Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This weeks Top Ten is purple, yellow and green book covers in honour of Mardi Gras. I don’t really take much notice of book covers and I wasn’t sure what to go for so I decided to make it books with those colours in the titles or author’s name.

1. Half a Yellow Sun – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2006) This was an interesting read about the struggle to establish the state of Nigeria. It is both an epic and personal history of a country.
2. Come Unto These Yellow Sands – Josh Lanyon (2011) This was my first Josh Lanyon. A romantic thriller with an ex bad boy professor and his policeman boyfriend trying to solve the mystery of the dead father of one of the professor’s students. Very enjoyable.
3. The Yellow Wallpaper – Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892) This is a chilling tale of one woman’s descent into madness, made worse by her husband’s controlling behaviour. It may be over 100 years old but it’s themes are sadly just as relevant today.
4. Purple Hibiscus – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2003) This was the first Adichie I read and I loved it. The brutal world of Kambili is poignantly described and this is a very emotional read.
5. The Color Purple – Alice Walker (1982) I first read this in university some thirty years and it has stayed with me. I’ve never read anything else quite like it before or since.
6. Something Wicked This Way Comes – Ray Bradbury (1962) (Set in Green Town) I love a fantasy story set at a carnival. They are so creepy anyway. Bradbury doesn’t disappoint with this fable about what happens when wishes come true.
7. Turtles all the way down – John Green (2017) I do enjoy Green’s novels – and this one in particular was fun and quirky but that is my main issue. I always feel they are trying a bit hard. I’m sure if I was fifteen I’d appreciate them more.
8. Brighton Rock – Graham Greene (1938) This is my favourite of Greene’s novel. With gang warfare, murder and the strange and malign Pinkie, I found I couldn’t put it down.
9. Black Swan Green – David Mitchell (2007) This is probably the most straightforward of Mitchell’s novel – at least of the ones I’ve read and I think that is why I love it so much. There are still fantasy elements but the main narrative thrust is the coming of age of the narrator, Jason.
10. Anne of Green Gables – L. M/ Montgomery (1908) This book was a big influence on me growing up. I really identified with Anne who is always getting into trouble because of her temper or saying the wrong thing. Like Jo from Little Women, she helped me realise that not all girls were feminine and quiet.