Tag Archives: Top Ten Tuesday

August 21, 2012 · 10:48 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books I’ve Read Since the Birth of My Blog

So, it’s Tuesday again. Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish, and this week’s topic is Top Ten Favorite Books You’ve Read During the Lifespan on Your Blog. THIS is one of the things that makes me glad I have that master list of reviews page. I review pretty much everything I read, so I don’t have to go through my blog archives month by month to look. Genius! Anyways, yes I’m so smart, let’s get on with it. (By the way, I’m not counting re-reads, like Outlander or Bet Me or Harry Potter or The Name of the Wind.)

1. The Postmortal by Drew Magary – Such a good book! It’s a story about what would happen to the world if people stopped aging, told through the eyes of a pretty regular guy. It was fascinating.

2. Practical Jean by Trevor Cole – Dark, twisted humor is awesome. Jean is a lady in her 40′s, who after watching her mother die slowly from cancer, decides that the best possible thing she can do for her friends is to kill them so they never have to suffer the indignities of old age. (Notice a pattern? Old age terrifies me. Although I don’t want someone to kill me to escape it.)

3. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell – Much, much more light-hearted than the books I just mentioned. A sweet Southern boy falls in love with a woman by reading her emails with her friend. Trust me, it’s not as creepy as it sounds.

4. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett – This book was EPIC in it’s massiveness and story-telling. I kind of want to re-read it right now.

5. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray – Because it’s HILARIOUS and satirical and sarcastic and just the bestest. Plus it addresses a ton of issues young girls face, like self-image, sexuality, race, consumerism, etc.

6. In Search of the Multiverse by John Gribbin – This was my first real step into sciencey books about physics and whatnot, and the fact that it was so well-written made me feel brave enough to read other books on the topic.

7. Graceling by Kristin Cashore – Katsa is awesome. So is Po. This is one of the best fantasy YA books I’ve read.

8. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline – SO original and fun and enthralling. That’s right, ENTHRALLING.

9. Wicked by Gregory Maguire – Ohhh Elphie & Fiyero. I know the author kind of took Oz and turned it on its head, but I love it. The politics and drama and stuff.

10. Feed by Mira Grant – ZOMBIESSSSS. But like, zombies 20-years after they first show up. The world is crazy different, the author has a great imagination and attention to detail.

Aaaaannnd…. honorable mentions to Ender’s Game,  A Discovery of Witches, Sandman Slim, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, Einstein’s Dreams, The Bronze Horseman, Christopher Moore’s books, the Thursday Next books, and like ALL the Jane Austen. Come on, it’s too hard to pick just 10 books out of over two years of blogging.

OK, so what are some of your favorite reads since blogging? Were you able to keep your list to ten?

~Sarah

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August 14, 2012 · 9:13 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Romances That Would Survive in Real Life

Good morning guys! So this is Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the lovely ladies over at The Broke and The Bookish. In honor of Jamie’s wedding this week (CONGRATS JAMIE!!!!), the topic this week is Top Ten Book Romances That You Think Would Make It In The Real World (outside the book). I’m in the mood for a little romance, so let’s get to it, shall we?

1. Jamie & Claire from Outlander – OBVIOUSLY.

2. Tatiana & Alexander from The Bronze Horseman – But only if you completely forget that the third book, The Summer Garden, ever existed. Because in that final book Paullina Simmons took this amazingly epic couple and completely ruined them. I wish I could erase the part of my memory where that book exists. But their love is all awesome and beautiful in the first two books, and they go through SO MUCH that normal everyday stuff would not destroy them.

3. Sarah & David from Married With Zombies - Because if they can survive a zombie apocalypse, I’m sure they can re-adjust to normal life again without their previous marital problems.

