Tag Archive for: top ten tuesday

Top 10 Literary Characters Who Would Make Excellent World Leaders

top ten tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Ten Characters Who Would Make Great Leaders (Leaders of what? That’s your decision. Who could lead a country, an army, a book club, a classroom, etc. Or maybe characters that would be trendsetters?)

* * * * *

This topic was more challenging than I expected to be, and I think many of the characters I’ve chosen are on the young side, so we’ll just have to imagine that they have future careers as world leaders (Presidents, Prime Ministers, etc.)

 

Top 10 Characters Who Would Make Excellent World Leaders

 

1 and 2.  HERMIONE GRANGER & MINERVA MCGONAGALL from the HARRY POTTER series

Both of these woman who intelligent, resourceful, brave, and loyal, all qualities that I think would make either of them ideal candidates to lead a nation.

* * * * *

 

3.  RHYSAND from the A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES series

With the selflessness he shows when it comes to his own people, Rhysand has already demonstrated that he has what it takes to be a great leader.

* * * * *

 

4. KATNISS EVERDEEN from THE HUNGER GAMES series

Katniss had what it took to lead a rebellion. Does she have what it takes to lead a nation?  I think so!

* * * * *

 

5. STARR CARTER from THE HATE U GIVE

She’s incredibly brave, intelligent, and she cares about justice.  I think now that Starr Carter has found her voice, she could have a long career in making that voice heard and could be a very powerful world leader.

* * * * *

 

6. ATTICUS FINCH from TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

He’s smart, compassionate, and is very persuasive and eloquent speaker, all qualities I hope to see in a leader.

* * * * *

 

7. MATILDA WORMWOOD from Roald Dahl’s MATILDA

Matilda is intelligent, clever, and most importantly, she’s a fighter and doesn’t give up.  I think that kind of determination would make her an ideal leader when she grows up.

 

* * * * *

 

8. ROBERT LANGDON from Dan Brown’s ANGELS & DEMONS


Robert Langdon is another character who is intelligent, resourceful, and willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the better good.  I could easily see him as a candidate for President.

 

* * * * *

 

9. DIANA PRINCE from WONDER WOMAN: WARBRINGER


Duh, she’s Wonder Woman!  She’s born to lead and she’s a major badass too!

 

* * * * *

 

10. JUSTYCE MCALLISTER from DEAR MARTIN


Justyce is smart, he’s an excellent public speaker, and one of his heroes is Martin Luther KIng, Jr.  I could see Justyce using the tragic events that took place in Dear Martin and using them as a catalyst to begin a career in politics or in some other area of social justice where he could take a leadership role and be a champion of social justice and equality.

* * * * *

Question:  What literary characters do you think would make excellent world leaders?

Top 10 Horror Novels I’d Totally Love to Read (If I wasn’t such a chicken!)

Created at canva.com

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week’s topic is Halloween Freebie! (Happy Halloween! Let your creativity run wild with a themed post to celebrate!).

So, confession time here at The Bookish Libra…I’ve always maintained that I don’t enjoy reading horror novels.  Well, the truth is I’ve actually never even read one.  Why?  Because I’m a gigantic wimp.  I read for enjoyment and I get no enjoyment out of being terrified.  I don’t read scary books and I don’t watch horror movies.

If I were to ever work up my nerve and read scary books, however, here’s a list of books that I would totally consider reading.

 

* * * * *

 

Top 10 Horror Novels I’d Totally Love to Read (If I wasn’t such a chicken!)

 

  •  IT by Stephen King   “To the children, the town was their whole world. To the adults, knowing better, Derry, Maine was just their home town: familiar, well-ordered for the most part. A good place to live.  It was the children who saw – and felt – what made Derry so horribly different. In the storm drains, in the sewers, IT lurked, taking on the shape of every nightmare, each one’s deepest dread. Sometimes IT reached up, seizing, tearing, killing . . .The adults, knowing better, knew nothing.  Time passed and the children grew up, moved away. The horror of IT was deep-buried, wrapped in forgetfulness. Until they were called back, once more to confront IT as IT stirred and coiled in the sullen depths of their memories, reaching up again to make their past nightmares a terrible present reality.

 

  • THE SHINING by Stephen King  “Jack Torrance’s new job at the Overlook Hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. As the off-season caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, he’ll have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. But as the harsh winter weather sets in, the idyllic location feels ever more remote…and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old.”

