The Best So Far: Top Ten Books I've Read So Far In 2013

What are the best books I've read so far in 2013?  The Broke and The Bookish want to know.  I've been lucky.  Except for one truly disappointing book, I've read some really great novels so far this year.  I've limited the list to just novels, because if I included the fantastic poetry and short stories I've read on this list, I would have a much more difficult time deciding what titles to include.  

In no particular order, the best books of 2013 so far:

1. The Deception of Livvy Higgs, by Donna Morrissey

2. Legend, by Marie Lu

3. Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston

4. And The Mountains Echoed, by Khaled Hoseinni

5. Falling Kingdoms, by Morgan Rhodes

6. Redshirts, by John Scalzi

7. Dead Ever After, by Charlaine Harris

8. The Wind Through The Keyhole, by Stephen King

9. Everything's Eventual, by Stephen King

10. The Last Battle, by C.S. Lewis

What are the best books you've read so far this year?

Time to Lounge In The Sun! Top Ten Beach Reads

It seems like every year just as the beach season starts, The Broke and The Bookish want to know, what are your Top Ten Beach Reads.  This will in fact be my third "beach read" list.  This year the topic also specifically asks how YOU define a beach read.  

Usually, if a list is repeated or I've done something similar, I'll try not to repeat the books.  This time, I'm going to think about what I would want in a beach read and see what makes my top ten this week, even if it was on one of the previous lists.  For me, when I want to take something to the beach, I want it to be a page-turner.  It doesn't have to be fluff, it could be anything that will keep me engaged.  It also needs to be something I can put down at any point and come back to without feeling like I need to catch up.  What if I want to take a dip in the water?  Or build a sand castle?  I don't want to feel like I can't leave the story.  In no particular order, my Top Ten Beach Reads.

1. Anything by Sophie Kinsella.

2. The Undead Series, by MaryJanice Davidson

3. The Hunger Games Trilogy, by Suzanne Collins

4. The Divergent Trilogy, by Veronica Roth

5. A Series of Unfortunate Events, by Lemony Snicket

6. The Harry Potter Series, by J.K. Rowling

7. The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis

8. Anything by Jane Austen

9. The Sookie Stackhouse Series, by Charlaine Harris

10. Redshirts, by John Scalzi

Well, apparently I like taking mostly genre books to the beach....  What are your favourite beach reads?

Let's Go! My Top Ten Books Featuring Travel In Some Way

I'm doing this week's Top Ten in order to challenge myself.  Before compiling this list, I didn't think I read a lot of books that involve travelling and I was right.  It's not something I've ever looked for specifically.  After looking at the books I've read, I'm going to tweak this list a little.  I'm going to make this a bit more about "journeys" than about "travel", though they will still be a type of physical journey.  Here are my Top Ten Books Featuring Travel In Some Way, in no particular order:

1. Canada, by Richard Ford - Going from a town in Montana to the middle-of-nowhere Saskatchewan can be quite interesting.

2. Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, by Sophie Kinsella - Becky is excited to go to Manhattan and manages to bring all her London problems with her.

3. Prodigy, by Marie Lu - Traveling through dystopic America, an interesting contrast between two sides/extremes of the country.

4. Fever, by Lauren DeStefano - Another pair traveling through a different dystopic America, one that's really unsettling and possibly even more dangerous.

5. The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis - Takes us through Narnia.  I'd love to visit.

6. World War Z, by Max Brooks - We travel around the world, post-Zombie War, aka World War Z.

7. Life of Pi, by Yann Martel - If you count floating around in the ocean as travel.

8. The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien - They certainly travel far and there's a lot of walking.

9. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King - The Ka-Tet travels farther than any other in Mid-World.

10. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger - TIME Travel.

What books have you read about travel?  Do you have any recommendations for me?

Where Are We? Top Ten Settings I’d Like To See More

I was very interested by this week's topic at The Broke and The Bookish.  They are asking what are the top ten settings we'd like to see more.  I think I'd have an easier time answering the top ten settings I never want to see again.  I've read some pretty sad, tragic, amazing, I-would-never-want-to-go-there books.  Too much dystopian maybe?

