Top Ten Series I Need to Start Reading

Top Ten Tuesday is a feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. You can find upcoming topics at their Top Ten Tuesday page.

1. Percy Jackson and the Olympian by Rick Riordan: I actually started this series a couple of years ago, but only got as far as Book 2, which I read back in October 2011. I really need to start reading this series again. I mean, it's about Greek mythology, which I have been in love with since the 6th grade. This series should have been a priority read for me.

2. Jessica Darling by Megan McCafferty: I've heard so many great things about this series and intended to pick up Sloppy Firsts years ago. I really want to see what all the fuss is about with this Marcus Flutie character :)












3. Castor Chronicles by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl: I just saw the movie and really enjoyed it. I loved that the two main characters were portrayed as such avid readers. I own the first book, so this should definitely be a series I'll start sooner rather than later.

4. Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer: I've heard nothing but good things about this series, and I love modern day fairy tale retellings, so this series sounds like it'd be a definite winner for me.

5. Delirium by Lauren Oliver: I can't even tell you how long I've owned this book. I want to say it's been going on two years now, at least.

6. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams: This series sounds so awesome and funny and quirky. Plus, I remember watching a clip from the movie in  a math class in college (it was the scene where the computer gives the number 42 as the ultimate answer to the universe--spoiler?) and it was absolutely hilarious! I've been dying to watch the rest of the movie, but I don't want to until I read the book first. I bought the volume with all five books at a yard sale for about $2, and I can't wait to dig into this beast.

7. Firelight by Sophie Jordan: I was so excited for this series and I bought the first book the moment it came out . . . and then I never read it :/

8. Gone by Michael Grant: This series sounded so incredible when I first heard about it. It sounded a lot like The Girl Who Owned a City, an older post-apocalyptic YA novel that was a favorite of mine in middle school. I'd been looking for similar story lines ever since, and when I happened upon Gone, I knew it was a must read. I still can't believe I haven't started it yet.

9. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare: This is another series that I've heard countless praise for. I told myself that I'd finally start it as soon as all of the books in the series have come out (that way, I don't have to be tortured by those long waits and those cliff hangers!).

10. Prague. Art. Chimaeras. I could go on and on about how incredibly awesome this series sounds just from reading the three paragraph summary. I can't believe I didn't jump into this novel as soon as I was able. I must be crazy. However, I did buy a copy of Daughter of Smoke and Bone with my birthday money, and I have every intention of buying all of the other books for this series.I just know this is one I'll love to death before I've even read the first page.

Review: Switched by Amanda Hocking

Title: Switched (Trylle #1)
Author: Amanda Hocking
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 293
Where I Got This Book: LibraryThing Early Reviewers (ARC)
Rating: 5 Stars

Goodreads Summary: When Wendy Everly was six years old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. Eleven years later, Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. She’s not the person she’s always believed herself to be, and her whole life begins to unravel—all because of Finn Holmes. 

Finn is a mysterious guy who always seems to be watching her. Every encounter leaves her deeply shaken…though it has more to do with her fierce attraction to him than she’d ever admit. But it isn’t long before he reveals the truth: Wendy is a changeling who was switched at birth—and he’s come to take her home.

Now Wendy’s about to journey to a magical world she never knew existed, one that’s both beautiful and frightening. And where she must leave her old life behind to discover who she’s meant to become…

My Thoughts: I really loved this book. I thought Wendy was a wonderful, strong character who was really able to handle all that was going on when placed in such a tough position. I loved all the scenes when she butted heads with Elora, the Queen of Trylle. She never became submissive to her but really held her own and spoke up for herself. I also loved the connection she had with her brother and I thought her conflictions about leaving home to go to Trylle where she "truly belonged" was nicely done. I read some reviews where people thought that this part was rushed and that not enough time was given to really show Wendy's struggles over leaving her aunt and brother, but I didn't feel that way. I was really able to feel Wendy's sadness about having to leave her family, presumably forever.

The world of Trylle was really well done and I loved learning about all of the different powers that the trolls had. This was a completely new concept for me and I was very fascinated by it. I'm excited to learn what powers Wendy may develop other than her power of persuasion, if in fact she does have another power. It seems to me she may have a power similar to the Queen's-there were a couple of scenes that hinted at that-but I won't say anymore about that in fear of spoiling it for others.

I thought the budding attraction between Wendy and Finn was a little disappointing and I wished that more had happened between them. Their relationship really didn't grow much and I don't think there were all that many scenes with just the two of them, but I thought the ending was amazing as well heartbreaking at the same time. I will definitely be buying the other two books in this trilogy. This book was a favorite of the year.

