It’s Top Ten Tuesday again, hosted by the fabulous folks over at The Broke and the Bookish! And the topic this week is one of those things that I think helps set “great” books apart from “good” books.
Top Ten Most Vivid Worlds/Settings In Books
World building! That feeling that you’re actually in the setting of the story instead of simply reading about it. Sometimes a book has a really interesting plot that engages me, but I have a hard time picturing the world, making the book simply “good.” Other times, I feel transported to a different time or place, and those are the books that really stand out to me.
So here are my Top 10 books that have the best world building, in alphabetical order:
Ship of Magicby Robin Hobb (Yes, this is technically the same world as Assassin’s Apprentice, but the two series focus on totally different aspects of that world, so I think it’s valid to include both)
Welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday, brought to you by the masterminds over at The Broke and the Bookish!
This week, we’re picking book recommendations for people who liked a certain book, and while I’m sure my choice is going to be popular, I’m doing it anyway because when I finished this book, I could have used a list like this. Don’t get me wrong — this list exists, all over the Internet, and I’m sure many more versions are going to pop up today. But the ones I found led me wrong. They suggested books I didn’t like. So I’m making my own.
[Disclaimer: I have not read this book, but I hear the plot is very similar to Hunger Games. I’ve also read interviews with Suzanne Collins where she said she didn’t know this book existed prior to her writing HG, and I believe her. Sometimes people just have similar ideas. It’s happened to me. It could happen to you. But I also think this list would be incomplete if it didn’t include the book that Hunger Games is most often compared to.]
Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish! This week is a FREEBIE topic, which is good because I’ve been cheating the last few weeks anyway. Best let me get it all out of my system at once so I can go back to playing by the rules ASAP.
I’ve been a little like a kid in a candy store trying to come up with a topic, but I kept coming back to the same thought after I saw Victoria Schwab mention on Twitter that her upcoming book The Archivedwas inspired by this dance from one of my favorite TV shows, So You Think You Can Dance. Then Myra McEntire threw more fuel onto the fire by letting me know that several characters in the Hourglass series are based on dancers and choreographers from the show.
And I started to think, what if more authors used this show as inspiration for their books? There’s certainly enough inspiration to choose from.
And thus I bring you my Top Ten list this week, in which I let my imagination run wild. I even pitch a plot for each book and pick an author that I think has the chops to pull it off (disclaimer: that doesn’t mean that the author has ever written anything like these pitches; I just think their their voices and strengths would lend themselves well to these stories).
Authors, feel free to take me up on any of these. My world would be a happy, happy place if you did.
My Top Ten Book Pitches Inspired by So You Think You Can Dance
(additional disclaimer: I could either have picked 10 dances, or done 10 book pitches. I did the latter, because that lets me use more dances)
1. Collide/How it Ends/My First Kiss, Season 7
Premise: After having his heart broken when his high school sweetheart is stolen by his best friend, an introverted teen begins an awkward and ill-fated relationship with his teacher.
Premise: Renegade wood nymphs decide to leave their forest home to live among the humans, but their mischievous ways and mysterious powers make them a target for dark forces that would harness their powers for evil.
5. Heaven is a Place on Earth/Battlefield/Coming Home, Season 7/Season 5/Season 8 (yes, I know the gender of the soldier changes throughout these dances, but that’s why they’re inspiration and not a literal representation)
Premise: A young couple’s relationship struggles after one of them enlists to serve overseas, has an affair with a fellow soldier, and finally returns home to battle PTSD.
6. Ramalama (Bang Bang)/Paris is Burning, Season 2 (this is actually the 100th episode version, which has the S2 dancers + choreographer Wade Robson)/Season 7
Premise: In an alternate Victorian London ruled by the undead, a small group of young aristocrats struggles to hide a dangerous secret: They’re still alive.
8. Every Little Thing She Does is Magic/The Dance, Season 7 (sorry, I couldn’t find a higher quality video that allowed embedding, but if you want to go to YouTube, there’s a high quality version here)/Season 4
Premise: A teenaged Alice returns to Wonderland and joins forces with the Mad Hatter to raise an army and overthrow the Red Queen’s reign of terror.
Premise: After being dumped by her boyfriend and shunned by her classmates following a vicious rumor, the most popular girl in school finds the only person that she can truly be herself around is her neighbor, a boy she has ignored since elementary school.
