Top Ten Books for Non-Readers

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Click the picture to visit them!

Top Ten Books I'd Give to Someone Who Doesn't Read

These are the books I'd give to someone who doesn't like to read. Although, for some people not even the best books will convert them to booklovers. One of my best friends admitted that he stopped reading Harry Potter after #5!

1. The Princess Bride - William Goldman (1973)

Pick a random person. I bet they love this movie. Tell them that its brilliance was a book before the movie ever existed!

2. The Phantom Tollbooth - Norman Juster (1961)

This is such a wonderful book. It's full of crazy creatures and worlds and adventures that are just off the wall. Everything is puzzling but fun at the same time.

3. Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones (1986)

If you've never read this book, stop reading this post and clicky on the picture to go buy it! Even if you've seen the movie, I highly recommend the book. 

4. Poison Study - Maria V. Snyder (2005)

This book is such an epic fantasy. Just go read the summary, seriously, and try to tell me you aren't dying to find out what happens. Plus, Valek is quite possibly the sexiest man ever.

5. Looking for Alaska - John Green (2005)

Anything John Green, but especially this one. Everyone should read John Green.

6. This Lullaby - Sarah Dessen (2002)

Giving a girl a Sarah Dessen book is like giving a mouse a muffin. Once you have a taste, you will always want more.

7. Sloppy Firsts - Megan McCafferty (2001)
This is your high school experience, except livened up and put in book form.

8. City of Bones - Cassandra Clare (2007)

Ignore all other paranormal books and hand this one to someone who doesn't like to read. They will want to read the sequel.

9. Beastly - Alex Flinn (2007)

A light read with a sweet romance is perfect for anyone who doesn't like reading, and for people who do like reading.

10. The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness (2008)

Dystopian with so much action and impossible moral situations. This series is awesome for everyone!

Top Ten Book Club Books (Top Ten Tuesday)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Click the picture to visit them!

Top Ten Books That Would be Good for Book Clubs

Confession: I'm not big on book clubs. To me, book clubs feel like high school English class. I always felt that the teachers were making stuff up and the poor authors were rolling in their graves laughing when we were informed that the color of the hobo in the background's shoes was a symbol for death. Well, maybe not that detailed, but you get the picture. Here are books I would like to discuss, but not pick apart and overanalyze. 

1. The Nature of Jade - Deb Caletti (2007)

I love this book. I experience panic attacks and anxiety like Jade and I could really relate to that. Plus, it deals with Jade falling for an older guy who is a single dad. It's definitely complex enough to talk about for awhile!

2. Uglies - Scott Westerfeld (2005)

Dystopians are perfect for book clubs. This one is a great choice because we'd all like to think that our governments are always doing what's best for us, but Tally finds out that hers is doing what's best for them.

3. Tuck Everlasting - Natalie Babbitt (1975)

This book is a heartbreaker for sure. I read it when I was 12 and 10 years later I have never gotten over it. Would you choose to live forever?

4. The Fault in Our Stars - John Green (2012)

Hazel has cancer. Some days it gets her down, some days she barely thinks about it. From love and 'cancer perks' to trophy bashing and hospital stays, this book is a roller-coaster (that only goes up). 

5. Dreamland - Sarah Dessen (2004)

This book made me want to scream. Sometimes in life people have too much to deal with, so when the person who helps you through starts hurting you, what do you do then? 

6. I Am the Messenger - Markus Zusak (2006)

I was going to choose The Book Thief, but honestly this one got to me more. Ed's journey drives home how sometimes there are horrible things happening so close to us, but we are unaware of them because we are in the invisible bubble that is our own life. 

7. Just Listen - Sarah Dessen (2006)

This book shows how people's perception and judgement can be sickeningly wrong and how that effects someone already dealing with a terrible situation. As Owen says, sometimes we can't think or judge, we just have to listen. (Similar to Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, but I read that one way too long ago to talk about it)

8. Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher (2007)

Often, a suicide leaves people wishing they had answers. This book is full of answers to that burning question: why? but Clay and 12 other people struggle with the weight of knowing those answers. 

9. Chaos Walking trilogy - Patrick Ness (Book 1: 2008)

Todd grows into a man in a world where men are plagued by his town's dark past, and discovers his own morals in the process. The redemption of one character plus the overall complexity of this series is unbelievable and cemented Ness in my mind as one of those authors who could write a dictionary and I would still read it. 

10. Looking For Alaska - John Green (2005)

Life is complicated and messy and confusing. John Green knows how to take life and put it on paper. I love how the sexual situations in this book are not romanticized and steamy, but real and awkward and unsure. 

Top Ten Books/Authors That Deserve More Attention (Top Ten Tuesday)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Click the picture to visit them!

Top Ten Books/Authors That Deserve More Attention

This week is a free topic, so here are the top 10 books and authors who I belive deserve more attention in the blogosphere, the media, and in general.

1. The Pace by Shelena Shorts (2009)

Eternal love without the paranormal creature vampire / werewolf / faerie / or fallen angel thing.

2. Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev (2009)

One of the most truly unique books out there in my opinion. A strong heroine with a mind of her own in a magical theatre.

3. The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman (2011)

A sweet and honest contemporary that reads like an indie movie. (My review)

4. Candor by Pam Bachorz (2009)

Pam Bachorz has a knack for creating dystopians that take place in small, isolated places with antagonists who truly believe they are doing the right thing.

5. Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston (2008)

A very different take on faerie stories, with more action :)

6. I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone by Stephanie Kuehnert (2008)

A contemporary that doesn't gloss over the sharp edges in the heroine's life.

7. Need by Carrie Jones (2008)

Evil, sexy pixies and the phobia-collecting girl who is determined to stop them at all costs. ALL of Carrie Jones' books deserve more attention.

8. Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn (2002)

I know 2002 was 10 years ago (actually, I just realized that...), but this book was one of the most different contemporaries I'd ever read and I loved it.

9. Jars of Glass by Brad Barkley & Heather Hepler (2008)

These authors have 3 books out and I have loved every single one of them. This one broke my heart a little.

10. Breathing by Cheryl Renee Herbsman (2009)

One of the sweetest contemporary love stories I've ever read!