Top 10 Books For A Book Club Pick

Welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the lovely Broke and the Bookish :) This week, in no particular order (despite the numbering), we have:

Top 10 Books That Would Make 

A Great Book Club Pick

1.  I'll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Two boys taken by a deadbeat, off-his-rocker dad makes up for a brutal, heart wrenching and hopeful story of how they survive on their own intelligences, instincts and love for each other. This book covers everything from new love to enduring love to failed love to misplaced familial love and just how much of it we can bear - and what ultimately it all means.

2. Matched by Ally Condie (read my review here!)
Simply because I think the world Ally Condie has created could be a possible future.  Eliminating excess, controlling lives and choices and matches and food intake to maximize our output and outcome? I could probably pick 10+ people from my life right now who would opt for a life like that, and I think that warrants a discussion.

3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I don't think there's much to say that we all don't know. This series is fantastic and interesting and so action-packed that there's been years of discussion on it.

4. If I Stay/Where She Went by Gayle Foreman
If you've read these, you know why it's on this list - and if you haven't, then dear God GO GET THE BOOKS. The choice of staying when you know your family has gone will rip your soul to shreds, and then the absolute tragic and great love when there's so much to bear will make it all worthwhile.

5. The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle
Similar in catalyst to If I Stay, The Beginning of After tackles the idea of being left behind when the rest of your family is killed in a car accident.  It adds an interesting plot element of having a friend's family involved (even to blame, pending your judgment), and after I read it I felt I could talk for hours about Laurel and her life.

6. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
This has been optioned for a movie, right? It seems fairly obvious to me why, because it's gripping and has such possibilities when you find out it's a deceased girl who has made tapes for each person who played a part in her suicide - and then sent them to those involved to let them know why and how it all comes together. It's one of those Big Life Topics neatly packaged into a bold story. Even though I was only so-so on the book itself, it would lead to tons of discussion.

7. It's Kind of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
I think we're all kind of like Craig Gilner, in a weird and semi-messed up way. Who hasn't felt so much pressure that we all just...crack a little bit?  This is a story of a 15-year old gifted boy in a gifted school who doesn't feel like he can live up to it all: so he checks himself into a psychiatric ward after he begins to consider suicide.

8. Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan
I've mentioned on this blog before that this isn't even my favourite David Levithan novel (though still loved), but it's such a Big, Intimidating topic: 9/11 in it's just-before, during and after state.  How did we all handle it? How did we all come to terms with such a tragic event, how did we all wrap our minds around it? The book handles it so well and with such a respect that it deserves to be talked about.

9. The Outsiders by SE Hinton
It's a classic about brotherhood and rivalries and the love that can cross all.  Absolutely brilliant, and one of my all-time favourite books ever.

10. The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephan Chbosky
Also becoming a movie to be released later this year (with Logan Lerman, of Percy Jackson fame!), this one is also well-known and frequently banned or limited as it deals a lot with drugs, homosexuality, sex and suicide. But it's also more than just hot-button topics: it's about adolescence and introversion and awkwardness and influence and how we all have to learn how to handle life.

11. Honorable Mention: What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
17-year-old Mclean has spent her years since a divorce traveling around with her father on his many jobs and avoiding her cheating mother and the new family she's creating. With every move, Mclean creates another name and personality, opting to never really be known as the inevitable relocation will only rip away all that she's known for the last year. And then they move to one town, and Mclean, in a blindsided moment, has to tell her real name: and suddenly, she's learning what it means to want to belong, how to become her real person, and that she can't always run and change forever.  It's a beautiful story of feeling lost and reinvented.

12. Bonus Adult Novel: Addition by Toni Jordan
I was recommended to read this a few years ago, and even though I wasn't too crazy about it (it's a light, funny and vaguely memorable novel that mixes in some very real struggles), I still remember how it takes on the notion of OCD and how it really affects lives: not just yours, but the people around you, too.  People like to joke nowadays that they're "so OCD omg, I like need to eat carrots every day or else I just feel gross, y'know?" (that's a real quote from someone in my life, by the way).  But not many realize just how restrictive and terrifying this disease is.  Toni Jordan's novel does quite well in the avenue of explaining it, showing what it can do and what it makes a person do, and just how to live with it.  I really loved how she integrated the idea of accepting OCD and learning to live with it, not just trying to get rid of it.

What books would you pick for a book club? Leave me your link and I'll come check it out!

TGIF (3) and Follow Friday (2)!

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee's View that spotlights two amazing blogs and allows bloggers to link up and meet other fabulous bookish friends and share the Following love.

This week's spotlight blogs are: Fiction Ferver and Book'd Out

And the question is:
Which book genre do you avoid at all costs and why?

Hmmm...I'm not really big on memoirs or Science Fiction, but there are definitely exceptions to that distaste.  HOWEVER, (and I know this is kind of twisting the question prompt but go with it!) I absolutely cannot stand time travel!  There's just something about it that I cannot ever get into. Everything I've tried to read I just find too many loopholes or things that I don't believe would happen given the time readjustments. It's not like everything I read is real or believable so I don't quite understand my aversion to time travel, but I know it's there.  What's funny is this extends to movies and TV shows too, so it's just a life-avoidance, really!

