Top Ten Tuesday - Freebie Week

Welcome to another round of Top Ten Tuesday - a weekly meme brought to us by That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week is a freebie theme.  SO, I am going to tell you my favorite fantasy characters. 

From Harry Potter

Luna Lovegood
Fred and George

From LOTR

(All of them, really, but:)

Legolas
Gimli
Gandalf 

From The Grishaverse 

(Ok, I am going to combine the Grisha Trilogy and the Six of Crows Duology)

Alina Starkhov
Kaz Brekker
Nina Zenik
Inej Ghafa

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your turn reader friends.  Who are your favorite fantasy characters.   If you don't read a lot of fantasy, just tell me your favorite fictional characters.  

Library Haul

I was around the twitter one day, and talking with someone about how I don't typically do hauls, because I don't feel I buy enough books to do a haul.  I do read a ton of books from the library, though.  So, then it was suggested by someone "Hey, you could do a library haul." 

And of course I thought this was a BRILLIANT idea.  

So, without further ado, here are all the books I've recently acquired from the library (and need to finish reading so I can request more, because I have a mile long list of books I want to read.)

1. Norse Mythology - Neil Gaiman
2. Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune - Roselle Lin
3. Where the Red Fern Grows - Wilson Rawls

        

4. Glass Sword - Victoria Aveyard
5. One in a Million - Lindsey Kelk
6. Because You Love to Hate Me - Anthology, Various Authors

7. Stardust - Neil Gaiman
8. The Phycology of Time Travel - Kate Mascarenhas
9. Where I End and You Begin - Preston Norton

10. Animal Far - George Orwell
11. American Psycho - Bret Easton
12. The Cruel Prince - Holly Black

13. The Kiss Quotient - Helen Hoang
14. Read and Gone - Allison Brook
15. The Past and Other Things that should Stay Buried - Shaun David Hutchinson

16. Something Read Something Dead - Eva Gates
17. 1984 - George Orwell
18. Red, White, and Royal Blue - Casey Mcquiston (Currently reading, and believe me when I tell you I already have some big thoughts about this book!)

19. Last Bus to Everland
20. Beauty Queens - Libba Bray

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your turn reader friends.  Do you have any books from your library (or bookstore) that you have hauled recently?  Have you read any of the books here?  Let me know down in the comments!

Dating Profile Friday - Bellatrix LeStrange

Name: Bellatrix LeStrange
Age: Would you ask a man this question?

Likes: Snakes, doing the dark lord's bidding, planning prison breaks
Dislikes: Halfblood wizard's, traitors, Dumbledore, Harry Potter's entire family.

About Me: I live to serve the Dark Lord.  I broke out of Azkaban with ease, and don't plan on going back.  If you are a pure-blood wizard who loves the dark arts, we will get along well.  I enjoy learning about new methods of torture, and am open to torture on anyone, anywhere.

If you love the dark arts, the dark lord, and torture, send an owl out for me - they'll know where to find me.

Top Ten Tuesday - Settings I’d Like to See More Of (Or At All)

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday - a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This weeks topic is Settings I'd Like to See More Of (Or at All).

This is a tough one for me, because I feel like I am pretty content with the settings of the books I am reading.

If I really had to pick some settings I'd like to see more of: Here is what I'd want -

1. Australia.  Seriously, give me more Australia.

2. Scotland.  Those green hills, the sheep, the kilts!  YES!

3. Ireland.  Because of it being Ireland.

4. Ketterdam.  Come on, Leigh Bardugo, you can give us more, right?!

5. Hogwarts when the founders first started the school.  I am not really super into HP any more, but I would be interested to see what Hogwarts was like when it was first founded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok, friends - what would you want to see more of as far as settings!  Talk to me in the comments.

Somewhere Only We Know - Maurene Goo

Title: Somewhere Only We Know
Author: Maurene Goo
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 4.5 Stars

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

10:00 p.m.: Lucky is the biggest K-pop star on the scene, and she’s just performed her hit song “Heartbeat” in Hong Kong to thousands of adoring fans. She’s about to debut on The Tonight Show in America, hopefully a breakout performance for her career. But right now? She’s in her fancy hotel, trying to fall asleep but dying for a hamburger.

