Mod Post: Where have I been?

Hey ya'll. Long time no see right? So where the hell have I been? Well, outside reading to be quite honest. :)

I have been starting to put some reviews again, so there is that. BUT I have been doing some stuff over at The Broke and the Bookish so I thought I'd give y'all the rundown.

Review of Four Sisters, All Queens by Sherry Jones
Remember I did a Waiting on Wednesday on this, way back when. I finally got to read it!

I highly enjoyed this story. It is a tale of a time that I cannot really fathom living in. All that war, all that oppression. ... The plot focuses on the sisters and their lives. ... Instead of directly focusing on one of the many issues of the time, Jones allows us to view these problems through the eyes of her queens.

Top Ten Books for People Who Liked The Other Boleyn Girl

Top Ten Books for People Who Liked Author X


So there are a few posts from what has been going on... and at 12:01 tonight I will link to this week's Top Ten Tuesday which is "Top Ten Most Vivid Worlds/Settings"

Hope you are taking advantage of the nice weather, if it is in fact nice where you are...

Happy Reading!

photo by Colin_K on Flickr

Broke and Bookish: Book vs. Movie

Hey guys! While you are waiting for my next review, I am featured at The Broke and the Bookish today with a Book vs. Movie comparison of I Capture the Castle.

I finished Incarnate a few days ago, I am letting it sit before typing a review so that and more to look forward to :)

See you soon!

Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Book Title/Author: Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Publisher/Year Published:January 2012 by Feiwel & Friends
Where I got it: The library
Why I read this book: Short answer: The cover
Rating: 4/5
Cross posted at The Broke and the Bookish

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

This summary sounds amazing right?! And the book totally lived up to the it. So let me just dive in.

Humans and Androids? Already seems intriguing, right? Yes. We'd be correct. The intermingling of humans, machines, and human machines is awesome and unique. The machines are incorporated into the culture, just like watching an updated Jetsons. The futuristic bit of this book is quite well done!

This is set in the East, specifically New Beijing. I LOVE Asian-esque books. Sadly this isn't maximized to it's full possibilities, but the mentions of the culture are there if you look. The people use chopsticks, the celebrations are decorated in red and gold, things like that. But outside of the Chinese honorifics and these side things, it could very well be set in America.

Let's look at the gifted mechanic cyborg, Cinder. I love that she is, for lack of a better term, useful. She takes control of her own destiny despite obstacles thrown in her path. She is a strong lead and the highlight of the story by far.

Mentioned in the summary is the step-sister's illness. This is clear distinction that while it is a Cinderella retelling, Meyer also makes it her own. And it really succeeds at this. Meyer takes a fairy tale that we know from either the original story (or the Disney movie) and seamlessly interweaves the plot points into an awesome retelling.

How could I not mention Intergalactic struggle? Space?! LUNAR PEOPLE! Well, yeah. There is an evil moon people and an interesting story-line surrounding that. The post-apocalyptic atmospheric and this story line make it a wonderful SciFi dystopian.

Let's not forget the forbidden attraction. Yay, a love story! Yay, not a love triangle! I love myself some forbidden attraction. And it is done decently well.

Outside of all of that, the story was very fulfilling. A little more world building would have been cool, but there are three other books in the series. Kai's character is starting off okay, but I look forward to reading more about him and watching him develop further. Cinder however is awesome now and probably one of my favorite heroines that I have read in a while. The twist, if that is what is was suppose to be, is really predictable as is the story if you are at all familiar with Cinderella, but I don't think that is a bad thing.

It is a wonderful start to a new series that I know I will be devouring as they come out! If you like fairy tales, dystopians, scifi or YA, check this out!

And I still really like that cover!

Feature at The Broke and the Bookish

Hey everyone. It's Tuesday, which means TOP TEN TUESDAY! Jamie's sister decided to have her baby so I jumped in to give my Top Ten list.

This weeks topic was Top Ten Books I Recommend for Someone Who Doesn't Read X. I wrote my list up on (mostly historical) romance novels.

