Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Classic Books

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, is Top Ten Favorite Classic Books (however you define classic) or Top Ten Classics I Want To Read (or spin it some other way…”classics” in a specific genre?)

I’ve decided to twist it a bit with FUTURE YA CLASSICS – YA books that will be referred to in the future for sparking the popularity of Young Adult literature today.

1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Come on, you’ve all read it. Whether you loved it or hated it (or loved it until you hated it), it was the beginning of the YA revolution in pop culture. It was actually this book that got me back into reading several years ago, after years or not reading more than a book (or less) a year.

2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This series has taken the world by storm. My whole family (including my parents in their sixties and my brother in his twenties) has read and loved this series. (Fun fact: my sister also works on the Jabberjays.net fansite.) With themes of family, loyalty, courage, corruption, and justice it’s a timeless read.

3. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. This generation’s star-crossed lovers.

4. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. A new twist on already classic fairytales.

5. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. This beautifully written provocative story has already faced controversy and book banning. It’s tale of young love amidst the hardships of life is certain to live on for many generations.

That’s all I got for now! My Top Tens are Top fivess lately, but that’s ok. What books do you think should be added to this list?

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I read because of the Blogging Community

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the Broke and the Bookish, is a freebie week where we can pick our own topic. I’ve decided to go with the Top Ten Books I read because of the Blogging Community. Perhaps my favorite thing about blogging is all the books I’ve discovered from reading other blogs. I wish I could remember who the blogger was that made me read these books, but I just can’t remember. So know, whoever you are, I thank you.

1. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.

 

2 & 3. Unspoken and Untold (The Lynburn Legacy) by Sarah Rees Brennan

4. The Raven Boys series by Maggie Stiefvater.

5. Shadow and Bone series by Leigh Bardugo.

6. The Elemental series by Brigid Kemmerer.

7. The Fault in our Stars by John Green.

8. Anna and the French Kiss series by Stephanie Perkins

9. The Alaskan Courage series by Dani Pettrey

10. My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick.

What books have other bloggers inspired you to read????

 

 

2013 Year in Review

So I started out 2013 with a goal to read 25 books. I kept adding 10 to my goal and finally stopped extending it when I got to 85. I ended up reading 169 books (though there’s still a few days left so this number could go up by one or two). I thought I’d call attention to some of my favorites – and my not so favorites.

FAVORITE NEW AUTHOR – MYSTERY/SUSPENSE: LINWOOD BARCLAY

   

Linwood Barclay is not a new author, but I just discovered him this year. So far I’ve only read the above 3 books, but they were all consistently good. It’s not just great mystery. He writes really great, relatable characters, too.

FAVORITE NEW AUTHOR – ROMANCE: KRISTAN HIGGINS

        

I read Just One of the Guys early in the year because it was a free nook book and I enjoyed it. I recently just went on a Kristan Higgins splurge and read every book that she has published. They all pretty closely follow the same outline, but I love them all. I love her character development – particularly her “flashback” style of writing -, her quirky secondary characters, and that it’s romance without being erotic.

FAVORITE RETURNING AUTHOR: RAINBOW ROWELL

Ok, I’m going to share a very unpopular opinion. I did not love Eleanor and Park. It was only just ok for me. But I still love you Rainbow Rowell! And she gave me another excellent book to read this year in Fangirl. Cath and Levi. Sigh.

FAVORITE COUPLE (ADULT): MARTIN RILKE & IVY THAXTON RILKE

I don’t think I can ever say enough how much I love Martin Rilke.  He and Ivy were my favorite characters in The Passing Bells and I absolutely loved them together.

FAVORITE COUPLE (YA): DAEMON & KATY

Of course this has to be Daemon and Katy from Lux. They’re sarcastic and adorable.

BEST CHARACTER GROWTH: JOHN TOMASETTI

Tomasetti of the Kate Burkholder series starts off as a barely functioning alcoholic and prescription drug addict that’s just hanging on to his job and recovering from the murder of his wife and daughters. Throughout the series he sobers up (more or less), returns to being the agent he once was, and becomes the stable one in his relationship with Kate.

FAVORITE CAST OF CHARACTERS: THE RAVEN BOYS

Gansey, Adam, Ronan, Noah, and Blue. I love the interactions between this group. What really draws me into this series is the characters. I wish I would’ve come up with them.

BEST FREE BOOK: BACK ON MURDER

I discovered The Roland March series by J. Mark Bertrand because the first in the series was a free nook book at Barnes and Noble (you can get it for FREE here). Bertrand is a solid writer and I gave all three books in this series 4 stars.

FAVORITE NEW SERIES (YA): LUX

    

I’ve probably mentioned Jennifer Armentrout and her Lux series in this blog more than any other author or series. I love the writing, the characters, the banter, the mysteries, and the action.

FAVORITE NEW SERIES (ADULT): THE KATE BURKHOLDER SERIES

       

I have to say that part of me loves this series because it’s based in Holmes County, Ohio – not far from where I grew up. But I also love the characters and the mystery.

LIVED UP TO THE HYPE: THE FAULT IN OUR STARS

I did not believe that The Fault in our Stars would make me cry. I was wrong. But it was also sarcastic and funny and wonderful.

DIDN’T LIVE UP TO THE HYPE: THE SILENT WIFE

I kept reading things about how this was this summer’s Gone Girl. It was not. It took me about a month to finally finish it.

MOST DISAPPOINTING SEQUEL: THE ELITE

This book actually made me angry. I really enjoyed the first book, but this one was just horrible. America becomes unbearably annoying. Aspen is a doormat. Maxon is a dick. And the rebel subplot… Here’s hoping the end of the series makes up for this book.

