Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted for us book blogger types by the Broke and the Bookish. They provide a topic, and all of us participants post our answers on our blogs and we hop around checking out one another’s answers! This week’s topic is


Top Ten Books on my Summer TBR List


1. All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

“You have to kill him.” Imprisoned in the heart of a secret military base, Em has nothing except the voice of the boy in the cell next door and the list of instructions she finds taped inside the drain. 

Only Em can complete the final instruction. She’s tried everything to prevent the creation of a time machine that will tear the world apart. She holds the proof: a list she has never seen before, written in her own hand. Each failed attempt in the past has led her to the same terrible present—imprisoned and tortured by a sadistic man called the doctor while war rages outside. 

Marina has loved her best friend James since the day he moved next door when they were children. A gorgeous, introverted science prodigy from one of America’s most famous families, James finally seems to be seeing Marina in a new way, too. But on one disastrous night, James’s life crumbles apart, and with it, Marina’s hopes for their future. Now someone is trying to kill him. Marina will protect James, no matter what. Even if it means opening her eyes to a truth so terrible that she may not survive it. At least not as the girl she once was. 

2. If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan
Seventeen-year-old Sahar has been in love with her best friend, Nasrin, since they were six. They’ve shared stolen kisses and romantic promises. But Iran is a dangerous place for two girls in love—Sahar and Nasrin could be beaten, imprisoned, even executed if their relationship came to light. 

So they carry on in secret—until Nasrin’s parents announce that they’ve arranged for her marriage. Nasrin tries to persuade Sahar that they can go on as they have been, only now with new comforts provided by the decent, well-to-do doctor Nasrin will marry. But Sahar dreams of loving Nasrin exclusively—and openly. 

 Then Sahar discovers what seems like the perfect solution. In Iran, homosexuality may be a crime, but to be a man trapped in a woman’s body is seen as nature’s mistake, and sex reassignment is legal and accessible. As a man, Sahar could be the one to marry Nasrin. Sahar will never be able to love the one she wants, in the body she wants to be loved in, without risking her life. Is saving her love worth sacrificing her true self?


3. These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

It’s a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone. 

Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help. 

Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever? 

Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.


4. Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

It isn’t easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true. 

 When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises. 

 The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past – and hers?


5. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
The synopsis is so long! Just check it out on Goodreads

6. Margot by Jillian Cantor
In the spring of 1959, The Diary of Anne Frank has just come to the silver screen to great acclaim, and a young woman named Margie Franklin is working in Philadelphia as a secretary at a Jewish law firm. On the surface she lives a quiet life, but Margie has a secret: a life she once lived, a past and a religion she has denied, and a family and a country she left behind. 

Margie Franklin is really Margot Frank, older sister of Anne, who did not die in Bergen-Belsen as reported, but who instead escaped the Nazis for America. But now, as her sister becomes a global icon, Margie’s carefully constructed American life begins to fall apart. A new relationship threatens to overtake the young love that sustained her during the war, and her past and present begin to collide. Margie is forced to come to terms with Margot, with the people she loved, and with a life swept up into the course of history.

7. Whisper Falls by Elizabeth Langston
While training for a mountain bike race, high-school senior Mark Lewis spots a mysterious girl dressed in odd clothing, standing behind a waterfall in the woods near his North Carolina home. When she comments on the strange machine that he rides, he suspects something isn’t right. When Susanna claims to be an indentured servant from 1796, he wonders if she’s crazy. Yet he feels compelled to find out more. 

Mark enters a ‘long-distance’ relationship with Susanna through the shimmering–and temperamental–barrier of Whisper Falls. Curious about her world, Mark combs through history to learn about the brutal life she’s trapped in. But knowledge can be dangerous. Soon he must choose between the risk of changing history or dooming the girl he can’t stop thinking about to a lifetime of misery. 

8. Doon by Carey Corp and Lori Langdon

Veronica doesn’t think she’s going crazy. But why can’t anyone else see the mysterious blond boy who keeps popping up wherever she goes? When her best friend, Mackenna, invites her to spend the summer in Scotland, Veronica jumps at the opportunity to leave her complicated life behind for a few months. 

 But the Scottish countryside holds other plans. 

