Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Top Ten Books that Inspired me to Do/Learn Something Else

This week's Top Ten Tuesday are about the books that have inspired us. Either to do something new or to learn something new. I really like this topic and of course had to join in. There is a major absence amongst this list of books but that's only because I had already planned to write about it separately. Look out for this related blog post very soon. I'm very intrigued to learn what books inspired you! Leave your TTT links in the comments below and do share your top inspiring blog posts, please. I'd love to hear them.


Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish 


The Night Itself by Zoe Marriott

I really adore Zoe Marriott and all of her books. I wrote last week about how Shadows on the Moon is one of my favourite all-time books but I do love them all. When reading The Night Itself, the first book in the Darkness Hidden trilogy with a basis in Japanese mythology, and more so when I attended an event in which Zoe Marriott was able to explain some of her writing process, I was hugely inspired to read up on other Japanese mythology. And just mythology in general, in fact!



A World Between Us by Lydia Syson

It's no surprise to anyone (I've written about it a lot on this blog!) that it takes a special book or author to really get me into historical fiction. Something about historical fiction just intimidates me.  But Lydia Syson's writing, and especially A World Between Us, was just so easy to get into. And I think it was a combination of Lydia Syson's writing style and because A World Between Us is about a time period I had absolutely zero knowledge about that it made things so much easier for me to fall in love with it so completely. In fact, reading this book inspired me not only to look into the Spanish Civil War more but just history in general.



Notes From the Teenage Underground by Simmone Howell

Oh I love Notes From the Teenage Underground. Do you guys know Simmone Howell?? One of my first bookish events I attended was a Chicklish event with Keris Stainton, Sarra Manning, Luisa Plaja and ...Simmone Howell. And because I had already read and loved books by the other authors before I went to the event I picked up this book by Simmone Howell. And loved every second of it. It's about filmmaking and teenage life and feminism. And I remember after reading this book, I ended up buying other non-fiction books about awesome historical women (and starting up a new feature on this blog, Awesome Women).


Lola and the Boy Next Door by Anna Perkins

I'm a big fan of Stephanie Perkins' cute romantic stories. Though nothing really topped Anna and the French Kiss for me, what I loved most about Lola and the Boy Next Door is Lola's interest in fashion design and her wacky, outlandish costumes. And while I haven't yet gotten to the stage where I'm making my own clothes I feel like that will happen in the near future. So while I can't say for sure that Lola inspired me in the first place it was definitely something that helped the idea along.



Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

Oh how I adore Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley. It's such a beautiful book about three teenagers on one epic night. What I loved about it is how creative each of the main characters are. From actual graffiti to poetry to ... my favourite, glass-blowing. I can't say that I will ever indulge in glass-blowing myself, but I remember visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum after one of the characters in Graffiti Moon mentioned the beautiful green and yellow glass chandelier in the museum reception.  So, I'm counting that.


North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

It's been awhile since I read North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley but it's still a story that has stuck with me over the years. I loved the themes of identity and image in this book and the many ways these themes are covered through the main character's birth mark on her face, her love interest's racial identity and wardrobe, the size and shape of her overweight mother. But aside from this, the main character is also quite creative and she works through some of her issues through the creation of different collages. And I love the idea of collaging, mixing different types of materials in order to create something beautiful. It really did inspire me to express myself artistically more than I have done.



Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

I love books like Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone. It's telling a really important story and it does so through the medium of poetry. I don't mean that it's written in verse, it's not. (there are lots of other great books that I've loved written in verse though! You should definitely read more books written in verse. I recommend Sarah Crossan's One or The Weight of Water.) But in this book the main character expresses herself and her feelings so well through writing and reading aloud her own poetry. And I loved that about this book. It really made me consider writing my own poetry. I'm still working on possibly sharing some of them with other people though. Baby steps.



Broken Soup by Jenny Valentine

Oh I love Jenny Valentine. I remember reading Broken Soup years ago and it was just what I needed in order to inspire me to start writing again after a really long break and a big dip in my confidence. 


Looking For Alaska by John Green

Many years ago I read this book and decided it was just what I needed in order to shake up my life. Do things differently and get myself out of the rut I was in. It was only a mildly successful attempt but I think any progress in that area is a win! 



Regeneration by Pat Barker

I read Regeneration, the first book in Pat Barker's trilogy about World War I and there was so much to be fascinated by. War, new psychology practices ... but the thing that really inspired me was to read more WWI poetry, especially that of Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon's poetry that was featured in the book. Which I did. Which was both beautiful and heartbreaking. 


Are there any books that have inspired you to do or learn something else?

4 comments:

  1. I can see that these books inspired you a lot - good for the books! And thank heavens hey. Nice post!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Omg so many AMAZING BOOKS HERE. But Ahhh I love that you mentioned Looking for Alaska! (I mentioned TFIOS in mine. ;D) And actually thinking about Looking for Alaska reminds me of how I want to have a room full of books like Alaska did. :') Also, HUZZAH for Graffiti Moon! I adored that book. And I totally forgot it had the glass blowing...I've watched glass blowing on youtube and it's just awesome. I'd love to see it in real life. (Although totally not do it...hahha. Nope.) Here's my TTT!

    ReplyDelete

HI! Thank you for leaving a comment, you've just become my new best friend :)