Tag Archives: lists

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Sophomore Novels I Want To Read

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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.

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Top Ten Sophomore Novels I’m Looking Forward To Reading

I really wasn’t sure about this topic at first, because I don’t always read an author in order, and I don’t always pay attention to debuts and sophomore books, so I sort of went with 10 authors I want to read another book from.  Some I think only have one book, but I know others have other books I need to read.

  1. Andy Weir, author of The Martian.  This was great on audio, and I can’t wait to read another book by him.
  2. Atia Abawi, author of The Secret Sky.  The Secret Sky made me think a lot and I really hope she writes another book, because I am a fan!
  3. Nicola Yoon, author of Everything, Everything.  This book was a doozy, and I am so looking forward to reading another book by her.
  4. I.W. Gregorio, author of None Of The Above.  This is one of my favorites I’ve read this year, and I want another book by Gregorio so much because I know it would be amazing.
  5. Stacey Lee, author of Under The Painted Sky.  This book really makes me want to read more historical fiction, especially YA historical fiction.
  6. Kasie West, author of On The Fence.  It’s such a cute, fun book, and while I haven’t read any of the other books I know West has written, I know I want to!
  7. Robin Talley, author of Lies We Tell Ourselves.  I requested her new book from the library, and I’ve actually been looking forward to reading it.
  8. Katherine Howe, author of Conversion.  I know she has at least one or two other books out and I will have to read them, because I liked Conversion enough to read her again.
  9. Yvonne Ventresca, author of Pandemic.  This was frighteningly realistic, and yet, I want another book by Ventresca.
  10. Rosamund Hodge, author of Cruel Beauty.  Hodge is another author that I know has other books out, but like some of the other authors, I haven’t read them yet.  I want to, especially if the world building is as amazing in those books as it is in Cruel Beauty.

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Bookish Halloween Costumes

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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 Bookish Halloween Costumes

Halloween is such a fun holiday!  Dressing up is always fun, and books are a great source of inspiration for Halloween costumes.  Harry Potter is a good inspiration, and while I could do an entire list based off of Harry Potter alone, I won’t because there are some other characters I want to dress up as!

Harry Potter:

  • Luna.  I dressed up as Luna when I went to a Harry Potter party a few months, and it was fun, because really, you just need a quirky, colorful outfit and accessories, and some Spectrespecs.
  • The Golden Snitch.  This would be fun to do!  Lots of gold, and I’m sure Etsy has a ton of Snitch-themed jewelry.
  • The Sorting Hat.  I’m not quite sure how you’d dress up as a sorting hat, other than wearing one, but still.  It would be fun, especially in putting it together.
  • Rita Skeeter.  Dressing up as her would be so much fun!
  • Hagrid.   It would be fun, and if I did it, it has the potential to be absolutely hysterical because I’m 4’10.  Still, I kind of want to dress up as Hagrid at some point.

Non-Harry Potter:

  • One of the Avicen from The Girl At Midnight.  Putting together a feathered costume would be fun.
  • Lola from Lola And The Boy Next Door.  I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned her before, but considering she wears some interesting outfits, you could have a lot of fun with it.
  • A ballerina.  I’ve read a couple of ballet-themed books this year, and I would love to dress up as a ballerina.
  • Something inspired by a Gail Carriger book.  I haven’t worn anything steam-punk inspired, but her books really make me want to wear something steampunk!
  • I have yet to read the Night Vale book, but Night Vale costumes are so much fun to do.  I’m dressing up as Cecil this year, and even though my costume is pretty simple, I had a lot of fun putting it together.  Like, HP, I could probably do an entire list around Night Vale.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Wishes I’d Ask The Book Genie To Grant Me

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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.

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Top Twelve Wishes I’d Ask The Book Genie To Grant Me

I love this topic, and yet, I had a really hard time with it!  I’m not sure why, because you’d think I’d have so many book-ish wishes I’d want granted.  Here are my ten twelve wishes!