In no particular order:

1.  Narnia – I know it’s never going to happen, but I can wish, right?

2.  Saskatchewan – Seriously.  Richard Ford did a great job (in my opinion) at portraying life in rural Saskatchewan and I found it really interesting.

3.  Montreal – I have always loved visiting Montreal, but I don’t know if I’ve ever read a book set there.  Any recommendations?

4.  The Universe of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – I know Eoin Coffer wrote a book continuing the series.  I have that book, but I’m nervous about reading it since I loved Douglas Adams’ series so much.

5.  Tropical Islands – Again, any recommendations?  I read a lot of books set in cities and the country, but nothing on an island in recent memory.

6.  An Office – Does nothing interesting ever happen in an office?

7.  The North Pole – Just because.  It would be different from anything I've read.

8.  The Desert - See # 7.

9.  Alternate Realities - I like the "What if?" question.  What if some big, significant event didn't happen, how would that affect the world we live in now?

10.  Hotel Rooms - Maybe this is because I just read 1408.

What settings would you like to see more?  Anywhere you've never read about?

The Last Battle

I'm so sad!  The ending.... I could see it coming. The way they talked about the train... They're going on a great adventure, but we won't get to read it because the books are over!!  C.S. Lewis wrote an amazing ending to his series.  The Last Battle had me eager to see how the story ended, but also hesitant, because I knew it was the final book of The Chronicles of Narnia.

It makes me sad that Susan doesn’t love Narnia anymore, or doesn’t believe in it.  She lived there like her brothers and sister, why did it have to be over for her?  I always felt a negativity around Susan, even in the first book (The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe).  Though it was Edmund who first sided with the White Witch, the way Lewis wrote about her… I don’t know how to explain it, but it was the impression I got and in subsequent books too.  Lewis turned her into a silly woman only interested in fashion and being an adult of a "certain age", then fighting to be that age forever.  I wonder why Lewis chose to make her this way.  In The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, I felt that Lewis was not seeing women as equals or capable.  Then I felt that maybe his views changed as he wrote more about Narnia, but maybe it was Susan's character all along.  Lucy, Polly and Jill grew and loved Narnia until the end.  Will she join them eventually?  I'd like to believe so.

I hesitate to say this, but I’m a little offended by Lewis using the term “darkies” in The Last Battle.  I understand that Lewis was writing in a different time.  It didn't influence how I felt about the story (I honestly loved it), but every time someone called a Calormen that, I cringed a little.  It's not like none of the Calormen are redeemed/redeemable (Emeth being a great example) and it's only one group of individuals who use the term, but it still bothered me a little.

I have to mention how excited I was that Lewis used Plato's Allegory of the Cave.  It is one of the first things you learn when studying Philosophy.  That it's included in children's literature is amazing.  I think it really speaks to what Lewis believed children could understand.  I'm hoping that when my children are older, we'll read The Chronicles of Narnia together... and I can also teach them the Allegory of the Cave.

I'm sad that the series is over.  I loved it.  I still can't believe I didn't read this twenty years ago (am I aging myself?).  It was brilliant and wonderful.  I can see why it has endured and that children continue to read it and adults read and re-read it.  Yes, there are some controversial issues, many call Lewis racist and sexist, but I don't really think so.  Not if you look at when he was writing and what he was writing.  After all, a Calormen and an Archenlander get married and have a child.  Technically an interracial couple with a biracial baby!  That's a big deal for the 1950s  [This point has a BIG SPOILER!]  Even in this final story, The Last Battle ends with Aslan accepting all who were virtuous, no matter where they came from.  That's an ending I like. [I hope that SPOILER WARNING was big enough.]  I know that one day I'll re-read these books, whether with my children or on my own.  I think that I'll likely devour them one after the other, instead of stretching out the series like I've just finished doing.  I'm having a difficult time saying goodbye to Narnia.  It was a wonderful world to visit.

Monday Fun: A Quick Bookish Survey!

To beat the Monday Blahs, The Broke and The Bookish posted A Quick Bookish Survey!  Head over to their site to see their answers.  Mine are:

1. The book I’m currently reading:  Matchless, by Gregory Maguire - A retelling of The Little Match Girl.

2. The last book I finished:  Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley - An amazing classic.  See my review here.

