Top Ten Heroines

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's Top Ten:
What are your top ten favourite heroines?

1. Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice: I've already ranted about why I love her in the top ten favourite characters post, but let me say again: she's amazing, she's smart and loving and she gets the good guy.

2. Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games: I have so much love for Katniss. She doesn't even realise how amazing she is. I especially love that's she's loyal and cares so much about her family. As for boy-related stuff: she's more than a bit clueless, but I think it's actually charming.

3. Lyra Belacqua from His Dark Materials: Lyra is cool, she won't take crap from anyone. And she has a daemon. And I want one.

4. Juniper from Juniper and Wise Child: I keep ranting about these books and this character because they are so lovely. Juniper is strong and sweet at the same time and she's just a role model.

5. Alanna from the Song of the Lioness quartet: a girl dressing up a boy because she wants to become a knight, that is my kind of girl! She totally shows that women can be very powerful. Besides, in the end she shows great taste in men.

6. Gemma Doyle from the Gemma Doyle series: I love how she struggles with wanting to fit in and be friends with the other girls and what she feels is right. She has amazing magical abilities and a charming disregard for the rules society makes.

7. Hermione Granger from Harry Potter: Hermione is just cool. She the cleverest little witch of her generation and she manages to put up with both Harry and Ron. And she always has a part in saving the day.

8. Cara from the Sword of Truth series: Cara is a kickass Mord-Sith who doesn't take crap from anyone and is amazingly loyal even when she doesn't have a binding reason (if you've read the books, you know what I mean) to anymore.

9. Katie Chandler from Enchanted Inc: I love these books! Katie is such a lovable heroine, she lives in a world filled with magic, but doesn't have any powers herself, which is what makes her very valuable to the magic community. She's kind, can be insecure and she's intelligent. And this one has great taste in men as well :)

10. Emma from Emma (this one was obvious): I don't know why I love Emma so much, other than the fact that she's nice, cares a lot about her father and she's intelligent. Jane Austen gave her a lovely voice.

I'll probably go read other people's lists and be like: AAAH! Why didn't I put her on the list as well??

Anyway, what are some of your favourite characters?

Mockingjay - not a review

I finished this yesterday and although I'll probably have to reread it to catch everything that happened (I noticed when rereading that I missed a lot in Catching Fire), I loved it.
I'm not posting a review yet, so I won't accidentally give some of it away while a whole lot of people are still reading it.


All I have to say is: GO READ IT! NOW!

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

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's top ten:
Top Ten Books I Can't Believe I've Never Read

In no particular order:

1. Romeo and Juliet: I can't believe I've never read this book! I know the story and think it's a great lovestory, but I've never actually read the play. Or seen the movie. I can't get into the one with Leonardo Dicaprio, it's weird with it not being set in the right time period.

2. The Hobbit: I've tried to read this one, but unlike Lord of the Rings, this didn't grip me. It stares me down everytime I go to my parents' house where it's patiently sitting on the shelf, waiting for me to finally muster up enough courage to try again.

3. East of Eden by John Steinbeck: I've heard people rave about this one and it's on my to-read list, but I haven't gotten around to actually reading it.

4. Good Wives by Louisa May Alcott also known as the sequel to Little Women. I didn't even know it existed up until 2 months ago when I bought it at a book sale.

5. The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier: I love her books, but I've never read this one.

6. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: I was a bit suspicious of this one as EVERYONE is raving about it, but finally decided to add it to my to-read list. Now I'm just waiting for my mom to read it, so I can borrow hers.

7. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden: so this one has been sitting on my shelves for noone knows how long. I really liked the movie (it's like art, such beautiful pictures), but haven't read the book yet.

8. The Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman: I can't get my hands on this one. It's so annoying and the only reason it isn't on my already read list.

9. The Millenium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson: my dad owns them and I really have no excuse for not having read these cause I have very easy access. They intimidate me.

10. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins: I preordered it and my stupid bookstore decided they didn't need to order it themselves in time :S I should be reading this right now. I can't believe them! What makes it worse is other stores in the chain have it stocked (I can check on their site) but those are all really far away. I'm so frustrated right now!

So this was my list of shame, what's on yours? Any thoughts on what should be the first to come off it and onto my 'yes, I've finally read it' list?

You're The One That I Don't Want by Alexandra Potter

Title/Author: You're The One That I Don't Want by Alexandra Potter
Publisher/Publication Date: August 5th 2010 by Hodder & Stoughton
How I got it: I bought it.
Why I read it: I really liked Me and Mr. Darcy and Do You Come Here Often, so I thought this would be a fun read as well.

Lucy and Nate meet in Venice when she's 18 years old. Both following a coarse abroad, they wish the summer would never end because then Lucy will have to go back to England and Nate to the US. A man sitting on the streets tell them the way to guarantee they'll be together forever is to kiss underneath the Bridge of Sighs at sunset when the bells are tolling. Caught up in the moment, they do exactly this and promise to stay in touch. Of course this isn't as easy as it sounds, with long distance phonecalls as the only contact. They break up and Lucy finds out through her sister who's living in New York that he's gotten married to another woman.

