Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the fabulous folks over at The Broke And The Bookish.  Every week, bloggers from all over share their own lists based on the topic of the week.  You can find all Top 10 Tuesdays here.

Top 10 Favorite Romances

This is the perfect list for this week because of Valentine’s Day.  And if there’s anything I love, it’s a good romance (especially a YA romance!), so I was really excited about this one!

1. Clara And Tucker from the Unearthly trilogy.  They’re on my mind because I recently finished Boundless, and I was so happy that they ended up together.  Because if there is a couple who deserves to have a happily ever after, it’s them!
2. Lend and Evie from the Paranormalcy trilogy.  Because they’re adorable together!  And Lend is such a good guy and absolutely perfect for Evie’s craziness.  They balance each other so well!
3. Meghan and Ash from The Iron Fey series.  Ash literally WENT TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH for Meghan.  And he earned his soul.  And gave up immortality.  All for Meghan!  Which is why they are one of my favorite couples EVER.
4. Anna and St. Clair from Anna And The French Kiss.  It’s Anna and St. Clair.  That is all the explanation that is needed.
5. Hazel and Augustus from The Fault In Our Stars.  While I was so sad (maybe even a little heart-broken) that Augustus died and they didn’t have a lot of time together, I am still glad they had the time they did.  Besides, they’re just two teens who are trying to have a normal life while
6. Samantha and Jase from My Life Next Door.  Because there’s just something about how they lived next door to each other for years and finally ended up together.  There’s just something about Samantha finally giving the family next door a chance…and Jase is such a great character that I can’t help but swoon over!
7. Tohru and Kyo from Fruits Basket.  Ignoring the fact that I really need to finish reading Fruits Basket, I like Tohru and Kyo together.  He’s off-the-wall- and has a tendency to over-react a lot of the time- but she’s good for him because she really cares for him no matter what.
8. Lennie and Joe from The Sky Is Everywhere.  Because Joe is, like, completely amazing and I want him to be real.  And seeing Lennie’s feelings about whether she wants to be with him…and him just randomly stopping by and how well he fit with her family…and just how well he and Lenny fit.
9. Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice.  Um…it’s Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett.  Enough said!
10. Bella and Edward from Twilight.  This is the one that I’ve wanted to include but was also really hesitant to include.  They are one of my favorite couples and I LOVE them together, I really do.  Besides, Edward and Bella were one of the first couples that came to mind, so here they are!

Top 10 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the lovely folks over at The Broke And The Bookish.  Every week, bloggers from all over share their own top 10 lists based on the topic of the week.  You can find all Top 10 Tuesday’s here.

Top 10 Favorite Bookish Memories

This was such a fun list to work on, because I love to read, and I have some great memories of books and reading.  I can’t wait to make more bookish memories, but for now, here are my 10 favorite memories!

1. My memories of my grandpa taking me to the library when I was growing up.  I remember him reading all the time when I was little, and my love of reading comes from him.    
2. Reading Harry Potter for the first time.  This is easily one of my (many) favorite memories involving Harry Potter.  Reading the series is magical, but nothing replaces reading Sorcerer’s Stone for the very first time.  Reading hasn’t been the same since then.
3. Reading Jane Austen for the first time.  Her books are the first classics I picked up on my own, and I was surprised to find I actually liked them.  Even when I don’t like the very few classics I pick up, I’m definitely inspired to read them because of Jane Austen!
4. Okay…The Casual Vacancy!  One of the few books I’ve been excited about before it came out (since the end of HP…that I can actually remember).  Plus, it’s her first book post-HP, and I really liked it.  Check out my review here.
5. The Hunger Games.  I read my fair share of YA back in 2011, but The Hunger Games is one of the ones that really got me into YA.    And I remember reading them and NEEDING to read the next one right away.
6. Another Harry Potter bookish memory: getting Deathly Hallows at midnight and then stay up all night to read it!  I am so glad I got to go to a midnight release party, and even though I was exhausted at work the next day, it was totally worth it…even when I was trying to not spoil it for anyone!
7. Rediscovering the library.  There was this weird period in time where I wasn’t really buying books and I certainly wasn’t checking books out from the library.  But I started going to the library again a couple years ago, and I’m glad I’ve rediscovered the wonders of the library.  Even though I pretty much stick to the digital library and the Nook store these days, I am determined to check out more books from the library!  There’s something magical about wandering the aisles and randomly picking up books because of the title or the cover.
8. All the times I’ve curled up with a great book.  Sometimes, I just need to crawl into bed with some coffee or hot chocolate and some snacks and just read for hours.
9. The moment I realized I wanted to be a book blogger!  It took almost two years of book blogging to actually realize that was the direction I wanted to go in, at least where blogging goes.  Talking about the books I’m reading has been so much fun.  Also fun?  Reading other blogs and constantly finding new books to read!
10. The Darwin Elevator!  I’m super-excited and super-happy that my friend Jason’s book is coming out July 30.  Seriously, I AM JUST SO EXCITED!  Like, happy dance excited!

Top 10 Tuesday is hosted by the lovely folks over at The Broke And The Bookish.  Every week, bloggers from all over share their own top 10 list based on the topic of the week.  You can find all Top 10 Tuesdays here.

Top Ten Most Frustrating Characters Ever

We’re back for another Top 10 Tuesday!  Okay, so this is a great topic, because there are some irritating characters (and some general character types) that annoy the hell out of me.  I could go on and on about frustrating characters…and had I not grouped certain characters together, this would be one long list.  I did try to keep the ranting to a minimum, which helped…I think.  Here are the 10 that are currently the most frustrating characters ever!

