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?

Calling To Me: Top Ten Words/Topics That Instantly Make Me Pick Up A Book

The Broke and The Bookish are asking us this week what are the Top Ten Words/Topics That Instantly Make Me Buy/Pick Up A Book.  I don't think any particular word or topic will make me automatically buy a book, but there are some that will make me at least pick it up.  I am drawn to these topics for different reasons.  They are genres that I've found many loved stories, or they call to me and my personal history.  In no particular order, here are the top ten topics I'm drawn too.

1. Dystopian - This comes from reading -and loving- The Handmaid's Tale and 1984.  They are classic dystopian to me.  It's why I picked up The Hunger Games.

2. Immigrant/Immigration - My parents immigrated to this country (separately, they met here).  Reading other immigration stories, I feel, gives me an insight into what they and my many relatives went through.  It's why I picked up The Book of Ifs and Buts (plus I really liked the title).

3. Caribbean: Trinidad, Barbados, Jamaica, St. Lucia, etc. - Anything from the country my family is from, and the surrounding areas, will at least get me to pick up the book.

4. Multi-Racial/Bi-Racial - Again, this has to do with my family.  It's the reason I wanted to read Prismatic.

5. Myths - I enjoy myth retellings/interpretations.  This will get me to look at the book, even if I don't buy it.

6. Zombies - This is a recent thing.  I don't buy a ton, because I can only read so much of one genre, but after World War Z and The Walking Dead I seem to be picking up Zombie fiction more and more.

7. Short Stories - I love short stories collections, whether from one single author, like Stephen King's Everything's Eventual or from many authors, like Forty Stories.  Single author collections are great because sometimes you don't need a whole novel to tell a tale.  Multi-author anthologies are also great because it's an easy way to get a taste of authors you've never read before.

Wow, it's been a while since I couldn't come up with ten.  I'm not an overly picky book shopper.  I buy loads of books.  Hmm...

What words/topics appeal to you?

End of Year Book Survey.

I'm so excited to be doing Jamie's End of the Year Book Survey.  I enjoyed it last year.  I find it a nice way to reflect back on a year of reading, as well as other stuff that happened, that you might have blogged about.  Do you agree/disagree with any of my answers?  Please leave a comment!  Also, let me know if you've done the survey too.  Happy Holidays!

1. Best Book You Read In 2012?

I decided to go with Jamie’s suggestion (cheat) of breaking it down by genre. I read some really great books this year. This list isn’t even half of them.

Best Children’s Book – Go Away, Big Green Monster, by Ed Emberly
Best Zombie Book – World War Z, by Max Brooks
Best Non-Fiction – How To Be A Woman, by Caitlin Moran
Best Classic – Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Best Short Story Collection – Forty Stories, edited by Cal Morgan
Best Literary/General Fiction – Canada, by Richard Ford
Best Fantasy – The Magician’s Nephew, by C.S. Lewis
Best Science-Fiction – Insurgent, by Veronica Roth

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

Casual Vacancy, by J.K. Rowling – It was slow to begin with, but it did pick up. In the end, I did enjoy it, but I didn’t love it. You can read my thoughts here.

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2012?

I knew I would probably like Night of the Living Trekkies, but I didn’t know how much I would love it. I loved every single quirky, geeky reference. It was so much fun!

4. Book you recommended to people most in 2012?

For people who like literary fiction, I probably recommended Canada, by Richard Ford.
For genre lovers, I recommended Night of the Living Trekkies and Divergent…. and maybe World War Z.

5. Best series you discovered in 2012?

Divergent! I can’t wait until the third book is out.

6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2012?

Is this new to me - like the Top Ten list I did recently - or new as in first book? For new-to-me, check out my Top Ten list from December 11th.

If it’s first books, then I really enjoyed The Maladjusted, by Derek Hayes. Also Darcy Pattison’s non-fiction picture book, Wisdom, the Midway Albatross.

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?

I read a lot of genres, but something I don’t read a lot of is non-fiction and I actually read three this year!  My favourite was How To Be A Woman, by Caitlin Moran. So fantastic.