  1. I’d wish…for extra hours in the day to read!  If this book genie can somehow magically give me more time to read all the books I want to read, that would be amazing.
  2. I’d wish…to meet J.K. Rowling.  I love Harry Potter, and it’s such a huge part of my life that meeting J.K. Rowling would mean everything to me.
  3. I’d wish…for a really awesome reading space at home.  I know my own personal book genie could make it happen.  I’ve seen some awesome reading nooks on pinterest.
  4. I’d wish for…a library in my house!  Seriously, how awesome would it be to have one?  It could even have an awesome reading nook or two.
  5. I’d wish…to meet Laurie Halse Anderson.  Her books mean almost as much to me as Harry Potter does, and meeting her would definitely be a highlight!
  6. I’d wish…for another Harry Potter book, preferably Marauder-era or Founders era.  But really, I’ll take any Harry Potter book that J.K. Rowling wants to write.
  7. I’d wish…to go to Shakespeare And Company Bookstore.  I have no idea why I want to go to this bookstore in particular, but I really want to!
  8. I’d wish…to go on a tour of the U.K., led by Alison Weir.  This would be so awesome, and she is one of my favorite non-fiction writers.  I feel like I’d learn so much!
  9. I’d wish…for a book by Stephanie Perkins that is all about St. Clair and Anna’s wedding.  It’s not even funny how much I want to read that.
  10. I’d wish…to go to The Strand Bookstore.  I know the 18 miles of books slogan, which would make it an awesome bookstore to just to see.
  11. I’d wish…for my Hogwarts letter!  Because I know that a book genie could make Hogwarts real, and somehow get me in.
  12. I’d wish…for the ability to magically remember every single book I read pre-blog.  Because it would be nice to have a record of that.  If I knew I would someday want a list of books I read, I’d totally keep track.  Or the book genie could grant this wish for me!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Author Duos I’d Like To See Write A Book Together

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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.

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Top Ten Author Duos I’d Like To See Write A Book Together

This is a really cool topic, and it was a little hard, because I could think of so many authors I’d love to see write a book with someone else.  The problem is matching them up with someone else!  Here are ten author duos I’d love to see write a book together.

  1. Julie Kagawa and Aprilynne Pike.  I love the Iron Fey series (Kagawa) and Wings (Pike), and if they could write a fairy series together, I’d love to see how it turned out.
  2. Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison.  Obviously, this isn’t going to happen, but if it could, I would love to see what they wrote.
  3. Nnedi Okorafor and Chimamanda Adichie.  I don’t know what I’d want them to write, but whatever it is, I’d read it.
  4. Gail Carriger and Rachel Caine.  They need to do steampunk paranormal something.  It would hilarious and an awesome twist on something.
  5. Jessi Kirby and Jenny Han.  I know they’d write an awesome, nostalgic YA contemporary book.
  6. Sarah J. Maas and Maria Snyder.  I’d love to see what sort of fantasy world they’d come up with.
  7. Marissa Meyer and Rachel Hawkins.  I don’t even know what I’d want them to write, but it would have to be something awesome.
  8. Malinda Lo and Robin LaFevers.  This is the oddest combination on the list (for me) but I’d be fascinated to see what sort of awesome bad-assery they could come up with.
  9. Jennifer Brown and Jennifer Echols.  I have no particular reason, but I’d love to see them write a book together.
  10. Elizabeth Wein and Ruta Sepetys.  They really need to write a World War 2 historical fiction.  Can this happen? I want it to happen.

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I Recently Quit

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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.

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Ten Books I (Sort of) Recently Quit

One of the things that I really started doing after starting the blog was either not finishing books I wasn’t into or putting them aside to finish at some other point.  There are all sorts of reasons why, but I thought it would be fun to split the list between books I stopped reading and will never pick up again, and books I stopped reading that I do want to finish.