4. Cathy & Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights – Okay hear me out. In the real world, no one cares if you’re a gypsy or an orphan or whatever. In the real world, Heathcliff would have beaten the CRAP out of Cathy’s brother, and Cathy would not have had to stay at pretty-boy’s house because his huge dog bit her. Instead, she would have gone home and SUED HIS ASS and then her and Heathcliff could have run away to start a life together with her huge settlement check. (Clearly I need to re-write this book for the modern day. Not.)

5. Bod & Scarlett from The Graveyard Book – Because I have to believe that they met again out in the real world. In fact, maybe he goes to seek her out and she helps him learn how to function in life-outside-the-graveyard.

6. Katsa & Po from Graceling – Because they are so awesome and perfectly suited to each other. And Katsa’s views on marriage & baby-having is totally suitable for this time period.

7. Dash & Lily from Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares – As long as they’re still in hipster-ville NYC, I’m sure they’d continue to be absolutely adorable. And I like how Lily’s bubbly happiness kind of draws gloomy Dash out of his depressing shell a bit. And his dourness kind of helps to stabilize Lily when she’s going all frantic.

And here’s where I take it to the flip-side, and pick bookish couples that would NOT work in the real world… because apparently I don’t read enough books with perfectly awesome couples in them.

8. Bella & Edward from the Twilight series - I feel like this is very obvious. Someone would have checked Bella’s crazy self into a mental hospital for going all my-life-depends-on-you-noticing-me for some boy. And let’s face it, in real life Bella is a cutter and Edward probably would have devoured her halfway into the first book.

9. Roger & Brianna from the Outlander series – Okay, they have their sweet moments. But Brianna is just a pain in the ass like 80% of the time. And while Roger is all sweet and stays with her even when other guys would have run away, Brianna would eventually push him away and probably cheat on him in the real world.

10. a couple in Feed but I can’t say who or why without MEGA spoilers – But if you read the trilogy, then you probably know who I’m talking about.

 

For real though, looking around my shelves I realized how many books I have or read that don’t even have couples in them, or if they do they kind of suck. Like in The Hunger Games trilogy… I SO disagree with how that love triangle worked out, because Katniss NEVER ACTUALLY MADE A DECISION. And “I’m with you by default” doesn’t work like ever. And I noticed I’ve read a lot of books where the romance is hinted at between two characters, but various reasons never really allow them to come together. And in a lot of sci-fi, fantasy, and classic books that I have, there’s a pretty obvious lack of romance. Apparently I need to read more love stories.

So, which bookish romances do you think would survive in R.L.? Do you disagree with any of my picks?

~Sarah

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August 7, 2012 · 6:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Blog Posts That Will Make You Fall Madly In Love With Me

Well, not really. Hi guys! It’s time for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and The Bookish, and this week’s topic is Top Ten Posts On Your Blog That Would Give The BEST Picture of YOU (as a reader and a person — so pick the 10 best reviews/posts that you wish every potential reader of your blog would see!) Whew! So, these are some of my favorite blog posts that might give you a general idea of who I am.

1. My first ever vlog - Aww, I was so nervous, lol. And don’t worry, I eventually learned how to talk louder. I miss doing vlogs. I need to find a new book-buying-sharing meme to join in on.

2. My Big-Ass To-Read Shelves -  Pictures of all my books, and stats on how many books I’ve read that I actually own. It’s been over a year since this post… I should do it again and see if my numbers have improved at all. (Probably not, because even though I’ve purged a lot of books I’ve also bought a crapload of books…)

3. My review of Emma by Jane Austen – Because Emma gets so little love.

4. My criteria for a 5-star rating – Pretty self-explanatory. And even though I wrote that post ages ago, I still pretty much agree with everything I said there.

5. An angry review of A Visit From the Goon Squad – Because my angry, ranty reviews are the funnest.

6. Sarah Sunday - This SS post shows the awesome signed edition of Outlander I received, plus a cute baby picture of my nephew L. And this one shows my awesome V-Day this year as well as a pic of the honeyman and I lookin all pretty. (Ahh, see how I snuck 2 links into one pick? Sneaky I am.)

