Top Ten Tuesday #4: Top Ten Books If You Like Doctor Who

Top Ten Tuesday is an weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  Each week participants list their Top Ten choices for a weekly theme. This week's theme is: Top Ten Books If you like...

So one of my favorite TV shows ever would have to be the one, the only DOCTOR WHO! Not all of these are the conventional what you would think of, but there's just some books where I can't help but think of some aspect of Doctor Who.  In no order in particular.

 

Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Hmmm...I wonder where the Doctor travels...

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
Time traveling?  Obviously this would be on this list.

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Aliens invading Earth.  Invading any planet really. Sounds familiar.

       

Pivot Point by Kasie West

Just the idea of manipulating time & seeing multiple futures.  Plus you have special powers.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Imagine Howl as the Doctor.  Imagine Sophie as a companion.  Imagine the Moving Castle as the Tardis.  BOOM.

Every Day by David Levithan
The struggle of loving someone it would be difficult to have.  And changing faces all the time (like regeneration?)  I wonder where I've heard that before... *sobs*



     

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Will Herondale.  Need I say more?  And plus it takes place in London. 

The Host by Stephanie Meyer
Aliens.  Duh.  I think I underestimate sometimes how many different types of aliens are in Doctor Who.

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
I think of Alyss as Amy Pond and how her life kind of got turned upside down because no one believed her story or her past life.  It's actually scary how similar Alyss and Amy are.  At least that's how I see it.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST...

 

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling

I think I was basing this more off of Rory than anyone else to be honest.  But all the magical adventures Harry faces feels like it could be in a Doctor Who episode.

This was a ton of fun putting together.  I love Doctor Who and it's one of my favorite shows and I wanted to challenge myself and see what I find.  Some of these books are my absolute favorites and I hope you feel inspired :)

What was your Top Ten?

 

Book Review: What I Thought Was True

Title/ Author:  What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick
Publisher/ Year:  Dial Books for Young Readers, 2014.
How I Read It:  Paperback (ARC!)
Why I Read It:  I entered a Goodreads First Reads giveaway & was lucky enough to win this ARC!
Rating: 3 stars out of 5

This is a stand alone novel by the author of My Life Next Door which I read last year!  It wasn't bad!

Summary from Goodreads:  Gwen Castle's Biggest Mistake Ever, Cassidy Somers, is slumming it as a yard boy on her Nantucket-esque island this summer. He's a rich kid from across the bridge in Stony Bay, and she hails from a family of fishermen and housecleaners who keep the island's summer people happy. Gwen worries a life of cleaning houses will be her fate too, but just when it looks like she'll never escape her past—or the island—Gwen's dad gives her some shocking advice. Sparks fly and secret histories unspool as Gwen spends a gorgeous, restless summer struggling to resolve what she thought was true—about the place she lives, the people she loves, and even herself—with what really is.

Quick Summary for those who have not read it yet:
This book was pretty entertaining but it was also everything I expected it to be.  I honestly wasn't a fan of Fitzpatrick's first book, My Life Next Door, so I didn't have the highest expectations of this, but I found the story so much more interesting and intriguing in this book.  The mystery in the story was one of the reasons I kept reading & the multiple relationships withing the story definitely gave a lot of perspective on how complicated love and truth  are.  I love contemporary but it didn't quite catch my attention as other contemporaries I read.  It wasn't a great read, but it wasn't a bad read either.  This took me days to read & the story either had high times or low times so it was hard for me to finish quickly.  I recommend this book for people who are mature enough to handle sexual situations and context within a story, or if you just really love romance.

The Review:
You know how they say never judge a book by its cover?  Well unfortunately I do that all the time.  It's a terrible habit.  I am very aware.  Anyway, I ADORED this cover.  The colors are beautiful and the title is typed pretty much perfectly on there and it just made me wish that summer was here already.  