3. The next book I want to read:  The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle, by C.S. Lewis - I'm so excited and sad to be finishing the series.

4. The last book I bought:  The Phizz Whizzing Collection, by Roald Dahl - So many good books, for such a small amount of money.  I couldn't resist.

5. The last book I was given:  There are four that I was given while book swapping with a couple friends:
A Handbook to Literature, by Hugh C. Holman
Love Stories in This Town, by Amanda Eyre Ward
The Bird Woman: A Novel, by Kerry Hardie
The Impostor's Daughter: A True Memoir, by Laurie Sandell
- I don't really know anything about any of them, but they all seemed interesting and I hope to read them eventually.

Don't Forget About Me! Ten "Older" Books I Think It's Important To Remember

I like the Broke and The Bookish's topic for this week's Top Ten.  What "older" books do you love, that you want to make sure no one forgets.  There are tons of books I could put on the list, but these were the first ten I thought of (yup, my mind went from Rice and Harris to Montgomery and Lewis without pause).  In no particular order, my top ten don't forget about me books:

1. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood - My very first dystopian and very scary.
2. 1984, by George Orwell - Another classic, very scary dystopian.
3. Interview With A Vampire, by Anne Rice - Great vampire fiction.
4. Dead Until Dark, by Charlaine Harris - The book that inspired True Blood.
5. Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery - A classic book, the thought of which always makes me smile.
6. The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis - I'm on the last book and it's a series I don't want to end.
7. Carrie, by Stephen King - This one is a bit of a cheat   I haven't actually read it yet.  But it's King's first book and the one that started his career.
8. Kindred, by Octavia Butler - Just brilliant.
9. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee - An amazing story.
10. A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini - It still makes me emotional.

I was tempted to add Harry Potter to this list, but I figured it would be on tons of other lists this week.

What older books do you love?

Leaving Myself Hanging: The Top Ten Series I Haven’t Finished Yet

I didn’t think I left series unfinished, but then I started making this week’s top ten list from The Broke and The Bookish.  Oops!  I swear, I plan on finishing them all!  In no particular order, the top ten series I haven’t finished yet:

1. The Undead Series, by MaryJanice Davidson – I’ve read up to book #7.  I love these books.  I read Davidson’s often hilarious blog.  I think I mostly haven’t finished/caught up because I don’t own all the books yet.  I like buying books on sale and I’ve bought almost all of the Undead books I own on sale, so I think that’s what I’m waiting for.  There are eleven books currently published in the series and one more forthcoming.

2. The Legend Of Drizzt, by R. A. Salvatore – I’ve read up to book #13.  I love Drizzt.  I love the characters he battles with and against.  I don’t know why I’m not caught up in this series.  These are my hubby’s books.  He owns all the Drizzt paperbacks (and one signed hardcover).  They’re sitting downstairs, so unavailability is not an excuse.  There are twenty-three books currently published in the series and probably another twenty forthcoming :) .

3. The Mortal Instruments, by Cassandra Clare – I’ve read up to book #3.  I own books 4 and 5.  I think I mostly haven’t finished it because I’m taking a break from YA fantasy/paranormal.  There are five books currently published in the series and one more forthcoming.

4. Canongate Myth Series, by Various Authors – I’ve read six of the books in this unique series.  For the most part, I’ve read them in publishing order.  For some reason, I never got my hands on a copy of the fifth installment, so it has been temporarily skipped.  Each book is a retelling/reinterpreting of a myth from a different culture.  Some are the familiar Greeks, but I’ve also read a Celtic reinterpretation and the next one I plan on reading will be Chinese.  I haven’t finished the series because I don’t own all the books (yet) and there are also a couple books not in English or not available in Canada.  There are seventeen books currently published in the series.

5. The Dark Tower, by Stephen King – I was finished this series until King decided to publish The Wind Through The Keyhole this year!  There are eight books in the series.

6. The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis – I’ve read up to book #6.  I’ve been drawing this series out on purpose.  I don’t want to say goodbye to Narnia.  I know I can re-read the books whenever I want, but it’s not the same as reading the books for the first time.  There are seven books in the series.

