Quotes--Top Five Wednesday

Top Five Wednesday is hosted by Lainey of gingerreadslainey.  This week's topic is quotes.

I am a bit of a strange one when it comes to quotes.  Most people like inspiring quotes, and while I do like those, I more often zero in on either morbidly creepy ones or the funny ones, so my list is a bit atypical.  I'm weird like that.

Here in no particular order are some of my favorite quotes.

Top 5 Wednesday--Genres

Hi!  It's me.  I know I've been MIA for a couple months.  Teaching has been crazy busy, but I want to get back to blogging.  So I'm going to start small.  I won't be thoroughly reviewing every book I read, like I've done for the last year or so, just the ones I have something to say about.  I won't be posting to any set schedule, but I'm going to shoot for about once a week.

I'm making my comeback by joining the Top 5 Wednesday meme started by Lainey of gingerreadslainey.  Yes, I know that's supposed to be a YouTube thing, but it's way faster to type up a post than to film and edit a video.  And I know that Top Ten Tuesday is a the bigger meme  in the text blogging world, but I don't like their topics as much.  And I know it's Thursday.  But you know what?  I don't care.  This is my blog and for the first time in forever (cue the music) I actually feel like writing something.  My blog, my space, my rules.

So anyways, this week's topic is Top Ten Genres.

Fantasy.  I would spend all my time reading this if I didn't stop myself.  There are just so many exciting looking fantasy adventures out there.  This will always be my go to genre.  Favorites include Mistborn (really anything written by Sanderson), Harry Potter, Dealing with Dragons, Dragon Slippers.

Fairy Tale Retellings.  Also fairy tale esque books.  Ditto to the above sentiment.  Favorites include Princess of Glass, Strands of Bronze and Gold, Entwined, Ella Enchanted, The Princess Curse, The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom.

Coming of Age Contemporary.  Not fluffy chick lit.  That's good every once in a while, but give me a book where the main character is struggling to figure out who they are and where they belong and couple it with excellent writing and I'm gone.  Favorites include Speak, Freak the Mighty, Rules, Okay for Now.

Historical Fiction.  Sometimes these are hard-hitting serious books, sometimes they're just good-ole adventures.   Favorites include Between Shades of Gray, Okay for Now, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, Leviathan (alternate history counts).

Dystopia as Social Critique not as Setting.  So many of the recent "dystopian" fiction in recent years has just been adventure set in a messed up society.  The story is there for the adventure, not for the exploration of the society.  Boring.  I want my dystopia to project potential futures based on society's current trends.  I want to see where we could go and why that path would be bad.  I want to explore corruption that is based in reality, not that was invented abstractly in the author's mind.  Favorites include Unwind, The Giver, Across a Star Swept Sea, Uglies.

If this post seems a bit unpolished and thrown together, it is.  I really should be planning a lesson right now and don't feel like hunting down an image or carefully drafting and editing.  I just want to get back into the blogging game.

Top Ten Topics That Will Make Me Read a Book

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Yes, I know this was the top ten topic for last week, but I had family in town, so I spent time with them instead of writing posts.  Any who, we all have those buzz words or topics that make us HAVE to pick up a book or at least take a good long look at it.  Here are mine in no particular order:

--Shiny Covers, Especially with Scroll Work--Entwined.  Strands of Bronze and Gold.  It's just soooo pretty.  I may not actually read the book, but I will gaze at the cover for a while.  

--Gender Bendering--Mulan.  Alanna.  Deryn.  There's just something about the disguise and the desperation that pushes them into the deceit and can I use any more D words?  I love when a woman not just survives, but wins in a man's world.

--Archery--This stems from my secret desire to be a marksman and/or elf.  Seriously Hunger Games, you write a book about a girl who hunts with a bow and you don't put that bow on the cover?  Who cares about the symbolic resonance of the mockingjay?  Arrows!

--Medival/Magic--Anything taking place in a medivalish world or that uses magic is bound to catch my eye, as you can tell by the fact that over a third of my books on Goodreads are shelved under medical or fantasy or both.

--Dragons--I can't even provide justification for this one.  Dragons are cool.  The end.

--Wolves--Mysterious.  Majestic.  Third M word.  Ever since reading Julie of the Wolves, I've loved them, so wolves better feature positively in your story.

--Hooded Figures--Hooded figures with partially obscured faces just look so mysterious on book covers.  The hooded ranger on The Ruins of Gorlan is more than half the reason I read it.  The other half was the quiver on his back

--Fairy Tale Retellings/Books About Books--I love these.  LOVE.  Diving into very one dimensional characters and giving them a back story.  I don't know what it is.  Reexamining older books/stories, is just intriguing.

--Brandon Sanderson--Not really a topic, but I will read anything he writes.  

