Top Ten Literary Heroines

The Broke and Bookish

My top ten literary heroines:

1.  Scout - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

2.  Lucy- The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

3.  Anne Elliot- Persuasion by Jane Austen

4.  Katniss Everdeen- Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

5.  Flavia du Luce- Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

6.  Viola- Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness

7.  Katsa- Graceling by Kristen Cashore

8.  Elizabeth Bennet -Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

9.  Jo March- Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

10. Taylor Greer- Bean Trees and Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver

Runner-ups:

Miranda- When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Bea- How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford

Fire- Fire by Kristen Cashore

Elinor Dashwood- Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Melinda - Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

All the females in Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Nothing by Janne Teller

Nothing by Janne Teller may very well be the most disturbing novel I have ever read. The story begins with a bunch of 7th graders in Denmark coming back to school after summer vacation.  Just as they are settling in a classmate,Pierre Anthon, gets up, declares that nothing matters, that there is no meaning in life, leaves the classroom, scales a plum tree, and sits there. He sits in the tree day after day taunting his classmates. When ignoring him and then pelting him with rocks doesn't work the classmates set to the task of building a pile of meaning from the things that they treasure.  What starts off as seemingly harmless and possibly fun task soon evolves into a grossly perverse and sickening one with each item added to the "pile of meaning" worse and more dear than the last.

This short book took me less than two hours to read but I did so with my hand over my mouth in horror the whole time. Nothing has won all kinds of awards in Europe and I wonder if it will be an award winner in America, too.  I certainly am considering it for one of the 10 books for my Mock Printz Workshop.  The only problem is that it is so disturbing.  This book begs to be discussed, perhaps as a form of therapy, after completion. On a weird but lighter note, I kept thinking of Dr. Seuss stories like Yertle the Turtle, The Butter Battle Book, or The Lorax while I was reading Nothing.  It certainly has that cautionary-tale quality to it that a lot of Dr. Seuss books have, minus, of course, the cute pictures and the happy endings.

So with this kind of recommendation do you dare read the book?  I say you should.  If for no other reason that we can discuss it after you are finished.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

My college-age daughters and I all reading Mockingjay at the same time.

It's been tough.  I practically had to stay away from the computer for days because I didn't want to see a single review for Mockingjay, the third book in the Hunger Games trilogy, until I had a chance to finish it. I was afraid I'd bump into a review from some of you speedy readers out in the blogosphere.  Well, I finished it last night and loved it. Like the second book in the series, Catching Fire, this book had a lot of plot twists and turns that I wasn't expecting.  For example the part when Peeta... oh yes, I wasn't going to put any spoilers in my review because you will want to figure it out for yourself.

All three of the books in the series had slow starts, in my opinion, and Mockingjay was no exception.  Though there were moments of excitement, the real action didn't start until after page 100, with the excitement we've come to expect in the Hunger Games series not reaching any kind of fevered pitch until part 3.  I'm hoping the readers, especially reluctant readers, won't get discouraged before getting to the climax and to the satisfying, if not a little sad, conclusion. As soon as I finished the book I wanted to reread the last chapter again. In fact, I did, just to make sure that....

I think it will take a few days for the full impact of the story to sink in and I will want to have a copy of the book nearby so I can look up passages as I think through the storyline.  In other words, I plan to savor this book, this series.  My eldest daughter told me today that this is a series that she hopes will come out in a movie.  I'm not sure I agree, because I have made such vivid pictures in my head of all the characters and the wild settings.  I'm not sure I am ready to give those up to Hollywood just yet.

If you haven't done so, read the book.  Read the whole series.  You won't be disappointed.  I promise.

Ten Books I Can't Believe I Haven't Read

The Broke and the Bookish

OK, OK, I know it is Saturday not Tuesday but I wanted to participate in this meme. Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because they are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. I'd love to share this list with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists! Head on over to their blog if you'd like to sign up or just include your list in my comment section.

