Top 5 Wednesday – Favorite Polarizing Books!

This week’s Top 5 Wednesday is: Favorite Polarizing Books! I’m SUPER interested to see what people listed for this week’s topic. I found this pretty challenging so I’m just doing a top 3 this week!

1. The Da Vinci Code: I know, I know, but hear me out. I mentioned previously that my husband doesn’t enjoy reading fiction. The Da Vinci Code is one of the very few fiction books he’s read all the way through. If a book can keep my husband’s attention and spark an interest in visiting Europe, it’s aces if you ask me!

2. Gone Girl: This is the first book that popped into my head for this week because you either love it or you hate it. Yes, almost every single character is unlikable. But I could not put this book down! I really enjoyed it!

3. Lolita: I think the fact that I read this in one of my Lit classes where we had the opportunity to really analyze and discuss it helped me to appreciate this novel. That being said, I totally get people who hate this book. It’s not exactly a pleasant story line.

I can’t wait to see what everyone else did for this one!

Top 5 Wednesday: 2017 Reading Goals!

It’s the first Top 5 Wednesday of the year! I don’t know about everyone else but I am more than happy to say goodbye to 2016 and hello to 2017! This week’s topic: Goals!

1. A 2017 Goodreads Reading Challenge of 30 books: This was my goal last year as well and I *just* made it so I’m keeping it the same. Especially since I’m hoping to finally read Outlander this year, which is pretty long.

2. Read Outlander: Ha! Maybe if I put it down as a goal I’ll actually make it happen 🙂

3. Convince my husband to read 1 fiction book!: Every year my non-reading husband makes it a goal to read a few books. I buy him books he may enjoy for Christmas, ask him about what he’s reading, etc. And every year…nothing. This year I WILL get this man to read a fiction book.

4. Most more non-meme stuff: I do a lot of book memes for the majority of my posts, along with a monthly reading recap. This year I would like to post at least 1 non-meme post a month (baby steps!)

5. Have fun! I’m not going to stress too much about what I’m reading this year – if it sounds interesting, I’m reading it!

What are your 2017 reading goals?

Top 5 Wednesday – Favorite Villains!

Top 5 Wednesday time! This week’s topic: Favorite Villains! We’ve been asked not to use Harry Potter characters for this one!

Nils Bjurman from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: He is the legal guardian of Salander (the main character) and he is awful. The. Worst. I specifically waited to watch the U.S. version of the movie until it was released on DVD so I could fast forward past his main scene. Reading it was hard enough.

Kevin from We Need to Talk About Kevin: Without going into too much detail, he is responsible for a massacre at his high school. The book itself is actually pretty interesting, especially Kevin’s mother.

Humbert Humbert from Lolita: For obvious reasons.

Aaron from Titus Andronicus: I read this in college and it’s considered to be Shakespeare’s first tragedy. It is insanely violent and has plenty of characters that I would consider villainous but Aaron stands out the most to me. Hands down the most violent Shakespeare play I’ve ever read.

And because women can be villains too – Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. She is one cold hearted woman.

Who are some of your favorite villains? Leave a link to your T5W in the comments below!

Top 5 Wednesday – Books I Want to Re-Read!

It’s time for Top 5 Wednesday! This week’s topic: Books I Want to Re-Read!

These are five books I absolutely loved! I finished these and immediately told friends and family members to read them. I’d like to re-read these one day to see if I’d have the same reaction the second time around.

Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon: I count this as one of the best books I’ve ever read. I had a emotional reaction to this book that I rarely have. Blurb:

Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julián Carax. But when he sets out to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax’s books in existence. Soon Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets–an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.

The Heartbreaking Work of a Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers: This book is amazing! I loved every second of reading it! Premise:

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is the moving memoir of a college senior who, in the space of five weeks, loses both of his parents to cancer and inherits his eight-year-old brother. Here is an exhilarating debut that manages to be simultaneously hilarious and wildly inventive as well as a deeply heartfelt story of the love that holds a family together.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt: This book made me want to visit Savannah. I immediately recommended this book to my mom and she didn’t like it nearly as much. I thought it was fantastic.

