Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Books I'd Give To Readers Who Have Never Read X (examples: New Adult novels, historical fiction, a certain author, books about a certain topic, etc)

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

1. Not into vampires (or witches).  Has Twilight or Sookie turned you off vampires or you are just afraid to read about them.  Well here is a series for you.  Forget that some say this is an adult version of Twilight, it's SO much better. 

 2. What you've never heard of Eleanor of Aquitaine!?  Seriously?? Well have I got a book for you!

3. Not sure about Stephen King, think he is all horror and no substance, this is one of my favorites.

4.  Audio books are a favorite of mine, I always have one on the go (dog walking, running, driving and even housework).  All Margaret George books have been read this way, Memoirs of Cleopatra is my favorite coming in at 5 minutes shy of 50 hours. Don't knock it till you try it.  Not all books are 50 hour long, depends on the size of the book.

 

 5.  Chick lit isn't your thing, mine either.  But give this series a try, it's good for a smile and chuckle every once in a while. Also works well as an audio too - though be careful if you are listening to this walking down the street, you might get strange looks if you start laughing out loud.

6.  How about some non fiction?  It's not a dry as you might think. Julia Fox wrote a really interesting book called Sister Queens about Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile, check it out.

7.  Children's books, think they are just for kids? There are some great coming of age and award winning books that had me captivated, this is a great one to start with.  Works good to read to your kids too.

8.  Not into paranormal stuff.  Give The Ghost Bride a try,  you will get so taken in with the story that you'll forget you don't like this genre. 

9. Books made into movies. READ THE BOOK FIRST!  Some books just don't make the cut, Harry Potter was wonderful, so was The Book Thief, The Other Boleyn Girl - well I lasted 5 minutes in that movie and never looked back (the book is a favorite of mine).

10.  Afraid to start a series, sometimes it is nice to read about familiar faces again, provided they aren't released so far apart that the author passes in the middle of the series (The Wheel of Time, much to my boys dismay).  My favorite is the Graham Saga - check out my post from a couple days ago, you could even win a set of these books.

Top Ten Tuesday: Book Covers

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists! 

 Ten Book Cover Trends (or just elements of covers) I Like/Dislike {can stick to one or the other or both!}

I'll start by saying that I am a book cover snob, yup I will skip a book because of the cover and not even read the blurb, I'm sure that I've missed great books because of this.  On the other hand I have picked up some wonderful covers, and was so disappointed with the book.

Words only, no picture, just the title and author.  Do I like it?  Not really, Jojo Moyes book looks to 'chicklit' to me (not a favorite of mine).  Thankfully I read the blurb on netgalley for this one and it is one of my favorites.  It made me realize not to judge a book by its cover because I would have hated to miss this one.  

  

Cover that leaves no question who the book is about.  I love it when its an authentic portrait.

3.  Back of women.  You can just feel a great story hiding in there.

Art Historical Fiction. I love learning while I read, I love the painting being shown on the covers.

Symbols.  Yea love them (especially on this series)

Dislike covers with movie stars on them.
 

 Ok so I didn't come up with 10, but close enough.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists! 

June 3: Top Ten Books That Should Be In Your Beach Bag or Ten Books That Will Be In My Beach Bag This Summer

Here is a list of ten books that I will be reading this summer:

1.  The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness being released July 15th, so excited!!!

With more than one million copies sold in the United States and appearing in thirty-eight foreign editions, A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night have landed on all of the major bestseller lists and garnered rave reviews from countless publications. Eagerly awaited by Harkness’s legion of fans, The Book of Life brings this superbly written series to a deeply satisfying close. 

2.  Revenge & Retribution by Anna Belfrage is the sixth book in Anna Belfrage's time slip series featuring time traveller Alexandra Lind and her seventeenth century husband, Matthew Graham. 

I LOVE THIS SERIES!!!

3.  The Lost Sisterhood by Anne Fortier - I loved Juliet and can't wait to read this one.  Lovin' that cover too!

The Lost Sisterhood features another group of iconic, legendary characters, another grand adventure--you'll see in these pages that Fortier understands the kind of audience she has built with Juliet, but also she's delivering a fresh new story to keep that audience coming back for more.