What genre do you avoid? Leave a link in my comments and I'll come check it out! (and of course if you follow I would love to follow back!)

TGIF is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads. This week's question is:
Buy or Borrow: Where do your books that you read come from? The bookstore? The library? Do you prefer to own a book, or have it on loan?

Most of my books are from the library, and I like it that way. Libraries have been a haven for me all my life: my mother is a librarian, and they've always meant home. It's books and order and familiarity and so many worlds and universes and possibilities all in one room or under one roof - they're amazing.  So naturally, I want to support them all I can.  Obviously it's much more financially stressful to own every book you read too, so the library is a nice little cash-saver as well.

Also, I feel like having books from the library increases my odds of reading them soon. Having a deadline to return the book makes me feel like I need to read that book and do it quick, before my time runs out. No offense meant to books I buy of course!  It's just that I get that oh well, it'll be there later feeling with ones I own and they tend to get lost in my TBR stack.

Of course, if a book is one that I absolutely loved loved loved after reading a library copy, I will eventually go out and purchase my own copy. If I love it I want it available and on hand at all times, even if I rarely go back and read it again.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Review: Matched by Ally Condie *minor spoilers

Matched (Matched, Book 1) by Ally Condie
Dutton Juvenile, 366 Pages
Released November 30, 2010

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

------------Goodreads summary

Notable Quote

"This is a difficult balance, telling the truth: how much to share, how much to keep, which truths will wound but not ruin, which will cut too deep to heal."

***MINOR SPOILERS - nothing major, but I do discuss some of the events in the book***


I've been waffling at the rating I'm going to give this book for awhile.  It's been so hyped to me (this is what I get for reading it 1.5 years after it's original release...) that I had high expectations, and I have to say...they were sort of met?  I mean, I'm not that well versed in Dystopian YA fiction quite yet - but I know I like romance, intrigue, creative worlds, a few twists, and that painful, welcome tug at my heart.  And in that sense, completely delivered.  There were honestly moments I could not put this book down, times that I had to know what was happening and felt like I myself was trying to make a choice and defy Society.


But it also took me 5 days to read this - about 4 days longer than it would take me to read any other book.  I finished two others during it, and started two more. It wasn't ever slow, and it wasn't ever boring.  But there was just something about it where I was...unimpressed?  It may be that I just wanted her to be nicer to Xander!  He's her Match, her long time best friend...so the Friend Zone, I guess.  So much of her discovery of life beyond Society's Choices seemed selfish to me, and I hated that.


That all said...I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS.  My heart was torn with hers when Ky was "relocated," I wanted to cry for Bram when the Artifacts were taken away. I believed whole-heartedly in her parents love and the goodness of Xander.  Despite my reservations about the book, I can't deny that it's a fabulous read.


Also, how amazing is this Society that Ally Condie has cooked up?!  It's brilliant: the Hundred Poems/Songs, ports, even the Match system. Of course I think it's all terrible, but the idea of it is so original.  Was I the only one who feared this could totally happen in real life?  Technology/social media and the availability to be so linked in with such an influx of sensations is overwhelming - and I could see how one day we'd all decide it's just too much and strip it all away.


(And bonus notable quote: "There is screaming in the Borough again and this time it is human."  How striking is that?!)


Even though I had negatives, the positives of this book FAR outweigh all of them. I can't wait to get Crossed (Book 2)!


4 Stars / 5

Waiting on Wednesday: Flirting in Italian by Lauren Henderson

Waiting on Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine, 

spotlights a book we're eagerly waiting for!

Flirting in Italian by Lauren Henderson
Delacorte Books, 336 Pages
US Release Date: June 12, 2012

Four girls. One magical, and possibly dangerous Italian summer. Family mysteries, ancient castles, long hot nights of dancing under the stars . . . and, of course, plenty of gorgeous Italian boys!

--------Goodreads summary.


Short summary, but promises so much!  I lived in Italy when I was younger and have a soft spot for all things Italian or Italian-related; and this one just sounds like so much delicious, girl adventure fun!


What are you eagerly waiting for? Leave your link in the comments and I'll check it out!

Review: Close To Famous by Joan Bauer

Viking Juvenile, 250 Pages
Released: February 3, 2011
Age: Middle Grade

Foster McFee dreams of having her own cooking show like her idol, celebrity chef Sonny Kroll. Macon Dillard's goal is to be a documentary filmmaker. Foster's mother Rayka longs to be a headliner instead of a back-up singer. And Miss Charleena plans a triumphant return to Hollywood. Everyone has a dream, but nobody is even close to famous in the little town of Culpepper. Until some unexpected events shake the town and its inhabitants - and put their big ambitions to the test. Full of humor, unforgettable characters, surprises, and lots and lots of heart, this is Joan Bauer at her most engaging.

