Top Ten Books I Recommend The MOST (16)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

There are a lot of ways I can take this week's Top Ten list. Is it Top Ten Books I Recommend the Most to Readers? To Non-Readers? To Contemporary Lovers? To Fantasy Nerds? To Paranormal Junkies? I always find that when I recommend a book, I have to be careful who I'm recommending what to because it could be MY FAVORITE but my reading taste isn't everyone's reading taste. Which just means I ask a lot of annoying questions and think VERY CAREFULLY before recommending books.

But instead of inserting a qualifier, I'm just going to make this a Top Ten Books I Recommend the Most BECAUSE I LOVE THEM list. I'll be sure to note genre, because even though I know Tamora Pierce if the greatest ever and I'd probably push all of her books on you even if you don't love fantasy books, there should be some kind of level playing field, right?

So here they are. My Top Ten Books I Recommend the Most based solely on my book feels and nothing else.

1. Anything set in the Tortall Universe by Tamora Pierce
Genre: YA Fantasy
I could list each quartet and cheat a couple of times but instead I'll just cheat once and put a whole universe up here. I think there are 17 books set in Torall? I haven't read all of them - just the first 13 - but I don't even need to read the last ones to tell you they're probably genius. Tamora Pierce just knows what's up. Her books are just MAGICAL. And if that's not enough, they're set in medieval times with knights and kings and castles. And if THAT'S not enough, all of her books are pro-feminism in a not-in-your-face kind of way (aka the best way). There's just so much amazingness in her series and I can't imagine why you wouldn't want to read them.

2. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Genre: YA Contemporary

I KNOW. I KNOW. Everyone else in the world ALSO has this book on their list but I can't help myself. This book was just SO FREAKING GOOD and I just want to stare at it slack-jawed all day. But I can't. Because I have things to do (stupid life). So instead I just go around trying to articulate the feels you WILL feel when you read this book. Inevitably I'll fail, show you a vlog brothers video instead, get you hooked on John Green as a human being and then guide you to his books (this is actually a thing I do. It works fairly often).

3. If I Stay + Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Genre: YA Contemporary

*More cheating lalala* but y'know what? You can't list one without the other. They are so very much a duology of feels and everyone should read these books. So good. So many feels. And honestly? Where She Went was so much better for me than If I Stay and you can't read the former without reading the latter first, so it's really, actually one book in my head. Does that make sense? No? Go read the books and get back to me, okay?

4. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Genre: YA Dystopian

I think this is my favorite dystopian out of the bunch. That's not to say I didn't love Divergent, Wither, Uglies and a whole bunch of other books full of awesome, but there's just something here I love so much. I would tell you what it is that makes me love this series so much, but it's really not just one thing. It's like everything. Together. Which I guess is the sign of a pretty decent series. ALSO, Unravel Me was possibly BETTER than Shatter Me, which doesn't happen often in second books of series. So yeah. Also. One thing I can tell you for real that made me love this book: SUPER. HEROS. *nerds out like whoa over this fact for the a millionth time*

5. All of the Sarah Dessen
Genre: YA Contemporary
The reason I say ALL is because I do obviously have my favorites, but I always recommend reading Dessen books in pub date order. This is because sometimes characters from earlier books will pop up in later books and it's just SO FUN when you can spot them. Seriously. But in general, I just love Sarah Dessen. Her books are so wonderful. And squee-worthy. I love a good squee, y'know?

6. Night by Elie Wiesel

Genre: Memoir

Elie Wiesel taught at my University until just recently. I was never able to take a class with him but he gives a series of lectures in the fall (seriously, if you're in Boston in November and he's still giving these talks, GO). He's such an adorable little old man (as pictured, because I couldn't help myself) who's been through SO MUCH. And he has this AMAZING voice and, well, yeah. I feel like so many people think The Diary of Anne Frank is the quintessential Holocaust book but then I read Night and, y'know, it's not a competition, but I think Night is the one I would push just a bit harder. It's also a bit easier to get through and it's about the actual camps. Which is terrifying, of course. AND it's the story of a teen told from the memory of an adult, so there's that element as well.

7. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Genre: YA Historical Fiction (?)
Okay. This is another Holocaust book (Sorry guys, it's a combo of very much growing up with the topic because I'm Jewish and a bizarre fascination with the event), but this one takes a very different approach. This one's fiction from the perspective of Death. So it's kind of historical fiction but kind of not? I don't know. The writing is absolutely stunning either way. It took me a little bit to get into because of the different perspective, but it was totally worth it. But take this one slow. Don't get frustrated if you don't tear through it in a day. I know it took me a little while and that's okay. Because it's worth it.

8. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

Genre: Adult Historical Fiction

As previously noted in this post, I'm Jewish. But if I'm being honest? I'm fairly religious. I went to a dual curriculum school nursery-12 and I guess I retained some stuff. This "stuff" includes the story of Dina. Or really, the lack of the story of Dina. So when I heard about this book I was like YEAH OKAY I WANT. I excepted it to be good, but I didn't expect to have my insides fall apart. It was brilliant because I wanted a fictional tale of Dina's life, but it was also brilliant because for a while I forgot that's why I picked up the book. As I tore through the pages I was like: THIS IS AMAZING on a secular level, not a religious one. Of course, whenever I paused for snackage or to explain to someone why I couldn't talk to them, my brain would catch up with me and I'd be like, okay, this story has religious significance, but really, it's for everyone, not just people who like bible stories.

9. His Dark Materials Series by Philip Pullman
Genre: YA Fantasy
I've already told you guys about that time I read these books in Middle School. Fantasy was my number one genre back then. It was pretty much all I read. So Pullman and Pierce were like my holy books. Fantasy worlds are so lush and complex and wonderful and when done RIGHT they're so amazing. They take you somewhere else. Pullman takes you somewhere else. He grabs you and drags you behind him and you don't WANT him to let you go because it's all so magical. Granted, I picked up this series because of my favorite English teacher of all time (it was required reading, but I read ahead and finished the whole series before the class finished the first), but really, it was just reaffirmation that reading was my THING.

10. Watchmen or V for Vendetta by Alan Moore

Genre: Graphic Novel

"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" "Remember, remember the 5th of November the gunpowder treason and plot..." Yeah, that's right darlings, I read graphic novels (comics too!). Look, would I recommend this to first time comic readers? NO. PLEASE. NO. If you're not used to the format, it's tough and these are TOUGH novels to get through. However, I will say that these particular graphic novels are a bit more mainstream. You can find a lot of reviews and commentaries and MOVIES (shiny! - although, Watchmen was eh and the V for Vendetta movie kind of conveys a slightly different message than the graphic novels, but whatever). Alan Moore's a bit of a loon, so if you're interested in complex social commentaries, these novels are the bomb dot com. If you're looking for a superhero who saves the day, please turn your attention to Ultimate Spider-Man by Brian Michael Bendis (aka my favorite) or any superhero originally created by Stan Lee, the coolest man to ever walk the Earth.

**BONUS**

11. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Genre: YA Paranormal

OKAY GUYS DON'T HATE ME FOR SAYING THIS but I my number one pet peeve is people knocking something they haven't tried. Oh, you think this book/movie is garbage and you want to trash it? BE MY GUEST, just make sure to read/watch it first, otherwise you're just a jerk who parrots other people's opinions. If you want to get on the bandwagon, at least do some research first and have real opinions instead of being all: "It sounds stupid" or "Well, everyone else hates it." Even if the product you're bashing is so awful you only make it through the first 20 pages or watch the first 20 minutes, at least you've earned the right to complain. Don't borrow opinions. Form your own.

This list is full of cheating, but I still think you should read all of these books anyways. Based on my feels, not on your personal preferences, of course. But since I do care about your feels and all that, let me know whats on YOUR list in the comments below - and how you feel about mine!

