Top 10 Reads- Books on My Spring TBR list!

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  For more information, or to join the fun yourself, check out their blog! This is a short list of books I have on Goodreads that I want to read this spring (plus all the other Hub Challenge books I am reading until June)
1. Fairest by Marissa Meyer

2. I Was Here by Gayle Forman

3. The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

4. The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds

5. When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds

6. The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

7. The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski

8. Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver

9. Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story by David Levithan

Fat Boy vs. The Cheerleaders by Geoff Herbach

Fat Boy vs the Cheerleaders by Geoff Herbach
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read and loved Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach and listening to this Amazing Audiobook for the Hub Challenge was a treat. Chunk also known as Gabe has a great voice- he snarls, balks, teases and most of all loves band. When his summer band camp is stopped due to no funds, Chunk raises his voice, leads a rally, loses weight (due to his grandfather and stress)and gets the girl. I totally loved Nick Podehl’s narration, he had the best voices for everyone and gave the story depth and humor, highly recommended if you are looking for a humorous read!

View all my reviews

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this amazing audiobook as part of the Hub Challenge and it was awesome. Laurel is still reeling from the death and loss of her older sister, May. She has transferred to a new school, and her first assignment is to write a letter to a dead person. This assignment beings a year long letter writing campaign from Laurel to Kurt Cobain, Judy Garland, River Phoenix, Amelia Earhart, Amy Winehouse, poets and many more...What I liked about these letters is that Laurel researches each subject and the reader learns about the lives of these dead people and we see parallels to May, Laurel, and her family. As Laurel struggles with her guilt, her silence, her own self image, and her idealization of May...who will she become? As a reader, I savored the New Mexico setting, the flawed (but real)characters, the letters, and Laurel's journey. Highly recommended, teens will relate to Laurel, Sky, Natalie, Hannah and their daily lives in high school.

View all my reviews

3rd Top Ten Tuesday

This week the Broke and Bookish are taking as their topic Top Ten Books from the last three years and of course I have too many; this is my 3rd and final list of favorites!!!
1. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven-compelling first novel of love, death, and finding oneself.

2. Bright Before Sunrise by Tiffany Schmidt-  Brighton and Jonah will surprise you and melt your heart.

3. Jasper Dent Series by Barry Lyga - what would you do if your father was a serial killer?

4. Eliot Schrefer books-Endangered and Threatened- For animal lovers, African animals in distress.

5. Ruta Sepetys books - Between Shades of Gray and Out of the Easy -Genocide and prostitution, historical fiction

6. Marissa Meyer Lunar Chronicles- Cinder, Scarlet, Cress- twists on fairytales, great reads!

7. The Unwind Dystology by Neal Shusterman - all of them!

8. Curse Workers series by Holly Black - Urban fantasy- White Cat, Red Glove and Black Heart

9. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman - Great female protagonist, Half dragon Seraphina

10. Scar Boys by Len Vlahos- friendship, love of music and a band tour.

10. Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein - Rose uses her poetry and storytelling with her concentration camp friends to as a way to remember life.

10. If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch - found living in the woods, how will 2 sisters survive?

10. The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson - PTSD affects a family.

10. The Legend Series by Marie Lu -Legend, Prodigy, Champion- Dystopian Romance

10. Reality Boy by A.S. King -Dysfunctional family

10. The Diviners by Libba Bray - 1920s serial killer on the loose

10. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater- If Blue Sargent kisses a boy, will he really die?

Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman

Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Books for Young Readers and Random House Children’s for this ARC, Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman. This second Seraphina book warmed my heart---Half-dragon Seraphina is key to trying to save her country from war with the dragons and also help the half-dragons unite (her garden of grotesques consists of half-dragons Orma conditioned her to create and tend to every evening---very interesting). On the other hand, warmed as in made my blood boil, with the heinous half-dragon Jannuola, who has the ability to use her dragon light to possess people, hook her evil into them, and make them do her bidding. At every turn, Jannoula thwarts Seraphina while making the human/villagers believe she is blessed and a compassionate do-gooder. Rachel Hartman did such an awesome job with her deep world building, fully meshed characters (Abdo, Eskar, Camba, Ingar, and Blanche- to name a few of my favorites) and the magical, mystical history of the dragon world; I was spell bound and captivated. I rooted for Seraphina and her many conflicts. Will she deliver the ityasaari to Prince Lucian Kiggs and Queen Gisselda? A ripping good read, highly recommended for fantasy/dragon lovers!

View all my reviews

2 Top Ten Tuesday

 

 

This week the Broke and Bookish are taking as their topic Top Ten Books for the last 3 years; this is my 2nd post bc I have so many books I just loved and highly recommend.
1. The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley Sixteen year old Maggie misses her beloved Uncle and begins a new life in Ireland.

2. Jennifer E. Smith books - The Geography of You and Me, This Is What Happy Looks Like- great romances.

3. Daniel Kraus' Scowler and Rotters made me a horror fan, couldn't put them down!

4. Andrew Smith's Winger - you will laugh and cry with Ryan Dean West as he navigates life.

5. Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick - she befriends a survivor of the Cambodian genocide and tells his story.

6. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black- Girl protagonist meets vampires!


7. I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson,  her words evoke such wonderful colors, images, and emotions.
 
8. Under the Never Sky Trilogy by Veronica Rossi---a dystopian heart pounding must read!

9. The Story of Owen by E.K. Johnston - dragon slaying stories told by his bard.

10. Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero- Funny, authentic, Gabi is a Mexican American protagonist who loves to write and draw and ruminate.


My final post will follow with my last 10 faves of the past three years--- I have so many!!!