you will probably pick up once you start reading my suggestions) is that it is difficult for me to categorize an author as one type of writer throughout the sum of their career; while some works may be similar in tone, voice and message as others, I tend to veer away from authors who consistently present me with the same type of story every time I grab up one of their books. There are exceptions to this rule, of course, but for the most part I have found this to be the case in my reading habits.Here is my paltry list of four "If you like X, then you should check out Y" authors and books:
1. If you liked C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia series, then you should check out the Gregor the Overlander series by Suzanne Collins Both of these series take normal, everyday kids dealing with their own human struggles and thrusts them into a mysterious land just beyond th reach of our own. Adventures ensue once the children make it to their respective "other worlds" and lessons are always learned on their paths.
2. If you liked Daniel Keyes' Flowers for Algernon, then you should check out the Marcelo in the Real World Each of these novels takes a look at a protagonist who has been labeled as learning disabled in one way or another and then is challenged to assimilate into the mainstream world. As each of these characters take us on their respective (and very different) journeys we, as readers, are left wondering what our world truly has to offer.
3. If you liked Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, then you should check out Susan Beth Pfeffer's The Last Survivors series. The similarities in these tales is that all of these books are about survival in extreme circumstances. They all look at the stark contrast between that which we are used to having around us and that which it takes to survive. While Paulsen's tale can be a lonely one as it follows one boy's struggle, Pfeffer's places her protagonists in a survival scenario that is not separate from the people in the everyday lives.
4. If you liked Elie Weisel's Night, you should check out Art Spielgalman's Maus. While the latter is in a completely different format - its a graphic novel - it is brilliantly done. It is one of the greatest graphic novels ever written and is one of the great artifacts that shows the depth and richness of storytelling the media of graphic novels make possible. The writing is wonderful, the story is classic, but the art and artistic choices add even more to the discussion.
3. If you liked Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, then you should check out Susan Beth Pfeffer's The Last Survivors series. The similarities in these tales is that all of these books are about survival in extreme circumstances. They all look at the stark contrast between that which we are used to having around us and that which it takes to survive. While Paulsen's tale can be a lonely one as it follows one boy's struggle, Pfeffer's places her protagonists in a survival scenario that is not separate from the people in the everyday lives.
4. If you liked Elie Weisel's Night, you should check out Art Spielgalman's Maus. While the latter is in a completely different format - its a graphic novel - it is brilliantly done. It is one of the greatest graphic novels ever written and is one of the great artifacts that shows the depth and richness of storytelling the media of graphic novels make possible. The writing is wonderful, the story is classic, but the art and artistic choices add even more to the discussion.
Have you read all of these books?
Do you have more to suggest?
What are you best author match ups?
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