 

  • THE OMEN by David Seltzer  “Jeremy Thorn, United States Ambassador to England, and his wife Katherine become the parents of a beautiful boy whose destiny is to fulfill the most horrible prophecy ever made.”

 

  • PSYCHO by Robert Bloch  “It was a dark and stormy night when Mary Crane glimpsed the unlit neon sign announcing the vacancy at the Bates motel. Exhausted, lost, and at the end of her rope, she was eager for a hot shower and a bed for the night. Her room was musty but clean and the plumbing worked. Norman Bates, the manager, seemed nice, if a little odd.”

 

  • THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson “The classic supernatural thriller by an author who helped define the genre.  First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a “haunting”; Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers—and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.”

 

  • DRACULA by Bram Stoker “When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula with the purchase of a London house, he makes horrifying discoveries about his client and his castle. Soon afterwards, a number of disturbing incidents unfold in England: an unmanned ship is wrecked at Whitby; strange puncture marks appear on a young woman’s neck; and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the imminent arrival of his ‘Master’. In the ensuing battle of wits between the sinister Count Dracula and a determined group of adversaries, Bram Stoker created a masterpiece of the horror genre, probing deeply into questions of human identity and sanity, and illuminating dark corners of Victorian sexuality and desire.”

 

  • HELL HOUSE by Richard Matheson “Can any soul survive?  Regarded as the Mount Everest of haunted houses, Belasco House has witnessed scenes of almost unimaginable horror and depravity. Two previous expeditions to investigate its secrets met with disaster, the participants destroyed by murder, suicide or insanity. Now a new investigation has been mounted – four strangers, each with his or her own reason for daring the unknown torments and temptations of the mansion…”

 

  • HEART SHAPED BOX by Joe Hill “Aging, self-absorbed rock star Judas Coyne has a thing for the macabre — his collection includes sketches from infamous serial killer John Wayne Gacy, a trepanned skull from the 16th century, a used hangman’s noose, Aleister Crowley’s childhood chessboard, etc. — so when his assistant tells him about a ghost for sale on an online auction site, he immediately puts in a bid and purchases it.The black, heart-shaped box that Coyne receives in the mail not only contains the suit of a dead man but also his vengeance-obsessed spirit. The ghost, it turns out, is the stepfather of a young groupie who committed suicide after the 54-year-old Coyne callously used her up and threw her away. Now, determined to kill Coyne and anyone who aids him, the merciless ghost of Craddock McDermott begins his assault on the rocker’s sanity.”

 

  • CORALINE by Neil Gaiman “The day after they moved in, Coraline went exploring….In Coraline’s family’s new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close.   The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.Only it’s different.At first, things seem marvelous in the other flat. The food is better. The toy box is filled with wind-up angels that flutter around the bedroom, books whose pictures writhe and crawl and shimmer, little dinosaur skulls that chatter their teeth. But there’s another mother, and another father, and they want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.  Other children are trapped there as well, lost souls behind the mirrors. Coraline is their only hope of rescue. She will have to fight with all her wits and all the tools she can find if she is to save the lost children, her ordinary life, and herself.”

(Okay, so I break down and read Coraline anyway since it’s supposed to be for ages 9 and up, lol).

 

  • THE PASSAGE by Justin Cronin “Aging, self-absorbed rock star Judas Coyne has a thing for the macabre — his collection includes sketches from infamous serial killer John Wayne Gacy, a trepanned skull from the 16th century, a used hangman’s noose, Aleister Crowley’s childhood chessboard, etc. — so when his assistant tells him about a ghost for sale on an online auction site, he immediately puts in a bid and purchases it.

    The black, heart-shaped box that Coyne receives in the mail not only contains the suit of a dead man but also his vengeance-obsessed spirit. The ghost, it turns out, is the stepfather of a young groupie who committed suicide after the 54-year-old Coyne callously used her up and threw her away. Now, determined to kill Coyne and anyone who aids him, the merciless ghost of Craddock McDermott begins his assault on the rocker’s sanity.”“It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born.”

    First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

    As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he’s done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.

    With The Passage, award-winning author Justin Cronin has written both a relentlessly suspenseful adventure and an epic chronicle of human endurance in the face of unprecedented catastrophe and unimaginable danger. Its inventive storytelling, masterful prose, and depth of human insight mark it as a crucial and transcendent work of modern fiction.’ to ‘“It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born.”