Highlights include:

1. When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James
I love fairytale retellings, and this is a wonderful modernization of the Beauty and the Beast tale. Well modernization meaning it is still set in the past but not in the far distant past of legends. The hero and heroine are both dynamic and is has an interesting story propelling you to the end.

2. The Duke and I by Julia Quinn
Oh, the Bridgertons. I love this series. The Duke and I is the first one in that series. It's a family of 8 kids, one kid per book. Trivia! They are named alphabetically. The first one is the Duke and I. It is about the first gil Daphne and Simon. I love this story because it has just the right balance between levity and plot. Other favorite books in the series? The Viscount Who Loved Me, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton and On the Way to the Wedding.

Check it out @ The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Tuesday: Want to Read in 2012

Over at The Broke and the Bookish we do this thing called Top Ten Tuesday... here is my full list for..

Top Ten Books I'm Excited To Read in 2012

Thief of Shadows by Elizabeth Hoyt
The fourth book in the Maiden Lane series! I reviewed the first one here a really long time ago (I liked it), and just read the third book recently. The lead in to Thief of Shadows is just ... urgh!! I need this now!



Cinder by Marissa Meyer
This is the first line in the Goodreads summary: "Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing." WHAT?! How freaking awesome! Cinder, also the name of the main character, sounds like a mix of Cinderella and dystopian steampunkish ya awesomeness! I think... whichever. I am reading it!


Everneath by Brodi Ashton
Normally I dont get too into YA books because I am usually disappointed (yes I do realize this a sweeping generalization). I found this book on Goodreads a bit ago, immediately added it to my TBR shelf and told some friends about it. It looks like it is going to be a new twist on the greek myth of Hades/Persephone. I don't think it claims to be this, but reading the description, it sure sounds close. Regardless, I am excited to read it!


The Duke's Perfect Wife by Jennifer Ashley
This is the fourth book in the Highland Pleasures Series that follows four brothers. So this is the last brother. The Duke. I am excite!



Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen
I LOVE fairy tale retellings (or I guess legend retellings). This one looks promising. Robing Hood with a chick in the merry men? Yes please.


A Million Suns by Beth Revis
Loved Across the Universe! Absolutely cannot wait for the sequel! The first one was really good and Beth Revis is absoluvely awesome over twitter! I am hoping the continueation is just as good as the first!


The Duke Is Mine by Eloisa James
Another fairy tale retelling (what is this? the third on the list?!) This one is a romance twist of the Princess and the Pea! I have this in my possession for the plane tomorrow so I am super excited about this!!



Trouble at the Wedding by Laura Lee Guhrke
I think this is the third in her abandoned at the alter series. I didnt care for the first one, like the second one a lot... so hopefully this one goes more toward the second :)


Illuminate by Aimee Agresti
I haven't read any of the angel books as of yet, but this one intrigues me. I have a high standard for liking it though... so we'll see. I really liked the idea of angel books.. i am just looking for the right one!



A Night Like This by Julia Quinn
Love Julia Quinn. This is the second in her new series!

There they are! What are yours? Do we share any?

Top Ten Tuesday: Debut Books

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Everyone is welcome to join in.

This weeks Top Ten is Top Ten Debut Books. Now when I did it, some of these people may have previously been published but I made sure it was their first novel.



1. Soulless by Gail Carriger
Love this book! I grbbed it on a whim off my college's new book shelves. My introduction into steampunk.


2. Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Loved this one too! A nice foray into science fiction with a dash of dystopia. Also I just had a Twitter conversation with her about how she came up with some of the language she uses in the books. SO NICE! And so interesting. AND a Firefly fan!


3. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
One of my favorite books. Always brings tears to my eyes.


4. The Spymaster's Lady by Joanna Bourne
Such a fun spy story with a romantic twist! Though technically classified as a historical romance novel, I really think of this book as a interesting story about spies, international relations and .. well passion.



5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling
The birth of a DYNASTY (said like the old man from Mulan)


6. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
I really liked this book. There were some points that I thought were overly long and sometimes completely pointless, but overall it is a really good story with really thought provoking questions.



42. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Funny as hell and made of win.

8. The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt
One of the most sensual writers that I happened to stumble into. Her first book was awesome and she has not faltered for me since.




