The Reading Room (34)

The Reading Room is a weekly update on books I'm reading or planning to read. It was inspired by the feature On Myshelf at the blog All By Myshelf, and is posted on Tuesdays.

I ended up with quite a significant book haul this week, and I can't wait to read them all. Yesterday I was still off school for Easter break, so I made a trip to the bookstore, hoping to find Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare, which I've been dying to read for months. I saw it and immediately snatched it up, barely managing not to explode from excitement. I cannot wait to find out what happens and how it ends - the suspense has been driving me insane. While I was there, I also came across Wildwood by Colin Meloy. It had an awesome cover, the synopsis intrigued me, and it was only eight dollars, so I picked that up, too. Both books are sitting happily on my bookshelves, which I reorganized on Sunday.

Then, my mom made a trip to the library in search of something by Jane Austen (she's going through a bit of a phase) and to pick up The Help for my grandmother. Of course, I couldn't resist checking out a few books. I hadn't been there in awhile, so after looking over some of the new titles, I finally settled on The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan, Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson, and Close to Famous by Joan Bauer. All of them look really good. I'm pretty well-supplied with books for the next week, so hopefully some reviews will be showing up on the blog.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. A new topic is posted each week, and bloggers share their top ten in the category.

Top Ten Characters I Would Crush On If I Were Also A Fictional Character

I had way too much fun with this topic. I mean, we all know that book boys are just better. My list was really lengthy, and it was extremely difficult to cut down - I felt so bad whenever I had to remove someone from the list. (Finnick, Kishan, Sam, and St. Clair: I'm sorry. I love you guys too.) Anyway, here are my top ten literary loves. 

10. Richard Gansey

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

I knew going into The Raven Boys that all four of the guys were going to be swoon-worthy, and I wasn't disappointed. I loved Gansey - he was such an interesting and complex character. I mean, he's attractive, and he's rich, and he has a really fantastic car. But there's a lot more to him than that, and that's what really makes you fall in love with him.

9. W.W. Hale 

Heist Society by Ally Carter

Hale is basically perfect. I love his name, I love the way he cares for Kat and his loyalty to her and her family. He's such a great character in the books - his perfection would be so annoying if it weren't so...well, perfect.

8. Astley

Need by Carrie Jones

I see no issues with being pixie-kissed by this guy. He's so different from all the other pixies - much less frightening, much nicer. Much cuter...sorry, digressing. I haven't read Endure, yet, so I'm not sure what goes down with the whole Zara-Astley-Nick situation (it's not going to be pretty, I can tell you that), but I don't think it would change my adoration for Astley. This isn't about who I think would be best with Zara, this is about Astley being irresistible.

7. Gale Hawthorne

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Let me start by saying that I love Peeta. Really, I do. I just...happen to love Gale slightly more. I loved him as a character from the very beginning of the book, and he just got better and better throughout Catching Fire. (We're not going to talk about the travesty that was Mockingjay.) He's willing to do whatever it takes to protect his family, and Katniss and her family; he's ready to stand up for what he believes in. He's not afraid to fight for what he wants. He uses a bow and arrow and hunts. I mean, it's not really fair to make Peeta compete against someone who is basically a walking embodiment of things I find attractive.

6. Jay Gatsby

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I think the best way to describe my love for Gatsby is this: my English teacher said that he was a 'sad' and 'pathetic' character, and I spent the rest of the class fuming. Tragic, maybe, but Gatsby is a dreamer, a romantic, and a beautiful character. 

5. Jem Carstairs

The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

Tessa Gray may just be the luckiest girl in the world. Jem is sweet, caring, kind, and overall just a lovely person. I fell in love with Jem as soon as he was introduced in Clockwork Prince. Plus, he plays the violin. That sealed my crush right there. String instruments (and guys who play them) are automatically attractive. 

4. Adam

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Yes, I loved Gansey. I loved all of the Raven Boys. But Adam, 100% without question, is the one I loved the most. When I was making this list, there was no way he wasn't going to be on it. I can't even describe why I love him so much - he's just such an amazing character. Like I said, I loved Gansey, but anyone who would choose him over Adam is clearly insane. 

3. Giddon

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

It's been a long time since I've read Graceling, so I'll admit I don't remember Giddon's character a lot in that book. In Bitterblue, however, he was absolutely perfect all of the time. There was not a single scene where I didn't love what he was saying, or doing, or just enjoy reading about him. He and Bitterblue definitely had some chemistry, too - I say this because if I can't have Giddon because I'm not fictional, someone who is fictional should have a shot. 