7. My review of Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card – Because it’s an awesome sci-fi book, but I also discuss some of the controversy surrounding the book – namely the racism and violence.

8. Literary Tattoo post – Mainly in which I show off my tattoos and ask my readers about literary tattoos.

9. My review of In Search of the Multiverse by John Gribbin – Showing off my smarty-pants.

10. My review of Beauty Queens by Libba Bray - Cause I also read some YA, and this book was awesome.

 

Also some notable mentions are my super-angry post about Borders closing and how much I hate e-books, a 55-question bookish survey, and a review of The Bronze Horseman to show my historical-fiction side.

 

Sooo those are some of my favorite-ish blog posts of mine, that should give you a little insight into the realm of Sarah, if you’re new to this blog. If you’re a regular reader, well you already know how crazy I am.

What blog posts of yours should I check out?

~Sarah

 

 

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July 24, 2012 · 7:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Impressive World-Building in Books

top ten tuesday

Good morning people! As you all know by now, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. I’m actually pretty excited for this week’s topic, because it’s something that’s kind of a major thing to me when it comes to really liking a book –> Top Ten Most Vivid Worlds/Settings in Books. Let’s do this thang!

Newsflesh Trilogy

1. The Newsflesh Trilogy by Mira Grant - Sure, it’s about zombies. But there are SO MANY THINGS that seperate it from other zombie books. First off, it takes place decades after the first zombie outbreak, which means the author creates a world in which zombies are a fact of life, and it is astonishing how much detail she put into creating that kind of society. Definitely stuff that I never even thought of, because normally when you think about a zombie outbreak, you only think about the first days / weeks of fighting them and trying to survive.

Inheritance trilogy, N.K. Jemisin

2. The Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin - In these books, Jemisin gives us an incredible fantasy world in which the world is dangerous, magic is abound, and gods are enslaved. Absolutely fantastic.

Ready Player One, Ernest Cline

3. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - I just finished this book, and I LOVED learning about the world that Cline has created here. The outside world has gone to hell, and to escape reality people practically live in the virtual reality online world of OASIS.  Cline’s attention to detail and innovation is apparent in his version of the real world and the fake world of OASIS, and it made this an incredibly fun read.

The Postmortal, Drew Magary

4. The Postmortal by Drew Magary - Imagine that someone stumbles upon a cure for age, effectively allowing you to evade old age and a natural death infinitely. The imagine how that would completely screw up our world and society. Welcome to the world of The Postmortal. Once again, the author impresses me with little details and issues that I never would have even thought of, and for a long time I couldn’t stop talking about this book to people. It was so exciting to read.

The Kingkiller Chronicles, Patrick Rothfuss

5. The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss - Probably the best epic fantasy world I’ve encountered. It’s mostly due to Rothfuss’s absolutely spellbinding writing, but the magic and adventure in this series is awesome. I cannot wait until the next book!

The Wicked Years series, Gregory Maguire

6. The Wicked Years series by Gregory Maguire - This is not the Oz of your childhood. Gregory Maguire takes the land of Oz and digs a lot deeper, and the result is impressive and amazing. This land of Oz is full of political turmoil, prejudice among the different races in Oz, and philosophical debates. I’ve only read the first two books, but I love the author’s take on Oz, and I definitely grew to love Elphaba and Fiyero.

The Neanderthal Parallax trilogy

7. The Neanderthal Parallax trilogy by Robert J. Sawyer - Imagine a parallel universe in which history took a different course – the Neanderthals survived and flourished, and we didn’t. Then imagine that a weird rift in timespace allows those two universes to interconnect. BRILLIANT. I loved seeing Robert J. Sawyer create the world of the Neanderthals and all of the little differences. This trilogy is also what initally motivated me to start reading about quantum physics and the multiverse theorie, because the science used in the books was so intriguing.