9. Fatherland by Robert Harris
I LOVE this book. I reread it last year. It is an alternate history novel about what would have happened if Nazi Germany would have won WWII ant not the Allies. It is wrapped around a murder mystery and is just great! I'll have to give this one a proper review at one point..

10. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
I bawled through the last 150 pages of this book. It's surprising how much I love to hate Scarlett. She is such a bitch, but the book itself is outstanding.

Reviews Galore! Just not here...

I had a couple of reviews at other sites this past week. I meant to link them here on the day they posted but alas lots of things happened this week that kept me away from the computer.

Better late than never.

On Wednesday over at Seductive Musings I reviewed Laura Lee Guhrke's Wedding of the Season. This is the first of her Abandoned at the Alter series.

On Thursday over at The Broke and the Bookish I reviewed Final Jeopardy: Man vs. Machine and the Quest to know everything which is a book about the computer IBM has created to play Jeopardy!

Check them out if you are so inclined.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Wish I Read as a Kid

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Everyone is welcome to join in.

This weeks Top Ten is Top Ten Books I Wish I Read as a Kid.

1. Any of the Nancy Drew Mysteries
Right when I started reading high powered again, I was the perfect age to enjoy these. I remember being in the library and thinking they looked very old and they must smell.. bleh! I'll take out this Choose Your Own Adventure (!) instead.

**Note.** I am looking at this Goodreads list on Favorite Childrens Books and totally just realized that I started the Little House on the Prairie books at book 2! No wonder I didn't like them! Now back to your regularly scheduled list.

2. The Series of Unfortunate Events
I feel like this may have come out near the end of my childhood, but I will probably never read it now and thus never know what I could have experienced.

**Note.** Seriously why is Watership Down on the aforementioned list?

3. Julie of the Wolves
I owned this story. I bought it because the main character had my name (shallow I know. Sue me. I was 11). The cover was really cool and engaging. But yet, I never read it. I think I finally gave it away.

**Note.** Okay. Seriously. I've added like 14 books I read as a kid to my goodreads childhood shelf in the last 5 mintues.

4. Wayside School is Falling Down
I read (and LOVED) Wayside School Gets A Little Stranger and I believe I had the math games trivia fun book, but I am almost positive I never went back and read the two that came before "Stranger". I think I would have really liked them.

5. Where the Wild Things Are
I've never read it. Never seen the movie. Still don't really know anything about it. Maybe when I have a kid of my own someday, I'll make sure to give this book so I can read it...

6. Winnie the Pooh
I think I read this book, but I am not sure. I think reading it instead of watching the VHS would have been awesome to do. The more I think about it, the more I am starting to feel like I did read it... now I am not sure.. so I'll make this list 11 just in case.

7. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
I didn't even know it was a book until I just saw it on GR. I really liked the movie and probably would have liked the book even more had I known of its existence.

8. The Neverending Story
Another case of I loved the movie, but never read the book. It was so magical. In actuality, I would probably go back and read this one. I think it could hold some magic for this 24 year old kid.

9. The Polar Express
I've never read it. I've never seen the movie with Tom Hanks either. I don't really feel like I am missing anything, but it could have been a cute tradition.

10.Ella Enchanted
Could have been something magical (if you excuse the pun)

Featured at the Broke and the Bookish

Guess what? I have a review up over at The Broke and the Bookish. It's a review on the awesome trivia dictionary Phraseology:Thousands of Bizarre Origins, Unexpected Connections and Fascinating Facts about English's Best Expressions.

I think when I find awesome entries, I may post them here. Maybe I'll make it a feature. Trivia Today! We'll see... though I will do one now

to gird ones loins literally means "to wrap a belt around ones waist" - as belting loose clothing would allow for freer bodily movement, and the saying is now used to mean "to prepare oneself for something requiring strength and endurance"

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Resolutions

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Everyone is welcome to join in.

This weeks Top Ten is Top Ten Bookish Resolutions.

1. Read 100 books in 2011
2. Blog at least 5 times a week
3. Read more books while traveling (especially on Nook)
4. Complete the TBR in 2011 challenge
5. Read, read, read.