The Top Ten Books I Can't Believe I've Never Read

1.  Anything by Charles Dickens...I've only read David Copperfield when I was in 6th grade (so that hardly counts), and of course, A Christmas Carol.  All others I've not read.


2.  Lord of the Flies by William Golding...I think every kid has to read this in high school and somehow I escaped.


3.  East of Eden by John Steinbeck... many people have told me that this is their favorite book.


4.  Beloved by Toni Morrison...this book shows up on the Top 100 Books of all-time and she is a living author.  I must, must, must get to it.


5.  Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.... see #2


6.  A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams...everyone in my generation has read this but me, I think.


7.  The Color Purple by Alice Walker...I'm not even sure if I know the storyline.


8.  Frankenstein by Mary Shelley...OK, this is starting to feel like "true confessions."


9.  Middlemarch by George Eliot...I'm a huge Jane Austen fan and this book seems like it would be right up my alley, but who knows?  I haven't read it.


10.  A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy OToole...I've been told that this is one of the funniest, most irreverent books ever written.

11.  I could go on and on ..... so many books, so little time to read the old when I want to read the new.

YA Top 100 for 2010

Persnickety Snarks List of Top 100 YA Novels (2010): based on a reader poll conducted for five weeks between April and May 2010. Over 735  respondents shared their top ten YA books from all over the globe; 80% were female.


Bold= Books I've read;  
Italicized=on my list of books to read; 
Red=books I didn't finish;
(Parenthesis)=title in USA/North America.

1. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's (Sorceror's) Stone - J.K. Rowling
3. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
4. Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson
5. Northern Lights (The Golden Compass)- Philip Pullman
6. The Truth About Forever - Sarah Dessen
7. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
8. The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton
9. Twilight - Stephenie Meyer
10. This Lullaby - Sarah Dessen
11. Looking for Alaska - John Green
12. Just Listen - Sarah Dessen
13. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling
14. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
15. City of Bones - Cassandra Clare
16. On the (Jellicoe Road) - Melina Marchetta
17. The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
18. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling 
19. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
20. Along for the Ride - Sarah Dessen
21. Shiver - Maggie Stiefvater
22. Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead
23. Graceling - Kristin Cashore
24. Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher
25. Sloppy Firsts - Megan McCafferty
26. The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien27. Alanna: The First Adventure - Tamora Pierce
28. Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
29. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling
30. Uglies - Scott Westerfeld
31. A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray
32. Tomorrow, When the War Began - John Marsden
33. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks - E. Lockhart
34. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen35. The Westing Game - Ellen Raskin
36. Paper Towns - John Green
37. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling
38. Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
39. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn - Betty Smith
40. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie
41. Lock and Key - Sarah Dessen
42. The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman 43. Evernight - Claudia Gray
44. Sabriel - Garth Nix
45. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling46. Beautiful Creatures - Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl 47. Forever - Judy Blume
48. I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith 49. Ella Enchanted - Gail Carson Levine
50. The Princess Diaries - Meg Cabot
51. Stargirl - Jerry Spinelli52. Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones
53. The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper
54. Hush, Hush - Becca Fitzpatrick
55. Saving Francesca - Melina Marchetta
56. Second Helpings - Megan McCafferty
57. Dreamland - Sarah Dessen
58. Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer
59. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - Rachel Cohn, David Levithan
60. Fire - Kristin Cashore
61. The Chocolate War - Robert Cormier62. Weetzie Bat - Francesca Lia Block
63. The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank
64. Looking for Alibrandi - Melina Marchetta
65. How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff
66. City of Glass - Cassandra Clare 
67. Keeping the Moon - Sarah Dessen
68. Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer
69. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging - Louise Rennison
70. If I Stay - Gayle Forman
71. The King of Attolia - Megan Whalen Turner 
72. Wintergirls - Laurie Halse Anderson 
73. Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast - Robin McKinley
74. The Blue Sword - Robin McKinley
75. Feed - M.T. Anderson
76. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants - Ann Brashares77. Go Ask Alice - Anonymous 78. Wicked Lovely - Melissa Marr
79. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
80. Someone Like You - Sarah Dessen
81. The Forest of Hands and Teeth - Carrie Ryan
82. Jacob Have I Loved - Katherine Paterson
83. The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness
84. Poison Study - Maria V. Snyder
85. Shadow Kiss - Richelle Mead
86. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle - Avi
87. An Abundance of Katherines - John Green
88. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
89. A Ring of Endless Light - Madeleine L'Engle
90. Glass Houses - Rachel Caine
91. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party - M.T. Anderson
92. Walk Two Moons - Sharon Creech
93. Whale Talk - Chris Crutcher
94. Perfect Chemistry - Simone Elkeles
95. Going Too Far - Jennifer Echols
96. The Last Song - Nicholas Sparks 
97. Before I Fall - Lauren Oliver
98. Hatchet - Gary Paulsen
99. The Pigman - Paul Zindel
100. The Hero and the Crown - Robin McKinley