10. Bleeding Love/Mad World, Season 4/Season 7 (This is the tour version of the performance, because I couldn’t find a version of the original that I could embed)
Premise: After his relationship with his wife falls apart because of his workaholic ways, a successful businessman re-examines his life when he discovers the beggar outside his office is his college roommate.
If you liked this topic, I told my friend Shannon over at Stalking the Bookshelves that I was going to do this topic this week, and she asked if she could join on the SYTYCD fun. And of course, my thoughts were the more the merrier! We didn’t tell each other which dances we were picking, so head on over to her post and see if we picked any of the same ones!
Also, if you’ve never watched SYTYCD but now you want to (and you SHOULD want to), now is a great time to start! The first performance episode airs tomorrow (7/11) on FOX at 8 EST.
Welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the fabulous people over at The Broke and the Bookish! It’s a day for us to all make lists and read lists and just generally celebrate lists.
Okay, so I know this may be slightly irritating, and I apologize. Especially since I totally cheated last week and next week is a freebie.
Sorry.
Anyway, the assigned topic for this week is:
Top Ten Books For People Who Like X Author (pick an author and give recommendations)
And I wracked my brain trying to come up with 10 books that are all in the style of a certain author, but I couldn’t do it. I even picked big genre-defining authors like J.K. Rowling and Suzanne Collins. But just because you liked Harry Potter doesn’t mean you’re going to like all fantasy, just like enjoying Hunger Games doesn’t mean all dystopians will be for you.
Plus, using books like that is more about a genre than an author, and I can’t think of another author who writes like J.K. Rowling or Suzanne Collins or any of the other amazing authors I love. They each have their own unique voice, and that’s part of the reason I love them.
So. Since I wanted to do a Top Ten list anyway, and I was coming up with a total blank on the topic, I tried to think of what I was into at the moment.
And guys, I’m going to be honest. I’m in a reading slump. I’ve seriously tapered off in my reading (and it’s reflected in my blog. Again, sorry). I know I’ll jump back in soon with both feet, and I’ve actually got a stack of books checked out from the library and sitting on my shelf and my iPad right now that I’m really anxious to read. I just need some time off to regroup.
And you know how I regroup?
I’d like to say exercise, but the answer is TV.
So without any further ado, I give you:
The Top Ten T.V. Shows for When You’re in a Reading Slump
(a.k.a. Shows Bookish People Like)
[p.s. I feel the need to make a disclaimer here that I’m not currently watching all of these shows, nor are all the shows I’m currently watching on this list. Confused yet?]
Where possible, I linked to the show on Netflix, so you can watch it right now if you have Netflix. Otherwise I linked to the Amazon page. (Or, in the case of one show, you can catch up pretty well on YouTube).
These are in no particular order, because I love them all. With great giant disgusting heaps of love.
It was a high school vampire show before high school vampire stories were all the rage. Again, excellent character development, intricate plots, quippy dialogue, and some pretty awesome action. One of the smartest teen shows on TV, ever.
This one’s only 14 episodes long, so you can easily tear through it in a week on Netflix (if you can make it last that long). Amazing world-building, an original concept, and of course the fabulous characters and dialogue that are a staple for Joss Whedon shows.
Rory is going to be a book blogger when she grows up, she just doesn’t know it yet. She is smart and shy and sassy and sweet, and the cast of characters is quirky and lovable. The best part of this show is the close and loving relationship between Rory and her mother Lorelai. It’s not perfect, but it’s one of the best mother-daughter depictions on TV (or that used to be on TV, anyway).
I’ll be the first to admit, this show went downhill towards the end. It’s like Ronald. D. Moore had a great concept and absolutely no idea what he wanted to do with it (actually, that is what happened. I’ve listened to the commentaries. He pretty much admits it). But the first couple season are out-of-this-world (literally) fantastic. And the acting is absolutely stellar (another space pun! I’m unstoppable!)
I know I keep harping on dialogue and character development, but really, name one great show that doesn’t have great dialogue and character development.
Exactly.
I’ll admit, I waited a few years on Veronica Mars. I didn’t think I’d be into a show about a teen detective with no superpowers. But the thing that finally made me pull the trigger was when I read it was Joss Whedon’s favorite show (including his own shows). That kind of clinched it for me.
And this show is incredible. The only bad thing is that it got canceled after the 3rd season wrapped, so there’s not a satisfying conclusion. But I promise, the rest of the show is worth the disappointment at the end.
