Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  For more information, or to join the fun yourself, check out their blog!

Top Ten Characters I'd Like to Check in With

(These are characters who's books or series have ended, but I'd like to check in and see how they're doing.)

1. Anne from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.  You had to know that would be on my list!

2. Hayduke from The Monkey Wrench Gang and Hayduke Lives! by Edward Abbey.  Is he still running wild in the desert, or is he in jail?

3. Karou from Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Days of Blood & Starlight, and Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor.  Did she and Akiva ever get to just be a couple??

4. Juliet from The Madman's Daughter, Her Dark Curiosity, and A Cold Legacy by Megan Shepherd.  In fact, I'd also love to check in with Elizabeth's servants too.  Where did Juliet and Montgomery go after leaving the estate?  And were the servants able to repair the mansion?  I like to think that they opened up a school for orphaned girls there.

5. Lily from The Secret Lives of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.  I love that Lily got to stay with the ladies, but what happened next?

6. Jessica from The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen.  I was cheering SO HARD for Jessica by the end of this book!  I was very much not ready for it to end.  I'd love a follow up; maybe Jessica in college?  Please?

7. Zora from The Wisdom of Hair by Kim Boykin.  She had so much going against her, but yet she persevered.  The book ended in such a way that it'd be really easy to continue the story.

8. Madelyne and Logan from The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller.  Ohmygoodness the witty repartee between these guys!  I would read an entire book more just of their conversations.

9. Ryan Dean West from Winger by Andrew Smith.  This one may not count completely... I think I heard a rumor of a sequel.  (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE)  I fell head over heels for this adorable sometimes misguided puppy of a teen boy and then that ending (!!)... I just need to see how he's doing.

10. Junior from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.  Can we please have a follow-up were we follow Junior to college?  I listened to this on audiobook and was literally laughing out loud.  People next to me in traffic prob thought I was certifiable.

And there's probably many more that I forgot, but it's been a long day and I'm tired.  I do enjoy reading others' lists, so please comment and leave your link and I'll definitely visit!

The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma | Book Review

The Reading Promise is the story of one dad and one daughter, committed to reading aloud together for at least 15 minutes every day, no matter what.  A lot of days this task is easily met; other days, especially once Alice enters high school, the reading promise becomes a challenge that dad and daughter eagerly rise to.

While I felt like the book had a slightly slow start, I'm so very glad I stuck with it.  The Reading Promise is laid out in a series of vignettes; little windows into the Brozinas' lives.  The reader gets to see Alice grow up, and face life's turbulences.  By the middle of the book I was starting to see quite a bit of myself in Alice.

I may be slightly biased in giving this book 4 of 5 stars.  My mom and I read aloud together well into my high school years.  We never made a formal pact, and it wasn't every single night, but it was 4-5 times a week.  And I so treasure those memories.  Curling up in bed in the evening and ending the day reading aloud together.  The soft cadence of our voices.  If I ever had kids, I'd definitely do the same thing with them.

The Reading Promise is a sweet, unique, relatively short memoir, and I enjoyed it.

*I checked out my copy of The Reading Promise from my local library.

PopSugar Reading Challenge Update

Here are the titles I've added in the past week (look for reviews soon!):

The Bookman's Tale by Charlie Lovett is a mystery or thriller.  (It's a mystery.)

Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor is a book from an author I love that I haven't read yet.

A Cold Legacy by Megan Shepherd is a book that scared me.

Previously:

The Map of the Sky by Felix J. Palma is a book with more than 500 pages.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand is a book that became a movie.

How (Not) to Fall in Love by Lisa Brown Roberts is a book published this year.

Perfect Puppy in 7 Days: How to Start Your Puppy Off Right by Sophia Yin is a book with a number in the title.

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini is a book written by someone under 30.

The Complete Peanuts, Vol. 22: 1993-1994 by Charles M. Schulz is a book with nonhuman characters.

CraftFail: When Homemade Goes Horribly Wrong by Heather Mann is a funny book.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman is a book with a female author.

Ink by Amanda Sun is a book with a one-word title.

Napoleon's Pyramids by William Dietrich is a book set in another country.

