Top Ten Tuesday #22

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week's TTT is words/topics that make you instantly buy/pick up a book.  I've decided to not only list my Go-To words/topics, but also some of the books that I did actually buy/pick up because of them.

Top Ten Words/Topics That Make Me Instantly Buy or Pick Up a Book

• Retelling/Revamping/Adaptation
• Splintered by A.G. Howard
• Jane by April Lindner
• Beastly by Alex Flinn
• Mythology (especially Hades & Persephone)
• Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
• Abandon by Meg Cabot
• The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
• Love Triangle (I know, I know; cue the groaning & eye-rolling)
• Matched by Ally Condie
• The Selection by Kiera Cass
• The Host by Stephenie Meyer
• Dystopian
• Dualed by Elsie Chapman
• Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien
• Eve by Anna Carey
• Regency/Historical Romance
• Georgette Heyer's novels
• Seeking Persephone by Sarah M. Eden
• A Gown of Spanish Lace by Janette Oke
• Dragons
• A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan
• The Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey
• The Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
• Jane Austen
• Austenland by Shannon Hale
• Lost in Austen by Emma Campbell Webster
• A Memoir of Jane Austen by James Edward Austen-Leigh
• Mystery/Suspense
• Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
• The Hercule Poirot series by Agatha Christie
• And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
• Epic/High Fantasy
• The Cadet of Tildor by Alex Lidell
• The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander
• The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini
• Travel and/or Cooking Memoir (especially set in Italy)
• A Thousand Days in Tuscany by Marlena de Blasi
• Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl
• Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

So what do you think?  Are you a fan of any of these words or topics?  Are you wondering how I could possibly like love triangles?  And what are some words or topics that make you grab up a book without a second thought?

Random Thoughts - Reading Slumps

Reading slumps... I hates them.  Unfortunately, I'm in the middle of one right now.  It just feels like a chore to pick up a book and read it right now.  All I want to do is turn on the TV and veg and be completely unproductive.  Which also extends into my blogging.  I just don't feel like updating or posting.  Especially since I don't have anything to write about anyway.  Blah.

Perhaps the biggest reason I'm in a slump is because pretty much all of my new books to be read are the same genre.  Dualed, Under the Never Sky, Crossed - they're all dystopian, and as much as I love that genre, sometimes you have to take a break.  

Then there was the fact that the last two books I read were really disappointing, and that can always make it hard to pick up another book.  What if the next book is just as disappointing or gross?  What if I absolutely hate it and it feels like a waste of time?

I also think it's because I signed up for this Goodreads Reading Challenge.  My goal is 150 books this year, and that stupid site doesn't just keep track of your progress, it also feels the need to inform you of how well you're doing.  Right now, it says that at my current rate of reading, I'm three books behind schedule.  Behind schedule???  I have a whole year to reach my goal.  How can I be "behind schedule"?  There is nothing that can take the joy out of reading faster than a deadline.  Or worse, a nagging deadline.

So how to break this slump?  I've decided to try a couple of things and see which works best.

• Re-read old favorites
• By re-reading some of my old favorites, I'm hoping to just give myself a reminder of how much I love reading and books.  It will also hopefully renew my confidence that there are good books out there that aren't going to disappoint me.
• Switch genres
• I really need to stop reading nothing but dystopian.  For one thing, it can get kind of depressing.  For another, they all start to blend together.  So I need to read something completely different, like historical fiction or contemporary or memoirs.
• Visit the library
• I'm going to the library with my sister tomorrow.  I'll be able to pick up some new books that look interesting and actually gain my attention.  I could also find some sequels to books that I know are good.
• Ignore Goodreads
• I just need to accept that there are going to be weeks where I read like a crazy fiend, and others where I read one book and that's it.  And Goodreads can't determine whether or not I'm going to accomplish my goal at the rate at which they think I should be reading.  Just forget the deadline and have fun!