7. The Vampire Chronicles, by Anne Rice – I’ve read up to book #3.  At first, book 4 just looked so long, I kept picking shorter books.  I don’t know why.  It’s not like the first three were short.  Then… stuff… Anne Rice… No more vampires… she takes it back… I don’t know.  Sometimes an author’s behaviour can put me off their books.  But my hubby really enjoyed the books (again, they’re downstairs on the shelf), so I should really finished them.  There are ten books in the series.

8. The Wicked Years, by Gregory Maguire – I’ve read the first book.  I read it when there was only the one book.  I loved Wicked.  I’ve seen the musical.  I was so excited that there was a sequel, then a third book.  I’ve got them both.  Why have I never get around to reading them?  I don’t know.  Now there is a fourth (and final) book.  Should I read the two I have or wait until I get the last one and read them all together?  We’ll see.  There are four books in the series.

9. The Millenium Trilogy, by Steig Larsson – I’ve read the first book.  The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was great.  Beyond great.  I don’t know why I haven’t read the second and third books.  I know people who have read and loved them.  I own them.  I just don’t think I want Lisbeth’s story to end and (sadly) Larsson isn't around to write more.  There are three books in the series.

10. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Jane Austen and others - I've read the first book.  I loved Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.  When I read it, it wasn't a series, it was just a hilarious mash-up.  Then the prequel came out (which my hubby won, so it's on the shelf) and then the sequel, which is yet to be purchased.  I think, maybe, I don't want the first book "ruined" for me, especially since the other two books were written by Steve Hockensmith, not Seth Grahame-Smith, author of the first.  (Not that there's anything wrong with Steve Hockensmith, I've just never read any of his work.  It's more that it's a different author.)  There are three books in the series.

Really?  I haven’t finished all these series?  I thought I was better than this.  Maybe 2013 should be the year of finishing series?  I think some of it comes down to the same reason why I haven’t finished the Narnia series.  I don’t want to say goodbye to characters I’ve grown to love.  Which series should I tackle first?

The Magician’s Nephew

WARNING:  If you haven’t read any of the other Narnia books, especially The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe you might want to skip the middle of the review.  Those few points are going to be spoilerific.

The Magician’s Nephew is the first/sixth book in the The Chronicles of Narnia series.  It was written by C.S. Lewis sixth, but it is what we now call a “prequel”.  Once all seven books were published, Lewis requested that they be re-ordered according to the Narnian timeline, putting The Magician’s Nephew before The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.  It was the author’s request and it was complied with.  If you want to know the order of the books in which they were published, you have to look it up.

I like that I read The Magician’s Nephew sixth.  I liked all the discoveries I made and “gasp” moments when the events connected more and more with The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and the other books.  They were fun, happy moments of discovery.  So, while I respect anyone’s choice to read them in the Narnian order, I really enjoyed (so far, since I have one more book to go) the experience of reading them in publication order.

Okay, so here are the spoilers!

The birth of Narnia!  Wow.

We get to see where The White Queen comes from!!!!  Ahh!  The moment when I realized that was fantastic.  I suspected almost immediately after Digory and Polly met Jadis, but it was so good to get that final confirmation.

Digory is the professor that the Pevensies in during the war!  That’s so awesome!

The wardrobe!  Wood from Narnia!  Amazing.

No more spoilers.

All these moments made me so happy and so excited, that I couldn’t contain them.  These are the reasons that I’m glad I read the books in publication order.

There is one more thing I have to mention.  This is probably one of the only Narnia books I’ve read that I don’t have any complaints about the girl.  In the first book especially, I felt like the girls weren’t “as good” as the boys.  Yes, Lucy had a pivotal role in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, but Susan was marginalized.  Even though she is second oldest, she wasn’t to fight in the battles.  War wasn’t for women.  Each time Lewis made those sorts of comments, it made me cringe.  Maybe his feelings towards the role of women changed in the years between his first book and the sixth.  

In The Magician’s Nephew it is Digory that is influenced by emotion (over his dying mother).  Digory gets angry, pushy and hurts Polly.  The bad decisions (from the two children) are his.  Polly is the one who thinks things through.  She tries to stop Digory and she helps him.  Polly is more logical and less emotional than her male friend.  It made me so happy.

