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Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Favorite Books So Far This Year

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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 Favorite Books So Far In 2016

I love that we’re doing a mid-year favorites list, because it’s always fun/interesting to talk about my favorite books from the year that’s not part of all of the end-of-year reflection.  Which is always fun, but I like doing lists like this at other times too, and mid-year seems perfect for that.  Here are my favorite books so far!

  1. The Heart Of Betrayal by Mary Pearson.  How HoB managed to be better than The Kiss Of Deception, I don’t know…but it did, and I was blown away.  It’s definitely one of my favorites!
  2. Welcome To Night Vale, the book.  I both listened to it and read it, which is why it took me forever to read it, because I wanted to compare them.  The audio is completely amazing (and sadly, I didn’t love it in print) and it’s such an odd but cool book.
  3. Walk On Earth A Stranger by Rae Carson.  I really liked it, and it’s such a good combination of Gold Rush historical fiction with a splash of paranormal/fantasy elements.
  4. Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older.  I really liked the Caribbean legends we see in the book, and I loved how normal the characters are.  And that Shadowshapers are normal, and not seen as different.
  5. Night Study by Maria V Snyder.  I just love Yelena and Valek’s story, and the next book seems so far away!
  6. Rogue by Julie Kagawa.  I wasn’t sure if I’d like it, especially after thinking the first one was just okay.  But since she’s one of my favorite authors ever, I read it, and I’m glad I did, because it’s one of my favorites so far.
  7. Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone.  I think, if I were to rank this list instead of doing it in random order, this book would easily be my favorite book so far this year.  It’s so nice to see a character struggle with a mental illness that isn’t depression, and even more than that, I love that we actually see Sam in therapy for her OCD.
  8. All-American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely.  Everything that we see in this book is something that, unfortunately, is all too familiar, but it’s still an important book that I think everyone should read.
  9. Gabi, A Girl In Pieces by Isabel Quintero.  I loved how honest Gabi was, and she’s a character that I can really relate to.
  10. False Illusions by A Cramton.  While new adult (especially the contemporary romances) isn’t my typical read, I really loved this one!  Yoel and Madison belong together, and it really made me want to give the genre more of a chance!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases For The Next 6 Months

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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 Most Anticipated Releases For The Second Half Of The Year

It’s always fun to do a post about new releases that come out during the 2nd half of the year, because when I do this at the beginning of the year, it’s so easy to focus on stuff that’s coming out the first few months.  These books are the releases I’m really looking forward to reading!  Clicking on the title will take you to Goodreads!

  1. Heartless by Marissa Meyer.  I love the Lunar Chronicles, and I can’t wait to read this one because it’s an Alice In Wonderland re-telling, and she did such an amazing job re-telling fairy tales that I know it’s going to be just as good as her other books.
  2. Empire Of Storms by Sarah J. Maas.  I still need to read Queen Of Shadows, but I know I’ll have it read by the time Empire Of Storms comes out!
  3. The Beauty Of Darkness by Mary Pearson.  The Heart Of Betrayal is even better than The Kiss Of Deception, in my opinion, so I can’t wait to see how this series comes to an end.
  4. Harry Potter And The Cursed Child script!!!! I am so insanely excited about this it isn’t even funny.  I’m normally not a big fan of reading plays, but this is one time I’m more than willing to make an exception!
  5. Paper And Fire by Rachel Caine.  I love the idea of the library of Alexandria being set in a steampunk world where personally owning books is forbidden, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
  6. The Reader by Traci Chee.  I’m excited about this book, mostly because I really like the idea of books being unheard of in this society,
  7. Imprudence by Gail Carriger.  I just love Gail Carriger, and I can’t wait to see more of Prudence’s adventures.
  8. Red Hot Rain by Rachel Caine.  Ever since I found out another Weather Warden book was coming out, I’ve been looking forward to reading it!
  9. My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, and Brodi Ashton.  I haven’t read anything by Brodi Ashton, but I am a huge fan of Cynthia Hand and Jodi Meadows, and that’s why I’m really excited about their take on Lady Jane Grey.
  10. Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova.  I’m looking forward to this book because magic goes wrong at Alex’s Deathday Celebration, and I love the idea of fantasy that draws from Latin America.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Reasons I Love 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.

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Top Ten Reasons I Love To Crochet

Crochet is one my favorite things to do (besides reading, of course), and there are a lot of reasons why I love it so much, especially now.  The internet has opened up a lot of options/resources, and has made crocheting a lot easier!

  1. Ravelry.  I mentioned it last month, in another TTT post about favorite non-bookish websites.  I love it because there’s so many patterns and a lot of filters I can use to find what I’m looking for.  That (and Pinterest and blogs) have made finding patterns really easy!
  2. It’s pretty calming and relaxing, and it’s a good way to relieve stress!  Except for when a pattern/project stresses me out, and the project goes into time-out, but other than that, it’s a really good way to relieve stress.
  3. It keeps my hands busy.  Instead of just watching t.v., I can do something with my hands while the t.v. is on in the background.  It’s something to focus on and it also manages to keep my mind busy too!
  4. It can also be really meditative, depending on the pattern you’re using.  Like this blanket.  I’ve made several of them, and since I’m doing the same stitch for the entire blanket, it’s easy to get into a groove.
  5. Speaking of stitches, I love that I can YouTube stitches and techniques I don’t know how to do.  And that I can watch as many different videos as I need to in order to find one that actually clicks and explains it in a way that makes sense.
  6. Petting yarn!  It’s a thing, and sometimes, I just need to hug and pet the baby alpaca yarn I have because it’s insanely soft and it makes me feel better.
  7. I get to make awesome stuff!  It would probably be easier to buy a version of Luna Lovegood’s scarf, or a scarf in Hufflepuff colors, but when I wear it, I remember the work I put into it, and it’s much cooler wearing something I put a lot of time into.  Plus, giving people something that’s handmade is pretty cool too.
  8. Design Seeds is helpful if I need a color palette for anything, but especially with blankets.  I’ve seen some pretty good color combinations, and if I ever need one, I know where to go.
  9. Being able to buy crochet books online…mostly because it’s hard to find books that are about crochet in your average bookstore.  A local yarn store might be the better option, but since I get so distracted by yarn…online is the place to go for crochet books, should I need/want one.
  10. And the same goes for buying yarn online.  It’s not something I do often, but if there’s a color I need and I can’t find it anywhere else, I’m glad I can buy it online!  And with places like Etsy, I can get something spun/dyed by a real person!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Beach Reads

