top ten childhood characters i'd like to visit as adults

Hello, friends! Today's Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, is all about nostalgia (for me, at least). We're going to be talking about characters I loved when I was younger and really want to know what they're up to now. Not even necessarily books I read when I was a kid; we're gonna go into my teen years, too. Let's get started! 

1. Everyone in the Harry Potter series, duh. Oh hey, Cursed Child! Oh hey, dreams coming true! Didn't see you there! 

2. Suze from The Mediator series. Same deal as above (although I really have no idea why I haven't picked up Remembrance yet). Soon, my minions. 

3. Madison Finn from The Files of Madison Finn. I remember really loving these books when I was a preteen, and I really do credit my love of pugs to them. And my short obsession with acquiring an orange laptop (it never happened). I feel like she'd probably work for Buzzfeed, to be honest. 

4. Halley and Scarlett from Someone Like You. I hope they're still best friends. I hope Scarlett's baby is doing well. I just really loved their friendship dynamic and now I wanna reread it. 

5. Audrey from Audrey, Wait! I see her being part of a "Someone Wrote A Song About Me" support group. Delilah, Roxanne, and Becky will also be there. 

6. The whole gang from the Twilight series. I've been known to talk some smack about the series, I know. But I do think it would be fun to check in on the Cullens and see how their lives are going. That's what Stephenie Meyer should have done instead of the stupid gender reversal. Yes, I'm bitter. No, I'm not sorry. 

7. Eleanor and Park from, well, Eleanor & Park. I did not get any closure from that book. I really need to know how it ends up for those two, okay? Please tell me they live happily ever after. 

8. Jane and Rochester from Jane Eyre. It would be cool to see how their kid turns out, y'know? Also, does Rochester stop being kind of an asshole? And what about Adele?! How's she doing? 

9. Clay from Thirteen Reasons Why. I don't know if I'm the only one who feels this way, but that boy must be all kinds of fucked up after what he went through. I would just love to see how he copes and the effects of this traumatic experience on him. 

10. All the kids from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (except for Charlie). Look, I don't really care what happened to him. What matters to me is the other kids. Does Violet ever turn back to a normal colour, or does she just stay blue? Does Augustus start eating salads? Does Mike grow back to his normal size? Does Veruca learn to stop being such a bitch? Most importantly: Does Willy Wonka get sued? He totally should. 

ten fairytale retellings on my tbr

Happy Tuesday, my lovely little unicorn friends! And for my fellow Canadians, I hope you enjoyed your long weekend! I had a little bit of a Disney binge over the weekend - I watched The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin. Well, it turns out this was very fitting, because this week, Top Ten Tuesday (hosted weekly by The Broke and the Bookish!)  is all about fairytale retellings! Now, I'm going to stretch this a little bit to incorporate some other stories - things like myths, legends, ancient tales, you get the gist. All in all, these are some of the retellings that I'm dying to read!

1. The Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer
Inspired by: Cinderella/Little Red Riding Hood/Rapunzel/Snow White
Exciting news, guys! I finally started reading Cinder! I'm currently about a hundred pages into it and absolutely adoring it so far. Really don't know why I didn't read this sooner!

2. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas 
Inspired by: Beauty and the Beast
Ever since I started the Throne of Glass series, I've been hooked on Sarah J. Maas's writing. Not to mention the fact that Beauty and the Beast is my absolute favourite Disney movie (is there any book lover who doesn't want that library?)

3. A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston 
Inspired by: A Thousand and One Nights
I met E.K. Johnston when she did a signing/panel at my local Chapters with Kendare Blake and Michelle Krys, and she was awesome. I haven't read her other books yet, but this is very high on the tbr. And just look at that cover.

4. The Wrath and the Dawn  by Renee Ahdieh
Inspired by: A Thousand and One Nights
My friend Tracy (HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRACY!) recommended this one to me and of course I had to buy it. And judging by the reviews and how hyped up this book has been, I'm sure it'll be worth it.

5. Antigoddess by Kendare Blake  
Inspired by: Greek mythology
Again, Kendare Blake was at the signing in Chapters a couple months ago, and she was awesome. I loved Anna Dressed in Blood (it's set in my hometown), so I was immediately a fan of Kendare after reading that! I'm also very interested in Greek and Roman mythology, so this is definitely appealing to me.

