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 lists based on the topic of the week.  You can find all top 10 Tuesdays here.

Top Ten Tuesday Freebie: 10 Books And Movies To Get Me Into The Christmas Spirit

I figured this would be a great post for today, so I’m sharing some books and movies that get me in the holiday spirit.  I love this time of year because of all the movies and t.v. specials and books that put me in the Christmas spirit.

The Book Edition:

1. How The Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss.  It doesn’t seem like Christmas without this one.
2. The Night Before Christmas.  This is a Christmas classic, and it really doesn’t seem like Christmas unless I read The Night Before Christmas.
3. Harry Potter.  Something about Harry puts me in the Christmas mood.  Besides, you know Christmas at Hogwarts is totally amazing.
4. The Polar Express.  How can you not get into the Christmas spirit after reading this?
5. The Gift Of The Magi.  It’s definitely Christmas-y, and I haven’t read it since I had to read it in middle school.  It’s  a great story to read this time of year.

The Movie Edition:

1. Home Alone.  I just love Home Alone, and nothing says Christmas like Home Alone.
2. Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer.  This stop-motion movie is a Christmas classic, and you cannot convince me otherwise.  It is not Christmas until I’ve watched this movie.
3. A Charlie Brown Christmas.  I love the holiday season because of the Charlie Brown movies!  I love a Charlie Brown Christmas, and it’s so fun to watch.
4. Love Actually.  It’s one of my favorite Christmas movies EVER.  And it has Alan Rickman!
5. Miracle On 34th St.  I know this is horrible but…I’ve never seen it!  Every year I tell myself I’m going to watch it and then I never do.  Still, it doesn’t seem like Christmas without it!

Happy holidays everyone!

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 lists based on the topic of the week.  You can find all top 10 Tuesdays here.

Top Ten Books I Read In 2012

Since last week was all about my 10 favorite authors, I’ve decided to do 10 books not by those authors.  I really could have kept going with that list, so I’m definitely including the authors that almost made the list.  I’ve read a lot of great books this year, so narrowing it down to 10 was a little hard.  But I managed it…somehow…and it was painful.

1. Rachel Caine.  She is not a book.  But I have LOVED everything I’ve read by her- whether it’s the Morganville Vampires, Outcast Season or the Weather Wardens, I am a fan for life!
2. The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson.  I loved this book so much, and it’s such a great book.  I’m so glad I read it.
3. The Iron Fey series.  I did read the Iron Fey last year, but I’ve read most of the series this year, which is why I’ve included it on this list.  It’s such a great series, and I’m definitely excited that the story continues with The Lost Prince series.
4. A Great And Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray.  I need to read Beauty Queens and The Diviners, and I’m pretty sure that me wanting to read them is partly because of the Gemma Doyle series.
5. Reason To Breathe/Barely Breathing by Rebecca Donovan.  It is not even funny how much I love this series, so to not include it would be completely horrible.  Once I started crying, I couldn’t stop, so be sure to have some tissues handy.
6. The Fault In Our Stars by John Green.  Because not including it would be absolutely HORRIBLE.  And it is so awesome that awesome doesn’t even BEGIN to describe how good it is!
7. Take A Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg.  I loved this book, and how it focused on 4 different people at a performing arts high school. I couldn’t help but love Emme.
8. My Life Next Door.  I just adored this book!  I loved how different Samantha and Jase were, but also how cute they are together.  I just loved how warm and open the Garretts were.
9. A Mighty Long Way by Carlotta Walls LaNier.  It’s a great book and I cannot recommend it enough.  It really is a good reminder that things were different once…and that it wasn’t that long ago.
10. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.  This is one of my favorite series, and it is so good!  I really liked Tally and Westerfeld did a great job with world-building and coming up with some great characters.

And the ones that almost made the list: Enough books to fill another list!  Stay tuned for round two!

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 lists based on the topic of the week.  You can find all top 10 Tuesdays here.

Top Ten Favorite New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2012

This is a great topic!  I’ve read a lot of books this year, so it was no easy task to narrow it down to 10!  But it was fun figuring out which authors were my favorite and which authors I want to keep reading!