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2012?

I read a few unputdownable books this year including: Divergent, Insurgent, How to be a Woman and Night of the Living Trekkies.

9. Book You Read In 2012 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year:

I don’t re-read a lot. If I do, it’s likely not a book that I only read a year before. But to answer the question, of all the books, I’d most likely re-read Night of the Living Trekkies.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2012?

I can’t decide between:

Insurgent and World War Z.

11. Most memorable character in 2012?

Frankenstein’s creature from Frankenstein.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2012?

Canada, by Richard Ford

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012?

Greatest impact? How To Be A Woman and maybe The Causal Vacancy.  They dealt with social issues, that continue to resonate with me.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited until 2012 to finally read?

The Garden Party and Other Stories, by Katherine Mansfield.  She was the only writer Virginia Woolf said she was jealous off.  How did I wait so long to read her?

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2012?

"Do you not think that there are things which you cannot understand, and yet which are; that some people see things that others cannot?" 
- Dr. Van Helsing from Dracula, by Bram Stoker.

16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2012?

By Page Count:
Longest: 541 – City of Glass, The Mortal Instruments #3, by Cassandra Clare
Shortest: 16 – I Love You, Stinky Face, by Lisa McCourt (Children's Book) OR 112 – Matchless, by Gregory Maguire

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!

The Casual Vacancy, by J.K. Rowling… so many WTF scenes.

18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2012 (be it romantic, friendship, etc).

For very different reasons: 

Jim Pike & Leia, from Night of the Living Trekkies
Mina and Van Helsing, from Dracula
Sukvinder and Gaia, from The Causal Vacancy

19. Favorite Book You Read in 2012 From An Author You Read Previously

Blockade Billy, by Stephen King
Fever, by Lauren DeStefano

20. Best Book You Read That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else:

Like I said previously, I don’t read a lot of non-fiction. If I wasn’t recommended How To Be A Woman by a few bloggers I like and respect, as well as one of my real-life friends, whose reading tastes are very similar to mine, I don’t know if I would have picked it up.

Book Blogging/Reading Life in 2012 

1. New favourite book blog you discovered in 2012?

Probably Bridget’s Books.  I only just started following this contributor to The Broke and The Bookish. She has an entire reading project about Stephen King! So awesome.


2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2012?

If I have to pick one, I’d say, Forty Stories, edited by Cal Morgan. I did Twitter sized reviews. It was fun.

3. Best discussion you had on your blog?

The best discussions/comments I had this year weren't on posts about books.  There were on my posts: Image Use, where I talked about copyright and someone getting sued for using images on their website and I Am Without Job, where I talked about getting laid off this year.

4. Most thought-provoking review or discussion you read on somebody else’s blog?

I read the blog, Feminist Philosophers a lot.  It's not a book blogs, though they discuss books sometimes.  I always find myself diving into their posts about genderized products.  I especially enjoyed reading about the new "BiC for Her" pen.  It's so awful.  Ellen even made a video about it on her show a few months back.  

5. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?

I don’t get a lot of event in my neck of the woods. I’d have to drive an hour to go to any bookish events and with the little ones, that’s not happening.  I do enjoy Short Story Monday and Top Ten Tuesday.  I participate in them as often as I can, but it's been a while since I did Short Story Monday.  There's a story I plan on reading this week...

6. Best moment of book blogging in 2012?

Even though it’s not bookish, it happened because I blog about books -I appreciate all the support I got when I posted about losing my job. Thank you again, everyone.

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

By views, my most popular post was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde! Such a great book.

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

This one is a little difficult. I feel pretty loved. My posts get an okay amount of views (okay to me, I guess). In general, I’d like more comments and more discussions about the books (or whatever) I’ve posted about. But there isn’t one post that’s fallen by the wayside. So thanks for the love everyone!

9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

I just started using Goodreads this year. It’s a little addictive. I love scanning books with the Goodreads app. I like tracking my progress through a book; I find it encouraging.

