Top Ten Tuesday 03/03/2015

So I realize I’m posting this on Thursday March 5, but I am going to edit the publish date to Tuesday March 3 because I missed this Top Ten Tuesday and this is a week I didn’t want to miss. It’s definitely going to include some books that haven’t made any of my top ten lists before. As always Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is…

Top Ten Books You Would Classify as ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOKS From the Past 3 Years

1.) The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

2.) Pretty Little Liars (Book 1) by Sara Shepard

3.) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

4.) Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

5.) Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland

6.) Five Summers by Una LaMarche

7.) Rules of Summer by Joanna Philbin

8.) Second Chance Summer & Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

9.) Compulsion by Martina Boone

10.) Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley

 Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay, This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E Smith, Liv, Forever by Amy Talkington, The Bargaining by Carly Anne West, Moonglass by Jessi Kirby, Ten by Gretchen McNeil, Sleepaway Girls by Jen Calonita, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, Magnolia by Kristi Cook, The Perfectionists by Sara Shepard, The S-Word by Chelsea Pitcher, Appaloosa Summer by Tudor Robins, Lost Summer by Alex McAulay, The Summer of Firsts and Lasts by Terra Elan McVoy, Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler, Truly, Madly, Deadly by Hannah Jayne, Looking for Alaska by John Green, Things I Can’t Forget by Miranda Kenneally, Laguna Cove by Alyson Noel, If He Had Been with Me by Laura Nowlin

Okay so I went way past ten books but honestly how was I supposed to ONLY pick ten? I extended my list to thirty books, and they are in no particular order, I just only included pictures for the first 10. If someone asked me to fill a box with my favorite books from the past 3 years and give it to someone, these are the books I’d put in there. I know I have to be leaving some out too that I really enjoyed but I just currently can’t think of, plus thirty seemed like a good number to stop at.

Top Ten Tuesday 01/20/2015

Yay for a freebie week! Since this week we can choose any topic for our Top Ten Tuesday post I am going to do…

Top Ten Books I Want to See Made Into Movie

Of course we are talking in a perfect world where the movie would not butcher the book and would be absolutely perfect and not missing a single detail.

    

1.) Ruthless by Carolyn Lee Adams

2.) What Waits in the Woods by Kieran Scott

3.) All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

4.) Ten by Gretchen McNeil

5.) Famous Last Words by Katie Alender

    

6.) They All Fall Down by Roxanne St. Claire

7.) Compulsion by Martina Boone

8.) The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

9.) Creed by Trisha Leaver and Lindsay Currie

10.) The Vault of Dreamers by Caragh M. O’Brien

And of course there were a few I had to leave out that didn’t make the top ten but deserve an honorable mention…

 

And these last two would have made the top ten but they are currently being made into movies…

Top Ten Tuesday 09/16/14

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is, Top Authors I’ve Only Read One Book From But NEED to Read More, and there is a really good chance that I m not even going to come close to ten authors. If I read a book that I really like, I tend to rent or buy more of that author’s books. There are only a few authors that I can think of right now that I have only read one of their books that I liked and want to read more. Anyhow, Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. As I mentioned earlier, this week’s topic is…

Top Authors I’ve Only Read One Book From But NEED to Read More

1.) Deb Caletti – Surprisingly I have only read one of her books, The Nature of Jade, but I loved it and have since purchased 3 more of her books, I just haven’t had a chance to read any of them yet.

2.) Angie Stanton – I loved Snapshot and really want to read the first Jamieson Brothers book, Rock and a Hard Place, along with Royally Lost and Snowed Over.

3.) Michelle Dalton – Loved Sixteenth Summer, bought Fifteenth Summer and want to read Pulled Under.

4.) Nina de Gramont – Loved her book, Every Little Thing In the World and cannot wait to read The Boy I Love.

5.) Jennifer E. Smith – I really enjoyed This is What Happy Looks Like and I do have her other book, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight.

6.) Ransom Riggs – I seriously need to hurry up and read Hollow City.

7.) Abigail Haas – OMG loved Dangerous Girls and cannot wait until Dangerous Boys comes out in paperback.

8.) Gretchen McNeil – She wrote my all time favorite YA thriller, Ten, and I really need to read more of her books.

9.) Joanna Philbin – Need to get a copy of the sequel, Since Last Summer.

10.) Leila Howland – Same as above…need to get a copy of the sequel, Nantucket Red.