11:00 p.m.: Jack is sneaking into a fancy hotel, on assignment for his tabloid job that he keeps secret from his parents. On his way out of the hotel, he runs into a girl wearing slippers, a girl who is single-mindedly determined to find a hamburger. She looks kind of familiar. She’s very cute. He’s maybe curious.

12:00 a.m.: Nothing will ever be the same.

With her trademark humor and voice, Maurene Goo delivers a sparkling story of taking a chance on love―and finding yourself along the way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This felt like a total meet cute book.  Lucky, the lady of the story, comes out of her room in search of food because her manager never lets her eat real food. She stumbles across Jack, a tabloid employee (read paparazzi) in search of a story.  He doesn't realize who she is at first, because she's not wearing her usual wig, makeup, etc.  What follows is a meet-cute romcom that is just as adorable as Maurene Goo's other books.


So: The book!

The Characters:

Lucky (or Fern!) and Jack were wonderfully written and well developed characters. The side characters were great as well, but there weren't really any standout secondary characters.  What I mean is, they were there, but they were just kind of fillers put in to help move the story from beginning to end - they didn't have to be well developed because they weren't *that* important.  And it worked for this book.

There was some good development with Lucky especially because the book showed how she struggled with the fame that comes with being a famous pop star, and her feelings about if she wanted to keep doing that or not.  She gets homesick, she misses her family, but she loved doing K-Pop and that was all she wanted when she was younger.  I will obviously never know what it's like to be a K-Pop star, but it was interesting to learn about it from Lucky's life and see what her struggles were like as part of that life.

I think Jack had some good development in the story. He was this obsessed photographer who has to get these photos of famous people, and you see him making small changes and realizations even through the short time that he and Lucky knew each other - like when they are eating shawarma and he realized he just couldn't keep badgering her about her forced diet because he realized she had all the feelings and hated the diet she had to be on, and he didn't feel it was right to disrespect her like that. 

The Plot/Story:

The whole plot was just cute and well developed.  The writing is good, and the story kept me hooked from beginning to end.  I don't know much about K-Pop, so it was interesting to learn a bit more about that as well.  This is a delightfully written, well developed story that teens (and YA loving adults) will totally enjoy. 

The Cover:

I have to mention the cover.  The covers of Maurene Goo's book are always pretty simple and clean: BUT I LOVE IT!  I think it works, and fits with the whole book so, so well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you like cute romance books that are meet-cute with fun characters and a good story, get your hands on this book.

And if you've already read this book, let know what you think in the comments. 

Dating Profile Friday: Draco Malfoy

Name: Draco Malfoy

Hobbies: Hating people, throwing Harry Potter under the bus, plotting my revenge on those who have wronged me, and learning as much as I can about the dark arts.

Likes: Buying things from Borgin and Burkes.
Dislikes: Harry Potter. The dark forest.  Being held accountable for my action

About me: I attending Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry and brought much glory to Slytherin, the best house at Hogwarts. I enjoy flying and have a great respect for purebloods.

I don't care much for the outdoors. I prefer the warmth of the fireplaces in Malfoy Manor.  I do enjoy traveling, as long as I can arrive at my destination quickly.  I like visiting wizards in other countries, as well.

You can contact me by owl at Malfoy Manor.  

Top Ten Tuesday - Childhood Favorites

Hi reader friends!  It's time for Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl!   This weeks topic is Childhood Favorites.

Without further ado, let us commence our journey.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Chronicles of Narnia are books that I've loved my entire life.  They are so fun, and I just had so much fun reading these as kids, and even now as an adult! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Babysitter's Club Books were, hands down, without a doubt, my FAVORITE books when I was a pre-teen.  I loved them so, so much. I read and re-read them, and then gave them to my cousin when she got old enough to read and enjoy them - because I just had to share my love of them with someone who loved books as much as I do! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was so into the Sweet Valley High series as a young teen.  These books were so much fun to read! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As a very young child, these Frances books were my FAVORITE picture books!  I loved them so, so much, and even now when I read them to kids, it makes me want to eat toast with jam.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your turn- what are some of your childhood favorites?  Let me know in the comments below!