Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday – Characters that Remind Me of Myself

 

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Girl. To find out more about the top ten theme, or to join in the fun go here.

relatable characters

I haven’t done a Top Ten Tuesday in awhile, and this was such a fun topic, I had do it even though it’s going up so late in the day. So here are the characters that I relate with in some way:

1. Lost in a Book – Belle. Belle’s curiosity reminds me of my own. I would’ve totally gone in the west wing of the castle to see what the Beast was hiding. In this book, Belle enters a book world, another place I would go to see what was there. I’ve also always identified with the “there must be something more” feeling.

2. Little Women – Jo. One of my first ever bookish heroines, I identified with Jo’s tomboy spirit, and I always had long, long hair. I would hardly let my mother even trim it. I may have finally cut my hair a little shorter, but I still identify with Jo’s dream of becoming a writer.

3. The Lunar Chronicles – Cress. I’m little, and even now that I’m grown, people still think I’m younger than I really am (which I like now 🙂 ). I also get anxious around big groups of people I don’t know, and would prefer to stay home. I do well with computers, not on a hacker level or anything, but I am my family’s go-to tech person.

4. Secrets Can Kill (Nancy Drew Files) – Nancy Drew. I couldn’t leave Nancy off the list. I lived in a small Illinois town (just like Nancy) when I flew through all the Nancy Drew files. Also, I’ve always had a thing for mysteries and true crime. I love solving the mystery before the book is over and I’m rarely ever wrong or unable to do so. I know it’s a clever mystery if I haven’t figured out who the baddie by the time I’m halfway through the book.

5. Pretty Little Liars – Aria. I enjoyed this series and the tv show. I relate most to Aria, because she is the creative one – she enjoys photography, art, writing ect. (In the tv show, she’s also the littlest one.)

6. Wendy Darling Series – Wendy. This series is so good, and I think one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much was because I really connected with Wendy. I’m the oldest of four, so I totally understand the need to protect and care for younger siblings. She loved to read and was interested in always learning more.

7. Worlds of Ink and Shadow – Charlotte. This is a fictionalized story of the Brontes. I related to Charlotte, as the oldest sister. Her father was a minister, my father is also a minister. Her family didn’t have a lot growing up, but her and her siblings created their own worlds to entertain themselves. That is much how it was growing up was for me too. We didn’t have much, but we did have our imaginations and we ran wild with them. If you love Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bronte, you need to read this book.

8. Before She Ignites – Mira. Mira loves animals, and even had her own dragon! Who wouldn’t want a dragon? Also, she experiences a lot of anxiety.

And in a throwback:

9. The Saddle Club – Stevie.  Stevie was the one I most related to in the Saddle Club series. She was a little disorganized and a bit of a tomboy, and of course, loved horses.

10. The Babysitters Club – Claudia. Claudia loved junk food and had long hair she always styled different ways. She also loved Nancy Drew. 🙂

 

What book characters do you most relate to and why? Let me know in the comments.

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Book Reviews

The Lunar Chronicles – In review

lunar post

I finished The Lunar Chronicles over the last year, and I loved them all!  I enjoyed these books so much, that I wanted to share a little about each book and what I loved about them. If you haven’t read them yet, maybe this will convince you to. 🙂

For those who don’t know: The Lunar Chronicles is set in a futuristic world where some people live on Earth.  Some more powerful people called Lunars, who can create glamours and control humans, live on Luna. The Lunar Queen is evil and she is determined to rule all of earth as well as Luna.

There are four main books. Each book introduces a heroine and a hero based on a fairytale. I love they way their stories intertwine and each one’s story continues until the very end of the last book.

Cinder – A retelling of Cinderella. Cinder is a cyborg girl who serves as a servant to her mean stepmother and her two stepsisters, one cruel, one kind. In a nod to the original fairytale, Cinder goes to the ball and falls for the prince. When she rushes out she leaves behind her robotic foot instead of a slipper. (I lent out my copy of Cinder which is why it’s missing in the picture.)

Some of the things I liked best about this book: I loved Cinder’s courage and resilience. When things weren’t going well, she took action to try to change them. Also, I loved Iko, Cinder’s android friend. Iko was full of personality and was incredibly entertaining.

Scarlet – A retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, with hints of Beauty and the Beast as well. Scarlet lives on a farm with her grandmother. She meets Wolf, a beast-like man trained to be a special operative for the Lunar army. In a nod to the original fairytale, Scarlet always wears a red hoodie.

Some of the things I liked best about this book: I loved Scarlet and Wolf’s relationship. Even though he was trained to kill, Scarlet’s love for him and his love for her kept him from turning into a beast. I also enjoyed the many different locales visited in this book, a trend which continued into the next book as well.

