Top Ten Tuesday - #7: Books I'd Want on a Desert Island

{ ++ } Hosted by the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish, this meme features a different theme every week, and hey, it's Tuesday - we've got the rest of the week ahead of us.  We all need a little fun, and who doesn't love the challenge of ranking their top 10 anything...especially when it comes to books?!  I know I do, hence why I thought it'd be fun to participate, and spice things up a little!

{ ++ } January 24: Freebie --- Make a top ten list about anything book related that you want. That super specific topic you thought would make a great top ten list or that past topic you wished you would have gotten a chance to participate it? This is the week to do it!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I'd Want on a Desert Island 

This topic has already been featured in TTT but it was before I started participating, so I thought it'd make a cool choice for this week.  : )

{ 1 } The Black Jewels trilogy by Anne Bishop.  Okay, okay, it's more than one book but really, these three books need to be read all together, as one long story.  They are THAT incredible.  My senior year AP English teacher recommended them to me, but it wasn't until about three years later that I read the books, and WOW.  I'd never read anything like them.  I guess I would call them dark fantasy, but really, the novels hold so much: romance, court  intrigue, an amazing caste system, a deeply developed mythos.  I used to re-read them every year, and it's about time for another re-read.  

{ 2 } The Talisman/Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub.  I'm cheating again, but these two books are so amazing.  A lot of readers I ran across didn't enjoy the sequel as much as they did The Talisman but in some ways, I enjoyed it even more.  Both books capture the whimsy Stephen King so favors in a few of his novels (namely IT) and are written so seamlessly I couldn't have told they were co-authored.  I just adore the characters and the story being told.  Black House is the only book I've ever stayed up all night to read. 

{ 3 } Mercy by Jodi Picoult.   What to say about MERCY.  *sighs*  It broke my heart.  It gave me hope.  I need to re-read it, but I need to forget how it all happened, first.  This book is polarizing.  And hard to read.  And oh so gorgeous. 

{ 4 } The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.  I don't buy books based off of hype.  I might be curious about them, but if anything, the hype makes me want to wait, to dig my heels in and say, "I'll read it when I'M ready."  I've only bought a handful of books off of buzz in my life, until recently.  I bought The Name of the Wind off of the praise on the back cover and inside, but mostly, I bought it because of the blurb on the back cover.  

"I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I have burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the university at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during the day. I have talked to gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep. my name is Kvothe. You may have heard of me." 

Kvothe is a smart-ass.  He's insufferable.  He's charming and daring, and brave, and smart.  He's amazing, and one of my favorite heroes of all time.  I devoured this book.  I've read it twice now, and it is just as brilliant the second time around.  

{ 5 } The Hunger Games trilogy.  They cannot be separated.  I don't know what to say about these books, this story, except that it changed the way I read books forever.  Broke me out of my reading slump and ended my book-ish snobbery.  I'm so invested in them, and I cry every time I watch the movie trailer. 

{ 6 } Tempest by Julie Cross.  If you're reading this blog and you don't know by now how much I adore Tempest and what an emotional mess it left me, I don't know what to say other than this book is incredible. 

{ 7 } Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.  I knew I had to have this book and this series when, as a cashier at Hastings, I rang out a lady who was buying every single one of them in trade paperback (ie expensive!) because she'd lost them in a move and as she put it, "I have to have my Outlander books."  We must have talked about them for ten minutes.  It wasn't long after that I purchased the first one.  *sighs over Jamie Frasier* 

{ 8 } Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.  My "comfort" book, my "my soul is weary and needs restoring" book.  I've learned so much about life and love from this book. 

{ 9 } The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffennegger.  I've only read this book once; however, I've seen the film about a dozen times.  The romance is unorthodox, heart-wrenching, and utterly beautiful.  Henry and Clare are real love.  I just, I adore this book.  I cried and cried reading it, and it moved me in so many, many ways. 

{ 10 } Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews.  From my original Goodreads review: "The book that changed my life. I was 14 when I read this book, and although I've since devoured many novels, this one remains in a special place in my heart, simply because of who I was when I read the book, the time in my life, and the utterly gorgeous, tragic story that V. C. Andrews chose to tell through her protagonists, the Dollanganger children."

Honorable mention:  Shatter Me | The Harry Potter series | The Second Sons trilogy | The Vampire Academy series

{ ++ } What about y'all?  What is YOUR Top Ten this week?  What do you think of mine?