Top Ten Tuesday!

Top Ten Books I Think Would Make Great Book Club Picks

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created over at The Broke and the Bookish which I adore and therefore chose to adopt into my weekly blog posts!

I am not going for a specific group for these choices; some would be better fitted to a woman’s group, some young adult and so forth. Most of them are books we have done for my book clubs and I loved them!

The Night Circus – This is a book I have already recommended to my book club at my library. The book is all kinds of wonderful, its lyrical, deep and has a heart wrenching love story.

The Help – I LOVED this book. I was one of those “I won’t be a band-wagoner” person but then I was gifted this from a dear friend and felt obligated to read it and I am so happy I did! It’s always nice to have a book that stands out on so many levels. Plus, it would be fun to watch the movie after reading the book!

Water for Elephants – This is another book that is fun because of the era in which the story takes place. The love story is divine, but the book was so much more than just a love triangle and Rosie takes the cake for my favorite character!

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – How cool is this book? I am hoping to use it for my YA book club sometime soon and have the kids do a fun project relating to photographs.

The Hunger Games – It’s one of the most popular books out there, I think it would be interesting to read the story and determine why it is so popular as so many did when the Harry Potter phenomenon hit.

Eat, Pray, Love – This would be a fun summer read, we read it for part of our “Novel destinations” summer reading program last year.

Wicked – I love this whole series. In the back of Wicked, Gregory Maguire gives all kinds of “extras” including questions to be used at book club discussions. It would also be fun to compare it to the original story by L. Frank Baum and/or the movie. By the way, did you know that Maguire came up with the name Elphaba from the sound of L. Frank Baum's initials? How cool!

Dracula – We needed a classic on this list and this one has been re-done so many times in so many different formats that I thought it was a given. It would also be fun to follow up with one of the novels written from Mina’s point of view such as Dracula in Love.

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe – This book would be fun for all ages. It is a good read when you are younger but looking back as an adult is surreal. It is SO weird to re-read a book from your childhood and see all of the underlying messages. It really makes you take a step back and think about what you are reading.

The Book Club Cookbook – I have used this book to help plan many book club events and it is SO fun to find cool recipes to go with books you are reading. My book club made Honey Cakes when we read The Secret Life of Bees!

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

By Michelle Hodkin

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.


The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer was another majorly hyped book of 2011 that I was excited to read. I was somewhat wary after reading a review on one of my favorite book blogs that portrayed this book as another paranormal romance with no depth or intrigue. After reading it for myself I have to say that I completely disagree and that this book really did live up to the hype for me.

At the beginning of the book, Mara is involved in an accident, which kills three of her friends and leaves her in a very fragile mental state. Her family decides it would be best to move away from the town in which the scene of the crime happened so her life is upturned again and she is forced to start a new school while dealing with major mental anguish.

After starting at the new school it seems like this story will play by the same “new kid at the high school” plot line where Mara gets on the wrong side of the most popular girl in the school because the most popular (and good-looking) guy shows her some attention. Thankfully these scenes are short and necessary to show that Mara has much more that post traumatic stress to deal with. Unexplainable things begin happening to Mara and she starts imagining things that aren’t really happening, as well as seeing people who aren’t really there – like the friends who died in the accident.

I had a love-hate relationship with the characters. I really liked Mara and thought she was a strong character but there were some choices and some one-liners that really turned me off. Then there is Noah, the typical gorgeous, mysterious jerk who really is sweet on the inside. Parts of me HATED him and wanted to slap Mara for even bantering with him and parts of me melted into a puddle on the floor every time he talked. What can I say? I’m a complicated woman. I was also a little confused by his “powers” and some other strange occurrences, like how Noah basically dies when Mara kisses him. These things weren’t really explained in this book but the sequel is due out this fall and I assume the author will be delving deeper into these characters and their “special” abilities.

The entire time I was reading this book I kept trying to figure out what was going on and why these things were happening. Is it magic? Is she really just insane? Maybe she is dreaming? Things finally start coming together in the end, as in, the last page of the book was absolutely jaw dropping and made me want the sequel right now, please! I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a paranormal romance with a little more depth to it.