Cress – A retelling of Rapunzel. Cress is trapped in a satellite, and has to do the Lunar Queen’s bidding. In a nod to the original fairytale, a guy named Thorne frees her from the satellite, and is blind for a period of time. (In the original story, it was a thorn that made the prince blind). Cress also has really long hair that she ends up cutting.

Some of the things I loved about this book:  This book was my favorite of the Lunar Chronicles. I could relate to Cress with her small stature and her anxiety about new things. I also loved Cress and Thorne’s relationship.

Winter – A Snow White retelling. Winter is the stepdaughter of the Lunar Queen. She is beautiful and well-loved by the people, so of course the queen hates her. Winter refuses to use her glamour to control others even though  doing this makes her see things and gives her nightmares. In a nod to the original tale, the Queen tries to kill Winter by glamouring herself as an old woman and offering Winter toxic apple candies.

Some of the things I loved about this book:

It ended happily ever after!  It tied everyone’s stories together so well. We really get to see Winter’s strength and personality. Prior to this book, she seemed to just be crazy, so I had been wondering how Meyer was going to have a whole book about her. It was the perfect ending to a great series.

lunar extras

Some companion books to the series include  a shorter book that tells the Lunar Queen’s origin story, a book of short stories, and a coloring book. There are also two graphic novels that tell about Iko’s escapades after the main books end. I just finished the first one and enjoyed it just as much as the other books.

The Lunar Chronicles has made Marissa Meyer an autobuy author for me. 🙂

If you’ve read the series, which book is your fave? What’s your favorite thing about the Lunar world? If you haven’t read the series, why not?! Let me know in the comments!

Book Tags

Chocolate Book Tag

chocolate book tag

Since Valentine’s Day is coming up, I decided it was the perfect time to do the chocolate book tag. I’ve seen this floating around on a few different book blogs and though it looked liked fun, so here are my picks:

1. Dark chocolate: A book with dark content/theme – Heartless by Marissa Meyer. This is the origin story of the Red Queen. She didn’t just decided to chop off heads – so many things happened to her to make her that way. This is a must read if you love villain stories.

2. White chocolate: A light-hearted, humorous read – From Twinkle, With Love by Sandhya Menon. This is such a fun, uplifting read, and it made my top ten reads of 2018!

3. Milk chocolate: A hyped/popular book you really want to read – The Blood Spell by C.J. Redwine. I love Redwine’s books, and I’ve heard so many great things about this book. It comes out later this month. It’s a retelling of Cinderella, one of my favorite fairy tales!

4. Chocolate with a Caramel Centre: A book that made you feel gooey on the inside – To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han.  This was another fun read, and the relationship between Lara Jean and Peter was adorable.

5. A wafer-free kit-kat: a book that surprised you – To Kill A Kingdom by Alexandra Christo. This is a Little Mermaid retelling, so I was immediately interested in it. Before I had a chance to read the book, I saw some negative reviews, so I lowered my expectations and hoped I wouldn’t be disappointed. I needn’t have worried.  I could hardly put the book down. (Just FYI: it is a darker retelling, so that may be why some people gave it a lower rating.)

6. A Snickers Bar: a book you’re going nuts about – Escaping From Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco. I love this series for so many reasons – it’s set in the Victorian era, it’s a suspense series, and the romance between Audrey and Thomas is superb. Each book gets better and better and I can hardly wait for the final book which comes out later this year.

7. Hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows: a comfort read you turn to time and time again – Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.  I recently read the edition I had read so many times as a child, and  I still love it just as much as I did back then. The family dynamic reminds me a bit of mine own, and I can relate to so many of the experiences Jo,Meg, Beth, and Amy have.

 8. A box of chocolates: a series that has a lot of things readers will like – The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. If you’ve been following my blog long, you know I’ve recommended these books over and over. They are just so good! The world building is magical, the characters are dynamic and the settings are memorable. Even if you think you not into the whole space thing, you may be surprised to find you still like these books.

What about you? What books would you pick for these chocolates?

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday – Worlds I Want to Visit/Not Visit

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Girl. To find out more about the top ten theme, or to join in the fun go here.

Today’s theme is bookish worlds you want to live in/not live in. It’s hard for me to say I’d actually want to live in another world, but there are some I’d certainly want to visit, as well as some I’d want to avoid. 🙂

book worlds

Here are my picks:

1. Narnia (The Chronicles of  Narnia) – This is one place I’d love to visit! Aslan and magical creatures – need I say more?

2. Hogwarts (Harry Potter) – Who wouldn’t want to learn how to do magic? 🙂

3. The Lunar Chronicles World – A futuristic world with lots of cool tech? Yes, please!

4. Wonderland – There are so many versions of this world (Heartless, Queen of Hearts, Alice and Wonderland, Once Upon A Time, to name a few.) All of them seem like interesting places, and it would be pretty fun to attend a mad tea party.

