Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday was started by The Broke and the Bookish, and has now moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. Every Tuesday there’s a different topic. This week is Top Ten best opening lines.

10. “Mr and Mrs Dursley of number four Privet Drive…” Harry Potter – JK Rowling

9. “Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes.” Bad Romance – Heather Demetrios

8. “First I’d like to state for the record that the whole notion of writing this down was not my idea.” The Last Time We Say Goodbye – Cynthia Hand

7. “I spent the last hour wondering if I would die tonight.” All Your Twisted Secrets – Diana Urban

6. “Music, especially classical music, especially Mozart’s Requiem Mass in D Minor, has kinetic energy.” My Heart and Other Black Holes – Jasmine Warga

5. “Stealing a spaceship shouldn’t be this easy.” Avalon – Mindee Arnett

4. “At home, I’m invisible.” The Gravity of Us – Phil Stamper

3.  “Light glinted off the side of the sword as it arced down in one perfect, sweeping motion.” The Marked Girl – Lindsey Klingele

2. “The world is not tame.” Be Not Far From Me – Mindy McGinnis

1. “Blue Sargent had forgotten how many times she’d been told that she would kill her true love.” – The Raven Boys – Maggie Stiefvater

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday was started by The Broke and the Bookish, and has now moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. Every Tuesday there’s a different topic. This week is Top Ten reasons I love multi-person POV books.

10. It allows the reader to travel to more areas. When the main group breaks into smaller groups, we’re not left in the POV of just one group but can bounce between all of them so we’re not left wondering what happens to everyone else.

9. Different perspectives. I don’t mind being in one person’s POV the whole time but usually I find myself wanting to know what other characters think besides the main character.

8. Different voices. It can be really hard to get into a book if you’re not liking the main character’s voice so with multi-person POV, there’s more chance of liking at least some voices.

7. It makes the story feel less dragged out. Sometimes when there’s not a whole lot to the plot, it can feel like the book is being dragged on, but with multi-POV, I find that splitting up the plot helps.

6. Gives the author/s freedom to play with different timelines and unique storytelling.

5. More chances to fall in love with more characters.

4. You get to be in multiple character’s heads during big moments so things like deaths can have more impact.

3. Mini cliffhangers. When characters aren’t together, one POV ends in a little cliffhanger, I need to keep reading to find out what happens. The next chapter doesn’t immediately continue their story.

2. Kind of the same as different perspectives but I like not being stuck in one character’s POV and the author trying to force me to see things their way, especially when the character seems unreasonable. I want both sides of the story in an argument, I don’t want to hate a character just because the POV hates them.

1. Again, unique storytelling. I love when authors incorporate different styles into the same book. One POV is prose, one in verse, one told through e-mails, etc.

Backlist Highlight:A Dress for the Wicked by Autumn Krause

Another backlist highlight!

A Dress So Wicked – Autumn Krause

Genre: YA Historical Fantasy

Release date: August 6th 2019

My star rating: 3.75

Personal highlights: 1. It has the trope of outsider girl being thrust into a new life and it does it well. What I loved was that she wasn’t moving to the big city for a man or for a chance at love, but for herself and her own dreams.

2. Fashion!

3. The mystery of the saboteur. The author did a great job in making me want to see the main character succeed so I was very invested in her figuring out who was against her.

4. I found it quick and fun to read, almost like a summer-y contemporary that I would read at the beach or by the pool.

 

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday was started by The Broke and the Bookish, and has now moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. Every Tuesday there’s a different topic. This week is Top Ten books I abandoned/DNF’d. This is something I don’t do, or that I don’t admit to doing, because even if I put down a book I do plan on going back to it eventually, so I refuse to say I DNF’d it. So I guess this is Top Ten Books I had a hard time getting into the first time. Usually I chalk it up to not being in the mood for that genre, chose a different book, and come back to the original book later.

10. Every Other Weekend – Abigail Johnson

9. Dark Breaks the Dawn – Sara B Larson

8. Second Star – Alyssa B Sheinmel

7. We Used to Be Friends – Amy Spalding

6. Back City – Elizabeth Richards

5. Cursed – Frank Miller

4. American Royals – Katharine McGee

3. Red Rising – Pierce Brown

2. Life L1k3 – Jay Kristoff

1. Zero Repeat Forever – GS Prendergast

Backlist Highlight: Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

I’ve been really sucking at book reviews for a while now. I’ve been reading at my regular pace but writing reviews has fallen off the map. So I’m taking the time to highlight a past book, as in something published 2019 or earlier, that I loved but never really talked about.