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

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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 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: Ten Books I Picked Up On A Whim

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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 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: Top Ten Non-Bookish Websites I Love

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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 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.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Teens I’d Love To Revisit As Adults

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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 Teens I’d Love To Revisit As Adults

A lot of times, when I finish a book, I want to know what happens to the characters!  Here are some characters I’d love to see as adults, plus one I’d love to see as a teen!

  1. Pretty much every Harry Potter character!  I’d love to them as adults (like an actual story, and not the random bits and pieces we get from Pottermore and stuff), and I’d even love to see the adults as teens!  At least we’re getting to read the script for HP & The Cursed Child this summer!
  2. I’d love see more of Valek from the Study/Soulfinders series as a kid.  The flashbacks we’ve been getting aren’t enough!
  3. Samantha from Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone.  I just want to know how she’s doing!
  4. Gabi from Gabi, A Girl In Pieces by Isabel Quintero.  Gabi is such a unique character, and has such an interesting voice that I really want to see what she’d be up to, like, 10 years from now to see how her life is going.
  5. Sami and Fatimah from The Secret Sky by Atia Abawi.  I just want to know if they’re still together.  That’s all I want to know.
  6. Madeline from Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon.  I really felt for Maddie, particularly at the end of the book, and I sort of wonder how her relationship with her mom is now, and how she’s doing physically and mentally after the end of the book.
  7. Kristin from None Of The Above by I.W. Gregorio.  I just want to check in with Kristin and see how she’s doing.
  8. Quinn from All-American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brandon Kiely.  I just want to know if the events of the book have really stuck with Quinn, and how much it changed his life.
  9. Carly from Joyride by Anna Banks.  I just want to know what happened with her parents, and if she and her brother ever got reunited with their parents.
  10. Sierra from Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older.  After everything that happens in the book…and with how great of a character Sierra is, I’d love a novella or something showing what’s going on in her adult life.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Bookworm Delights

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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 Bookworm Delights

There are so many bookish things that make me happy, and here are ten things that make me happy!

  1. Walking into a bookstore.  This is one of my favorite things in the entire world, and it makes me really happy!
  2. Reading in bed with some coffee and snacks and Netflix in the background.  Especially if it’s raining, which isn’t often, and even more if it’s raining and I’m home.  For some reason, rain almost always seems to happen when I’m at work, and it just makes me want to go home and crawl into bed and read.
  3. When I find a new favorite book.  I’m sure this will be really popular, but I just love it when I read a book that’s my new favorite.
  4. All of the book-related stuff on Etsy.  There are way too many things for me to actually mention here, but I want all of the cool bookish things on Etsy.
  5. When I actually read a book that’s been on my TBR for the longest time.  It feels like such an accomplishment when I read something that I’ve wanted to read for a long time.
  6. Finding out when a favorite author has a new book coming out.  It makes me really excited to find out when I get to read a new book by one of my favorite authors.
  7. When the bookish community does something awesome, like donating books to students in a particular area because it was banned from a school or when people donated money to keep the library in Ferguson open.  I love hearing stories like that!
  8. Movie adaptations!  I love seeing how books end up on the big screen.
  9. When the cover or title of a book is mentioned in the book!  It’s just fun when it comes up in the book.
  10. When authors include playlists at the end of their books.  I just love seeing what music they listened to while writing the book.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books That Will Make You Laugh

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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 That Will Make You Laugh

I really like it when books make me laugh!  (I also like books that make me cry, but this is not that post).  Here are 10 books that made me laugh- or at least giggle, just a little!

  1. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray.  This book is hysterically funny- I LOVED the audio book, and it works so well as an audio book.
  2. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White.  Evie is fun, and she definitely made me laugh more than a few times.
  3. Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine.  I definitely laughed quite a few times, usually whenever Myrnin popped up.
  4. Basically anything by Gail Carriger.  Her books make me laugh.  Alexia is really funny, and I couldn’t help but laugh at a lot of her lines.
  5. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins.  There are a lot of funny moments, and Sophie is pretty sarcastic, which I love.
  6. Wallbanger by Alice Clayton.  When I read romance, it’s usually historical romance, but this book somehow came up in a comment on a blog post (I wish I could remember which one now), and it was absolutely hysterical because Caroline was just flat-out funny.
  7. Welcome To Night Vale.  I giggled more than a few times, mostly because I could picture everything so well when I was listening to it.  And at the random references to the podcast.
  8. The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson.  Yes, it made me cry, but it also made me laugh!
  9. The Martian by Andy Weir.  The Martian had a lot of really funny moments, and while I was listening to it, it made my commute a lot more fun.
  10. Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins.  It has the same snark/sense of humor that Hex Hall has, and it definitely made me laugh!