1. Stephanie Perkins.  I loved Anna And The French Kiss, and I’m definitely reading anything else she writes.
2. Jenny Han.  The Summer I Turned Pretty was completely amazing, and I really need to read the rest of that series.  And anything else she writes.
3. Rachel Caine.  Have I mentioned how much I love Rachel Caine?  Because I do.  I first read Glasses Houses in April and I’ve been hooked ever since.  She is definitely on my auto-buy list.
4. John Green.  If I have to explain this to you, then you’ve clearly never read John Green.
5. Carrie Jones.  Because I loved her Need series.
6. Aprilynne Pike.  Because Wings was awesome.
7. Brian Froud.  I love fairies and his artwork is amazing.  They’re pretty enough to actually buy and have sitting around somewhere.  Preferably somewhere that’s not in a huge pile on my floor.
8. Rebecca Donovan.  Reason To Breathe is one of those books I can’t stop thinking about, and I can’t wait to see what else she writes.
9. Cynthia Hand.  Her Unearthly series is AMAZING and I am most definitely a fan.  I love what she’s done with angels, and I can’t wait until next year, when Boundless comes out.
10. Marissa Meyer.  Because I really liked Cinder and I need to read Scarlet now!  If only it were out…

And here are a few people who almost made the list: Jandy Nelson, Libba Bray, Kiersten White, Maria V. Snyder, Huntley Fitzpatrick

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 lists based on the topic of the week.  You can find all top 10 Tuesdays here.

Top 10 Books I Wouldn’t Mind Santa Bringing Me

When I was working on this list, I decided to go with books that are in TBR pile.  It might be wishful thinking but maybe having some of those books in my TBR pile would actually get me to read some of them.  It is a most random list, but there are a lot of books I really, really want!  I really am amazed I managed to narrow down to the following 10 books…

1. Life And Death Of Anne Boleyn: The Most Happy by Eric Ives.  This is a book I’ve been meaning to read for ages, and I’m just too lazy to actually get my hands on a copy.
2. Brian Froud’s World Of Faerie.  Actually, I’d be happy with anything by Brian Froud.  I love fairies and I’m impressed with his illustrations.
3. Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson.  I keep hearing good things about Tiger Lily, so maybe I’d actually read it if I had my own copy.
4. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin.  Because I’ve never read it and I really need to.
5. The Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days by Tarek Malouf.  Because I love to bake and I don’t make enough cake.
6. The Time Traveller’s Guide To Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer.  This could be helpful if I ever write that book set in Tudor England…plus, it seems like a cool book.
7. Lola And The Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins.  Because I loved Anna And The French Kiss, and so now I need to read Lola And The Boy Next Door.
8. Vicksburg, 1863 by Winston Groom.  Because I have a few books about the Civil War in my TBR pile, and I really want one of them.  I just randomly picked this one.
9. In The American West by Richard Avedon.  Because I’ve really liked his photography ever since I saw an exhibit of his at the San Diego Museum Of Art.  It would be nice to look at his photographs all the time!
10. Clara Bow: Runnin’ Wild by David Stenn.  I’ve been wanting to read this one for a while, and after hearing The History Chicks talk about her in one of their episodes, I’ve really wanted to read this one.

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 lists based on the topic of the week.  You can find all Top 10 Tuesdays here.

Top 10 Most Anticipated Books For 2013

This is the perfect list for me right now, because there are a ton of books I’m looking forward to right now!  There are quite a few new releases I’m looking forward to right now, and I can’t wait to read them.  This was a fun list to work on, but I didn’t realize how many series I was reading until I worked on this list…because they’re all series!  So, here are 10 books I’m looking forward to reading next year!

1. Boundless by Cynthia Hand.  I’m really looking forward to the conclusion of the Unearthly series.  I have to know if Tucker and Clara end up together!
2. Mind Games by Kiersten White.  I loved Paranormalcy, which I really need to finish.  So I’m looking forward to Mind Games, which is her next series.
3. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer.  I loved Cinder, and I can’t wait to read Scarlet!
4. Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi.  I loved Shatter Me, and I’m really looking forward to Unravel Me.
5. Requiem by Lauren Oliver.  I can’t wait to read Requiem, because I really like the Delirium series.  I’m so fascinated by the idea that love is a disease, and I can’t wait to see what happens in Requiem.
6. Dark Triumph by R.L. LaFevers.  Loved Grave Mercy, so I can’t wait to read the sequel!
7. The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson.  The Name Of The Star was really spooky and mysterious, and it’s an interesting take on Jack The Ripper.  I’m definitely looking forward to The Madness Underneath.
8. Antigoddess by Kendare Blake.  This one sounds really intriguing- it seems like an interesting take on the Greek Goddesses, so I’m looking forward to it.
9. Dead Silence by Kimberly Derting.  I really liked The Body Finder, and while I really need to read the next two books in the series, I’m still looking forward to Dead Silence.
10. Fall Of Night and Daylighters by Rachel Caine.  I’m putting these two together because they’re the last two books in the Morganville Vampire series, which is completely amazing so far.  Hopefully I’ll be all caught up by the time these two books come out!