There is a nice mixture of very current title and a few classics. I think there are a few obvious omissions:  I am the Messenger by Zusak; Percy Jackson and the Olympians (series) by Riordan; Going Bovine by Bray; Tales of the Madman Underground by Barnes; Monster by Myers; Liar by Larbalestier; Marcelo in the Real World by Stork; Little Brother by Doctorow; and Son of the Mob by Korman, to name a few.  Perhaps these titles didn't make the list because 80% of the poll respondents were female and most of the books I mentioned appeal to males. At any rate, it is a fun snapshot in time of what teens are reading/like right now. I definitely need to read some Sarah Dessen and Tamora Pierce.

My count to date: 48.  How about you?  

How many have you read on the list?

It's Friday! Book Blogger Hop Time!

August 26, 2010
Hi!  It is my second time on the Book Blogger Hop.  Please take your time looking around.  Comment on any reviews or join in any discussions.  Welcome!

Answer to the question of the day ---

Do you use a rating system for your reviews and if so, what is it and why?

At first I used a rating system but abandoned it after I gave a poor review to a book.  A week later, the book was still on my mind and I started thinking about all the favorable features of the book.  I decided that I didn't want to go back and change my rating each time my thinking on the book evolved, so I dropped the rating system.  Do you think they are helpful or harmful?

Booking Through Thursday - Question of the Week

Booking through Thursday

If you’re not enjoying a book, will you stop mid-way? Or do you push through to the end? What makes you decide to stop?

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Yes, I will  stop midway through a book if I am bored, don't care for the writing style, or just lose interest.  Quite often I won't make that determination for months, though, and the book may languish on my bedside table partially read until I finally decide that I am not going to finish it. Nancy Pearl, a librarian at Seattle Public Library and the author of Book Lust has the Rule of 50 which states "If you still don't like a book after slogging through the first 50 pages, set it aside. If you're more than 50 years old, subtract your age from 100 and only grant it that many pages."  (Wikipedia) I usually will read 100 pages before I abandon it, the only exception is if I am reading the book for one of my two book clubs.  I try really hard to finish those books no matter if I like them or not.

Now it's your turn to answer the question.

The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon was originally published as El Príncipe de la Niebla in Spain in 1993. It was the first novel published by Ruiz Zafon. After writing several more YA novels he has since gone on to write and publish several books for adults, most notably, Shadow of the Wind, which I haven't read. Even though the book was written 17 years ago and the translation for it was just completed this year, it has a timeless quality to it.  The beginning of the story is set somewhere in the world during World War II, probably in England, France, or Spain. That fact that the war is going on is only important to the story in that it gives the Carter family cause to move out of the city to the relative safety of the countryside near the ocean. Other than that the story could have been set anytime in the last 60 years and on any beach, as long as there was a lighthouse nearby. And according to the author interview at the end of the book, that was intentional.