Books I Temporarily Quit:

  1. Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier.  I tried listening to it back in February, but I was so stressed and unable to focus on anything that I zoned out for massive chunks of the book.  I really liked the parts I actually remember, so I’m hoping to pick it up again soon.
  2. Days Of Blood And Starlight by Laini Taylor.  I’ve tried reading it a few times, and also had to put it down because I wasn’t in the mood for it.  I want to finish it, though, but I’m really leaning towards the audio, especially since it’s narrated by one of my favorite narrators, Khristine Hvam.
  3. The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives Of The Daughters Of Nicholas And Alexandra by Helen Rappaport.  I can’t remember why I put it down in the first place, but I really need to pick it up.
  4. By The Light Of My Father’s Smile by Alice Walker.  I really liked it, but I was just reading it at the wrong time, so I put it aside for another time.
  5. Winter King: Henry VII And The Dawn Of Tudor England by Thomas Penn.  I love Tudor-era England and picked up this one because I didn’t know much about the events leading up to that point.  I can’t remember why I put it down, but one day, I will go back to it.

Books I Permanently Quit:

  1. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel.  Recently, I’ve decided I needed to read more graphic novels, and since this is one of the few I know about, I thought I’d pick it up.  Unfortunately, I was bored out of my mind reading it and gave up a quarter of the way through, but just based on that, I can see why people love it so much.
  2. Confessions Of The Sullivan Sisters by Natalie Standiford.  I loved How To Say Goodbye In Robot, and thought I’d give this one a try.  The sisters were spoiled, and I could care less about what happened to them, or what they did to get cut out of their grandma’s will.
  3. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson.  I know people love it, but I had a hard time with it.  Mostly because of the verse.  It made each chapter feel like a random, disjointed memory instead of something more cohesive.
  4. The Grace Of Kings by Ken Liu.  I wanted to like it, and it does seem like a really interesting, epic fantasy.  It was a little too detailed for me, and I couldn’t stay interested long enough to keep reading.
  5. The Alex Crow by Andrew Smith.  The Alex Crow seemed really intriguing, but I didn’t care about the one expedition, I hated the relationship between the two brothers, and overall, the story made no sense to me.  At all.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books To Read If You Like…

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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.

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Top Ten Books To Read If You Like…

I really had to think about this one!  I thought it would be fun (and maybe a little easier) to come up with 10 different books/authors, because I had a few pairings that immediately came to mind when I saw the topic!  And it’s also fun to give under-the-radar recommendations for popular/well-known books and authors!

  1. If You Like Eleanor And Park by Rainbow Rowell, read like How To Say Goodbye In Robot by Natalie Standiford.  How To Say Goodbye In Robot is everything I wanted Eleanor And Park to be, but I think there’s a similar feel to both books.
  2. If you like Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, you will like Some Boys Are by Patty Blount.  Both deal with the same topic (rape), but Some Boys is much more about rape culture than Speak is.  Some Boys is a really good read-alike, though.
  3. If you like Toni Morrison, read Nnedi Okorafor.  I’ve only read a couple of Okorafor’s books, while I’ve read a few of Morrison’s books.  But I also think they have very distinct voices and stories they want to tell, which is why I think Okorafor is a good read-alike for Morrison.
  4. If you like Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton, read Taking Flight by Michaela DePrince.  Even though Tiny Pretty Things is fiction, and Taking Flight is a memoir, both highlight the world of ballet, particularly if you aren’t white.
  5. If you like The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot, read Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah.  Amal’s voice really reminded me of Mia’s, which makes it a great book for fans of the princess diaries.
  6. If you like Shrek, read The School For Good And Evil by Soman Chainani.  I know Shrek is a movie, but The School For Good And Evil is such a good read-alike for it that I couldn’t help but include it.
  7. If you like Downtown Abbey, read Manor Of Secrets by Katherine Longshore.  There may be better read-alikes out there, but I was really reminded of Downtown Abbey when reading it.
  8. If you like anything by Ellen Hopkins (particularly Identical), read Drowning Instinct by Ilsa Bick.  I can’t place why Drowning Instinct is such a good read-alike for Hopkins, but I think it’s the way they handle really dark stuff.  There’s also the fact that Drowning Instinct and anything Hopkins writes translate well to audio book (for me).
  9. If you like Half-Blood by Jennifer Armentrout or Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead, read Whirl by Emma Raveling.  There is something about these three books that remind me of the others- I think it’s the main characters who are similar to me.
  10. If you like An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir, read Ink And Bone by Rachel Caine.  There is something about these two worlds and how much control the Empire (for Ember) and the Library (for Ink And Bone) have that make them a great pairing.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books On My Fall TBR

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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.