(Note:  All synopses taken from Goodreads.)

* * * * *

Question:  What are some of your favorite Horror novels?

Top Ten Tuesday – Top 10 Unique Book Titles

top ten tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week’s topic is Top Ten Unique Book Titles.   I’m thinking of this week’s topic in terms of titles that jumped out at me and made me want to read the book even if it was just to figure out how the title ties into the story.

 

* * * * *

 

TOP 10 UNIQUE BOOK TITLES

 

1. SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA by Becky Albertalli

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

2. THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

3.  TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN by John Green 

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

4. GREETINGS FROM WITNESS PROTECTION by Jake Burt

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

5. A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES by John Kennedy Toole

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

6. LILY AND THE OCTOPUS by Steven Rowley

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

7. CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF by Tennessee Williams

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

8. DOROTHY MUST DIE by Danielle Paige

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

9. MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL by John Berendt

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

10. MURDER OVER MOCHAS by Caroline Fardig

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

Question:  What are some unique book titles that have piqued your curiosity?

Top Ten Tuesday: Good Enough to Eat – Top 10 Delicious Foods Mentioned in Books

top ten tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Yummy Foods Mentioned In Books (Does a character eat something you’d love? Or maybe the book takes place in a bakery/restaurant that makes yummy things? You could also talk about 10 of your favorite cookbooks if you don’t read foody books.)

 

 * * * * *

I’m all about food so this was a really fun topic for me (and nowhere near as hard as last week’s!).  I don’t really read “foody” books but I definitely take notice every time delicious foods are described in the books I do read.  Here are some of my favorites.

 

Top 10 Delicious Foods Mentioned in Books

 

1. “25 CENT BREAKFAST SPECIAL” from FRIED GREEN TOMATOES AT THE WHISTLE STOP CAFE

Credit: crackerbarrel.com

 

This breakfast of champions is mentioned on the very first page of Fannie Flagg’s famous book and my mouth waters every time I read it:  “Eggs, grits, biscuits, bacon, sausage, ham, red-eye gravy, and coffee for 25 cents.” I couldn’t find a picture featuring those exact same foods, but this Sunrise Sampler from Cracker Barrel is pretty close and amazingly delicious (although, as expected, it costs a bit more than a quarter, haha.)

 

* * * * *

 

2. ELIZABETH’S FIRST AUTHENTIC ITALIAN MEAL in EAT, PRAY, LOVE

  

I think the “EAT” section of Eat, Pray, Love was the only part of this book that I enjoyed and my favorite part of it was the first meal Elizabeth has when she arrived in Italy.  Everything about it just sounds divine:  Spaghetti alla Carbonara, sauteed spinach with garlic, zucchini blossoms stuffed with cheese, warm bread dipped in olive oil, red wine, and tiramisu for dessert.  Pure heaven!

 

* * * * *

 

3.  MINNIE JACKSON’S FRIED CHICKEN from THE HELP

    

One of my favorite scenes from The Help is when Minnie Jackson decides to help Mrs. Celia cook for her husband and she shares her secret recipe for what can only be described as the most delicious fried chicken in their whole town.  Just listening to her describe it makes my mouth water.  Fried chicken is the ultimate comfort food, isn’t it? (Now, as delectable as Minnie’s chicken sounds, I do, however, think I’ll pass on her chocolate pie. LOL!)

 

* * * * *

 

4. OREOS from SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA

I think one of the reason I adore this book is because Simon is as Oreo-obsessed as I am.  I love all of the special, seasonal flavors that Nabisco comes up with, but the originals will always have my heart.

 

* * * * *

 

5. CHOCOLATE MINI EGGS from THE UPSIDE OF UNREQUITED

Not only is Becky Albertalli an incredible writer, she also has great taste in snack foods.  Simon has his Oreos, and Molly and Reid have their chocolate mini eggs.  Have I mentioned that I also love chocolate mini eggs?  Especially the ones from Cadbury.  Mmmmmm….

 

* * * * *

 

6. LEMON TARTS AND PUMPKIN PASTIES from HEARTLESS

  

One of my favorite parts of Marissa Meyer’s Heartless is that main character Cath dreams of being a baker and spends quite a bit of time cooking delicious pastries and cakes.  Two of her creations that made my mouth water were her lemon tarts and her pumpkin pasties.  I could totally relate to the Cheshire Cat when he was stealing desserts every time Cath had her back turned!

