Category Archives: Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday (October 30) – Girl Power!

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Welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish! I haven’t participated the last couple weeks because the topic looked like it would require more than ten seconds of thought, and my brain couldn’t handle that. Plus, the metaphorical ducks have been all over the place lately (ie: not in a row). It’s apparently the time of life when all my thoughts are fragmented and crazy.

Okay, I’m not sure who I think I’m kidding there. My thoughts are always fragmented and crazy. This has only gotten worse since having children, and I anticipate the continued gradual decline of my sanity in the upcoming years. I will probably be completely incoherent in another ten years, so enjoy my semi-articulate rambling while you still can.

Anyway, on to this week’s topic, which is fun enough to drag me back into the world of People Who Participate in Things.

Top Ten Favorite Kick-Butt* Heroines (in no particular order)

Celaena Sardothien, Throne of Glass 

She’s the country’s most notorious assassin, she takes out men twice her size with her bare hands, and she survived a year in a death camp where most people last a couple months at most.

Althea Vestrit, The Liveship Traders series

When she doesn’t get the ship that is rightfully hers, she takes matters into her own hands by commissioning a ship that is both sentient and crazy, then takes on all manner of hardened sailors and pirates in her quest to get her ship back.

Petra Arkanian, Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow

She doesn’t let the fact that she’s the only girl in Battle School keep her from besting the boys, and she not only earns a spot on Ender’s elite team, but ultimately ends up commanding some serious military muscle back on Earth.

 Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games

 She’s not great at hand-to-hand combat, but give the girl a bow and arrow, and she will destroy you.

Rachel Adams, Defiance

Between her mastery of a Switch and her general refusal to go down without a (massive) fight, she’s not someone I’d want to cross.

Hermione Granger, Harry Potter

Don’t underestimate a girl with brains and a wand. I have a sneaking suspicion that Hermione could have figured out a way to defeat Voldemort even without Harry and Ron’s help, if she’d needed to.

Katsa, Graceling

I admittedly wasn’t the biggest fan of Katsa as a character, but I won’t argue for a second that as a master assassin, she was unstoppable.

Tally Youngblood, Specials

While Tally is a strong character throughout the Uglies series, I think she’s not a true force to be reckoned with until Specials, where she becomes downright scary.

Lisbeth Salander, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

I’ll be honest. Lisbeth kind of terrifies me. I mean, I know she’s one of the protagonists and technically a good guy and all, but I still wouldn’t want to be stuck in a dark alley with her is all I’m saying.

Number Six, I Am Number Four series

Between her superpowers and her general toughness, Six is pretty much the biggest force to be reckoned with in this series. (I’m aware that Six from the movie in no way resembles Six as she is described in the book, but let’s just overlook that.)

So there you have it. Ten heroines that are way tougher than I could ever hope to be, because I am a Grade A Wimp. I was really proud of myself when I didn’t cringe while getting a flu shot last month. Yup.

*Yes, I cleaned up the topic title. I have a six-year-old who tends to read over my shoulder.

 

Top Ten Tuesday (October 9) REWIND: Best Book-to-Film Adaptations

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It’s time for another Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, and this week is a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure where we can pick from any of the past themes.

Anyone remember those? Are they still a thing? I was really bad at them. I always managed to pick the path that got my character killed, even when I was trying to keep him/her alive (because let’s face it, sometimes you just purposely make bad decisions to see how terrible the character’s fate will be…or at least, that’s what I did), thus confirming my hypothesis that I would make a terrible fictional heroine.

Anyway.

I looked over the list of past topics, trying to pick one I was sad to have missed out on the first time around, and settled on this one:

Top Book to Movie Adaptations

Okay, so I feel the need to make a disclaimer here:

The only titles to make this list are those that I have both seen and read. Therefore, some amazing movies that I know were adapted from books (like The Prestige and Fight Club) won’t be on here, because I haven’t read the books — yet. And vice versa.

So when you have the urge to yell, “You forgot ___!”, no I didn’t. I just saw it but didn’t read it, or read it but didn’t see it, or haven’t experienced it at all. But if there’s one I need to see/read, by all means, let me know. Because what I need in life are more books on my TBR list and more movies in my Netflix queue.

HERE WE GO. And in a rare and shocking turn of events, this list will actually be in order.