The characters were a nice touch.  It wasn't your typical, "nice girl meets bad boy" or "two misfits" or "love at first sight" or "best friends become lovers" kind of situations (well with the exception of Vivie and Nic).  Well first let's meet our main characters:  Gwen and Cass have a unique history and a lot of mystery and excitement to their relationship & I think what really kept me reading was waiting for the "thing" to be unveiled:  the story behind why Cassidy Somers was Gwen Castle's Biggest Mistake Ever.  Now before we discover this "Big Mistake" I have to say I thought the "Polar Bear Plunge" story was absolutely adorable.  At that point, I believed they both were equals to each other and truly cared for each other, which made the kiss there so adorable.   I bounced back and forth between whether or not I loved these characters.  Gwen is known for her reputation & everyone on the swim team thought she was easy.  Everyone saw her as a slut except for Cass, who saw her differently.  When they eventually did it, it was clear that the two of them were in love with each other.  But Cass being an idiot didn't realize his swim buddies were expecting him to "get lucky" with Gwen & that hurt her.  If I were in Gwen's place, I would not have gotten back with Cass, as sweet as he is.  That's just my personal opinion.  I am a strong feminist, so that makes sense.  But I do forgive Cass for what he did.  It wasn't his fault, even though it kind of was.  At the same time, Gwen frustrated me.  She couldn't make up her mind and whenever she started getting close to Cass again, she blamed him for only wanting her for her body instead of for her.  After pages of hearing the banter, I was just waiting for them to either make up and be together or just stop each other's misery and stay broken up.  Cass was a great part of this book though.  I do have to admit.

Other characters that stood out were obviously Nic and Vivie.  Nic and Vivie's relationship was a challenging one but one that I'm glad Fitzpatrick brought up.  It reminds everyone that there is no such thing as a perfect relationship.  Well, Gwen's and Cass's relationship isn't near perfect.  But Nic and Vivie's was the "best friends becoming lovers" or "lovers since childhood" kind of thing.  They seemed like the perfect couple until you see the reality that not everything will work out.  What you think is true (haha) won't always be true in some cases.  Vivie was happy with Nic, but her feelings changed for him when she started hanging with Spence.  That's the thing about feelings, they change all the time and sometimes you just can't stop it.  I really felt for Nic by the end of this book.  He was the one character with absolutely everything to lose.  And he did lose the things he loved.  Not everyone has the happy ending they expect.  

I could talk about so many more things I loved like Emory or the old lady she cared for who finds pleasure in books I shouldn't even be reading, or disliked but overall I think you get my point.  Not everything is going to be cookiecutter, and not everyone is perfect.  Not every situation is perfect.  But sometimes we need to be reminded about that.

Overall this book was only okay for me.  It could have been better or a lot shorter than it was.  It was unnecessarily long and I think the book could have ended 100 pages sooner.  I've posted what I love and what I like and what I didn't like but maybe it's just me and my opinion.  Maybe you'll end up loving it!  But in conclusion, I did like this book.  As I said before, it really does get me in the mood for summer time and all that jazz.

Bout of Books 10!

I've been in such a book reading slump and posting slump lately, because of a lot of things.  Especially school.  I've had so many drafts of book reviews, movie reviews and other stuff I've been wanting to do, but time hasn't been in my favor & I believe a reread is in need for my reviews to be spot on.  This summer, after I graduate on June 1, I will be devoting a lot of time to reading and updating this blog.  Surprisingly on Goodreads (which you all are free to add me on if you wish just to see what I'm up to book wise!), I'm only one book behind, but I haven't had a lot of time to read now that AP tests are coming up.

SO as a way to get back on track, I've decided to join Bout of Books!  If you don't know what Bout of Books is, check out the blurb below!

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 12th and runs through Sunday, May 18th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I am very excited for this and as a way to challenge myself and hopefully get back into my reading mode that I was going at last year.  Because of my busy senior schedule (and my lack of commitment and motivation) I'm not gonna be setting a goal just yet.  You'll have to wait and see :) 

Top 13 Books Read in 2013 & Wrap Up!