The sequel is still untitled but Michelle Hodkin has given us a bit of a teaser on her website and oh my does it add to the intrigue!

Coming Soon!!

I have been stuck in the archives all day and just emerged to find that Laini Taylor has updated her blog with the title of the sequel to Daughter of Smoke and Bone AND a teaser from the new book!! I AM SO EXCITED!! (So excited that when I squealed I scared my cat off of my lap and she is currently seething under the bed where she is safe from my shenanigans.)

So without further ado, the teaser for the sequel of Daughter of Smoke and Bone is...

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a new way of living—one without massacres and torn throats and bonfires of the fallen, without revenants or bastard armies or children ripped from their mothers’ arms to take their turn in the killing and dying.

Once, the lovers lay entwined in the moon’s secret temple and dreamed of a world that was a like a jewel-box without a jewel—a paradise waiting for them to find it and fill it with their happiness.

This was not that world.

I absolutely love this and I can. not. wait. for it to be release time!! Who else is excited?

(This blurb and title was taken with permission from Laini Taylor's blog, courtesy of Little Brown.)

Anna Dressed in Blood

Anna Dressed In Blood

By Kendare Blake

“Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas’s life.”

Anna Dressed in Blood was one of the hyped debuts of 2011 and I was initially drawn to it when I saw its awesome cover. Plus I was on a horror kick after reading The Child Thief and I hoped this would live up to my expectations.

The story follows Cas, a sarcastic ghost hunter who follows a “tip” to the town in which Anna resides. Cas was a very unique character, he is following in his father’s footsteps and lives up to his father’s name by following tips around the country and hunting down ghosts to send them to wherever it is ghosts go after they are done hanging on the Earthly plane.

After some research, Cas meets Anna, who I immediately loved. This character was so twisted and layered that I felt all kinds of emotions toward her. The story was beautifully done as her history is revealed in a slow, mysterious way. She starts off as this terrifying character who is disemboweling anyone who ventures into her house and slowly, as her history is revealed, she mellows out in an almost tragic way.

Overall, this story wasn’t as horror filled as I like my novels but it was a good amount of gore for a young adult debut and definitely enough intrigue to keep me guessing and wanting more. As a side note **spoiler alert (kinda)** I HATED THE PART ABOUT THE CAT!! Out loud I literally screamed “Not the cat!!!” and it kind of made me angry because I did NOT think it was necessary! **end spoiler**

I am eagerly anticipating the second installment of this series; it is one of my most anticipated reads of 2012. I recommend this book to anyone who likes horror (that isn’t too horrifying) and a sweet love story (that isn’t too lovey).

Top Ten Tuesday!

Top Ten Book to Movie Adaptations 

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created over at The Broke and the Bookish which I adore and therefore chose to adopt into my weekly blog posts!

This is our freebie week for our Top Ten topic so I chose to go with one that has been previously done over at the Broke and the Bookish so I can rave about some of my favorite movies!!

The Princess Bride – I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!! It is probably my favorite movie EVER and I can quote every.single.line. Also? It’s better than the book! I know, it’s blasphemous to say, right? Tough cookies because if you don’t agree you are crazy and need to go watch it again right this minute… “Have fun storming the castle!” 

Harry Potter series – Who wouldn’t have this on their list? I have to admit that as I was watching each movie I was whispering with my sister about what exactly they did different between the book and movie. I mean honestly what were they thinking adding that shrunken Jamaican head hangin’ next to Ernie on The Knight Bus and what about S.P.E.W?! Huge differences and frankly, we were appalled. However these movies are still some of the best adaptations everrr and I love them a lot.

Pride and Prejudice – I love all of the film adaptations and I can’t believe I am saying this but I might actually like the newest version best. This is probably mostly because Matthew Macfadyen as Mr. Darcy was just jaw dropping. Every time I hear him say “I will have to tell you: you have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on,” I just scream out loud and rewind over and over and over!!