1. Lord of the Rings

I know there’s a lot of people out there who couldn’t make it through Tolkien’s epic fantasy chronicling Frodo’s adventures as he attempted to destroy the Ring of Power before it could be seized by Lord Sauron, but I actually really enjoyed the book. However, this is the rare instance where my enjoyment of the movie surpassed my love of the book. While no adaptation is 100% loyal to the source material, I thought these films evidenced a profound respect for the stories that inspired them. The settings are beautiful, the effects are flawless, and the acting is amazing. Some of my favorite movies of all time.

2. The Princess Bride

It’s no secret that I adore this book, and while I think the book is better than the movie (marginally), I still think the movie is fabulous. It’s also an amazingly faithful adaptation, taking most of its best quotes and scenes directly from the book. Probably a happy side effect of the book’s author writing the screenplay.

3. Jurassic Park

This is a case of the movie changing the book significantly, but still working. Lots of times when the plot or characters from the book are severely altered, it ruins the story, but in the case of Jurassic Park, most of the more scientific musings on Chaos Theory, along with a lot of the internal psychological tension, would have been lost on the big screen. It was a good call on the part of the film makers to switch the focus to more dino-action.

4. Everything by Jane Austen, except Mansfield Park

Honestly, I have a hard time reading Jane Austen. I know, I know, something’s wrong with me. I adore her stories, but not her prose. However, I love the movie adaptations of her books. Sense and Sensibility is my favorite, with Pride and Prejudice (the Kiera Knightly one, because I have a short attention span) a close second. I even like the modern updated comedy versions of some of them, like Clueless (Emma) and Bridget Jones’ Diary (Pride and Prejudice). The only one I don’t like is Mansfield Park, and that’s probably because I didn’t like the book either.

5. Little Women

I love this book, and I love this movie. I am not normally the biggest Winona Ryder fan, but I thought the casting of the March sisters was spot-on, and of course I thought Christian Bale as Laurie was fabulous (and completely broke my heart in that one scene). Um…yeah, I can’t think of anything more analytical to say about this one. I just love, love, love it.

6. The Notebook and A Walk to Remember

Kind of like with Jane Austen books, I also prefer the movie versions of Nicholas Sparks books. The difference is that these are the only two I like. His other adaptations leave me with a resounding feeling of “meh.” But I will always stop to watch these two, whenever they’re on, and I always — always — cry buckets of tears when I watch them.

7. The Green Mile

I strongly considered The Shawshank Redemption, but decided against it mostly because Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption is a novella, not a full book. However, The Green Mile is a novel that I really enjoyed, and the film adaptation, while brutal, was extremely faithful to the book. It’s a good thing Sam Rockwell was in Galaxy Quest right after this one, or else I would have had a hard time coming to terms with him again.

8. The Harry Potter movies

I’ll be honest, the first four Harry Potter movies left me feeling a bit…underwhelmed in theaters. I was fresh off of re-reading the books (as I did before each film), and I was too stung by all the parts that got condensed and omitted in the transition from page to screen. However, by Order of the Phoenix, I had come to terms with the fact that the movies were not going to be 100% faithful to the books, and I needed to accept them for what they were. And so I was able to enjoy the last four movies much more on the first viewing. Now, after seeing all the movies multiple times and setting my expectations accordingly, I can say that I thoroughly enjoy the entire series.

9. The Hunger Games

I know there’s a ton of opinions floating around on whether or not the film version of The Hunger Games lived up to the book. I’m in the “totally” camp. No, it wasn’t completely faithful, but then again, few movies are. You can see my in-depth analysis here.

 

10. A Time to Kill

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I used to be a complete Grisham addict, and this is my favorite of his books. I thought the movie was incredibly well done, in spite of the fact that I felt like I needed to shower afterward (partially because of the subject matter, but mostly because all the characters spend the entire movie so sweaty).

P.S. For another Top Ten rewind of sorts, head over to my Six Month Celebration Giveaway, where you can see my top 10 favorite books I’ve read in the lifespan of my blog, and enter to WIN ONE! They’re awesome books, guys. You know you want one of them.

Top Ten Tuesday (October 2) – Throwbacks!

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It’s time for another Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, and today’s topic is near and dear to my heart. So much so that I co-host a meme that brings attention to some of these great older titles. [Speaking of which, insert shameless Throwback Thursday plug here.]

That said, if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, these titles are going to be familiar, because I’ve featured most of them as Throwbacks. What can I say? They’re awesome.

