Top Ten Tuesday: Books I'd Love To Read With My Imaginary Fairy Tale Book Club.

Of course, I don't actually have a Fairy Tale Book Club! But I absolutely would love to, because Fairy Tales have been my biggest inspiration throughout my life and have heavily swayed my reading choices and interests! These are all some Fairy Tale books that I haven't read yet, but would certainly like to, especially in a Book Club environment!

1) 'The Book Of Lost Things'; John Connolly.

This book just sounds so interesting to me. I read a review that described it as 'Part Fairy Tale and part Psychological Study...' and something about that grabbed me. There are hints towards mental illness and this book being so much more than a boy getting lost in a strange land. Above that, it takes my favourite fairy tales and puts a much darker spin on them (I love that sort of thing). This book has received so many good reviews I simply must have it! I feel like this would be the perfect read for any kind of Fairy Tale loving book club!

2) 'Through The Woods'; Emily Carroll.

Now this pick is a little different as it isn't just a retelling. In fact, it's more of a Graphic Novel or Comic than it is a book, but it just looks so pretty! If there's one thing I love alongside Fairy Tales, it's Fairy Tale related art, and this book looks like the perfect book to sit down and appreciate something a little different. I think if I was hosting a Fairy Tale Book Club, I would not always want to read fiction books and would love the chance to branch out into something new.

3) 'Poisoned Apples: Poems For You, My Pretty'; Christine Hepperman.

Speaking of something different, how about poems? I don't read poetry an awful lot,but I could definitely make an exception for Fairy Tale related verses! This collection has come pretty highly reviewed, especially as it takes well known tales and mixes them up with modern, teenage life. What's not to like? Like I said, it would be something different to get into and I would love to discuss them afterwards!

4) 'Boy, Snow, Bird'; Helen Oyeyemi.

There are a lot of Helen Oyeyemi books that I would love to get into, because her stories seem to give off plenty of Fairy Tale vibes (White Is For Witching, for example). This one was the first that I saw however, and remains the book that I would like to read the most! It seems to be loosely based around the story of Snow White, but contains plenty of other plot elements. As well as that, Racism seems to be a prevalent theme in this one and it goes without saying that this only serves to intrigue me more.

5) 'Beauty's Beast'; Amanda Ashley.

Let's leave the deep and different books behind for a moment and go for a slightly more recognisable retelling. Not many people that I know have read or even heard of this slightly darker re-imagining of Beauty And The Beast, but I stumbled upon it on Netgalley one day and thought I'd request it. Having acquired it, I find myself more and more intrigued the more I read about it! The plot is certainly recognisable but at the same time, sounds like a slightly more original retelling than I have previously read of this story. I picked this for my book club because I would love to hear the thoughts of others on this one as well!

6) 'Once Upon A Time: A Short History Of Fairy Tale'; Marina Warner.

Now this is a very different sort of read because actually, it is non-fiction. Rather than be a book containing Fairy Tales, it is about Fairy tales and that makes it well worth a look in my eyes! I have heard of Marina Warner and her fascination with Myth, Legend, Tales and Icons before so I have no doubt that such an acclaimed Author has probably written a very detailed and interesting account on the history and meaning behind the famous tales that so many of us have read.

7) 'Raven Girl'; Audrey Niffenegger.

Ahhh Audrey Niffenegger. Her critically acclaimed book 'The Time Traveler's Wife' has thus far evaded me, and while I would really like to read it at some point, this book has just sparked my interest a tiny bit more. Described as a dark fairy tale, this book has actually been adapted into a ballet (an instant hit in my eyes) and is short but filled with beautiful illustrations. As I said before, I'm a fan of good art and I love the look of this book. The intriguing premise of a Postman and a Raven falling in love pretty much sold it to me as one of those books you just have to read.

8) 'Strands Of Bronze & Gold' Jane Nickerson.

Now here's a tale that doesn't get retold very often: 'Bluebeard'! Honestly when I first saw the title I thought 'Rapunzel' or maybe 'Rumpelstiltskin', but I'm actually glad it's a slightly lesser known tale because those are my favourite kind. They, for me, always seem to provide the most interesting and thought provoking re-tellings! I would also love the chance to read Nickerson's other fairy tale re-telling, 'The Mirk & The Midnight Hour' which re-imagines yet another less famous tale: 'Tam Lin'!

9) 'The Bloody Chamber & Other Stories'; Angela Carter.

Ever since I was in my last year of school and a whole host of my friends were studying it for their English Literature class, I wanted to read this book. It looked so interesting, and my friend read one of the stories out to me and I adored it! Many people have recommended it to me since, so I can't wait to get round to reading it. It would be fun to read it with a Book Club of some kind though, because then I would get to have all the interesting discussions that I heard my friends have all those years ago.

10) 'Tiger Lily'; Jodi Lynn Anderson.

I recently sampled some of Anderson's work, and while I had some issues with 'The Moment Collector', I feel like I would like this one a lot better. It is a re-telling of the J.M. Barrie's famous 'Peter Pan', but from the POV of a silent observer, Tinkerbell. The focus here as well is not on Wendy, and not even so much Peter, but on a relatively small character: Tiger Lily. Hopefully this book would live up to my very high expectations of it, because I am longing to read a good book based on Peter Pan!