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Top Ten Books I Want To Read This Fall

It’s fall, which is weird, because I don’t associate the high 80’s/low 90’s with fall, even though that’s sort of normal for where I live.  But if I’m going to sit in a nice air-conditioned house with just enough energy to sit around and do nothing but read, these are the books I want to read!

  1. The Iron Warrior by Julie Kagawa.  I want to read this so much, especially with how the last book ended.
  2. Winter by Marissa Meyer.  I’ve been excited about this book for ages, and I need to know how it’s going to end. Especially after reading Fairest.
  3. House Of Leaves by Mark Danielewski.  I’ve wanted to read House Of Leaves for a while, and fall seems to be the perfect time of year to read it.
  4. Packing For Mars by Mary Roach.  I’m listening to The Martian right now, and it really makes me want to pick up Packing For Mars.
  5. The Heart Of Betrayal by Mary Pearson.  Why I have not read this?  I need to know what happens.  And The Kiss Of Deception is awesome, so this is something I need to read this fall.
  6. Positive by Paige Rowl.  This memoir about a girl born with HIV looks fascinating.
  7. Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix.  It’s a mystery set in an IKEA-type store, and the print version apparently is designed to look like a catalog.
  8. Among The Janeites by Deborah Yaffe.  This looks like a totally awesome book about the Jane Austen fandom.
  9. Six Of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.  It’s a series set in the same world as the Grisha series, and I can’t wait to read it!
  10. Welcome To Night Vale!  I am so excited that the book is almost here, and I’m totally going for the audio book, because it’s narrated by Cecil, and you can’t go wrong with that!  Also, if you’re not listening to Welcome To Night Vale, you should be.  It’s delightful!

 

Top Ten Tuesday Freebie: Top Ten Harry Potter Things I Want To Crochet

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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 Tuesday: Top Ten Harry Potter Things I Want To Crochet

This week, we get to pick our own topic, so I thought I would about two of my favorite things: crochet and Harry Potter.  What better way to talk about them than to talk about Harry Potter crochet things?  All of the links go to where you can find the pattern, if you’re interested in making it yourself.

Top Ten Tuesday- HP Crochet Collage

  1. The Luna Lovegood Scarf.  Okay, so maybe I made this scarf already, but I want to make another one!  It’s the one on the left, in the collage above.  I really want to do it in different colors.  Maybe I could do it in house colors?  That could look pretty cool.
  2. The Sorting Hat.  It looks totally awesome, and I want it now.
  3. Harry Potter House Scarves.  I have one a friend made for me (in Hufflepuff colors), and I have a cowl in Hufflepuff colors that I made a while back (the one on the right, pictured above), but I have yet to make any.  I will have to make the full set one of these days.
  4. Crochet Fluffy.  Who wouldn’t want a crochet Fluffy?
  5. Crochet Mandrakes.  It would be so cool to have a crochet mandrake.
  6. Luna’s Radish Earrings.  I’d have to do clip-ons, since I don’t have pierced ears, but this would be awesome.
  7. A Snowy Owl.  I want to have Hedwig.  And since real owls are out of the question, a crochet one will have to do.
  8. Dobby.  Dobby is the most awesome house elf ever.
  9. The Ron Weasley Animal Crackers Hat.  I totally remember the hat from the movie, and it wasn’t until I came across the pattern that I knew how much I wanted one!
  10. There’s even a crochet time turner!  I would wear this so much if I actually had it.  I’d better start crocheting!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Series I Have YET To Finish

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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.