Well I guess it wasn’t as hard as I had expected. A few of the authors I only have interest in reading the sequels to the books I have already read but figured they still count for this list.

Top Ten Tuesday 08/05/2014

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Books I’d Give To Readers Who Have Never Read [BLANK]. I’m going to fill in the blank with… Young Adult Books. Since I mainly read YA books I wasn’t really sure what other topic I could have chosen. If I did thrillers or dystopians, I wouldn’t have ten to make a whole list so I will do a mix of young adult genres that I’d give/recommend to someone.

Top Ten Books I’d Give To Readers Who Have Never Read Young Adult Books

1. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han – A nice, light, summery contemporary book that is just so good.

2. Ten by Gretchen McNeil – A really well written YA thriller/horror novel and by far my favorite.

3. Liv, Forever by Amy Talkington – A really amazing YA mystery. Currently in my top 10 favorites, I could reread this over and over.

4. Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne – My favorite YA dystopian novel. So realistic it gives you goosebumps.

5. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green – Because you need to cry a little when reading a book.

6. Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen – Everyone needs to experience a Sarah Dessen book and this one is so far my favorite.

7. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs – So original and has photographs that really make the characters come to life.

8. Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson – Another amazing YA contemporary that is really popular.

9. Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas – Another great thriller although this features a female lead character.

10. I’m actually going to leave 10 blank. There are so many other YA books I’d recommend/give to someone who hasn’t read YA before, but I can’t just pick only 1 more.

I know these are probably not the most popular YA books and a lot of people wound probably recommend books like Harry Potter or The Hunger Games, but everyone has heard of them before. I’d recommend/give someone a stack of books that are really good and popular, but not ones that everyone has heard of. (The Fault in Our Stars being the only exception.)

Sunday Funday

So I saw this survey on another blog and thought it would be something fun and different to do today and possibly every Sunday as well. I do have a review to post tomorrow and another for later this week. I will also be back to doing Top Ten Tuesday this week as well. I have also rented a ton of books from the library. (They let you rent up to 100 books at a time! I only rented 10 though.) So I am going through those pretty quickly because I have a few I bought that I want to read, as well as a long list of other books I’d like to rent. So today I’m going to be doing the A to Z Bookish Survey which was created by The Perpetual Page Turner, and it looked like a lot of fun so here are my answers 🙂

Author You’ve Read The Most From:

Sara Shepard (That should be a given, Pretty Little Liars alone is already up to 17 books, plus add in The Lying Game series.)

Best Sequel Ever:

It’s Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han

Currently Reading:

What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Drink Of Choice While Reading:

Water, really that is all I ever drink besides some iced tea or Gatorade here and there

E-reader Or Physical Book?

Hands down physical books. I love the smell of a new book and just having it physically in my hands, but I also used the Kindle app and Bluefire Reader app on my iPad to read books from NetGalley and if a book I want to read is really cheap for the Kindle.

Fictional Character You Probably Would Have Dated In High School?

This one is tough, I’ll edit it later when I can decide.

*Update: I have an answer!*

Carson Ortiz from Don’t Look Back, Review Posted Here

Glad You Gave This Book A Chance:

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Hidden Gem Book:

Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

Important Moment In Your Reading Life:

Learning about NetGalley. I had no idea that bloggers could get access to advanced copies to review and after I learned about NetGally, I have been able to access so many books.

Just Finished:

To All the Boy’s I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

Kinds Of Books You Won’t Read:

Honestly, I am not into YA fantasy novels. I know Harry Potter and books with dragons and stuff are really popular, but I just never was able to get into it.

Longest Book You’ve Read:

Beach Blondes by Katherine Applegate (721 pages)

*Beat out The Year I Turned Sixteen by 1 page*

Major Book Hangover Because:

The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy by Jenny Han (My favorite books if you haven’t been able to tell.)

Number Of Bookcases You Own:

Well I have one of those cubby shelves that has like six square sections and I have used up 4 of them for books (the other 2 have my dvds) and then I have 3 shelves on my wall, and I have officially run out of room so I now have a stack on my desk.

One Book You Have Read Multiple Times:

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler – Seriously though, this book never gets old to reread.

Preferred Place To Read:

In bed or outside on my porch or deck if the weather is nice. (I’d love to add a hammock to my backyard though.)

Quote That Inspires You/Gives You All The Feels From A Book You’ve Read:

I’ll have to get back to this one. (Rushing now that dinner is ready…opps.)