Top Ten “Older” Books You Don’t Want People To Forget About


1. The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Lots of people don’t even realize this is a book, and I find that immensely sad.
 

2. Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

Still the best high fantasy series I’ve ever read, and the book I measure all other fantasies against. If you’re a fantasy lover and I haven’t convinced you to read this book yet, I’m doing something wrong.

3. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

I divide my sci-fi into two categories: Aliens and No Aliens. In the Aliens category, this book is my favorite.


4. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

And in the No Aliens category, this one is my favorite. If you’ve only seen the movie, the book is vastly different. Although the movie is pretty awesome too.

5. The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

This one bridges the Aliens-No Aliens gap, and so I love it in a different way than the other two. Also, I realize this is another Michael Crichton book. But considering I’ve read all his books (and there are many), the fact that I’m only putting two of them on this list actually took a great deal of restraint. I could make a Top 10 of just Crichton books that I’ve read over half a dozen times.

6. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Man, do I love this book. I’m not typically a historical romance kind of gal, but throw in a sprinkling of time travel, and you’ve got me.

7. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

I don’t think this story is in any danger of being forgotten any time soon, but it’s definitely older and I most certainly don’t want it to ever become obsolete. Tolkien’s world of Middle Earth was groundbreaking and stunning, and I hope people love it forever.

8. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Likewise, I doubt the story of the Pevensie children stumbling their way into a magical land via an antique wardrobe in an old man’s spare room is going anywhere in the immediate future, but I just wanted to state for the record how much I adore these stories.

9. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

I love the story of the March sisters, and that through all their adventures and romances and hardships, their relationships with each other, and with their mother, is what’s really important.

10. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

I love everything about this story. While it’s simple and sweet and old-fashioned, I can’t help but think that Anne herself is pretty timeless.

Top Ten Tuesday (September 18) – Bookish People I Want to Meet

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Welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the people over at The Broke and the Bookish! After last week’s Super Heavy topic (which, granted, didn’t have to be Super Heavy, but it was for me), I’m glad this week’s is a bit lighter.

On a related note, I realized this week that I’ve been blogging almost six months now! This calls for some sort of celebration, or at least a dessert item of some kind. Preferably of the tiramisu variety.

And in that short/long time (depending on your perspective), I’ve met some truly amazing people. So many, actually, that I had a hard time with this week’s topic, simply because I’ve already met so many of the amazing bookish people who would have been on this list six months ago. They include Myra McEntire, C.J. Redwine, Amy Plum, Sharon Cameron, Kat Zhang, Ruta Sepetys (seriously people, Nashville rocks so hard), and a whole bunch of fabulous Tennessee bloggers. If you ever have a chance to meet any of these ladies (even if you haven’t read their books yet — which, confession time, I haven’t read all of them yet), I’d highly recommend it.

Some of these I stand a decent chance of encountering someday. Others fall solidly in the “one day if all my dreams come true and are sprinkled in fairy dust” category. You can decide for yourself which is which.

Oh, and disclaimer: I haven’t read all of these authors’ books yet either. Some of them are on here because while I’ve heard their books are great, I know they are pretty awesome from following them on Twitter. (Although some of them aren’t on Twitter, and are on here entirely because of their books). And of course, not all of them are authors at all.  This disclaimer is getting confusing. I should stop.

These are numbered so I can keep track of how many I have, but are in no particular order.

Top Ten Bookish People I Want to Meet

1. J.K. Rowling – You know she’s got to be on everyone’s list, because who wouldn’t want to meet the woman who created Harry Potter?

In related news, I dreamed last night that I was Harry, and Voldemort had agreed to have a nice little diplomatic chat with me, but halfway through our chat he figured out the twist ending. Guys, it is never good when the bad guy figures out the twist ending. I was really glad to wake up.

2. Suzanne Collins – In the same vein, I want to meet the woman who created The Hunger Games and singlehandedly brought about this crazy dystopian wave that we’re still surfing. And I would also like to thank her for creating Peeta, who may be my favorite YA male character ever. Or at least one of my top 3.

3. Lauren Oliver – She wrote Before I Fall and the Delirium series, and her writing is just so pretty. I just want to wallow in it.

4. Robin Hobb – No big deal, only the author of my favorite fantasy series of all time. I compare all other fantasy (and books in general, really) to this series, and while some are really, really good, her books stand superior.