Well. I got 5 at least.

Edit: I thought of a 6!

6. Finish reading Grimm's Fairy Tales in my self proclaimed Grimm Challenge

Pimpin' The Broke and the Bookish

So over at The Broke and the Bookish I reviewed Outlander. "But wait," you begin. "You've already done that!"

Yes it is true, but I updated the review (that I previously updated from 2009) and added a bit of discussion about longer books. The comments actually got pretty active, so if you have some opinions on the matter, or even if you don't, join in!!

Top Ten Tuesday: 2011 TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Everyone is welcome to join in.

This weeks Top Ten is Top Ten Books I resolve to Read in 2011. This kind of relates to the books I have on my 2011 TBR Challenge. So what I am going to do is pull ten off that list and extrapolate a little of why I want to read them and what I have been waiting for!

1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
My favorite class that I took in high school was called "Classic and Modern Novels." This class consisted of 40 minutes a day of uninterrupted reading during school. It was bliss because there were only a few rules 1) Two Classics 2)read 30 pages a night (ha) 3)do an essay after you finish a book. I loved it. Now what does this have to do with Hitchiker's Guide? One of my friends in the class read the trilogy (lol) and I have been wanting to read it since then.

2. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The first book I put on my Goodreads TBR list back in December of 2007. Enough said I think.

3. 1984 by George Orwell
I've been told by so many people that this book is good. I want to be able to say so for myself.

4. Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley
Love fairytale retellings! And I have heard this one is one of the best!

5. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
ANother book that has been recommended to me from multiple sources.

6. I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
I read The Book Thief and really wanted to read more by Zusak. My sister read this book and right now is reading The Book Thief. She reiterated how good this book is and how I should read it.

7. Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
I really want to try this author. I think this would be a good book for my book to movie comparisons.

8. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
I wanted to read it in high school and never got around to it.

9. Paradise Lost by John Milton
This is a life goal of mine. It will be a challenge but I really, really want to get through it. And understand it too.

10. Lady Most Likely by Julia Quinn, Eloisa James and Connie Brockway
This one isn't actually on my list, but I've seen it promoted so much that I really want to read it. Also, I just realized something. When I was in high school, 3 friends and I used to take turns on something we called "The Notebook" (nothing to do with Nicholas Sparks though ha). We should each write a chunk of story and then tag the next person to continue it. It was so much fun. That's what these three ladies did with this romance novel, and I am excited to read how it turned out!

Top Ten Tuesday: Santa Baby...

Over at The Broke and the Bookish (where the reviews of the few books I have been reading have been living), it is Top Ten Tuesday, and today it is what books we want Santa to leave under our tree.

Here is my list (not including the one from that site. I am taking that as my bonus book!)

1. The Devil Wears Plaid
by Teresa Medeiros - Have yet to read it, love her books!

2. The Lady Most Likely...: A Novel in Three Parts
by Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, Connie Brockway -Really interested to see how this "round robin" approach worked out

3. Heartless
by Gail Carriger -I know its not out it but santa is made of magic!

4. I Am the Messenger
by Markus Zusak - loved The Book Thief. must read more

5.Firelight (Firelight #1)
by Sophie Jordan - Been on TBR shelf forever!

6. Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage (Highland Pleasures #2)
by Jennifer Ashley -First in series was made of win

7. The Mammoth Book of Time Travel Romance (Twenty Stories of Timeless True Love) -no explanation needed :)

8. The Island of the Blue Dolphins
by Scott O'Dell -I want this to own as a classic from my childhood

9. The Lords of Discipline
by Pat Conroy -I want this to own as a classic from my adolescence

10. His Dark Materials
by Phillip Pullman - love this. want. now.

Wicked Intentions

I read this book for a challenge, though I could not tell you which challenge it was at this point. But check out my reivew of Elizabeth Hoyt's Wicked Intentions over at the Broke and the Bookish

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Heroines

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Everyone is welcome to join in.

This week's top ten is:
What are your top ten favorite heroines?
or in my case, females in novels.