Reading Regret:

Turning my nose up at The Hunger Games. I finally did read them after I watched the movie on Netflix just to see what the big deal was and of course I fell in love.

Series You Started And Need To Finish (all books are out in series):

The Lying Game by Sara Shepard – Literally the only series I need to finish. All the others I am reading, the books aren’t all out yet.

Three Of Your All Time Favorite Books:

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson, Ten by Gretchen McNeil, and To All the Boy’s I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

Unapologetic Fangirl For:

Jenny Han, I love every single one of her YA books that she has written. I buy them as soon as they come out, or preorder them even, and have never been disappointed.

Very Excited For This Release More Than All Others:

This is tricky, I have a top three that are all equal with each other, 1.) P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han, the sequel to To All the Boy’s I’ve Loved Before (Anticipated release date is April 2016 so I’ve got a while to wait.) 2.) Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas, 3.) They All Fall Down by Roxanne St. Claire

Worst Bookish Habit:

I tend to let my TBR list get wayyyy out of control. As of now there’s close to 300 books on it, and that isn’t counting the written lists I have around my room. I tend to sometimes get so excited about the next book I’m planning on reading that I have to take a minute to calm down and focus on the one I’m in the middle of. (I wish I could read two books at once…)

X Marks The Spot: Start at the top left of your shelf and pick the 27th book:

Waiting for You by Susane Colasanti

Your Latest Book Purchase:

17 First Kisses by Rachael Allen and The Night She Disappeared and The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die both by April Henry

ZZZ-snatcher Book (the last book that kept you up WAY late):

Don’t Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout – Such a good psychological thriller and mysterythat I couldn’t stop reading and put it down.

Wow…that took a lot longer than I originally anticipated. So like I said, I might do bookish surveys every Sunday just as a relaxed, fun posting day. I do have two reviews waiting to go up this week and will be participating in Top Ten Tuesday again as well, so be on the lookout for those posts.

Top Ten Tuesday 06/17/2014

Wow, so I just realized I haven’t posted anything since last Tuesday. This new job has me going crazy though, and in pursuit of a second job as well. Anyhow, I am going to try to get back on top of everything. I did just finish a book Sunday that I loved. I will be posting a review on it this week since I am off the next couple of days! (Yay!) So today is my favorite blogging day, Top Ten Tuesdays. I love making lists and I think that’s why I enjoy Tuesdays the most. Top Ten Tuesday topics are always thought up by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is: Top Ten Books On My Summer TBR List. Sorry because some of these books may be repeats from last week’s list, but that is only because I am so excited to read them.

1.) Nantucket Red by Lelia Howland

2.) Since Last Summer by Joanna Philbin

3.) Thirty Sunsets by Christine Hurley Deriso

4.) Summer of Yesterday by Gabby Triana

5.) Let’s Get Lost by Adi Alsaid

6.) Through to You by Lauren Barnholdt

7.) Pretty Little Liars: Toxic by Sara Shepard

8.) Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson

9.) What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick

10.) After the End by Amy Plum (Had to throw one distopia in the list!)

And a random list of more books on my summer TBR list because let’s face it, there is no way I only have ten on my list…

-Side Effects May Vary – Julie Murphy

-The Program and The Treatment – Suzanne Young

-Hollow City – Ransom Riggs

-The Beginning of Everything – Robyn Schneider

-We Were Liars – E. Lockhart

-The Geography of You and Me – Jennifer E. Smith

-Rock and a Hard Place, Royally Lost, Love ‘Em or Leave ‘Em, Dream Chaser, Snowed Over – Angie Stanton

-Getting Over Garrett Delaney, Sophomore Switch, The Anti-Prom, Jane Austen Goes to Hollywood – Abby McDonald

-Smart Girls Get What They Want – Sarah Strohmeyer

-The Prince of Venice Beach – Blake Nelson

Okay I am going to leave it at that even though there are plenty more books I could add. I am hoping I can read most of these before summer is over, but if not, at least by the end of the year.

Top Ten Tuesday 06/10/2014

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is going to be a difficult one. The topic is: Top Ten Books I’ve Read So Far This Year. I’ve read a good amount so far, so it is going to be hard for me to pick a top ten. I may have to list a few honorable mentions at the end. Most of these books I have written a review on my blog for them, if not I have listed them in my monthly wrap ups. I will count down from 10-1 leading up to my favorite so far.