2. Will Herondale

The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

I've mentioned once or twice before on this blog that it's impossible for me to choose between Jem and Will. In the context of the story, that's true - I don't want either one of them to have to give up Tessa, or be sad for even a second. Still, from my point of view, Will - with his wicked sarcasm and constant references to literature - is more up my alley than Jem, if not by much. 

1. Aramis

The Three Musketeers from Alexandre Dumas

The first book-guy I really, truly, fell in love with, and no one has topped him since. Nearly everything he did in The Three Musketeers made me sigh longingly. He's brave, loyal, intelligent... if you had asked me before I read a single word of The Three Musketeers to describe the perfect guy, I would have ended up with someone a lot like Aramis. 

~blackandwhitedreamer

The Reading Room is a weekly update on books I'm reading and planning to read, posted on Tuesdays. It was inspired by the feature On Myshelf at the blog All by Myshelf.

Starting this post off with a slightly off-topic (but still related) subject: every year, the public library hosts an auction to raise money. They put on a dinner, take donations, and then whatever people pay for the items goes to the library. It's a really great event, and this year, since I'm volunteering at the library for my graduation project, I was there to help out - which mostly consisted of folding 130 napkins and setting 130 place settings the night before and then hovering around incase anyone needed anything that night.

Anyway, here's the part that ties into my reading update: as I was helping to set up some things for the silent auction, I came across this lovely box that someone had put together and donated, filled with a blanket, snacks, a book, a candle, and several other things. During the auction I put in a bid, luckily won, and came home with, among other things, my own copy of The Help. My aunt (a fellow book nerd) told me that it's a fantastic read. I can't wait to start it.

I also added two books from the school library to my reading pile this week: The Curiosities by Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton, and Brenna Yovanoff, and The Dragon Heir by Cinda Williams Chima. I've already started The Curiosities and absolutely love it - it's so unique, and of course, Maggie Stiefvater is involved, so it's guaranteed to be fantastic. I haven't started The Dragon Heir, but I can't wait to find out what happens next - The Wizard Heir left a lot of questions unanswered.

That's it for this week. Spring break soon, though, which means even more time for reading.

~blackandwhitedreamer

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. A new topic is posted each week, and blogger share their top ten in the category.

Top Ten Books I Recommend The Most

"Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal. And you become convinced that that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book."

10. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

By Douglas Adams

9. The Demon King

By Cinda Williams Chima

8. Clockwork Angel

By Cassandra Clare

7. To Kill A Mockingbird

By Harper Lee

6. The Alchemyst

Michael Scott

5. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

4. 1984

By George Orwell

3. The Hobbit

By J.R.R. Tolkien

2. The Book Thief

By Markus Zusak

1. The Scorpio Races

By Maggie Stiefvater

~blackandwhitedreamer

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. A new topic is posted each week, and bloggers share their top ten in the category.

Top Ten Books I Just HAD to Buy...but are still sitting on my shelf unread

Only a top five this week, which I consider quite an accomplishment - then again, there are far more books than that sitting unread on my shelf, but most of them have been gifts, not something I've been overwhelmed with the desire to buy. 

5. Trickster's Choice & Trickster's Queen

Tamora Pierce

It was Tamora Pierce. There was absolutely no good excuse for passing up two books by Tamora Pierce. And there's even less of an excuse for having not read them yet. I've owned them for over a year now, and just been so distracted by other books (not all of which have been as good as I know these will be) that I haven't gotten around to them yet. 

4. Grimm's Fairy Tales

It was on sale at Barnes & Noble for some really ridiculous price - around five dollars if my memory is correct. And sure, while most of the stories I'm probably familiar with already, I've never read the original versions of all of them - which completely defeats the purpose of owning this book. 

3. Here There Be Dragons

James A. Owen

Like Tamora Pierce's Trickster books, this was a story that looked incredibly promising, a book I've owned for over a year. And again, I have no valid excuse. 

2. Night and Day

Virginia Woolf

College bookstores are wonderful places, filled with every piece of classic or well-known literature you could imagine (although sometimes overpriced.) It was in just such a place that I picked up this book, choosing it at random because a friend assured me that "anything by Viriginia Woolf would be fantastic." Then I started reading the introduction, which did nothing but talk about how this was one of the worst novels Woolf had written. I've been putting off reading it ever since, even though I can't imagine that it's anything other than wonderful. 