Thursday Next

8. The Thursday Next Series by Jasper Fforde - Oh man. A world in which there is cloning of extinct animals, time travellers, literature is taken incredibly seriously, characters and people can jump in and out of books… come on. These books are incredible at making your imagination come alive. These books and the world in which they take place are so engrossing that when I read one, even my dreams start to get all loopy and weird. Love it.

 

Harry Potter series

 

9. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling - I mean, come on. Obviously.

10. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton - While the book ends up primarily being pretty action-packed and thriller-like, the set up for Jurassic Park actually shows some pretty impressive thoughtfulness and imagination in thinking about the possibility of cloning the DNA of extinct animals such as dinosaurs, the financial perks to such a risk, and all of the little things that could go horribly wrong. Once again, I got completely sucked in by the science and consequences of a fictional world.

Yay! Honestly, world-building is so important to books and it’s actually why some of these books / series are on my all-time favorites lists. I also realized that there are some books that I absolutely love, but it’s less for the world-building and more for the awesome characters, which is why Outlander isn’t on this list ;-)

So, what are some of your favorite settings or fictional worlds?

~Sarah

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July 3, 2012 · 9:03 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Recommend If You Like This Author…

Good morning everybody! So I’m doing this morning on about 4 hours of sleep – I might not make a whole lotta sense, and I’m too lazy to really use pictures in my list this week. Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely folks over at The Broke and The Bookish, and the topic this week is Top Ten Books for People Who Like X Author – meaning I’ll pick an author (or several) and give you recommendations to similar authors. And to be nice, I’ll put links to the author’s page on Amazon so you can look at their books. Okay? Okay.

If you like Christopher Moore, try…

1. Jasper Fforde – Jasper Fforde’s novels are a bit more fancy and British, but the laugh-out-loud silly-ness is very similar. If you want wackyness, Fforde may be your man.

2. Matthew Norman – Okay, so he only has one book out. But if you want to read from the P.O.V. of a beta male similar to Christopher Moore’s characters, read it.

3. Richard Kadrey – There isn’t quite so much humor in Kadrey’s Sandman Slim series, but it makes up for it with supernatural bad-assness.

 

If you like Diana Gabaldon, try…

4. Sara Donati – Actually, Jamie and Claire are mentioned in the first book of Sara Donati’s Wilderness series, and the cover boasts praise from Diana Gabaldon herself. Can’t really ask for a better recommendation than that!

5. Paullina Simons - So, I’ve only read her Tatiana and Alexander trilogy, but they are some awesome books (except the third book, I hated that one). But if you’re looking for another epic love story in literature, look no further.

6. Audrey Niffenegger – Honestly, I don’t really care for this author. HOWEVER. I’m drawing on my experience working in a bookstore here, because sometimes people want a time-traveling love story after reading and loving Outlander, and they turn to The Time Traveler’s Wife and end up enjoying it.

 

If you like Mira Grant, try…

7. Max Brooks – I haven’t gotten around to reading him yet, but one of his books is a zombie survival guide and another is a post-zombie book that’s being made into a movie starring Brad Pitt. How can you go wrong?

8. Robert Kirkman - He is the author of The Walking Dead graphic novels series, which ended up being turned into an AWESOME zombie show on AMC.

9. Jesse Petersen - If you still crave more zombies, I highly recommend Jesse Petersen. Her Living With the Dead trilogy is completely different – it’s short, quick, and hilarious. But zombies are the important factor I’m aiming for here.

 

If you like Philippa Gregory, try…

10. Barbara Kingsolver – Not all of her books really qualify as historical fiction, but the quality of writing is the same, if not better. Fantastic characters, themes, and storylines.

11. Margaret George – She writes HUGE awesome historical fiction novels, and they’re beautiful. I especially recommend her book Helen of Troy.

 

So yay me, not only did I make it to ten but I went one extra. Woo-hoo!

Are there any recommendations you would add based on this list?

