Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018.
I’m currently staring at my bookshelf trying to find the best titles for this prompt. This will not be a list of best to worst, but simply which books pop out to me first.
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
Schinder’s List by Thomas Keneally. I have never seen the movie, but I know all about it. I don’t know if I can handle watching it, so I put it on my To Be Read list for this year. I’m avoiding it because I know I’ll cry, and I’m just not sure I’m ready for a super emotional read.
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. My friend, Kelli, recommended this book a few years ago, and I put it on my list. I think I keep putting it off because I know that it’s a part of a series, and I know that if I like it, I will want to read the whole thing, and I don’t know if I can commit to a long-term relationship right now!
East of Eden by John Steinbeck. My dear friend, Casey, loves this book. She reads a lot more than I do, so I trust her opinion. I believe at some point she told me this is her favorite book. She lent me this book about 3 years ago, and it is still sitting on my shelf intimidating me with it’s length.
Sold by Patricia McCormick. We have this book in our classroom, and two years ago I picked it up to start reading in during SSR time. Within five minutes, I was almost in tears. It’s now been labeled NSFW, and I haven’t had the courage to pick it up at home.
Scythe by Neal Shusterman. This is the first of another series, so I’m facing the same dilemma as a A Court of Thorns and Roses. Also, this books is out of my element as it seems that the main focus is killing people, or at least deciding who is and is not worthy of being alive. I don’t know much. A little scared to jump in to this one.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. Considering I couldn’t make it through the first four episodes of the show, I highly doubt I will easily make it through the book. But, it is on my list, and I will read it eventually.
Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz. Can I be honest? I probably should be since this is my blog. But, I really do not love Alan Gratz as an author. My co-teacher, librarian, and some of my student have told me, “You HAVE to read this one!” So, it’s on my list for when I decide that I can give Gratz another chance.
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. The sheer size of this book makes me hesitant in picking it up. Plus, I have heard mixed reviews.
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. I loved Six of Crows so much, and I was very involved with the characters. Since this is the follow up and the final book, I have put it off because I do not want the story to end. Or maybe, I don’t want the story to end in a way that I haven’t already imagined.
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. First, this is nonfiction, and anyone that knows me knows that I only read nonfiction if it is assigned and I am getting a grade on it. Second, I don’t love doing introspection, and I’m pretty sure this book is going to make me do that. But I’m determined to read this within the next few months.
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
For this week, Top Ten Tuesday is focused on moving outside our comfort zones with our book choices. Since I started reading all the Truman nominees a few years ago, I’ve been pushed out of my comfort zone many times! Then a few years before that, I joined a book club that forced me to read a lot of books I never would have picked up before.
So, here is my list in no particular order.
Sky in the Deep – The Medieval-type war scenes were not something I ever thought I would enjoy, but Adrienne Young did a great job creating this story and all the characters.
Six of Crows – I was so surprised by how much I liked this book since it wasn’t like anything I have read before.
I Am Princess X – I put this book off as one of the last Truman nominees I read in the 17-18 school year. I ended up loving it. My oldest daughter claims it as one of her favorites as well.
The Bell Jar – Growing up in a very conservative school, I had basically only heard that Slyvia Plath was a raging feminist and to stay away from her books. It wasn’t until a few years ago I picked this up, read it, and really liked it.
Seriously, I’m Kidding – This was one of my first (unassigned) autobiographies that I read. I am usually a fiction only type person, so this was a nice segue into a different genre.
Gone Girl – I didn’t think I liked creepy, suspenseful books. Gillian Flynn proved that was not true.
Bossypants – Ellen’s autobiography made me reach for another one. I listened to this one, and it made it that much better coming from Tina Fey.
Miles Morales: Spider Man – Much to the disappointment of many of my friends, I am just not that into comic book characters/movies/books. This was on the list of possible Trumans for this school year, and let me say, it is better than half the list of books that actually made it to the final 12.
Forget Me Not – This was my first book written in verse. It was beautifully written, and it has encouraged me to pick up more books in verse.
The Kite Runner – It’s been a while since I read this book. I would say it has been at least 10 years ago. It was definitely a book that stuck with me, and not really like anything I had ever read before. I may need to reread it soon.
