#001 | Favourite Fiction: Our Top 3 Favourite Books

     

Favourite Fiction: Our Top 3 Favourite Books

Grab yourself a cup of tea, or whatever you prefer to drink, and settle down, because you’re in for a treat.

Welcome to the first episode of Rants of Reviews, a book-lovers podcast. Your hosts are Sophie, designer by day and blogger by night, writing over at Sofilly.com; and Anjali, a self-proclaimed social media overlord at a local library, and blogger at ThisSplendidShambles.com. In Episode #001 | Favourite Fiction you’ll get to know us a bit better as we talk about our top three favourite books.

Currently Reading

(00:40) Each episode of Rants and Reviews we’re going to be sharing what we’re currently reading so you can discover our favourite genes, add some books to your TBR pile, and hear us rave and rage about characters, plot, setting and more. 

Sophie is currently reading:

• A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Early Riser, by Jasper Fforde
• The Son of Neptune, by Rick Riordan
• Circe and the Cyclops, by Homer

Anjali is currently reading:

• Sea Witch, by Sarah Henning
• Mythos, by Stephen Fry

(03:20) We also have a quick chat about a book that Anjali had just finished reading at the time of this recording, Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart. You can read her review of this title on This Splendid Shambles, which she mentions in this episode.

Main feature

Finally we get into three of our favourite books! It was incredibly hard to pick just three out of the hundreds we’ve read and loved over the years, but we do our best to narrow it down, with a bunch of shout-outs and runner-ups too. In good ol’ tag-team fashion, we alternate our book sharing.

(07:40) Anjali chooses her three books from three different times of her life: childhood, the early teen years, and then a more recent title. Pick one is Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll (aka Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland); it’s magical and whimsical and wonderful.

(11:00) Sophie’s first choice is The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd. While she can’t quite pinpoint exactly her reasons for loving it, it’s a book that is loved by her family, so it has that lovely sentimental value and nostalgic feelings connected to it.

(14:30) Holes, by Louis Sachar, is Anjali’s second pick. It was a book that her teacher read aloud to the class over the course of a few weeks. It’s a quirky story about Stanley Yelnats, and his time at Camp Green Lakes.

(18:57) Another historical fiction novel, The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak is Sophie’s next pick. Sophie gives us a bit of a synopsis of the novel, and why she loves it so much.

(23.21) Published and read in 2017, Strange the Dreamer, by Laini Taylor completes Anjali’s top three favourites. The very first line (which was a bit Harry Potter-esque) had her hooked, and she spends the next minute or so giving our listeners a run down of the story.

(27:30) We take a moment or two to have a rant about authors putting out too many books and not giving us enough time to catch up to finish series, or begin new ones because our TBR piles are never-ending and will continue to be forever.

(28:20) Sophie announces that after much deliberation and thought, she has picked A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J. Maas as her final book. Sophie fangirls so much over Feyre and Rhysand and how she 100% ships them together and so many feels happen during these few minutes. 

Outro

(34.08) This week’s episode of Rants and Reviews was brought to you by a never ending TBR pile and a Goodreads point five star system that doesn’t yet exist, and, of course, your regular hosts, Anjali and Sophie. We hope you’ve enjoyed us chatting about our top three favourite books this week. Be sure to subscribe on your favourite podcast app; until next time, happy reading!

Books mentioned in this episode

The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Early Riser by Jasper Fforde, The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan, Circe and the Cyclops by Homer, Sea Witch, by Sarah Henning, Grace and Fury, by Tracy Banghart, Runaways comic series, Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Narnia Chronicles by C.S. Lewis, The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell, A Series of Unfortunate Events series by Lemony Snicket, Lola Rose by Jacqueline Wilson, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, Holes by Louis Sachar, The Princess Bride by William Goldman, Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling, Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, The Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab, The Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo, The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, Caraval by Stephanie Garber, A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.