Book Review: Master of Many Treasures by Mary Brown

Title:  Master of Many Treasures
Author:  Mary Brown
Series:  Pigs Don't Fly #3
Genre:  Fantasy
Pages:  384

Rating:  F

Synopsis from goodreads.com:  The good news was that Summer had found true love. The bad news was that, while the object of her affections was sometimes in human form, he was last seen in dragon form flying east. So she undertook yet another arduous quest...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I cannot think of anything good to say about Master of Many Treasures.  I really can't.  All I can think of was everything I hated about this book.

• Profanity  -  The last book had hardly any swearing in it at all.  In this book, the F-word is used frequently.  I just couldn't deal with how many times it was said.
• Sex  -  I stopped actually reading the book and just skimmed the rest of it when the author just kept bringing up sick/disgusting references.  I don't even want to mention/think about what was in the book.  I was so grossed out; I almost didn't finish the book at all.  But since I wanted to know if Summer and Jasper ended up together, I pretty much just kept jumping ahead every 10 pages, skimmed to see what happened, and then jumped ahead the next 10 pages until the end.
• Dickon  -  I hated this character so much, I wanted him to die.  Most of the profanity is from his dialogue too.
• The ending  -  Probably one of the worst endings ever.  I finished the book and was like, "I wasted my time reading/skimming this book for it to end like that?!"

Don't bother reading this book at all.  Even if you've read Pigs Don't Fly and want to know what happens next, it's not worth reading this garbage, which is exactly where my copy of this book is headed.  F

Book Review: Pigs Don't Fly by Mary Brown

Title:  Pigs Don't Fly
Author:  Mary Brown
Series:  Pigs Don't Fly #2
Genre:  Fantasy
Pages:  384

Rating:  C+

Synopsis from goodreads.com:  Left an orphan with a small dowry and a magic ring, all Summer wanted was to find a husband. But first, a raggle-tail assortment of creatures needed her help--particularly the flying pig and the handsome amnesiac blind knight...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I first heard about Pigs Don't Fly while browsing through Barnes & Noble's website.  The book was out-of-print, so of course they didn't actually carry it, and I forgot about it for years.  Then I found it on paperbackswap.com recently, and I was so excited to read it.  Perhaps my expectations were too high, because I thought the book was just okay.

The characters are interesting and different.  Summer is an educated peasant girl, almost unheard of in her world, and she's compassionate and caring towards others.  But she's also obese, naive, and stubborn.  She gets a crush on a blind knight (which she's happy about because he can't see how fat she is) who needs her help to find his way home, and she picks up a ragtag crew of misfit animals on the way.  The animals are actually more interesting characters than the humans.

The story itself is all-over-the-place with a very thin plot.  But it had lots of small, fun adventures that were entertaining.  The biggest problem with the story as a whole was the ending.  It felt rushed and thrown-together at the last minute, like the author had no more ideas and just needed an out.

And then there's the insta-love.  These two characters had nothing between them at all (they're not even the same species during most of their adventures), and once they kiss, they magically fall madly in love with each other. Hates it!  And I was actually thrown by all the sexual references made throughout the book.  There was nothing explicit fortunately, but there's still a lot more than I expected.

Pigs Don't Fly is an okay book.  It's moderately entertaining; the animals are the story's saving grace.  It would have been better as a series of short stories rather than one book.  C+

Top Ten Tuesday #21

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week's topic is books I liked more/less than I thought I would.  Of course it was really easy to think of books I liked less, so that half of the list is longer.