What are you waiting for?  If you haven’t read The Chronicles of Narnia start now.  If you have read it, then you know what I’m talking about.  These are great books and The Magician’s Nephew reminded me of what I love the series.  The Last Battle is the last book I have left.  I’ve drawn out the series for long enough, I think.  I’ll be reading The Last Battle soon.

A Quick Question...

What should I read next?

Divergent, by Veronica Roth
City of Ashes, by Cassandra Clare
The Magician's Nephew, by C.S. Lewis
The Thousand Orcs, by R.A. Salvatore

All genre. Only one "grown-up" book. What do you think?

It’s Hot Out Here: Part 2

Another heated top ten from The Broke and The Bookish.  Last week was a list of our Top Ten Beach Reads.  This week we look at the Top Ten Books On My Summer List.  In no particular order (mostly because I can’t decide if I should read number 1 next or number 6).

1. City of Bones (Mortal Instruments 1), by Cassandra Clare
2. City of Ashes(Mortal Instruments 2), by Cassandra Clare
3. City of Glass (Mortal Instruments 3), by Cassandra Clare
4. City of Fallen Angels (Mortal Instruments 4), by Cassandra Clare
5. City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments 5), by Cassandra Clare
6. Divergent (Divergent 1), by Veronica Roth
7. Insurgent (Divergent 2), by Veronica Roth
Side note: Don't judge.  I saw all these books on sale and couldn't resist.  I keep hearing amazing things about them. So, the price was right and I bought them (not all at the same time).
8. Everything's Eventual, by Stephen King - I know it's been on my short list forever, and I keep meaning to get to it.  I don't know what my problem is.
9. The Chronicles of Narnia:  The Magician's Nephew, by C.S. Lewis
10. Bodily Harm, by Margaret Atwood
11. The Hunter's Blade Trilogy 1: The Thousand Orcs, by R.A. Salvatore
12. Fool, by Christopher Moore

We will see if this list works out better than the last.  I also know it’s more than ten books, but from what I've heard, those books on the first two-thirds of my list are quick reads.

What will you be reading this summer?

Also, should I read 1 or 6 next?  (Currently, I’m reading Canada, by Richard Ford.)

The Horse and His Boy

The Horse and His Boy is the fifth/third book in C.S. Lewis's, The Chronicles of Narnia.  It was a lot of fun, giving us a glimpse into the rule of King Peter, Queen Susan, King Edmund and Queen Lucy, though they aren't the central characters of this tale.  We also get to see what life is like in a couple of the countries around Narnia.  There was a lot of action in the book, which made it easy to read. I really like the scene where the girls were hiding behind the couch.  I thought the four main characters were fantastic.  Shasta/Cor, Aravis, Bree and Hwin were all well developed, going through personal changes and growing in this short children's novel.  This book was a lot of fun and I look forward to reading the last two books in the series.

That being said, I have two problems with The Horse and His Boy.  I'm going to attribute both these issues with the fact that Lewis was writing in a different era.

Why are the Calormen described as "dark-skinned"?  From the description of the country and the dress of the people, it seems based on the Arabian or Persian regions.  Lewis isn't the only British author of the period to make the villains a dark-skinned people.  I'm sure it's just a product of the times, but it still bothers me.  

The other issue I have is one I've mentioned before after reading other Narnia books.  It has to do with the inequality of the male and female Pevensie siblings.  Prince Corin says that Susan never rides to war, essentially because she’s a “lady”.  Then it is also stated that she is an excellent archer.  Is that to somehow make the previous statement okay?  Then Corin says that Queen Lucy is riding to war with King Edmund because she’s “as good as a man, or at least a boy.”  What does that even mean?  Is it just differentiating the characters of Lucy and Susan or is this saying that finding a woman who is as good as a man is a rare thing?  It’s one of the changes I liked about the movies of the other Narnia books.  They made the girls equal to the boys; they fight in battles and have equal say in what happens.