6. Never Never by Brianna Shrum
Inspired by: Peter Pan
I'm going to be honest here: I've never been a huge, die-hard Peter Pan fan. I know a lot of people are, but I never fully connected to it as much as some other stories. Nevertheless, I've always been intrigued by books that tell the villain's side of the story, and that combined with the fact that I kinda think Peter's a bit of a jerk makes me very excited for this!

7. The Covenant series by Jennifer L. Armentrout 
Inspired by: Greek mythology
Jennifer L. Armentrout is one of those authors that I never fully jumped on the bandwagon for. I loved the one book I read by her, but I've never been as addicted as some people seem to be. I really want to get into her books more, and I feel like a mythology-based series is the perfect way to do it!

8. The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes
Inspired by: The Handless Maiden
How deliciously creepy does this sound?! I'm all about the non-watered-down, terrifying original Grimm stories, and this sounds like it's not going to hold back any punches when it comes to sticking to the original. Tracy also read this one and said it was pretty disturbing, so weirdly enough, I can't wait to be scared shitless.

9. Alice in Zombieland  by Gena Showalter

Inspired by: Alice in Wonderland 

I don't even feel like I need to explain this one that much. I mean, Alice and zombies. I've heard kind of mixed reviews about this one to be honest, but I don't even care. I'm giving it a try and that's all there is to it! 

10.The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman 

Inspired by: Sleeping Beauty 

Would you believe me if I said I've never read anything by Neil Gaiman? I think a nice, illustrated retelling of Sleeping Beauty would be a wonderful start to my collection. I've been eyeing up this particular set of his books for a while now, so I think I'm going to read this one and then take the plunge into some of his other books.



What fairytale retellings are on your must-have list? Let me know in the comments!

top ten books that celebrate diversity

Hello, all! Top Ten Tuesday is hosted every week by The Broke and the Bookish, and this week, we're talking diversity. It's no secret that this particular topic has been huge in the bookish community recently, and for good reason. The #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign has been making waves lately, and it's great so see how many authors and publishers are embracing differences in colour, ability, religion, race, sexuality... The list goes on. Here are the ten books I picked that celebrate diversity in all forms. 

1. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling 

I feel like this series, especially for children who are reading it the first time, doesn't come across as particularly diverse right away. But it's not hard to see the commentary regarding race relations and cultural genocide in the issues between pure bloods, Muggle-borns, and Muggles. 

2. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz 

Here, we've got two separate strands of diversity - the two boys are Mexican American, making them racially diverse, as well as part of the gay community. What more could you ask for? 

3. April Raintree by Beatrice Culleton 

This is a book that I read for my YA Lit class last year (it's actually a revised edition of In Search of April Raintree). I think it's particularly important for Canadians, or anyone living in an area with a large Aboriginal population. It really captures the struggle of being othered in your own land in a beautiful and heartbreaking way. 

4. Eleanor & Park  by Rainbow Rowell

Both of the protagonists in this book are different in their own ways. Park comes from a Korean family and fills the role of a racially diverse character, while Eleanor reads as diverse to me because she's simply not the typical love interest in a YA novel. She's overweight and plain and doesn't really fit the teen girl stereotype, but we still see her as beautiful through Park's eyes, which is so important. 

5. What Night Brings by Carla Trujillo 

This book broke me, plain and simple. I read it for my Latina/o Lit class and I don't think any of the books I've read for school have ever hit me as hard as this one did. Marci is an eleven-year-old Latin American girl who wants God to turn her into a boy. Pretty much, we have a trifecta of diversity in here with the racial, religious, and gender-related contexts in this book. 

6. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan 

Tiny Cooper. End of story. 

7. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

I mean, just think about all the diversity between districts! We've got race, class... Even Katniss and Peeta become physically disabled by the end of the series. 

8. I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

This is just a beautiful example of what it means to love someone who is othered. The dual perspective really works to give us a look at both sides, so we're not just learning what it's like for Noah (a gay character), we also see how it affects his twin, Jude, and how she deals. 