2013 has been probably my best reading year so far in the history of my 17 years of life.  There were so many amazing books that I read, series that I finished, and books that I shed a good amount of tears for.  Turned out that the tear jerkers ended up being my favorites?  Haha, classic.

Anyway, on goodreads for 2013, my goal was to read 65 books.  Did I complete it?  I sure did!  In fact, I finished my goal by reading a whopping 86 books.  The most amount of books I've read ever within a year.  I just feel so proud of myself for going over and above my goal.  I didn't think I could really do that.  The thing that I think gave me the motivation to read as many books as I did was all the awesome fangirling and book reading friends I've made this past year.  For once, I didn't feel that alone, & it was super encouraging.  

Now, without further ado, I present to you all... THE TOP 13 BOOKS I READ IN 2013!

13. The House of Hades  by Rick Riordan

It was a hit out of the park.  Let's be honest here.

12. Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Great sequel.  Great plot twist.  Edge of my seat for sure.

11.  Shades of Earth by Beth Revis

Frex frex frex frex frex frexing amazing.

10.  Prodigy by Marie Lu

But June.  But Day.  But character development.  But rip out my heart why don't ya?

9.  Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter

Freaking Cameron Morgan, that's what.

8.  Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead

This book made the previous two look like lost children. 

7.  Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Malina though

6.  The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

A beach house.  Two brothers.  And you all live in that same beach house for a summer?  SIGN ME UP.

5. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Can I have a Cricket?  May I have a Cricket?  

4. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Best ending in the history of best endings ever and best male character that ever lived *cough cough* Will Herondale.

3.  The Selection  by Kiera Cass

Maxon Schreave.  That is all.

2.  Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I've never related to a book more than this one.  Obviously.

1.  The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Cried like a baby.  Too beautiful for words.  If you haven't read this, what are you doing with your life?

What were your favorite reads of 2013?

Allegiant Tour!

So, this has been my first post in a very long time, but I wanted to share with you all some of the bookish things I have done since I last wrote here.  I thought I would share the biggest and most exciting thing that happened to me October 26, 2013.  I met Veronica Roth!

So her book, Allegiant came out back in October & I was able to convince my dad to buy me a ticket.  This was during the summer.  When school started, one of my awesome friends, Eunbee, informed me that she was going too!  So, we carpooled, got in line 4 hours early & we were one of the first 20 people there out of 1000 people.  We met some really awesome people in line and we talked to them for pretty much the whole day.

Ignore my dumb finger

The night before, one of my favorite booktubers, TheBookTuber, was tweeting that he would be at the event.  Eunbee and I are both avid watchers of BookTube, so naturally, I tweeted him saying, "Hey!  I'll be there!"  And thus, my fangirling reached it's high.  He came 2 1/2 hours before the event started & as he was checking out the front of the line, me and my friend started yelling and waving (and flailing our arms according to Tiernan) and he's a pretty awesome dude.  He ended up hanging with us the whole day and by the end of that fantastic day, we were all friends.  I mean, we bought popcorn together so that basically seals the deal.

Anyway, while we were waiting in line (Me, Eunbee, and Tiernan) a group of girls walked by us and we started talking.  They were a really great group, and now I'm really good friends with some of them.  They're my fangirl friends and they make my day.  Who knew meeting at the Allegiant Tour would introduce me to people EXACTLY like me who don't get bored of me talking about books all the time!  One of them, Carolina, has a blog that you should check out if you have some spare time.  I'll leave the link down below!

We all started talking about The Fault in Our Stars when all of a sudden, people were screaming around us.  Apparently Veronica Roth walked RIGHT past us while she went into the building next to the venue.  This was the place where I put my lawn chairs for waiting for four hours.  For about an hour, all of us were tweeting and texting and taking pictures and basically staring at the door trying to find Veronica.  She eventually came out, and then the idea of meeting her became real.  This was actually happening.

