Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
Books I Still Need to Read by Some of My Favorite Authors
This week’s prompt is a freebie. Last Tuesday while I was commenting on other blogs, Nicole (Bookwyrm Knits) decided to go with a throwback prompt rather than the one regarding classics (I don’t blame her at all, ha ha). I loved the prompt she chose so much that I’ve decided to do it as my freebie this week. Without further ado, here are my top ten books I still need to read by some of my favorite authors:
Some of these books have been on my TBR for so long. I mostly haven’t read them because I’m a slow reader and I haven’t had a chance to read them yet with all the other books vying for my attention.
What about you? Which books by your favorite authors have you not read yet? Do we have any in common?
There are spoilers for THE SILVER CHAIR in this post.
THE SILVER CHAIR is the fourth book in the Narniad (in published order). I finished reading it for the Narniathon21 I’m participating in on Thursday of last week. (The Narniathon’s hosted by Chris at Calmgrove.)
This is the only book in the Narniad that I remembered nothing from my previous read 14 years ago. Okay, I remembered that Eustace Scrubbs was one of the main characters, but that’s it. Other than that, I was basically reading this installment as if it were my first time again. I thought once I started rereading THE SILVER CHAIR, the story would come back to me–it didn’t.
I really liked THE SILVER CHAIR. It was a lot different than the previous three books, which I found kind of refreshing. I did get annoyed by the owls “tu-whoos” and Puddleglum’s negativity, but not enough to make me hate the story. There were also a couple of times I was frustrated because I understood what was happening a lot sooner than the characters did (e.g. Autumn feast, Rilian’s enchantment). I had to remind myself that these are children’s books so I wouldn’t get too mad, lol.
I thought the allegory was more subtle in THE SILVER CHAIR than in the previous installments of the Narniad until the end, anyway. Then the allegory is obvious when Aslan asks Eustace to pierce his paw with a thorn. Even though the imagery’s unmistakable, I thought how Lewis tied it in with Caspian’s death was beautiful. It’s my favorite ending so far in the series.
The more subtle parts of the allegory are the four signs that Aslan gives to Jill to follow so she and Eustace can find Prince Rilian. Aslan tells her to recite them when she wakes up in the morning and before she goes to sleep at night so she doesn’t forget them. Over on Chris’ blog, he commented:
I think Aslan’s insistence that Jill repeat the Four Signs rubric morning and night is deliberately redolent of saying prayers before and after sleep.
I agree that by having Jill recite the signs like Aslan asks, the signs are reminiscent of morning and nightly prayers. And, the fact that Jill, Eustace, and Puddleglum don’t recognize the signs before they come upon them reminds me of the “signs of the times” that Christians look for as signals of Christ’s second coming. As a Christian, I’ve been brought up to believe the “signs of the times” can help me prepare and be ready for when Christ comes to reign again on the earth.
I also think, and I don’t think I’m alone, that there are many interpretations of the signs. Look at the book of Revelations, for example. Scholars and theologians can speculate what they think John the Revelator meant by what he wrote. And, I think we’re all going to be surprised as to what he meant by what he wrote when everything happens. (This is, of course, if you believe like I do that the book of Revelations is a book of things to come.)
I also thought of the signs in conjunction with following Christ’s commandments. Jill and Eustace do their best to follow the signs. They try to keep their minds from getting confused as Aslan warns. They, as Jill puts it, “muff it up” a few times. Aslan is gracious and forgiving and gives them many chances to follow the signs as Christ does with us. I believe as long as we’re trying to follow Christ and do good, He will give us as many chances as we need to follow Him and do as He asks.
I’m looking forward to reading THE HORSE AND HIS BOY this month. It’s one of my favorite installments in the Narniad.
Have you read THE SILVER CHAIR? Did you like it? Why? Why not?
Sunday Post and Sunday Salon are blog news memes hosted at Caffeinated Reviewer and Reader Buzz, respectively. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week on your blog, andshowcase books and other things.
Feeling
I’m feeling really good about most things right now. My health continues to improve. My procedures on Monday went well. I’m just waiting for the results from the biopsies. I did find out that I have inflammation in my stomach lining and that’s what caused me to vomit blood. It’s not an ulcer yet. My doctors have increased the dosage of my heartburn/acid reflux medication to help calm the irritation down.
I also got caught up in my math class this week. I was behind because of being so sick. I’m working on getting caught up in my Japanese class. Hopefully, I’ll be caught up by the end of this coming week.
I barely finished THE SILVER CHAIR by CS Lewis on March 31 so I could count it as a March read. I’m finally going to start reading my February Book of the Month pick today–A RIVER ENCHANTED by Rebecca Ross. I’m excited to read it!
Listening
In honor of Corey and I finishing binge-watching How I Met Your Mother, I thought I’d share “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by the Proclaimers even though everyone knows this song. If you’ve ever seen HIMYM, then you know why. If you don’t like this song, just keep on listening. It’ll come around.
Watching
As I said above, Corey and I finished binge-watching How I Met Your Mother this week. It was LEGEN-wait-for-it-DARY! Now, we’re going to watch the first season of How I Met Your Father and see if we like it at all.
I also found another cooking competition on Netflix that’s really fun. It’s called Baking Impossible. It teams up a pastry chef with an engineer and they have to bake/build these really awesome feats. They’ve had to build a sailboat, robot, chain reaction machine, costume, mini golf course, skyscraper, vehicle, and bridge. All of them edible and all of them have to pass stress tests. For example, the sailboat had to sail across a small waterway within 45 seconds to not fail. I only have one episode left and it’s been really fun.
Loving
I love how the bookmark I made for my IRL book club turned out. I unveiled it this week and I was so excited to share it in my Upcoming Book Club Picks post (link above).
Wanting
I want the 19th to get here quickly because it’s my birthday and I love celebrating my birthday, lol.
Needing
I need the weather to quit being bipolar and pick spring instead of winter. It’s time for the sun and warmer weather all the time or most of the time!
My reading momentum slowed down a little bit this month because I was sick for most of it. At least I read what counted. I finished THE SOUND OF STARS by Alechia Dow, which was one of my picks for Black History Month in February. (Better late than never, right?) I also read my March book club book, my Unofficial Trim book, and the next installment in the Narniad for the Narniathon21. Even though I didn’t get to my Book of the Month book, I still feel like March was a successful reading month.
My favorite book I read in March was FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell and I guess my least favorite book was THE SILVER CHAIR by CS Lewis.