9. The Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler

I'll admit right now - I'm not done this book yet, but already I'm loving it! The narrator is Elyse, a girl from Trinidad and Tobago, who lost her voice in a boating accident. She's one of the only POC's in the small town where the story takes place, and with her disability on top of that, she's definitely very different from those around her. 

10.  Everything, Everything  by Nicola Yoon

I don't want to give too much away because this book isn't out yet (thanks, Netgalley!) but I will tell you what you can find out from the synopsis: the narrator is an Afro-Asian teenager living with SCID, a disease that pretty much means she's allergic to the entire world. 

What diverse books are you loving?

last ten books that came into my possession

Hello, lovely people! Today is Tuesday, which means I'm going to make a list and you're going to read it. Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, and this week it's all about our most recent book finds. Since I haven't yet reached the level of superstardom that allows me to receive free books from publishers, all of these were purchased by myself. So, starting with the most recent and going from there... 

top ten hyped books i've never read

Happy Tuesday, my lovely friends. I'm currently sitting in my back yard with a coffee and a book, enjoying my day off. What a perfect time to write! Today, we're talking about hyped books we haven't yet picked up (or don't plan on picking up at all!). Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Let's get started!

top ten books i've read so far in 2015

Happy Tuesday, all! Today I'm preparing for a bit of a fail, since I honestly don't think I've read ten books yet this year that I've loved. Might have something to do with the fact that I've been super busy since I got out of school  a couple months ago, but maybe I've just had bad luck. We'll see how many we can get to! As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely ladies at The Broke and the Bookish. 

my ten favourite top ten tuesday topics from the last 5 years

Hi all, and welcome to Top Ten Tuesday! If you're familiar with the world of book blogging, I'm sure you know what this is all about - for those of you who are new, Top Ten Tuesday is a feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish every week. Now, this week is a special one because it's the 5th anniversary of Top Ten Tuesday! So, in celebration, we're going to be talking about our favourite topics from the last 5 years. 

Just a disclaimer: I haven't been blogging for very long at all and I'm pretty sure that this is actually my tenth time doing Top Ten Tuesday. So, I'm just going through their list of past topics and picking the ones that look most fun to me. In no particular order. :) 

1. Top Ten Favourite Book Quotes

2. Top Ten WOW Endings

3. Top Ten Most Frustrating Characters

4. Top Ten Best/Worst Movie Adaptations 

5. Top Ten Books I HAD to Buy But Still Haven't Read

6. Top Ten Characters I Would Crush on if I Were Also a Fictional Character

7. Top Ten Best Bookish Memories

8. Top Ten Minor Characters

9. Top Ten Fictional BFFs

10. Top Ten Books I'd Quickly Save if My House Was Going to be Abducted by Aliens (or any other natural disaster) 

I'm kind of considering doing these ones sporadically over the next little while, or at least a couple of them. They just look so fun! Could be a good idea for the times when I want to write but have no ideas. What do you guys think? 

top ten books for readers who like character driven novels

Hi, guys! Sorry I've been so MIA lately, school has been absolutely crazy and I haven't had any time to read for fun, let alone blog about it. Sadface.  But I have a bit of a break for a week or two, so I'm hoping to at least get a couple smaller posts up! 

As you all know, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely people over at The Broke and the Bookish. This week, we're talking about character driven books - the ones that don't really focus on plot as much as the people within the story. 

1. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart - This book.  Such a good job of really getting into Cadence's head and showing how she learns the truth. 

2. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton - I feel like I'm cheating a bit because I just read this book for one of my classes, but hello. 

3. Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson - I mean, I think we can all agree that Morgan Matson is the queen of heartstring-tugging, tear-inducing stories. And the way she revolves the plot around the characters rather than the other way around just makes it even more effective.

4. Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson - Ditto. (Yes, I just said ditto. Yes, I mentally live in 2004. Get over it.) 

5. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell - I MEAN. Does this even need an explanation? Really? 

 6. Just One Day by Gayle Forman - For me, the most interesting part of the book is the last two-thirds that don't include Willem. I just really loved seeing Allyson come into her own and grow up. 

