Top Ten Tuesday!

Favorite Book Quotes 

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"I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race - that rarely do I ever estimate it." - Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

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"It was at that moment that he realized that his spirit was truly human once more. For he no longer remembered how to be alone without being lonely." - Neal Shusterman, Everwild

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"In this world of numbness and information overload, the ability to feel, my boy, is a rare gift indeed." - Patrick Ness, The Ask and the Answer

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"You're everything. You're... you're chaos and order and everything in between. Like sunshine kept back by clouds. Like the entire world's imploded inside you, but all I see are the stars are sewn into your skin. You are filled with soft, dark music. I hear it all the time. Your music." - Tara Sim, Timekeeper

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"His feelings for Adam were an oil spill; he'd let them overflow and now there wasn't a damn place in the ocean that wouldn't catch fire if he dropped a match." - Maggie Stiefvater, The Raven King

"If you can't be unafraid, Henry said, be afraid and happy." - Maggie Stiefvater, The Raven King

Weekly feature courtesy of That Artsy Reader Girl

Top Ten Tuesday!

Books I Could Re-Read Forever

1. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

What year is complete without the annual pilgramage through the Harry Potter series? In all honesty, I have probably read it through 6 times by now.

2. The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

I'm sure everyone knows by now that this is my all-time favorite series. Between re-reads and reading like, everything published on AO3, a measurable percentage of my life is dedicated to reading about these nerds.

3. All For the Game by Nora Sakavic

I love these broken children to little tiny bits. I'll pull up my e-books for frequent re-reads, and I recently bought the whole series in paperback. Just to hold them, and gaze at them fondly sometimes. You know, important reasons to spend $40.

4. The Mediator by Meg Cabot

I grew up on this series. Legit. As a pre-teen I'd re-read the series in a week maybe a couple times a year. I recently had the trip down memory lane because there was a sequel to the series oh my goood. So another re-read occurred, of course!

5. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

I feel like this one was published in that small window where YA wasn't cool, so the amount of people who haven't read this breaks my heart! Where is the fandom for Dustfinger or Farid or Moe? Give! Me! Fan! Content!

Honorable Mention: A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

The more Maas I read, the more I'm honestly a little bit over her. But dead in the middle of a fairly mediocre series is this gem. It's over 600 pages and I've read it cover-to-cover three times! Why was the rest of the series not this perfect?

What books could you re-read into eternity? Let me know in the comments!

Weekly feature courtesy of That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top Ten Tuesday!

This week's TTT is about books that have been on your TBR the longest. Since I've been participating in Down the TBR Hole, I think that base has already been covered. I'm instead going to borrow another blogger's take on this prompt:

Top Ten Classics Eternally on My TBR List

1. Dracula by Bram Stoker
2. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
4. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
5. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
6. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
7. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
8. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
9. Candide by Voltaire
10. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Have you read any of these? What classics are on your list?

Weekly feature courtesy of That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top Ten Tuesday!

Top Five Books I Can't Believe I Read

1. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

You know, I had to read this for a class? I took History of Pornography and Sex Writing the year that this book was big, so my professor figured, hey, we should probably add this book to the curriculum. He came in the class we were supposed to discuss it and just said, "Guys, I'm so sorry for putting you through that. I'd never read it. I'm never doing this again. I'm sorry."



2. Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

For the sake of it's literary significance, I couldn't not read this, but I felt kind of dirty, like I was looking Harper Lee in the eye and disrespecting her wishes. Please accept my apologies, Ms. Lee.






3. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Again, read for school, and it was also way before the hype surrounding the book. But the fact that I in any way have monetarily contributed to this dumpster fire is a travesty.







4. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling

I think we can collectively agree that this never happened. It was better left entirely unread and ignored.








5. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Maggie's writing is my life blood. The perfection of Raven Cycle honestly gives me the motivation to read and find beauty in the written word. But the Wolves of Mercy Falls series, while objectively beautifully written, is so far from the quality I'd expect of her, it saddens me to put the two series in he same body of work. I keep starting to pick up the series again and remembering why I put it down.

Weekly feature courtesy of That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top Ten Tuesday!

Top Ten Books I Really Liked but Can’t Remember Anything/Much About

You know, I actually have a pretty good memory with books I've read. For the most part, I had to dig back to books I read in high school or middle school to hit ten on this list. So, in no particular order:

10. Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke

What it's really about:  rag-tag group of a brownie, a dragon, and an orphan boy take on a great evil force.

What I remember: Dragons ???






9. The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer

What it's really about: A boy is kidnapped from his village by fearsome Berkserkers, but he learns about their culture and comes to side with them against their foes.

What I remember: Cool nods to Norse mythology, awesome protagonists, and cool world building.






8. The Shadow Children Series by Margaret Peterson Haddix

What it's really about: In a dystopian future, third children are illegal, and a secret society of "illegal" children hide in the shadows.

What I remember: A cool premise but a really convoluted plot. Oh, and the first character I found named Nina!





7. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

What it's really about: An orphan is adopted by her uncle and discovers a magical garden on his property.

What I remember: I thought I just saw the musical but apparently I read the book? So that was a thing?





6. The Sluts by Dennis Cooper

What it's really about: A deep and intricate story of the dark web and the lives of male escorts.

What I remember: Snuff porn, mind fucking, and a really weird term paper.

Top Ten Tuesday!

Top 10 Bookish Resolutions/Goals for 2018

1. Read 75 books. I've set my Goodreads Reading Challenge to 75 books - if I hit it, that will be a new record for me! The last three years, I've set it to 50 and hit around 65. I can squeeze 10 more books out of this year, right?