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris: I’ve read most of Sedaris’ books and this is my favorite. I’ve also heard a him read a few stories on NPR and watched him read live. I think he’s hilarious.

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer: I managed to get a signed copy of this when I was working at Borders. I couldn’t get into the first time around but picked it up maybe a year or so later and loved everything about it. Description:

With only a yellowing photograph in hand, a young man — also named Jonathan Safran Foer — sets out to find the woman who may or may not have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Accompanied by an old man haunted by memories of the war; an amorous dog named Sammy Davis, Junior, Junior; and the unforgettable Alex, a young Ukrainian translator who speaks in a sublimely butchered English, Jonathan is led on a quixotic journey over a devastated landscape and into an unexpected past.

I have so many books on my to-read list that I rarely re-read books but I know I’ll eventually get around to the 5 listed above.

What books do you want to re-read?

Top 5 Wednesday – Characters You’d Want as Family

It’s time for Top 5 Wednesday! This week’s topic is a fun one – Characters You’d Want as Family!

• Hermione from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling – Hermione is my favorite; I would love to have her as a family member! And while we’re on the topic of Harry Potter, I wouldn’t mind being related to Harry, Luna, Neville, or any of the Weasleys either.

• Kolya from City of Thieves by David Benioff – I like Kolya because he has the ability to bring humor to bleak situations, making them more bearable.

• Anne from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery because life is never boring when Anne is around.

• The Gilbreth kids from Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. – Being an only child I think it would be fun to have a boatload of sibling.

• Bernadette from Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple – I wouldn’t want her to be my parent but I’d sure like having her around to keep things interesting.

Which literary characters would you like to have in your family?

Top 5 Wednesday – Favorite First Sentences

This week’s T5W is a fun one: Favorite First Sentences!

1. “Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.” – Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston – I think this is such a beautifully written line.

2. “I’m pretty much fucked.” – The Martian by Andy Weir – Give this a read if you haven’t already (the movie is good too!)

3. “The Grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida.” – A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flanner O’Conner – I know a lot of people don’t care for them, but I love short stories. And Flannery O’Conner writes a mean one. Grandmother definitely should have avoided the trip to Florida.

4. “If I have learned anything in this long life of mine, it is this: In love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are.” – The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. I’m about halfway through this book and I’m really enjoying it!

5. “Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.” – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling – The first line of my favorite series.

Those are some of my favorites – what are yours?

Top 5 Wednesday – Recent Additions to Wish List

This week’s T5W topic: Most Recent Additions to Your Wish List!

Since I haven’t ready any of these yet, I’ll keep this post short and sweet 🙂

1. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng – A recommendation from my mom.

2. Promise Not to Tell by Jennifer McMahon – This was on sale on Amazon so I grabbed it – her books are good if you’re in the mood for something a bit creepy.

3. After You by Jojo Moyes – I just finished Me Before You and this is the sequel.

4. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel – I read a lot of good reviews for this book so I’m looking forward to this one!

5. The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey – I can’t remember where I read about this but I’m assuming it was mentioned in a fellow blogger’s post.

Have you read any of these? What did you think?

Top 5 Wednesday – Literary Fathers

It’s Top Five Wednesday time! Click here to join the Goodreads group!

In honor of June 19 being Father’s Day, this week’s topic is Favorite Literary Fathers/Father Figures!

1. Will Freeman in About a Boy – He’s not your typical father figure but I think it still counts! If you haven’t read About A Boy I highly recommend it!

Will Freeman may have discovered the key to dating success: If the simple fact that they were single mothers meant that gorgeous women – women who would not ordinarily look twice a Will – might not only be willing, but enthusiastic about dating him, then he was really onto something. Single mothers – bright, attractive, available women – thousands of them, were all over London. He just had to find them.