Top Ten Books I Liked More/Less Than I Thought I Would

Less

• Nerilka's Story by Anne McCaffrey  -  I love Anne McCaffrey and her Dragonriders of Pern series, but this book was terrible, not only as a Pern novel but also as a story in general.  The characters and the romance were awful.  It just sucked overall.
• Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes  -  I picked up this book because I loved the movie, and the movie's so much better.  The book is boring, and the Polish workers who provided so much humor are a small chapter in an otherwise drab book.  I didn't even bother to finish it.  If I had to read about them finding one more well on the property, I was going to cry tears of boredom.
• Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes  -  The premise sounded interesting; they were calling it Game of Thrones for teens.  And that's pretty much what it was - a watered-down copycat trying to ride the coattails of the HBO series' success.  Plus the wooden characters, mediocre writing, and cliches didn't help either.
• Pure by Julianna Baggott  -  I really wanted to like this book.  The characters were good, and the story was interesting, but it was just too... icky.  I don't like things that are gross or gruesome (like zombies, for example), and this book just had too much of it for me to stomach.  If you're reading a book, and your main reaction is that you feel like you're going to be sick, it's not the right book for you.
• The Dragon Princess by E.D. Baker  -  I loved most of Baker's Frog Princess series, so this book was a disappointment.  The characters are too annoying to like, and the constant recapping of all the previous books/storylines drove me nuts.  I know what happened in the last book; you don't have to tell the whole story over again.
• That Summer in Sicily by Marlena de Blasi  -  De Blasi's other memoirs and travelogues are beautiful, sometimes romantic, and well-written.   This book was just terrible.  It had nothing to do with her travels in Sicily or with her at all.  The book was just de Blasi recounting someone else's (uninteresting) life story as she heard it when she was in Sicily.
• House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones  -  It is so hard to admit this, but yes, there is a Diana Wynne Jones book that I didn't love.  The main character is frustrating, and the story itself is only so-so.  I loved all the other books from this series, but this one just didn't live up to what I've come to expect from Jones' work.

More

• The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer  -  When I read the description for this book, it didn't catch my interest.  It sounded silly and nothing like Heyer's usual work.  But this book is epic!  The dialogue is some of her best and wittiest.  The characters and the story are amazing and hilarious.  I couldn't stop laughing out loud while reading it.
• Austenland by Shannon Hale  -  Chick-lit and I do not usually get along, so I was very skeptical about this book.  But since it involved Jane Austen, and I love all things Austen, I decided to try it out anyway.  I'm so glad I did.  I'm in love with everything about this book - the romance, the characters, the setting, the story.  I just want to get swept off to Austenland and fall in love with my own Mr. Nobley.  **Sigh**
• Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale  -  When I heard Hale was writing a sequel to Austenland, I grabbed it as soon as it was released.  But when I read the blurb, I thought it sounded nothing like the first book.  In fact, I didn't think it sounded good at all, so I put off reading it for months.  Then I read it last week, and it's so good.  It really is nothing like the original; it's an outrageously comical murder-mystery.  It's not meant to be taken seriously; it's just so over-the-top and ridiculous.  The romance is sweet too, and the villain was not who I expected it to be.  But it was really the humor and the craziness that made me love this book.

RIP, E.L. Konigsburg

I was catching up on all my entertainment news from the weekend when I saw the announcement that E.L. Konigsburg passed away on Friday, April 19th.  For those of you who don't know, Konigsburg wrote one of my favorite childhood books, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.  I read that book after my mom recommended to me; it had been one of her favorite books as a kid too.  So I just wanted to say Rest In Peace, E.L. Konigsburg, and thank you for your wonderful book.  I will be reading it as soon as I get home tonight.

Book Review: Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson

Title:  Strands of Bronze and Gold
Author:  Jane Nickerson
Series:  Strands #1
Genre:  YA folklore retelling/historical fiction
Pages:  352

Rating:  B+

Synopsis from goodreads.com:  When seventeen-year-old Sophia Petheram’s beloved father dies, she receives an unexpected letter. An invitation—on fine ivory paper, in bold black handwriting—from the mysterious Monsieur Bernard de Cressac, her godfather. With no money and fewer options, Sophie accepts, leaving her humble childhood home for the astonishingly lavish Wyndriven Abbey, in the heart of Mississippi.

Sophie has always longed for a comfortable life, and she finds herself both attracted to and shocked by the charm and easy manners of her overgenerous guardian. But as she begins to piece together the mystery of his past, it’s as if, thread by thread, a silken net is tightening around her. And as she gathers stories and catches whispers of his former wives—all with hair as red as her own—in the forgotten corners of the abbey, Sophie knows she’s trapped in the passion and danger of de Cressac’s intoxicating world.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Creepy, suspenseful, and mysterious, Strands of Bronze and Gold is an interesting retelling of the Bluebeard folktale.  Instead of the story being set in France, where the tale originated, it now takes place in Mississippi, on a Southern plantation.  It's told from the POV of Sophie, the newest conquest of Monsieur de Cressac, as she leaves her home in the Northeast to join him.

