top ten tuesday: out of my comfort zone

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish. This week's theme is: " February 23:  Ten Book I Enjoyed Recently (last yearish) That Weren't My Typical Genre/Type of Book (or that was out of your comfort zone)"

1. Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat – this is a sort of historical fiction m/m story, the first in a trilogy. There is a ton of mature content in this one, which isn't necessarily usually my cup of tea, but the way it is handled and the amazing story made me love this one.

2. November 9 by Colleen Hoover – This was my first Colleen Hoover novel, and it was a great experience! I haven't really ever read any NA before this, but reading this book made it something that I want to look into for sure.

3. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman – I love poetry, but in reading an entire book of it, I rarely have ever stayed engaged. Though I had read poems from Leaves of Grass before, I sat down and really read them all last year and absolutely loved them.

4. Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson – I am always really daunted by graphic novels, because I don't know where to even begin! I know there are so many great ones, so I just dip my toe in a little at a time. I really loved Lumberjanes, though, it was a great introduction.

 5. Vicious by V.E. Schwab – this is a book that defies a single descriptor, for me. It is adult fantasy/sci-fi/action/thriller about superheroes who are really antiheroes. It's noir, it's chilling, it's incredible and it's unlike anything else.


6. Humans of New York – Even after following HONY on social media for a long time, reading through the whole book was something that I truly enjoyed.

7. A Nervous Splendor by Frederic Morton– When I'm reading, I don't normally go for historical nonfiction because I want to escape. However, this book, about Vienna in the late 1880's, captured my attention. It is a gripping tale.

8. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline – I don't read a lot of sci-fi and I'm not really into video games, which probably makes you go "whyyy did you pick this book up?" Well, it was so highly recommended that I couldn't pass it up, and I ended up adoring it!

What's on your lists today?

xx
Sunny

top ten tuesday: movies and tv show adaptations

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish where each week we discuss on a different theme. This week's theme is: "June 2: Top Ten Books I'd Love To See As Movies/Tv Shows," which is something that I think we all like to think about. We all want our favorite books to turn into movies or tv shows, so that there is more for us to love, but we also want them done right. (and they so rarely are) Here are my top ten picks for books I'd love to see on the big or small screen.

1. To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han – I think this would be the most beautiful movie, both visually and for the story. Jenny Han has done a wonderful job with setting up a specific look for all of her characters and the things they do, so I think it wouldn't be difficult to turn this into a film. Plus, it would be a great rom com for all ages. 

 

2. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins – Again, I think this would make an amazing movie. With Paris as the setting and a cast of lovable characters, there is literally no reason that this shouldn't be a huge hit. Plus, with a slow burn romance culminating in a very romantic ending, it is just the sort of thing that would work in a Hollywood movie. 

3. A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray – I like that this movie could play up the sci/fi part of the book or the romance part of it and it would still be a great movie either way. The fact that it does have that sci/fi element would reach a wider audience and intrigue a lot of people. Plus, there are some beautiful settings in here just waiting to be visualized. 

 4. Vicious by V.E. Schwab – we are in a golden era of superhero themed everything. From the success of marvel on the big screen and dc's characters all over the small one in series like arrow, the flash and the upcoming supergirl, I think it would be just the interesting twist to throw Vicious into the mix. A story about heroes and anti-heroes that all look a whole lot like villains would be so amazing, something different in this already amazing market. 

 5. Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas – I think this would make an incredible Game of Thrones style TV series. Since there are going to be six books and each of these books is of sizable length, there is tons of material that just couldn't be done justice in movies. It would be so fun to release a mini-series of the prequel novellas first, an episode for each one, and then plunge into the first book with a first season. I think this is a story that more people need to know about! 

6. Amy and Roger's Epic Detour – I'm all about the visual aesthetics in a movie. If the setting and the staging is beautiful I am more inclined to like the film. Which is why I think that Amy and Roger's, with the whole of rural America rolling by their car, would be a visually pleasing story. The adventures that they go on would play out so well on a big screen. 

7. Mosquitoland by David Arnold – This is the one on this list that I think would fit the bill for quirky indie film that hits it big. Because the story itself is not something that would typically be #1 at the box office, but it is so much of the human experience at its very core that I think it couldn't help but touch people in a way they wouldn't expect. 

8. Cinder by Marissa Meyer – Another longer series that would make a great TV show! There are four books and a prequel, which I think is more than enough to get a great start for a series. It might be a little like American Horror Story in that each season has a different setting and different characters introduced, but with the seasons connecting a lot more than AHS. It would be sci/fi romance mystery amazingness.

9. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline – I picture this as a grungy sci/fi sleeper that, for the most part, doesn't have a whole lot of color, unless it is portraying the OASIS. I think this would be an immensely fun movie to watch, and that it lends itself easily to a film adaptation. 

 10. Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins – I think that this could be marketed SO well if they played up the cutesy southern belle angle even while Harper is kicking ass and taking names. It would be something so unexpected, which I would love to see. 

