Sept 12: Top Ten Tuesday: Throwback Freebie

September 12: Throwback Freebie: Ten Books I Loved During The First Year I Started My Blog, Favorite Books Published 5 or 10 or 15 Years Ago, Ten Older Books I Forgot How Much I Loved, etc. etc. Tweak however you want!

For this week's list, I'm going with a very literal throwback: some of the oldest books I've read, based on date of publication, according to Goodreads. I didn't go with all of the actual oldest books, since most of them were classics I struggled through for school. These are old books that I enjoyed and would recommend to anyone. 

1. 1340: A Cup of Sake Beneath the Cherry Trees by Kenko Yoshida 
This was an accidental philosophical read, full of nuggets of wisdom and beautiful words.

2. 1818: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
I think this was the most "dated" of these books, but the terror and ethical dilemma of Frankenstein's experimentation is timeless.

3. 1835: It was snowing butterflies by Charles Darwin
This is just an excerpt from his diaries, and I'd love to get my hands on a full copy. If all naturalists and biologists wrote this beautifully, textbooks would be a breeze to read.

4. 1908: Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Anne Shirley's appeal transcends time and location. For a Filipino kid growing up in the late 90's and early 2000's, she was the most relatable book character, equalled only by Lois Lowry's Anastasia Krupnik.

5. 1917: Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley
This also felt pretty dated at times, but Helen's spinsterhood and "fed-up-ness" fit in with today's issues.

6. 1931: Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
I don't even have anything to say about how this is universal or relatable, or feels timeless or current. It's just beautiful writing. 

7. 1949: Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham by J.R.R. Tolkien
These are medieval short stories that I think should achieve fairy tale/nursery rhyme-levels of popularity and ubiquity.

8. 1951: Fallen into the Pit by Ellis Peters
This Post-WWII mystery is what got me interested in what I call "old-timey detective stories," and introduced me to Agatha Christie.

9. 1952: Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
Another childhood favorite, this was a fun read and never felt stuck in any time period.

10. 1954: Half Magic by Edward Eager
I guess this is also dated for a children's book, but the premise is so, so good (your wishes only get half-granted) that it didn't matter to me.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Struggled to Get Into

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.
September 5: Ten Books I Struggled to Get Into But Ended Up Loving or Ten Books That Were A Chore To Get Through or Ten Books I've Most Recently Put Down (the theme is...books you had a hard time with...tweak it how ever you need)

1. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Honestly, I'm the biggest scaredy-cat I know. The mere mention of any unusual events that could be supernatural in origin had me putting this book down, taking a deep breath, and preparing myself for a fright. I don't even remember anymore what frightened me, but I remember having to take a lot of pauses before the action swept my fears away.

2.The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
There must be something about supernatural themes that make me have to brace myself. I already knew from Tumblr that I'd love the characters, but the graveyard...? setting of one of the scenes spooked me. I ended up giving this (and The Historian) five stars, so I guess I did get into them eventually.

3. One Hundred Names for Love by Diane Ackerman
This one was a four-star read, but the premise of the book was so heavy, I actually felt it weighing me down emotionally. Eventually the beautiful words won over the unease and fear of the future, and I ended up speeding through the latter half of this.

4. Pirates of the Levant by Arturo Perez-Reverte
Alatriste books are generally easy to read in spite of the bloody subject matter, but something about the way the Moors were described in this made me uneasy and conscious of how xenophobia and racism still cause so much suffering today.

5. Love, Rosie by Cecelia Ahern
I love epistolary novels (when they're written well), but I feel like they allow you to form ideas of different characters at different paces, if that makes sense. When a character is described, it's often in broad strokes of adjectives, maybe a fine brush for some interaction with the sender or the addressee, but the sender/narrator seems more like a negative space or silhouette. Still a fun way to read, but it slows you down a bit.

6. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
This is cheating, a little: it wasn't a struggle because of the unusual format, or subject matter, it was a struggle because I wanted to copy out all the lines or poems I loved, which took me ages until I realized I'd be holding on to the book no matter what,

7. Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley
The summaries and reviews I'd seen had only impressed on me that there would be a traveling bookstore. I was somehow surprised to see that there was a bit of farmstead drudgery and an awful brother before I could get to the action. Once it got rolling (heh), it was a wonderful ride (heh) to independence and love.