10.) The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

9.) The Ruining by Anna Collomore

8.) Monument 14 trilogy by Emmy Laybourne

7.) Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

6.) Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley

5.) Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

4.) Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

3.) If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin

2.) The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

1.) Ten by Gretchen McNeil

So those are my top ten. I’m sure in another six months some of them, possibly even all, will be replaced. For books numbers 2&3, have a box of tissues prepared, as well as being prepared to feel like your heart has been ripped from your chest. Books numbers 4&5 I don’t think would have been on this list, or at least as high, if it wasn’t for the photographs, they really added to the story. Book numbers 8&10 would be great for fans of dystopian novels. Book numbers 1, 6, 7&9, prepared to have your mind blown and expect the unexpected.

Since I’ve obviously read more than ten books that I’ve loved this year, I have three in mind that I would like to give honorable mentions to.

1.) The Summer of Letting Go by Gae Polisner

2.) Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally

3.) Baby Bumps by Nicole Polizzi (Snooki)

I got the opportunity to read The Summer of Letting Go before it was published and fell in love with it. I love all of the books by Miranda Kenneally I’ve read so far and love how they all tie together. Lastly, you’re probably think either one of four things…1.) ew you read that book, 2.) why the hell did you spend money on that, 3.) you consider that a book, or 4.) I loved it too. I’m going to be really blunt about how I feel about Baby Bumps right now. If you never read it or at least gave it a chance, keep your mouth shut. I had intentions of reading it but put it off for a while since I am not pregnant nor plan on being so anytime soon. Well, Snooki was coming to a local university to sign copies of Baby Bumps, so I went out and read it in two days. It didn’t glorify pregnancy like so many people try to. She gave all the nasty details and although I already liked Snooki and respected her, this book gave me a thousand times more respect for her to be able to read (and picture) her going from party girl to an amazing mother. If you’re pregnant or plan on being pregnant, give it a chance. It will definitely be a book I will pull out again when I am expecting.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Wow. I cannot tell you how many times I picked this up at the bookstore or looked at it on Amazon, everytime going “eh, maybe next time” or “this doesn’t seem like my type of book”, well I am kicking myself now for waiting forever to buy it and read it. Even though I have about 30 books I just got over the past few weeks, as soon as I bought Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, I had to read it right away.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Jacob, a sixteen year old, travels to a mysterious island off the coast of Whales after a horrible family tragedy. Hoping while he is there, he can find some of the answers to questions he’s had his whole life, but he ends up finding out a lot more than he ever expected to. While on the island he finds the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, and Jacob explores the bedrooms of the children and the basement which harbors some strange, unexplainable items. Jacob comes to realize that maybe the children were more than just peculiar, perhaps they were dangerous and there is a very good reason that they were kept quarantined on an island. Even though Jacob knows it’s pretty impossible, the children may still be alive and on the island with him.

I loved this book and am currently waiting for the second book, Hollow City, to be delievered because the book leaves you hanging. I began reading this book expecting a completely different storyline due to the summary on the back of the book. I think it gives the wrong impression and the reader expects something different than what they end up reading. (I don’t feel like I should write my summary on the book, so I took the summary used on Amazon and put it into my own words.) The actual book though is amazing. It is unlike any other book I have ever read and the vintage photographs really help the visuals you have and some are a bit creepy looking. I don’t think this book was really scary or under the “horror” category, maybe a thriller at the most, but never was I getting the chills or creeped out. The chapters were lengthy and while I liked that they went on for so many pages, I also have this weird thing where I can’t leave off in the middle of a chapter so I always felt the need to finish the chapter, not that I could easily put this book down anyways, but I guess I’m lucky I wasn’t ever reading it at a time when I had to stop to do something else. Okay now back to the actual characters and storyline. I loved (most of) the characters and my heart broke for some of them. Some just made me so furious that I wanted to throw the book at my wall, others I wish I was on the island with them experiencing some of the events they were involved in. There isn’t too much I feel I can say on my feelings and the thoughts I have of the characters without giving too much away. This story though was so original, wonderfully written, and had parts that we so shocking and unexpected that they made me go, “oh my god, wait what!?”. I am hoping this will turn out to be a trilogy or a small series (4-5 books), because the first one showed how much potential it has to be more than just a book and it’s sequel, and I would be so disappointed if the second doesn’t live up to the first book and it ends there. If you are into thrilling, supernatural books, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is a great book for you. It has a bit of historical events tied in to it as well, and I would say it’s an appropriate book for any age (granted they can reading a close to 400 paged novel).  Oh and I almost forgot, it is or was a New York Times Bestseller.