What are some of your picks?

xx
Sunny

top ten tuesday: beachy reads

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish, where each week we highlight a different category relating to our favorite books. This week's category is "May 26: Ten Books I Plan To Have In My Beach Bag This Summer or Ten Books I Think Make Great Beach Reads." Now, this is one of my favorite categories of books, as in the summer I always feel particularly happy, which makes me want to read light and fluffy books. I have an entire post exclusively dedicated to my favorite summer-themed books, Here, but I will talk about some of my favorite beach reads today. 

1. Anything by Morgan Matson. I'm counting all three of her novels as the top spot in this list, because they are all summer-y and swoony, combining the tough topics in life with amazing romance and classic summer activities. These are some of my all time favorite summer books. 

2. I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know that this is one of my all time favorite books, one that I always recommend when people want to know what to read. It is one of those stories that you get completely engrossed in, and hours will pass without you realizing. I think that is perfect for a beach read, because it is something that you will get really into without having the commitment of starting a whole series. 

3. The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen. All of Sarah Dessen's books would make great beach reads, actually, but this one is my favorite. It is kind of like Morgan Matson in that Sarah Dessen combines tough subjects with the thrill of first love, but I tend to think of these as books for younger teen girls. They deal with the tough subjects but in a manageable way, which I think is perfect for a summer read. 

4. Paper Towns by John Green. This book is on the shorter side, but there is a lot packed into the few pages that make up the novel. This is one that can be read in a day or two, but it will stay with you for weeks and months after you finish it. 

5. The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Though this book is a bit of a different genre than the others on this list, I still think it would make a great summer read. I know a lot of people like to read James Patterson-esque, fast paced thrillers in the summer months, and I think The Naturals is a good YA choice in this same vein. It was described to me as a teenage Criminal Minds, and I completely agree with that statement. A group of child prodigies, coming together to profile and arrest criminals for the FBI? Sounds great to me. 

6. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell. Though this takes place in a work environment, and that is the last thing that people want to think about while on vacation, I think it is a perfect beach read. Short, sweet, and hilarious, it is told through emails as well as prose, and the pages absolutely seem to fly by. 

7. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. This isn't your typical summer contemporary. Though parts of it seem idyllic and carefree, there is a sinister undertone throughout the story. There is a huge mystery running through the plot, and the plot twist at the end will knock your socks off. 

8.  The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E Smith. This is a cutesy contemporary story, and some of it does take place in the summer. This is a sort of mindless read, nothing to think too hard about, but it will leave you with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside when you finish it. 

9. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. I read this one last summer, and finished it in one long day, which may be the only reason I associate this with a summer read. I do think that it is something thrilling and different, a new genre to try while you've got the time to try it. 

10. To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han. I associate this book with both spring and summer, because of how light and sweet it is. It is one of the cutest books I've ever read, from the story to the characters, language and cover design. It's a perfect pick-me-up. 

what are some of your ideal summer reads? 

xx

Sunny

top ten tuesday: the last 3 years

Happy Tuesday everyone! Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted over at The Broke and The Bookish, and this week's theme is "March 3: Top Ten Books You Would Classify As ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOKS from the past 3 years (you can extend it to 5 if you need to)." Needless to say, I love this theme, as talking about my favorite books is a favorite pastime. So, I went through my goodreads "favorites" shelf and tried to narrow it down to ten. Because the last three years were the first years I really joined into the online reading community, I've read so many amazing stories, but here are the top eleven (sorry) that have impacted me the most over the last three years.

top ten tuesday: if i had a book club

Top ten Tuesday is hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish, and is a weekly feature where every week there is a different theme, and you must come up with a list of ten things under that theme. This week, the theme is "January 27: Ten Books I'd Love to Read With My Book Club/If I Had A Book Club (or you could pick a specific kind of book club -- like if you had a YA book club or an adult book club or a science fiction book club etc.)" List is under the cut!

top books of 2014

I know its the middle of January already, but I feel like 2014 isn't over until I do a wrap up of all of my favorite books from the last year. I'll try to rank them in order of preference, but after like the top three I pretty much like them all an almost equal amount.

1. I'll Give You The Sun - Jandy Nelson (goodreads) 
Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell.  The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.  

 

2. Jellicoe Road - Melina Marchetta (goodreads)

I'm dreaming of the boy in the tree. I tell him stories. About the Jellicoe School and the Townies and the Cadets from a school in Sydney. I tell him about the war between us for territory. And I tell him about Hannah, who lives in the unfinished house by the river. Hannah, who is too young to be hiding away from the world. Hannah, who found me on the Jellicoe Road six years ago.
Taylor is leader of the boarders at the Jellicoe School. She has to keep the upper hand in the territory wars and deal with Jonah Griggs - the enigmatic leader of the cadets, and someone she thought she would never see again.
And now Hannah, the person Taylor had come to rely on, has disappeared. Taylor's only clue is a manuscript about five kids who lived in Jellicoe eighteen years ago. She needs to find out more, but this means confronting her own story, making sense of her strange, recurring dream, and finding her mother - who abandoned her on the Jellicoe Road.

3. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) - Sarah J Maas (goodreads)

Because this is the second book in a series, beware of SPOILERS in the description below.

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.
Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.
Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie...and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.

4. Amy & Roger's Epic Detour - Morgan Matson (goodreads)

Amy Curry is not looking forward to her summer. Her mother decided to move across the country and now it's Amy's responsibility to get their car from California to Connecticut. The only problem is, since her father died in a car accident, she isn't ready to get behind the wheel. Enter Roger. An old family friend, he also has to make the cross-country trip - and has plenty of baggage of his own. The road home may be unfamiliar - especially with their friendship venturing into uncharted territory - but together, Amy and Roger will figure out how to map their way. 

5. Cress (Lunar Chronicles #3)- Marissa Meyer (goodreads) 

SPOILERS IN DESCRIPTION! 

In this third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.
Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.
When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

6. To All the Boys I've Loved Before - Jenny Han (goodreads)

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all.

7. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline (goodreads)
It's the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.
Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.
And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune — and remarkable power — to whoever can unlock them.
For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday's riddles are based in the pop culture he loved — that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday's icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes's oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.
And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.
Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt — among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life — and love — in the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.
A world at stake.
A quest for the ultimate prize.
Are you ready?

8. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe- Benjamin Alire Sáenz (goodreads) 
Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.

9. If I Stay- Gayle Forman (goodreads) 
Just listen, Adam says with a voice that sounds like shrapnel.
I open my eyes wide now.
I sit up as much as I can.
And I listen.
Stay, he says.
Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?
Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it's the only one that matters.
If I Stay is a heartachingly beautiful book about the power of love, the true meaning of family, and the choices we all make.

10. The Blood of Olympus (The Heroes of Olympus #5) - Rick Riordan (goodreads) 
MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD!!
Though the Greek and Roman crewmembers of the Argo II have made progress in their many quests, they still seem no closer to defeating the earth mother, Gaea. Her giants have risen—all of them—and they're stronger than ever. They must be stopped before the Feast of Spes, when Gaea plans to have two demigods sacrificed in Athens. She needs their blood—the blood of Olympus—in order to wake.
The demigods are having more frequent visions of a terrible battle at Camp Half-Blood. The Roman legion from Camp Jupiter, led by Octavian, is almost within striking distance. Though it is tempting to take the Athena Parthenos to Athens to use as a secret weapon, the friends know that the huge statue belongs back on Long Island, where it "might" be able to stop a war between the two camps.
The Athena Parthenos will go west; the Argo II will go east. The gods, still suffering from multiple personality disorder, are useless. How can a handful of young demigods hope to persevere against Gaea's army of powerful giants? As dangerous as it is to head to Athens, they have no other option. They have sacrificed too much already. And if Gaea wakes, it is game over.

11. Isla and the Happily Ever After - Stephanie Perkins (goodreads) 
Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on introspective cartoonist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to confront the challenges every young couple must face, including family drama, uncertainty about their college futures, and the very real possibility of being apart.

12. The Enchantress Returns (The Land of Stories #2) - Chris Colfer (goodreads) 
SPOILERS!
After decades of hiding, the evil Enchantress who cursed Sleeping Beauty is back with a vengeance.
Alex and Conner Bailey have not been back to the magical Land of Stories since their adventures in The Wishing Spell ended. But one night, they learn the famed Enchantress has kidnapped their mother! Against the will of their grandmother, the twins must find their own way into the Land of Stories to rescue their mother and save the fairy tale world from the greatest threat it's ever faced. 

13. Cruel Beauty - Rosamund Hodge (goodreads) 
Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.
Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.
With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.
But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her.
As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

 

14. Alienated- Melissa Landers (goodreads) 

Two years ago, the aliens made contact. Now Cara Sweeney is going to be sharing a bathroom with one of them.
Handpicked to host the first-ever L’eihr exchange student, Cara thinks her future is set. Not only does she get a free ride to her dream college, she’ll have inside information about the mysterious L’eihrs that every journalist would kill for. Cara’s blog following is about to skyrocket.
Still, Cara isn’t sure what to think when she meets Aelyx. Humans and L’eihrs have nearly identical DNA, but cold, infuriatingly brilliant Aelyx couldn’t seem more alien. She’s certain about one thing, though: no human boy is this good-looking.
But when Cara's classmates get swept up by anti-L'eihr paranoia, Midtown High School suddenly isn't safe anymore. Threatening notes appear in Cara's locker, and a police officer has to escort her and Aelyx to class.
Cara finds support in the last person she expected. She realizes that Aelyx isn’t just her only friend; she's fallen hard for him. But Aelyx has been hiding the truth about the purpose of his exchange, and its potentially deadly consequences. Soon Cara will be in for the fight of her life—not just for herself and the boy she loves, but for the future of her planet. 

I didn't actually mean to make this a "top 14 of 2014" but hey that's how it turned out! these were a few of my favorite books that I read in 2014!! what were some of your favorites? 

xx

sunny