 

* * * * *

 

7. BUTTERBEER from the HARRY POTTER series

Credit: Intoxicology

 

 

* * * * *

 

8. MAIRE’S MAGICAL NUT-STUDDED COOKIES from MAGIC BITTER, MAGIC SWEET

Credit: Hershey’s

In Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet, Maire is a baker who can make the most delicious desserts.  Not only are they melt in your mouth delicious, but they are also infused with magic.  My taste buds would tingle after time there was a description in the book of some of her most popular desserts.  A stand out for me were her buttery nut-studded cookies.  I’m not exactly sure what a nut-studded cookie looks like but these cookies from Hershey’s are what I envision while reading this book’s food descriptions.

 

* * * * *

 

9. ANYTHING FROM THE WONKA FACTORY in CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

 

 

What kid didn’t read this book and immediately want to try every bit of chocolatey candy goodness that Roald Dahl described?  Oh how I always wanted to get my hands on a Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight and a mug of chocolate from the Chocolate River.  (with Mr. Wonka’s permission, of course! I had no interest in behaving like the spoiled rotten children in the book.)

 

* * * * *

 

10. GREEN EGGS & HAM from GREEN EGGS & HAM

 

I love ham and eggs. I don’t care what color they are. Bring ’em on!

 

* * * * *

Question:  What are some of your favorite yummy foods mentioned in books?

Top Ten Tuesday – Top 10 Book Covers That Make Me Think of Fall

top ten tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Ten Books With Fall/Autumn Covers/Themes (If the cover screams fall to you, or the books give off a feeling of being Fallish).  I feel like I kind of lamed out on this topic because I completely drew a blank about all things Fall as soon as I read it.  I’m sure once I see what everyone else has done with it, I’ll feel like a fool, haha.  Since my brain just wouldn’t work, I decided to just focus on book covers that remind me of fall because of their color schemes, since those red, orange, and gold earthy tones are what I most associate with fall. The books themselves have little or nothing to do with fall; it’s all about the colors!

Top 10 Book Covers That Make Me Think of Fall

 

1. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess

* * * * *

2. BEHOLD THE DREAMERS by Imbolo Mbue

* * * * *

3.  HOMEGOING by Yaa Gyasi

* * * * *

4. ILLUMINAE by Amy Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

* * * * *

5. THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE by Stieg Larrson

* * * * *

6. LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

* * * * *

7. A WALK TO REMEMBER by Nicholas Sparks

* * * * *

8. WALDEN by Henry David Thoreau

* * * * *

9. THE INVENTION OF WINGS by Sue Monk Kidd

* * * * *

10. A FEAST FOR CROWS by George R.R. Martin

Hey, Winter is coming! Fall comes before winter so I’m kind of on topic with this one, right? (Ssshhhh, just let me have my moment, lol)

 

* * * * *

Question:  Hmmm, did you have any better luck with this topic than I did?

Top Ten Tuesday – My Top 10 Favorite Book Boyfriends

top ten tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week’s topic is Top Ten Book Boyfriends/Girlfriends (Which characters do you have crushes on?)

* * * * *

Going in, I thought this was going to be a tough topic to come up with a full set of 10 for.  With the exception of my longtime book boyfriend, Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, I just drew a blank when I started thinking about characters I had crushes on.  Once I got going though, I actually ended up with 11 names and so had to make a cut (Sorry, Rhysand!).  Apparently I crush more easily than I thought I did 😉

 

TOP 10 BOOK BOYFRIENDS

 

1 and 2.  KAZ  and MATTHIAS from the SIX OF CROWS series

 

Apparently I have a thing for bad boys because Kaz Brekker scored the number 1 spot on my list, with his fellow teammate, Matthias, coming in a close second.  I love that they’re both tough yet a little vulnerable if you dig deep enough, and I’m especially enjoying Matthias right now as I’m reading Crooked Kingdom and watching Nina flirt relentlessly with him.  Every time he blushes, I crush on him a little more, haha.

 

* * * * *

 

3.  AZRIEL from the A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES series

 

I almost put Rhys on my list because I have crushed on him a bit throughout this series, but I bumped him for Azriel at the last moment because there’s just something about Azriel that appeals to me on a more subtle level.  I like his quiet, protective demeanor and that there’s an air of mystery surrounding him at times.