The people running the event let us inside an hour early, and what do you know?  The three of us got front row seats.  FRONT FREAKING ROW.  I didn't believe this was actually happening.  But it did.  I never get that lucky.

So, Margot from Epic Reads was interviewing Veronica, and since the event took place near Chicago (the location for her book, hello!) they had a livestream going on.  It was pretty awesome.  When they opened up questions to the audience, I immediately raised my hand, since I had a question pre-planned.  THEY CHOSE ME FIRST.  Let me just say, I had way too many fangirling moments during this event.  But, we were all fangirls/ boys.  We were in our zone.

After the interview, Veronica and her brother, Karl Vincent Roth sang us a song that he wrote.  Her brother!  It's based on the book and it's such a beautiful song.  I swear, after that day ended, I listened to that song on repeat over and over.  It also made me tear up a little, because it made me think of Allegiant.  Allegiant ruined me, but made my life.  But, I think it was a HUGE mistake to read it the night before the event.  I literally COULD NOT go to sleep for 2 hours after I read the book.  I literally cried my eyes out for days after reading this book.  If you've read it, you know why.  If you haven't, get up off your butt and read it (but read Divergent and Insurgent first cause that's kinda important)!

The book signing portion was up next.  While we waited for our numbers to be called to meet Veronica and have our books signed, the venue, which happened to be this amazing movie theatre started playing Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, as a request of Veronica.  The day just kept on getting better.

My ticket number was in the 100s so I got to meet her in the beginning.  She was so nice and so sweet, but her response to what I told her was well....she just nodded her head.  I told her about my feelings about the ending of Allegiant.  She was really sweet, smiled at me, nodded her head, asked how I was doing, and said thank you.  Then she signed my book.  It didn't even feel real!

 

Eunbee and Tiernan's ticket numbers were both in the 800s so I got to stay at the event a little longer than planned and watch Harry Potter with them.

The event was one of my favorite memories of 2013, and definitely one of the best days I've ever had in a long time.  I met so many new people & I met one of my favorite authors.  What could be better?

Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture with her.  I got a video of me talking to her while she signed my book, but that was it.  Although right before Eunbee and I left, I got this picture.  If you look really closely, THAT'S HER.  I KNEW SHE WAS REAL.

Allegiant taught me a lot of things and really touched me as a reader.  Veronica truly wrote a beautiful book series and made some choices I would not have been able to do myself if I was in her shoes.  After the event, there was one thing she said that stuck in my mind which ended up being a central theme in the book I suppose...Be mended.  This was an encouragement to me after finishing the book.  This one single phrase made me think and made me learn.  I hope the books you read do the same for you as well.

Looking forward to what's planned in 2014!

Carolina's blog:  ifyoulikedtfios.blogspot.com
Tiernan's Youtube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/user/TheBookTuber

Where Am I? 6-27-13

Hey guys, I am so sorry I haven't had too many blog posts lately.  I have been super busy with Driver's Ed and catching up with television shows and hanging out with friends that I haven't had the time to go and update my blog posts.  I meant to do a Top Ten Tuesday, but for some reason I just wasn't as in the mood to do it.  I'll probably put it up sometime tomorrow, as well as maybe another Throwback Thursday.

Also, for some reason, I haven't been reading...I don't know if it's just that I don't feel like it, or I don't feel like the book I'm reading is going to be that interesting but I promise you all that I will read as much as I can from this book before I go to bed.  This is really unusual for me to not have read a book for this amount of time, or not update regularly, but I'm trying my best to make a habit of doing what I should do.

Again, I am very sorry for not posting any new blog posts and I will try to get them up as soon as  I can!

Feature & Follow Friday #3

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs!

If you wish to follow me, I'm on Bloglovin and GFC!  

This Week's Question:

Share your favorite literary quote!

I have soooo many favorite quotes.  But here's one of them that I think a LOT of people will be familiar with.

“It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.” - Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

 How about you?  Link me up!