~Sarah

 

 

 

 

 

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June 19, 2012 · 6:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Wanna Read This Summer

Good morning guys and gals! It’s time for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the fabulous The Broke and The Bookish! This topic should be easy… Top Ten Books On My Summer TBR List. Actually, this topic is so easy because there are A THOUSAND books I want to read and it’s sad because I’m sure I won’t manage to get to even the 10 that are on this list… *sigh* Let’s jump to it, yes?

1. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - I know for a fact that I’ll be reading this book this summer, because Jenn is hosting a readalong of it next month! I’m looking forward to trying out one of Gaiman’s books for children. And you know, if you haven’t read this yet you should sign up cause it’s gonna be fun :-)

2. Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith – I have to read this before I see the movie. I HAVE TO. So hopefully that means I’ll read it in the next few weeks, because it’d be nice to go see it at the movie theater.

3. The Quantum World by Kenneth W. Ford - I would love to take a couple weeks to tackle this. There’s even homework questions in the back! Unfortunately, you have to contact the author for the answer key booklet, which I may do sometime soon.

4. The Bungalow by Sarah Jio - I know I had listed this in last week’s TTT post too, so maybe I should read it really soon. It just looks so summery and fluffy! I may pick this up at Wegmans this week, because I saw that they had it and all paperbacks at Wegmans are 20% off. Best grocery store ever.

5. Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde – The fourth Thursday Next book, I believe. It’s been a while and I want to go back to this world. It’s such a nice, bizarre escape.

6. The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin - It’s such a crime that I haven’t bought and read this book yet. I really like N.K. Jemisin, and I’m super psyched to read this.

7. Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino – This books takes scientific facts (at least, they used to be facts back in the 1960′s) and creates a story around them. How cool is that?

8. Mr. g by Alan Lightman - Alan Lightman is the author of a super popular (and awesome) book called Einstein’s Dreams, and he’s also a physicist, so when I heard that he wrote a book essentially in the POV of “god” and how he goes about creating time, space, and matter I knew I wanted to read it. I can’t wait to try it. It’s probably books like this and Cosmicomics that will give me a little bit of a science fix when I’m too busy to read non-fiction science books.

9. King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard - Just because it’d be nice to finally cross a book off on that League of Extraordinary Gentleman Challenge.

 

10. A Witch Before Dying by Heather Blake - This is the second in Heather’s Blake Wishcraft mystery series, and I’m looking forward to it being released in August. It’ll be a nice short and sweet read.

 

SO there’s my ten! Hopefully I get to at least half of them. What’s on your to-read list this summer?

 

~Sarah

 

 

 

 

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June 12, 2012 · 8:44 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books for the Beach

Good morning guys!!! It’s Tuesday (a very early one for me, ugh) and it’s time for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the lovely peeps over at The Broke and The Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Books I’d Recommend as Good Beach Reads. Since we kinda did this last year and my list hasn’t changed much, I’m going to make today Top Ten Books I Think Would Be Good Beach Reads But Haven’t Read Them Yet. Excited? OH I know you are.

The Bungalow by Sarah Jio

1. The Bungalow by Sarah Jio - Well come on, just look at the cover! It screams “bring me to the beach.”

The Diviners by Libba Bray

2. The Diviners by Libba Bray - So, this book doesn’t come out until September, but come on… Libba Bray knows how to hold your attention, so if you’re lucky enough to have an ARC you should totally bring it along on a beach day. (Otherwise, you should bring Beauty Queens by Libba Bray, which I KNOW is awesome because I read it.)

3. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton - I actually have this out from the library right now and really want to start it. Come on, dinosaurs, forest, exotic wildlife… it’s perfect for a hot day laying in the sun.

 4. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells - I’ve had this on my to-read shelf for years and still haven’t gotten around to it. I will one day, dammit. One day.

5. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher – This is apparently the beginning to a really great series, again it’s been on my radar for ages. Perfect beachy name though!

6. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough - If you want a classic read, this might be good for the beach. I believe it’s an epic family saga that takes place in Australia.

