TOP TEN TUESDAY: Where Are They Now?

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's topic is: Top Ten Characters I’d Like to Check in on...

One of the reasons I love reading so much is the relationships I build with characters. That probably sounds lame, as it’s really difficult to have a relationship that only exists on the page, but, nonetheless, characters help shape my life. They teach me life lessons, help me develop compassion for others, and introduce me to worlds beyond my imagination. When I finish a book, there’s always a feeling of melancholy that creeps over me, because I know I’ll never see these characters again. Here’s a list of characters I’d like to check in on, a sort of “where are they now”:

 

1. Mara Dyer and Noah Shaw from The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer series: Are they happy? Are they alive? Is Noah still as irresistible as he was in the books?

2. August Pullman from Wonder: What a kid! I’d love to know how many more lives he’s touched since his story ended. I wonder how he liked middle school and high school. Is he still friends with Jack Will?

3. Hazel Grace Lancaster from The Fault in Our Stars: This is probably a cliche pick, but I want to know that Hazel’s okay (okay? okay). I hope she’s beaten her cancer, I hope she’s found love again (without forgetting Augustus, of course), and I hope she’s happy.

4. Day and June from the Legend series: Maybe I don’t want to check in with them; if they didn’t fall in love all over again I think I’d be heartbroken.

5. Aria and Perry from the Under the Never Sky series: Perhaps it’s because I just finished this series, but I really want to know how the Still Blue turned out. Did Aria and Perry get to spend their days laying in the loft looking at the clear, blue sky?

 

 

6. Eleanor and Park from, well, Eleanor & Park: I’m glad this wasn’t a series, but at the same time I wasn’t ready for their story to end. Even more than a year after finishing this book, Eleanor and Park still stick with me. Please, please, please tell me they are still together in some capacity (even if they aren’t in love, they need to be best friends or something).

7. Ryan Dean West from Winger: I just loved this character’s voice - his humor, particularly.

8. Celeana and Chaol from the Throne of Glass series: Again, another series I’m working on. This one probably shouldn’t count considering their story isn’t over yet (book four later this year), but I’m dying to know how they end up (please be happily ever after).

9. All of my Harry Potter friends: I know we see how they end up in the future, but I want the story of how they got there. Even though there were thousands and thousands of pages, seven books just isn’t enough for these characters.

10. The Lord of the Flies boys: A nod to my English teacher side - what happened to the boys when they returned to society? Did they suffer from post-traumatic stress? Did Jack get what he deserved? I’ve always wondered how their story really ends.

TOP TEN TUESDAY: Recent Additions to My TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's topic is: Top Ten Books Recently Added to My TBR List...

This is somewhat of a daunting topic for me, because my TBR list is ever growing, especially lately. I don’t read NEARLY as much as I used to, but I still come across books I want to read just as fast. I’ve definitely changed as a reader in this past year - if a book doesn’t grab my attention I abandon it (in the past I stuck it through until the end). It took me awhile to get used to that mindset, but now that I’m only reading books I REALLY like, I’ve finally become a reader again...woohoo! So, here are some of the books that recently caught my eye:

  

 

1. Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira - I’ve had an ARC of this for awhile but never really paid attention to it. Recently, however, I’ve seen it on a few book lists, and I’ve become intrigued.

2. Butter by Erin Jade Lange - This is one of the 2016 Abe books, which is where I heard of it. It sounds twisted in that this is definitely something I can see our society coming to - social media...yikes!

3. The Secret Sky by Atia Abawi - This is going to be a hit or miss read for me. I’ve only heard great things about it, but I’ve never been extremely drawn to Middle Eastern settings.

4. How it Went Down by Kekla Magoon - A black teen shot and killed by a white man; a societal uproar occurs. Sound familiar? I’m intrigued to see the angle of this story. And, could it be any more relevant for America today?

5. Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas - I NEED this book! This series drew me back into voracious reading...please give me more!

  

6. The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen - This is another book that’s been on my shelves for awhile. I used the first few pages in an activity a few weeks ago and became hooked. Too bad a student borrowed it before I could snatch it!

7. The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson - I know, I know. How is this just know making my TBR list? Honestly, I forgot about it. My aide just read it and told me I need to read it too. Plus, it’s an Abe book next year.

8. Threatened by Eliot Schrefer - This book sounds so different from everything out there. I’m either going to love it or abandon it (hopefully not), but I can see the topic drawing in a lot of my student readers.

9. Positive by Paige Rawl - Another Abe book (are you sensing a theme?). This one’s a memoir about a girl who was bullied. I remember the twitter campaign from a few months ago, but never really checked the book out until now.

10. Fat Boy vs The Cheerleaders by Geoff Herbach - This sounds quite entertaining and funny, something a lot of my boy readers are looking for. My reluctant boys definitely fall into my reading gap, so hopefully this one will help fill it.

TOP TEN TUESDAY: Winter TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's topic is: Top Ten Books on my Winter TBR

As every reader, my TBR list is overwhelmingly long (and I’m sure after reading everyone else’s posts, it will get even longer). Honestly, there are so many good books out there that I’m extremely eager to get my hands on. Right now, I prioritize based on my library hold list, and I read based on the due dates (definitely a good system for an indecisive reader). Below are the books I currently have stacked up; I know I’m WAY behind on some of them, but I’ve been putting them off for good reason (mainly because my emotions aren’t ready yet). Instead of blabbing on and on (I know I'm wordy), I listed just three words that make me want to read each book. Do any sound good to you too?

