Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books That Are Light and Fun!

This is definitely an easy Top Ten for me… especially now that the sun is bright and warm, these are fun little reads hat I stand by for lovely summer park reading. As usual, Top Ten Tuesday is brought to you by the lovelies over at The Broke and The Bookish.

In no particular order:

1. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

I raved about this book a few weeks ago -- I absolutely LOVED this book.It was so much fun and such a joy to read that I literally almost cried because it was like playtime was over. 

2. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Always fun, funny and about trying to find your place in the universe. Really strange circumstances, interesting characters. This has always been a fallback for me when I read a heavy book and need a good pick me up.

3. Fool by Christopher Moore

Christopher Moore has a way of making Shakespeare tragedy awfully fun to laugh at. Honestly, any of Moore's books are great when you need something to laugh at - he's made it an art form!

4. Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

Not a novel, but comics! You'll probably see me reviewing comics in the future, too, by the way. Calvin and Hobbes has always been a childhood favourite and I've related them heavily to my sister. I'm not at all close with my sister but this is one thing we definitely share in common and the laughs together has given me warm touchy-feelies.

5. Any of Roald Dahl's children's stories. (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Matilda, James and the Giant Peach)

Nostalgic children's books. So good!

6. The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks

Because it's amusing…and well, everyone needs to read this just in case.

7. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman always writes some amusingly fun books. I chose Neverwhere due to the strange characters and sarcastic wit he writes with. 

8. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

The books get darker and darker the further you read into the series, but this first book is quite delightful and joyful for the most part. It certainly sends you on a great adventure, if anything.

9. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Another childhood favourite full of heart warming loveliness and happiness.

10. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Although there is some heavy subject matter such as war, this book has bits that make you giggle, and it's a very quick read, but an excellent one.

April: What I've Read and What I'm Reading.

Being unemployed and having no money to really go anywhere unless I need to means that I can really only do so much. I've mostly been spending my time either on the internet or reading, of course. There is a high probability that as of late, I've been reading far more than I've been internet-ing. I think I may have forgotten to eat a meal once until my stomach gargled and by my annoyance, sought to satiate it so it wouldn't disturb my book any longer.

I started a reading challenge at the beginning of the year. I always loved to read but struggled to find books that might interest me. Fortunately, the internet has bestowed upon me the glory that is Goodreads. Now, I've successfully ventured back into the habit of reading something daily and have committed to reading 24 books within the year... which considering the pace at which I'm going this month, I may have to increase. 24 books within this year almost seems...too easy, considering how many books I really want to read. Maybe I should really push myself and go for 50? 100? I guess we'll see.

On that note, what have I been reading as of late?

I started reading House Of Leaves in March and finished it the first week of April. Can you say amazing? It kind of blew my mind. A story built with three stories - a challenging read with an experimental (VERY experimental) format. The book itself is dark, terrifying, and if you have a vivid imagination, it may make you look twice when you're alone the in the dark. It's also a fun read! I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for something different and who's looking for something that will really make them work and think about what possibly could be going on in this book. The pages, the "journey" it even takes you on, it's absolutely beautiful and disorienting.

With my fellow Goodreads redditors, I've been reading Fool by Chrisopher Moore. Although we have the month to read it, it's a quick read and I may just jump ahead and finish the book early. For those of you who don't know, this novel is a retelling of Shakespeare's King Lear from the point of view of the Fool. I've read Moore's Bloodsucking Fiends before and in comparison, the humor is vastly similar but he really shows his talent as a writer with his creative use of language. This book definitely has me smiling and chuckling to myself in places, and this isn't meant to sound like the book is terrible, but I imagine this book would be a good read on the toilet, too. What? Your best ideas happen when you're in the bathroom, right?

This month seems to be the month of humorous or satirical books for me. My brain must not know that April Fools happens only one day as the latest book I had finished was Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five. I am ashamed to admit that I had never actually read any of Vonnegut's novels until I read this book and I have to note that I ought to read more. Eerily enough, on the day I finished this, I was told that it was actually the six-year anniversary of Vonnegut's death. It's the strangest book-related coincidence I've encountered... well, it's the only one (so far).

Last, but not the last book I'll probably be reading this month is John Dies at the End by David Wong. Well, it's not really by David Wong as he's the writer, narrator, and a main character in this story and it is in fact written by Jason Pargin who is a senior editor for Cracked.com. I started reading this book just yesterday (April 12, 2013) and I'm actually already through it halfway. In fact, I think I may even finish it today as I'm having a difficult time putting it down. This book is always full of action and something is ALWAYS happening which makes it really difficult to put down. It's funny (My favourite quote so far: "My butt cheeks clenched so tightly not even light could have escaped.") and the imagery that's put in my head makes my skin crawl. House of Leaves scares you by tapping into what fears you have in your psyche; John Dies at the End scares you from the sensations of bugs crawling up your skin. Reading suddenly makes you scratch the back of your neck and arms.

I've had a very, very good month for reading so far and it isn't even the end of April. I'm debating as to what my next novel should be as I have a plethora to choose from and seemingly no end to the list of books I wish to read. I've had a month full of very, very fun books and may continue the trend. As for next month, I have a few books in mind for both fiction and non-fiction. I think I may well read The Great Gatsby again and have a book vs. film review for the upcoming movie as well.

For now Literates,

Fare Thee Well.