I understand why Lewis writes these things.  I don’t know that everyone even notices them when they read the Narnia books.  They are so minor compared to the overall story, that I would never discourage anyone from reading these books.  I’ll even let my children read the books one day, but I might either skip a few sentences, if I’m reading it to them, or explain to them that C.S. Lewis was writing in a different time.

I hate to end my comments on The Horse and His Boy on such a negative note.  It was a good book, filled with good stuff; it just also had a few troublesome sentences.  I thought it could be a stand-alone book; you don’t need to have read the other Narnia books to enjoy this one.  I liked Shasta running to Archenland.  I loved how Hwin grew to be stronger and more confident.  I liked how Bree and Aravis both learned more about themselves.  I liked the first time the boys meet.  I thought the end was lovely.  I loved Aslan.

The Silver Chair

The Silver Chair is the forth book I’ve read in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia.  It is labeled as the sixth book, but as some people may be aware, there is a disagreement as to what order the books should be read.  Some say that you should read them in the order Lewis published them; others say that they should be read according to time the story takes place.  I’ve chosen to read them in the order they were published.  One article pointed out, there are references in some of the books that make more sense if you read the books in the order Lewis wrote them.

Enough of that, back to the book.  The Silver Chair continues the story of Eustace Scrubb, cousin to the Pevensies, the siblings who once ruled Narnia. As the story begins, we find Jill Pole, a schoolmate of Eustace’s, as she is trying to escape the bullies.  Eustace finds her.  This is not a coincidence.  Visitors to Narnia are called in some kind of magical way.

It is nice to see Eustace is still himself, but with the goodness and bravery he learned in Narnia.  He still gets annoyed at things the way he did in Voyage of the Dawn Treader, but he isn’t in disbelief and he strives to do the right thing.  Jill is now the one who places blame, even when she knows she’s in the wrong.  It’s another story where the children grow and learn about themselves and the world.

We also revisit Caspian.  Many years have passed.  (This is all in the beginning of the book.)  It made Eustace sad to see a once great warrior grown so old, but I saw it differently.  I thought it was great that Caspian lived a long life, ruling kindly over the land.  I like looking back at characters in a series or even over a long novel.  I know Narnia is a bit different, as the stories don’t necessarily need to be read in order, but it is still nice to know what happened to a character you had grown to care for.

The Silver Chair is a good story.  It made me wonder if the white witch and the green witch are somehow related.  I’ve looked on the interweb and I’m not the only one who wonders at the relationship between the green and white witches.  I also want to know, who will threaten Narnia next?  There always seems to be something to fight.

Which Do I Read First? The Top Ten Books I'm Eager To Read In 2012

I can't believe it's 2012 already!  It's the first Tuesday of 2012 and this week The Broke and The Bookish are asking what books are topping your list for 2012. This list might look similar to my Winter Reads list. But I'm not going to look at it, so maybe not. The list will also likely change.

1. Fever, by Lauren DeStefano. This book can't be released quickly enough.
2. World War Z, by Max Brooks. As soon as I'm done the book I'm reading now, I'm going to start it.
3. The Stand, by Stephen King. This will be the year I finally read King's big book.
4. The Little Sister of Eluria, by Stephen King. This will be the last King book on my list, I think.
5. The Girl Who Played With Fire, by Stieg Larsson.  What has taken me so long?
6. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest, by Stieg Larsson. Really, what has taken me so long?
7. The Thousand Orcs, by R.A. Salvatore. Also, what has taken me so long?
8. The Chronicles of Narnia:  The Horse and His Boy, The Magician's Nephew, The Last Battle, by C.S. Lewis.  I feel like it's taking me so long to read this series.  I've enjoyed the first four books, why haven't I finished the rest yet?
9. The Tent, by Margaret Atwood.  What's a year without Atwood?
10. Generation X, by Douglas Coupland.  I think it's about time.

What are you eager to read in 2012?

Winter Reads, May Resemble Fall Reads

This week’s top ten from The Broke and The Bookish asks:  what are your top ten winter reads?  Some of these books may have appeared on my fall list.  I couldn’t help it.  It’s difficult these days to read 10 books in three months.  There were also new books purchased and I don’t always feel like sticking to a plan.

So here’s a list that I might not stick to, my top ten winter reads.