1. Hermione Granger (Harry Potter) - I love how awesome she is at all times. Smart, sticks to her guns. Harry doesn't fully realize what a gem he has in Hermione.

2. Eowyn (Lord of the Rings) - She is completely kickass, cares enough about her country to not sit around and sew. She is the most awesome female character in the series.

3. Jo March (Little Women) - I loved her when I was little. I'd still love her now (except that she didn't love Laurie... but that is another rant I guess). I'd want her to be my friend.

4. Hyacinth Bridgerton (The Bridgerton Series by Julia Quinn) - The youngest of eight, she grew up (before our eyes) to be a pistol who says was she thinks and screw the consequences. She is also quite sarcastic and hilariously funny.

5. Jemma, Duchess of Beaumont (The Desperate Duchess Series by Eloisa James) - A month into her marriage she walks in on her husband cheating on her. After a morning peroid she pretty much said, screw him; I'm living my own life. We get to watch her grow and change as she fall back in love with her husband.

6. Dinah (The Red Tent) - She is portrayed very relatable. She love her mothers and want to keep the their traditions alive, despite even the men saying no.

7. Lyra (His Dark Materials) - One of the first series that I read with a female main character. She's got gumption and is not afraid to do what is necessary.

8. Annique Villiers (The Spymaster's Lady by Joanna Bourne) - She is a spy. Completely BA. She doesn't take any shenanigans and doesn't wait around for a man to save her.

9. Alexia Tarabotti (The Parasol Protectorate Series by Gail Carriger) - She secretly works for the queen, deals with supernatural being and her immediate family, and carries around an umbrella that could take out any sort of creature imaginable.

10. Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games) - It sort of pains me to put her on this list because I don't really like her that much, but I can't deny that she is a tough cookie. I did like her in The Hunger Games, so 10 she is.

It's a sad state of affairs when I can only name so many women characters that I love without completely resorting to a list made up of romance novel heroines (which I also think would be a short list). Interesting.

Top Ten Tuesday: I Can't Believe I've Never Read It

I know it's a bit late (23 minutes late to be exact) but over at The Broke and the Bookish (where I am a regular reviewer) this was my week to do the Top Ten Tuesday list.

Here is an excerpt:

7. The Hobbit - I don't know if this will ever come off of this list. I went through a huge Tolkien craze my junior year of high school. I read the whole Lord of the Rings series followed by all of the Appendices and The Silmarillion. But I read 40 pages into The Hobbit and could go no further. I feel like this makes me less of a Tolkien fan, but I just couldn't get into it like the other three books.

8. Paradise Lost - I've wanted to read this book since we read an except of it in my high school British lit class. I even started it at one point, but after 30 pages of getting hit over the head with mythological references I had no idea about, I decided to put it on the back burner and read a book about Greek mythology in preparation. Well that took awhile and by the time I finished, I needed some light reading and never went back.

9. Anything by Dickens OK. This isn't necessarily true. I did read A Christmas Carol. But that was like reading the transcript of every movie version of that novel. So, I've never read Dickens. I feel like I should, but have never taken the initiative to do anything about it.

Also, from looking at the linky, there are way more people in the Never Read Dickens Except for A Christmas Carol club than I thought.

Happy Birthday to Me! Book B

In honor of my (Nicole's) July 10th birthday:

A. Read a book by a writer who is a Cancer (June 21-July 22)
AND
B. Read a book that has a NOUN in the title. This noun MUST appear on page 31 of your Part A book (I am turning 31 this summer).

As you may or may not recall, I read The Outsiders for the first part of this challenge. On that page was the word "name". Actually, the phrase "My Name is" was on that page. So I chose to read My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares. She is most known for the books about the traveling pants, but since I have not read those, this was my first taste of her.

I wrote up a full book review over at The Broke and the Bookish but I wanted to talk about something else in relation to this book. The book trailer. Take a look.



Seems like a great book! Where was that book? Because it sure as hell wasn't the story I read. I don't know how I feel about book trailers. I like ones like this better then the words floating on the screen. But they don't really influence me to read a book one way or another. Mostly because you get trailers like the above one, trailers I want to have babies with I love it so much, and then they are nothing like the book. But then you get other book trailers that have meh trailers and the books are made of win.