7. Paper Towns by John Green - If Morgan Matson is queen, let's make John Green king. All his novels are very character driven, but I recently reread Paper Towns and it really resonated with me how much  Q grows throughout the course of this book. 

8. The Torontonians by Phyllis Brett Young - This book is totally the ugly duckling of the list, but oh well. I'm sure most, if not all, of the people reading this won't have heard of this book, but I read it for my Canadian Prose class and figured it was a good fit since the whole thing is totally introspective. 

9. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - I know, I know, this book does have an extreeeeemely fast plot. But I'm thinking of the series as a whole, and how much Katniss grows internally during all the shit she goes through.

10. If I Stay by Gayle Forman - Duh. (Update: Still living in 2004.) 

So, there's my list! Let me know if I missed any you guys would have added, or if you agree with any of my picks!

top ten books i want to read but don't own yet

It's time for another Top Ten Tuesday! This week, The Broke and the Bookish is asking us to talk about books on our wish lists - which is a very fitting theme, since my birthday is next week. (Hint hint, any friends/family that read this). Basically, this whole post is going to be filled with me lusting over pretty books, so let's just prepare ourselves early on, shall we? 

1. Unravel Me  and Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi - Shatter Me was just amazing, and I read it a few months back. The fact that I haven't picked up these two yet is just unacceptable. NEED. 

2. Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira - I've wanted this book for sooooo loooooong. Look at the cover. Look at the description. I just. UGH. The concept is just so intriguing to me, I feel like I won't physically be able to feel happiness until I get my hands on this beautiful specimen. 

3. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey - I'm kind of slowly getting into a bit of a post-apocalyptic kick right now. Or maybe it's just my obsession with this book that's making me think about aliens and the end of life as we know it constantly. I feel like I'll be completely terrified after I read this but we're just gonna roll with it. 

4. Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler - Do you ever have those books that you just obsessively look at, pick up, and then put down whenever you go to the bookstore? That's this book for me. I discovered it when it first came out a couple of years ago and for some reason, didn't buy it. And I still haven't. And every single time I go to Chapters, I pick it up and decide against it. The ratings aren't even that great. I just want it, okay? 

5. Is Everyone Hanging Out WIthout Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling - This is basically the same thing as Why We Broke Up. I just eternally love Mindy Kaling. I just want her to be my best friend. I just want to read this book and hug it forever. 

6. The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith - I read her other two books at the beginning of summer and absolutely loved them. Jennifer E. Smith just does so well with cutesy contemporary YA. Honestly, the only thing holding me back is the fact that it's still in hardcover and I'm too cheap to pay for it. 

7. Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins - First of all, this cover! Perfect blend of girly and badass. To be perfectly honest, I'm not 100% sure what this is all about aside from the Goodreads description, but it just sounds like such a fun read. 

8. Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid - It wouldn't be a books-I-want list without a road trip story. That's all there is to it. 

9. Cress by Marissa Meyer - Just because I have Cinder and Scarlet and I really want to binge read the series. But again, full-price hardcovers are so expensive it hurts. 

10. The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson - Everyone has been going nuts about this book lately. And it sounds awesome - runaway princess, mystery, assassins... It's got all the makings of a great story. Plus, I'm trying to expand away from my little contemporary comfort zone, and this seems like a good transition!

I mean, feel free to buy me any of these books. If you want. Just sayin'. ;)

top ten books people have been telling me i MUST read

Look at me, actually doing Top Ten Tuesday on the right day. Do I get a prize for this? 

Anyway. 

This week's Top Ten Tuesday, hosted as always by The Broke and the Bookish, is all about books people have been telling me I have to read. Now, seeing as I don't have a ton of book-loving friends, a lot of these are going to be indirect recommendations - from bloggers, BookTubers, all those kinds of things. Books that seem really popular and awesome, but for some reason I haven't picked up yet. A lot of these are series, too, so we're just gonna go ahead with that. 

1. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton - I feel like everyone read this in high school or middle school except for me. And I know there's a movie, too, and I haven't seen that. It's just one of those books that everyone needs to read, I guess? 

2. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson - When my best friend found out I hadn't read this, I swear she wanted to punch me in the face out of pure shock and disgust. I'm only exaggerating a little bit.  

3. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo - I'm slowly trying to get more into fantasy and everyone on booktube is obsessed with this series. Might as well jump on the bandwagon. 

4. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak - I know. I know. Let's just leave it at that and agree that I suck. Okay? 

5. All of Cassandra Clare's books - Because duh, they're EVERYWHERE. I read City of Bones a few years ago and really liked it but just never started the rest of the series, or the Infernal Devices. Gotta get on that. 

6. The Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout - I read Obsidian, loved it, then got distracted by other books. This is how it goes for most of the things I read. Also, the copy I have of Obsidian is the old cover so I've been trying to decide how to go about getting the rest of them. I think I'm just gonna splurge on day and buy the whole series in the pretty bind ups. 

7. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken - I feel like this series has been getting enough hype lately that I don't even need to go into detail about it. 

8. Cinder by Marissa Meyer - This is a story about me being cheap as hell. Basically, I found the hardcover on sale for $6 a couple years ago and picked it up because obviously. Then I didn't read it for some reason. And a couple weeks ago, I found Scarlet also on sale. And now I'm waiting for Cress to be cheap, too, before I read them because I kind of want to marathon the whole series. But I definitely intend to read it!

9. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas - Again, super hyped up and also ASSASSINS. Need I say more? 

10. The rest of the Hunger Games and Divergent trilogies, because I AM SO INCREDIBLY OUT OF THE LOOP I DISGUST MYSELF. I've read the first books of each but just didn't continue. And also I really want to see the movies but refuse to until I've read the books. 

So, there we have it. Now we all know how behind I am on every single series. I've basically been stuck in contemporary since Twilight stopped being cool so I've been missing out on all these cool books, it's really depressing. 

What should I read first? Make my decision for me please.:) 

top ten books i'm not sure i want to read

Welcome back to Top Ten Tuesday on Thursday! Because I suck at doing things on time! This weekly feature is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, and this week is all about books I'm not entirely sure I want to read. A vast majority of the books on my list were bargain books - mostly hardcovers for $5. I have a problem with taking advantage of sales, and end up buying a bunch of books I know nothing about. OR, books that have received a lot of hype, both positive and negative, that I'm not completely sure are my style.

1. Elixir by Hilary Duff - I grew up completely worshipping Hilary Duff. Like, 100% loved her. If I read this book and hate it (which, according to reviews, I might), the whole perfect illusion of her is shattered. 

2. You Have Seven Messages by Stewart Lewis - This sounds so intriguing - a girl trying to figure out the mystery behind her mother's death. Unfortunately, I've heard a ton of complaints about the MC in this book, and I'm not sure how much obnoxious teenager I can handle right now. 

3. Hold Still by Nina Lacour - I actually really want to read this but it sounds depressing as all hell, so we're gonna put it on the backburner right now. 

4. Invisibility by Andrea Cremer and David Levithan - Picked it up because I really like the books I've read by David Levithan, from what I've heard this is an instalove story, which I'm really not a huge fan of. 

5. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling - Ugh. This is probably the book I'm most torn about. On one hand, it's J.K. Rowling and she is queen. But on the other hand, what if? What if it's not on the same level as Harry Potter? What if I hate it? We're back to the Hilary Duff thing again - this could potentially ruin my love for an author.  

6. Between The Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer - At first I thought this sounded good, and I really like what I've read from Jodi Picoult. But in all honesty, I don't remember what this story is about. It just doesn't stick out to me as something that I need to pick up. 

7. The Here and Now by Ann Brashares - Such a pretty cover! But such terrible reviews! 

8. Gone by Michael Grant - I feel like there was a ton of hype about this series a while back, but I don't know. I picked it up and it's been sitting on my shelf forever. I don't have a reason other than the MCs are too young for my taste. 

9. Catching Fire/Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - I KNOW, I know. I read The Hunger Games and loved it, and got about 20 pages into Catching Fire before putting it down. I want to finish the series because I'd like to see the movies and be part of the big following, but I'm just not sure. 