7. Pretty Little Mistakes by Heather McElhatton - A choose-your-own-ending book for adults? Umm yes please! This would probably be fun to read and play with on the beach with a friend.

8. Something From the Nightside by Simon R. Green – This looks like really cool paranormal series and I’ve been meaning to try it. Plus, the books look pretty short, around 200 pages or so.

9. Millie’s Fling by Jill Mansell - Jill Mansell’s books always look so cute and fun! Perfect to read on the sand.

10. Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday - OK so I’m not one for these types of YA books, but apparently this book is pretty funny so I kinda want to try it. And let’s face it, YA is like the breeziest thing to read at the beach.

If I was headed to beach, I’d totally grab any one of these to read there. Unforunately I haven’t been to the beach to hang out in like 3 years. What would you recommend?

~Sarah

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June 5, 2012 · 7:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday! REWIND – Favorite Book Blogs

Good morning guys! I’m telling you, it’s a miracle that with Armchair BEA going on I found time to do Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by The Broke and The Bookish) too. I’ve been looking forward to today’s topic – Top Ten Tuesday Rewind – Pick Any Past Topic. And I’m choosing to do my Top Ten Favorite Book Blogs. Yay for blogger love! In no particular order…

1. Devouring Texts - How I wish Laura lived closer… like in the continential U.S., at least. But England is much, much cooler so I suppose it’s forgivable. Laura is hilarious and makes amazing-looking cakes that she takes pictures of to tease us.

2. Booksessed - Jenn is one of my blogging besties, and hopefully one day we will meet. Jenn’s so funny and super cool and she read Outlander so of course I adore her forever.

3. Between the Pages - And Daisy lives all the way in Holland. Sheesh, I need to travel the world to visit all the book bloggers! Daisy is sweet and funny and I love her Daisy updates. Plus YAY her for recently becoming an official doctor!

4. Beyond Strange New Words - Pepca! She reads a great assortment of books and I love that she reviews lots of movies and tv too. I need to do this more. (Hopefully she doesn’t mind if I become a copy-cat.)

5. What Red Read – Alley is basically the first book blogger I found that loved Christopher Moore, so of course I had to follow her blog in adoration. She cracks me up. Also, she got me to read the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde, which is pretty awesome.

6. Reading Rambo – Alice is absolutely hilarious. That’s really all you need to know.

7. The Story Girl - Lorren’s reviews are awesome. She reads a wide range of stuff and her reviews are so detailed and well thought-out. Puts my rushed-say-whatever’s-on-my-mind reviews to shame.

8. Steph the Bookworm - STEPH! The only book blogger I’ve succeeded in meeting in real life, because we live in the same town. Hey girl! *waves* We need to hang out again soon and blog about the wonderfulness. I’m sure everyone would enjoy it.

9. Underground New York Public Library – SO I’m not sure if this counts as a “book blog” but it’s in my Google Reader so I say it counts. Laura mentioned this site a few weeks ago and I promptly fell in love. It’s pictures of people reading on the subway. That’s basically it, but trust me it is awesome.

10. Tangled Up In Blue - Jess is awesome, and she only lives a state away so hopefully one day we’ll get to meet! I’ve read a LOT of good books because Jess wrote awesome reviews about them, plus she’s co-hosting an Outlander readalong this month so of course she gets like a hundred brownie points.

 So, those are just ten of my favorite book blogs! You should go visit them all, and you’re welcome for me introducing their epic awesomeness to you. Enjoy!

~Sarah

 

 

 

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May 29, 2012 · 8:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Written In The Past Decade That I Hope People Are Still Reading In 2042

Good morning ladies & gents! So, time for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Books Written In the Past 10 Years That I Hope People Are Still Reading in 30 Years. Whew, that’s wordy. But a good topic, because let’s face it – most of the books out today are not going to stand the test of time. It’s hard to try to think about what will become something of a classic, but let’s get to it, shall we?