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
Over the last three years, I have only purchased one book for myself, and that was The Hate U Give. Since I started reading more, I didn’t think it was a great idea for me to purchase the books, so I made use of both my public library and my school’s library. In fact, I can’t think of a single book I have read over the last many years that wasn’t a library book, so this should be a pretty fun list.
#1 – The anniversary paperback Harry Potter Series. Okay, so this one isn’t completely following the prompt because I technically own the Harry Potter series, and I have started collecting the large books illustrated by Jim Kay. But I really love the cover art of the anniversary set that was released this year.
#2 – Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.
#3 – Property of the Rebel Librarian by Allison Varnes
#4 – Dear Martin by Nic Stone
#5 – Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds
#6 – Forget Me Not by Ellie Terry
#7 – Animal Farm by George Orwell
#8 – Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (should I just say “anything by Jason Reynolds?”
#9 – Long Walk to Freedom – Nelson Mandela I have wanted to read this for a very long time, so it would be nice if it were on my shelf, and I could grab it anytime.
#10 – A first edition copy of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
It’s no secret to my friends, family, and students that the Harry Potter series is my obsession. I’m currently re-reading the series (confession – I never read the 7th book. I didn’t want it to end, but I plan to finish it this summer). My girls are obsessed with the books and movies, and this spring, we took a trip to Universal to immerse ourselves in all things Harry Potter.
So for today’s Top Ten Tuesday, the topic was character freebie. We can do whatever topic we want as long as it deals with characters. So here is my list. In order from the least hated of my least favorite characters to the most hated with no further explanations.
10. Marjorie Dursley
9. Professor Quirrell
8. Gilderoy Lockhart
7. Pansy Parkington
6. Peter Pettigrew
5. Vernon Dursley
4. Cornelius Fudge
3. Percy Weasley
2. Lucius Malfoy
1. Dolores Umbridge
I stumbled across these Top Ten Tuesdays thanks to the suggested blogs on WordPress. Here is the origin story of Top Ten Tuesday and how to get involved.
I’ll be doing this in no particular order.
I can vividly remember reading Three Little Kittens with my grandpa.
Pretty sure I loved A Sister for Sam because I wanted a younger sibling more than anything as a kid. My mom just always told me that wasn’t possible. I didn’t realize until I was older the real reason.
First book I ever remember crying about while reading.
This book was the most popular book in my class during 3rd grade. We had waiting lists for it all year. Also, going to a super conservative school, the page with the boy in the shower was edited as to not show his tushy.
The ENTIRE SERIES. I owed the whole series, and I was determined to start my own club. I can remember going to the used book store and trading out other books or using my store credit for the next in the series.
I can’t remember if I watched the show first or read the book, but I loved them both.
Remember that super conservative school? Well, they had a bit of influence over the books our parents allowed us to read, so I was NOT allowed to read Sweet Valley High until I was probably too old to actually read and enjoy the series. But, I could read these. I loved series books so I could follow the characters, and it was probably this series and Babysitter’s Club that made me want to start writing.
During my review of City of Ghosts, I confessed that ghost stories were not my favorite types of stories. However, when I was a kid, I LOVED them. Another story about the conservative school, when we had the Scholastic books orders, we had to sit and cross out all the titles we weren’t allowed to order. Except during 5th grade. My teacher handed us the list, and we ordered whatever we wanted. This was probably against the rules, but I think he cared more about us actually reading than the stupid rule. That’s where I first got this book.
My 3rd grade teacher read this book to us, and because I loved her so much, I think that made me love the books. I tried to read them to my oldest daughter when she was younger, and I found myself bored by them. She didn’t like them either, so we stopped and found something else.
So…when does childhood actually end? I was a junior in high school when Harry Potter was first published, and I think I was actually in college when I read the first book. But! My oldest and I have bonded over the books, and our entire family is just a little obsessed. It has to go on my list, and I will only put the Sorcerer’s Stone (Sorry, I’m from America.) even though it isn’t my favorite in the series.
Michelle Reads & Writes 