10. Insurgent/Allegiant by Veronica Roth - Basically the exact same reason as above. Also, I've heard a TON of complaints about these books, the last one in particular, and I'm just not sure I want to subject myself to those kinds of feels. 

What do you guys think? Any books on this list I need to pick up? Let me know!

top ten books i'd recommend to people who haven't read contemporary

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a feature hosted at The Broke and the Bookish! This week's topic is books we'd recommend to people who are new to a certain genre. Obviously, since I'm a total contemporary junkie, I had to go with these ones. So, without further adieu, here we go! 

1. All of Morgan Matson's books. I really tried to narrow it down to just one. I really did. But, the fact is: she is queen and I worship every word she writes, and I love them all equally and unconditionally. As far as I'm concerned, she's the perfect contemporary YA author. 

2. Audrey, Wait! by Lauren Benway. If you love a hilarious, spunky MC, you're going to adore Audrey. She's one of my favourite characters in all the books I've read just because of her no-bullshit attitude. Be warned, if you're heavily opposed to swearing you might want to stay away from this one. 

3. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. For all the slightly antisocial bookworms, Cath is your girl. She's such a relatable character and it was incredibly easy for me to put myself in her shoes. Not to mention the family dynamics in this book are awesome. Everything in it is just extremely realistic.

4. The whole Anna and the French Kiss series by Stephanie Perkins. Honestly, I'm sure anyone who has the slightest interest in YA contemporary will have heard of these fantastic, wonderful books. I'm currently in post-Isla-reading bliss after finishing it a couple hours ago, and I couldn't be happier. Such a fun, romantic, funny, and sweet series. 

5. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. This is such a heartbreaking, sobering story of mental illness and suicide. It's definitely not a lighthearted read, but I recommend it as something that does a great job of tackling a really hard subject. 

6. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. Sticking with the theme of heavier books, this one focuses on  a girl who struggles with an eating disorder. It's really chilling to see the thought process involved with these kinds of illnesses. Not necessarily a fun book, but definitely worth the read. 

7. Stolen: A Letter to My Captor by Lucy Christopher. Just. FEELS. I really liked how complex the characters were, without giving anything away. It's just good. It'll make you hurt. 

8. Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler. Ohmygod. I can't even describe my love for this book. It sounds really cheesy from the title, and that kind of made me hesitate to read it but it's really an amazing story that isn't nearly as shallow as it looks. 

9. Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen. Obviously Sarah Dessen is very well known in the world of contemporary, so it wouldn't feel right not mentioning her! Someone Like You is one of my favourites by her, if not just for the amazing friendship between Halley and Scarlett, and how they stick together to deal with a really tough situation. 

10. Paper Towns by John Green. I mean, of course he had to be on this list, too. I didn't really want to mention TFIOS because everyone's heard of it by now, so recommending it would kind of be useless. This is a really amazing book as well, and if you haven't read it now you definitely should before the movie comes out! 

So, there we have it. I'm sorry for being so late on this (again)! Please forgive me. :) 

Recommend some books for me, any genre! What do you think I need to read?

top ten authors i own the most books from

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week, we're talking about the authors we own most books from. Now, while I'll admit that compared to a lot of people I do own a lot of books, I don't have nearly as much as other book bloggers and booktubers do. So while some of these are authors that I really do own a lot of books, a good amount of them are instabuy authors - those authors whose books I ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO READ as soon as they come out.

1. J.K. Rowling - 12 books

I have the entire Harry Potter series, with doubles of the last four books, and A Casual Vacancy. Haven't picked up her Robert Galbraith books yet! 

2. Sarah Dessen - 8 books
Sarah Dessen is the first YA contemporary author I really got into, so I owe a lot of my obsession to her books. I'm missing 3 of her novels, but I'm sure they'll be added to my collection eventually. 

3. David Levithan - 6 books 

I have the books he co-wrote with John Green and Andrea Cremer, as well as four of his own works. Most of them are still sitting on my tbr shelf at the moment.

4.  Stephenie Meyer - 5 books 

Don't even judge me, you know you have them, too.

5. John Green - 5 books 

Obviously an instabuy author. I don't have Let It Snow, but I'll probably end up getting it closer to winter.