Review: Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

Title: Living Dead Girl
Author: Elizabeth Scott
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 170
Where I Got This Book: Own
Rating: 4 Stars

Goodreads Summary: "Once upon a time, I was a little girl who disappeared.
Once upon a time, my name was not Alice.
Once upon a time, I didn't know how lucky I was."


When Alice was ten, Ray took her away from her family, her friends -- her life. She learned to give up all power, to endure all pain. She waited for the nightmare to be over.

Now Alice is fifteen and Ray still has her, but he speaks more and more of her death. He does not know it is what she longs for. She does not know he has something more terrifying than death in mind for her.

This is Alice's story. It is one you have never heard, and one you will never, ever forget.


My Thoughts: Wow. This has to be the most disturbing book I've ever read. There is no way that you can read Living Dead Girl and not be affected.

I thought it was really effective how Scott opened up the book by having the first few paragraphs narrated by a neighbor. He's completely oblivious to the horrendous situation that Alice is in and actually comments on how ungrateful he thinks she is-like most daughters are, apparently-because she doesn't thank Ray when he opens the door for her. The reader becomes instantly aware at how skilled Ray is at creating this charming persona. Everyone falls for him and thinks he's so sweet and such a wonderful father. Alice is all alone in knowing what a monster he really is.

Ray has got to be the most hateful character I've come across in literature. He actually thinks that he loves Alice and that she should love him in return for all of the things he does for her. It's beyond disturbing. Scott doesn't gloss over the details but goes into all of the things that Alice is forced to do. She suffers every single abuse that a person can go through--sexual, physical, verbal, emotional. He starves her in order to keep her at 100 pounds, so that she still feels like a ten-year-old girl. So sick.

I'm not sure what to think about the ending. It didn't feel conclusive, and I would describe it as open-ended. There are two possibilities that the reader is left with for how Alice's horror story ends, and one is more pessimistic than the other. I don't know what it says about me, but I was leaning more towards the less happy ending. Just from the way it all played out, I thought that ending made more sense. I don't want to give away any spoilers, so I unfortunately have to leave my thoughts vague. I would love to talk about the ending with someone whose read the book.

Living Dead Girl is not for the lighthearted. This book packs an emotional punch, and the story will stay with you forever, so be prepared for that if you choose to pick it up.

Review: Pink by Lili Wilkinson

Title: Pink
Author: Lili Wilkinson
Pages: 304
Publisher: Harper Collins
Where I Got This Book: Goodreads' Giveaways
Rating: 4 Stars

Goodreads Summary: Ava has a secret. She is tired of her ultracool attitude, ultra-radical politics, and ultrablack clothing. She's ready to try something new--she's even ready to "be" someone new. Someone who fits in, someone with a gorgeous boyfriend, someone who wears pink.


Transferring to Billy Hughes School for Academic Excellence is the perfect chance to try on a new identity. But just in case things don't work out, Ava is hiding her new interests from her parents, and "especially" from her old girlfriend.

Secrets have a way of being hard to keep, though, and Ava finds that changing herself is more complicated than changing her wardrobe. Even getting involved in the school musical raises issues she never imagined. As she faces surprising choices and unforeseen consequences, Ava wonders if she will "ever" figure out who she really wants to be.


Humor, heart, and the joys of drama--on- and offstage--combine in Ava's delight-fully colorful journey of self-discovery.

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this one. The beginning reminded me a bit of the Shopaholics series-it had the same humor. Ava would often find herself in embarrassing situations, and since I am so sensitive to a character's humiliation, I found myself cringing a lot in empathy.

I thought the characters were great, especially Sam and Jules, who were so funny and sweet. I wish I'd had friends like that in high school, who throw around different bits of trivia and go out on those awesome missions (seriously, how fun would it be to sail a couch down a river?) and go to one of those 24-hour sci-fi movie marathons. It's geeky, but it sounds so fun.

The ending was nice. Everything wasn't wrapped up in a nice pink bow (haha) but it was satisfying and realistic. Ava is still trying to understand who she is at the end, but she has a better handle on her life and where she wants to be.

**I received an ARC copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

Teaser Tuesday (1)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading.

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share 2 teaser sentences from somewhere on that page
• Try to avoid spoilers!

Switched by Amanda Hocking

"We normally do same-sex exchanges, a girl for a girl, a boy for a boy, but Elora had her mind set on the Everlys."


"I thought she had been terrible and cruel like so many of my classmates, but she had known that I wasn't her child."

