Top Ten Tuesday #8 – Teaching 101 Fantasy

As always Top Ten Tuesday is hosted over at Broke and Bookish so if you’re interested in joining in or looking at other similar posts then head over there and take a look.

For this weeks topic we had a bit of a choice and I admit I struggled with this but eventually I settled on choosing 101 Fantasy. So here are the ten books I would use to teach if I were teaching people about fantasy.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. (Via Goodreads)

I’ve only read half of this but this is one of the most famous fantasy books out there. It is praised by thousands of people (probably more) and it was on my reading list at University. I do plan to finish reading this and reading the rest of the series but I just need to find the time to do it. Those books are intimidating!

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

I’m not really going to talk about this one because I’d be repeating myself.

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

I’m going to get my obvious choices out of the way first. Of course I was going to mention Harry Potter. This is one of the best fantasy book series I’ve ever read and I can’t see that changing any time soon. So of course I would want to teach people using these books.

The Colour of Magic (The Diskworld) by Terry Pratchett

I have read this book and I really want to carry on with the series\world. I don’t know why I didn’t when I first read this. Maybe it was because I was younger and didn’t appreciate it as much as I do now but I think it will probably be soon that I start collecting these. I’ve been getting the urge.

If you’re teaching fantasy then these are a must to have on the list. I would also put this on a list for world building. This world is so diverse and so well planned you can just immerse yourself in it and want to be in that world yourself. I seriously don’t know why I haven’t read them all yet.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

I read this book last year, I think it was around the time I started using Goodreads. I enjoyed it but it wasn’t the best book I’ve ever read and personally I think the film was slightly better. I felt that the ending held more closure. A perfect reason to teach about it.

Dracula by Bram Stoker

I’m a little iffy on whether this book counts as a fantasy, I would class as more of a Gothic literature (that is the subject I studied it for). I’m going to include it anyway because this is another famous book that I think people should be taught more about. Obviously people study it but I would include it if I were teaching.

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

Again I’ve never actually read this but I remember loving the film when I was little, I haven’t seen it in a long time actually. I would be interested to go and read this and see if it lives up to my expectations. I’m adding it to the list because it intrigues me.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Another set of books that I want to read. This has been a book series I’ve been hearing people talk about since I was a little girl, I think that was the reason that I didn’t want to read them. I loved the film and I’m really curious to see what the books are like.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Would you look at that, another book I haven’t read yet! Yes I know, I know. I should really get around to reading this. I’ve never even seen the movie. I want to read this because I feel as if I have been missing out on something epic, it probably won’t be but I want to find out for myself. So here it is on my list, plus I was running out of ideas of what to put on here.

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So would my class be interesting? I sure hope so! It will be a whole class of me, myself and I so I should be able to entertain myself (kill me now). Can you imagine being stuck in a class with two replicas of yourself *shudder* I’d probably drive myself insane.

Well on that bombshell,

Until next time,

Tori x