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Genre: YA Science Fiction

Release date: May 7th 2019

My star rating: 4.5

Personal highlights: 1. Multiple POVs: I love that all the main characters get some time to be the POV. It was easy to like so many of the characters and I didn’t find it confusing because the authors did a great job of making all the voices unique.

2. Make shift family trope. One of my favourite tropes. These characters are misfits who don’t fit in anywhere but with each other. So good.

3. The short chapters. Makes the book feel like it flies by even at almost 500 pages.

Try it if you liked: TV shows like Firefly and Andromeda. Books like Avalon by Mindee Arnett or Nyxia by Scott Reintgen

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday was started by The Broke and the Bookish, and has now moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. Every Tuesday there’s a different topic. This week is Top Ten Party themed freebie so I did Top Ten things I would have if I threw a magical bookish party.

10. Favourite characters come to life

9. Guided tours of bookish places. A wardrobe that takes you to Narnia with Mr Tumnis. A fireplace hooked up to the floo network so Hagrid can take you to Diagon Alley, etc.

8. A movie room to watch adaptations that are magically perfect.

7. All sorts of food from the books.

6. Quiet places where people can chill out and read if things get too loud.

5. A simulator that puts you right into your favourite scenes without the danger.

4. A place big enough to fit everyone and everything.

3. Good weather for outdoor activities like Quidditch.

2. Books, books, and more books.

1. Bookish friends and family.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday was started by The Broke and the Bookish, and has now moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. Every Tuesday there’s a different topic. This week is Top Ten Books I wish existed as a teen. YA wasn’t really a thing when I was a teen, and diverse books especially.

10.  Red, White, and Royal Blue – Casey McQuiston

9.  Break the Fall – Jennifer Iacopelli

8.  Internment – Samira Ahmed

7.  The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas

6.  Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe – Benjamin Alire Saenz

5.  Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda – Becky Albertalli

4.  Like Water – Rebecca Podos

3.  More Happy Than Not – Adam Silvera

2.  Anger is a Gift – Mark Oshiro

1.  Heroine – Mindy McGinnis

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday was started by The Broke and the Bookish, and has now moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. Every Tuesday there’s a different topic. This week is Top Ten book titles that would make good band names.

10.  We Set the Dark on Fire – Tehlor Kay Mejia

9.  The Notorious Virtues – Alwyn Hamilton

8.  Felix Ever After – Kacen Callender

7.  The Nameless Queen – Rebecca McLaughlin

6.  Wilder Girls – Rory Power

5.  The Merciful Crow – Margaret Owen

4.  The Kingdom of Back – Marie Lu

3.  Winterwood – Shea Ernshaw

2.  Echoes Between Us – Katie McGarry

1.  Aurora Rising – Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Top Ten Tuesday was started by The Broke and the Bookish, and has now moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. Every Tuesday there’s a different topic. This week is Top Ten books I love that I don’t talk about enough.

10.  I’ll Meet You There – Heather Demetrios

9.  Challenger Deep – Neal Shusterman

8.  Some Girls Bite – Chloe Neill

7.  Storm – Brigid Kemmerer

6.  The Marked Girl – Lindsey Klingele

5.  The Orphan Queen – Jodi Meadows

4.  The Madman’s Daughter – Megan Shepherd

3.  A Madness So Discreet – Mindy McGinnis

2.  Girl Against the Universe – Paula Stokes

1.  The Girl of Fire and Thorns – Rae Carson

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday was started by The Broke and the Bookish, and has now moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. Every Tuesday there’s a different topic. This week is Top Ten books I bought or will buy because I loved the author’s first series.

10.  The Empire of Dreams – Rae Carson

9.  Set Fire to the Gods – Sara Raasch and Kristen Simmons

8.  House of Dragons – Jessica Cluess

7.  The Notorious Virtues – Alwyn Hamilton

6.  Loki: Where Mischief Lies – Mackenzi Lee

5.  A Curse So Dark and Lonely – Brigid Kemmerer

4.  The Kingdom of Black – Marie Lu

3.  The Shadow of the Fox – Julie Kagawa

2.  Circle of Shadows – Evelyn Skye

1.  Endling: The Last – Katherine Applegate