While the writing is good and the setting beautiful, the story, specifically the ending, could have been better.  I felt like the book excelled at building the tension and the suspense.  I couldn't go to sleep without seeing how everything ended.  But the final climax and following conclusion don't live up to the rest of the book.  I guess I was expecting something way more spectacular and well-written, but it all happens so quickly that it just feels rushed and thrown-together.

It also would have been nice if the story didn't stick so closely to the original tale.  The biggest difference is the plantation setting and the anti-slavery subplot.  Other than that, the story is pretty much the same, just drawn out.

I still enjoyed Strands of Bronze and Gold though, because the characters have depth, the writing itself is good, and the tension is spine-tingling.  And I intend to read the next book in Nickerson's series (which is based on the Scottish "Ballad of Tam Lin") because it sounds cool, and I do love her writing style.  B+

Book Review: Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale

Title:  Midnight in Austenland
Author:  Shannon Hale
Series:  Austenland #2
Genre:  Chick-lit/Mystery/Romance
Pages:  288

Rating:  A-

Synopsis from goodreads.com:  Charlotte Kinder is in need of true escape when she heads from Ohio to Pembrook Park, a Jane Austen-themed retreat in the British countryside. But as it turns out, this vacation is no time to relax. Hearts are racing and stomachs fluttering in a tangle of intrigues-real and pretend, sinister and romantic-increasingly tough to sort out. It's midnight in Austenland, and Charlotte is about to prove herself a heroine worthy of Austen herself.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

If you picked up Midnight in Austenland because you loved Austenland and thought this book would be just like it, you're in for a surprise.  This book is nothing like the first.  The original book is a cute, fun romance, while this sequel is a crazy romance and murder-mystery.  At first, I wasn't sure I was going to like it, because it was so different and outrageous.  But it turns out that the book is SO melodramatic and over-the-top and ridiculous that it's good.

Midnight in Austenland focuses on Charlotte Kinder, a recently-divorced woman in her thirties who needs an escape to help get her back on her feet.  In the beginning, she seems really wishy-washy, but throughout the book, I started to connect with her.  She's lonely and vulnerable, and she's trying so hard to fit into this strange Regency world.  Her fellow Austen-lovers include both old and new characters.  Miss Charming, Colonel Andrews, and Mrs. Wattlesbrook all return, and Charming & Andrews provide lots of humor and fun, just as they did in Austenland.  The new characters - Eddie, Lydia, and Mallery - are interesting additions, each one completely different from each other.  Eddie is supportive and fun, Lydia is sickly but sweet, and Mallery is intense and brooding.

The plot is, as I said before, completely outrageous with its murder-mystery and villain, but I think that's what Hale was going for.  I think the book is supposed to be over-the-top and humorous.  There are also plenty of unexpected twists that I didn't see coming (like who the villain really is), and I enjoyed every minute of the crazy adventures these characters had.

So if you're like me, and you picked up this book because you loved the original, expect to be thrown for a loop.  But also keep an open mind.  Even though I knew early on that this wasn't going to be another cute romance, I gave Midnight in Austenland a chance anyway and was delightfully surprised to discover that the book stands on its own as an incredibly hilarious romantic comedy/mystery that kept me laughing.  A-

Book Review: Once by Anna Carey

Title:  Once
Author:  Anna Carey
Series:  Eve #2
Genre:  YA dystopian
Pages:  354

Rating:  A-

Synopsis from goodreads.com:  In the second book of this thrilling dystopian adventure, Eve will come face to face with the king who has been ruthlessly hunting her and learn the shocking truth about who she really is.

Having managed to evade the soldiers hunting her, Eve finally reached Califia, a haven for women determined to live outside the oppressive rule of the King of New America. However, Eve's freedom came at a price: she was forced to leave Caleb, the boy she loves, wounded and alone at the city gates. When Eve learns that Califia may not be as safe as it seems she sets out once again in the hopes of being with Caleb only to fall into a trap that sends her to the City of Sand and directly into the hands of the King. 