1. Pathfinder

Orson Scott Card

In 2011, I was willing to risk overweight luggage in order to buy this book in a Key West bookstore and bring it home. I ended up buying it later, but this book was one I was absolutely dying to get my hands on - and I still haven't read it. That's a big problem. 

Feeling completely guilted into reading these books at the first available opportunity,

~blackandwhitedreamer

The Reading Room (32)

The Reading Room is a weekly update on books I'm reading and planning to read, posted on Tuesdays. It was inspired by the feature On Myshelf at the blog All By Myshelf.

I'm in the middle of several books at the moment, which is of course when I'm at my happiest. We've been reading The Great Gatsby for English class, and so far, I absolutely love it. There's so much detail and description, without it being overwhelming or impossible to understand, like some other books we've read for that class. [Insert awkward-cough-House-of-the-Seven-Gables-cough here. I'm also partway through Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements, which is on our Reading Competition list for the spring competition and has been pleasantly surprising so far. 

Finally, because no week is complete without a trip to the library for non-obligatory reading, I checked out The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde and The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan on Monday. I started The Last Dragonslayer that same day and already I love it; I haven't started The Brides of Rollrock Island, but it looks really good, so I can't wait to.                                                  And that's my reading update for this week! If only there was more time to read all these amazing books (school has been exploding into business lately, but it should wind down soon.)

~blackandwhitedreamer

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  A new topic is posted each week, and bloggers share their top ten in the category.

Top Ten Authors I'd Put On My Auto-Buy List

10. Ally Carter

The first book of hers I encountered was Heist Society, which I fell head-over-heels in love with from the very first page. In addition to this, she's also written the incredible Gallagher Girls series, which is incredible for so many reasons. Her books are fantastic in ways I can't even describe, and I would eagerly devour almost anything she wrote. 

9. Cassandra Clare

Let's just say this: anyone who can make me fall in love with every single character in a book as quickly as Cassandra Clare did in Clockwork Prince deserves a spot on this list. She's an incredible author and truly a master of her craft. 

8. Kirsten Miller

At first, I was content just to read the books in her Kiki Strike series, but then I started following her blog, and was intrigued by the other things she's written. I received The Eternal Ones for Christmas, won an advanced copy of The Darkness Dwellers in a giveaway on the blog, and can't wait to get my hands on a copy of How to Lead a Life of Crime. Absolutely anything she writes is guaranteed to be thrilling and dangerous.

7. Tamora Pierce

I've read almost all of her books without being disappointed yet. I love the worlds she creates, her storytelling style, and her characters. She's just a great author who I can count on for quality stories, and I value that a lot, so of course I'll snatch up her next book as soon as it's released. 

6. Sarah Dessen

It was really nice right after one of my friends (over at http://hellosimpleme.blogspot.com/) had introduced me to Sarah Dessen and recommended her book Just Listen. Why? Because I had discovered my love for Sarah Dessen and had all the books she'd ever written to keep me entertained. Now I've read all of her books and own most of them, and so all I can do is wait eagerly for a new release and pounce on it the second it's available. 

5. Cornelia Funke

Cornelia Funke was basically my inspiration for life when I was younger. I wanted to write books like hers, and reading Dragon Rider and the Inkheart trilogy played a big role in developing my love of fantasy. I still love her books and can barely handle my anticipation anytime I hear rumors that she might be releasing a new one. 

4. Markus Zusak

The author of The Book Thief, who I rave about on a fairly regular basis, was obviously going to earn a spot on this list. I've only read two of his books, The Book Thief and I Am The Messenger, but both were too incredible for words. He really is a genius, a literary artist, a master. While there are a lot of fantastic authors, I have yet to read one whose images are as powerful as the ones Markus Zusak creates. 

3. Cinda Williams Chima

I've gushed a lot about her Seven Realms Series (The Demon King, The Exiled Queen, The Gray Wolf Throne, and The Crimson Crown) on here; I've mentioned, but gushed slightly less about, her Heir series, which I'm in the process of reading right now and love. Clearly, I have to buy any new book she writes the moment it's released - otherwise, I'd run out of things to gush about. 

2. Sarah Addison Allen

Of course, there's always Sarah Addison Allen, whose work I discovered over the summer when I read Garden Spells. As with Sarah Dessen, I quickly devoured everything she'd already written and am now waiting anxiously for a new release. 

1. Maggie Stiefvater

Much like deeming Holmes & Watson the best literary duo, this was a really predictable first choice, but I really had no other option. She is one of the most incredible authors I have ever read - ever - and I literally have nothing bad to say about her. She could write a user's manual for a car, and I would read it.

~blackandwhitedreamer