Natural Ink: 10 Books I Wish I Wrote

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

10 Books I Wish I Wrote

The more I read the more I find myself thinking either A) Why the HELL did this get published?? or B) OMG why didn't I think of this and write it first??

Today I shall discuss the latter.
Here's a list of some of the books I wish I wrote (in no real order, just as I thought of them):


1) The Hunger Games and Catching Fire.  Both of these were BRILLIANT. I didn't like Mockingjay as much, so it didn't make my list.  The first two in the trilogy were captivating, detailed, well-written; everything a book should be!  And, to have a book made into a movie is my ultimate dream.


2) The Twilight Saga.  I admit the moves aren't the greatest (seriously, why couldn't Spielberg get a hold of it?) but I loved the books.  I like vampires in general and to have such a successful saga is something I admire.


3) Anna and the French Kiss & Lola and the Boy Next Door.  Stephanie Perkins is beyond talented.  There is no other book(s) I've found that have actually made me want to go to boarding school (in Paris, that is) or to dress up in a costume every day.  
Her writing style is so inspirational.  Her details are perfect, the descriptions of the guys make me picture them perfectly in my mind and the girl knows how to write make out scenes to make them hot for the YA genre, but not soft core porn.  I would love to be able to write a love story as well as her one day.  I cannot wait for the third companion book that comes out next year!


4) The Sweep Series.  I've read the entire series three times through so far over the years.  I love it.  The way Tiernan talks about Wicca and witchcraft is spot on.  So many writers say to practice magic is to worship the devil when, in reality, Wiccans don't even believe in the devil.  It was so refreshing to find a series that portrayed Wicca correctly (though it was highly elaborated - which was awesome to read) as just a natural religion that is not full of darkness and the devil.  It's not a Harry Potter type of magic in this series.  It's a more realistic magic that would look familiar to those that practice Wicca. That aside, her writing style was great and it was easy to read the switches between characters (in some of the books each chapter is from a different character's POV).  A GREAT series!


  5) The Summer trilogy.  Jenny Han is right up there with Stephanie Perkins for me.  Except instead of Paris, Han makes me want to get a timeshare beach house and fall in love with one of the sons of the family sharing the house.  Han's books sucked me right in and the love triangle made the trilogy one I couldn't put down until I knew who Belly ended up with!


6) Tuck Everlasting.  One of my favorite books ever! The storyline was very dreamy to me when I was eleven and read this for the first time.  To imagine an actual fountain of youth sparked my imagination.  The movie was also really good, but there are always more/better details in books.  Definitely a timeless book in my opinion!  Fountain of youth stories are popular but I haven't found one as good as this that I wish I wrote!


7) The Borrowers.  Another book like Tuck Everlasting that sparked my imagination at a young age. To think that all the missing match boxes and socks in my house were actually being used inside my walls with a tiny family was so exciting to my young self!  I think the idea was original and I wish it had been mine!


8) The Da Vinci Code.  This book was AMAZING.  I had never read anything like it and I could not put it down!  That really surprised me.  The way Brown wrote all the clues and legends was so cool and I wish I could think that elaborately in my writing.


9) Dracula.  Ah, the book that started the Dracula obsession!  I'm not sure if it was one of the first vampire books or not (though it WAS written in 1897) but I think it's very cool that one book could be responsible for a genre that is still so popular so many years later.



10) The Heartland series.  I love horses, which is what drew me to the series in the first place back in about 4th grade.  The books were easy reads but very interesting.  Made me want a horse even more!  To have a popular series is inspiring, but to have that series made into a hit TV show is even more inspiring!



4 comments:

The Beauty and The Business said...

I got Anna and the French Kiss for christmas last year and haven't read it, I think that's the first book I'll read once I get home from school for break.

Raquel said...

Yessss the Davinci Code is amazing! I've read that book like a billion times now!

Pandora`s Box said...

You have so many of my fav books in your list like:Tuck Everlasting, The Borrowers, The Da Vinci code, Dracula and the twilight series.After your reviews,I'm itching to read the sweep series and the summer trilogy.
Great post.

Britt said...

BOACB: Yes, read it! I LOVED it!

Raquel: Yes, it was! It was such a great read!

Pandora's Box: Such great books! Yes, do read them! And let me know what you think!