Sometimes I Do Cool Bookish Things

Before I came to London, I didn't really do any cool, bookish/blogger things (except for meeting Alexa). Granted, before London I'd only been blogging for a month and I didn't really know where or when signings were happening. But THANKFULLY, Faye and Daphne adopted me basically the minute I got here and dragged me to all kinds of events, where I've met SEVERAL lovely bloggers who I'm gonna miss BIG TIME when I leave (Caroline and Michelle, I'm looking at you two IN PARTICULAR). But more on that when I do my "I'm leaving London WHAAAT?" post in a week or so. For now, I just want to talk about all the events these four lovely ladies have alerted me to and/or got me invited to!

1. Laura Lam Signing

I've already blogged about my first every signing. So I won't recap.

But I will leave this here as a reminder

2. Geek Girl Launch Party

I was the lovely Daphne's plus one to the Geek Girl launch party where I got a little swag bag and a copy of the book. 

I set the glasses on the book. You can see the shadow, right?

Can I please just tell you all that Holly Smale is absolutely adorable and totally Geektastic? Not to mention following her on Twitter is INCREDIBLY entertaining. And she makes excellent fashion choices. Because she was a model? Because she's brilliant? Because she schools all the bullies? I DON'T KNOW, but it works (yes we creep on your outfits. LOVE US FOR IT).

Daphne, Michelle, Luna, Faye and Me <3 <3

Caroline is missing from this picture. I think she took it. ALL OF THE SADNESS that I don't seem to have a picture with said lady because she is phenomtown. So lovely, so sweet. She, plus the lovelies pictured above, make me SO SAD I ever have to leave London.

And now, please note how pixie-like and adorable Holly Smale is:

We played ping pong (aka TABLE TENNIS) with hipster visors. Daphne and I had a little wine. Faye and Michelle didn't. And yet, somehow, we were fairly evenly matched. I don't know what this says about ANY of us. But yeah. I had so much fun. THANKS FOR ALL THE FUN GUYS.

Oh, and THANKS TIMES A MILLION BAJILLION to Harper Collins for hosting such a fun event. For for giving me things (including a book). AND for having sweets.

3. Stephanie Meyer/The Host signing 

THEN I went to go meet Stephanie Meyer. It was just a signing and Waterstones had the whole thing set up like a well-oiled machine, but I got to talk to her for like a minute, have my picture taken and, most importantly, she personalized a copy of The Host for me. Now, I'm not a big Stephanie Meyer fan, but I was getting a book signed for Daphne and I wasn't going to stand in a queue and have nothing to show for myself. Besides, afterwards Daphne, Caroline and I got dinner and it was the most fun (obviously).

SO MANY PEOPLE.

4. Random House Bloggers Brunch

For my fourth and final London event, Faye snagged me an invite to the Random House Blogger Bunch. First of all, Random House is SO COOL because they have cardboard cutouts of the different Doctors in their lobby. I ALMOST took a picture with the David Tennant cutout but I decided that would be TOO MUCH even for me. 

Then Random House had to go and be COOLER by feeding us and letting us know about some titles they've got coming up. But what makes RH the COOLEST is that they brought in two authors to speak to us: Jonathan Stroud and Amy McCulloch.

Jonathan Stroud presented his new book, Lockwood & Co. and OH MY GOD YOU GUYS I WANT THAT BOOK RIGHT NOW. September you are TOO FAR AWAY. It's a series about ghosts and teenage ghost hunters. I want it. And not just because Jonathan Stroud brought in a ghost hunter kit, iron chain included, for show and tell (guys, when an author's that clever and quirky you HAVE to read their books).

Amy McCulloch is a debut author (ooooh). She wrote a fantasy novel called The Oathbreaker's Shadow (aaaaaah). Her fantasy world is based on Mongolia (woahhhh) and it sounds amazing (yaaaaay). It's a duology, which has me ALL HAPPY because, as much as I love MOAR BOOKS, I need some shorter series in my life to keep me sane (don't worry, Jonathan Stroud, I will still read all 4ish books in your Lockwood & Co. series. Because it sounds amazing). 

And then there's this: 

I don't know what it is. They wouldn't tell me. But they said I could share it on my blog. AND SO I AM. Get excited for a heart explosion? A grenade of love? I don't know. Help me out here, guys?