8. The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura
The title managed to lure me into buying this without glancing at the back, where the mere mention of Zen Taoism would have scared me off. Nonfiction of any but the most straightforward kind intimidates me, but the philosophical insights in this book were sweetened by tea- or nature-related imagery that set the mood beautifully.

9. A History of Reading by Alberto Manguel
Again, nonfiction. When anyone holds forth on something dear to me (in this case, books and reading), I start off defensively, measuring their opinions against mine, begrudgingly accepting some ideas and facts. Once I set that aside, this was a lovely read (four stars).

10. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
This book was a struggle from start to finish. The words were lovely individually, and I did find myself saving a lot of sentences to copy into my notebook, but it was so emotional, so painful for me that I took breaks before difficult scenes, sometimes during them, and often walked off to get chocolate or candy to help me turn the page. (Still a four-star read.)

Cancelled shows, all-time favorites, and books that should be on TV (Top Ten Tuesday #11)

Via The Broke and Bookish 

September 6:  In honor of Fall Tv, do a tv-themed topic! Top ten favorite tv shows of all time, ten new shows coming out this Fall that are on my radar, tv shows I wish never got cancelled, tv shows I would recommend to book characters, books I wish would be tv shows, ten favorite shows from the late 90's or early 2000's, ten tv shows for every fantasy lover, etc.

Ten shows I wish never got cancelled: 

Bunheads - Small town shows are great, and this one had a great cast. 

Agent Carter - Easily my favorite Marvel thing ever.

The Carrie Diaries - I've never seen Sex and the City, but I loved this. Not sure if it's historically accurate, but the aesthetics were something else. And Maggie's storyline! :((

Galavant - This is impossible to recommend to my friends! It's a TV show that's a musical about a knight and fairytale tropes... and it's really funny. I did get them into Hamilton, though, so there's hope for our ass, after all.

Forever - The show's premise was so unique for me, and Henry's relationship with Abe was just... I loved this show.

Limitless - I'm not sure if this was actually a good show or if I just had a soft spot for Jake McDorman since he played Evan Chambers on Greek.

Selfie - I have a thing for modern adaptations, even if I haven't seen the source material. Plus, John Cho!

Grandfathered - Such a ridiculous, adorable family. 

Telenovela - It felt like behind the scenes of The Passions of Santos at first, but Ana and Mimi and the rest of the cast and crew really grew on me.

Make It Or Break It - This was one of the things I bonded over with my first college friend. I think she gave me a CD of the episodes. It's so frustrating how they didn't even get to film the Olympics episodes.

Top ten favorite shows of all time: 

White Collar - I got into it for Matt Bomer, but the art heists and forgeries made it a lot more interesting to me than any other crime-related show. And Mozzie was the best.

Elementary - I haven't actually kept up with this, but every episode I've seen so far has been great. Sherlock and Watson have a great relationship, and the whole Moriarty twist was amazing. 

Greek - Just. All the friendships. Wow.

Jane the Virgin - This is so important to me because it's probably the most Catholic show on TV and it portrays family in a way that's very familiar, even if Jane and her family are from a different culture than mine. Also, that narrator. 

Parks and Recreation - Leslie Knope is the greatest and I want to grow up to be like her. Jean-Ralphio is iconic.

Leverage - I think Parker had the most subtle/least dramatic character development, and I loved her and Hardison. The format was kind of cheesy, but Nate was kind of cheesy anyway.

Grace and Frankie - The premise of this show is so great! So much awkwardness all the time but these two lolas are so endearing.

Agent Carter - Peggy was the most badass character on TV. And this show was the prettiest thing too, and Ana Jarvis was a delight.  

iZombie - While trying to describe this to a friend, I mentioned washing down a mouthful of potato chips with ice-cold soda. I don't know. It gives me the same sugar rush. It's about zombies trying to prevent the zombie apocalypse while solving crime.

Younger - Sutton Foster from Bunheads! Nico Tortorella from Make It or Break It! And Hilary Duff from... life! A 40-something suburban mom pretending to be a 26-year-old hipster (?) in order to get work is sad, but also hilarious.

Books I wish would be TV shows: 

After watching The 100 I have decided that a lot of YA series would make great shows or mini-series. The Raven Cycle, The Mediator, The Lunar Chronicles, and Six of Crows come to mind.