So I guess my point is with this is wondering what you all think of book trailers, and to complain that this was not the book I read. Though this trailer does remind me of Bright Star. And if you are looking for a good movie with some romance in a historical setting, I suggest that one.

Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I'd Punch

Today's Top Ten Tuesday from The Broke and the Bookish is Top Ten Characters I hate (and would like to punch in the face):

1. Scarlett O'Hara
I hate her as a person, which says a lot for the author that I can hate someone so much who is fictional. She is a very well written character, but selfish and annoying and if I ever knew someone like her in real life, we would not get along well at all.

2. Bella Swan Spoiler
On the complete opposite end of the poll, we have Ms. Swan. I dislike everything she stands for from a feminist perspective, and really a human perspective. People more loquacious than me have extrapolated on her faults, so I will just summarize it: If I ever met her she wouldn't be punched but bitched out, sort of like an angry intervention. "HE DISCONNECTED YOUR CAR!!" etc.

3. Trad
Oh, The Lords of Discipline: the man love, coming of age military novel by Pat Conroy. So Trad is the rich Charlestonian aristocrat who has his flaws. I understand flaws but certain life choices he made seriously made me want to drop kick him. Actually, he would probably beat me up since he is militarily trained, but a swift kick to the nads wouldn't hurt.

4. A wide array of romance novel heroines
I've read my share of romance novels. In fact, I've probably read my share and those five people over there's shares of romance novels. I've read good ones, quite a few in fact, but there are some that just have the most bland, paper cut out heroines that you could probably generate with an online character generator. I couldn't even name them for you they were that forgettable. Suffice it to say that there have be quite a few that I would want to join Jane Austen's Fight Club

5. Romeo and Juliet
Don't get me wrong, I think this is a beautiful love tragedy. Not my favorite of Shakespeare's works, but still not bad. But Romeo and Juliet were whiny teenagers who did it wrong. And when I say "it" I mean life. They didn't think things through and acted too impulsively stupid for me. Hence the punch in the face.

6. Amy March Spoiler
Brat. She is SUCH a brat. I didn't like her at 12 when I first read Little Women, and I don't like her now. I still don't understand how she gets Teddy! Fun fact: When I was younger and watched the movie version (with Christian Bale whom I loved even then) Kirsten Dundst played Amy and I didn't like her as an actress for a while because of it! I know, petty. But I was 12 or younger.

7. Grawp
Really, JK Rowling? What point did he serve? I kept hoping there would be a point. No. Point. I can see what Umbrage was suppose to be (though I guess I would punch her too.. or maybe try to out mind game her), but this was a pointless plot line that really just bumped up word count in Order of the Phoenix. So I guess not a character I hated, but one I thought was pointless.

8. The Cast of Lord of the Flies (except Piggy)
I really hate this book, and I really disliked these kids. And I know the point is to see how we degenerate into savages blah blah blah. I don't like this book, don't like these characters. End of story.

9. Dan Brown
For what he did to Robert Langdon. I really liked him in Angels and Demons, but then he went and killed the magic. I know he are not a character, but I really just want to punch him in the face.

10. Denethor
For what he did to Faramir (who needs a hug) and the whole country (state?) of Gondor. What a little bitch, to be quite frank. I just want to hit him in the face with the palantir.

So there is my list. I bent the rules a bit and got a tad violent, but I mostly get angry with authors for not living up to my expectations. This was actually quite hard because most bad guy characters I understand, think are written really well and would love to have tea with to discuss their motivations and life choices.

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Characters

Today's Top Ten Tuesday is Favorite Fictional Characters sponsored by The Broke and the Bookish

1. Remus Lupin - Harry Potter
I know. It's like on every one of my lists, something HP related, but during my fan girl days I was in love with this character. I had literary discussions on every facet of his nature described through what little we knew of him (at the time). He inspired the game of taking out the main word in a tag line and replacing it with the word Remus. (Still play that game to this day. Example: "Nobody does it like sara leeRemus" or "Remus: Just do it" or "With a name like Remus, it has to be good" It makes everything surprisingly sexual. I have a notebook lying around somewhere with a ton of these). Honestly, every character in this whole series stirred my imagination (I wrote a parody song my freshman year of college based on Everybody Aught to Have a Maid called Everybody Aught to Have a Snape) . I even wrote a page on how Draco was not a well rounded character right before book 6 came out. So in long winded summary, all of the characters in this series spoke to me, but Remus was my favorite. I would have defended him until the end.

