Top Ten Tuesday: My TTT lists

Hello fellow bookworms!

I am doing this as my weekly link-up with the lovely ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish who host this little get together.

This week the topic is which TTT topics have been your favorite? Since I have not been blogging long enough to really be able to answer this question I thought that I would just simply look through the list of topics and pick one that I want to answer. I ended up choosing my top ten children's books. I have divided the list into picture books and chapter books due to the fact that I can then accurately tell you what my true favorites are!

Picture Books:

1) Goodnight Moon Margaret Wise Brown

2) Anything by Dr. Seuss

3) Old Turtle by Douglas Wood

4) Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst

5) The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister  

6) Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

7) The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

8) The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

9) Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig

10) Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola

Chapter Books:

1) The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

2) Hoot by Carl Hiaasen

3) The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

4) Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Peterson

5) Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

6) The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

7) Holes by Lois Sachar

8) Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

9) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle

10) Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

11) The View From Saturday by E.L. Konisburg

Which children's books are your favorite? What are you favorite list ideas thus far? Let me know in the comments.

Happy Reading!

Top Ten Tuesday: My Summer TBR

I am doing this as my weekly link-up with the lovely ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish who host this little get together.

This week the topic is what books do I have on my summer TBR list? I have so many books that I want to get to sooner rather than later that I decided to categorize them by unfinished series, series I have yet to start and some standalones that have been begging for my attention. Here it goes!

Series that I would like to finish:

1) Uglies series by Scott Westerfield

I have read Uglies and Pretties and I need to read Specials and Extras

2) Ruby Red trilogy by Kristen Gier

I have read Ruby Red and I need to read Sapphire Blue and Emerald Green

3) The Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

I have read Shadow and Bone and Siege and Storm and I need to read Ruin and Rising

4) The Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy by Rae Carson

I have read Girl of Fire and Thorns and I need to read Crown of Embers and Bitter Kingdom

5) Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas

I have read Throne of Glass and I need to read Crown of Midnight and Heir of Fire

6) The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

I have read City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, and City of Lost Souls and I need to read City of Heavenly Fire

7) The Darkest Minds trilogy by Alexandra Bracken

I have read The Darkest Minds and I need to read Never Fade and In the Afterlight

8) The Selection series by Kierra Cass

I have read The Selection and The Elite and I need to read The One and The Heir

9) The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

I have read The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and I need to read The Evolution of Mara Dyer and the Retribution of Mara Dyer

10) Stephanie Perkins companion novels (not technically a series but I just lacked one more having ten)

I have Anna and the French Kiss and I need to read Lola and the Boy Next Door and Isla and the Happily Ever After

Series that I would like to start:

1) Infernal Devices trilogy by Cassandra Clare

I own all the books.

2) Legend trilogy by Marie Lu

I own Legend and Prodigy and I need to get Champion

3) Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa

I own The Iron King, The Iron Daughter, The Iron Queen and I need to get The Iron Knight

4) The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss

I own The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear

5) A Song of Fire and Ice by George R.R. Martin

I own A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows and I need to get A Dance with Dragons

6) Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

I only own Shatter Me

7) Gemma Doyle by Libba Bray

I own all the books

8) Maus I and II by Art Spiegleman

I don't own either of these graphic novels

9) Modern Faerie Tales by Holly Black

I own all the books

10) Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

I own Outlander and Voyager and I need to get Dragonfly in Amber, Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, An Echo in the Bone, and Written in my Own Heart's Blood

Standalones that I would like to read:

1) The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood

2) The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

3) The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

4) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

5) The Help by Katherine Stockett

6) Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

7) Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

8) To The Lighthouse by Virginia Wolf

9) Anything by Amy Tan or Anne Tyler

10) Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy 


I would mainly like to focus on the series that I need to finish so that I don't have a bunch of unfinished storylines taunting me. These are by no means all of my unread books and I more than likely will not get to all of them by the end of summer. Though it never hurts to have goals!

What books are you itching to get your hands on?

Happy Reading!

Book Review: The Humans

Title: The Humans
Author: Matt Haig
Publication: July 3, 2013
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Paperback or Hardback: Hardback
Acquired: Bought used from Second & Charles
Pages: 285
Rating: 5 stars





Summary:

Body-snatching has never been so heartwarming . . .

The Humans is a funny, compulsively readable novel about alien abduction, mathematics, and that most interesting subject of all: ourselves. Combine Douglas Adams’s irreverent take on life, the universe, and everything with a genuinely moving love story, and you have some idea of the humor, originality, and poignancy of Matt Haig’s latest novel.