10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

I don’t join challenges, but I set myself a personal goal of reading 26 books (one every two weeks), which I decided to track on Goodreads since joining this year. I’m at 32 right now. I might get to 33 or 34 before the end of 2012.

Looking Ahead…

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2012 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2013?

Hmm… Number 1 Priority?? I plan on reading His Dark Materials next. However, I did buy The Raven Boys a couple months ago and didn’t read it right away. I don’t want to let it sit on my shelf too long like some other books I have.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2013?

Though I’m excited for Dead Ever After (I'm loving the cover) and Divergent #3, the book I’m most looking forward to in 2013 is Sever, by Lauren DeStefano. I loved Wither and Fever had me longing for more. Just a couple more months until February!

3. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2013?

I want to read more. I’d like to decrease the number of books I’ve owned for years and haven’t read yet. I’d especially like to read more Stephen King and Margaret Atwood and catch up on the Legend of Drizzt, by R. A. Salvatore.

I guess that’s it for the survey. Thanks to everyone who made it all the way to the end. See you in the blogosphere!

It Was Nice Meeting You: Top Ten New-To-Me Authors of 2012

This is a great question from The Broke and The Bookish.  I think it not only allows us to share authors who perhaps need more exposure, but it is combined with the end-of-year theme.  December often seems to be a time of reflection.  So let me share with you my new-to-me authors of 2012, in no particular order:

1. Susan Tsui (Identities)

2. Kevin David Anderson & Sam Stall (Night of the Living Trekkies)

3. Caitlin Moran (How To Be A Woman)

4. Max Brooks (World War Z)

5. Katherine Mansfield (The Garden Party and Other Stories)

6. Derek Hayes (The Maladjusted)

7. Richard Ford (Canada)

8. Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments series)

9. Veronica Roth (Divergent series)

10. Rayne Hall (Scylla and the Pepper Pirates)

I read quite a few new authors this year.  I didn’t even realize.  I thought I’d have a difficult time getting to ten, but I actually had to remove a few people.  I read some great new authors this year.  How about you?

*Clicking on the author name will take you to their website.  Clicking on the book title will take you to my post.

Dear Santa, I Would Like ALL These Books....

I like this week's question from The Broke and The Bookish.  I love books.  I don’t think I could ever have enough.  My hubby (who loves books too) thinks I’m two steps away from becoming a book hoarder….  Even still, I can easily come up with ten (or more) books that I’d like Santa to bring.  So, in no particular order, my top ten books I’d like from Santa.

1.     The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger: The Battle of Tull, by Stephen King

2.     Kindred, by Octavia Butler

3.     The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks, by Max Brooks

4.     Fray, by Joss Whedon

5.     The Wind Through The Keyhole, by Stephen King

6.     At the Mouth of the River of Bees: Stories, by Kij Johnson

7.     Clockwork Prince, by Cassandra Clare

8.     A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness

9.     The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Mohsin Hamid

10.   The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

11.   Any of the Undead books I don’t own, by MaryJanice Davidson

12.   Out of Oz, by Gregory Maguire

13.   Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After, by Steve Hockensmith

14.   Moranthology, by Caitlin Moran

15.   Philosophy: A Discovery in Comics, by Margaret de Heer

16......

 Okay… like I said… book hoarder…. Ahh!

What books do you want for Xmas?

It’s Always Difficult To Pick Favourites

My blog has been around a long time.  I started it back in 2006.  Six years!  I’ve read a lot of books.  As The Broke and The Bookish have requested, I’ve narrowed it down to ten (or thirteen).  You can see the progression, looking back at 2006 to now, how much more verbose I am in my reviews.  I’ve also read across the genre and age spectrum.  In no particular order, here are the Top Ten Favourite Books I’ve Read During The Lifespan of My Blog.

1. A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseinni
2. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
3. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, by Gregory Maguire
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling
5. 1984, by George Orwell
6. Wicked:  The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by Gregory Maguire
7. The Dark Tower III:  The Waste Lands, by Stephen King
8. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins (re-read)
9. Dead to the World, by Charlaine Harris
10. The Gum Thief, by Douglas Coupland
11. The Paper Bag Princess, by Robert Munsch
12. Wither, by Lauren DeStefano
13. World War Z, by Max Brooks

I couldn’t do it!  I couldn’t just pick ten.  What are your favourite books that you’ve blogged about?