A week or so ago, I opened my mailbox to find an autographed copy of the first book in the series, courtesy of Sarah, who had picked one up for me at Dragon*Con. I may have screeched right there at the mailbox.

5. Jessica Khoury – Her debut, Origin, just came out and I haven’t read it yet. I have an ARC (that I won in one of her contests, actually), sitting on my shelves begging to be read, but my life lately has not been conducive to reading. Hopefully I will remedy this soon. But she runs the best, most creative contests ever, PLUS she loves Robin Hobb’s books, and therefore I have decided we must meet someday.

6. Jodi Meadows – Her critique partners are Myra McEntire and C.J. Redwine. Considering how much I adore their books, I figure that loving Jodi’s books is pretty much a guarantee. And although I regret to admit that I’ve had Incarnate sitting unread on my shelf for months now (although sometimes I just have to gaze at the pretty cover), I know when I finally do sit down to read it, I’ll be in for a treat. Plus, I’m rather addicted to Jodi’s blog. And she is the one who introduced me to Lindsey Stirling videos. So I think we’d get along.

7. Veronica Roth – While Divergent was not my favorite book ever (although Insurgent was better), I love Veronica’s blog. I’ve spent so much time browsing her archives. She is responsible for a large percentage of my knowledge of the publishing industry (I’m not sure how vast that knowledge is — probably not very — but what there is, she planted). I would love to hear her speak and pick her brain.

8. Tahereh Mafi – Another author whose books I haven’t read yet (confession: I’m waiting until I can get them with the new cover, because I’m not a fan of the original Shatter Me cover), but her Twitter makes me laugh more than any other author. And anyone who can make me laugh that much is someone I want to meet.

9. Lori at Pure Imagination – She’s the only one of the Tennessee bloggers I regularly communicate with that I haven’t met yet. (Which is funny, because she was actually the first Tennessee blogger I started talking to when I started blogging). Thus far our interaction has consisted entirely of Twitter and blog comments. This needs to be remedied.

10. Sarah at Breaking the Binding – Sometimes you “meet” a person (and I put “meet” in quotes because as of yet, we have not actually met) and you just have to shake your fist at the sky and say “WHY WERE WE NOT RAISED TOGETHER FROM INFANCY?” And such is the case with Sarah. It is sad that we live in two different states, because if we were in the same town, I’m pretty sure great things would happen. Based on the sheer volume of cyber-communication that currently passes between us on a daily basis (a large percentage of which is geeky Tumblr links), I think we’d have no shortage of things to discuss.

Honorable Mentions (since limiting it to 10 is just…no):

Jennifer Nielsen, Rae Carson, Victoria Schwab, James Dashner, Julie Kagawa, Shannon Messenger

Top Ten Tuesday (September 11) – Books that Made Me Think

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Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the folks over at The Broke and the Bookish!

You probably know what today is, and what happened 11 years ago. I don’t know if that’s why the topic for today is what it is, but I suspect the two are related. Most of the books I read are escapist, because the world we live in is hard enough and sometimes (or a lot of the time) I just want to retreat into a fantasy world.

Occasionally, however, I pick one up that challenges me to somehow change my perspective, to confront an issue I’ve been hiding from or acknowledge a truth that hurts. Books that do this aren’t my standard fare, but through some twisting avenue, some find their way into my hands. So those are the books I’ll be featuring today.

These will be in no particular order, as that seems like prioritizing thoughts, which I can’t do.

[WARNING: Seriousness ahead]

Top Ten Books That Make Me Think (About The World, People, Life, etc.)

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I have two books on this list that take place during the Holocaust. This one is fiction, the other is not. Neither, interestingly enough, features a Jewish protagonist. This book was quiet, pensive, and detached in how it conveyed the events taking place in Liesel’s small town in Germany during World War II. I didn’t so much read this book as drift through it, and the imagery feels almost dreamlike. But at the same time, it really brought home the feeling of a family living a regular life in the midst of horror, which made it somehow harder to read. This period of human history hurts my heart the way few things can, and this book really brought it home.