   

                                                 

1. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater - Fear...Competition...Death

2. The Living by Matt de la Pena - Disaster...Survival...Action

3. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell - Rainbow Rowell (she, alone, makes me want to read this)

4. Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys - Clandestine...New Orleans...Murder

5. Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick - Suicide...Choices...Humanity

   

                                                

6. This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith - Happiness...Fate...Coincidence

7. Allegiant by Veronica Roth - Tris...Four...need I say more?

8. Champion by Marie Lu - June...Day...enough said!

9. These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman - Space...Catastrophe...Romance

10. If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch - Abduction...Survival...Secrets

TOP TEN TUESDAY: Books I'm Thankful For

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

                                                         

This week's topic is: Top Ten Books I’m Thankful For

As books are a huge part of my life (duh), I am thankful for each and every one I read. I am thankful for the wonderful, talented authors who write them. I am thankful for the publishers who get them into our hands. I am thankful for the teachers, students, family, friends, and bloggers who recommend them. I am thankful.

Below are the ten books I am most thankful for this year - some because their messages are life-changing, beautiful, and oh-so-necessary; others because they possess the power to reach some of my most stubborn reluctant readers.

For Their Message:

    

                                              

1. Wonder by R.J. Palacio - Choose Kind...simple as that! But seriously, this book will move you to tears - both happy and sad - and change the way you look at life. It needs to be a One Book One WORLD read!

2. Reality Boy by A.S. King - Wow! A book that shows the real, devastating side of teenage anger. Gerald’s story is funny and tragic at the same time. King shows her readers the realness of anger and the downward spiral it can send one on.

3. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell - I know, I know, you’ve all heard me gush about this book all year, but I promise it’s for good reason. Months after finishing this book, I still can’t get Eleanor and Park out of my head (or my heart).

4. Winger by Andrew Smith - Not only is Ryan Dean one of my all-time favorite narrators, but this ending? Devastating! I can’t tell you what the message of the book is, because it will ruin the ending, but trust me, you need to read this one.

5. Every Day by David Levithan - This book isn’t widely read in my classroom, but those who read it are forever changed. It’s one of those books that makes you question the way you look at the world, the way you look at other people. Really, I could say the same about all of Levithan’s books.

For Their Must-Readability:

     

    

6. Looking for Alaska by John Green - Honestly, I’m thankful for all of John Green’s books, but for some reason this one is my go-to recommendation. It’s not quite as mainstream as The Fault in Our Stars, but there’s just something about it.

7. Unwind by Neal Shusterman - We used this as our One Book One School, which should tell you something about its mass appeal. I’m always amazed, year after year, by the diverse crowd this story reaches.

8. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles - This book is gold! For hooking reluctant readers, it doesn’t get much better than Simone Elkeles, and this book is the king of them all!

9. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin - This book! Oh, this book! Is it wrong if I say I’m thankful for Noah Shaw? The girls, myself included, can’t help but swoon over Noah. Plus, the story is phenomenal, and Mara, herself, is a pretty kick-butt, if not entirely sane, main character.

10. Divergent by Veronica Roth - No book, in the last few years, has had quite the impact in my classroom that this book has had. Now with the movie coming out, I can’t keep my three copies on the shelf. I’m using it as a read-aloud for my lowest readers and they would read all day every day if I let them. (I could still say the same for the Hunger Games, too)

TOP TEN TUESDAY: Character Names I Love!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's topic is: Top Ten Character Names I LOVE!

As a teacher, names are usually associated with certain feelings thanks to many, many students. My husband and I often joke that there are some names that we can never use for our future children, for both positive and negative reasons. I feel the same way about character names - there are names I LOVE because I love the characters, and some names I can’t stand because the characters make my skin crawl (not that students ever do this). This week I’m sharing some of my favorite character names:

      

1. Eleanor & Park (Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell) - There’s just something so perfect about their names. I, never in a million years, thought I would like the name Eleanor, but after this book, it’s right up there with my favorites...oh the difference a good book can make! (I feel the same about Hazel and Augustus from John Green’s The Fault in our Stars)

2. Ryan Dean West (Winger by Andrew Smith) - Two first names? Love it! I don’t think Andrew Smith could have written a better name for this character.

3. Mary Shelley Black (In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters) - A creepy name with allusions to Frankenstein...perfect! There’s just enough spookiness to this name to make her feel real and yet paranormal at the same time.

4. Noah Shaw and Mara Dyer (The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin) - Perhaps I love these names just because I love these characters so much. Noah...oh, Noah. The swooniest of swoony boys; how can you not love everything about him, including his name!

      

5. Juliette Ferrars (Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi) - Juliette’s name is perfect in that it’s not perfect at all...does that make sense? To me, Juliette is a very soft, beautiful, feminine name. This Juliette is strong, powerful, and fiercely independent. I love that dichotomy, which is why I love her name!

6. Hermione Granger (Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling) - Simply put, I love her and kind of want to be her, name included.

7. Aristotle and Dante (Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz) - their names are just so unique. There’s history to these names, and yet, they are such modern characters. Plus, I loved the feelings these characters’ names evoked in themselves and in each other. Saenz clearly put a lot of thought into naming these two boys.

   

8. Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins) - another name that just fits the character perfectly! A name never heard before, and yet, no other name could possibly work for Katniss’ character. Strong and beautiful at the same time, just like her.

9. Clary Fray (The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare) - I’m not sure what it is about this name, I just like it. It’s different, unique, and just seemed to fit the character. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that I have a new-found desire to become a shadowhunter.

10. Isadora (The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White) - Beautiful name. I love that Isadora refused to shorten her name to “Dora” or “Izzy.” As she says, names define who you are, and her name suits her beautifully (I’m still going to keep my shortened name though).