Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. They’d love to share their lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

This weeks Top Ten topic is:

Spring Fever: Top Ten Books I’d Play Hooky With

These books are in no particular order and all the blurbs are from Goodreads.com

1. Alanna: The First Adventure (Song of the Lioness #1) by Tamora Pierce

From now on I’m Alan of Trebond, the younger twin. I’ll be a knight.”

And so young Alanna of Trebond begins the journey to knighthood. Though a girl, Alanna has always craved the adventure and daring allowed only for boys; her twin brother, Thom, yearns to learn the art of magic. So one day they decide to switch places: Disguised as a girl, Thom heads for the convent to learn magic; Alanna, pretending to be a boy, is on her way to the castle of King Roald to begin her training as a page.

But the road to knighthood is not an easy one. As Alanna masters the skills necessary for battle, she must also learn to control her heart and to discern her enemies from her allies.

Filled with swords and sorcery, adventure and intrigue, good and evil, Alanna’s first adventure begins — one that will lead to the fulfillment of her dreams and the magical destiny that will make her a legend in her land.

I’d play hooky with this book (the whole series in fact) because Alanna is such an awesome character. I first read this back in the late nineties, and just fell in love with the world. This is the first fantasy book I remember reading that had a kick-ass female lead who could do what her male friends did – she didn’t need to wait to be rescued.

2. A Kiss of Shadows (Meredith Gentry #1) by Laurell K. Hamilton

My name is Meredith Gentry, but of course it’s not my real name. I dare not even whisper my true name after dark for fear that one hushed word will travel over the night winds to the soft ear of my aunt, the Queen of the Air and Darkness. She wants me dead. I don’t even know why.”

Meredith Gentry, Princess of the high court of Faerie, is posing as a human in Los Angeles, living as a P.I. specializing in supernatural crime. But now the Queen’s assassin has been dispatched to fetch her back–whether she likes it or not. Suddenly Meredith finds herself a pawn in her dreaded aunt’s plans. The job that awaits her: enjoy the constant company of the most beautiful immortal men in the world. The reward: the crown–and the opportunity to continue to live. The penalty for failure: death.

I had a hard time  try to decide between Merry and Anita, cause I think they’re both awesome. But in the end, I think I’d prefer to play hooky with Merry because she’s not as serious as Anita. I think Merry is a pretty brilliant character. I also find her world incredibly fascinating, so I really enjoy re-reading the books.

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

Sauron, the Dark Lord, has gathered to him the Rings of Power – the means by which he will be able to rule the world. All he lacks in his plans for dominion is the Ruling Ring, which has fallen into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.

In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as the ring is entrusted to his care. He must leave his home and make a perilous journey across the realms of Middle-earth to the Crack of Doom, deep inside the territories of the Dark Lord. There he must destroy the Ring forever and foil the Dark Lord in this evil purpose.

(from the blurb of the 1995 Harper Collins edition)

This is actually a cheat on my part, because I can’t just choose one book of this epic.

I’d play hooky with this book because it is an awesome (if long) read. And okay, so it’s not perfect, but that’s to be expected considering when it was written.  But there are some brilliant ideas in it.

4. Bitten (Women of the Otherworld #1) by Kelley Armstrong

Elena Michaels seems like the typically strong and sexy modern woman, She lives with her architect boyfriend, writes for a popular newspaper, and works out at the gym. She’s also a werewolf.

Elena has done all she can to assimilate to the human world, but the man whose bite changed her existence forever, and his legacy, continue to haunt her. Thrown into a desperate war for survival that tests her allegiance to a secret clan of werewolves, Elena must recon with who, and what, she is in this passionate, page-turning novel.

I came to this book (and series) when I was heavily into the vampire side of the horror/paranormal genre (before Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy came along) and instantly feel in love with Elena and Clay.  I periodically try to come back and re-read this, and Elena and Clay are still my favourite characters to read about in the series.

I’d play hooky with this book because Elena is awesome, and I love the way her relationship with Clay is written. I find it very entertaining. Plus Elena seems to have nack for finding trouble, so something interesting would definitely happen . . .

5. Dead Witch Walking (The Hollows #1) by Kim Harrison

Forty years ago a genetically engineered virus killed half of the world’s human population and exposed creatures of dreams and nightmares that had, until then, lived in secret alongside humanity.

Rachel Morgan is a runner with the Inderland Runner Services, apprehending criminals through out modern-day Cincinnati. She is also a witch.

Used to confronting criminal vampires, dark witches and homicidal werewolves, Rachel’s latest assignments – apprehending cable-stealing magic students and tax-evading leprechauns – have prompted her to break her thirty-year contract with the I.S. and start her own runner agency.

But no one quits the I.S.

Marked for death, Rachel is a dead witch walking unless she can appease her former employers and pay off her contract by exposing the city’s most prominent citizen as a drug lord. But making an enemy of the ambiguous Trent Kalamack proves even more deadly than leaving the I.S.