1. World War Z, by Max Brooks
2. The Girl Who Played With Fire, by Steig Larsson
3. The Thousand Orcs, by R.A. Salvatore
4. The Horse and His Boy, by C.S. Lewis
5. The Magician’s Nephew, by C.S. Lewis
6. Everything’s Eventual, by Stephen King
7. The Flying Troutmans, by Miriam Toews
8. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies:  Dawn of the Dreadfuls, by Steve Hockensmith
9. The Tent, by Margaret Atwood
10. Binu and The Great Wall, by Su Tong

What do you plan on reading on those cold, wintery days and nights?

The Short Stack

This is probably the easiest Top Ten I’ve ever done. This week, The Broke and The Bookish ask, what books top our fall reading lists? I have a ton of books on my to-be-read list. What I try to do is keep a “short stack”, a small pile of books, usually diverse in genre or topic. Here are the books on my short list; hopefully, I’ll get to all of them this fall.

1. Moral Disorder, by Margaret Atwood
2. Everything’s Eventual, by Stephen King
3. Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Volumes 4-6: Time of Your Life, Predators and Prey, and Retreat, by Joss Whedon, etc.
4. The Thousand Orcs, by R.A. Salvatore
5. Mini Shopaholic, by Sophie Kinsella
6. The Silver Chair, by C.S. Lewis
7. The Flying Troutmans, by Miriam Toews

8. Dracula, by Bram Stoker

9. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson

10. Pride and Prejudiced and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, by Steve Hockensmith

I did have to add a couple to round it out to ten, but the books I included will likely be added once other books in my short stack are read.

What are you reading this fall?

It’d Be A Nice Place To Visit, But I Wouldn’t Want To Live There

This week’s Top Ten from The Broke and The Bookish: Top Ten Settings In Books (All those real or imagined locations/worlds you loved reading about OR settings you think would be perfect in a book). So, not all these places are where I’d actually like to live, but it would be interesting to see them the way I imagine. Some of them are easier to visit than others. These settings, I think, are all places that really contribute to the story; they have their own character or personality. So, in no particular order, my Top Ten Settings in Books.

1. Panem, from The Hunger Games Trilogy. I’d only like to go here if I had no risk of getting hurt. Each district seems to have its own personality. The Capitol sounds like a crazily over-indulgent city.

2. The English village Samantha Sweeting ran away to in The Undomestic Goddess. I don’t remember the name of it and I can’t seem to find it on the interweb, but it sounds just lovely. This village let Samantha find herself.

3. Staples. Yup, that’s right, Staples. That big box store with all the office supplies. Staples is the setting for Douglas Coupland’s, The Gum Thief. I adored this book. Making the emotional turmoil of the two main characters take place while they work at their job at Staples is just brilliant!

4. Bon Temps from the Sookie Stackhouse Series. It’s just so hot and mysterious.

5. Middle Earth. Do I really need to explain this one?

6. Narnia. Do I need to explain this one too?

7. Mid-World is the world of Roland, the last Gunslinger from Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. I wouldn’t want to live there since it’s falling apart, but I’d have liked to see it in its prime. Now, the strangest, scariest, deadliest things happen there.

8. Faerûn is the world of Forgotten Realms. It’s all magic and legend. There is good and evil, but still the possibility of change.

9. The Cottage that Mikael Blonkvist lived in during The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (minus the serial killer). It just seemed like a good place to read and write and get away from what’s bothering you.

10. Ancient Greece, which is the setting of so many stories. I was thinking particularly The Penelopiad, from Penelope’s point of view. Atwood’s take on it is interesting.

Where would you like to see?

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader

I loved The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader! It was so exciting. I hope I don’t make anyone mad, but it was so much more exciting than the first two. Every where they went there was a new adventure. Each little adventure brought them to the end of their big adventure, which I thought was a great ending. This easily is my favourite book of the series so far.

