The last of my top five had to be lit, by this I mean poetry, novels, short stories etc.

1. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
If you've read my blogpost on Wuthering Heights, it's easy to grasp that I love it. It's one of the most stunning pieces of literature I've ever read, I explained it to my sister as a novel that is at complete opposite ends of the spectrum. It's incredibly emotional and affectionate one chapter and the next it's horribly tragic.
2. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
Obviously, this book became so much more popular in 2016 because of the film adaptation- which was amazing. I love reading but I struggle reading at a fast pace, it takes me weeks/months to read one book at the moment; Me Before You was finished in a day. I sobbed, it's the definition of Taylor Swift's track 'Sad Beautiful Tragic', it's incredibly moving and tugs on the heartstrings. I can't even explain how the story effects you, it left me speechless.


3. Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes
Each poem, with the exception of two, in this anthology were written to Sylvia Plath, the American poet, who was married to Hughes. This collection of poems were written over a period of twenty five years, the first written a few years after Sylvia's suicide in 1963. My personal favourite, Fulbright Scholar, the Fulbright is a scholarship for American students like Plath as she studied in Cambridge. He talks about looking at a picture of that years intake, it's a representation of his first sighting of the Sylvia-who's the focus of the poem. This is such a poignant anthology, the first anthology I ever bought so it'll always hold a place in my heart.


4. Ariel by Sylvia Plath
I'm a big fan of Sylvia Plath, one of the highlights of 2016 was visiting her grave with the English department. Listening to Sylvia's readings are fascinating, she has a very distinctive voice that sounds haunting. Sylvia's novel The Bell Jar is also one of my favourite pieces of her work, my copy of Ariel is particularly special to me because I bought it in Hebden Bridge on the trip.  I adore all the poems in the Ariel anthology so couldn't possibly pick one- not yet anyway, I've read each poem once or twice but not enough to really find a favourite.

5. The Great Gatsby
I'll always enjoy The Great Gatsby, it was the first 'classic' book I'd read and liked. I'd never watched the Baz Lurman adaptation at this point, so really never knew what is was. Every time I re-read it I discover something new, Daisy is the femme fatal in this book (in my opinion) she's the downfall of Gatsby 100%. I really like Nick too, although the book is very different from the film, in the book it doesn't imply that Nick is writing because he has to, he's recalling memories from a whirlwind summer. In the film it sort of gives the impression that Nick is in some sort of hospital or ward and is recounting the events for, I suppose, a form of therapy. If you haven't read Gatsby, I'd give it a go! If you want to know more of what I think read my blogpost I wrote couple of months ago.