I had no idea when I picked it up that it was a horror novel or a ghost story.  I don't normally read this genre of book because I truly do get scared and have trouble sleeping.  But by the time I figured out what this book was, I was already hooked by the plot. Three children move to this ocean-side town with their parents and meet Roland, a local teenager, the grandson of the lighthouse keeper. Roland takes the two oldest children to see an old ship wreck right off shore. In the meantime the youngest, who stayed at home, meets the Prince of Mist in a terrifying circumstance.  Events unfold quickly as the Prince of Mist comes back in many forms to claim what is rightfully his.


Though the book is relatively short (200 pages) it takes quite a while for the plot to develop and for the tension to build.  Dr. Kane, or the Prince of Mist, is a dastardly villain who shows up so many times and in so many forms that one is never quite sure what to expect next. I was on the edge of my seat for half the book.  The book, however had a few flaws that were hard for me to overlook, several of them were translation problems, I think. For example, occasionally words would be used that weren't even invented in the 1940s, such as paramedic, which wasn't coined until the early 1950s in the United States. Also, Carlos Ruiz Zafon attempted to speed up the action by having the grandfather tell long stories from the past about the Dr. Kane rather than have the events unfold and have the reader discover them along the way.


I read this book as a potential book for my Mock Printz workshop.  Though I've decided not to include it on my list I will certainly recommend it to readers that enjoy this genre of books.  I think that fans of The Monstrumologist and of Stephen King will find a lot to like in this book.

The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness

The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness suffers a bit my middle-book-syndrome.  Don't get me wrong.  It is a tremendously exciting and unique storyline but throughout the book I was left with the thought that I knew there was a third book which meant that the heroes wouldn't prevail or the villain wouldn't get his due.  I was right on both accounts. My daughter tells me that middle books in trilogies are always a version of The Empire Strikes Back, where the hero is left clinging to life and we start to wonder if this is the series where the villain will finally win.  Who am I to argue with that logic? That said, the book retains much of the charm of its predecessor, The Knife of Never Letting Go. Our heroes, Todd and Viola, tell the story in alternating chapters written in first person which would usually throw me for a loop until I adjusted to the new narrator. Todd, who is illiterate, writes in pigeon-English, often spelling words how they sound. The first chapter opens days or minutes after the last book ended with both children in Haven but it is not the town that they had hoped and striven for. The new ruler of the town is Mayor Prentiss and he is a tyrant capable of mind-control and under him things seem to go from bad to worse quickly. Resistance to the new order springs up and the leader of this group is the new hero, or is she?

I was never quite sure who the true heroes and villains were.  Nor was I ever quite sure which side was the right side. And I think that was the point of the story. Ness is quoted as saying: "Even in a society where we are constantly told to 'be ourselves,' the pressure to conform is terrible, especially for the young. If the Chaos Walking trilogy is about anything, it's about identity, finding out who you are. How do you stay an individual when the pressure to conform, to change who you are, is life-threatening?" (Back Cover Flap)

Like any good middle book of a trilogy, The Ask and Answer leaves the reader hanging, ready for the sequel.  That is where I am now. Fortunately for me I won't have to wait long.  Monsters of Men, book three of the Chaos Walking trilogy, is due out on September 28.  I'll be the first person in line at my library to read it.

Better late than never? Jane Austen Challenge

Jane Austen Challenge January-December 2010...How could I resist?  Better late than never?

Rules:
--Anyone can participate.Sign up here:
--Levels:
**Newbie 2 books by J. Austen, 2 re-writes, prequels, sequels, or spoofs (by other authors)
**Lover 4 books by J. Austen, 4 re-writes, prequels, sequels, or spoofs (by other authors)
** Fanatic 6+ books by J. Austen, 5+ re-writes, prequels, sequels, or spoofs (by other authors)
--Challenge books can overlap with other challenges.
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Books I've read so far:
(I reviewed the first four at the same time here:)
Jan. 2010 -Confessions of A Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler
Jan. 2010- Captain Wentworth's Diary by Amanda Grange
Jan. 2010- These Three Remain: a novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy by Pamela Aidan
Feb. 2010- Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler
Next up: Emma by JA herself!