Top Ten Tuesday

This week's topic is:

Top Ten Books I read in 2013

Divergent - Veronica Roth !!

Insurgent - Veronica Roth !!!

Allegiant - Veronica Roth !!!!! Seriously. I'm so glad I got to binge read these all at once. This was just such a fantastic series. I hope the movies do the books justice!

Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell  I fangirled hard over this one. I did a matching manicure and I wrote my first piece of fanfiction for this book. It's soooo amazing!

If He Had Been With Me - Laura Nowlin So much love for this novel. I had not heard anything about it and wasn't expecting much. This book will give you so many feelings. I love it so.

The Fault in Our Stars - John Green Yeah, I waited awhile before reading this. Someone spoiled it for me almost immediately, so I had to wait until I forgot the spoiler. Then, I waited because I knew I would be devastated afterwards. It was soooo good though. 

Jellicoe Road - Melina Marchetta This is another one where I'm a bit late to the game with. Another heartbreaking but beautiful read. 

Maggot Moon - Sally Gardner A strange little book that was just so powerful. I want more people to read this because I feel like no one has. It deserves to be read!

Winger - Andrew Smith Such a punch in the gut. When I started this, I never would have believed it would have been a top ten pick, but it is! So amazing!

Unravel Me - Tahereh Mafi Warner <3

The Broke and the Bookish is a group of college aged and twenty somethings that have an unhealthy obsession with reading and would spend every last penny on books even if it meant skipping a few meals. We are the people  who lurk in the library, buy handbags based on how many books can be stashed in them, and who refer to characters in books as if they are personal friends.

We sought after other bookish college students to share in our love for reading and were brought together by the College Students group on Goodreads that was created in September 2008. Our desire to share great books with each other in and our tendency to be opinionated and passionate about all things book related naturally led to the birth of The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010.

Review: Two or three Things I Forgot to Tell You - Joyce Carol Oates

Where I got it: Library
Rating: 2 stars  
Cover Rating: 3 stars (Plain, but not bad.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: August 21, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Page Count: 288 p.
Add it: Goodreads

It's senior year and Tink is gone. Tink was the glue that held her friends together. Now they have secrets trapped inside of themselves. The secrets are poisoning them, but who do they have to tell now?

What?! Seriously. I am not really sure what I even just read. It was a jumbled mess of conceited teenage narration. Merissa makes me want to ring her neck...she totally knows what it's like to be hungry because "Merissa could go without eating for hours...". Well congratulations! You don't have to constantly shove food into your mouth every minute of every day! Let me give a a gold star. The girls all just really annoyed me.

I didn't like the structure of this book either. The narration was weird and then it switched to a different character. We were given fragments of a story instead of a whole thing that made any sense. These girls are sheep and completely full of themselves and I had a hard time getting through this novel.

The strange stuff about Tink was interesting, but could not save the rest of the mess. This book was simply not for me at all. There were lots of connotations throughout this novel, but I could never get a good handle on them. A good pick for a book discussion, but not enjoyable to read alone.

First Line:
"'Merissa! Congratulations!'"

Favorite Line:
"Overhead the sky was losing its light."

Stuff I Got This Week

Won: thanks EpicReads

*book shimmy* tote !

After Daybreak - J.A. London

Just for Fins - Tera Lynn Childs

Pretty Crooked - Elisa Ludwig

Ashes to Ashes - Melissa Walker

When Callie's life is cut short by a tragic accident, she expects to find nothingness, or maybe some version of heaven. Instead, her spirit travels to the Prism, an ethereal plane populated by the ghosts she thought were fictional. Here she meets a striking and mysterious ghost named Thatcher, who is meant to guide her as she learns to haunt and bring peace to the loved ones she left behind. 

 However, Callie uncovers a dark secret about the spirit world: The angry souls who always populate ghost stories are real, dangerous, and willing to do whatever it takes to stay on Earth, threatening the existence of everyone she ever cared about. As she fights to save them, Callie will learn that while it may no longer beat, her heart can still love-and break.

Thanks so much EpicReads <3<3<3

That's what I got this week, what did you all get? 

Review: Not a Drop to Drink - Mindy McGinnis

Where I got it: Kindle
Rating: 4.5 stars  
Cover Rating: 5 stars (This.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: September 24, 2013
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Page Count: 320 p.
Add it: Goodreads

Lynn and her mom are surviving. They have a source of drinking water in a land that is dying of thirst. They have each other and their weapons. Up on the roof looking through the eye of her scope, everyone is Lynn's enemy. It's kill or be killed now and Lynn has no intention of dying. When a lot of strangers appear though, things start to shift. Lynn is going to have to make a lot of decisions, some which go against everything she's been taught.