I’d play hooky with this book because I think Rachel is a brilliant character. Also, Jenks and Ivy wouldn’t be too far away and they are just awesome. Plus I like the way Harrison writes Rachel’s interaction with Trent and Al. It is awesome. Plus Rachel also has a knack for finding trouble, so hanging out with her would definitely be interesting.

6. My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Now a major film. Sara Fitzgerald’s daughter Kate is just two years old when she is diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia. Reeling with the helpless shock of it, Sara knows she will do anything — whatever it takes – to save her child.

Then the tests results come back time and again to show that no one in their family is a match for Kate. If they are to find a donor for the crucial bone marrow transplant she needs, there is only one option: creating another baby, specifically designed to save her sister. For Sara, it seems the ideal solution. Not only does Kate live, but she gets a beautiful new daughter, Anna, too.

Until the moment Anna hands Sara the papers that will rock her whole world. Because, aged thirteen, Anna has decided that she doesn’t want to help Kate live any more. She is suing her parents for the rights to her own body.

This book really stuck with me.

I think Anna is a brilliant character, though she seems super mature for a thirteen year old (but this is probably a reflection of the situation). I think she’d be really cool to hang out and play hooky with. Her brother would be too. I’m not so sure about Kate though . . .  I also liked Anna’s lawyer (sorry I can’t remember his name and I don’t have the book to hand), I thought he was funny 🙂

I read the book before I saw the film, and just fell in love. I enjoy re-reading this.

7. The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

Seventeen year-old Veronica “Ronnie” Miller’s life was turned upside-down when her parents divorced and her father moved from New York City to Wilmington, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains angry and alienated from her parents, especially her father… until her mother decides it would be in everyone’s best interest if she spent the summer in Wilmington with him. Ronnie’s father, a former concert pianist and teacher, is living a quiet life in the beach town, immersed in creating a work of art that will become the centerpiece of a local church. The tale that unfolds is an unforgettable story about love in its myriad forms – first love, the love between parents and children – that demonstrates, as only a Nicholas Sparks novel can, the many ways that deeply felt relationships can break our hearts… and heal them.

I saw the film first before I read this. I enjoyed it, so I thought I’d give the book a go. I was not disappointed. It added another level to the film.

I would play hooky with this book because I really enjoyed reading it and I think Ronnie is an interesting character. I kind of wish there was more about her. I think she’s very brave and it would be cool to hand out with her and play hooky.

8. The Demon’s Lexicon (The Demon’s Lexicon Trilogy #1) by Sarah Rees Brennan

Sixteen-year-old Nick knows that Demons are real.

Magicians call up demons in exchange for their power. The demons can appear in any shape, show you marvels, promise you anything – until you invite them in and receive their mark.  What happens next? First you get possessed. Then you die.

Nick’s been on the run his whole life, ever since his mother stole a charm from the most feared magician of them all, and the only person he trust is his brother Alan. Alan’s just been marked by a demon. Only Nick can save him, but to do so he must face the magicians – and kill them. The hunt is on, and Nick is going to discover things he never dreamed were out there . . .

This is an awesome book, and an awesome trilogy. Sarah Rees Brennan rocks. So, of course, I would want to play hooky with this book. It’s only natural.

I’m not so sure Nick would want to play hooky with me (or almost anyone really), but I enjoy him as a character and think he would be interesting  – and I mean that in many different ways – to hang out with.

9. White Cat (Curse Workers #1) by Holly Black

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers — people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they’re all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn’t got the magic touch, so he’s an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail — he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.

Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He’s noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he’s part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

Holly Black has created a gripping tale of mobsters and dark magic where a single touch can bring love — or death — and your dreams might be more real than your memories.

This is one of my absolute favourite books – and series – so of course I would play hooky with it. How could I not?!

The world Holly Black has created for this series is absolutely amazing. There are so many possibilities. I’m kinda sad that it’s only a trilogy.

I adore Cassel. There’s just something about him. He has a really interesting way of looking at the world – completely different from my own mindset. I think it would be quite fun to play hooky with him and his friends.

10. Fleabag and the Ring Fire by Beth Webb

The Queen is dead and no one knows who is to succeed her. Many have tried to prove their worth, but none is destined to be the true monarch. The country is given a year and a day to find the ring that confirms leadership. After that, the Ringfire will fade and the kingdom will fall.

Fleabag the cat is one of my all-time favourite characters, so of course this book would make the list, because how else would I play hooky with him if I didn’t play hooky with this book?

This is one of the few books from my pre-teen days that I’ve kept hold of. The story has stood the test of time, and I really enjoy reading it 🙂 Gemma is a cool character too, but Fleabag really does steal the show.

There are of course other books I’d play hooky with that never made it to the list, like the Harry Potter series, Howl’s Moving Castle, The Shifters series, The Belgariad, The Blue Bloods and Chicagoland Vampires novels just to name a few . . . 😉

What books would you play hooky with?