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Top Ten Series I Have YET To Finish

This week is all about series I haven’t finished.  It was harder than I expected, because I had the hardest time remembering what series I have and haven’t finished.  At one point, I had a spreadsheet going of series I’ve finished and how far along I was in the unfinished series, but I can’t remember the last time I actually updated it.  Still, I managed to come up with 10 series that I really want to finish (but haven’t).

  1. Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes.  Mostly because there’s no information on the next book, which makes it hard to finish the series.  I hope it comes out soon, because I really want to know what happens.  It’s such a cool re-telling of Alice In Wonderland.
  2. Angels’ Blood by Nalini Singh.  I really liked the first one, but I haven’t picked up any of the other books.  It’s a long series, so it will be a while before I finish it.
  3. The Atman City series by Michelle Reed.  I’ve read the first couple and really liked them, but kind of forgot about the series until I was working on this post.  I definitely like it enough to read the next book once it comes out.
  4. The Remnant Chronicles by Mary Pearson.  I have The Heart Of Betrayal, which I have yet to read, but I am excited to read it, because I really like this series.
  5. The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes.  I really need to see when the 3rd book is coming out, because I’ve really liked this series.
  6. Splintered by A.G. Howard.  Mostly because of the covers but also because it’s a really cool take on Alice In Wonderland.
  7. The Tudor Witch Trilogy by Victoria Lamb.  I really liked the first two books, and now I just need to read the last one.  It’s great combination of the paranormal and historical fiction.
  8. Cinder by Marissa Meyer.  I am so excited about Winter, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
  9. The Queen Of The Tearling by Erika Johansen.  I liked this one, and I’m curious to see where things go.  It’s a fantasy with a post-apocalyptic feel, and I really need to know what happened to make the world change so much.
  10. Shadow Study by Maria V. Snyder.  I am so glad there’s another series about Yelena and Valek, and I feel like I’m catching up with old friends.  I can’t wait to see what happens next.
  11. Fruits Basket.  I keep saying I am  going to finish, but I never do.  One of these days, I will.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Characters I Didn’t Click With

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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.

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Top Ten Characters I Didn’t Click With

Or as I like to call it, 10 characters that it was hard to care about.  Sometimes, not clicking with characters (or liking them/caring about) make it hard to like a book.  While it is my overall preference to have characters I like and connect with, it’s not super-necessary.  Still, here are ten characters I didn’t completely connect with.

  1. Hailey from The Education Of Hailey Kendrick.  I can relate to wanting to be perfect, but there was also something about Hailey that I couldn’t completely connect.
  2. Eadlyn from The Heir by Kiera Cass.  It was so hard to care about Eadlyn- it won’t stop me from reading the rest of the series, and I hope she grows up a little, because I think she has a lot of potential.
  3. Delilah from Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler.  I don’t have a particular reason for not clicking her, other than the very vague not completely caring reason.
  4. Liz from Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang.  I think it was the jumping around in the timeline element of the book that made it hard to completely connect with her.  I felt for her, and I can empathize, but I didn’t completely connect, if that makes any sense.
  5. Sam from Dear Mr Knightley by Katherine Reay.  I think in some ways, Sam and I are similar, and I think that’s why I had a hard time clicking with her…because I could see myself, to a small degree, being like what I didn’t like about her.
  6. Justine from You Look Different In Real Life by Jennifer Castle.  Her story, of the 5 kids we see in the book, was the least interesting, and in comparison to the other characters, she had the least amount of stuff going on. It was hard to click with someone who I didn’t particularly interesting.
  7. Bee from Beholding Bee by Kimberly Newton Fusco.  I had a hard time clicking with her because she seemed a lot younger then I expected and wanted her to be.  There are a lot of things I like about her, but the connection wasn’t completely there.
  8. Nell from We Are The Goldens by Dana Reinhardt.  Nell seemed really whiny and unable to go through life without her sister.  I had a hard time connecting with her because of it.
  9. Taylor from Counting Backwards by Laura Lascarso.  I think the big reason why I didn’t click with Taylor is because I felt like we didn’t see enough of her life before she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital.
  10. Kiri from Wild Awake by Hilary T. Smith.  Kiri was too scattered and all over the place for my liking.