Tuesday Top Ten

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Book bloggers create their own lists based on the chosen topics and post links to our lists. It’s a way of all sharing our thoughts and our love of books.  And who doesn’t love lists??

I’m cheating this week.  This week’s challenge is to list the books you are most anticipating in 2014 and I just can’t begin to think about next year yet!  The year my son will graduate from high school and my daughter will become a teenager?!  I’m in no rush…  And I really wanted to do last week’s top ten but I just ran out of time with all the pre-holiday craziness.  So, I’m cheating and going back to last week’s topic – the top ten things I’m thankful for…

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Tuesday Top Ten

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Book bloggers create their own lists based on the chosen topics and post links to our lists. It’s a way of all sharing our thoughts and our love of books.  And who doesn’t love lists??

So this week’s challenge was to list the ten things that are the biggest book turnoffs.  I truly believe that people should read what they love and that there is really no “bad” reading.  There aren’t many things that will stop me from reading a book; I read a lot of different things.  But I do have preferences, and these are the things that turn me away from picking up a book.

1. Ghost Writers – OK, you know who you are, there is no way that you write ten books a year and it makes me irritated when there are so many great authors working hard to get their books noticed.
2. Gratuitous Sex – Some is OK, if it serves a purpose in the story, but I don’t want to read about sex just for the sake of reading about sex.
3. Gratuitous Violence – See #2.
4. Whiny or Weak Women – I hate whiny, needy woman characters – they make me want to shake them!
5. Political Opinion – I don’t want to read a book that is spouting biased opinions wrapped in statistics molded to support those opinions.  If I want that, I can turn on the news.
6. Celebrity Life Stories – There are some celebrities have had genuinely interesting lives, but then I would read it because of the interesting aspects of their life, not because they’re a celebrity.
7. Sports – Sorry, just not all that interested unless there is also a great personal story.
8. Sci-Fi – In spite of my tech background it’s just not something that interests me.
9. Trilogies – I’ve read a lot of them, but I keep saying that I’m not doing it again – at least until all the books are out and I’ve got a boring weekend in front of me – that way I can actually finish the story!
10. World War II – I need to get over this one because there are some fantastic books in this area (Unbroken, Code Name Verity, Maus, …) It just seems that there are too many books on this subject, and they are always so difficult and depressing.  This one is amusing because my favorite book of all time (The Book Thief in case I haven’t mentioned that!) takes place during WWII, but I also passed it by in the bookstore many, many times before I actually purchased it.  I guess I’m fortunate that my bookishness outweighed my hesitancy about another WWII book!

Tuesday Top Ten

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Book bloggers create their own lists based on the chosen topics and post links to our lists. It’s a way of all sharing our thoughts and our love of books.  And who doesn’t love lists??

So this week’s challenge was to list the books that we would love to see as a movie or TV series, assuming that it was done well!

1. Book Thief by Markus Zusak – This is actually going to be a movie coming to theaters on November 15!  I’m a little nervous, hoping that they will do the book justice, but I can’t wait to see it!
2. Inspector Gamache Series by Louise Penny – Another favorite that is about to hit the screen and is making me keep my fingers crossed!
3. Commissario Guido Brunetti Series by Donna Leon – I would love to see this character come to life, and the setting of Venice would be wonderful!
4. Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman – Done right, this would make a great movie – touching and horrifying!
5. Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan – I would love to see these quirky characters come to life, and a quest full of intrigue, history, and technology would make a great movie!
6. The Giver by Lois Lowry – There has been talk about this becoming a movie for years now, and it looks like it’s finally going to happen…
7. Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer – There have been rumors around this series becoming movies for a long time, but hopefully they will finally bring this evil boy genius and the world of fairies to the big screen!
8. Thieves of Book Row by Travis McDade – This non-fiction historical book could be made into a really interesting historical drama.
9. The Spellman Series by Lisa Lutz – This wacky set of characters would make for a great comedy/drama with some romantic tension thrown in!
10. Spenser Series by Robert B. Parker – OK, I know this was a TV series in the 70s but it seriously needs to be redone!  Less corny and without cutting out all the swearing and politically incorrect conversations!

 

 

Tuesday Top Ten

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Book bloggers create their own lists based on the chosen topics and post links to our lists. It’s a way of all sharing our thoughts and our love of books.  And who doesn’t love lists??

So this week’s challenge was to list the top ten most memorable secondary characters.  Those characters in novels that were not the main focus, but that captured your imagination, made you want to see more of them.  Some of mine come from the same series of books, series that have wonderful casts of characters, which is part of what makes those series great.

1. Rudy – Liesel’s dearest friend in The Book Thief.  He is sweet and awkward, funny and brave.  Everything a first love and a best friend should be.
2. Neville Longbottom – Who doesn’t love this dorky and awkward wizard from the Harry Potter series?  Especially when he finds it in himself to become a courageous hero.
3. Professor Snape – The poor misunderstood and heartbroken seeming-villain of the Harry Potter series who is ultimately proven to be a hero.
4. Professor McGonagall – Another character from the Harry Potter series – tough, brave, smart, kind, and caring she really should have been the headmaster long ago!
5. Foaly – The geeky, arrogant, but utterly cool and brilliant centaur in the Artemis Fowl series.
6. Holly Short – The tough, determined elf police woman from the Artemis Fowl series.  Her relationship with Artemis is humorous, difficult, and touching.
7. Hassan Harbish – The funny, smart, witty sidekick in An Abundance of Katherines always made me laugh.
8. LuLu – How to describe LuLu?  This ex-prostitute who squeezes into spandex, eats lots of fried chicken and donuts, and manages to nearly kill everyone she tries to help is a laugh a minute in the Stephanie Plum series.
9. Hawk – I adore this funny, smart, tough, will-do-anything pal to Spenser in the series by Robert B. Parker.  You know he always has Spenser’s back and their relationship is both hilarious and touching.
10. Cokie – The mulatto driver for the madam in Ruta Sepetys’s Out of the Easy is ultimately the one who is there for Josie.  His constancy and his humbleness while doing what is right make him one of my favorites.

 

Tuesday Top Ten

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Book bloggers create their own lists based on the chosen topics and post links to our lists. It’s a way of all sharing our thoughts and our love of books.  And who doesn’t love lists??

So this week’s challenge was to list those books which I wish had sequels – those books that made me wish the story could just go on for at least a little longer.

1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – I know the story ended and that it ended well, but it just doesn’t matter.  It was so wonderful, so amazing, so all-absorbing – I just want more.
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling – I’m aware that there were seven books, but it may have been one of my saddest literary moments when I finished the last in the series.  I wanted that magical world to continue on so I could continue to be a part of it.
3. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell – Wonderful quirky love story.  I wanted to know what happened to Eleanor and Park in the future, I wanted to travel the path with them forward to a happy ending.
4. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan – I desperately want to read more about these fun, intelligent, and quirky characters!
5. Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys – A great historical novel and I fell in love with Josie – I want to see where her life goes from here.
6. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury – A beautiful book, and most likely a sequel would ruin it, but I always wanted to see what the future would bring for Guy and those in his world.
7. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green – Time for another road trip with Colin and Hassan!
8. Ungifted  by Gordon Korman – This one is for my kids – they loved the hilarity of the characters in this book and were left wanting more!
9. Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman – I want to know where he goes from here and what his life brings him – does he ever go back to the graveyard?
10. Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman – I want them to meet up again, to go on more adventures together now that he is grown – or is it just impossible for adults to have the same childlike belief and sense of wonder?