The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

This is the non-fiction Holocaust book, and this one is told from the POV of middle-aged spinster Corrie, who lives with her sister and her elderly father in Nazi-occupied Holland during World War II. The family takes it upon themselves to offer shelter to their Jewish neighbors; they are eventually caught and thrown into concentration camps. This one not only conjured the horrors of war and hate and evil, but also the power of deep faith and love. I’d have a hard time thinking of a book that inspired me more than this one.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I don’t read a lot of books about cancer, and I’m blessed that I haven’t had a lot of close personal experience with cancer either. I know many cancer survivors, and of course I also knew people who were taken by cancer, but it’s not a disease I feel I have a strong connection to. However, this book not only made me think about the devastating nature of the disease, but about the almost surreal changes it makes in the lives of those who are taken and those who are left behind. It also made me think about the inevitability of death, and how closely it is tied to a life truly lived.

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

I read a lot of post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction, but this is one of the few that struck me as feeling almost tangible. It made me realize how much I take for granted, and how unprepared I am, and we are, to deal with anything truly devastating happening to our world or our country. It made me think about sacrifice, about perseverance, and about strength. The character I identified with most in this book was actually the mother, trying her best to keep her family safe and provided for even in the midst of seemingly impossible circumstances. I thought a lot about her long after I finished this book.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I’ve read a decent amount of books where segregation and racism was a prevalent theme, and while this one was much more lighthearted than many of the others, for some reason it’s also one of the ones that stuck with me the most. Maybe it’s because of the alternating points of view, or maybe it’s because sometimes humor sharpens truth, or maybe it’s just because the story was engaging. The thing that struck me the most, beyond the obvious, was the loving relationship between a black maid and the little white girl she’s helping to raise, and it gutted me when that relationship was somehow made less because of the colors of their skin.

A Time to Kill by John Grisham

I spent a good portion of high school reading every one of John Grisham’s books, and while most of them are just your typical pulse-pounding legal thriller, this one (his first, and in my opinion, best) was different. It raises hard questions of race and prejudice, even in more modern times where we’re supposed to be past segregation and racism. The question posed at the beginning of the book, which it takes the entirety of the book to address, is if there is a crime so heinous as to justify cold-blooded murder, and if anyone is truly impartial enough to make that call. And while the jury in the book does reach a decision, the ultimate decision is left in the hands of the reader.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

This book made me want to notice everything. To not drift through life oblivious of what was going on around me, and to make each day count, because who knows when it is the last day. Sam has the benefit — and curse — of getting seven shots at her last day, but I’m guessing most of us won’t have that opportunity. And while she really does manage to make a huge difference in the lives of many over the course of 24 hours, I couldn’t help but wonder how much more of a difference she could have made if she was really paying attention for each day of the preceding few years.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

This book was hard to read. It’s painful and harsh and doesn’t ever really give you what you want. It raises hard questions of life and souls and worth. Society easily accepts the sacrifice of the characters’ lives for the enhancement of others, and none of them ever think to question if they really are less worthy of life than the people receiving their donations. We only ever get to view the world through the sad and resigned eyes of the donors, who — even at their most desperate — only ever dream of the luxury of a couple more years before they’re asked to die for someone they’ve never met. It’s tortuous, and has stayed with me for a long time.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

I haven’t written a review for this one yet, because I’m actually still thinking about it. Much like with Before I Fall, this book really made me think about how life can change, or end, in the blink of an eye. But although reading about Mia’s struggle in this book was definitely heart-wrenching and painful, I again felt myself drawn to her flashbacks of her parents. Because while it was obvious she loved her parents, and they loved her fiercely, and that she thought they were amazing parents…I wasn’t so sure. I kept seeing things in their actions that made me wonder if they were hurting Mia in the long run, and now that they were ripped away from her, they would never get a chance to correct it. And that terrified me, because I’m sure I’m making mistakes with my kids, and I hope I get a chance to correct them. It honestly made me examine my decisions and my interactions with my children closer, so that if I were taken from them, they’d still be okay.

The Bible

I debated whether or not to put this on the list, since it’s not really “a book” the way these others are books, but it is words written on paper and bound between two covers and you get the information through reading, and therefore I decided I really should put it on, since it makes me think more than all the other books combined, more often, and about more issues. I’ve read the whole thing cover to cover several times (it takes a while), and new thoughts surface and swirl around each time.

Okay, this was a heavy week and now I’m tired. But thinking is good, and now I’ve thought about all these books again and I feel full of the desire to go out into the world and live life to the fullest and make the world a better place, and also learn more science so I can go cure a disease but not so I can clone people and harvest their organs. Just so we’re clear.

Can next week’s post be something fun and fluffy please?

[Peeks ahead]

Oh good. It is.