Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely folks over at The Broke And The Bookish.  Every week, bloggers share their own bookish top ten lists based on the topic of the week.  You can check out Ten Tuesdays here.

Ten Random Facts About Me

For some bizarre reason, I don’t talk about myself on my blog.  I used to, in the early days of the blog, but then I started sharing book reviews, and then it sort of stopped.  As much as I tell myself that I’m going to do more non-book review posts and talk a little more about myself, it almost never happens.  I went for the random fact method today, because that seemed fun.

1. I love purple, and it’s my favorite color (though I’m partial to green, blue, black and pink), but I also really love bright colors.  Especially when I’m crocheting- more often than not, my crochet projects have very brightly colored yarn.  The brighter the better.  And sparkles.  If it’s bright and sparkly, I’m sold.  Somehow, I went from my favorite color is purple, to sparkles and brightly colored, so to tie it all together, bright, sparkly purple is awesome.
2. I LOVE the strudel from Hans & Harry.  It’s the best strudel I’ve ever had in my entire life.
3. My favorite soda is Dr. Pepper.  I’ll drink any soda (not diet, if I’m going to have soda, I’m going to regular soda), but given the choice…the answer is always Dr. Pepper.
4. I love animated movies.  I don’t care that I’m a 30-year-old woman, I have no problem going to see anything animated…or for that matter…going into the Disney store.
5. Sometimes I hate having curly hair, but more often than not, I love it…but if you tell me I should straighten it, I’ll probably glare at you.
6. I don’t have a smartphone- which is sometimes nice, but sometimes not.  I do, however, have a cellphone…so at least there’s that?
7. As much as I love coffee- which I drink black, if I’m brewing a pot of coffee at home or work- I also love tea.
8. I like tacos.  And burritos.  Actually, I like Mexican food a lot.  It’s probably my favorite food ever.
9. I’m really short- I’m only 4’10” so I’m just barely tall enough to go on rollercoasters.  But I am tall enough…which is good, because I’ll go on pretty much anything.
10. I dot all my i’s with hearts.  Really, I do.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely folks over at The Broke And The Bookish.  Every week, bloggers share their own bookish top ten lists based on the topic of the week.  You can check out Ten Tuesdays here.

Top Ten Beach Reads

It definitely summer, and it’s also time for another beach reads post!  It seems like most days of the year could be a beach day for me (and yet, I can’t actually remember the last time I actually went to the beach), but these are definitely the books I want to read outside this summer!

1. Perfect Lies by Kiersten White.  I’ve wanted to read it for a while, but I have yet to do that.  I will have to re-read the first one, since I don’t remember what happened, but that’s not going to stop me!
2. The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick.  This seems like a good beach read!  I loved The Boy Next Door (which is also a good beach read), and I’m positive the same will go for this book.
3. Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler.  In general, Sarah Ockler seems like a good author for a beach read, and this one seems like an especially good choice.
4. Mouse Guard: Spring 1153 by David Petersen.  Mouse Guard is absolutely adorable, and this graphic novel series is a good choice for a beach read.
5. UnEnchanted by Chanda Hahn.  Fairy tale re-tellings scream beach read to me, and this book (which is about the descendent of the Brothers Grimm) seems like a good book to have at the beach!
6. The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Gilbraith.  Mysteries are good beach reads!
7. Imprudence by Gail Carriger.  Generally speaking, Gail Carriger books are good beach reads, and even though this book doesn’t come out until mid-July, it will make for a good beach read.
8. Midnight Bites by Rachel Caine.  This Morganville Vampire short story collection is going to be a very good beach read.
9. The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West.  Kasie West in another author who’s books are good beach reads.  This one seems like no exception.
10. Red Hot Rain by Rachel Caine.  I know I’ve included another one of her books, but it’s another Weather Wardens book, and those are perfect beach reads.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely folks over at The Broke And The Bookish.  Every week, bloggers share their own bookish top ten lists based on the topic of the week.  You can check out Ten Tuesdays here.

Top Ten Books I Feel Differently About Now That Time Has Passed

This is an interesting topic!  It was a little hard, though, because for the most part, it seems like my feelings on books haven’t changed that much.  Still, I have ten books that I feel differently about now that some sort of time has passed!

