Category Archives: Top Ten Lists

TTT – Books That Awaken the Travel Bug In Me

by

7

IMG_20180323_234037_500.jpgTop Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is “Books That Awaken the Travel Bug In Me!” To be honest, I’m not much of a traveler. I’d rather curl up at home. So I only have five books today.

The Astonishing Color of After – This book brought Taiwan to glorious, colorful, glittering, magical life in my brain. I’ve never been – have not been very interested in Asian and South Asian countries at all, in fact, but this makes me want to visit.

queens of geekQueens of Geek – I’ve always wanted to go to Comicon, and seeing the characters in this book go to a fictional Con based on it has me itching to do so even more!

fireandfuryFire and Fury – Fire and Fury doesn’t make me want to go someplace in particular so much as it makes me want to get the hell out of the US! My government is ripping itself to pieces and instead of the first female president we have this orange hate-cheeto blowhard who is trying to use our Constitution to wipe his ass.

places in betweenThe Places In Between – Since my husband joined the Marines and went to Afghanistan back in 2011, I’ve been fascinated by Iraq and Afghanistan. I wanted to learn all I could about the place my husband would be spending months working in. Rory Stewart’s walk across Afghanistan was an amazing tour.

gentleman's guide to vice and virtueThe Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue – The characters in this book go on a tour across Europe, and THAT is my idea of travel. Balls and parties and interesting food in different countries. (At least for the first part of their trip. I could pass on getting held up by highwaymen or kidnapped by pirates, though!)

That’s all I could come up with this week – I’m just not much of a traveler, I guess!

 

 

TTT – Books I Did Not Finish

by

4

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is supposed to be Ten Books I Decided Not to Finish Too Soon – but given that I very, VERY rarely decide not to finish books, I’m just going with Ten Books I Didn’t Finish.

The Essex Serpent – I read the first two pages of this and went “Nope. This prose is beautiful and artsy and flowery and there’s no way I can read this book.”

I won Demon Hunting With a Sexy Ex via a Goodreads Giveaway, so I checked the first one out from the library – Demon Hunting in Dixie – and tried to read it. Then the “hero” of the story assaults the heroine three times in the first thirty pages of the book, ending with forcing an orgasm on her in the back of her flower shop while she’s resisting him. NOPE. DONE. I am not cool with those lack of consent issues. (He kisses her the first time, resulting in her running him off WITH A SHOTGUN. Then he starts foreplay with her WHILE INVISIBLE AND SHE’S ASLEEP because she was just “so sexy he couldn’t resist her.” No. Disgusting.)

What the Dead Leave Behind – I started it but it just didn’t hold my attention. Some writing styles just don’t.

The Cooking Gene – I had this from the library but this is one I think I need to own and consume in small sections. I just didn’t have time to absorb it properly from the library.

Fifty Things You Need to Know About World History – Bought on my Kindle. Should probably finish reading, since I only got through the first two sections. I don’t remember anything about those two sections.

Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires behind the Rise of the Radical Right – Interesting book, from what I read. Like The Cooking Gene, probably a book I should own and read in small sections. A lot of the heavier nonfiction is like that.

The President’s Kitchen Cabinet: the story of the African Americans who have fed our first families, from the Washingtons to the Obamas – I didn’t get further than the first page. I regret that. But it was a library loan and I just had so much other stuff to read.

St. Patrick of Ireland – Philip Freeman – WAY too Christian-centric and “those eeeevil pagan worshipers” and I almost threw it across the room. Forget that. Like, St. Patrick was obviously a hugely Christian-centered story, but I’d expected the book to be a little more objective, not “obliterate their pagan religions because they’re eeeeeevil.”

A Very Private Woman – Another Writing Style issue. It put me to sleep. Biographies are hit or miss with me – some are fascinating, some put me to sleep. There’s rarely any middle ground.

I know that’s only nine, but that’s all I could come up with for books I haven’t finished! I usually force myself to finish books even if I don’t like them, so this was pretty hard to scrounge up.

 

Top Ten Tuesday – Bookish Worlds I’d Want To Live In

by

4

harry potter sorcerer stoneI struggled to decide whether to do worlds I’d WANT to live in or worlds that I WOULDN’T want to live in – I finally settled on worlds I’d want to live in because honestly, there’s a lot fewer of them! Everyone talks about running away to Narnia or something but – no. I wouldn’t want to live in Narnia.