Crazy Rich Asians would also make a great TV show, since there are so many separate-but-related storylines to follow and they could jump from country to country. 

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett would be an amazing mini-series. It's about a hostage situation, so it'd be difficult to draw out to more than a handful of episodes, but I feel like a movie wouldn't do it justice.

Scruples supposedly has a series in the works, but I'm mentioning it anyway because the lush setting (luxury department store, but also France and uh... a vineyard?) and the drama would make this such a treat.

And wishes that have already come true: Queen of the South by Arturo Perez-Reverte has both a telenovela and a US TV series! Outlander had a TV show before I started reading the series, though I finished all the books first before watching it. Lastly, Call the Midwife has a show too! But I've only watched the first episode.

Ten Books I Should Really Get To Reading (Top Ten Tuesday #10)

Via The Broke and Bookish 
August 23: Ten Books That Have Been On Your Shelf (Or TBR) From Before You Started Blogging That You STILL Haven't Read Yet (this is going to be sad considering how many of those I have unread six years later...)

Aside from everything else on my August TBR, here are 10 books I've had for too long. I put the books I own on the "Currently Reading" shelf, so as not to mix them up with the books I want but do not have on my "To Read" shelf.

Five from my "Currently Reading:"

1. Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Volume 1 by Arthur Conan Doyle: I wonder if I'd be more inclined to read these stories if they were packaged separately. 

2. Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antoine Fraser: My grandmother lent this to me close to a decade ago. I wonder if she remembers I have it. 

3. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susannah Clarke: I'm maybe a hundred pages in, but I got the big, one-volume edition and I find this book's weight and surface area to thickness ratio daunting. It's also kind of slow-paced, and I can't maintain interest in all these old men.

4. The Life and Times of Akhnaton, Pharaoh of Egypt by Arthur Weigall: I have no idea why I bought this. I can't even get past the introduction, but my pride won't let me give up on it.

5. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte: I loved Wide Sargasso Sea, so I want to read this and to love it as well.

and five from my "To Read:"
6.  Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta: I enjoyed Finnikin of the Rock, but I'd just come off a Grisha Trilogy binge so I switched genres and forgot to get back to this series.

7. S. by J.J. Abrams: I put off buying this book because it was too expensive at the time. But now I'm in a phase where I consider graphic novels as 'investments' and I should probably get to investing in this.

8. The Same Stuff as Stars by Katherine Paterson: Jacob Have I Loved is one of my favorite books of all time. This one has an even better title, and I want to read it soon.

9. Any of Tamora Pierce's other books: I read all the Emelan books but can't decide which series to start next. Hoping for recommendations.

10. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle: I'm still looking for a copy that's both affordable and attractive, no luck so far. 

Rewind: Ten Gateway Books (Top Ten Tuesday #9)

Via The Broke and Bookish 

August 9: Top Ten Tuesday REWIND -- go back and do a topic you missed over the years or recently or a topic you really want to revisit -- I've made a handy spreadsheet to help (currently in the process of finishing it) https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18tFuhixBmc_j_kIz-VR0iVHWpKWeFRBE9tkYAnfECwQ/edit#gid=0

"All of us readers have those books that really started us on our way to becoming book lovers. It could be something we read as young children, or it could be a book we picked up in adulthood after years of a reading drought. Or, it could be an author or book that introduced us to a new favorite genre. This week's Top Ten Tuesday puts a spotlight on those books and authors that we credit with our bookishness."

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling: I think everyone read this in kindergarten. My classmate lent me her copy at recess, I lost it, replaced it, and that was the first time I realized books cost money. But this was also the first thick book I ever read, the first one that didn't have pictures on every other page. And, obviously, it was my gateway to the wizarding world.

2. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden: This was the first "grown-up" book I read, at the tender age of 8. Most of the adult stuff went over my head. I'd previously tried reading my father's hardbound Noli Me Tangere, but only made it as far as the friar losing it over getting the chicken neck instead of the drumstick (or something like that). That was when a whole new world of non-kid books opened up to me.

3. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster: When I got this for my birthday, I thought it was a ghost story because the tollbooth mysteriously appeared... like a ghost. So I refused to read it for months, but I finally caved and was enchanted by how clever it was. I like to think this was my gateway to similar-ish authors like Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams.