SPAT: Single Parents – Alone Together. It was a brilliant plan. And Will wasn’t going to let the fact that he didn’t have a child himself hold him back. A fictional two-year-old named Ned wouldn’t be the first thing he’d invented. And it seems to go quite well at first, until he meets an actual twelve-year-old named Marcus, who is more than Will bargained for…

2. Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird – I’ll be surprised if the majority of bloggers don’t put Atticus on their list! I haven’t read Go Set a Watchman – I think that may change my view of Atticus a bit? Have any of you read it? And yes, I picture Gregory Peck when I read the book!

3. Matthew Cuthbert in Anne of Green Gables – I know I’m constantly referencing this book but I can’t help myself.

4. Hans Hubermann in The Book Thief – The first time I read this I couldn’t get into it and stopped after a few chapters. The second time around I absolutely loved it! I’m pretty sure I went through an entire box of tissue by the time I was finished. The relationship between Hans and Liesel is great.

5. Baba in The Kite Runner – I’m a huge fan of Khaled Hosseini (does anyone know when he’ll release another novel?) This is one of those can’t-put-it-down books.

Your turn! Who are some of your favorite literary fathers/father figures?

Top 5 Wednesday – Favorite Character Names!

This week’s Top 5 Wednesday is a fun one – Favorite Character Names!

Years ago I briefly worked in a call center and got a kick out of some of the names people had (Kim Schlim and Cinnamon Stickle were my personal favorites – actual legal names, btw.) Here are five of my favorite literary characters names!

Sherlock 2 Specials Shoot 30th July 2011

1. Huckleberry Finn

2. Ponyboy Curtis (followed closely by Sodapop Curtis)

3. Beloved

4. Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes

5. Holly Golightly

And honorable mentions go to basically every single name in any Harry Potter book!

What are your favorites?

Top 5 Wednesday – Summer Reads!

This week’s T5W topic: Summer Reads!

Summer reads can be interpreted in various ways (books to read on the beach, books that are light in tone, books set during the summer, etc.) My list consists of five books that are set during the summer and/or involve a beach or water in one way or another.

1. More Than You Know by Beth Gutcheon: This novel is set during a summer in Maine. (Side note: I’ve always wanted to visit Maine.) This is a love story/ghost story and I like to re-read it every 5 years or so.

 

2. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan: I read Atonement for an English class and have been reading McEwan’s novels ever since (he is an amazing writer, check out his work if you haven’t already.) This book is set in the 1960s and takes place on the night of a young couple’s honeymoon. If you’ve read McEwan before, you can probably imagine that things do not go as planned.

 

3. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares: Four best friends find a pair of jeans that magically fit them all perfectly despite their differing shapes and sizes (that makes no sense, I know, don’t worry about it too much …) Each girl has summer plans but the traveling pants – they mail the pants to each other throughout the summer – keep them connected. This is a great summer read for YA fans. Plus the entire series has been released so you can read them all!

 

4. Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman: I’m stretching it a bit here but there is technically a body of water so I’m counting it! Gaiman is the author of Coraline, which I also recommend. I’m going add a portion of the book blurb here instead of attempting to explain the plot myself.

 Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn’t thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she’d claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.

 

5. A Painted House by John Grisham: I don’t read a lot of Grisham, though I do typically enjoy films based on his novels. This is different than a typical Grisham book – meaning that it is not a courthouse crime story – and my mom suggested I read it because the main character’s childhood was similar to the way my grandfather was raised (minus the murder.) Anyhow, it’s about the summer of a young boy living on a farm in Arkansas who ends up seeing more than any 7-year-old should. The book gets pretty mixed reviews but I personally enjoyed it.

So there you have it. I had a tough time with this week’s T5W (maybe because it really could include anything?) What are your summer reads? And what do you consider a summer read?