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

1. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray - Seems like a weird first choice, but this is the only recent YA novel that I can think of that should definitely become a regular on those summer reading lists for teens. AWESOME book full of important topics like consumerism, beauty, sexuality, society, vanity, intelligence, acceptance… the list goes on.

Physics of the Future

2. Physics of the Future by Michio Kaku - Actually I still hope that this book is still around 100 years from now, just to see which of his predictions are right.

 

3. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling - Well, at least some of the books were written in the past decade. In all seriousness though, how can this series NOT become a classic?

 

 

4. Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon - Like the Harry Potter books, I’m counting it since she’s still writing them. I would LOVE it if I can still talk to people reading this series when I’m in my 50′s.

 

5. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss - And the rest of trilogy/series, of course. This is definitely one of the major epic fantasy books of this decade.

 

And I’m stopping it halfway through. Partly cause I got stuff to do (it’s my little brother’s 19th birthday today!) and partly because anything else I add to this list would be half-hearted. The sad truth is that most of the stuff we read today probably isn’t awesome enough to become a sort of modern classic, or have any sort of huge effect on future generations. A lot of the books written today don’t even have a particular message or theme.

Anyways, what’s on your list??

~Sarah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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May 22, 2012 · 8:12 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Non-Bookish Online Stuff!

top ten tuesday

Good mornin’ folks! It’s Tuesdaaaayyy, which means it’s time for Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and The Bookish! This week’s topic might be kinda tough – it’s Top Ten Blogs / Sites You Read That AREN’T About Books. This might be tough, because I don’t  think I follow any blogs that aren’t about books…

1. Pinterest – I could spend alllllll day pinning alllllll the things! I find funny stuff, useful stuff, beautiful stuff, awesome stuff… it’s the best time-suck there is. I have 983 pins… and now that I just looked that up, I’m tempted to spend the next hour or so getting it up to over 1000.

2. The Pioneer Woman – I love the Pioneer Woman’s cooking. I have her first cookbook (still need to buy the new one), and she uses gorgeous photography of delicious food and it’s just all so wonderful. Her recipe for Leftover Turkey Pot Pie led to me making THE BEST chicken pot pie, and I’m pretty sure that pot pie is the reason my honeyman loves me :0)

3. Epic Rap Battles of History – 90% of my time on Youtube was spent watching The Epic Rap Battles of History, so imagine my delight when I learned that they now have their own website! My favorites are Christopher Columbus vs. Captain Kirk, Hitler vs. Darth Vader, and Albert Einstein vs. Stephan Hawking but seriously, I love them all.

4. Twitter – Cause you know, duh.

5. Amazon – OK I know that Amazon is evil. They’re like the Wal-Mart of the book-selling world, they’re a huge giant evil corporation. But the Amazon app on my phone is really useful for looking up ratings and release dates when I’m out and about. I don’t actually buy from them as often as I used to, but it’s still the first place I look for TV shows on DVD because they’re ususally really cheap. As for books, I was going to start buying from The Book Depository instead but it turns out Amazon bought them, so no point now. Damn evil bastards.

6. Shutterfly - I’ve been using Shutterfly to order pictures for over 7 years now. That’s SUCH a long time! But they have great pre-paid print plans and always send me coupons and stuff. I’ve gotten so many free address labels and photobooks from this site. Plus they make really cute photo gifts.

7. Yahoo – I actually don’t like Yahoo that much, but I use it at least one day a week when I’m at work. I can kill at least an hour or two looking at the news and, more importantly, looking at pictures of famous people in the omg! section.

8. ABC’s Cougar Town Store – Ummm I would like everything here, please. Cougar Town is switching to TBS for the fourth season, so hopefully TBS comes up with another shop that has newer stuff in it. I would LOOOOOVVEEE a Cougar Town calendar for next year.

And that’s where I’m gonna stop, because the other websites I use a lot are my bank’s and my local news station’s, and that’s not exciting.

I obviously need to branch out a bit. What are some of your favorite non-bookish sites?

~Sarah

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