5. Neverland – Again a lot of versions of this world – Wendy Darling, Never Ever, Once Upon A Time, Peter Pan – and they all have a few things in common: flying capability, mermaids and pirates. Anyone who loves fairytales would love to visit such a place.

And a few worlds I wouldn’t want to visit….

6.The world of The Winner’s Kiss – While I enjoyed the story, I certainly wouldn’t want to visit. All that war, prejudice, and slavery – No thank-you!

7. The world of The Selection – Another read I really enjoyed, but not a place I’d want to visit. Too much poverty and uncertainty. Although the lavish dresses would be cool to see.

8. The world of The Hunger Games – I think it’s obvious to anyone who’s read the book why you wouldn’t want to live here. You might literally have to fight for your life by killing your friends.

9. The World of Divergent – Too much conformity in this world. I wouldn’t appreciate being lumped into a specific group and destined to do the same thing for the rest of my life.

10. Morganville (The Morganville Vampires) While interesting to read about, this is another place where you have to do too much fighting to stay alive. And if you manage to stay alive, you could end up enslaved to a vampire. I don’t think so!

What about you? Is there a bookish world you’d like to visit? How about one you wouldn’t want to visit? Let me know in the comments!

 

 

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday – Books set in other countries

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Girl. To find out more about the top ten theme, or to join in the fun go here.

This week’s topic is: books set in another country. I live in the US, so these books are all set in countries other than the US.

I read a lot of fantasy where the story takes place in a made up land, so I had to think about this one a little. Here’s what I came up with:

top five

1. Cinder by Marissa Meyer, set in China, or at least a futuristic version of China.

2. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer, set in France

3. Cress by Marissa Meyer, set in Egypt

One of the reasons I love The Lunar Chronicles so much is because they happen in so many different places.

4. Hunted by Meagan Spooner, set in Russia

5. Beauty and the Beast: Lost in a Book by Jennifer Donnelly

Untitled design (4)

6. Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco, set in England

7. Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco, set in Romania

I love this series for so many reasons – the mystery, the romance, the Victorian era… I can hardly wait for the final two books.

8. The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury, set in Arabia/Persia

9. A Thousand Nights by E. K. Johnston, set in Arabia/Persia

10. Silver in the Blood by Jessica Day George, set in Romania

 

What’s your favorite book set in a country other than your own? Let me know in the comments! 🙂

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday – Spring TBR List

spring tbr

This week for Top Ten Tuesday, the topic is your Spring TBR list. To find out more about Top Ten Tuesday  and to join in the fun, check out That Artsy girl.

I’m so excited that spring is here! Hopefully the weather here catches up soon. I love warm weather. Summer is my favorite season, with spring a close second. I love seeing the world come alive again and was psyched to choose the books I want to read during this magical season.

All of these books are books I own and I’ve chosen them to help me keep progressing with the #unreadshelfproject2018. I’ll probably have a few other books I’ll read this spring, since I have such a difficult time not getting any books from the library, but I’m going to focus on these books. I’m giving myself until the end of June to finish all the books on the list. 🙂

1. Winter – Marissa Meyer: Now that I finally have the paperback copy of Winter, I can finish the Lunar Chronicles!

2. The Belles – Dhonielle Clayton: I’ve been waiting to read this book for over a year. As soon as I heard about it, I wanted to read it.

3. The Hazel Wood – Melissa Albert: This is another book I’ve been waiting to read, and lucky for me it came in the Febraury Owlcrate. 🙂

4. The Last Namsara – Kristin Ciccarelli: One of the Epic Reads quizzes said I should read this book. After checking it out, I realized I did want to read it, and was surprised I hadn’t heard about it before.

5. Persuasion – Martina Boone: I’ve already read Compulsion, the first book in the Heirs of Watson Island, and loved it. So now I need to finish the series. I also met the author and got this book signed. 🙂

6. Illusion – Martina Boone: This is the third and final book in the Heirs of Watson Island series.

7. Wild Beauty – Anna-Marie McLemore: This book is a perfect spring read, since it is about a special garden. This is another Owlcrate book that I have yet to read.

8. The Wish Granter – C.J. Redwine: I loved The Shadow Queen and I pre-ordered this book as soon as I heard about it. It’s simply been pushed down on my TBR list because I always have library books that have to go back to the library. 🙂

9. Dead To Me – Mary McCoy: This is a mystery set in the 1940’s. I love vintage stories, especially mysteries, so I had to include one on this list.

10. Finding my Edge – Karen Chen: With the Olympics just over and Worlds starting in the next day or so, it’s the perfect time to read this figure skater’s autobiography. Figure skating is one of my favorite sports. 🙂

What’s on your reading list for spring? Let me know in the comments!