 Not only has the imaginary kilted boy followed her to Alloway, she and Mackenna uncover a strange set of rings and a very unnerving letter from Mackenna’s great aunt—and when the girls test the instructions Aunt Gracie left behind, they find themselves transported to a land that defies explanation. Doon seems like a real-life fairy tale, complete with one prince who has eyes for Mackenna and another who looks suspiciously like the boy from Veronica’s daydreams. But Doon has a dark underbelly as well. The two girls could have everything they’ve longed for…or they could end up breaking an enchantment and find themselves trapped in a world that has become a nightmare.


9. Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts
The world is living in the shadow of oncoming disaster. An asteroid is set to strike the earth in just one week’s time; catastrophe is unavoidable. The question isn’t how to save the world—the question is, what to do with the time that’s left? Against this stark backdrop, three island teens wrestle with intertwining stories of love, friendship and family—all with the ultimate stakes at hand. 






10. The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

Michael is a gamer. And like most gamers, he almost spends more time on the VirtNet than in the actual world. The VirtNet offers total mind and body immersion, and it’s addictive. Thanks to technology, anyone with enough money can experience fantasy worlds, risk their life without the chance of death, or just hang around with Virt-friends. And the more hacking skills you have, the more fun. Why bother following the rules when most of them are dumb, anyway? 

But some rules were made for a reason. Some technology is too dangerous to fool with. And recent reports claim that one gamer is going beyond what any gamer has done before: he’s holding players hostage inside the VirtNet. The effects are horrific—the hostages have all been declared brain-dead. Yet the gamer’s motives are a mystery. 

 The government knows that to catch a hacker, you need a hacker. And they’ve been watching Michael. They want him on their team. But the risk is enormous. If he accepts their challenge, Michael will need to go off the VirtNet grid. There are back alleys and corners in the system human eyes have never seen and predators he can’t even fathom—and there’s the possibility that the line between game and reality will be blurred forever.

BEA Recap

This year was my first experience at BEA and I can honestly tell you that I’m super excited to attend every year from now on.  I couldn’t possibly recap EVERYTHING that happened when I was there, but here is a list of ten things that I really enjoyed 🙂 Did I meet you at BEA? Be sure to leave me a comment with your blog link and an email and we can keep in touch! 



1. Bloggers Conference
I learned a lot of really cool things on Wednesday at the Bloggers Conference, and I plan on incorporating some new ideas soon! 


2. Children’s Author Breakfast 
I got to be in the same room as these four amazing people!  Plus, who knew that Rick Riordan was so hysterical? Hoes of Hades? I’d read it.











3. Grumpy Cat
She is just adorable. Sad they wouldn’t let us pet her, but totally understandable. She was just so grumpy to be there. 




4. YA Book Buzz
Rainbow Rowell, Sara Farizan, Cristin Terrell, Anna Jarzab, and Amy Rose Capetta got me all excited about their books.  I managed to get ahold of an ARC of each, thank goodness!  You do NOT want to miss these books…









5. Julie Kagawa
I saw her after the first day of the expo on Thursday when she was trying to get a drink.  I kind of yelled bc I wanted a picture with her 🙂 

6. James Dashner is a “Southern Girl”
Mr. Dashner just happened to notice that I’m from NC when he was signing my copy of The Eye of Minds, and said “Oh, you are from the south!” So of course I said, “Yep, I’m a southern girl.” Mr. Dashner then said, “Me too! I’m from Georgia!” hehehe. Then he tried to take it back, but now I know….James Dashner is a southern girl.



7. Diana Peterfreund
Not only was I able to meet the lovely Diana on Thursday for her signing of Across a Star Swept Sea, but I caught her waiting in line for a signing at Random House and managed to get a picture!
















8. Veronica Roth
Veronica is a sweetheart.  While I’m SUPER jealous that she is two years younger than myself and already super successful, she is so down to Earth.  She even signed an extra poster for my best friend who is moving to Chicago, all while telling me that I better visit Chicago because its the best city in the country. 



9. Meeting all my fellow bloggers!
I can’t even begin to list all of the amazing bloggers that I met and hung out with at BEA.  Thank you for being part of the greatest online community and keeping me company in line! Can’t wait to see you all next year. 


10. Authors telling me they read this blog! 
This was arguably my favorite part of the whole experience.  I had not realized how many authors follow my blog and check it out.  Thank you so much for your support! 


Will I go to BEA again? Yes.

Top Ten Tuesday!