Lord of the Rings Trilogy – Okay I will admit it, I only read the Hobbit and I know that movie isn’t out yet but if it is half as good as the trilogy then it will be epic…and long.

The 3 Musketeers – The Disney version with Chris O’Donnell? Yum. I definitely just bought it via my Disney Movie Club (yes, I am a member of Disney Movie Club) and I watch it every night as I am snuggled in my bed. I remember watching this movie with my brother when it was still ON Disney Channel. It has Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland and TIM CURRY!! “Rochefort. Isn't that a smelly kind of cheese?”

Dracula – I pretty much love all versions of this movie (even Dracula: Dead and Loving It) but I have to say that Bela Lugosi is THE man and he is the reason I became obsessed with all things Dracula when I was a wee tyke. 

Big Fish – This movie is just beautiful in so many ways. I just recently read the book by Daniel Wallace and it is just as colorful and imaginative.  

Game of Thrones – I only just started the first book but so far I am finding the two to be nearly exact and I like it. Though I do feel like I have to get through the first two books before season 2 of the show starts because I am finding myself a bit bored with the first book as I already know what is going to happen. Also: Jon Snow is love.

True Blood – The show is not so close to the book and I find myself not liking Sookie as much as I do in the novels but overall it is pretty awesome and I am highly anticipating the next season as the last season finale was jaw dropping.

Alice in Wonderland – Some people really didn’t like the remake of this film but I loved it. I don’t particularly like Mia Wasikowska but I think she portrayed Alice nicely. Tim Burton was genius as always and Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter were perfect.

Honorable Mentions:

Wuthering Heights – This movie isn’t even that good, in fact I remember going to the special “Hollywood at the Bijou” showing with my aunt and literally LOLing at numerous parts throughout because it was so ridiculous. Still love it though!

Stardust – I didn’t read the book (shame on me) but the movie was quite awesome and I am frequently irritated that I can’t get it through Netflix instant stream.

Sweetly

Sweetly
By Jackson Pearce

Sweetly is a companion (not a sequel) to the book Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce. Due to the fact that it isn’t a sequel it is not necessary that you read Sisters Red prior to reading Sweetly but there are some small things you may appreciate a little more if you do.

Sweetly is a retelling of the fable, Hansel and Gretel. Gretchen and Ansel are siblings who lose their sister to a “witch” in the forest behind their home. Years pass and both parents succumb to the grief of losing their daughter, leaving Ansel and Gretchen alone in the world. They decide to drive cross country to start over in North Carolina. Their jeep breaks down on the way and they have no choice but to stay in the town for the time being. After some poking around town, Ansel finds a job as a handyman at Sophia Kelley’s candy shop.

Sophia is a young and gorgeous woman who has taken over the chocolate shop after her father is killed by wild animals. People in town are either captivated by her or believe her to be a witch. Those that believe her to be a witch also believe that she has something to do with the eight girls who have gone missing over the years, as they always go missing on the eve of her chocolate festival. Ansel and Gretchen are captivated by Sophia, for Gretchen, she is healing the wound that their missing sister left in her heart and Ansel falls in love with her almost immediately. However, after a time, Gretchen begins to suspect something is different about Sophia and she soon finds evidence that doesn’t paint Sophia in the most perfect light.

Gretchen meets Samuel, the town crazy and convinces him to teach her how to hunt Fenris, the werewolves that those of you who read Sisters Red will find familiar. The two vow to uncover the mystery as well as keep the rest of the girls in the town safe from the Fenris. Secrets are uncovered and Gretchen is forced to come to terms with who Sophia really is.

I have to say that I enjoyed this story a lot more than Pearce’s Sisters Red. I found myself more connected to the characters in this story which really helped me enjoy the novel on a much deeper level. Pearce also wrote this story in such a wonderful way that I really found myself craving the chocolate and candies that were showcased in Sophia’s shop.