2. Dexter Morgan - Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Who would have thought that I would ever loving being in the mind of a serial killer. I would hate it, unless it was Dexter's. This guy can make his problem seem like biting nails in its banality, and do it with an edge of sarcasm that makes me keep turning pages. Not to mention Michael C. Hall embraces him to a T.

3. Ruark Beauchamp - Shanna
My first favorite romance novel, Ruark was thus the first guy to sweep me off my feet, my Mr. Darcy if you will. Well, if Mr. Darcy was a pirate and a convicted felon. I remember loving lots about his character, like his... manliness? And that when I saw him show up just briefly mentioned on a page of another novel, I cried for joy.

4. Charlie Gordon - Flowers For Algernon
From romance novel hero to heartbreaking protagonist, I will never forget the connection I felt to Charlie the first time I read Flowers for Algernon. I don't even think I could explain it, just something about him and the feel of the play that makes me feel as well.

5. Beatrice - Much Ado About Nothing
I read this play in college and absolutely fell in love with Beatrice. Seriously, what a badass. Then I saw Emma Thompson play her in the movie and it was sealed. I mean one of her lines is "I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me. " How awesome and girl power is that? And then it just gets all turned on its head and her relationship with Benedick is pretty much the definition of "made of win".

6. Mr. Darcy - Pride and Prejudice
I kind of feel like a sham for putting him on here seeing as I have never successfully read this book all the way through, but I still feel like I know him. Whether through movie, TV *cough*Colin Firth*cough* or just general life discussion, Mr. Darcy is the perfect man that every woman wants. It's because he is well rounded, a good soul but not without his flaws. He can admit his mistakes, but only after pulling teeth. He's a very human character. It's hard not to love him.

7. Odysseus - The Odyssey
When I read the Odyssey in high school, I really related to Odysseus. His tasks were compelling and all the things he brought upon himself and his men just made me hope and cheer him on. It's a great story and he is a great, well rounded, human character.

8. Leopold Dautry, Duke of Villiers - The Desperate Duchess Series
Another romance hero, but he is a special case. His character developed over the course of a 6 books series, culminating in his own book. It was awesome to see his development and watch his happily ever after unfold. A chess champ he almost succeeded in having me take up the sport again, but then I came to my senses. I suck at chess. But he is a flawed character, and I love him for his improvement.

9. Eowyn - The Lord of the Rings
When I was in to LotR, I read the last two books and fell in love with how badass she was. There are tons of awesome male characters in this world, but not many female. Eowyn is is exception. She is so much more awesome in the book than she is in the movie. She gave me a nice girl power feel reading about her.

10. Jo March - Little Women
I was introduced to the March sisters right when I started reading again after a dry spell. I loved Little Women so much I actually purchased it, which is not something I did often. I loved how powerful she was and how she had the gumption to take her dreams into her own hands and accomplish them, all while helping her family out. I could also relate to her strong will...

So there you have it folks. My top ten favorite characters of the moment. Hope you enjoy and head on over to The Broke and the Bookish to participate as well.

For Those We Love To Hate

Read a book written from a villain's point of view.

For this I read the infamous Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Don't be fooled; despite Nakokov being Russian, this book is not a translation. And yet it has the most brilliant prose.

The review is featured today over at The Broke and the Bookish. Check it out!

Here is a teaser:

It is beautifully written. You would never think that you could get caught up in the mind of such a sick person, but you do. You're not really rooting for him, per say, but I definitely understood him most of the time. The author sums this up in the foreward, "But how magically his singing violin can conjure up a tendresse, a compassion for Lolita that makes us entranced with the book while abhorring its author!"