I really liked the addition of the annoying Eustace to the crew. It was sad to see Peter and Susan go, but they’re “too old” for Narnia now. I also think that the departure of the older siblings give Edmund and Lucy the chance to grow. Edmund took on much more of a leadership role. Lucy was still the caring, sweet girl she was in the previous books, but she was also a budding tween/teen with those sorts of insecurities (though those terms may not have been used in Lewis’ time, I think we can see those aspects of her personality coming out). Leaving out the older Pevensies also allowed us to include the insufferable Eustace Clarence Shrubb. Eustace added a bit of the Edward “outcast” element from the first book. Though he didn’t go off and join forces with the White Witch, he was so much more of a pain. Eustace complained about everything, yet thought he was a nice person. I really enjoyed his character growth in this novel.

I don’t want to give anything away, but it’s difficult to talk about my favourite bits without doing so. If anyone comments and has questions, or wants to share their favourite parts, then I’ll talk more about it. If you haven’t read this series yet, I’d encourage you to do so. It’s fun and exciting. Even if it’s written for a younger audience, an adult can appreciate the world that C. S. Lewis created.

Other Reviews

All Consuming Books

If you’ve reviewed this book (or any other on my blog), let me know and I’ll add your link.



You Deserve A Kick In The B@##$! - Top Ten Jerks In Literature

This week The Broke and The Bookish want to know about our Top Ten Jerks In Literarture. Were they jerks all the way through, did they pretend to be jerks or did they learn and overcome their jerkiness? There would be more descriptions of these guys, but I’m trying to keep the spoilers to a minimum.

1. Prince Ronald from The Paper Bag Princess – I know I had him on my bitch list, but sometimes being a bitch is more about attitude than gender. In any case, he makes both lists.

2. Finnick Odair from Catching Fire & Mockingjay – He comes off at first like a pretentious hot guy, who uses his looks to get whatever he wants and expects women to fawn after him. How wrong that assumption is...

3. Jimmy from The Year of The Flood – Jimmy might be the main character of the previous book, Oryx and Crake, but in The Year Of The Flood he’s a major a$$hole. He knows how to mess with a girl’s mind.

4. Eric Sinclair from the Undead series – Eric basically tricks Betsy into making him the King of the vampires. He uses destiny and prophecy as an excuse, but I’m still not sure he has Betsy’s best interests at heart.

5. Edmund from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – Edmund suffers from serious sibling rivalry. Even though he can sense that something is wrong, Edmund still goes down the darker path, putting his brother and sisters in danger.

6. Edward Cullen from Twilight – First, he makes Bella think she smells, then over the course of the series, he is completely insensitive to her emotions. He shouldn’t be the teenage romantic ideal, when he makes decisions for the relationship unilaterally and the girl he can’t live without has to deal with the repercussions. Is he too old for communication? How about they talk things through?

7. Lestat from Interview with the Vampire – If he was also just more honest with Louis, they could have avoided centuries of heartache.

8. Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter series – Maybe the real jerk is Lucious Malfoy for raising, essentially, a racist son.

9. Willoughby from Sense and Sensibility – I think Willoughby really cared about Marianne, but his love of money was greater.

10. Wickham from Pride and Prejudice – He’s a user and a loser. Austen created some great cads. Wickham makes Lizzy think Darcy is horrible, not that Darcy helps much with that. Then he goes after the most naïve of the Bennet sisters. He’s an opportunistic pig.

Darcy from Pride and Prejudice almost made my list, but that would be three Austen men and I thought that would be too much. This list was almost too easy. Who do you love to hate? Do you ever wonder how an author can come up with such and Asshat?

Looking Back At The Week For The Hop

This week’s prompt, “Tell us about one of your posts from this week and give us a link so we can read it (review or otherwise)!"

I certainly posted some random stuff this week; pictures about Doctor Who and The Superbowl. But they’re not really very bookish. I finished Prince Caspian this week and posted the review yesterday. It was a great book, but I don’t think it was my favourite post this week. I like the little blurb I wrote about libraries, but I hesitated adding it to my Blog Hop post since it was originally something I saw on Nymeth’s things mean a lot. It’s about libraries and the need for them. Libraries do more than just give people access to books. They offer all sorts of facilities and programs that may otherwise have difficulty finding a home. Though the books are the best part, especially for those who love to read, but can’t afford to buy books. I’ve got a picture of my university library up, without which, I would have been lost.