Our hero, Professor Andrew Martin, is dead before the book even begins. As it turns out, though, he wasn’t a very nice man--as the alien imposter who now occupies his body discovers. Sent to Earth to destroy evidence that Andrew had solved a major mathematical problem, the alien soon finds himself learning more about the professor, his family, and “the humans” than he ever expected. When he begins to fall for his own wife and son--who have no idea he’s not the real Andrew--the alien must choose between completing his mission and returning home or finding a new home right here on Earth.  

Review:

Overall I thought this book was very well done and it definitely had more than a few heart-warming moments. I was recommended this book by one of my friends who warned me that it was a tear-jerker and to be prepared... I did not really see it this way. Yes, there were some touching moments and the character development was top notch, but it did not bring me to tears.

The only problem that I really had with this book was the writing style. It was done in a play on stream of consciousness that I felt did not really work with this book. There are some books where it works and when done right can be very powerful. That was not the case here in my opinion. However, having an engaging storyline and characters that gripped you saved this book from being a flop.

 The story pulls you in from the very beginning and continues on a fairly steady pace. I was happy to see that at no point during the story did the plot-line reach a plateau and the author sink into pages of absolute nothing. That is the kiss of death for a book. The character development that are main protagonist undergoes is extraordinary. He really seems to capture what it means to be human, flaws and all. He also learns what it means to love and be loved. I feel that it this aspect of him learning how to be human and what all that entails that gave the book the heart-warming moments. You see the alien become a better human than the man that he was impersonating and you also get to see the effects that this transformation has on his family members.

Without this type of character development the story would have flat and one-dimensional. This was a necessity for this book.  I rated The Humans five stars because I did enjoy the plot-line and I loved the characters, even if I did have a hard time with the writing style. This was a great read and I do highly recommend this book.

Happy Reading!

Book Review: The Secret History

Title: The Secret History
Author: Donna Tartt
Published: April 13, 2015
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Hardback or Paperback: Paperback
Acquired: Bought new from Books a Million
Pages: 559
Rating: 5 stars





Summary:

Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality they slip gradually from obsession to corruption and betrayal, and at last - inexorably - into evil.

Review:

I found out about this book from Choncey Boddington who has a YouTube channel when she just raved about how much she loved this book. Since we have similar taste in books her opinion was one that I trusted and I knew that I needed to check this book out. I would just like to say that the synopsis on the back is amazing, how could you not want to read this book?

The story starts out confessing the crime that the group of students committed and then jumps back in time to give the events that lead up to the fateful night. By the time that the actual crime happens the reader is fully engrossed in the character's state of mind and can feel the waves of emotion coming off the page. The author did an amazing job with her characterization, even some of the more minor characters just have such addicting personalities that the reader can't help but feel for all of them. While at first the amount of drinking and drugs seems a bit excessive and over exaggerated when I got to thinking about it I could bring to mind a few friends from college who were big partiers. By the end of the book I felt like the characters had always been apart of my life and I could feel my own emotions intertwining with theirs.

In addition to the amazing characterization is a glimpse into the multiple codes of moral conduct that are called into question and the different ways that people deal with grief. The book touches on a variety of topics including murder, incest, addiction, and abuse which are handled differently by each character. Some of them slip into a deeper depression and turn to other evils to help alleviate their pain while other characters are disturbingly awakened by the evil that they commit. While this is disturbing and slightly unnerving it is still believable. That is what makes this book so haunting is that the characters are so well done that they could be people in your everyday life. It calls into question just how well you actually know someone and what lengths they might go to in order to protect themselves and their own interests.

I highly recommend this book and I want to pick up more by this author.

Happy Reading!

Top Ten Favorite Authors

I am doing this as my first link-up with the lovely ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish who host this little get together ever week.

This week the topic is our top ten favorite authors and I have no problem whatsoever coming up with ten of them. Just to clarify when I say my favorite authors I mean that these are auto buy people for me. To make it more interesting I am going to include a short little description of why I love them, which might help clarify why I will spend my money on them.

1) J.K. Rowling

I really don't think I need to elaborate on this one that much, do you? I grew up in the middle of pottermania, though to be clear I knew about the books before the midnight releases and movie premiers. Like so many others out there these books helped me get through some tough adolescent years and I will buy and read anything that this author puts out. Whether under her name or a pen name.

If you like someone who is a master as storytelling and world building then I recommend this person.

2) Anne Tyler

I love her writing style and her characters. It just all feels so real to me and she has ingenious insight into the inner workings of a family and what it means to be human. Her characters are so real that I often forget that they are not sitting with me as a living breathing human being. They are flawed and the author makes no illusion to the fact that anyone in her book is perfect. It is such a sigh of relief to have openly flawed characters who are genuinely good people at heart but are just slightly struggling in some aspect of their life. The families in her books are also flawed but there is an underlying theme of love and commitment to each other that brings them together as a whole in the end. I will buy and read anything that she writes forever and always to the end.