~p. 167

Review: In the Forests of the Night

Title: In the Forests of the Night (Den of Shadows #1)
Author: Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
Pages: 147
Where I Got This Book: Library
Rating: 4 Stars

Goodreads Summary: By day, Risika sleeps in a shaded room in Concord, Massachuseets. By night, she hunts the streets of New York City. She is used to being alone. But someone is following Risika. He has left her a black rose, the same sort of rose that sealed her fate three hundred years ago. Three hundred years ago Risika had a family-a brother and a father who loved her. Three hundred years ago she was human.


Now she was a vampire, a powerful one. And her past has come back to torment her.


My Thoughts: I was extremely impressed to learn that the author wrote this book when she was only thirteen. It is very well-written and not just for her age. Despite the novel's short length and the fact that the story only spans a few days, the main character, Risika, was nicely fleshed out. We got to know her story about how she was changed into a vampire when the book would flash back to 1701-the last year Risika was human-and then we get her revenge story in the present time.

What I thought was great about this book was that Risika came across as a very sympathetic and likeable character despite the fact that she was a true vampire. No animal blood for her. She hunted humans at night in NYC. She still had a conscience, though, possibly from her religious upbringing when she was human, and she seems to hunt people that she deems evil (such as murderers, criminals, ect). At least, she did in the beginning. I'm not positive how discriminatory she was about her food after 300 years.

Given how short this novel is, I can't really say much more about it without giving away the whole thing. I will say that I will definitely be reading more books by Atwater-Rhodes. I think she's a very gifted writer. There are four more books in this series (though I think they're more like companion novels and not a continuation of Risika's story), one other series called Kiesha' ra plus a standalone book. Luckily, my campus library carries many of her books. I'll probably have a little Atwater-Rhodes read-a-thon sometime next year.

I have to say, I'm jealous of her. She's only six years older than me and she already has a bookshelf full of her own published novels.

Top Ten Childhood Favorites

Top Ten Tuesday is a feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. You can find upcoming topics at their Top Ten Tuesday page.

1. The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food
I learned how to read from this series, and this is one of my favorite stories of the Berenstain bears. I remember looking at all of those illustrations of candy and wishing that I had a pile of junk food to snack on too (which was the opposite of what the book intended for me, but oh well). I loved this series to death and I loved the show!

2. I Was So Mad
The Little Critters collection is another series that I learned to read from. I had a really hard time picking which book I wanted to display. I finally decided on I Was So Mad because I remember it being hilarious and I loved those frogs! I really want to go back and read this entire series. I hope my mom still has them somewhere in the house.

3. The Christmas Ghost (Sweet Valley Twins Super Chiller #1)
I don't think there's a single Sweet Valley book I haven't read (from every series).This is one of my particular favorites of the Twins series, and it's a Christmas themed book, so it's a perfect pick for December. In this book, Elizabeth gets a famous teen movie star to come to Sweet Valley and help out with a charity fund raiser for a local hospital, but Jessica, who is desperate to meet him, pretends to be her twin. She thinks there's no harm in what she does, but three ghosts from Christmas past, present and future show her the error of her ways. I'm definitely going to have to check out my local libraries once I get home after finals and see if any of them carry this book. It would make a great holiday read, and I haven't read a Sweet Valley book in some time so it'll be really nice to revisit the twins again.

4. Weeping Willow
One of my favorite books of all time. I felt such a kinship with the main character, Tiny Lambert (my own last name is Lambert, so that might have played a part in that). I even thought about naming my first daughter Tiny after I'd read this book, but thankfully I let that one go (since my daughter would probably actually be tiny-I'm only 5' 1" myself-so that would just be cruel).

5. Where the Lilies Bloom
This is another beautiful book, and a sad one. This should be assigned reading for all young girls (I would say 4th grade or older). I loved that this book took place in the North Carolina (I was living in California at the time but was born in NC and always considered myself a southern girl at heart). This book was a wonderful taste of home.

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Hmmmm . . . well, that's all I can think of for books I loved in elementary school. Like I said above, I was obsessed with Sweet Valley and those books took up most of my reading time. However, there are a couple more books I would like to share that I fell in love with in the seventh grade:

6. Ella Enchanted
This book became an instant favorite. It has it all: romance, fantasy, adventure. I literally could not put it down until I finished it. I read Ella Enchanted in one day, which was something I was quite proud of because it was the first time I could remember doing that (not counting the kid chapter books).

7. The Girl Who Owned a City
This was my first dystopian novel ever and it blew me away! If you have never read it, you need to get to it immediately. Here's a short summary of the book (taken from Goodreads): When a plague sweeps over the earth killing everyone except children under twelve, ten-year-old Lisa organizes a group to rebuild a new way of life. Sounds epic, right?