Top Five Books I Want to Give

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

Top Five Books I Want to Give

These are books I want to give people for Christmas. I don't actually give people books as gifts unless they have specifically asked for that book by name. This comes from being way too picky when it comes to books, although I have gotten some great books as gifts that I didn't ask for!

1. V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton

For: my mom. She actually did ask for this one this year. This is the 22nd (!) book in this series...I get bored at the book 4 mark most of the time!

2. Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

For: my Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist loving best friend. Nick & Norah's was awesome, the movie was alright (I still cringe at the thought of that gum). I liked this one and she hasn't read it yet due to the disappointment that was Naomi and Ely.

3. Creepy Cute Crochet by Christen Haden

For: see #2. My best friend made me these awesome crochet fingerless gloves this year. They make me feel like a Pokemon trainer! She loves cute things and Cthulu, so this book is perfect.

4. Soul Eater vol. 4 by Atsushi Ohkubo

For: my brother. My boyfriend got him hooked on this cool anime and now he wants to read the manga.

5. Dr. Horrible and Other Horrible Stores by Zack Whedon (and 4 awesome illustrators)

For: myself! I love Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and I love great illustrations. 

Reviews coming soon!

Hey everybody!

I've been slacking on the reviews over the last 2 weeks due to finals, but now finals are over and the break has begun!

So basically, reviews are coming soon :)

Meanwhile, enjoy the funny pictures. And if your exams haven't happened yet I wish you luck!

Top Ten Childhood Favorites

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

Top Ten Childhood Favorites

I'm choosing to define 'childhood' as birth to 10 years old. So I can talk about picture books and chapter books! These are books I hope little kids are still reading.

1. Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina (1st pub: 1938)

I don't really remember why, but I always loved this one. The illustrations are so beautiful and unique, plus it involves some cheeky monkeys. What more could a kid want in a book?

2. Corduroy by Don Freeman (1st pub: 1976)

Corduroy Bear! He just wants his button back. And he's adorable while searching everywhere he can for it.

3. Just For You by Mercer Mayer (1st pub: 1975)

I'm not sure what the Little Critter actually is, but he's so cute. This is the 1st book he's in and I can only remember the scene where he's trying to wash dishes for his mom but keeps dropping them on accident.

4. The Berenstain Bears And Too Much Junk Food by Stan and Jan Berenstain (1st pub: 1985)

The Berenstain Bears have been around since 1962. This is the book that most applied to me when I was younger, and the one about messy rooms. Brother Bear and Sister Bear were a lot like me and my brother, close in age and always fighting.

5. Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathman (1st pub: 1995)

Officer Buckle is one of those cops that goes to schools to talk about safety. But he's boring. Gloria is the dog that livens things up.

6. Cinderella Penguin by Janet Perlman (1st pub: 1995)

This is exactly how it sounds. The story of Cinderella with all humans replaced by penguins. I love the illustrations in this one :) 

7. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (1st pub: 1997)

If you've seen the movie I really hope you've read the book. If you've read the book I wouldn't bother seeing the movie which turns this great fantasy book into a comedy. Plus you have to deal with seeing Westley from Princess Bride be all old :(

8. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1st pub: 1932)

Remember Accelerated Reader anyone? I read all of these for AR.

9. Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keen (1st pub: 1930)

I loooove Nancy Drew. I don't know how many of these books I read but they are all amazing. I wrote a post about how thankful I am for Nancy Drew. Read it here.

10. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (1st pub: 1961)

I was so enthralled in this book each time I read it. Soup that makes you hungrier, a dog who's clock only tocks. This book is awesome. 

Winter Reading List (Top Ten Tuesdays)

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

Top Ten Books On My TBR List For Winter

Hmm...well at the beginning of this month I started using Goodreads so now my to-read list is a giant swarm of pretty book covers. At last count it was also 351 books! So I'm defining Winter as books coming out in December, January, or February that I want to read.

1. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - 1/10/12

John Green does contemporary from guys' perspectives so well they read like classics. The good kinds of classics that you aren't being forced to read! If you saw my last Top Ten, you know I'm Internet-stalking John Green so I know when he comes within a 2-state radius.

2. Larkstorm by Dawn Rae Miller - 12/5/11

I love that cover illustration! The summary of this one is mildy interesting, until you get to the last paragraph and it says she has to kill the guy before he kills her. NOW I'm interested!

3. Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder - 12/20/11

Maria V. Snyder's fantasy worlds never fail to suck me in. The Study series and the Glass series are some of my favorite books, and I don't know what to call the series with Inside Out and Outside In, but I like that one too!

4. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith - 1/2/12

So, I'm an art student. I just can't help but judge books by their covers, and I love this one. I'm a big fan of quirky contemporaries, especially if they involve love. Kinda like Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, this one sounds like a strange yet awesome story of 2 people over a really short amount of time.

5. Ditched: A Love Story by Robin Mellom - 1/10/12

It's a story about being ditched at Prom and figuring out why. The summary mentions a 3-legged chihuahua, a thrift store dress, and an "incident in the tattoo parlor". I don't know how those things add up to being ditched at Prom, but I know that I want to find out.

6. Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout - 12/6/11

I am not a fan of this cover at all, the hot angry people are staring at me at it creeps me out. But I think the description sounds pretty interesting. Any description that uses the word "stab-worthy" is good with me.

7. Someone Else's Life by Katie Dale - 2/14/12

Once again, the cover really catches my eye every time I see it. This sounds like an emotional contemporary and any book with a trip makes me happy. Plus this trip is with an ex-boyfriend, so double the interesting.

8. The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison - 2/14/12

Really liking the thrillers and mysteries lately. This one involves a street artist and a brother's death, so I'm in.

9. Partials by Dan Wells - 2/28/12

As always, I really enjoy dystopians. And this one involves weaponized diseases. In real life, this would be anything but exciting, but I love the idea for books.

10. Unraveling Isobel by Eileen Cook - 1/3/12

An artsy type seeing ghosts? Yes, please. This one sounds creepy AND funny.

Authors I'd Invite to Thanksgiving Dinner (Top Ten Tuesday...on Sunday)

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

Top Ten Authors I'd Invite to Thanksgiving Dinner

It's kind of hard to narrow down the list of authors I would want at my Thanksgiving table! There are just too many authors I want to meet/stuff my face alongside of.

1. John Green

Because I want to stalk him, but won't because that usually results in things like arrests and restraining orders. I mean, have you seen the Vlog Brothers videos? I own a Nerdfighteria t-shirt. I must meet John Green. And why not at a Thanksgiving feast? Food brings people together and stuff like that!

2. Lisa Mantchev

I imagine that having a fellow sugar/all things dessert lover at Thanksgiving dinner would result in happy madness! There are soooo many pretty pictures of sugary desserts on her blog. You should click the picture of Lisa to see pretty pictures of her dream casting of Nate and Ariel, which I whole-heartedly support by the way! 

3. Libba Bray

 Have you read the bio(s) on her website? Click the picture to do it. They rock. This is one lady who would not be a dull guest! I mean, look at the picture. Plus she has a shirt that says I'm With the Banned. I want to know where she obtained this shirt because I need one for Christmas. 

4. Gail Carriger

She would probably bring some kind of weaponized accessory, and that's awesome. And sometimes you just need someone who understands your fascination with clockwork being combined with shiny sparkly things and made into jewelry. Steampunk, yay! 

5. Carrie Jones

And Tala of course. Tala died recently :( A dog I've never met, but I was so sad for Carrie. Carrie is so sweet and she has serious guts. She was (is? I have no clue how political things work) a candidate for the Maine Legislature. She is one of the authors behind Dear Bully, an anthology about bullying. And soon after I was dumped by a guy who later told me he was gay, I found her book, Tips on Having a (gay) Ex-Boyfriend. Her books before the Need series are impossible to find in physical bookstores, but you should look them up because they rock!

6. Shelena Shorts

I love The Pace series and it gets practically no attention! Even my boyfriend loves this series. Need more books please Shelena!

7. Maria V. Snyder

I love all of her books. Her ability to create fantasy worlds is amazing. The Study series books = love. Plus she has a new series coming out soon!

8. Scott Westerfeld

Scott, why is there a blurry picture of you holding a ferret that you claim is 'just sleeping' like that? Where do you come up with all the crazy sci-fi ideas for your books? These and other questions must be answered! Heck yes let's geek out together Scott! I cannot describe how much Peeps is the best book relating to vampires ever, much less how awesome all of his other books are.

9. Stephanie Kuehnert

She is all kinds of amazing and so down to earth and sweet. Her books don't get enough attention and that's a shame because she is so talented in writing realistic, gritty YA. Stephanie is so open on her blog and I really love her Women Who Rock Wednesdays.

10. Amanda Hocking

Ok, 1. You live in my dream house from the looks of that living room! 2. I love that shirt and have considered buying it before. 3. I recently read Hollowland, which was a zombie book like The Book of Eli & Zombieland combined into one + a tiger! It was exactly the kind of zombie book I was looking for after not enjoying The Forest of Hands and Teeth.