This was an excellent dystopian read. It was a lot more gritty then I have found a lot of YA dystopian to be. This could be due in large part to the descriptive, disgusting bits that Mindy McGinnis wound into the story. Nothing like the smell of gangrene in the morning...

Lynn was a very strange character. I'm surprised she was able to go against her upbringing even in the little ways that she did. I also really liked Stebbs. He knew what it was like before, so he had a bit more personality than Lynn who was always thinking about survival.

I was surprised by this book many times. Even by the ending it still had some surprises in store for me. I honestly thought the ending was going to be a lot worse than it turned out to be. While the ending was nice, I wished it had been a bit more brutal.

I would definitely recommend you add this to your "to be read immediately pile" because it was quite excellent. I know I'll be pushing this book on to a lot of people.

First Line:
"Lynn was nine the first time she killed to defend the pond, the sweet smell of water luring the man to be picked off like the barn swallows that dared to swoop in for a drink."

Favorite Lines:
"'Why do you always quote poetry at me when all I want is a straight answer?'
'Because I need to use my English degree,'"

"But all she heard was the death rattle."

Top Ten Tuesday

This week's topic is:

Top Ten new to me authors...

Veronica Roth - I never thought these books would be as great as they were. It was really nice to be able to sit down and tear through them all at once.

Andrew Smith - Oh, Winger, how much you tricked me and I totally and completely fell for you.

Rainbow Rowell - If you've read Fangirl, you know what I mean. ^_^

Laura Nowlin - Broke my heart into pieces. Finny <3

Page Morgan - Who knew a book with such a pretty cover good be so fantastic ;)

Josin McQuein - Josin knew about the pretty cover = great book thing. 

Kate Karyus Quinn - I can't wait to read her next book because Another Little Piece was all sorts of crazy and spooky.  

Emil Ostrovski - A road trip unlike any other. 

Andrew Fukuda - Vampires, but better.

J.H. Trumble - Ruined my life, beautifully. 

The Broke and the Bookish is a group of college aged and twenty somethings that have an unhealthy obsession with reading and would spend every last penny on books even if it meant skipping a few meals. We are the people  who lurk in the library, buy handbags based on how many books can be stashed in them, and who refer to characters in books as if they are personal friends.

We sought after other bookish college students to share in our love for reading and were brought together by the College Students group on Goodreads that was created in September 2008. Our desire to share great books with each other in and our tendency to be opinionated and passionate about all things book related naturally led to the birth of The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010.

Stuff I Got This Week

Bought: for Kindle

Game of Thrones books 1-5

Had to get for Kindle so my arms don't fall off.

Beautiful Disaster - Jamie McGuire

Not a Drop to Drink - Mindy McGinnis

The 5th Wave - Rick Yancey

Days of Blood & Starlight - Laini Taylor

Taken - Erin Bowman

That's what I got this week, what did you all get? 

Top Ten Tuesday

This week's topic is:

Top Ten Books in my Winter TBR...

In the After - Demitria Lunetta

Meet Me at the River - Nina de Gramont

Not a Drop to Drink - Mindy McGinnis

No One Else Can Have You - Kathleen Hale

Poor Little Dead Girls - Lizzie Friend

The Clockwork Scarab - Colleen Gleason

The Beginning of Everything - Robyn Schneider

How to Love - Katie Cotugno

Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones

In the Shadow of Blackbirds - Cat Winters

The Broke and the Bookish is a group of college aged and twenty somethings that have an unhealthy obsession with reading and would spend every last penny on books even if it meant skipping a few meals. We are the people  who lurk in the library, buy handbags based on how many books can be stashed in them, and who refer to characters in books as if they are personal friends.

We sought after other bookish college students to share in our love for reading and were brought together by the College Students group on Goodreads that was created in September 2008. Our desire to share great books with each other in and our tendency to be opinionated and passionate about all things book related naturally led to the birth of The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010.

Miss Peregrine's Hollow City book trailer

If you all haven't seen the new trailer for book 2, here it is. Thank me later!

Review: The Time-Traveling Fashionista and Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile

Where I got it: Netgalley
Rating: 3.5 stars  
Cover Rating: 5 stars (So pretty.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: December 3, 2013
Publisher: Poppy
Page Count: 256 p.
Add it: Goodreads
Sequel to: The Time-Traveling Fashionista and The Time-Traveling Fashionista at the Palace of Marie Antoinette

Louise is once again super excited about the upcoming vintage sale even if the rest of her life isn't going so great. Her best friend has a boyfriend now and isn't spending as much time with her. Louise also still isn't loud and proud about her love of vintage and gets picked on at school a bit for her attire. She has stumbled upon some interesting information about her mother though that makes her suspect that there's more to her time-traveling than her mother lets on about. She's very excited to see where she'll end up this time, and she sees just the dress to take her there. 