Random House also gave out some swag - A copy of Where The Wild Things Are, the first chapter of Lockwood & Co., a finished copy of The Last Minute by Eleanor Updale, an ARC of The Oathbreaker's Shadow, and ARC of Acid by Emma Pass, some postcards and other bits and bobs. Here's a picture of all of it: 

I was pretty much over the moon about all of this since this was my FIRST EVER BLOGGER BRUNCH. And my first ever ARCs I got from a publisher and not as a gift from someone else. Granted, I got to the event itself because of Faye, so maybe not quite so impressive, but I'm feeling fairly pleased. And grateful. Don't forget the grateful. 

What events have you guys been to recently? Haven't been to anything in the last few weeks? Tell me about the best event you've ever been to instead! I want to hear all about it.

Stacking the Shelves (14)

"Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly feature hosted by Tynga's Reviews

So I went to Paris, which led to a couple of book purchases. And then I went to a Stephanie Meyer signing, where I bought The Host. I also neglected to mention how I acquired Geek Girl the other week. And I bought an e-book. AND Daphne lent me a book. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that this post is just a hodgepodge of random silliness.

GIFTED

1. Geek Girl by Holly Smale I went to a book launch event for Holly Smale two weekends ago. It was SOSOSOSOSOSO fun. I still need to blog about it. And I will probably on Sunday. I'll also probably talk about briefly meeting Stephanie Meyer this past week AND the Random House brunch I'm going to today. (HAVE I TOLD YOU HOW AWESOME UK BLOGGERS ARE RECENTLY? BECAUSE THEY ARE AWESOME.) BORROWED

2. Requiem by Lauren Oliver

As some of you may know, I have mixed feelings about this series. That, however, does not mean I do not wish to finish said series. ENDING HERE I COME. (And thanks, Daphne, for facilitating me getting to this ending!!)

BOUGHT

3. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I read this one when I was 12 for school (back when I really liked reading for school). To the best of my recollection, I didn't quite get it. But I saw the book on the shelf in the English bookstore in Paris and I was like, WELL THIS SEEMS APPROPRIATE.

4. The New American Haggadah with a new translation by Nathan Englander, edited by Jonathan Safran Foer

In case you missed me CRYING with joy over this book, you can check out my PARIS POST. It's all there.

5. I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

Is it a social faux-pas to say I'm insanely fascinated serial killers? As in, I'm probably watching Criminal Minds right now, as you read this? Whatever, I'm eccentric. Either way, I think I'm gonna like this book.

6. The Host by Stephanie Meyer

Truth time: I am NOT the biggest Stephanie Meyer fan. The reason I bought this book is because I went to the signing she did at Waterstones Picadilly the other night. Daphne was running late so I got her book signed for her and I was like "If I am going to wait in this queue, I am going to have something to show for myself." As to why I went in the first place: Uh, Daphne and Caroline were going. SO OBVIOUSLY I HAD TO ALSO. We got dinner after. It was gloriously nerdy. 

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

On Sunday I was in Paris so I was all "au revoir lovelies! See you tomorrow!"

And then on Monday I told you all about my weekend in Paris (yes, that is the third link to that post in THIS post. READ ABOUT MY LIFE, FRIENDS, READ).

Tuesday I made a list of series I have yet to read but know I MUSTMUSTMUST in the near future.

On Wednesday I wrote a short letter to the book These Broken Stars to express JUST HOW MUCH I cannot wait for that book to come out in December.

Thursday led to me outing myself as a huge Doctor Who fan (for the millionth time) when I talked about how much Ferryman by Claire McFall reminded me of one of my favorite TV shows. Which basically means I LOVED FERRYMAN. 

Finally, on Friday I talked about how Blogging is Hard, Yo and, as such, is getting in the way of my beauty sleep. You guys might not know this year, but I like to sleep. A lot. Really.

Books and blogs and events oh my! What a busy week, with an even busier one ahead of me. But you (YES, YOU) should tell me about your week. What pretties did you buy?  What did you do? What did you post on your blog? Tell me all about it in the comments below!