6. Gayle Forman - 4 books 

This might be cheating because I technically only have Just One Day at the moment, but Just One Year, If I Stay, and Where She Went are all currently in transit on their way to my house. So there. (Also, she really has a thing for three-word titles, doesn't she?)

7. Rainbow Rowell - 4 books 

Total instabuy. Attachments is on its way to me right now, too, and I CAN'T WAIT TO READ IT.

8. Sarah Ockler - 4 books

Loved Twenty Boy Summer and instantly had to read everything she's ever written. I've gotten really lucky with her books in the way that I'll go to the bookstore not even looking for something of hers and just  find it out of nowhere. When The Book of Broken Hearts came out in paperback I just randomly stumbled across it and almost peed myself in excitement. True story. ALSO, if #scandal is in stock at Chapters when I go tomorrow I'm totally gonna snag that, too. 

9. Morgan Matson - 3 books
I will literally read every word this woman writes, ever. Hands down. No questions asked. Bye.

10. This is a total cop-out and cheating and doesn't even count in my opinion but R.L. Stine - upwards of 20 books
Just because I have a giant bag of Fear Street books that I'm too lazy to bring to the library even though I'm never going to read them.

So, there we have it! There's a lot of other authors I have 3 books from but I feel like that's a lot of effort to list them all just for 3 books. Because it really isn't that impressive to have 3 books from the same author.

What about you? Any authors you immediately have to buy books from? 

top ten characters i'd want on a deserted island with me

Let's just get this out of the way before we start: I suck. I know it, okay? I really did plan on posting daily, or at least every-other-daily BookTubeAThon updates, but the whole work/school/social life thing got in my way. I'll be posting a recap for the week tomorrow (hopefully) and until then, here's a little something to make me look like less of a failure. 

This week's Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish is all about being stranded on a deserted island and dragging some poor, unfortunate fictional characters along with you. I feel like a lot of these could solve everything realllly quickly so I'm gonna be creative with this. 

For Survival: 

Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games) - Girl can hunt, okay? And if I'm stuck on an island for God knows how long, I'm gonna need some food. 

Molly Weasley (Harry Potter) - What's the law about how creating food out of nothing is magically impossible? I feel like Molly's the kind of person who can pretty much make a delicious meal out of anything, and the magic helps, too. Plus: she can put up all kinds of protection spells and clean up with just a wave of her wand! Yes, please. 

Hermione Granger (Harry Potter) - With Hermione's brains, I'm sure we'd be home safe in about 3 seconds. Even if we're not, she'd figure out a way to make life on the island awesome, not to mention her never-ending pouch that WE COULD FILL WITH ALL THE BOOKS!

Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) - She's just a total badass and if any supernatural beings tried to mess with us, she'd be on that. 

For Getting Off the Damn Island: 

Neville Longbottom (Harry Potter) - Because ACCIO GILLYWEED. See ya never, island. 

Percy Jackson (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) - I'm pretty sure the whole breathing underwater thing would come in handy when you're stuck on an island. He could just swim over to the nearest boat or wherever civilization is and get someone to come save us. Or better yet, get his dad to split the water so we can walk home. 

Galen (The Syrena Legacy) - I mean, he's a hot mermaid. He's got this.

Elsa (Frozen) - She could just turn the ocean into ice and problem solved, just like that. 

Just Because: 

Audrey and Victoria (Audrey, Wait!) - I'm 1000% sure that these girls are my fictional soul sisters. And if we were on an island together I'd definitely join their best friend group. 

Etienne St. Clair (Anna and the French Kiss) - He's my book boyfriend forever, okay? He needs to be there. 

Who would you want to be on a deserted island with you? Let me know in the comments!

top ten books on my summer tbr list

Hi, guys! Sorry about how late this post is, I've been super busy with work and everything this week. Obviously this blog isn't completely up and running yet, so I gave myself a little bit of leeway in getting  myself organized. But anyway, here we are.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, is all about books I want to read in the summer! Some of these have already been released and some are summer releases, so I kind of have a mix of everything in here. 

1. The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith - I absolutely adored the other two books I've read by her, and I'll definitely be picking this one up next time I hit the bookstore. 