Overall, this book exceeded my expectations, I had hoped to enjoy it more than Sisters Red and I did. Additionally, Jackson Pearce has a third companion novel coming out titled Fathomless that is a retelling of The Little Mermaid. I am curious to see if Pearce brings the characters together from the first two novels as they all have the same goals and since Fathomless will focus on the sister of both Silas, from Sisters Red and Samuel from Sweetly.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good retelling and wants their mouth watering at the thought of chocolate truffles and fruit flavored candies.

"There is always some madness in love,

and always some reason in madness."

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love.

It did not end well.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

By Laini Taylor

I have been struggling with this review for days. Not because it wasn’t awesome, it totally was, but because I fear that by raving about the sheer amazingness of this book I will spoil some extremely important and mysterious plot lines. I have decided to provide the summary from Goodreads so you can get the gist of what the novel is about and then I will do my best to explain just why this book was SO SO SO good without any spoilers.

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

How good does that sound? Let me just tell you, that summary? NOT EVEN CLOSE TO HOW AWESOMELY LAYERED THIS BOOK IS!! The book starts off and you’re thinking okay so this is some supernatural love story about a “devil” and an “angel” who fall in love. Ohh if only…let’s delve right in.

First, the plot of the story was near perfect. I absolutely gave up sleep to read this book because I had actual need to find out what happened next. As I said before, it is nearly impossible for me to say what I loved about the plot without giving away too much. Just know it had politics (the good kind), hate, jealousy, rage and all forms of love. As the story progresses you see how the past and present come together and my heart was literally breaking at more than one point. I had to read the last few pages multiple times because I could feel the overwhelming feelings Karou must be feeling as she discovered the truth. At first I had a hard time with the love between the two characters because it was so instant and “I have to know her” on Akiva’s part that it paralleled so many other paranormal romance novels out there. However, as the plot unfolds you realize there are serious reasons as to why this love is so instant, and so overwhelming.

Second, the characters are so great and so layered with their pasts that intertwine and they make you love every flaw, scar and tear. Karou was this strong female character who starts off as a (somewhat) typical teenager attending art school and going on frequent errands for her adopted family who just happen to be of a secret race of Chimera. Her world is suddenly torn apart and instead of acting like an immature teenager saying boo hoo how do I handle this she takes her problems head on and finds ways to act and move toward her goal. Then there is Akiva, the Seraphim who is of course, unbelievably gorgeous while also brooding and overly dramatic. In time the reader finds out why he is so brooding and I can understand his reasoning so I can’t blame him for being that way and I still kinda love him a lot. I loved Brimstone, and the rest of Karou’s “family” and Madrigal, who I can’t say too much about, was also a very strong and near perfect character.

Finally, the brilliance in Laini Taylor’s writing is found in how lyrical her words are…

Karou right after she sees Akiva for the first time:

“Into kohl-rimmed eyes in a sun-bronzed face. Fire-colored eyes with a charge like sparks that seared a path through the air and kindles it. It gave Karou a jolt – no mere startle but a chain reaction that lashed through her body with a rush of adrenaline. Her limbs came into the lightness and power of sudden awakening, fight or flight, chemical and wild.

Who? She thought, her mind racing to catch up to the fervor in her body.

And: What?”

Chapter 44:

“Snap.
Rushing, like wind through a door, and Karou was the door, and the wind was coming home, and she was also the wind.
She was all: wind and home and door.
She rushed into herself and was filled.
She let herself in and was full.
She closed again. The wind settles. It was as simple as that.

She was whole.”

Ahhhh how is it that this author can write the simplest sentence and still make me want to scream and laugh and cry?! This book was just pure awesome, I am literally recommending it to everyone that comes into my library. When they ask: “Do you have it here?” I say “Yes, but it’s checked out. Go buy it, seriously.” That is how good this book is. I hugged it when I finished, I went back and re-read random parts. I obsessed over Laini Taylor’s website and I NEED it to be time for the sequel now please!

In a nutshell: Go read this book right now, and you’re welcome.

Once upon a time, there were two moons, who were sisters.
Nitid was the goddess of tears and life, and the sky was hers.

No one worshipped Ellai but secret lovers.