MOST DISAPPOINTING END OF A SERIES – RUNNER-UP: REQUIEM

Ugh. This story went so down hill for me in this book. The love triangle in Requiem‘s is the reason I hate them. And though Lena’s choice is obvious, she never actually “picks” him. And half the book was given to Hanna’s POV, who I could not care less about (seriously – I can’t even tell how much I DON’T care about Hanna). I felt like the end was left open for future books instead of concluding the story of Lena. It turned into an obvious and poorly done social commentary on how we need to love.

MOST DISAPPOINTING END OF A SERIES: ALLEGIANT

I was soooo disappointed by this book. I didn’t think it was possible for an ending to disappoint me more than Requiem did, but this one really took the cake. While Allegiant wraps things up in a way Requiem does not, I was still more disappointed with it because I loved this series so much and was so, so expecting it to be amazing. It wasn’t just the fact that I didn’t agree with the ending. It was just poorly done.

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE YEAR – RUNNER UP: UNRAVEL ME

I loved the first book in this series and this one got even better. And even though I hate to admit it, the love triangle in this book actually works. I don’t feel like there’s a clear choice for Juliette and I get that she has feelings for both of them because I have feelings for both of them. Just when I’ve decided I’m Team Warner, she runs into Adam and I suddenly feel conflicted. Because of course I’m Team Adam. But then there’s Warner…

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE YEAR: THE NIGHT CIRCUS

This wasn’t at all what I was expecting it to be. It’s super descriptive which I don’t usually like, but it was done so beautifully in this book that I loved it. The emotional connection I felt to these characters were greater than any others I’ve read this year.

Top Ten Tuesday: Character Names I Love/Unusual Character Names

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and the Bookish are Character Names I Love/Unusual Character Names.  I’m going to split these up between the two.

NAMES I LOVE

1. Magnus Bane – The Mortal Instruments series

2. Augustus Waters – The Fault in Our Stars

3. Étienne St. Clair – Anna and the French Kiss

4. Dimitri Belikov – The Vampire Academy

5. Adrian Ivashkov – The Vampire Academy / Bloodlines (I apparently have a thing for Russian names)

6. West Grayer – Dualed

UNUSUAL NAMES

7. Cricket Bell – Lola and the Boy Next Door

8. Penryn Young- Angelfall

9. Renesmee Cullen – Breaking Dawn

10. Plutarch Heavensbee – Catching Fire/Mockingjay

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I was “forced” to read

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, is about required reading books, book club picks, books for your job or those books that it simply feels like other readers were going to tie you down until you read it.

I’m choosing to go with books that I “had” to read because of glowing reviews.

1.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I saw this on so many sites and blogs and finally felt like I didn’t have a choice but to read it. And I loved it.

2.

Divergent by Vernoica Roth. This one was actually recommended by a co-worker and I devoured it.

3. 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. It seemed like everyone in the world had read, loved, and cried over this book. I finally joined them.

4.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. Another one where it seems like every blogger I read raved about it.

5.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo.

6.

Angelfall by Susan Ee. This one was actually recommended by my sister.

7.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer. This is another one that was recommended by the co-worker who recommended Divergent.

That’s all I can think of at the moment. What books are you glad you were “forced” to read?

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green – 4 stars (out of 5)

Synopsis from Good Reads:

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

So every review I have ever read about this book is how it will make you bawl your eyes out. And I thought to myself, challenge accepted. I do not, as a general rule, cry at entertainment. I’m not saying it’s never happened, but it’s a very rare occurrence. Of the 122 books I have read so far this year, there has been exactly one that made me cry. A little. And then I read The Fault in Our Stars.

The tone is almost immediately set as irreverent and funny and I thought it would be easy to make it through this book if this is how it is written. And it retains that tone throughout the book, though it’s quieter in the last third or so of the story.

My biggest complaint is that the characters were all a bit pretentious. I’m not saying they haven’t earned the right to be (even as I write that, all I think is “Cancer Perk”), but it was a little over the top sometimes. Especially the author of their favorite book, who I understand is supposed to be insufferable, but was almost too insufferable to read at times. Even so, I loved both Hazel and Augustus. I liked how their relationship started out as friendship. I liked how sarcastic they were, but that they also had moments of intense seriousness. I also really liked their newly dumped and blinded friend, Isaac.

I don’t have personal experience with people who have cancer. My grandfather had cancer, but he was only in the hospital for a week before he passed and we didn’t even get a diagnosis until the night before he did. So I don’t know if this story is a realistic portrayal, but I feel like it could be. It seemed honest and relatable and real. And it was heartbreaking.

Overall, I really liked this book. Even though it made me ugly cry in the last few chapters.  The characters were likable (despite their bouts of pretentiousness) and the writing was superb. I would recommend this book to just about anyone. Just make sure to read it at home and not at work on your lunch break. People will worry.

Monday’s Minutes

Monday’s Minutes is my weekly post where I share what I’m reading and what I’m reading next.

WHAT I’M READING

The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle

So far I’m a little disappointed with The Hallowed Ones. The pace is a little slow. The creepy parts thus far could be a little creepier. But, it’s still an intriguing mixture of genres: vampire horror and Amish fiction. I’m hoping the pace speeds up a bit and that it reaches it’s potential.

WHAT I’M READING NEXT

   

I’m still trying to read The Silent Wife. I really want to finish it since I got it from NetGalley, but it’s been hard. I’m about 100 pages in and not interested enough in it to keep my attention from wandering to something else, like The Hallowed Ones. The Fault in Our Stars has finally become available as an e-book at my library. I’ve heard great things about this book and am eager to start it. An Untamed Heart is another NetGalley I was approved for.

I’m also looking forward to reading Resist, the sequel and conclusion of Breathe, that comes out tomorrow.

What are you reading?