* Some of the early reviews seem to not have any spoiler warnings on them.  Oops!

*All book links lead to my reviews.

It’s Hot Out Here!

It’s been a while since I participated in a Top Ten Tuesday, from the Broke and The Bookish, but I saw this week’s topic, Top Ten Beach Reads and started listing off books in my head.  There are more than ten here.  Most of the books I’ve listed are actually series.  They are in no particular order.

1. The Hunger Games series, by Suzanne Collins
2. The Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling
3. Twilight series, by Stephenie Meyer
4. The Southern Vampire/Sookie Stackhouse series, by Charlaine Harris
5. The Undead series, by MaryJanice Davidson
6. Wither and Fever, by Lauren DeStefano
7. The Legend of Drizzt series, by R.A. Salvatore
8. World War Z, by Max Brooks
9. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, by Gregory Maguire
10. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, by Douglas Adams

What will you be reading at the beach?

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

I'll get straight to the point, I loved it.  If you're a zombie fan, you have to read World War Z.  If you're not a zombie fan, I'd still recommend this book.  Max Brooks creates compelling characters who speak about how they suffered and survived the Zombie War.  Their stories are our future.  Many of the characters reference World War II, Castro and allude to President Obama and Nelson Mandela.

In the Blame section of the novel, there is a lot of talking about the recent American administration and recent wars.  The characters don't name anything specifically, but it seems that Brooks is referencing the Gulf/Afghanistan/Iraq and possibly also the previous Bush administration.  I think there are some serious comments made about big business's preconceptions of the American people (its consumers) and capitalism. 

You shouldn't think of World War Z as just another zombie book.  Brooks' writing is amazing.  The characters each have their own voice and there are a lot of characters.  Their stories are similar, yet different, changing with their age, status in life and cultural background.  I think some serious research went into finding out about the different cultures of the world.  The quality of the writing was just brilliant.  I don't know if I can say enough good things about this book.

spoilers

The social commentary is brilliant.  Universal healthcare.  Cuba having the most desired economy.  The Chinese civil war in the midst of the Zombie War.  The fake drug.  I could keep going on and on, but this is a blog not a book report or essay.

I also have to mention that I loved the surprise at the end of the Redekker section.

No more Spoilers

Apparently there is a movie coming out this December.  I wonder how the book is going to translate onto screen. In flashbacks?  There are so many characters and locations, how did they pick what to keep and what to leave out?  I'm excited and nervous about the movie.

In the end, I just want to say, read it.  Read it!

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?

Halloween Reads

I know it's late in the day, but I still want to get my list out there.  Today The Broke and The Bookish want to know, what are your top ten books to read around Halloween.  In no particular order:

1. Dracula, by Bram Stoker (*note:  currently reading)
2. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
3. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson
4. Anything by Stephen King
5. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Seth Grahame-Smith & Jane Austen
6. Interview with a Vampire, by Anne Rice
7. The Sookie Stackhouse books, by Charlaine Harris
8. World War Z, by Max Brooks (*note:  planning on reading this soon)
9. Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood
10. How To Survive a Horror Movie, by Seth Grahame-Smith

I don't know how Seth got two books up there....

Book Buying Spree – Book Blogger Hop

I couldn’t resist this week’s Crazy Blog Hop question. It comes from Ellie who blogs at Musings of a Bookshop Girl:  "If I gave you £50 (or $80) and sent you into a bookshop right now, what would be in your basket when you finally staggered to the till?"

It was difficult to narrow it down. $80 barely makes a dent in my wishlist. But here they are:

Boneshaker

Many Bloody Returns

The Satanic Verses

World War Z

Generation X

Animal Farm

I’ve been itching to buy most of these books for ages! The list is based on the prices on the Chapters/Indigo website in Canada.

What books top your list?