8. So You Think You Can Dance
I know, this is a (gasp!) reality show! But it’s amazing and inspiring, and I happen to know for a fact that there are real books floating out there in the world — books that you’ve probably heard of and maybe even read and enjoyed — that take ideas and characters from this show. For example, the above routine inspired Victoria Schwab to write her upcoming novel The Archived. (No, I don’t know how it inspired her to write it, but she promises a post later on how the dance turned into a book).
[Warning: (and this isn’t a joke) This dance is about addiction and has been known to provoke strong emotional reactions]
Say what you will about this show, but I think the overarching plot device of the mysterious titular “mother” appeals to my bookish side. I like the tiny clues and the “future” narration that ties it all together. Plus, I think this is one of the best comedies currently on TV.
I have a confession to make, and that is that I am nowhere close to having finished this series. But the quirky sci-fi plots, the witty banter, and the smart writing leaves no question in my mind as to why so many writers and readers adore this show.
So I’m sorry for cheating, really I am, but maybe if you’re like me and are totally in a rut right now, I’ve given you something to fill the lonely book-less hours.
I’ll start reading again soon. In the meantime, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go watch some more Dr. Who.
Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, where the terrific team over at The Broke and the Bookish give us excuses to make lists and indulge our inner OCD tendencies.
I’ve got to be honest, guys. I looked at the topic for this week, and I just about skipped it, because I’ve got nothing.
But then I was sad, because Top Ten Tuesday is my favorite meme, and I always enjoy coming up with my lists and seeing what others come up with. Plus, I’ve seen Galaxy Quest enough times that “Never give up, never surrender” is kind of emblazoned on my psyche, so admitting defeat wasn’t really an option.
The good news is that my psyche is apparently not opposed to a bit of cheating, so I decided to tweak the topic to one I could do.
So here’s the topic I was supposed to do:
Top Ten Characters Who Remind Me Of Myself Or Someone I Know In Real Life
Yup, complete blank. Part of the problem is that most of what I read is YA, and I am just…A. But even if I think of myself and my friends from back when I was in the YA age bracket, I still came up blank. Not a lot of authors tend to write books featuring characters who enjoy Star Trek and Scrabble. Comic books, maybe, but that’s probably because characters in books are on the verge of developing superpowers, and my friends and I never developed superpowers. So. This topic wasn’t going to work for me.
Here’s the one I’ve decided to do instead:
Top Ten Characters I Think I’d Have Been Friends With If We Went to High School Together
(That’s close enough, right?)
1. Hermione Granger, Harry Potter. I was a big nerd and a squeaky clean kid. So was Hermione. We would either have been BFFs or arch nemeses, because that’s the way it works with smart kids.
2. Simon, The Mortal Instruments. I have only read the first book in this series, but Simon was my favorite and I could totally see us hanging out and not wanting to go to clubs together.
3. Kent McFuller, Before I Fall. I can’t say anyone I was friends with in high school actually wore a bowler hat, but I still think that Kent would have fit right in.
4. Angela, Twilight. She’s sweet and soft-spoken and kind of hangs back while her friends arm wrestle for attention. I can relate to that.
5. Peeta, The Hunger Games. Okay, it’s highly probable that Peeta would be too cool to be my friend because he’d probably be on the football team or something like that, and not in the marching band with me, but I’m going to hold out hope that we’d be buds.
6. Chuck, The Maze Runner. Granted, we will probably never know what Chuck was like before the Maze, but he seems like the kind of kid I would have joked with in study hall.
7. Kate, Die For Me. Assuming her parents never died and she never moved to Paris and never fell for the undead Vincent, we’d probably have gotten along pretty well. She’s quiet and bookish and not one for large groups of people, and that was pretty much me in high school.
8. Beth, Little Women. I love Jo and all, but Beth is the one I think I would have clicked with. She was probably the type that was quiet in groups, especially when there were strong personalities present (like, you know, every other member of her family), but was lots of fun one-on-one. Some of my best friends are like that.
9. Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride. I’ll admit this one is probably just wishful thinking, but wouldn’t it be great to be friends with teenage Inigo? Maybe he’d have been an exchange student. I never actually befriended any exchange students, but I probably would have if Inigo was one.
10. Marlee, The Selection. Because honestly, Marlee would have been friends with everyone in high school.
