Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I’d Like To See On A Reality Show [May 15]

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Authors on Reality Shows, Memes

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was supposed to be Authors I’d Like To See On A Reality Show but was changed into a freebie.  I dunno.  I think I’ll stick with the topic but include those that have already gone.

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1. Salman Rushdie.  He seems to be a lot of fun on Twitter so I guess he’d be a pretty fun on reality TV.
2. Umberto Eco.  So he could chat with Salman.
3. Helen Fielding.  I think she’d be fun.
4. J. K. Rowling. She, Tolkien, Martin, and Lewis can debate all day long.
5. George R. R. Martin.  GRR and JRR should get together.
6. J. R. R. Tolkien.  It would be pretty interesting if JRR could have a chat with GRRM.
7. John Grisham.  He seems to be a pretty funny guy on paper.
8. George Eliot.  So she can geek out with Mr. Rushdie and Mr. Eco.
9. John Milton or C. S. Lewis.  Milton so he could stir trouble (which seems to be the way of reality TV) and Lewis because it would be great to see him chat with Tolkien.
10. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  So he can trade wits with GRR Martin.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books You’d Like To See Made Into A Movie [May 1]

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Books to Movies, Memes

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is Books You’d Like To See Made Into A Movie.

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1. Tales of Dunk and Egg, by George R. R. Martin.  I know that they are novellas but maybe they could condense the stories and turn it into a movie OR maybe another series.
2. Midnight’s Children, by Salman Rushdie.  I know that this is cheating because the film has been made.  I’m reading this book now and I’m just excited to see how it translates to film.
3. Tiger’s Wife, by Tea Obreht.  It would be interesting to see how this would be adapted.
4. Foucault’s Pendulum, by Umberto Eco.  This is a complicated beast.  Maybe a TV special? I admit that this one will be very hard to adapt but this list is just a wish anyway.
5. The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova.  Another take on Dracula.
6. Shalimar the Clown, by Salman Rushdie.  Another one of those books where it would be rather difficult to adapt.
7. The Appeal, by John Grisham.  I enjoyed the bad guy (Carl Trudeau) in this novel but I did feel sorry for the good guys.
8. The Associate, by John Grisham.  The story is pretty interesting: young law graduate blackmailed into joining a firm to retrieve sensitive information for a rival company.
9. Angelology, by Danielle Trussoni.  I found this story to be intriguing and I did read about the plans to develop this into film.
10. Blackwood Farm, by Anne Rice.  This has always been one of my favorite vampire novels by Anne Rice.

Top Ten Tuesday: All Time Favorite Characters [April 24]

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Memes

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is All Time Favorite Characters.

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1. Tyrion Lannister.  He is definitely one of my favorite characters in the entire A Song of Ice and Fire series.  I love his wit and his games.  Reading his banter with other characters in the series is very enjoyable.
2. Wyman Manderly.  He is a very minor but significant character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series.  He deserves a place in my top ten because he saved A Dance of Dragons for me.  He is not the typical guy that you would fear (he is rather comical) but when he utters (SPOILER ALERT!) phrases like “Though mayhaps this was a blessing. Had he lived he would have grown up to be a Frey” in reference to a death of a child, his enemies ought to be afraid.
3. Aegon “Egg” Targaryen.  The future Aegon V whose line produced Daenerys Targaryen and the brothers Baratheon.  I love his interactions with Dunk in The Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas.  I find their friendship endearing because Egg is around nine in the novellas and Dunk is an almost seven foot hedge knight.  I enjoy reading their banter.  Their journeys across the Seven Kingdoms are really fun to read.
4. Sherlock Holmes.  I just love how he comes up with solutions during investigations.  ”When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.“
5. Bilbo Baggins.  I loved loved loved Bilbo in The Hobbit but I absolutely loved his line in The Fellowship of the Ring: “I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.“
6. Nancy Drew.  Childhood favorite.  :)
7. Peeta Mellark.  I always felt sorry for Peeta in the series. I loved Josh Hutcherson in the movie as well.
8. Bridget Jones.  She’s a lot of fun.
9. Scarlett O’Hara.  I never finished Gone with the Wind but I loved reading about her in the chapters that I have read.
10. Cassandra from The Game, by A.S. Byatt.  I dunno.  I seem to like tragic characters. I somehow related to what Cassandra was going through.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books to Read in One Day [April 3]

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Memes

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is Books to Read in A Day.

