Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books 2015

brought to you by: the broke and the bookish

Jeni's Picks:

1. A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley:
 I loved this book. I actually love all her books. But this is definitely my new favorite.

2. Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson: 
Great read. I recommend it to all my friends that like fantasy. 

3. Breathing Room by Marsha Hayles:
 A middle grade book but a good one. This book is about a little girl that has tuberculosis. It was sad/happy read. 

4. Written in Red by Anne Bishop: I love urban fantasy novels and I can't believe I hadn't read this yet. I read all three books in a week and then suffered withdrawals. The next book doesn't come out till March which seems like forever away. Big Bummer. 

5. Winter by Marissa Meyer: Love, Love, Love this series. What a great way to end it. Another book where I suffered withdrawals after. I might just have to reread the whole series during Christmas break.


6. After You by Jojo Moyes: I was surprised to see all the negative reviews of this book. I sat down and read it in 4 hours and then sat there for another hour wishing I would've savored it a bit longer. I really liked what she did with all the characters. Her whole family was a riot to read about. The only negative was I wanted more. 

7. Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson:
Okay, so I've read this before but it is a life saver. Anytime I'm having a reading slump I reread this book. I read it three times this year. I have a couple of books that are my fall backs. This is usually my number one choice. Drops of Gold by Sarah M. Eden or The Maid of Fairbourne Hall by Julie Klassen are my runner ups. Do you have a book that helps you out of a reading slump?

8. Rump by Liesl Shurtliff: 
Another middle grade novel. A nice twist on Rumpelstiltskin. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Her book Jack: the true story of Jack and the Beanstalk is fun too. 

9. The Curiosity Keeper by Sarah E. Ladd:
I've enjoyed all Sarah Ladd's books. They get better with each new release. I'm looking forward to her next book Dawn at Emberwilde which comes out in May.  

10. Blood Song by Anthony Ryan:
My dad recommended this one. I read it slowly because there was a ton of information to remember. I need to read the next two books. 

Book Club Book List

I host a book club for girls ages 10-12. These are the books my girls read this year. 

January: Sky Jumpers by Peggy Eddleman

The girls loved this book. Getting to meet the author was a bonus!!

 

February: Mark of a Thief by Jennifer A. Nielsen

We absolutely love this author. Her books are an automatic buy for us. 

We went to the book Launch at the Provo City Library but didn't get any pictures:( But we did get ice-cream after. 

 

March: Rump by Liesl shurtliff

This is such a fun book. WE went to her book signing of her new book Jack and My daughter actually won the book!! Now we are waiting for her new book REd: the true story of red riding hood

 

April: Flora and Ulysses by Kate Dicamillo

This book received mixed reviews from the book club girls. half really liked it and the other half didn't like it. 

 

May: Ella Enchanted by gail carson lavine

this is the second book we have read by Gail Carson Lavine. We have read fairest and enjoyed it so much we decided to read Ella enchanted. It is completely different than the movie. We met her a couple of years ago when she came to the Provo city library. we didn't get a picture of that event. It was to busy they so didn't allow them. 

 

June: Breathing Room by Marsha Hayles

My daughter loves this book. She has read it five times so we decided to read it with the book club. Every girl gave it five stars. simply amazing. 

July: Mr Lemoncello's library 

Another fun book. The activity was a blast. You can get it on the website 

august: The Unwanteds by LIsa Mcmann

THe girls enjoyed this book but what I loved was that they shared it with their moms. I had many of the moms call to see if I had the second book to borrow. 

September: Hook's REvenge

This book is hilarious. I highly recommend it to read to your kids or even read for yourself. the girls loved meeting the author. We actually met her last year at a different book launch and liked her so we bought her book and we are glad that we did. great book!!!

  

October: Doll bones by Holly Black

creepy good. it wasn't as scary as i thought it was going to be. we only had a few girls not finish because they found it to scary. read with the lights on:)

November: Rules by Cynthia Lord

lots of life lessons in this book. we didn't like how it ended. we all felt it fell a little short and we wanted more. many of the girls didn't like the main character. They thought she was a little selfish. Which led to a great discussion on how we should treat others. 

