Top 5 Tuesday

I'm going to try something new and every Tuesday I'm going to do a - you guessed it - Top 5 list. I would love to hear from all of you as well, so feel free to agree, disagree, or add your own list in the comments! This week's list:

Best Friends

5. Stevie Ray - House of Night series - She's sounds like a country bumpkin, but she's a total sweetheart and fiercely loyal. Not even death could keep her from her best friend, Zoey's, side.

4. Suze - Shopaholic series - She's a bit on the naive side, but she's always got Becky's back, even when she's making nothing but wrong decisions. Quick with the optomistic solutions, she never fails to help Becky get things back on track.

3. Simon - The Mortal Instruments series - He's the perfect boy next door - laid back and friendly, and always up for anything. His sarcasm is fabulous and he's very protective of his secret crush, Clary. Even when the world he thought he knew gets turned upside down, he's goes with it and helps Clary find out what she needs to know.

2. Ron - Harry Potter series - You know you saw this one coming. Full of fantastic one-liners, he is the ultimate in comic relief and while he might be a little afraid of the danger ahead, he's always up for some good old-fashioned rule breaking. Along with Hermione, Harry couldn't have picked a better friend.

1. Alice - Twilight series - Don't mock, you know you love her too. Always up for a party or a throw down with some evil vamps, she's every girls' best friend. It doesn't hurt that she can see into the future so you'll always know when your night out will be a hit or a drag.

Well, there's my list. Sound of below and let me know if you agree, disagree, or think I've forgotten someone!

Linger - Maggie Stiefvater

In Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

I loved Shiver so I knew Linger was going to be a new favorite before I read it. And I was right. Like most "middle" novels in a series or trilogy, there's a lot of set up for the final book, so while you get some questions answered, most is left hanging to be wrapped up in the end. I'm actually ok with this. Don't get me wrong, I'm DYING for the final book, but this book was written in such a satisfying way that I was never bored.

I'm intrigued by the whole Cole/Isabelle situation. They both seem so damaged, so broken by life that I was kinda rooting for them towards the end. I think they might be able to heal each other if they would stop dancing around their issues. It was really nice to see a deeper side to Isabelle, instead of her being the bitchy rich girl - although we still saw that side too. Cole was an interesting character to read about. He craved the escape of being a wolf, yet he had the hardest time staying one. I really want to know why that is. Is there something special about him? Or did something not quite take so he changes back early? Like I said, I'm intrigued.

Sam and Grace's struggles made me sad. I won't lie - I was full on crying at the end. (How will they fix it? What's going to happen??) They're relationship is so interesting to me, because while Sam clings to humanity and all it entails, Grace longs for what he left behind. I don't know if it's because she never became a wolf and just wants to know what it's like, or if life with her oblivious parents just sucks that much that the escapism of being a wolf is alluring... But I love their relationship. They are so good together. I hated that her once completely self-absorbed parents suddenly decided to get involved and didn't even listen to her. Honestly, why did they care now? WTF? And it really didn't seem like their concern came from a place of love, which pissed me off anymore. I loved that Cole put her father in his place.

Anyway, all in all, I LOVED this book and I will be waiting VERY impatiently for the last book. I can't wait to see how everything ends up. 5/5

Linger
Maggie Stiefvater
Scholastic, Inc
YA Fiction
$17.99 (hardcover)
362 pages

Follow Friday and Blog Hop

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Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments

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This week's question comes from Michelle from Michelle’s Book Blog!


How many books do you have on your 'to be read shelf’? My Answer: I honestly have no idea. I try not to count because it overwhelms me and I don't want what I read to turn into a To Do list. I also re-read books in a series in anticipation of new releases. I like to have at least the last released book fresh in my mind when I get a new one, and it gets me even more excited for the new book. Example: I'm reading The Hunger Games and Catching Fire right now for the release of Mockingjay. So I have a "new book" TBR pile and a "read again" TBR pile. If I had to guess, I would say that together, it's around 80 books. And it's growing everyday because I'm reading about all these amazing titles from other blogs. So many books, so little time! : )

I Heart You, You Haunt Me - Lisa Schroeder

"Girl meets boy.

Girl loses boy.

Girl gets boy back...

...sort of.

Ava can't see him or touch him, unless she's dreaming. She can't hear his voice, except for the faint whispers in her mind. Most would think she'scrazy, but she knows he's here.

Jackson. The boy Ava thought she'd spend the rest of her life with. He's back from the dead, as proof that love truly knows no bounds."

I discovered this book at the signing I went to in Beaverton. I met the author and she was so nice that I wanted to see what her books were like, so I bought one that she very graciously signed for me. It's written in verse, which took me a few pages to get used to, but I liked it. It cut out almost all physical descriptions (people, places, etc) and what you were left with was just dialogue and Ava's emotions, which were very powerful and poignant. And given the storyline, I felt the verse really fit how Ava was thinking. I mean, if I was grieving over my first love, I think my mind would sound very much like hers.

Her obsession with Jackson and her withdrawal from the real world is, in my opinion, very realistic. And while at times I was mad at Jackson's "actions", when I got to the end, it all made sense. I wish she could have written more about Ava at the end, since I wanted to keep reading about how she was doing. That's my only issue with this book - I felt it ended too early. And that's mostly a compliment since the book was so good that I wanted more. Over all, I found it to be a great book, and I look forward to reading her other books. 5/5


I Love You, You Haunt Me

Lisa Schroeder
Simon & Schuster Children
YA Fiction
240 pages
$7.99 - paperback

The reason for my comeback

Ok, I feel like I need to explain a bit about why, after over 4 months, I'm suddenly getting this blog up and going with a vengeance. So, I will. This last Monday, I went with my fabulous friend Andrea to Portland to see Richelle Mead in person and wonder at her pure awesomeness. And let me just say, it was completely worth it. She was incredibly nice and answered a bunch of questions (I got to ask one!) and just inspired me in so many ways. And then there was just the aura of the event itself. The people there were just as crazy about the books as we were, and they were incredibly knowledgeable about books in general. They had blogs and sites and talked about other events they went to...it was very motivating.

So that got me thinking. I love to read and tell people about what I'm reading. And I'll be honest, if people then read those books and love them too, I feel so proud. Like I've given that book some more friends to play with. (I know, I'm a total dork.) So, why wasn't I keeping this blog updated? Well, I couldn't really come up with a good answer to that question, so I decided to get it going again. (It needs a lot of work, so be patient with me while I fix everything.) And I'm super excited about it.

If I am going to be completely honest, there's also a bit of an ulterior motive as well. I LOVE to write. If I'm not ignoring my housework with reading, I'm ignoring it with writing. And it's a HUGE dream of mine to someday get something I write published. My original plan had been to kind of check out other blogs and what not for research and just keep everything to myself until I was ready. But, it seems silly to not be a part of this wonderful literary community right now. I can connect to others who love books, *maybe* some authors and publishers will find out about me, and when I finally do get published, I will have friends who will not only be happy for me, but will spread the word about whatever it is that I've written. So, that's my hope, to become a part of this wonderful online community who loves the same things I do.

Anyway, there's my long explanation about my sudden reappearance. I really hope you all come back and check out my reviews and pass the word along about me. And if you know of other blogs - let me know. I know there are TONS of books out there that I'm not aware of how awesome they are, and I would love to expand my reading horizons. Thanks, and until next time, happy reading!