10 years later, Lucy still can't get Nate out of her head and her relationships since haven't been very succesful. When she moves to New York, the last thing she expected happens: she bumps into Nate again. They get together again, but find that both are different from the image the other had in his head of them. They break up, but fate throws them together again. And again. And AGAIN.

I really liked the concept of this book: what if you can't get away from someone who isn't the one after all? Lucy and Nate keep getting stuck together in the most unlikely ways, even though they'd rather not see each other again. They even manage to get stuck in the same hotel room with nothing else available. This of course causes trouble with Lucy's new love interest (who is a lovely guy by the way).

Lucy was a likeable main character. She sometimes makes really bad decisions, is clumsy and gets arrested for breaking into a park at night, trying to get rid of Nate by casting a spell and burying his boxershorts (yes, really). All at the advice of Robyn, her roommate, who's a bit different so to speak, but very lovely. I liked that Lucy also shows a more responsible side of herself when her sister needs her.

On the other hand, I really didn't like Nate. The way he's described at the beginning of the book as a fun guy Lucy fell head over heels in love with in Venice is completely different from the way he acts when they meet again. It's like there are two different Nates. He's very anal and doesn't really seem to care about what Lucy does and what her dreams are.
In comes Adam, the moviefan who's incredibly sweet and likes Lucy for herself. He was such a complete contrast to Nate and I really adored him.

Anyway, all in all this was an enjoyable read. Some things were really predictable and I saw the ending coming for miles, but it was a relaxing read, which was just what I needed while being anxious about my test last Friday. If you haven't read anything by her, I'd suggest starting with Me and Mr. Darcy, as I liked that one better (could also be because I'm obsessed with anything Jane Austen related, but still).
My rating: 3 stars.

Book Blogger Hop

The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Crazy for Books. Hop on over and join in on the fun!

This week's question:
How many blogs do you follow?

There are 38 in my bloglist, 3 of those are about book-tours and one is the other blog I participate in: The Broke and the Bookish. I try to check what's going on at those I follow at least every other day and mostly manage to read and comment on posts that interest me. I've fallen behind a bit this week because of the test I had to take yesterday at the end of my ear-nose-throat internship (totally passed by the way :D), but I'm going to do some catching up today.

How many blogs do you (actively) follow?

A Very Humongous Blogoversary Contest!

Meg at In Which A Girl Reads is hosting an amazingly awesome huge giveaway! If you're interested, head on over and check it out.

Wildthorn by Jane Eagland

Title/Author: Wildthorn by Jane Eagland
Publisher/Publication date: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, September 6th 2010
How I got it: I requested it via NetGalley as an ARC and got it from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Why I read it: I love historical fiction and YA, so those two combined are sure to be a winner

They strip her naked, of everything-undo her whalebone corset, hook by hook. Locked away in Wildthorn Hall—a madhouse—they take her identity. She is now called Lucy Childs. She has no one; she has nothing. But, she is still seventeen-still Louisa Cosgrove, isn't she? Who has done this unthinkable deed? Louisa must free herself, in more ways than one, and muster up the courage to be her true self, all the while solving her own twisted mystery and falling into an unconventional love.

Louisa isn't one to conform to society's idea of what a proper lady should be like. She doesn't like dressing up and calling on neighbours, instead she wants to be a doctor, like her father. This is in a time when being a doctor is still seen as a man's job and studying for women is unseemly in many people's opinion.
Louisa struggles to be taken seriously, both in the asylum when she claims she's not crazy and when she tells her family she wants to study medicine at the only school in London that accepts women.

I really liked Louisa, the first person narrative really draws you in. I felt really indignant when I read about the view people had on women wanting to study medicine (me doing the same right now). This is what's said in her file:
"Facts indicating insanity:
An interest in medical matters inappropriate for one of her age and sex.
Excessive book-reading and study leading to weakening of the mind."
I mean: WHAT??? So you see, every one of you reading this is probably mad, I mean excessive book-reading would do the trick for most of us. And I'm a total goner, cause I qualify for both. How can reading weaken your mind??

The author shows you Louisa's childhood through flashbacks, which slowly explain everything that's happening. I guessed pretty early on what had happened between Louisa and her cousin, but I was actually surprised to find out who had her committed to Wildthorn and how deep the betrayal really went. You think you know someone and sometimes you just don't know what they are really capable of.

I liked how their was real character development, Louisa grows due to her time in the asylum and her mother also becomes a whole lot stronger. I did see the lovestory part of it coming for ages, but it was really sweet and I liked the ending.

I would recommend this book to anyone who, like me, has a love for historical fiction and YA.
My rating: 4 stars