December: no book. the girls prepare for the battle of the books in january where we test on all the books we read this year. 

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten New-To-Us Favorite Authors We Read For The First Time in 2015

brought to you by: the broke and the bookish

1. Anne Bishop: The Others Series. I loved this series. The world building was amazing. When I was reading, it really felt like I was watching a mini series in my head. 

2. Marie Lu: Legend Series. My niece couldn't believe I haven't read this series yet. She begged me to go home and read them. I finished the first one the other day. I liked it and I'll probably finish the series but I felt like the ending was a lot like the book Divergent. Both books came out in 2011. 

3. Maureen Johnson: Shades of London Series. Another book released in 2011. That must of been a good year for books because many of the books I've been rereading this year are from 2011. I was going on a trip to London this year so I thought it was time to read this book. It took me awhile to get into it. The girl Rory drove me crazy for the first half of the book. It was just creepy enough to keep me entertained. 

4. Erin Morgenstern: The Night Circus. Another book published in, you guessed it, 2011. Why I didn't read this four years ago beats me. A friend recommended it and for some reason I was never in the mood to read it. It was definitely different. For me it was extremely slow moving. I enjoyed the story I just wanted a faster pace. 

5. Anthony Ryan: Blood Song. Published 2011, crazy. My dad recommended this one to me. I'm not a huge fan of fantasy but my dad gets me to read some. This book was compelling with a fast paced plot. If you like Rothfuss this book would be a great book for you. 

6. Marsha Hayle: Breathing Room. Amazing middle grade book set in early 1940's about a young girl that is has tuberculosis and goes to recover in a Sanatorium. My daughter and I loved this book. 

7. Emery Lord: Open Road Summer. Another book my niece recommended. A fun peek at life bake stage on tour with a music star. 

8. Liesl Shurtliff: Rump. This is a marvelous middle grade book about the true story of Rumpelstiltskin. Lots of fun. My kids love it. Her next book Jack: the true story of Jack and the Bean Stalk is fun too. 

9. Mary E. Pearson: The Kiss of Deception. I bought this book and it sat on my shelf for a year. Honestly I was nervous to read it after all the rave reviews. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it.

10. J.D. Horn: The Line (Witching Savannah). I don't remember very much about this book, which is sad. I read it in January. I remember being entertained enough I finished it but I didn't want to continue the series. 

Top Ten Tuesday:

 2016 Debuts Novels We Are Looking Forward To

brought to you by: the broke and the bookish

Jeni's Picks:

1. Blackhearts by Nicole Castroman: Story of the girl that broke the infamous pirate Blackbeard. I've never really liked pirate books but this year I read a middle grade book Hook's Revenge by Heidi Shculz and Becoming Lady Lockwood by Jennifer Mooore, and I enjoyed them both so maybe I just need to read more of this genre. 

2.The Last Cherry Blossom by Kathleen Burkinsahw: A WWII story of a girl that lives through the Hiroshima bombing. This is a middle grade book from a twelve year old girls point of view. 

3. Tell me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum: YA contemporary. Looks promising. 

4. Artifacts by Pete Catalano: Another MG book about a group of friends going against a group of fairies in a race to get a pen used by Jacob Grimm that can rewrite fairytales.

5. The Star Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi:  A Hades/Persphone tail set in Inida. 

I love mythology so I'll probably read this one. 

6. Ivory and Bone by Julie Eshbaugh: Historical fiction two star crossed teens. 

7. Arrows by Melissa Gorzelanczyk: A story of Cupid. Yeah!!!

8. MidWinter by Scalett Kol: YA paranormal. 

9. Of Blood and Shadow by Kerri Maniscalo: A book during the Ripper murders.
10.  In Another lIfe by Julie Christine Johnson: Kind of sounds like a Susanna Kearsley book. A  Past/Present story set in France.