--A Really Interesting and Novel Premise--I know that includes everything, so it doesn't really mean anything, but really.  Something original like genetically engineered war beasts and mech suits or teens being divided into their constituent parts or a Bluebeard retelling in antebellum South, something more than every other book piques my interest.

What are your buzz word/topics?

Top Ten Series I'd Like to Start But Haven't

Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Yes, this was the To Ten topic for last week, but this was when I had time to write the post.  If you absolutely can't stand me breaking the assigned topic, think of this as my Top Ten series to begin in spring.  But anyways, these are the series I really need/want to start reading.

10--Benny Imura by Jonathan Maberry beginning with Rot & Ruin.  I haven't read any zombie books, not even Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.  So I should probably jump on the boat sometime soon...  And it's got a cool cover.

9--Thursday Next by Jasper Fjord beginning with the Eyre Affair.  I love books about books. There's just something about messing around with characters from someone else's novel. If Jane Eyre is up and wandering around outside her story, obviously that has to be put to a stop.  And I've heard Mrs. Havisham from Great Expectations makes an appearance in this series.  Let's hear it for crazy old ladies.

8--The Grisha by Leigh Bardugo beginning with Shadow and Bone.  I've heard mixed reviews about this one, but I"m willing to give it a shot.  I love a good fantasy and if nothing else, the cover is amazing enough that I need to read it.  

7--Michael Vey by Richard Paul Evans beginning with The Prisoner of Cell 25.  I know almost nothing about this series, but a teacher I know gave this book to a 7th grader who doesn't normally read.  By the end of the class period, the student was interested enough in the story to ask for the sequel.  If there's a book out there interesting reluctant readers, I need to read it.

6--Mairelon by Patricia C. Wrede beginning with Mairelon the Magician. Wrede's books are always quirky and fun and hilarious.  I loved the Enchanted Forest books.  This series is Victorian street urchin + magic.  What more could you want?  I used A Matter of Magic (the bound set of the two books in one) as the picture because the cover is just so pretty whereas the books seperately bound are less so.

5--Theater Illuminata by Lisa Mantchev beginning with Eyes Like Stars--Shakespeare retellings.  'nuf said.  Seriously.  Books about books meet retellings of myth-like things (okay, they're plays not myths, but still) all in a fantasy world.  My favorite genres got married and had kids.

4--Fairytale Retellings by Jackson Pearce beginning with Sisters Red.  I love fairytale retellings, as I've said all over the place on this blog.  Who else is stoked for Fairytale Fortnight?  Ahem, back to the book.  I've heard Pearce's books are good.  And the covers are amazing.  

3--This is also why I want to read The League of Princes by Christopher Healey beginning with The Hero's Guide to Saving the Kingdom.  We rarely get retelling from the prince's point of view, and Healey is supposed to be very funny.

2--Also Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale.  Western spunky princess graphic novel retelling.

1--Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness beginning with The Knife of Never Letting Go.  I've heard these are amazing and I own the first book, so I will read it one of these days when I find a minute.  

Most of these series are fantasy, so I'll probably have to pace them out some to get some variety in my reading so I don't go crazy, but I will begin them.  Soon.  Sometime.  Probably after finals.  Or later.


If you've read any of these series, let me know what you thought about them.  Also, which one series should I start first?  Which series are you dying to begin?

Book Chat: Top Ten Favorite Books I Read In 2012

Misty's book chat for the month at The Book Rat and the Top Ten Tuesday over at The Broke and the Bookish were about our favorite reads for the year.  So I combined my responses to both into one post. 

The Wednesday Wars--Gary Schmidt

Much Ado About Nothing--William Shakespeare

Speak--Laurie Halse Anderson

Leviathan--Scott Westerfeld

Dark Life--Kat Falls

Alloy of Law--Brandon Sanderson

The Humming Room--Ellen Potter

Seraphina--Rachel Hartman

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry--Mildred D. Taylor

Entwined--Heather Dixon

Like up your responses in the comments.  Let me know what you think!  What books did you love this year?

Top Ten Books I'd Want on a Desert Island

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This is a week late, but last week was too busy for me to get the post out.  So I'm putting it out on Monday...It's my blog; I do what I want.

I'll recognize that both How to Build a Raft  and the Desert Island Survival Guide are disqualified because they are too obvious and not real books.  Assuming I won't be rescued for a while, these are the books I'd want on a desert island.  I'm cheating and using lots of series.  

#10 Cyrano de Bergerac--This is my favorite play and the source for the name of my blog. Actually, if I had my choice, I'd want the filmed play staring Kevin Kline instead of just the book.  Of course, then I'd also need a TV and a DVD player and a source of electricity that would be better used signalling for help.

#9 Dragon Slippers--To comfort myself on the lonely deserted island, I will need a cutsey, fun, fairytale-esque adventure.  Dragon Slippers fits the bill.  