My first pick IS going to be pretty popular, though. I’d totally live in the world of Harry Potter. In a HEARTBEAT. I’m a Hufflepuff through and through. (So far I have cross-stitched three large house crests – I still need to finish Slytherin and the Hogwarts crest so I can get all five professionally framed.) I have a Hufflepuff scarf, hat, gloves, enamel pin, small leather pouch…yeah. I’m a Hufflepuff and proud of it!

winds of fateMercedes Lackey’s Valdemar. Or The Elemental Masters world. I’d be okay with either of those.

Hmmmm. Alera, the world of Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera series.

tides of war jaina proudmooreIt might be cheating a little because it’s a video game, but there ARE books about it, so Azeroth! If I could be my Fire Mage, I’d totally live in Azeroth! (Or my hunter. Maybe even my priest or druid. I wouldn’t want to be my warlock or my demon hunter or any of my melee classes though….)

redwallI could probably handle Redwall. I’m not sure what I’d be. Probably a mouse, but I’d rather be a bird.

This is actually really hard. I’m not a big risk-taker, so I’d mostly prefer worlds where I could be a comfortable background character who’s unlikely to be collateral damage. (With the exception of Azeroth, where I’d be a badass Fire Mage.)

burn bright alpha omegaPatricia Briggs’ Mercy series would be acceptable. As long as I steer clear of the vamps, I should be okay.

dealing with dragonsOh! Patricia Wrede’s Dealing With Dragons world! I would totally keep house for a dragon!

I guess Tolkien’s Middle Earth would be okay. I’m just not that enthused by it though. So long as it’s after all the events of The Fellowship of the Ring.

libriomancerI just remembered Libriomancer! The Magic Ex Libris world! I’d totally live in a world where I could reach into a book and pull out shit. That’s awesome! I just realized I have access to a different library than I did when I read the first book; this system might have more of the series!

So those are ten bookish worlds I’d like to live in! I’m eager to see where everyone else would like to live – there’s probably far more adventurous souls participating who want to live in much crazier worlds, or who don’t plan to be innocuous background characters!

 

 

TTT – Top Ten Character Names

by

2

Happy Tuesday! The Top Ten Theme this week is your favorite top ten character names! Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, and she’ll have links to a bunch of Odessa Reign of the Fallenother blogs participating in the Top Ten!

In no particular order:

Odessa of Grenwyr, from Reign of the Fallen.

childrenZélie Adebola, from Children of Blood and Bone.

Vi Moradi and Captain Cardinal from Star Wars: Phasma.

rebel of the sandsAmani Al-Bahadur, the Blue-Eyed Bandit, from Rebel of the Sands.

Greer Kadetsky, from The Female Persuasion.

All of the characters in Mortal Engines, (my review will be up on Saturday!) with names like Bevis Pod, Chudleigh Pomeroy, Dr. Arkengarth, Moira Plym, Katherine Valentine, and Chrysler Peavey.

I can’t not include Zaphod Beeblebrox, from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

kushiel's dartPhèdre nó Delaunay from Kushiel’s Dart.

deed of paksenarrionTemeraire from Naomi Novik’s His Majesty’s Dragon series.

Paksenarrion from The Deed of Paksenarrion.

I couldn’t tell you WHY these are some of my favorite character names, but they are. I like originality, but also names that belong in their respective cultures. I think uniqueness is important, too. If someone mentions Temeraire, you know who they mean. There’s only one Temeraire, or Paksenarrion.

What are your favorite character names?

TTT – Top Ten Books I Disliked but am Glad I Read

by

2

sing unburied singHappy Tuesday! The Top Ten Theme this week is the top ten books you disliked or hated but are really glad you read, even if just for bragging rights. Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, and she’ll have links to a bunch of other blogs participating in the Top Ten!

Sing, Unburied, Sing wasn’t exactly enjoyable, but it was important.

unbelievableUnbelievable, about a journalist’s experience on the campaign trail with Donald Trump, was exactly that. I didn’t want to believe it, but again, important that we know these things.

Dust Tracks on a Road was odd, and verified that I don’t particularly like Zora Neale Hurston’s writing.

tearsTears We Cannot Stop was a difficult read, but another very important one.

