#TopTenTuesday Books I Love Written Over Ten Years Ago

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

The rules are simple:

• Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.
• Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
• Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists.
• Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.

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This week’s topic is Books I Love That Were Written Over Ten Years Ago. Here are ten of my favourites.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier – The author’s masterpiece, a book that has never gone out of print. For me, the 1940 film starring Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier, and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is the original and best adaptation of this classic novel.

Mr Standfast by John Buchan – My favourite of all John Buchan’s books because of the WW1 setting and an ending that always moves me to tears

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens – Christmas wouldn’t be complete without either re-reading the book, listening to an audiobook version or watching Albert Finney in Scrooge (sorry but The Muppet Christmas Carol just doesn’t cut it)

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carre – The Cold War spy novel by the master of the genre that features the author’s most famous character, George Smiley. The 1965 film version starring Richard Burton as Alec Leamas is fantastic.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee – You probably read it at school and, like me, may have read it many times since. For me, Gregory Peck in the 1962 film version is Atticus Finch. 

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë – One of my favourite books of all time. And, yes, I am going to argue that the 1943 film starring Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles is the best adaptation.

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys – A novel that “rescues” the character of Bertha Mason, the ‘madwoman in the attic’ from Jane Eyre, and gives us her story.

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers – My favourite of the author’s Lord Peter Wimsey books because, not only is it a great crime mystery, but it features the fabulous Harriet Vane.

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco – The book that first kindled my love for historical mysteries.

Dissolution by C J Sansom – The first book in the author’s historical mystery series set in Tudor England featuring lawyer Matthew Shardlake. Mentioning it here has reminded me I still need to read book 7, Tombland. (It’s a whopper.) 

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