#8 The Giver--The dystopia would lose a lot of its effect outside the context of society, but I like the book well enough to bring it along.

#7 Anne of Green Gables--I was a quieter version of Anne when I was growing up.  Just as precocious, just as romantic, just as silly.  Hopefully I mellowed out as successfully as she did.  I would definitely want the first book, if not the whole series.

#6 The Lord of the Rings--I read the whole series years ago, but now the movies dominate my memory, so I need to reread it.  On my island I'd have time to appreciate the slow epicness of Tolkien's creation of an entire world, including all the languages and cultures.

#5 The Iliad and The Odyssey--Homer practically makes up the twin pillars of Western thought and literature. I seriously need to read these.  On an Island I'd actually have time to do so.  And there's poetic irony in having The Odyssey with me while being stranded.

#4 The Mistborn Series--I was blown away when I read these last summer.  They were epic and phenomenal and I want to reread the whole series again.  And Sanderson's writing is just great, so.

# 3 The Collected Works of William Shakespeare--I really like Shakespeare's use of language and if I'm stuck on a desert island, I'll have time to get to know it all.

# 2 The Collected Works of Jane Austen--Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion always rank high on my list of favorites and I like all of Austen's books.  Her social commentary may not mean much on a solitary desert island, but I can still enjoy the verbal swordplay.

# 1 The Harry Potter series--Duh.  These are some of my very favorite books and Harry Potter was my childhood--I grew up with Harry.  If I had nothing else to read, I could be satisfied with Harry.

Let me know what your top ten picks are in the comments.
Mini tangent:  How about I get shipwrecked on a dessert island instead?

Top Ten Favorite Kick-Butt Heroines

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

#10 Alanna
It has been many moons since I read the Song of the Lioness series, so I don't remember much about Alanna, but I remember really enjoying the books.  I'm a sucker for a girl disguising as a boy (Go Mulan!) and it's set in a medieval fantasy word (I still want to be a knight).  Alanna was the first girl I remember encountering in this situation in book form.  

#9 Ella of Frell
Ella Enchanted is my favorite retelling of Cinderella.  Ella doesn't wait for her fairy godmother to rescue her; she goes out and rescues herself.  She faces down ogres.  She speaks dwarfish.  She gives up the prince.  She legitimately breaks the spell (I have issues with the too-freaking-easy spell breaking in the movie adaption).  Ella is a fairytale princess we can believe in. 

#8 Princess Cimorene
There's something just charming about a princess who would rather learn fencing and Latin than embroider and marry a prince.  Cimorene has the guts to run away, cook for a dragon, face down wizards, and chase away the bothersome knights who keep trying to rescue her.  The whole Enchanted Forest series is a fun middle-grade adventure.  

#7 Mariel of Redwall
I adored the Redwall series in middle school.  The badgers, otters, and Long Patrol hares  are the true kick-butt characters, but I can't think of any female hares at the moment and  Mariel was my introduction to the series, swinging her knotted rope around defending Redwall Abbey from pirates.

#6 Melinda Sordino
Melinda doesn't go on any adventures in Speak, but I think she's the true heroine among all these other fantasy characters.  She says, "No; you raped me; that's not okay.  It was horrible and I'm a mess now, but I'm not going to stand by and let you use my friend or use me again."  While we may never swing a sword or fire a bow, most of us will be asked to speak out about something.  Melinda is a real heroine.

#5 Hermione Granger
Hermione hardly even needs a justifying paragraph.  She's just awesome.  Though not as proficient at hexes as Ginny, she will sick canaries at your face, stick by you in the face of deranged murderers, and know just the right spell to save your life.

#4  Beatrice of Sicily and Elizabeth Bennett
I love witty and clever characters.  The verbal swordplay in Much Ado About Nothing and Pride and Prejudice is fantastic.  These ladies can hold their own and insult you without you ever realizing it, because you're not smart enough to catch on to their wit.

#3  Katniss Everdeen and Tally Youngblood
Two (1 2) dystopian series with great beginnings.  Two heroines left mentally scarred and just plain messed up by the end of the series.  Katniss and Tally definitely kick butt and take names. 

#2:  Deryn Sharp

Another girl in disguise, Deryn is awesome.  She's smart.  She's capable.  She can fly.  She can swear better than Alek.  She is loyal to a fault and can ride out a storm on the back of the Leviathan.  And she has a talking loris.

#1:  Vin 
If you haven't yet read Mistborn, you are missing out.  Vin is one of the best female leads I have ever seen.  She's strong but vulnerable   She's awesome and capable without being overpowered.  Sanderson is incredibly good at developing believable, interesting characters and Vin is no exception.


What are your top ten picks?  Do you disagree with any of mine?