4. The Baby-Sitters Club series by Ann M. Martin: My aunt, who lives in the US, likes to buy in bulk and would send me boxes of these books, maybe 10-20 at a time. But those boxes came once or twice a year, and I'd run out of unread books, and that is how I learned to dig through piles of secondhand books in Booksale. 

5. Gossip Girl (series) by Cecily von Ziegesar: Before the TV show came out, I used to beg my mother to let me stay in NBS while she ran errands in the only big mall I knew then. I'd find unwrapped copies of these and read them as fast as possible to try and finish one before she finished her trips to the supermarket and the hardware store. It was my first introduction to what I then called  "chick lit," stuff my parents would never pay for (nor would I ask for them, because of the embarrassing covers and the scandalous (for me) summaries). 

6. Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett: This launched me into a Discworld obsession, but I had to stop after 10 books or so, because everything was blurring together and I needed to get back to the real world. I still love this series, though. I think this was one of the first books I bought from one of the secondhand bookstores on campus. That store was in the social sciences building, and I thought their stock was carefully curated to appeal to a highbrow/pretentious clientele, and this was one of the least intimidating books. I later learned not to be intimidated by all the authors in translation, or by their "critical acclaim," and that by avoiding certain shelves I could almost always get something enjoyable and relatable, and now most of my books come from that bookstore. (Not recently, though, since I'm trying to accumulate receipts for a discount card from one of the big bookstores.) I'm more open to reading new genres or unfamiliar authors thanks to these bookstores. 

7. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky: This used to be such a big deal on Tumblr, and all my friends were gushing about it, so I borrowed a copy. I learned that I'm not going to enjoy every book that's popular, and that's okay. That had previously happened to me with Twilight, but it almost immediately became cool to hate on the series, so I didn't feel as conflicted as I did with Perks. On a more positive note, this was also sort of my gateway into YA. 

8. The Firm by John Grisham and Without Remorse by Tom Clancy: These were the only novels on my father's bookshelf, mixed in with the civil code, the family code, other legal stuff, and sports biographies. They set me off on a year-long exploration of these two authors, in which I tried to develop a taste for... crime fiction? Thrillers? Whatever the hell they were. I still have a soft spot for John Kelly and Jack Ryan, but I'm not as interested in that kind of fiction anymore. 

9. Skin and Other Stories by Roald Dahl:  This was how I learned that Roald Dahl didn't write for children exclusively, and where I felt his writing fit better. This was also how I got into short story collections. 

10. A History of Reading by Alberto Manguel: Another aunt sent me this for my birthday. It was a slow, months-long read, but this is how I was introduced to  nonfiction and how I learned that some books don't need to be devoured in hours but are better savored in tiny chunks. 

Ten Books I Would Buy Right Now (Top Ten Tuesday #8)

Via The Broke and Bookish 
August 2: Ten Books You'd Buy Right This Second If Someone Handed You A Fully Loaded Gift Card

For this TTT I used BookDepository links to make this a sort of wishlist masterpost, should I ever be lucky enough to have someone ask. 

1. The entire Anne of Green Gables series: This Puffin in Bloom hardback and a complete set in this paperback edition, please.

2. The entire Little Women series: I already have the Puffin in Bloom edition but I'd want the full set, maybe in this Puffin Classics edition. 
 

3. The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen: I haven't even seen the movie adaptation because I want to read this first. It's about a 12-year-old genius cartographer who goes off on a solo adventure and that's as far as I read the summary before I was sold.

4. A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman: We had to read selections of this for English 1 and it was the strangest, freshest new thing I'd ever read back then. I've only ever seen one copy of this for sale, and I regret letting that go. I think it was this edition. 

5. To Be or Not To Be: A Chooseable-Path Adventure by Ryan North: This is a choose-your-own-adventure version of Hamlet. There's also Romeo And/Or Juliet. 

6. Anything Maira Kalman has ever written and/or illustrated: I've already read The Principles of Uncertainty as well as Why We Broke Up, but I'd love to have her other collaborations with Daniel Handler, Girls Standing on Lawns, Hurry Up and Wait, or Weather, Weather. Other books I'd want: My Favorite Things, Microscripts by Robert Waiser, or Maira Kalman by Ingrid Schaffner and Kenneth E. Silver. 

7. Snowpiercer by Jacques Lob: I was so shaken by the film that I immediately banished all traces of it from my computer, but it's still one of my favorite movies of all time. I'd love to read the graphic novel that inspired it. 