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1. A Game of Thrones, by George R. R. Martin.  I know that it is crazy to gulp this down in one sitting but it is really worth it.
2. Tales of Dunk and Egg, by George R. R. Martin.  Hey its George again.  I have a new found love for GRRM and that love increased evermore when I read the Dunk and Egg novellas (The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword, and The Mystery Knight).  I just love the friendship and banter between an almost seven foot hedge knight (who eventually becomes Lord Commander of the Kingsguard) and the young boy who will grow up to be king (Egg is Aegon V Targaryen whose line produced Daenerys Targaryen and the Baratheon brothers).  Their banter and their adventures throughout the Seven Kingdoms were really fun to read about.
3. Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins.  Its a page turner. I ship Katniss and Peeta.
4. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley.  I really wasn’t expecting to finish this in a day but I did.  You just want to find out what happens next and the fact that it was written in 1931 but still felt quite modern made it a really good read.
5. Bridget Jones’ Diary, by Helen Fielding.  You’ll have fun with her.
6. The Client, by John Grisham.  Almost all novels that he has come out with are page turners and The Client is definitely one of them.
7. City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare.  This and the rest of the books in the series where definitely fast reads for me.  You just wanted to know what came next.
8. I am Number Four, by Pittacus Lore.  I really enjoyed this one and a book that once you finish you’d want to read the next one (but sadly I haven’t … haha).
9. Murder at the Vicarage, by Agatha Christie.  Oh Miss Marple.  She’s a delight.  And I like how ordinary citizens and not the police are trying to figure out the mystery.
10. A Study in Scarlet, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  Holmes and Watson.  I love the words that come out of Holmes’ mouth.

Top Ten Tuesday: Classics I Want to Read in 2012 [January 24]

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Memes

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is a freebie! We can choose what we want to make a list about.  I chose to list the classics that I REALLY want to read this year.

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1. War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy.  I am reading this as part of a read-a-long for this year and I am rather behind BUT I did finish Volume I last year before I heard of the read-a-long.
2. Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy.  Another chunkster.  I have the book but I have never read it.
3. Middlemarch, by George Eliot.  I’m participating in a read-a-long for this year but I am awfully behind.  I read the Introduction of the Oxford World’s Classics that I have and I was really intrigued.
4. Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo.  Again, I have joined a read-a-long for this and I am still very behind.
5. In Search of Lost Time, by Marcel Proust.  This is really heavy reading but I want to experience reading.  There is a read-a-long for this in honor of his 90th death anniversary but I have not yet signed up.
6. The Brothers Karamazov OR Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.  I think its about time I read either one or both.
7. Bleak House or Our Mutulal Friend, by Charles Dickens.  I have stated in this blog about my desire to read either of the two titles or both because I just love a little mystery.
8. Ulysses, by James Joyce.  Uh oh.  Why do I keep choosing chunksters? I don’t know.  Its size intrigues me and the fact that it all happens in a day. I have the free ebook version but I’m planning to buy the physical book so I won’t hurt my eyes.
9. Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray.  I think that its about time that I get this off my TBR shelf.  Its been there since I was college! (I think or since I got my first job which was four years ago. Uh oh.)
10. Tom Jones, by Henry Fielding.  I purchased this book because it was mentioned in that Jane Austen movie that starred Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy. P.S. I like James McAvoy and his character mentioned it.  So… I know I’m crazy. Its also about time since its been on my shelves as long as my copy of Vanity Fair.

There are lots more that I want to read like Edith Wharton’s Age of Innocence or House of Mirth in honor of her 150th birthday and The Lord of The Rings, by JRR Tolkien in honor of his 120th birthday.  LOTR is considered a classic right?

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I Wish Would Write Another Book [January 10]

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is Authors I Wish Would Write Another Book (debut authors, authors who seem to have taken a hiatus, OR for those who read classics authors you wish would have written another book before they passed).

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1. J. R. R. Tolkien – It would be nice to have more stories from Middle Earth.
2. George Eliot – I just read the Introduction to Middlemarch and I think the things she believed in that also translated into her writing would be more accepted in this day and age.
3. Tea Obreht – I enjoyed The Tiger’s Wife and I am excited to see what she would come up with next.
4. J. K. Rowling – It has been a very long while since Harry Potter and I would also love to read other stories she can come up with.
5. Salman Rushdie – I have not read the entirety of his work but I would love to read some more nonfiction from him.  He is quite active on Twitter and some of his responses are a joy to read.
6. Umberto Eco – He last published a book in 2010 (2011 for the English version) but I want to read more of his nonfiction, especially the essays.  I have read a few from How To Travel with a Salmon and had a lot of fun.
7. Miguel Cervantes – I have not finished Don Quixote (I’m still working my way through Part II) but I have really enjoyed what I have read in Part I.
8. Tina Fey – I know she more of a writer for TV rather than books but I loved the few pages I’ve read of Bossypants while at a bookstore.
9. Bob Ong – Bob Ong is the pseudonym of a Filipino author who writes about Filipino life in a very humorous way.  I have not read everything written by this author but I would definitely love to read more.  [I just did a quick Google and found that he released a book in 2011 called "Lumayo Ka Man Sa Akin" which I have never seen at a bookstore yet... Hmmm ... Need to check this one out]
10. John Grisham – Because I love reading his work.  :) Wiki says he has a book coming out this 2012 but I’m still putting him up here.