 

4.  Flight of the Sparrow by Amy Belding Brown - being released July 1st, however I was lucky to get an advanced copy

Based on the compelling true narrative of Mary Rowlandson, Flight of the Sparrow is an evocative tale that transports the reader to a little-known time in early America and explores the real meaning of freedom, faith, and acceptance.

5. All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, a stunningly ambitious and beautiful novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. 

 6. Daughter of the Gods by Stephanie Thornton - because I LOVED The Secret History and adore all things Egypt.

Egypt, 1400s BC. The pharaoh’s pampered second daughter, lively, intelligent Hatshepsut, delights in racing her chariot through the marketplace and testing her archery skills in the Nile’s marshlands. But the death of her elder sister, Neferubity, in a gruesome accident arising from Hatshepsut’s games forces her to confront her guilt...and sets her on a profoundly changed course. 

 7. The Queen's Gamble by Barbara Kyle - book 4 in the Thornleigh Series, started it this year on audio and love it.

Young Queen Elizabeth I's path to the throne has been a perilous one, and already she faces a dangerous crisis. French troops have landed in Scotland to quell a rebel Protestant army, and Elizabeth fears once they are entrenched on the border, they will invade England. 

 8. Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin - I am feeling the need for a big book, coming in at 768 pages this fits the bill.  Plus I have to read the book before watching the movie (one of my quirks).

New York City is subsumed in arctic winds, dark nights, and white lights, its life unfolds, for it is an extraordinary hive of the imagination, the greatest house ever built, and nothing exists that can check its vitality. One night in winter, Peter Lake, orphan and master-mechanic, attempts to rob a fortress-like mansion on the Upper West Side. 

 9. The Midnight Rose by Lucinda Riley - I wasn't really thrilled with another book this author wrote and want to give her another chance.  

Spanning four generations, The Midnight Rose sweeps from the glittering palaces of the great maharajas of India to the majestic stately homes of England, following the extraordinary life of a remarkable girl, Anahita Chaval, from 1911 to the present day . . . 

10. A King's Ransom by Sharon Kay Penman - being a big fan of this author I am embarrassed to say that I haven't read this yet - it was released in March - what is wrong with me??! 

Traveling home from the bloody battlefields of the Holy Land, the Crusader King Richard the Lionheart is shipwrecked in the Mediterranean after an encounter with pirates. He should be protected by a papal decree, but he is betrayed and captured by the Duke of Austria – a man who has good reason to loathe him – and is immediately claimed by the Holy Roman Emperor, who also bears him a bitter grudge.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

 

May 13: Ten Books I Almost Put Down But Didn't

 

1)   The Historian by  Elizabeth Kostova - appears either you love this book or you don't. I finished because I was curious about the ending, but it took awhile.

2)  One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus - still gave this book 3 stars (meaning I liked it)

3)  The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - I ended up giving this book a 4 star rating, I think that I got frustrated with some of the characters here and wanted to reach in the book and give them a shake. 

4)  Alice I Have Been by Melaine Benjamin - kinda creeped me out a little, the relationship thing going on there. Still an interesting look at the creator of Alice in Wonderland (one of these days I might actually read it too.)

5)  Captain Alatriste by Arturo Perez-Reverte - A lot of swashbuckling, that's about it.

 

6)  Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz - I love a good witch story, but this wasn't it. By the ratings I can see that I am not alone. Why did I stick with it?  Good question.

7)  The Sweet Girl by Annabel  Lyon - another one that started out really good, but went downhill and I keep hoping it would get better.  Was glad when it was done.

8)  A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick - could have been a much better book, lacked dialogue.  Started out pretty good but...

9)  Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman - sure would like to know what I missed with this book, it has a high rating and rave reviews, I think that it why I kept at it.  I don't get it at all.

10) Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams - it's science fiction, not my thing.  But my son and I had a little challenge going one, I would give him a book to read and he would give me one.  This is one that he gave me.