------------------- Goodreads summary

Notable Quote

"I felt safe around this small, determined boy who didn't make fun of anything I told him. This is how best friends are made."

4 Stars / 5

I really, really liked this book. I wasn't expecting much since my last (and first) experience with Joan Bauer wasn't too stellar (see my review of Stand Tall here), but as soon as I saw cupcakes and the premise, I knew I'd give it a shot. And I'm glad I did! Foster McFee is such an adorable protagonist, she's that perfect young girl who is just on the edge of learning the big things of life. She's been put through some very adult situations and has some very serious struggles, and Joan is perfect in her approach to it as a child.  The summary is spot on when it says this book has lots and lots of heart.

I was particularly taken with the integration of Foster's passion for cooking into her struggle with reading, her mom's abusive relationship and trying to figure out her place in this tiny town. Cupcakes and sweets are a universal language, everyone has some sort of memory with them - and Ms. Bauer is fabulous in being able to invoke that nostalgia in the reader and making you really believe in Foster and her talent and perseverance.  I loved how Foster really had a belief in cooking and ingredients and what they can mean to anyone and everyone.

I do recommend this for Middle Grade girls, I think it's a perfect book to really start trying to understand the Big Issues in life and the difficulties of fitting in, finding your voice, and being strong. Be aware there are serious issues (family abuse, mainly), but if it's something you think your child can handle, don't hesitate.

Top Ten Tuesday: How I'm A Liar

This week's Top Ten Tuesday (as always, hosted by the lovely Broke and the Bookish) is a free category; meaning you can make up your own or grab one from their long list of past topics that might have missed. As I was scrolling through, one definitely caught my eye that I decided to do a bitty version of:

10 Bookish Things I Lie About

1. A Game of Thrones. I've yet to read the series (or see the show), but one of the baristas at Coffee Bean was trying to defend the series to this obnoxious customer who was so resistant against it. Come to find out, the customer hadn't ever even read a synopsis of the series!  As I have read the first 50ish pages of the Game of Thrones (which obvs makes this ok), I chimed in really quick that the series is awesome and that I was in agreement with the barista. I'm not sure why I felt I had to, but I do want to read it eventually and was quite enthralled with the pages I have read. Plus, the barista is one of my favourites!

2. 1984.  People seem to assume I've read this for some reason, but I have not. It's my brother's favourite book and I always mean to read it - just haven't gotten around to it.

3. I don't read romance books.  Total lie. I've never read harlequins or those that are on the bookshelves near them, but I love me some Susan Elizabeth Phillips at least.  Read all of hers (exception: Call Me Irresistible, which is in my TBR stack!) and intend to keep doing so.

4. I've read the entire Gossip Girl series. I always vaguely say that I've read a few of them, but truth is I read the entire series as fast as I could get my hands on them from the library. It wasn't necessarily that juicy/interesting, it was just one of those things where I had to know where it was all going!  I'm not sure why I lie about it.

5. My feelings about Kurt Vonnegut.  Most of the time I'll say "I just wasn't into his books...I respect him and I get why he's a classic, but it's not my style."  Which is mostly true, I'm just not saying that I could not stand Slaughterhouse Five. It was probably the most I've ever had to push myself to finish a book - and I'm not sure why. I've always wanted to reread just because maybe I'll understand it better now, but...ugh. I really didn't like it. HOWEVER, I do say "so it goes" quite often.

6. Likewise to 1984, I've never read the Narnia series or The Lord of the Rings series. I've started both, but can't quite get into it more.

7. The Little Prince. This lie is different than the others because I have said before that I've read both the English and the French version of this.  I've read parts of both, just never in it's entirety.  But it's on my nightstand, ready to have it's turn one day!

8. Speaking of French, this one is more of a...twist. I count The Count of Monte Cristo as a book I've read, but in actuality I've never read it...in English.  I have, however, read Le Comte de Monte-cristo in it's entirety.  I should probably read the English version one day just so I'm positive I understood it all, but so far it seems I've got it!

9. Little Women is my favourite book of all time. In 9th grade, a bunch of people in my Honors English class made fun of me when I said so. They told me it was a childish, lame book and that I needed to grow up.  For YEARS after, I was so ashamed to say Little Women was my favourite, often claiming Pride & Prejudice, Catcher in the Rye, or Brave New World to be my favourite (all of which are some of my all-time favourites, but not THE favourite).  It's only been recently that I've stopped being ashamed and reclaimed Little Women as my favourite.

10. E-Readers. I lie about this in multiple ways. Mostly, I can't stand them. I adore physical books, the smell of them and being surrounded by shelves and stacks and how yellowed pages can tell as much a story as the words within it.  Given a choice, it will always be a real book.  BUT...without meaning to be spoiled, I was given an iPad from my boss as a gift - so I do have an e-reader. And I see the value in it, I read ebooks and take it with me on trips so I can have a whole library at my fingertips. So I'm lying when I say I would never have an e-reader, but I'm also lying when I say I don't use mine.

Any bookish fibs you tell?