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books I Read in 2011 [December 27]

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is Favorite Books I Read in 2011.

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There are four days left until the new year (who knows I might still find a new favorite read … lol) but these are my favorite reads so far:

1. Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog, by John Grogan.  As a dog owner myself, I can relate to some of the things that John Grogan wrote about their life with Marley.  It was a really fun read.
2. A Game of Thrones, by George R. R. Martin.  This was a very interesting read for me.  G.R.R. Martin has some very intense and brutal scenes but he has some really clever dialogues as well.  I love Tyrion Lannister and I loved Peter Dinklage  in the HBO series.  I read a few pages of A Clash of Kings and I’m really looking forward to see if they include his very interesting conversation with his sister Cersei right near the beginning of the book.  I intend to reread this again next year and have joined a read-a-long for it in January and I also joined a reading challenge that will cover the entire series.
3. Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro.  I love the way Ishiguro writes as it just flows from page to page.  This one was a really heartbreaking read but it was definitely one of the best ones I have read this year.
4. Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, by Rick Riordan: The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan’s Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian.  I really enjoyed this series and want to read the other series that Riordan has started (The Kane Chronicles and Heroes of Olympus).  I am interested in mythology and enjoyed how it was incorporated here.
5. The Hunger Games Trilogy, by Suzanne Collins: Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingbird.  Well, more of the first two actually.  I did not like Mockingjay as much but the entire series was a really fun read.
6. Shalimar the Clown, by Salman Rushdie.  I loved how this one actually came full circle.  It was nice to read about a different culture as well.  There were times when it would really take me a long time to digest what was written but it was overall a very fun read.
7. A Study in Scarlet, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  I love the words that come out of the mouth of Sherlock Holmes! I love mysteries and this one was a really fun read for me.
8. The Mortal Instruments, by Cassandra Clare: City of Bones, City of Ashes, and City of Glass.  I have not read City of Fallen Angels and I’m really looking forward to reading it next year.  I was not expecting to like this but I really did.  :) There were times where I really wanted to smack Clary but I still enjoyed this series.
9. The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova.  This was more of a reread for me as I was able to read this in college.  But as with those that I have read in college and I have read now, I seemed to appreciate this more the second time around.
10. Foucault’s Pendulum, by Umberto Eco.  How could this not make my list? It made my head spin a dozen of times.  I took a very looonnng time in finishing this one but I was very intrigued by the amount of information Mr. Eco packed into this one.  Like The Historian, this was a reread for me and I appreciated it more when I read it this year compared to when I read it in college.
11. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley.  I really enjoyed this one and it was really a feat considering the time when it was written.
12. The Tiger’s Wife, by Tea Obreht.  Being the first book she has written, this was really impressive.  It was an interesting blend of fact and folklore.
13. The Confession, by John Grisham.  I enjoyed reading this book.  It was a really fun read when you have a criminal and a pastor as the main characters.
14. The Litigators, by John Grisham.  This was a joy to read.  Funny and serious at the same time.  :)
15. A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens.  I really enjoyed this one by Dickens which I finished on Christmas Day.  :)

I know that I listed over ten books but those are the ones that I enjoyed reading for the year.  :) What were your favorites this year?

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Hope Santa Brings [December 20]

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  I was not able to post anything for this weeks Top Ten Tuesday.  I’ll just post this one here.  This week’s topic was Books I Hope Santa Brings.