8. Plotted: A Literary Atlas by Andrew DeGraff and Daniel G. Harmon: I mean, obviously if you have a gift card you'd go for as many illustrated volumes as possible, right? This has imaginary landscapes of literature. 

9. Lab Girl by Hope Jahren: This blurb I got from Book Depository says it all: "[Lab Girl] does for botany what Oliver Sacks's essays did for neurology." - Michiko Kakutani, New York Times. (Though I've only ever managed to get my hands on a water-stained copy of The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat.)

10. Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston: I read a great review of this somewhere and promptly lost the link. Good job, self. 

Ten Things I Wish I Got From Books (Top Ten Tuesday #7)

Via The Broke and Bookish - July 26: Top Ten Things Books Have Made Me Want To Do or Learn About After Reading Them

I'm not sure if I interpreted the prompt correctly, but sometimes you read a book and wish a character's life or certain traits would diffuse through the pages and into your hands. Here are 10 things I wish I'd absorb by osmosis:

1. From All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr: radio repair and all things electronic. One of the reasons why I love this book is that "all the light we cannot see" refers to (radio frequency) electromagnetic waves! It is on an old radio that Werner hones his tinkering skills, and it is radio that guides his life. For most of the book I understood the concepts and theory, but I can't imagine being faced with a broken radio and somehow fixing it by myself. 

2. From The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski: strategy games. Bite and Sting, a strategy game, is a recurring "theme" (concept? reference?) in the trilogy. Strategic thinking is one of the few things Kestrel inherited from her father and actually uses. Would be useful in games and in real life.

3. From The Wedding Officer by Anthony Capella: cooking. The title is actually The Wedding Officer: A Novel of Culinary Seduction. If that's not enough of an explanation, the officer falls for an Italian widow and the food she cooks. 

4. From The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner: sleight of hand or anything related to stealth and subtlety. Eugenides has an official title as The Queen's Thief, and I loved reading about how his skills can change the political landscape of three countries, mainly because of how everyone underestimates him. I'd like to be able to blend in at will, and to be better at hiding what I'm feeling in polite company.

5. From The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker: metalworking. Ahmad, the jinni, finds temporary employment in a tinsmith's shop. I've been fascinated by metalworking for a long time. The reforged Shards of Narsil from Lord of the Rings almost made me study metallurgical engineering in college. 

6. From The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater: horseback riding. Definitely not on water horses like Puck and Sean ride, but at least to be able to say that I rode the horse instead of just holding on for dear life and trying not to fall off.

7. From It was snowing butterflies by Charles Darwin: keeping such a beautifully detailed diary, someday worthy of publication. This is a selection of his notes from the voyage of The Beagle, and his field notes make for better reading than some of the bestsellers or critically acclaimed works I've read recently. Pretty high standards, huh? I just want to be better at journaling, so when I read my notebooks in the future I'll be able to reconstruct memories that might have already faded away.

8. From The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater: holding on to (things from) my dreams. Ronan brings back impossible objects from his dreams, sometimes with disastrous consequences. There are times when I feel like it'd be worth the risk, if only to have something to prove that yes, I did dream that.

9. From Be Frank With Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson: dressing however the hell I want. Frank is a very special child, and part of what makes him special is the way he dresses. It's a very shallow thing to take away from the book, but it's one of the things that most stuck with me.

10. From Perfume by Patrick Suskind: smelling things on a whole other level. I watched the movie with a very bad cold, and the whole time I was so envious of Grenouille when I just wanted to enjoy the taste of my food. Then I read the book, which was so lush and descriptive that I thought myself lucky to only have watched the movie during my cold.

Ten Books Set Outside the US (Top Ten Tuesday #6)

Via The Broke and Bookish: Ten Books Set Outside The US (I don't know about you but sooo much of what I read is set in the US and I love finding new recs of stuff set outside of it!)

The Philippines
1. Tall Story by Candy Gourlay - other parts of this are also set in the UK, where Bernardo flies to join his mother's new family. 
2. In the Country: Stories by Mia Alvar - some stories are also set in the Middle East, where overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) had gone to secure better futures for their families back home.
3. Sixty-Six by Russell Molina - Tino, at 66, suddenly gains super strength and becomes a vigilante, fighting crime on the streets of Manila.