 

* * * * *

 

4.  ALUCARD EMERY from the SHADES OF MAGIC series

 

Honestly, I have crushes on most of the characters in this series to some degree, but Alucard Emery is just so fabulous, I had to put him on this list.  I’m a big fan of both his witty banter and most especially of his absolute devotion to Rhys.

 

* * * * *

 

5. CARSWELL THORNE from THE LUNAR CHRONICLES

 

This guy is just such a larger than life personality that you can’t help but fall in love with him.  I love a funny guy and Carswell Thorne is just hilarious, even if the hilarity is often unintentional.

 

* * * * *

 

6.  RON WEASLEY from the HARRY POTTER series

 

Seriously, how can you not love Ron Weasley?  I love Ron because he’s funny, sarcastic, loyal as hell to his friends, and because he’s often an underdog compared to all of the other witches and wizards at Hogwart’s.  There’s just something about an underdog that appeals to me…

 

* * * * *

 

7.   MR. DARCY from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

 

Mr. Darcy was my first ever book boyfriend and he still makes the list all these years later.  Darcy initially comes across as arrogant and condescending, but I loved that, if you took the time to get to know him, as Lizzie did, there was much more to him than meets the eye and that he was actually quite kind-hearted and unassuming.

 

* * * * *

 

8. JON SNOW from A SONG OF FIRE AND ICE series

 

It’s totally the underdog thing here again with Jon Snow.  The fact that he’s played by the sexy Kit Harrington in the HBO series doesn’t hurt either! 😉

 

* * * * *

 

9.   LEVI STEWART from FANGIRL

 

How adorable is this guy?  I think I started crushing on Levi the moment he was compared to a golden retriever in the book, lol.

 

* * * * *

 

10.   AUGUSTUS from THE FAULT IN OUR STARS

 

This guy has got to be the sweetest boyfriend ever.  The way he felt about Hazel, everything he did for her…. just such a sweet, thoughtful guy. Loved him.

 

* * * * *

 

Question:  Who are some of your favorite YA badass female characters?

Top 10 YA Reads That Feature Badass Female Characters

top ten tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Ten Books That Feature Characters ____________: Examples: Ten books that feature black main characters, characters who hold interesting jobs, characters who have a mental illness, characters that are adopted, characters that play sports, etc, etc. Can’t wait to see what you all come up with!

* * * * *

Okay, so I kind of cheated on this week’s topic.  Every other topic I could think of, I could only come up with 3 or 4 characters that fit the description.  I’m pretty sure I’ve done a post on strong female characters before so this time I decided to focus specifically on YA books.  The one cool thing is that since I’m constantly reading, I’m always coming across new badass female characters so my list of favorites is always changing.  My list this time contains a couple of long-time favorites but then also a lot of new favorites in the 2017 releases I’ve read.

 

Top 10 YA Reads That Feature Badass Female Characters

 

1. HERMIONE GRANGER from the HARRY POTTER series

 

Hermione is one of my long-time favorite badass female characters.  She’s smart, feisty, fierce, loyal, kicks butt when it comes to using her magic, and she loves books so of course I adore her.

 

 

* * * * *

2. DELILAH BARD from the SHADES OF MAGIC series

 

She’s a knife-wielding thief who dreams of commanding her own pirate ship.  What could be more badass than that?  I’m really hoping Lila makes an appearance in Schwab’s new series.  I just finished Shades of Magic a few months ago and I’m already desperate for more Bard.

 

* * * * *

3 and 4.  FEYRE & MOR from the A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES series

 

Some of the fighting scenes that features these ladies were my favorite moments from this series.  Both Feyre and Mor are forces to be reckoned with, each in their own way.  Feyre, in particular, achieved badass status not just because of the powers that she learned to wield throughout the series, but also because of the difficult sacrifices that she was willing to make for the greater good.

 

* * * * *

5 and 6. INEJ and NINA from the SIX OF CROWS series

 

So far I’ve only read the first book of this series, so I’m hoping the second book holds true in that Inej and Nina are two of the most fabulously badass ladies I’ve come across in my reading this year.  Loved them both!

 

* * * * *

7. EMIKA from WARCROSS

 

I fell in love with Emika from the very first scenes of Warcross. Not only is she a badass bounty hunter, but she is also a gifted hacker.  Her character is like an action hero in a video game setting. So exciting to watch her in action!