I didn’t like Station Eleven, but a lot of people did. I’m glad I read it so I know what people are talking about, even if I didn’t enjoy it like everyone else seems to.

The Jealousy Workbook is one I’ve talked about very briefly before, 20170626_213011but haven’t given a full review of. It helped a lot when my husband and I started on our polyamorous journey; I had some insecurities I needed to work through, and the questions and worksheets in The Jealousy Workbook are very thought-provoking. It was difficult work and not really enjoyable, but I’m glad I did it. (More Than Two, in the picture, is also excellent, but I mostly enjoyed my time with that one.)

Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret is something I read very recently for a PopSugar prompt. I’m glad I read it because everyone talks about it being a childhood classic – but reading it as an adult, at least, it felt….eh. Lackluster, really. Shallow and one-dimensional. (But it’s for kids, so I wouldn’t really expect complexity.)

I also read a Biology textbook a few years back, along with a workbook, and worked through it. I’m VERY glad I did that. I was homeschooled until eighth grade, and grew up conservative Christian, so my science education is…lacking. To put it mildly. I’ve been working on furthering my science and history education most of my adult life.

I know that’s only eight books, but that’s all I could think of! I’m looking forward to seeing other people’s lists. I might be reminded of something I missed!

TTT – Top Ten Books with Purple in the Title or on the Cover!

by

7

tolstoy purple chairHappy Tuesday! The Top Ten Theme this week is your favorite color on the cover or in the title, so purple it is! Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, and she’ll have links to a bunch of other blogs participating in the Top Ten!

So my favorite color is purple, and I actually just finished a prompt for the PopSugar 2018 Reading Challenge that was “your favorite color in the title.” I read Tolstoy and the Purple Chair, and my review will be going up on Thursday! It’s about a woman reading and reviewing a book every day for a year, and after borrowing the book from my library, I’d really like to own a copy. It was really good. But I’ll talk about that more on Thursday!

aesop's fablesWe have a Collector’s Edition of Aesop’s Fables with a gorgeous purple cover. It’s my husband’s favorite book, and his favorite color as well.

victorianThat Inevitable Victorian Thing was a fun book that I read a while back for the Read Canadian Challenge. It was a little fluffy, but entertaining.

mage the ascensionMage, The Ascension! While this wasn’t my primary game of the old World of Darkness, it was my husband’s favorite. (I was more a Werewolf or Vampire girl.) World of Darkness is the tabletop roleplaying game I spent high school and college playing, I’ve only just now really gotten into D&D.

stroke of midnightSpeaking of things that go bump in the night, Laurell K. Hamilton, who I started with because of her outstanding Anita Blake, Vampire Executioner novels (before they devolved into vampire and werewolf porn, anyway) also wrote a series of Fae novels. (which kind of started as fae erotica, but I’m more okay with a series starting that way and being that, instead of starting as kind of gritty mystery/horror and devolving into erotica around book 7 or 8.) A Stroke of Midnight is Book 4 in the Meredith Gentry series.

the bone witchI’m going to dip into my library hold list for a few of these, but I am VERY excited about The Bone Witch and its sequel, The Heart Forger. They both look absolutely amazing. (I have 60 books on my library hold list, with most of the holds frozen so I can thaw a few at a time and not be overwhelmed!)

gunslinger girlAnother one on my hold list is Gunslinger Girl, which I’ve heard great things about.

dear ijeawele feminist manifestoOn my To Read List, along with the rest of her books, is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions. She also wrote We Should All Be Feminists and Purple Hibiscus, neither of which I’ve read but I really, really should. Should I count two books from the same author as part of my Top Ten?

happy accidents jane lynchBack to things I’ve read, Jane Lynch’s memoir, Happy Accidents, was a joy to read. She often seems to get type casted as a dour, joyless masculine woman, but it’s at least usually in comedies. Her book was funny and she had a great writing style.

bloodhoundBook 2 of Tamora Pierce’s Beka Cooper Saga, Bloodhound, was great. The entire trilogy was, actually. I think it’s my favorite of her writing so far, though the new trilogy about Numair is shaping up to be pretty incredible too.

So those are my ten picks for purple books, eleven if you count Purple Hibiscus!