Once at the stronghold of the King, Eve will uncover the real reason he was so intent on her capture, and the unbelievable role he intends her to fill. When she is finally reunited with Caleb inside the city walls, Eve will risk everything to be with him.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Once is an emotionally draining book.  It's riveting and romantic, but the ending is just so heartbreaking.  As soon as I finished reading it, I just wanted to read something lighthearted and fun.

Eve is a much stronger character in Once.  I like how her character has progressed from a naive and bossy know-it-all to a strong, confident, and compassionate heroine.  And if you didn't fall in love with Caleb in the first book, you definitely will now.  He's such a great love interest; his idealism, his convictions, and his passion all contribute to his growth as a character.  Eve and Caleb's relationship is passionate and intense, making the ending (which I won't spoil) all the more emotional.

The story itself is interesting, especially since it continues to build the world Carey created.  Besides the school and the wild, the book also shows what life is like in Califia and the City of Sand.  There are new characters too - Charles, Clara, the King - and each added something new to the story.  The king presents a very conflicted character.  Part of me hates him for all of the things he's done to re-establish New America, but another part of me sees how much he struggles with his position, his actions, and his place with Eve.  And you can see how Eve feels the same way about him.

Once is a great second book to a trilogy.  It has its own unique storyline, introduces some new and interesting characters, and provides non-stop action that kept me glued to the book.  Just be ready for an ending that will break your heart and leave you feeling drained.  A-

Top Ten Tuesday #20

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week's topic is actually a Rewind, which means you can pick any past topic that you might have missed or want to continue.  Since I've only been doing this for a few months, there were a lot of topics that I could choose from, so I took two and meshed them.  I'm doing both Books from Before You Were a Blogger and Childhood Favorites.  These are the books that I loved as a kid and read over and over again, and when feeling nostalgic, I will still pick them up and read them now.

Top Ten Books I Read Before I Was a Blogger - The Childhood Favorites Edition

• Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McClusky  -  A sweet story about ducklings traveling through Boston and how the police stop all the traffic in the city to let the ducklings pass.  It's cute and based on real events.  There's even a bronze statue commemorating the book in Boston.
• Andrew Henry's Meadow by Doris Burn  -  The book is about a boy who loves to build things but he never gets any attention or appreciation for it, so he runs away to a meadow where he builds himself a house.  Other children join him, and he builds each one a house that matches their interests and personalities.  As a kid, I always wondered what kind of house Andrew Henry would have built for me.
• Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall  -  I love history and historical fiction, and I think this was the first book I ever read that fit into those categories.
• Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett  -  Not to be confused with the absolutely terrible movie adaptation.  This book is cute and whimsical and fun.  It just made me laugh.
• The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White  -  My mom read this aloud to my brother and me, and I loved it.  It's about a swan that can't "speak" so a boy teaches it to play the trumpet to find a mate.  So adorable.
• The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary  -  I love so many of Beverly Cleary's books, but this one's my favorite.  And I've just realized that my little sister has never read it, which will have to be remedied right away.
• The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein  -  I know so many people hate this book because that kid is just so ungrateful.  But I still really liked it and read it all the time when I was little.
• Itsy-Bitsy Giant by Melanie Martin  -  I don't think you can find this book anywhere now.  It took me forever (with some help) just to remember the title.  It's a great story about a giant who bullies the people around him, until a magician changes him to the size of a grasshopper and he has to learn a lesson in being nice.
• The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone  -  This book is one of my all-time favorite from my childhood, and the reason for that is my dad.  My dad is great with voices; he can do Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Kermit the Frog, and of course, Grover.  So he used to read this in Grover's voice, making the book that much more awesome.
• From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg  -  My mom recommended this to me because it was one of her favorite books as a kid, and I love it.  A brother and sister run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where they discover and have to solve a mystery.

Now how about you?  What were some of your favorite books as a kid?  I'd love to know.