 

* * * * *

8. XIFENG from FOREST OF A THOUSAND LANTERNS

 

Xifeng is a recent favorite of mine and she’s a bit different from the other female characters on my list because she’s technically a villain.  What elevates Xifeng to badass status for me is her willingness to do whatever it takes to remove all obstacles from her path to the throne.  She knows what she wants and goes for it, no matter what.  She can be a little scary at times, but I couldn’t help but cheer her on because of her fierce determination.

 

* * * * *

9. VASYA from THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE

 

This book is one of my favorite 2017 releases so far and it’s primarily because I adored Vasya, the main character of the book, so much. Brave, fiercely protective of her family, and often quite wild and even defiant at times, Vasya has all of the qualities I look for in a heroine and I think everyone who reads the book will fall in love with her.

 

* * * * *

 

10. KADY from ILLUMINAE


I loved Kady in this book because she’s what I would call a reluctant badass.  She is forced to become a badass in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds when the ship she is on is overrun by plague-infested zombies.  It’s truly thrilling to watch Kady in action in this book.

* * * * *

Question:  Who are some of your favorite YA badass female characters?

Top Ten Tuesday: Top 10 Books On My Fall Reading List

top ten tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Books On My Fall TBR List, which gives us all a chance to share what we’re planning to read for the next few months.   

* * * * *

I actually shared what I thought was going to be my Fall TBR back in August, but then somehow I managed to read almost all of the books on that list before fall ever got here so today’s list is my revised fall reading list, haha!  Because I’m such a mood reader, this list is subject to change at any given moment, but as of right now, here are 10 books that I’m determined to read this fall.

 

TOP 10 BOOKS ON MY FALL READING LIST

 

1. DEAR MARTIN by Nic Stone

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

2. CROOKED KINGDOM by Leigh Bardugo

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

3.  WHAT HAPPENED by Hillary Rodham Clinton

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

4. WONDER WOMAN:  WARBRINGER by Leigh Bardugo

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

5. 27 HOURS by Tristina Wright

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

6. STARFISH by Akemi Dawn Bowman

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

7. THE TETHERED MAGE by Melissa Caruso

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

8. ONE PERFECT LIE by Lisa Scottoline

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

9. ARTEMIS by Andy Weir

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

10. MURDER OVER MOCHAS by Caroline Fardig

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

Question:  What books are you planning to read this fall?  Are any of my titles on your list?

Top Ten Tuesday: Throwback Freebie – My Top 10 Favorite Reads from 2007

top ten tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Throwback Freebie: Ten Books I Loved During The First Year I Started My Blog, Favorite Books Published 5 or 10 or 15 Years Ago, Ten Older Books I Forgot How Much I Loved, etc. etc. Tweak however you want!

* * * * *

I decided to take a stroll down memory lane to see what my favorite reads were back in 2007.  This was an interesting journey because 2007 was the year I was pregnant with my son.  I have to confess I didn’t read much that year. I honestly think every time I sat down to read, I ended up falling asleep!  That said, I was still able to scrape together ten of my favorite reads from that year.  I liked going back and looking at my reading habits from ten years ago, mostly because it gave me an opportunity to see how much my interests have changed over the years.  There’s a lot less fantasy on this list, as well as a lot more historical fiction.  I also didn’t read much YA back then aside from Harry Potter, which or course was just a must-read.

 

MY TOP 10 FAVORITE READS FROM 2007

 

1. HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS by J.K. Rowling

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

2. A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS by Khaled Hosseini

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

3.  STILL ALICE by Lisa Genova

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

4. THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO by Junot Diaz

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

5. SARAH’S KEY by Tatiana de Rosnay

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

6. THE GRAVEDIGGER’S DAUGHTER by Joyce Carol Oates

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

7. WORLD WITHOUT END by Ken Follett

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

8. SOMEONE KNOWS MY NAME by Lawrence Hill

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

9. DOWN RIVER by John Hart

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

 

10. LEAN MEAN THIRTEEN by Janet Evanovich

 

(Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

Question:  What were some of your favorite reads from 10 years ago?  Would any of my favorites make your list?

Top 10 Books I Struggled With & Ultimately DNF’ed

top ten tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Ten Books I Struggled to Get Into But Ended Up Loving or Ten Books That Were A Chore To Get Through or Ten Books I’ve Most Recently Put Down (the theme is…books you had a hard time with…tweak it how ever you need)

* * * * *

DNFing books has always been hard for me.  Even if I’m not enjoying a book, there’s this little nagging voice in my head that says ‘Give it a chance. It has to get better or else it never would have been published.’  Thankfully that little voice has gotten much quieter since I started blogging and quite frankly don’t have the time to waste on bad books.  If I’m just not into it, I’m getting much better about just cutting my losses and moving on to the next book.  Below are some books that even when that nagging voice to keep reading was at its loudest, I still was not able to get through and ended up DNFing.