Every week The Broke and The Bookish hosts a meme for book bloggers to post about a specific topic chosen by the moderators.  This week’s topic is: 

Top Ten Bookish People I Want To Meet 
(Authors, Bloggers….etc)

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER: 

Veronica Roth
-Author of the Divergent Trilogy
-Why? Because I really wanted to use the Divergent books in my Dystopian Master’s Thesis, but since the trilogy wasn’t finished yet I couldn’t.  I would love to pursue that essay and talk to Roth about the different influences on the text. 




Markus Zusak
-Author of The Book Thief
-Why? The Book Thief is a beautiful novel, and I would love to pick his brain about the different themes and the authorial decision to use Death as the narrator. 

Suzanne Collins
-Author of The Hunger Games trilogy
-Why? Speaking of that Dystopian Thesis, my main chapter was on Marxism and The Hunger Games trilogy, so I would love to have an interview to add to my 25 page chapter. Plus, she is brilliant. 




Scott Westerfeld
-Author of the Uglies series
-Why?  Remember that pesky thesis I keep mentioning? Yeah the second chapter was on the first three books in the Uglies series, and again, an interview with Westerfeld would just make the chapter THAT much stronger. 

James Dashner
-Author of The Maze Runner trilogy and Prequel
-Why? I wanted to use this dystopian series in my thesis as well and I never got to since the series wasn’t complete.  Now that it is, I want to pick his brain too! So many novels I want to write academic critical essays on…


Jackson Pearce
-Author of the Fairy Tale Retellings series
-Why? Not only does she seem like a cool person, but I’d love to discuss other possible fairy tales for her to adapt for her series. 



Josephine Angelini
-Author of the Starcrossed series
-Why? I want to discuss the importance of Greek Mythology on modern literature, and of course, Lucas and Helen. 


Melina Marchetta
-Author of the Lumatere Chronicles
-Why? Just so I can say I met her. Her novels are exquisitely written and well plotted. I envy her immense talent!


Charlaine Harris
-Author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels
-Why? I want to convince her of why Sookie and Eric need to be together forever.  Oh, and to ask her if I can get Alexander Skarsgard’s phone number….





Kenneth Oppel
-Author of the Victor Frankenstein diaries
-Why? Just to discuss Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, and Victorian era literature and culture! 


I went with all authors, who are some of the people on your list? 

Now Reading…

Release Date: August 14, 2012

Before WICKED was formed, before the Glade was built, before Thomas entered the Maze, sun flares hit the earth and mankind fell to disease.

Mark and Trina were there when it happened, and they survived. But surviving the sun flares was easy compared to what came next. Now a disease of rage and lunacy races across the eastern United States, and there’s something suspicious about its origin. Worse yet, it’s mutating, and all evidence suggests that it will bring humanity to its knees.

Mark and Trina are convinced there’s a way to save those left living from descending into madness. And they’re determined to find it—if they can stay alive. Because in this new, devastated world, every life has a price. And to some, you’re worth more dead than alive.

Book Review: The Death Cure by James Dashner

Thomas knows that Wicked can’t be trusted, but they say the time for lies is over, that they’ve collected all they can from the Trials and now must rely on the Gladers, with full memories restored, to help them with their ultimate mission. It’s up to the Gladers to complete the blueprint for the cure to the Flare with a final voluntary test.

What Wicked doesn’t know is that something’s happened that no Trial or Variable could have foreseen. Thomas has remembered far more than they think. And he knows that he can’t believe a word of what Wicked says.

The time for lies is over. But the truth is more dangerous than Thomas could ever imagine.
Will anyone survive the Death Cure?

To be quite honest, I was a bit disappointed with the final book in the Maze Runner trilogy. The first book was so well constructed and provided such great insight into human nature and the consequences of decisions.

The second was all right, nothing too spectacular about it, but it was better than the third.

I appreciate what Dashner is trying to do with the trilogy, providing readers with the fear of an uncertain future, as well as a fear of trusting in a corrupt authority. However, the book felt more full of exposition and “telling” rather than “showing.”

Plus, the ending really put me off because it seemed that if this *spoiler alert* escape had existed the entire time, then why not put those that are immune there and just finish the tainted human race off? It felt as though Dashner wrote himself into a corner, and he needed to add an escape route to help save his ending. It simultaneously provides hope and sadness.

Longtime fans of the trilogy should read this to finish the story of Thomas and the Gladers. However, I believe that the first novel in this trilogy, The Maze Runner, could stand alone as a modern day Lord of the Flies.

I give it 3 Bards on the basis that I really liked the story world…but I did not like the ending.