2. Write. More. Reviews. I don't know what my review-to-ignore percentage is, and I really don't think I want to. Even if they're short, I want to try much harder to publish reviews for everything I read.

3. Keep my bookshelves pretty. As of January, I'm living in a new apartment, and we furnished an entire wall with a beautiful new bookcase. I even left room for expansion! It's in our living room instead of tucked away in a book corner, so I want it to stay all pretty and picturesque.

4. Bookstagram! I love my Bookstagram to pieces, but I let it fall by the wayside when I moved with my in-laws for a while. With this new place I have no excuse to not keep it up.

5. Plan the books I buy. There are so many books I want to own and I just keep impulse buying books I end up hating! If I buy a book, I want it to be one I'll love (or at least one with a pretty cover!)

6. Read more #OwnVoices authors. I did fairly well with this last year, but there's always room for improvement. I want to continue with a focus on LGBTQIA+ literature, but I don't wish to participate in objectification or commodification of the subject.

7. Read more culturally diverse books. This is such a wide umbrella, but in doing my 2017 end of the year review, I realized I was awful at all aspects of this! Books with lead characters of color, books by authors of color, and books from countries other than my own need to be priorities in my reading this year!

8. Make more bookish friends. Sites like Goodreads and Bloglovin are so great for building book communities. There are a few users I find myself chatting with frequently, but I'd like to involve myself more with things like buddy reads and challenges to really be in the bookish community.

9. Read more classics and plays. I've never struggled with this, but in 2017 the only play I read was Angels in America - and it was also the oldest book I read! Who am I? Get me some Shakespeare and Austen, stat!

10. BLOG! I want to give this blog proper love and attention. Guest posts, interviews, topical discussions. I want Looseleaf Reviews to have a life beyond just reviews.

What are your goals for the year? Let me know in the comments, and wish me luck with mine!

Weekly feature courtesy of That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top Ten Tuesday!

Top 10 Book Boyfriends and Girlfriends

Book Boyfriends

1. Adam Parrish, The Raven Cycle by Cornelia Funke

Bisexual and emotionally damaged? Hey! Sounds like me.

(fanart by messykings) 

2. Dustfinger, Inkheart by Cornelia Funke 

What a bastard, I love him. This an right here was probably my first ever book crush.

3. Howl Pendragon, Howl’s Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones 

What a lovable asshole. If you haven’t had a book crush on him, you’re lying.

4. Jesse de Silva, The Mediator by Meg Cabot

Who needs Edward Cullen when you have this supernatural hunk?

5. Neil Josten, All For the Game by Nora Sakavic 

What a lovable mess of a human.

(fanart by queen-of-perplexity)

Book Girlfriends

1. Luna Lovegood, Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Is she the ultimate manic pixie dream girl or just literally perfect?

2. Suze Simon, The Mediator by Meg Cabot 

She is the literal definition of badass.

3. Manon Blackbeak, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

She could eat me alive and I’d be okay with that.

(fanart by Paige Hanlon)

4. Nina Zenik, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo 

I’m a Nina. She’s a Nina. It was literally meant to be.

(fanart by inorheona)

5. Allison Reynolds, All For the Game by Nora Sakavic

What can I say? She had me with the sarcasm.

(fanart by llstarcasterll)

Weekly Feature Courtesy of The Broke and the Bookish Blog

Top Ten Tuesday!

Top 5 Books That Feature LGBTQIA Characters

1. The Sum of Its Parts by E.M. Holloway

The main character is in a poly relationship with a man who is asexual and a supporting character is a gay trans woman. The entire cast is ethnically diverse and several characters deal with physical and mental disabilities.


2. Avi Cantor Has Six Months to Live by Sacha Lamb

The main character is mid-transition and his love
interest is a trans man. The main character is also ethnically Jewish.

3. Openly Straight and Honestly Ben by Bill Konigsberg

The main character of the first book is straight, and the love interest of the first book/main character of the second book is figuring out his sexuality. There is also a supporting character that is nonbinary and another that is asexual. 

4. Just Juliet and Loving Lakyn by Charlotte Reagan

The first book is about a bi/gay female couple. The second book is about a gay man falling in love with someone who is figuring out his sexuality. Both books deal heavily with mental illness.

5. Timekeeper by Tara Sim

This one is complete fantasy, which obviously presents an entirely different situation, but the main characters a gay male couple.

Weekly Feature Courtesy of The Broke and the Bookish Blog

Top Ten Tuesday

This week's theme is "Ten Books I've Read Based on a Recommendation." Well, I'm going to twist this one a bit and do:

Top Five Books I've Received as ARCs This Year

After all, the authors count as recommenders, right?

1. The Summer That Melted Everything by Tiffany McDaniel

 

2. On the Verge by Garen Glazier

 

3. Painting Sky by Rita Branches

4. Just Juliet by Charlotte Reagan

 

5. Black Tiger by Sara Baysinger

 

Weekly Feature Courtesy of The Broke and the Bookish Blog

Top Ten Tuesday

My Fall TBR!

1. The Daemoniac by Kat Ross (release October 12th)
2. Heartless by Marissa Meyer (release November 8th)
3. A Million Worlds With You by Claudia Gray (release November 1st)
4. Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
5. No Rest For the Wicked by Dane Cobain 
6. Former.ly by Dane Cobain
7. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
8. Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd 
9. Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray
10. The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

Weekly Feature Courtesy of The Broke and the Bookish Blog