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There are a couple of books that I really want for Christmas and here they are:

1. 11/22/63, by Stephen King.  I have not read any work by Stephen King in a very long time.  I’ve read the synopsis or this one and it seems to me to be a very interesting story.
2. The Prague Cemetery, by Umberto Eco.  The plot seemed interesting and I really like reading Eco because he twists my brain and makes me learn new things.
3. The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.  Everybody seems to recommend Zafon and I seem to be the only one who has not read any of his works.  So, I’m really interested to read this one.
4. The Angel’s Game, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.  I’ve read that Zafon plans to write a four-part series so I’d better get started.
5. Inheritance, by Christopher Paolini.  I have the first three books in the series so it would be nice to get the last as well.
6. City of Fallen Angels, by Cassandra Clare.  I have read the first three books and they are quite nice.  So I’d like to see how the series turns out with this one.
7. Full Dark, No Stars, by Stephen King.  This is a shame since this was released in 2010 yet I still have not got myself a copy.  The only copy that I have seen so far is a hardcover edition and hardcover editions in this country are EXPENSIVE.
8. Under the Dome, by Stephen King.  I saw a paperback copy of this but I have not seen it since in bookstores.  I’ll probably settle for the ebook.
9. Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen.  I have never read Freedom by Jonathan Franzen! Its been years but I have never read it.  I saw a paperback copy way back but I still wasn’t able to purchase it.  I may have to settle for the ebook on this one again.
10. Of Love and Evil (Songs of the Seraphim #2), by Anne Rice.  I read the first book in the series and it would be nice to continue reading on.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Want To Give as Gifts [December 13]

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week’s topic is Books I Want to Give as Gifts.

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1. Any devotional book.  I would give this to my mom who loves reading them.
2. Any book by Rick Riordan.  I would give this to my cousin who is showing an interest in reading and mentioned to me his love for mythology.
3. Rafa, by Rafel Nadal and John Carlin.  I would give this to either my aunt or uncle (they are husband and wife) because they both love tennis although I keep forgetting which one loves Nadal.
4. Roger Federer: The Greatest.  Same as #3.  Either to my aunt or uncle.
5. Open: An Autobiography, by Andre Agassi.  One book for two people: both my aunt and uncle.  If I remember correctly, both loved Agassi.
6. Any illustrated book about dinosaurs.  This would go to my cousin who loves dinosaurs.
7. Any Chicken Soup book.  I would give this to one of my cousins who expressed his love for reading books with Chicken Soup in the title.
8. A book about raising kids.  I don’t know how useful its gonna be actually but if I would give my good friend a book as a present it would probably about raising kids.  She is a soon to be mommy.
9. Any ebook that has a read to me option.  I would give that to my youngest cousin who prefers to have a story read to him rather than read it himself.
10. The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco, The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides, and 11/22/63 by Stephen King.  I would give this to myself as a Christmas present (haha! … I ran out of gift ideas to give to other people).

Those are the gifts that I would give.  What books would you give as gifts?

Top Ten Tuesday: Childhood Faves [December 6]

This is my first entry for the Top Ten Tuesday meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week’s theme is Childhood Faves.

1. Colliers Junior Classics – These are a set of 10 books and my favorites were the ones with Aesop’s Fables and Nursery Rhymes.
2. Disney Classics books – My aunt used to send me a lot of these when I was young.  I couldn’t remember all the books but I could recall Pocahontas, The Lion King, and Pinocchio.
3. Children’s story books featuring tales by the Brothers Grimm – My aunt also used to send me a lot of these.  I just can’t remember from which publishing company.    These were like condensed versions of the stories.
4. Children’s story books featuring tales by Hans Christian Andersen – My aunt sent me these as a child and same as above, I couldn’t remember the publishing company.  I had titles like Rumpelstiltskin, The Princess and the Frog, and Jack and the Beanstalk.
5. ERAPtion: How to Speak English Without Really Trial – This book is all laughs.  Its about the use and misuse of the English language by former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada.  I don’t think everything in the book was really said by him but its more of how he might misuse the language in a particular situation.
6. World of Science – I was crazy for facts as a child and I loved this series which had title like The World of Plants, The World of Animals, and The Earth and the Solar System.
7. My First Encyclopedia – Another fact filled series of books with titles such as Our Planet, Seas & Oceans, etc.
8. Nancy Drew – There were a few Nancy Drew books at home and I most of what I read came from the school library.  I really loved this series.  I’ve always liked reading mysteries even as a kid.  Its just sad that I never read the entire series.
9. Hardy Boys – Most of the Hardy Boys books I read came from the school library. This is another mystery series that I loved as a child.  Same with the Nancy Drew series, I never read the entire series.
10. White Fang – I got my copy when my family took me to Doulos (I don’t know how it is spelled but its this floating book fair that travels around the world).  Dogs have a soft spot in my heart.  This one’s a wolfdog but still.