Top Books to Play Hooky With

I want to play hooky. I want to disappear for a day or two. I want to be left alone. I don't want to deal with anything 'adult'.

But I can't. So instead I'm making this Top Ten Tuesday list of Best Books to Play Hooky With. The event is organised over at The Broke and the Bookish. I'm a day late, but today is when I need to do it.

Here are the top ten books I'd like to stay home with (tomorrow), in no particular order:

1. The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins - I get so envious of anyone who hasn't read these yet, I wish the experience was still before me. Definitely books that couldn't be put down.

2. Room by Emma Donaghue - Another one I've already read, but it's the only one I actually remember playing hooky with. Well, not exactly playing hooky, I was feeling sick and stayed home and read this instead. Which means I didn't get any rest at all, I couldn't stop reading!

3. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness - I've heard amazing things about this series and can't wait to start it. It's on my shelf, but I think I'll be really absorbed by it so I'm waiting for a time when it'll be ok to be that absorbed. Easter vacation maybe?

4. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley - Nothing like a super-sized chunkster that everyone you know thinks you're going to love. It's too heavy to carry around, so it would have to be read at home. And the only way I can do that is if I play hooky. It's a no-brainer, really.

5. The Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde - I remember when I read the first four books there was no talking to me at all. It's such an original concept and a must for any book lover. I'm so happy that I still have two left!

6. The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris - I'm just reading the latest book and I really wish I didn't have to go to work so I could finish it faster!

7. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - I whizzed through this one when I read it a few years ago. Definitely one to read while snuggled up inside with no responsibilities.

8. Uglies by Westerfield - judging by the reviews, this is exactly my kind of dystopia, a world one would really not like to live in. I'll bet the action moves fast and you can never guess what will happen next.

9. The Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter - total YA, about a teenage girl who goes to spy school. Great fluff to stay home with.

10. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin - I haven't even read A Game of Thrones, which is the first one, but my husband recently all of them while on extended sick leave and he sure didn't want to be doing anything else. I find the size of the books daunting, but I'm intrigued.

Random Thoughts

I haven't been devoting enough (or any) time to this blog lately. I don't want to stop blogging, but I need to figure out what I want to blog about. I have been reading a lot, but I don't really feel like doing book posts. Sound familiar to anyone? Any ideas?

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I went to London last week to do a bit of hanging out, a bit of relaxing and a bit of soul searching. I got exactly what I went for, plus five pairs of new shoes. Including these lovely red Doc Martens - they have ribbons, so pretty! Does anyone ever really need new Doc Martens? Hmm, I guess this part of my trip can't be considered as soul searching - though it was certainly good for the soul!

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One of the things I did in London was get a tarot reading done at a great bookstore called Mysteries. I'd never had one before. It was a great experience and it got me re-interested in the tarot. Hopefully I'll be able to do my own readings soon enough.

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I haven't actually done it yet but I've been inspired by Trish and really want to start doing regular updates about my two-year-old. He is so amazing right now and I'm afraid I'll lose the magic as time runs away from us. Ideally, I would like to do it as a scrapbook/journal type project and do shorter online updates too. I just can't decide on how to start.

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That's it for now. Let's hope this blog gets some structure soon!

Upcoming London adventure

I've booked tickets to London for no specific reason. Yep, I took a few days off next week and will go to London on my own, with not much of a plan and just see what happens. I wanted Alex to come with me, but I didn't give her much notice and she can't. So it'll be a solitary adventure. How exciting!

I've been trying to plan just a little and come up with some things I specifically want to do. I will srat with a good friend my first night. I definitely want to see a show of some sort, maybe two. I definitely want to do a bit of shoe shopping, although not too much. I definitely want to buy some make-up at Boots, I'm addicted to them. And I definitely want to visit some bookstores.

I also wouldn't mind taking a workshop of some sort - something esoteric, to do with the soul and the universe and our higher selves. But I didn't find anything concrete for the days I'll be there. I did however find this link to a walk through esoteric London, covering all the major bookstores and centers. Pretty cool, huh?

I'll start with this and see how I get on. I'm hoping to stumble upon something really great, like a workshop, or a book signing or reading.

Do you know of anywhere interesting I should go? Anything interesting I should do?