Asia
4. Crazy Rich Asians (and China Rich Girlfriend) by Kevin Kwan - set all over Asia (and all over the world, tbh), this follows several elite families in a super gossipy, super entertaining style.

South America
5. Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupery - all over South America but mostly in Argentina, this is about the commercial flights used to send mail overnight in the most perilous of journeys.
6. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett - in an unnamed nation, this is about a hostage situation that goes on for much longer than anyone would have expected. One of the best books I've ever read.

Africa
7. Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton - set in South Africa, about a pastor and his son Absalom and their struggles. (I just realized I haven't read that many books set in Africa.)

Europe
8. Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes - an American writer moves to Italy and restores an old house with her husband. Lots of mouthwatering food writing.

Australia
9. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion - about a socially challenged professor who uses science and logic to search for true love.

Elsewhere
10. The Martian by Andy Weir - does this count? It's a whole new landscape out there. An astronaut gets left behind on Mars and has to survive until the next Mars mission. He has a little help from the people on Earth.

Top Ten "Underrated" Books (Top Ten Tuesday #5)

Via The Broke and Bookish:

Top Ten Books We Enjoyed That Have Under 2000 Ratings On Goodreads (we've done underrated books a bunch of times in the past 6 years but thanks to Lenore at Celebrity Readers for suggesting this topic as a new way to talk about underrated books especially when underrated is subjective. An easy way to find this -- go to Goodreads, your read list, at the top of your read list where it says settings you can add a column for # of ratings, then you can sort by that. If you aren't a Goodreads user you can look up books you think are underrated and see what their # of reviews is on Goodreads? Or if that's too hard you can spin it some other way!

Inside Las Vegas by Mario Puzo (111 ratings) : nonfiction, about gambling and people who never lose hope

Orvis by Helen Mary Hoover (145 ratings) : middle grade/YA, in which two children and an obsolete robot go off on an adventure

It was snowing butterflies by Charles Darwin (205 ratings) : Penguin Little Black Classic, nonfiction, about Darwin's voyage on the Beagle

A Nice Derangement of Epitaphs by Ellis Peters (382 ratings) : an old-fashioned mystery with an excellent title

George and Sam by Charlotte Moore (433 ratings) : nonfiction, a mother writing about life with her two autistic sons

The Complete Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby (787 ratings) : Nick Hornby talks about what he's reading 

How Tia Lola Came to (Visit) Stay by Julia Alvarez (1145 ratings) : middle grade/YA , connected to How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents and to Yo!, just as delightful

Tall Story by Candy Gourlay (1257 ratings) : middle grade/YA, about a Filipino boy who joins his mother's new family in the United Kingdom and leaves behind a barrio filled with superstition and mythology 

Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst by Lois Lowry (1788 ratings) : middle grade, in which Anastasia Krupnik has conversations with Freud

Homesick: My Own Story by Jean Fritz  (1920 ratings) : middle grade, nonfiction, an American girl growing up in China, this was one of my favorites growing up

Ten Books I Picked Out On A Whim (Top Ten Tuesday #4)

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

I do most of my book shopping in secondhand bookstores and bargain bins, so on a whim actually just means whatever I found there that I hadn't heard of before but decided to buy anyway.

1. The Talking Horse and the Sad Girl and the Village Under the Sea by Mark Haddon: This has the prettiest cover art, and it was wrapped in plastic so I didn't realize it was a book of poetry.

2. The Dog Stars by Peter Heller: I also picked this out for the cover art.

3. A Nice Derangement of Epitaphs by Ellis Peters: I don't usually buy mysteries, but this had the coolest old-timey stained glass-esque cover art. 

4. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys: I haven't read Jane Eyre, but the hipster-style photograph overlaid with white text really appealed to me.

5. Astray by Emma Donoghue: The title was evocative of something restless and adventurous but also sad, so I got it.

6. Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut: This was such a dumb choice. I didn't even read the blurb, just remembered the fascinating unit in high school biology on Darwin and evolution and decided this would probably be just as cool.

7. Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier: My first Chevalier! The painting/painter was mentioned in Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett, so I took a chance on this book, and she ended up being one of my go-to authors.

8. The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman: I borrowed this from the library because I was really amazed to find a graphic novel in the social sciences and philosophy shelves.