 

Top 10 Books I Struggled With & Ultimately DNF’ed

 

1. AMERICAN GODS by Neil Gaiman

 

I’ve always been hit or miss when it comes to Neil Gaiman.  I absolutely loved The Ocean at the End of the Lane and Stardust, but American Gods, even though it seems to be one of his most popular books, just wasn’t a good fit for me. I struggled with it for weeks and finally had to DNF it.  (Find out what it’s about…)

 

* * * * *

2. THE NOTEBOOK by Nicholas Sparks

 

Those who have followed my blog for a while are probably chuckling at this one and wondering why I even tried to read it, based on my aversion to most things romantic.  Honestly, I don’t know why I tried to read it either.  I guess because so many other people I know were raving about it. I thought surely it would melt my romance-averse heart.  Nope!  (Find out what it’s about…)

 

* * * * *

3.  THE ONE MEMORY OF FLORA BANKS by Emily Barr

 

This is one I just recently DNF’ed and was really bummed that I didn’t enjoy it since so many of my fellow bloggers loved it so much.  The issue for me was that while I had complete sympathy for Flora and her situation, the constant repetition just got to be too much for me and I found myself skimming and skipping, looking for anything that wasn’t just a rehash of the basic memories she has of her life.  It just got to be tedious.  (Find out what it’s about…)

 

* * * * *

4. GIRLS ON FIRE by Robin Wasserman

 

What I learned from trying to read this book is that I’m not a big fan of books that feature toxic friendships.  This also probably wasn’t a book I would have normally picked out but it was on so many anticipated reading lists that I got caught up in the hype.  This is also one of those books that made me start questioning who puts those buzz lists together anyway.  For the past couple of years, nearly every disappointing book I’ve read has appeared on one or more of those lists.  (Find out what it’s about…)

 

* * * * *

5. RICH AND PRETTY by Rumaan Alam

 

Another hyped book that just wasn’t a good fit for me.  I picked this one up not just because of the buzz, but also because it’s a book about female friendships and because it’s set in New York City, which is one of my favorite cities and book settings.  Those two things just ended up not being enough this time.  It didn’t feel like there was much of a plot at all and I didn’t connect with the characters so I gave up on it.  (Find out what it’s about…)

 

* * * * *

6. THE PARIS WIFE by Paula McLain

 

I usually love historical fiction and books that are set in Paris, but I just found this to be a very dry read.  I guess maybe I’m just not as big of a Hemingway fan as I thought I was.  (Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

7. THE LOVELY BONES by Alice Sebold

 

This is another one of those books that pretty much everyone I know seems to love, but I found it dull and boring.  I don’t even remember how far I got into it, but I disliked it enough that I gave it 1 star and I don’t do that often.  (Find out what it’s about…)

 

* * * * *

8. GIRL IN SNOW by Danya Kukafka

 

I thought the premise of this book sounded so good, but when I actually sat down and started reading, I didn’t like the writing style at all. I felt like it was just dancing all around the subject at hand without really advancing the plot so I gave up about a third of the way through.  All I can even remember about the story is that a girl was found dead and one of the main characters whose point of view we’re given is a boy who used to stare at the girl through her bedroom window.   (Find out what it’s about…)

 

* * * * *

9. CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS by Sally Rooney

 

The blurb for this book had kind of a Friends vibe for me, which was why I decided to pick it up. It sounded like a fun contemporary read about a group of friends post-college.  Unfortunately I just found it dull and didn’t really connect with any of the characters.  Others have rated it highly so maybe I gave up on it too soon, but it just didn’t seem like it was going to work for me.  (Find out what it’s about…)

 

* * * * *

10. ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand

I hate DNFing classics because in my mind, there’s a reason they’re considered classics.  But at 1,168 pages filled with tiny print (at least the edition I was trying to read), it was just too much book.  This is one I could see myself trying again maybe in an e-format so that the print is larger and the book itself isn’t so cumbersome, but for now, DNF.  (Find out what it’s about…)

* * * * *

Question:  What are some books you tried to struggle through but ultimately ended up DNFing?