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 lists based on the topic of the week.  You can find all Top 10 Tuesdays here.

Top 10 Books And Authors I’m Thankful For

This is such an appropriate topic, considering Thanksgiving is this week.  There are a lot of books and authors I love, and there are even a few I’m thankful for.  Here are the 10 books and authors I’m thankful for this year.

1. Harry Potter.  Of all the books I’m grateful for, Harry Potter would be at the top of my list.  The world of Harry Potter is so magical, and I love revisiting Hogwarts time and time again.  There are no words to fully express how much I love Harry Potter, but I am so glad Harry’s story is a part of my life.
2. Jane Austen.  Her books are the first classics I read on my own and actually liked.  Reading her books sparked an interest in reading classics on my own (which I’ve been horrible at doing) but I’m definitely glad I’ve read her books.
3. The Postsecret books.  I’ve only read a couple of them, but I like to flip through every once in a while, because they’re a good reminder that we all have our own secrets, no matter what they are.
4. Laurie Halse Anderson.  I just love her books, and Speak and Wintergirls are two of my favorite books.  She has great characters, and deals with some tough issues in a great way.
5. Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals and A Mighty Long Way by Carlotta Walls LaNier.  I’m putting these 2 together because they both deal with the same subject.  Both books are written by 2 of the Little Rock 9.  I loved both because you get a really interesting look at what it was like for them.  It really wasn’t that long ago that schools were still segregated, and their stories are a great look at history.
6. Hate List by Jennifer Brown.  I read this book well over a year ago, and I still can’t get it out of my mind.  It’s a haunting look at a school shooting and I couldn’t help but think about how much they can affect everyone involved.
7. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  This is one circus I would love to go to, and it’s a book I can get lost in.
8. Alison Weir.  I am a HUGE fan, and I am determined to read everything she’s written.  I’m really fascinated with Tudor England, and she’s my go-to author for anything about this time period.
9. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer.  I love a good paranormal book (especially a paranormal romance) and I think it’s popularity is largely because of the success of Twilight.
10. My grandpa.  Okay, my grandpa is not a book, and he’s never written one.  But my love of reading and my love of learning (especially history) are because I grew up in a household where he took me to the library every week since I really little, and because I saw how much he loved history.  I’m the reader I am today because of him, so it seems right to have him on this list!

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.

Freebie: 10 Reasons Why I Love YA

This week, we get to pick any topic we want, and this week, it’s why I love young adult.  I love YA, which should be really obvious by now.  But there are so many reasons why I love it, and I’m sharing some of those reasons today.

1. It’s so creative!  Adult fiction can be creative too, but there are so many great ideas in YA, and they are most certainly things you wouldn’t see over in the adult section.  There are so many great YA books out there, and I’m amazed at how fun, thoughtful, and interesting YA is.  Even when I don’t like a book, a lot of times, I do like the premise of the novel, and love that you see authors going for something different.
2. Length.  I’m not going to lie, the length is part of why I love YA.  The more I read YA, the less I pay attention to the length, but I do like that they’re (generally speaking) shorter than “adult” books.
3. There are a lot more options in the YA section than there were when I was in high school.  I graduated from high school 8 years ago, and even then, it didn’t seem like there was much to choose from.  Now?  I don’t even know where to start half the time!  I love that it’s growing so much, and that there’s almost always something to fit my mood!
4. I find the characters and what they’re going through a lot easier to relate to.  Reading about characters who are trying to find their place in the world and figuring out who they are is so much more fun to read.
5. I love that it’s so hopeful!  No matter what happens, there’s always hope that things will get better, that the characters can make a difference or get through whatever’s going on.  YA is good at reminding me that there is both good and bad in the world.
6. YA authors seem so supportive of each other.  From a few interviews I’ve heard, and based on some acknowledgements I’ve read, it seems like quite a few YA authors really like each author, and are super-supportive of other YA authors.  This is seriously cool, and it’s nice to know that they support each other.
7. YA authors also seem a lot more accessible than other authors.  Then again, I pay more attention to YA authors because it’s most of what I read, but I feel like I can tweet them, or comment on their blog or whatever, and that they might actually answer back.
8. YA brings out a lot of emotions.  I’ve laughed until I’ve cried, I’ve sobbed, and I’ve done happy dances.  I’ve yelled at books, and fought the urge to throw some books at the wall.
9. I’ve read so much YA that I am now inspired to write my own!  Thank you YA!
10. There’s something comforting about YA, and I think it’s reading about characters who have so much potential and opportunities.  It’s a good reminder of who we can be.  Reading YA usually makes me feel better.