9. Remember the Tarantella by Finnola Moorhead: I haven't read this yet, but the blurb said it was written with only female characters, which seemed interesting. 

10. One Hundred Names for Love by Diane Ackerman: What a title. Just, what a title.

Ten Characters I'd Like To Revisit (Top Ten Tuesday #3)

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

The original prompt was: "Ten Childhood Characters You'd Love To Revisit As Adults (ie a novella or something to see what they grew up to be) -- you could always just pick YA characters you've read recently you wouldn't mind revisiting in 10 years or so. Or you could pick 10 characters and guess what you think they'd be doing in 10 years or 20 years. OR you could go the other way and wish for coming of age stories for adult characters you love. "

1. Any of the characters from the Baby-Sitters Club: Did Claudia go to art school? On which coast did Dawn end up? Whatever happened to all the Pikes? I'd like to know who stayed in touch with each other, and who moved on or drifted off. 

2. The Marauders: Though their flashbacks were a little disappointing, I'd still love to know how the Map came to be, or what Sirius was like as a first year: did he go against everything the Blacks stood for since then, or was it when he got Sorted into Gryffindor?

3. Encyclopedia Brown: These days it seems like there's a Sherlock Holmes spin-off everywhere you look. A grown-up Encyclopedia Brown (modern-day or not) would fit right in.

4. The Pevensies (the lost years): My favorite Narnia book was probably The Horse and His Boy, which was set during the reign of Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. A longer peek at those years would be a childhood dream come true. 

5. Susan Pevensie: My biggest problem with the Chronicles of Narnia was that my favorite character didn't get to come back to Narnia. It wasn't just that she grew up, it was that she was a girl who grew up. So unfair. 

6. Stanley Yelnats (Holes): I just really need to know more about how Sploosh was invented.

7. Matilda: I read on Tumblr that Matilda was like Hermione if she'd been raised by the Dursleys. Imagine Matilda at Hogwarts. Or better yet, imagine Matilda in a dusty public library, working her everyday magic. 

8. Mowgli and his friends: I know, The Spring Running exists. But I like to think of the possibility of Mowgli coming back, a chubby toddler in tow, to be taught the Law of the Jungle.

9. An in-between peek at Draco Malfoy: I didn't like the epilogue, and imo a look at the rebuilding of the Wizarding World would be much better.

10. Anastasia Krupnik: Anastasia and Sam would probably grow up to be such weird, interesting people. 

Top Ten Bookworm Delights (Top Ten Tuesday #2)

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

1. When you find books from your TBR in the sale pile, marked down to P20 ($ 0.42) each:
It's the sign you've been waiting for, the sign that makes all the digging around worth it.

2. Or better yet, when you find those books in your university library:
In the most random colleges: graphic novels in the Philosophy section, fiction in the Asian Center, chick lit in the College of Education. All for free!

3. When you flip through your yellowed book pages and they smell like vanilla:
That's vanillin, and the other compounds are less-innocuous sounding: toluene, 2-ethyl hexanol, ethyl benzene, benzaldehyde, and furfural. (Whew, that was like an organic chemistry pop quiz.)

4. When your secondhand books have marginalia or surprises from former owners:
But the nice kind of surprises, like old-fashioned bookmarks, or a grade-schooler's vocabulary words. Sometimes even a dedication from a loved one.

5. When your books have surprises from yourself:
Is this something that only happens to forgetful people? I've found receipts from fro-yo dates years ago, notes from sweet roommates, and even the occasional banknote.

6. Finding out a friend likes the same book as you:
It'll bring you closer, and in the case of an already close friend, it's the best validation of your compatibility, haha.

7. When people ask you for reading recommendations:
The most random incident (and the toughest!) was in a book sale in a parking lot: my friend and I were comparing favorite titles, and a guy came up to ask for help picking out a book for his girlfriend.

8. Reading a book to a young child:
My sisters and my cousins used to love being read to when they were smaller. That was a lot of cuddle time and giggling and sharing childhood favorites with new people.

9. When you finish a book you've been "currently reading" for years:
There's a special sense of relief there, a sense of closure. And in the end you either have a surprise favorite or a new space on your bookshelf.

10. When you crack open a book and instantly know that you'll enjoy reading it:
Not necessarily that it'll be a favorite, but that it will be a breeze to read because the plot, the characters, and the writing all hit the sweet spot.