THERE WERE NO ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE E-GALLEY!!! That was very disappointing, but luckily the book is out now, so I can go buy a copy and look at the gorgeous color illustrations. 

I was a bit disappointed when Louise first arrived at her location, because I was expecting full-on Egypt times and was met instead with Hollywood. Not that old Hollywood isn't fabulous in its own way, but EGYPT! So I was quite relieved to see that everything was not how it appeared to be, yet again. This was a really great addition to Louise's time-traveling. I also am really enjoying watching her current day relationships expand. There should be lots of fun to come with the next books in this series. 

This is seriously a perfect gift for a teen/tween who's a bit quirky. I think Louise is a realistic character that girls who are starting to shape their personalities can really relate too. Louise is a fun character and her adventures make me jealous of her vintage clothing sales. The illustrations alone make this book a must read, so make sure you check these out soon.

First Line:
"'Louise, what are you doing awake at this hour?'"

Favorite Line:
"She opened the creaky old trunk, tossed her secret stash of Barbie and Ken dolls onto the hardwood floor, and pulled out the poodle necklace."

Book Tour: The Time-Traveling Fashionista and Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile

I have a super fun treat for you guys today. As some of you may know I really enjoy the Time-Traveling Fashionista series. I may not be anyway close to a fashionista, but I do love traveling back in time. The newest book in this series by Bianca Turetsky came out yesterday, this ones sounds particularly interesting because it takes place in Egypt, The Time-Traveling Fashionista and Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile. I always wished we could study more about Egypt in school, it's such a different place and period. Her first book was set on The Unsinkable Titanic and the second was in the Palace with Marie Antoinette. These books have the most gorgeous illustrations to go along with the story so you can see exactly what everyone is wearing. This are fun novels and I highly recommend that you check them out. So now, without further ado, I bring you an excerpt from book #3...

When Louise left the bedchamber and entered the covered arcade to deliver the mammoth scroll to Cleopatra, the first thing that hit her was the intense heat. It felt as if she were baking in an oven. It had to be over a hundred degrees! Way over, she thought, wiping a torrent of sweat already running down her face. She glanced down and discovered the back of her hand was covered with smudged red rouge and greasy black eyeliner. She didn’t even want to know what Charmian’s makeup was looking like right now. The air wasn’t like Connecticut in August, though. It was a dry heat, with no humidity, like being in a sauna…or a desert. No humidity means no frizzies!Louise thought, instinctively reaching up to her head and accidentally pulling off a bob-length wig. Wait, where was her hair? She dropped the scroll on the floor and frantically felt the top of her prickly head, which was shaved close to the scalp. Charmian was bald! Startled, Louise quickly put the dark braided wig back in place and nervously looked around to see if anyone had seen her gaffe. Luckily, no one had. She tried to check out her reflection in the polished marble wall and could barely make out a blurry version of her familiar face under a wig that was completely askew. She hastily adjusted her way-off-center part, picked up the scroll, and kept walking. If she was with Cleopatra, then she was probably in Egypt, Louise deduced, halfway around the world and a few thousand years from her real life. Whoa. It was an exhilarating and terrifying realization. She had definitely never been this far from home before. (p. 69-70)

Bianca Turetsky is the author of the stylish Time-Traveling Fashionista series, which has been translated into nine languages. After graduating from Tufts University, Bianca began working for artist/filmmaker Julian Schnabel. She managed his studio for the past 11 years and was his assistant on the Academy Award-nominated film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. She lives in a cozy studio apartment in Brooklyn, New York, that houses her very extensive and much-loved vintage collection.

Visit her website: http://timetravelingfashionista.com/

Top Ten Tuesday

This week's topic is:

Top Ten 2014 Release I NEED RIGHT NOW!

Ignite Me - Tahereh Mafi
Lair of Dreams - Libba Bray

Idols - Margaret Stohl

The Retribution of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin

Hollow City - Ransom Riggs

Lies My Girlfriend Told Me - Julie Anne Peters
The Inventor's Secret - Andrea Cremer

The Geography of You and Me - Jennifer E. Smith

Tsarina - J. Nelle Patrick

Don't You Forget About Me - Kate Karyus Quinn

The Broke and the Bookish is a group of college aged and twenty somethings that have an unhealthy obsession with reading and would spend every last penny on books even if it meant skipping a few meals. We are the people  who lurk in the library, buy handbags based on how many books can be stashed in them, and who refer to characters in books as if they are personal friends.

We sought after other bookish college students to share in our love for reading and were brought together by the College Students group on Goodreads that was created in September 2008. Our desire to share great books with each other in and our tendency to be opinionated and passionate about all things book related naturally led to the birth of The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010.