2. The Museum of Intangible Things by Wendy Wunder - a) THIS COVER OMG I LOVE IT, and b) friendship-summer-roadtrip stories always have my heart. And again, the cover is just perfect and beautiful. 

3. My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick - I have this book sitting on my shelf just waiting for me to pick it up. It'll probably be the next one I read, and I have a feeling I'm going to love it. 

4. Open Road Summer by Emery Lord - What can I say, I just love friendship stories in the summer. I've heard from a lot of people that the relationship between these two friends is amazing, and I can't wait to experience it for myself. 

5. #scandal by Sarah Ockler - I just love Sarah Ockler, okay? 

6. Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes - It's described as a mix between The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Mean Girls, which sounds awesome. 

7. Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins - If you saw my Waiting on Wednesday from last week, this is an obvious one. Stephanie Perkins' books are just perfect summer reads, and we'll leave it at that. I'm so excited. 

8. The Merciless by Danielle Vega - This is not my usual type of book at all, and to be completely honest, there's a very good chance I'll have nightmares for a month after reading this. But the whole concept of a group of girls performing an exorcism is really intriguing to me. Maybe I'll get too scared and leave this one, but who knows?

9. Falling into Place by Amy Zhang - Again, not exactly a lighthearted summer story, but the Goodreads description says it would appeal to fans of Jay Asher, Lauren Oliver, and Gayle Foreman. Since I love all of them, I think I'm in pretty good hands! Also, the author is apparently in high school and I'm going to go re-evaluate my life now. 

10. Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid - Another road trip story, but not quite the best friend type of story this time. Four strangers, only sharing one thing in common: this girl named Leila. I really want to see how this plays out, and how all these strangers are connected. 

What books are you looking forward to reading this summer? 

top ten books i've read so far this year

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. This week is all about my favourite books I've read so far in 2014. To be honest, I just got back into reading a lot after I finished school in May, so most of these books are ones that I've flown through in the last couple of weeks, and others are from late 2013. Cheating, I know. 

1. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell - I could relate so much to Cath, it was insane. Not that I write fanfic or anything, but I totally get the devotion she felt toward the Simon Snow universe. The fact that it was basically an alternate version of Harry Potter didn't hurt, obviously. Just all around smiles for this one. 

2. This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith - This book was just so cute. That's all I can say. It's one of those books that leaves you with a smile on your face and a nice feeling and happy thoughts all around. I loved the whole emailing-a-stranger-and-falling-in-love thing, too. Screw stranger danger. 

3. The Statistical Probability of Love At First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith - I want this lady to write my life, okay? It really is that simple. This books takes place over a 24-hour period, and makes you think about fate, family, and things to come. Loved it. 

4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling - Maybe this one's cheating a little bit since I've already read it more times than I can count, but it was one of the required texts for my Children's Literature class this year. And let's be honest, Harry Potter is always a favourite for me. 

5. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins - I honestly didn't expect to like this book as much as I did, but it kind of stole my heart. I obviously have a thing for sappy, contemporary YA, and this one completely fits the bill. I also love stories that take place in cities I want to visit, it's like taking a trip for free! 

6. The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan - I loved how unique this book was. The story is told completely through dictionary entries, and it doesn't go in chronological order so you get to see different parts of the relationship, including the outcome, in a different order than you normally would. It was a really interesting concept! 

7. The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler - If we're being completely honest, I picked up this book without even reading the back of it just because I love Sarah Ockler so much. This one definitely did not disappoint. It had just the right amount of everything, and really sheds light on the reality of a certain disease, without being overly serious. And Jude's attitude is just the best. And motorcycles. 

8. The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour - Best friends, music, summer road trips, and unrequited love.  I mean, seriously, what more could you ask for?

9. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - Again, I'm kind of cheating because: a) I read this when it first came out, and b) Everyone and their dog has read it by now. But I wanted to read it again before seeing the movie, and already having read it did not change the fact that there were tear stains all over my copy when I was finished with it. Okay? Okay. 

10. The Distance Between Us by Kasie West - The protagonist, Caymen, is totally the kind of girl I'd want to hang out with if I knew her in real life. Total friend crush. 

What's the best book you've read this year?