Mint Juleps With Teddy Roosevelt by Mark Will-Weber is a nonfiction book.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas is a popular author's first book.

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige is a book that a friend recommended.

Don't Give Up, Don't Give In: Lessons From an Extraordinary Life by Louis Zamperini is a memoir.

The Red Deaths by Casey Eanes with Seth Ervin is a book that I can finish in a day.

Loop by Karen Akins is a book set in the future.

Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver is a book set in high school.

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is a book by an author I've never read before.

The Maker Movement Manifesto: Rules for Innovation in the New World of Crafters, Hackers, and Tinkerers by Mark Hatch is a book written by an author with my same initials.

And I'm currently reading Alan Turing: The Enigma, which doesn't satisfy any of the remaining checklist items and The Shadow Cabinet, which is a book set somewhere I've always wanted to visit (London)!

As always, feel free to comment with any suggestions for the remaining checklist items!

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini | Audiobook Review

Flashback Friday Review!

I went to write a review of Inheritance and realized that I'd never posted reviews of the first three books in the series!  This will be the last of the Flashback Friday review, then on Thursday I'll post a fully fleshed out review of Inheritance.

I originally read Brisingr in October 2013 and gave it 4 of 5 stars.  What a great book!  The further into this series I got, the more invested I became in the world of Eragon.  Continuing the habit from Eldest, I listened to Brisingr on CD, and the narration is fantastic.

Here's the summary from Goodreads:

Oaths sworn...  loyalties tested...  forces collide.

It's been only months since Eragon first uttered "brisingr," an ancient language term for fire.  Since then, he's not only learned to create magic with words- he's been challenged to his very core.  Following the colossal battle against the Empire's warriors on the Burning Plains, Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have narrowly escaped with their lives.  Still, there is more adventure at hand for the Rider and his dragon, as Eragon finds himself bound by a tangle of promises he may not be able to keep.

First is Eragon's oath to his cousin, Roran:  to help rescue Roran's beloved from King Galbatorix's clutches.  But Eragon owes his loyalty to others, too.  The Varden are in desperate need of his talents and strength- as are the elves and dwarves.  When unrest claims the rebels and danger strikes from every corner, Eragon must make choices- choices that will take him across the Empire and beyond, choices that may lead to unimagined sacrifice.

Eragon is the greatest hope to rid the land of tyranny.  Can this once simple farm boy unite the rebel forces and defeat the king?

*I checked out my copy of Brisingr from my local library.

A Cold Legacy by Megan Shepherd | Book Review

Warning!  A Cold Legacy is the finale to the Madman's Daughter trilogy.  If you haven't read The Madman's Daughter or Her Dark Curiosity, you can check out my reviews by clicking on the titles.  Then click on over to Tynga's Reviews to see my review of A Cold Legacy.

*I own my copy of A Cold Legacy.

The Mother of All Booklists: The 500 Most Recommended Nonfiction Reads for Ages 3 to 103 by William Patrick Martin | Book Review

I love reading books about books.  I'm super nerdy like that.

Also, NC was among the many, many states that adopted Common Core this past year, so I figure that more teens (and their parents) will be coming into the library looking for enjoyable nonfiction.

I ended up enjoying this book more than I thought!  I read through most of it, instead of just skimming or using as a resource.  The author opens by telling the reader how he came to this particular list.  He used an algorithm and a LOT of different "best of" lists and awards lists to compile his original HUGE list, then pared it down to 100 books each for 5 different age groups by giving each book a "vote" for every list it appeared on.  The 500 books with the most "votes" are included in the book.  The first five chapters are 100 books each for 5 different age groups:  preschool, early reader, middle grades, young adult, and adult.  Each book has a cover image (black and white); title, author name, and illustrator name (if there was one); and a few sentences synopsis.  There isn't any opinion in these synopses; just a few sentences to orient the reader to the subject matter.  After these chapters, there's a list of the featured books in alphabetical order by authors' last names.  Then the author takes it to another level of helpfulness and lists all the books again, this time grouped by subject.  Super helpful!

Overall, a great resource.  I know I found a few new books to add to my ever-growing tbr list!

*I checked out my copy of The Mother of All Booklists from my local library.