1. Sorcha from Daughter Of The Forest.  She was so frustrating!  Basically, at the beginning, she was pretty insistent on not getting married…only to fall in love and get married by the end of the book.  I’m just not a big fan of characters in historical fiction who are insistent on not getting married, because they want to be educated or do their own thing or whatever.  I’m generally forgiving of inaccuracies in fiction but this is the one thing that is frustrating.
2. Arya from A Game Of Thrones.  She’s frustrating because she’s the typical female character in fantasy who is more interested in learning how to fight than to do the typical needlework and such.  It’s weird, too, because I don’t mind Eowyn, from Lord Of The Rings.  I think it’s pretty much because she’s so in the background that I don’t really notice it.
3. Rose from Vampire Academy.  She was really unlikeable, and seemed more interested in parties and getting drunk than learning what was necessary to protect Lissa.
4. Jean from Jinx.  While it is nice to see a character who’s still fairly innocent, it did get annoying.  Sweet but super-insecure.  I like characters who are sweet, and I certainly don’t mind characters who have insecurities, but it was just a bit much with Jean.
5. Percy Jackson from Percy Jackson.  The most frustrating thing about Percy was the fact that 15-year-old Percy was far too similar to 11-year-old Percy.  Even taking into account the ADHD/being the son of Poseidon and guys maturing at a slower rate than girls…it’s still a little too weird.
6. Kendra and Seth from Fablehaven.  I honestly couldn’t pick, so I went with both of them.  Seth was a selfish brat, and Kendra was too much of a know-it-all.
7. Jude, Mia, and Lexi from Night Road.  Because their frustration is kind of interconnected.  Jude was irritating because she’s such a helicopter mom.  She’s one of the characters who acts all supportive and tries to be the cool mom by telling her kids they can call her if they get drunk at a party…only to get mad at them and ground them when they make said call.  Mia, because she’s all clingy- to the point that her twin can’t do what he wants JUST BECAUSE SHE CAN’T GO TO USC ALL BY HERSELF.  If I’m pointing out how clingy and dependent someone is, you know it has to be annoying and frustrating, because normally I’m all whatever about it.  And Lexi because she kept complaining about how Zach and Mia had chances and opportunities she didn’t.
8. Here’s a character type: the weapon-wielding, tough, super-independent bad-ass who seems to reject anything seen as feminine.  Just…no.  It really makes me want to bang my head against a wall.  I’m just going to leave it at that, because the last thing I need to do is go on some super-long rant about this.
9. Kendra from Whirl and Alex from Half-Blood.  I’m grouping these two characters together because they frustrate me for the same reason.  They are both too insistent on fighting the bad guy themselves, even when told not to, because it’s too dangerous and because they don’t have enough training to take on the bad guy.  There is a time and a place for going after the bad…and it’s not when you’ve been told not to.  And the lack of consequences for ignoring orders to not do anything makes it worse.  It seems to be sometimes paired with #8, which is partially the case with Kendra and Alex.
10. And we’re ending with Ginny, from 13 Little Blue Envelopes.  She’s frustrating because she seemed like she was going through the motions and was pretty disinterested in her trip.  You get to go on this crazy scavenger hunt through Europe and you don’t even bother to have fun with it?  It was frustrating to listen to.  Seriously, it was.

Top 10 Tuesday is hosted by the lovely folks over at The Broke And The Bookish.  Every week, bloggers from all over share their own lists based on the topic of the week.  You can find all top 10 Tuesdays here.

Top Ten 2013 Debuts I’m Looking Forward To

Debuts I’m looking forward to…this one is definitely fun to think about, because there are a ton of books I’m looking forward to.  I may have gotten a little creative with my definition of debut once or twice, but it looks like there are tons of debuts this year to be excited about!

1. The Program by Suzanne Young.  This one looks pretty interesting- suicide is an international epidemic, and The Program is the only cure.  Expected Publication is April 30.
2. Splintered by A.G. Howard.  It’s a modernization or re-telling (or whatever you want to call it) of Alice In Wonderland!  It seems great, and it came out on January 1.
3. Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans.  It’s a good versus evil story in the afterlife!  I’m really intrigued by this because you don’t see a lot of good versus evil in the afterlife.  Expected publication is January 15.
4. Mind Games by Kiersten White.  She’s debuting a new series this year, and I’m excited about it.  A world where girls with amazing powers are used as tools for corporate espionage?  I am so there on February 19, when Mind Games is released.
5. Not A Drop To Drink by Mindy McGinnis.  I came across this one while looking at my goodreads recommendations, and it looks totally cool!  A world where you have to protect water from others?  Sounds scary (and totally possible) but also really interesting.  Not A Drop To Drink comes out September 9.
6. PODs by Michelle Pickett.  This one is her YA debut, and it’s about this girl who was chosen to live- and not be killed by this crazy virus.  Only, the POD she’s in gets opened up, and the virus has undergone this crazy mutation.  PODs is coming out on June 4.
7. Starglass by Phoebe North.  This one seems pretty cool and very mysterious.  Living on a spaceship, and needing to kill it’s captain to prove yourself to rebels?  Very intriguing.  Starglass comes out July 23.
8. Control by Lydia Kang.  A world where you can’t have genetically enhanced genes because it’s been outlawed?  Sounds like an interesting world.  Control comes out December 19.
9. City Of A Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster.  First of all, the title got my attention!  But a world where orphan girls are expected to be musicians, healers, courtesans, and assassins?  And trying to figure out who’s behind a bunch of girls dying?  Totally cool!  I’m excited for February 5, when City Of A Thousand Dolls comes out.
10. Pivot Point by Kasie West.  I’m looking forward to Pivot Point, which is about a Searcher named Addie, who can look into the future and see both outcomes when she is faced with making a choice.  I’m definitely excited about Pivot Point, which is coming out February 12.