Top 5 Wednesday – September 2nd, 2015

Hello everyone, and welcome to my blog!

I’ll be putting up a full introduction to the blog and myself within the next few days. However, since today is Wednesday, I thought I would jump right into blogging with a Top 5 Wednesday post. This way, I can also kick things off by sharing a few of my favorite books with you guys. So here’s a little taste of what’s to come on this site!

Top 5 Wednesday was created by Lainey at Gingerreadslainey. Every week, book reviewers all over the world are given a bookish topic and respond with their top 5 books (or elements of books) that relate to that topic. Click here for the Goodreads group if you would like to learn more about Top 5 Wednesday and join in!

This week’s topic is Top 5 Fictional Cities. I was finding it a bit hard to come up with locations that were specifically cities, so this is more of a list of my favorite fictional places.

5. The Capitol (from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins)

So, this isn’t exactly a place where I’d like to spend a lot of time. But come on, it would be absolutely fascinating to visit The Capitol. The architecture would be beautiful, sleek, and futuristic (I’ve always been completely obsessed with architecture). And the fashion! It would be very interesting, and honestly pretty hilarious, to see the strange clothes and insane hair and makeup. Overall, it would definitely be quite a memorable experience…to say the least.

4. Luna (from The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer)

Again, not a place that I would particularly like to spend a lot of time. However, I’d like to go here for pretty much the same reason as The Capitol: the architecture. And let’s not forget about the location. Seeing those buildings against an interstellar backdrop—now that would be truly incredible. So, as long as you observe quietly from the shadows, preferably without being noticed by the Lunar, and keep as far away from Levana as possible, it would be a great place to visit. Also, I may or may not secretly dream of going to space. Possibly.

3. Dictionopolis (from The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster)

This is the first location that Milo and his friend Tock (part dog, part alarm clock) journey to after Milo enters “The Lands Beyond”. Here, you can find an entire market where people buy and sell letters and words. Basically, it is paradise for a writer such as myself. When I read this book as a kid, this was always the city that I was most enthralled by.

2. Hogwarts or the Harry Potter world in general (from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling)

I definitely feel like this needs the least amount of explaining because, honestly, who wouldn’t want to go live in a giant, magical castle in the UK? Who wouldn’t want to spend time just about anywhere in the Harry Potter world for that matter? Personally, I’d spend all of my time down in Hogsmeade, or maybe in the library at the school. It would also be wonderful to get lost for hours exploring all the secrets the castle holds. I’m still waiting for my acceptance letter—do you think 21 is too old?

1. Narnia from The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Any fan of the series can relate to that feeling of knowing it’s not real, yet still hoping that, one day, you’ll go to grab something from the wardrobe and end up stumbling into this beautiful world. A world of animals that can talk, enchanting mythical creatures, and long expanses of lush forests divided by crystal clear waters. A world where exciting adventures are always just around the corner—a world you want to get lost in. What more can I say? Narnia is pure magic.

So there you have it—my top 5 favorite fictional locations. I hope you all enjoyed this first post; there will be plenty more to come! Let me know in the comments what your top favorite fictional cities/places are.

-Ariana