1. Harry Potter.  The more that time passes, the more I love it, and the more glad I am that I read it as it was coming out.
2. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han.  The more I re-read it, the more I fall in love with the series.
3. Take A Chance and One More Chance by Abbi Glines.  Even though there hasn’t been a lot of time between me finishing these books and me writing this post…the more I think about these two books, the more I hate them, which makes me not want to read more New Adult, because I’ve read some NA I’ve really liked, and these 2 books just make me hate the genre.
4. What We Left Behind by Robin Talley.  I think I like it even less now than I did when I read the book.
5. Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot.  I used to love this series in high school, and now I’m sort of indifferent.
6. The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.  Every time I think about this book, I feel so many different things, and it just makes me wish everyone read this book.
7. Winter by Marissa Meyer.  I love it more now than I did when I first read it, and that reminds me, I never posted a review of it, and maybe I should do that.  But the point is, I love Winter, and it’s easily my favorite book in that entire series.
8. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead.  I wasn’t a big fan of the series when I read the first one, but after seeing the movie, I re-read it, and liked it a lot more than I did when I first read it.
9. Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine.  I miss this series so much!  I have yet to read the short story collection, but I’m so excited for more Morganville and I can’t wait to revisit it!
10. Basically anything Shadowhunter, by Cassandra Clare.  I’m feeling very fatigued by the sheer number of Shadowhunter books out there, and while I liked the Mortal Instruments series (which is also the only books I’ve read by Clare), I don’t know if I like it enough to read Infernal Devices, even though that’s a series I want to read.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely folks over at The Broke And The Bookish.  Every week, bloggers share their own bookish top ten lists based on the topic of the week.  You can check out Ten Tuesdays here.

Top Ten Books I Picked Up On A Whim

It’s not often I randomly pick up books off the bookshelf- I have such a big virtual TBR pile that I feel like I need to stick with it, but lately, I’ve been randomly checking out books I know nothing about.  It’s been fun, though, because I’ve been reading books I’ve either never heard or books I’ve heard of but know nothing about.  These are 10 books I’ve picked up on a whim!

1. Until Friday Night by Abbi Glines.  I finished this one recently, having randomly picked it up from the library. It’s definitely cute, and I really like the friendships/relationships you see in the book!
2. Accidents Of Nature by Harriet McBryde Johnson.  This is another random pick-up from the library, and all because I wanted an audio book!  The title caught my attention, and it looks interesting!
3. Perfect by Natasha Friend.  This is another audio book, and it seems like it’s right up my alley- I seem to go right for the books about characters dealing with things like the loss of a parent and eating disorders.
4. For The Record by Charlotte Huang.  I know I’ve seen this book come up on at least a couple of blogs I read that focus on diversity in books, but only vaguely remembered it when I picked it up from the library.
5. Ink And Ashes by Valynne Maetani.  It turns out I already wanted to read this one but forgot I wanted to read it.  It looks good, though, and I’m intrigued because it’s about a girl who finds a letter from her father addressed to her step-father and then she goes on this journey to learn more about him.
6. Surviving Santiago by Lyn Miller-Lachmann.  This is another one that got lost in the depths of my TBR pile, but at least I vaguely remember wanting to read it.
7. Radiant Days by Elizabeth Hand.  So, I mostly checked this one out because I saw the last name, and assumed there was a Cynthia Hand book I didn’t know about…only to realize it’s by a completely different author with the same last name.  The plot kind of reminds me of that one movie with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock where they write letters to each other but at two different points in time, but YA and in book form.
8. A History Of Glitter And Blood by Hannah Moskowitz.  I remember hearing about this one, but you can’t go wrong with a book about faeries!
9. The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Helig.  Yet another one I’ve heard about, but it seems cool!  Seriously, a map and ship that can take you to any time and place?  I’m sold!
10. The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi.  It seems like there are some books similar to this one already out there, but it’s fantasy inspired by Indian mythology, which makes it really different!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely folks over at The Broke And The Bookish.  Every week, bloggers share their own bookish top ten lists based on the topic of the week.  You can check out Ten Tuesdays here.

Top Ten Non-Bookish Websites I Love

This is a fun topic!  Of course, a lot of blogs I read are book blogs, but I also read a lot of non-book blogs too, so it’s really fun to share some of my non-bookish favorites.  Click on the name of the website to check them out!

1. Cake Wrecks is one my favorites, and I check it every single day!  Most days, it’s hard not to laugh hysterically, but sometimes, those cakes…I’m left feeling horrified and wondering what I just looked at.  And the Sunday Sweets are amazing to look at.
2. Dr Grumpy.  There’s a variety of posts, but as someone who works in a doctor’s office, I can totally picture most of the stories as things that actually happen…even if they are fictionalized to some degree (or completely made up)…yeah, those are things I’m pretty sure happened at a doctor’s office/hospital somewhere.
3. A Year Of Slow Cooking.  She’s my go-to for any crock-pot recipes I’m looking for/am in need of.
4. Disney Bound.  I love seeing the outfits she puts together based on (mostly) Disney characters!
5. Humans Of New York.  I love seeing people’s stories, and even though they’re pretty short, they’re also super-interesting.
6. Moogly.  It’s one of my favorite places to find crochet patterns and tutorials.  (Ravelry is also awesome).
7. Girl On The Contrary is always really funny, and it makes me smile!
8. Joy The Baker has never led me astray when it comes to baking.  She has awesome recipes and I love her two cookbooks…and I make her brown butter chocolate chip cookies, which are completely amazing (people seem to love them whenever I make them).  She talks about other things besides baking, of course, but she’s just awesome!
9. Damn Delicious has some really good recipes!
10. I also really like Six Sisters Stuff.  They, too, have some really good recipes!
11. The Kitchn has an interesting assortment of all things kitchen-related.