Top Ten Tuesday: Literary Hooky

For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, Jamie at The Broke and the Bookish wants to know: What books would YOU want to play hooky with? As she says, there are probably a million ways this could be interpreted. I’m going with books that would be fun to spend time with–not necessarily books that would make my “all-time greatest books” list, but books I like that would make me smile on a sunny spring day. Here’s my list (in no particular order):

GRIMBLE AND GRIMBLE AT CHRISTMAS by Clement Freud. A childhood favorite that is actually two stories in one book. The first is about a boy called Grimble whose parents leave him at home on his own for a week, and he has to figure out how to do things from notes his parent leave. A simple concept but hilariously written. The second story revolves around Grimble buying Christmas presents while his parents plan a surprise for him.

HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN by J. K. Rowling. This is  my favorite of the series, though it’s pretty close. Each book has its moments of tears-in-the-eyes laughter (book 6 and “You-no-poo” anyone?), but this one was funny, thrilling, and clever in ways that just slightly eclipses the others in my opinion.

MORT by Terry Pratchett. I am currently working my way through Discworld, and of all the books I have to say this is hands-down my favorite to date. So far it has given me the most laughs, partly because the character of Death is so oddly likeable, and the idea that he would have a daughter…?! But there’s also a sweet and poignant story there too.

A STUDY IN SCARLET by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I’ve been a Sherlock Holmes fan since my teens (which, trust me, was a long time ago). Conan Doyle only wrote four Holmes novels, and this, his first, was the story that introduced us to Holmes. I like the fact that we explore the character and methods of Sherlock Holmes along with John Watson as he tries to figure him out. An excellent introduction to one of literature’s greatest characters.

LEVIATHAN by Scott Westerfeld. If you follow this blog, then you’ll know I love this series. No secret there. If I was to play hooky with one of them, though, it would be the first. Not that it’s that much better than the other two in the series, but it’s fun to go back and revisit the characters when they first met–especially knowing what we know now…

THE EYRE AFFAIR by Jasper Fforde. This is the only book in this series I have read so far, but I like the concept–an agency whose job is to maintain literary integrity, making sure stories don’t get changed–set in an alternate 1985 where such an agency is needed. Lots of funny moments.

THE SILVER CHAIR by C. S. Lewis. The Narnia series is another from which I could have chosen any book, but I picked THE SILVER CHAIR largely because of Puddleglum. I love his “we’ll probably all end up dead but I’ll help you anyway” attitude. There’s something delightfully Eeyore-ish about him that makes him, for me, the star of the story.

CARRY ON, JEEVES and LEAVE IT TO PSMITH by P. G. Wodehouse. Two different books and different characters, but the same reason for picking them: Wodehouse. The books are set in the early decades of the twentieth century, but even though the language is a little dated (jolly what-ho!) Wodehouse has a way of writing that appeals to my sense of humor. So far, the books of his I’ve read have all had those laugh-out-loud, or at least smile-so-people-wonder-what-on-earth-you’re-doing moments. Time spent with Wodehouse is guaranteed to be fun.

THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams. Of all the books in this series, this is by far my favorite. Adams has a style that is often imitated (by Pratchett and Fforde for example), and for good reason. He’s very entertaining, and wonderfully clever. The ideas in this book (destroying the earth to make way for a galactic bypass, a book that is essentially Wikipedia on an iPad or iPhone… only thought of over 30 years ago, a paranoid andriod (“life… don’t talk to me about life…”), a ship with an improbability drive, etc.) are just genius.

There’s my list of ten. What book(s) would you like to spend a warm spring day with?