If you like someone who can weave together the inner workings of a typical family full of drama, heartache, and ultimately love then I recommend this person.

3) Amy Tan

This is another author that offers amazing insight into what it means to be human and function in a family unit, however she focuses mainly on the immigration side of this. As a descendent of immigrants who came to this country to make a better life for themselves and who struggled with the need to fit into the new environment and the desperation to hold onto their customs and traditions I can relate to the characters. My great-grandparents never learned to speak English and I saw my grandfather struggle to keep the balance between his two lives. This is a common theme in all of her books and you come to love all of her characters as they struggle to keep the balance when they are torn between two worlds.

If you like someone who focuses on trying to choose between the world of your parents and the world that you will ultimately have to function in then I recommend this author.

4) Ian McEwan

I read Atonement and then promptly went and picked up a number of other books by this author. I will admit that the story is a tad bit dry at times and not a whole lot happens in terms of excitement factor. It is mainly about the main character allowing her imagination to take hold of her and the guilt she feels when she realizes that she blamed the wrong man for a crime that happened during her childhood. The ending is a twist that I did not see coming and I cannot wait to read more from him. His characters are relatable and intriguing and his writing style is poetic.

If you like stories that do not have a lot of action but plenty of inner turmoil and a plot twist that will knock your socks off then I recommend this author.

5) Rainbow Rowell

How do I tell my love for thee Rainbow Rowell. You speak to my heart and I feel like your characters were handpicked from my life and plopped into the world that you created in your books. The story that you tell could easily be my story or that of someone that I know which is why I love your books.

If you like a really good contemporary novel with loveable characters and a funny plotline then I recommend this author.

6) Neil Shusterman

His novels are a bit darker than these previous ones and I am a little bit worried about how he ever came up with the plotlines because they are disturbing. However, as a lover of all things sci-fi I always just eat them up. I do not necessarily read his books because of characters or writing style, even though I don't have a problem with either. It is mainly for the world building, plot line, and under lying themes on society.

If you like books that have a darker side to them and are at times a little bit much to handle then I recommend this author.

7) Cassandra Clare

All I have to say on this on is haters gonna hate. I know that a lot of people either love or hate her books. I am more on the love side of this one. I think that her Mortal Instruments series was phenomenal and I cannot wait for the Infernal Devises series. I will be the first to admit that there are times when the characters get on my nerves and she is no Shakespeare as far as writing goes but hey they are enjoyable and I own all of her series.

If you like slightly sassy characters and a little bit of romance that is marred by the paranormal aspect of the book then I recommend this author.
 
8) Scott Westerfield

I think that his Uglies series is pure genius. Not only were the characters likeable and slightly badass but the book actually made me stop and think for a moment. Which is an automatic five star for me. I really enjoyed looking at what the world would be like if they made everybody "equal" because it strips away your very essence. Yes, there are times when looking like a supermodel would be awesome and very useful but if that means losing myself in the process I have to say that I would like to stay ugly. And by ugly I mean I want to stay looking like myself and not giving into society's standard of beauty.

If you like authors who make you stop and think for a moment while keeping you entertained and on the edge of your seat for the entire book then I recommend this author.

9) Lois Lowry

I cannot say enough about this author because I love the Giver series. It takes a truly gifted writer to be able to write four books that do not necessarily follow the same story line but in the end weave all of it together in a ending that not only clears up any loose ends but will warm your heart. The writing style is phenomenal and the characters will stay with you long after the book is finished. Again this author looks at what would happen if individuality were stripped away in the prospect of sameness. It really does take away the essence of who you are and in these novels the price is the ability to love. I am now so excited about the series I may have to give it a proper re-read.

If you like stories that do not follow a chronological order but are cleverly interwoven and make you think about underlying social commentary then I recommend this author.

10) Harper Lee

While she has currently only one book out there is going to be another one in July. And you know that I have pre-ordered it and am waiting with bated breath. I love To Kill a Mockingbird and have re-read it numerous times. There is a childlike innocence in the book that just makes it a magical experience. Again the book really makes you think but this time it is towards the treatment of others. No matter who you are there will be biases because that is a part of life, but you cannot let these biases interfere with your treatment of others. Everyone deserves to be treated as a worthwhile human being and this author explores what it means to be just and fair towards everyone.

Again if you like a book that makes you think and a writing style that is both childlike and eloquent then I recommend this author.

An the honorable mention goes to Phillip Pullman. Because I really enjoyed his Dark Materials series but he is not on the auto buy list so I couldn't include him in the top ten but I wanted to give a shout out to him.

That is it, that is my top ten favorite authors.

Happy Reading!