Top Ten Tuesday: My Top Ten Books That Make You Think

This is a weekly meme hosted by the girls over at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic: Books That Make You Think.

Well, this is a fairly subjective topic because everyone has different ideas about what applies as thinking during reading/books that make you think. I'll be interested to see what other books pop up on other people's list. Me, I think any book that makes you think about life, how we as people work, religion, gender topics, even things like bullying can count as a book that makes you think. So you'll probably see some very random books on here.

1) A Handmaiden's Tale by Margeret Atwood-If ever a person needs to realize why the stuff surrounding women nowadays (birth control, abortion, civil liberties, equal pay etc.) is very important and why some of the rhetoric coming out of certain camps (yes, Rush Limbaugh, I'm looking at YOU) is dangerous give them this book. It shows exactly why one should not be putting up with this crap that has been aimed at women not just lately but for hundreds of years.

2) Harry Potter series by JK Rowling-I know what you're thinking: HP, really? Pop culture, it may be, one of the many reasons I love Harry Potter is the many discussions that it can open up: it brings up bullying, racism, classism, the use of propaganda, the role media has to play in wars, war itself and how devasting it can be, how sometimes authority is not always right, friendship, loyalty, the list is endless. It is proof that entertainment does not have to be dumb.

3) Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher-While I don't think this book is the best book ever, I do appreciate the frank discussions of bullying and how our actions and how we treat people absolutely effects others. This should be like required reading for middle-schoolers where some of the worst bullying can take place.

4) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee-Forget The Help, THIS is a book that is good for talking about racism. If I hear one more person try to say The Help is the new To Kill a Mockingbird I will smack something. The only thing The Help may be good for is to talk about white priviledge and how Skeeter is a perfect example of it (so is the author in question as Skeeter is basically a self insert character).

5) His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillup Pullman-First rule about this trilogy: go into it with a open mind and don't be afraid of it. Yes, this book heavily criticizes Christianity. But you know what? That's not always a bad thing. Consider it a new way of looking at your faith and why you believe the things you do. Heck, it may make your beliefs stronger! While I don't agree with everything in this trilogy (and I think Pullman himself is kind of a arrogant jerk), I think it's definitely one of those that makes you think about some of the slightly funky things about the Christian religion.

6) The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins-Another series that is proof that entertainment doesn't have to be dumb. While I am endlessly bothered by how much the HG fandom is all about the love triangle (which isn't even important!) I love the commentary this series does on things like war, tyranny, classim, how apathetic we've all become to violence on TV, humanity's sheer lack of empathy sometimes, how we burden the younger generation with our problems etc.

7) Game of Thrones series by George R. R. Martin-Game of Thrones is another one of those that is just good for the endless amount of discussion it can bring up. It brings up how women operate in a patriarch world, it brings up politics and how it shapes our world, and is just good for the way it studies people and how our choices effect us and others and questions what makes a person good or bad. Because seriously there is not one person in this series who is totally good or bad except maybe Rickon, but he's hardly ever discussed so I don't think he can count. Oh and Joffrey. Joffrey is just a little ass who needs to die already (sorry, I've gotten to the part in Storm of Swords where he's gloating about giving Sansa her brother's head so my rage towards him is very fresh right now)

8) The Millaneum Trilogy by Stieg Larsson-This is one of those thrillers that makes you think about how corrupt our systems can be and how much people can fall through the cracks simply because the system just writes them off. Granted, this mostly deals with the Switz government which is very very corrupt but it also applies to our own system which can be just as problamatic. I also appreciate how it's not afraid to bring up the violence against women because not enough people talk about it how much it is still a problem that goes unreported. Plus, you have to use your brain to keep up with the mystery.

9) American Gods by Neil Gaiman-This talks about more generalized religion instead of just Christianity. Mostly it's concerned with Gods and their place in America and how religion is used now as well as many other topics that it brings up about humanity.

10) The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak-The Book Thief is really really hard to explain to people who have never tried to read it. But just know it mostly talks about things like death, grief, how WWII effected those in Germany, and just life in general.

Book Review: Hemlock

TITLE: Hemlock
Book 1 in a new series
AUTHOR: Katherine Peacock
PUBLISHED: 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Werewolves, drama
PREMISE: Mac's friend Amy is killed by a werewolf and her death sparks a huge investigation in her small town.
MY REVIEW: Theoretically there isn't anything totally wrong with Hemlock. It's readable, it's probably relateable, and stuff does happen, and there's a clear plot. However, it's just so...uninspired. It's like the author literally had a checklist of every possible YA cliche/trope that is popular now.
Love triangle? It's there. Saw it coming in the third chapter. Angst? Loads of it. Most of it ridiculous. Token characters used to say "look how diverse I am!" but not used very much in favor of the white cast? Check. Plain Jane main character who is totally not shallow unlike popular girls of course. Check. Bitchy feminine character whois  demonized because she's feminine? Yup. Over-agressive males who fight over female lead for no real reason that is discernable? Check. Female lead who basically does nothing except maybe inquire about her friend's death? Check. "Twist" that is totally obvious? Yup. Literally NOTHING was new or that big of a surprise in this.
I'm sorry but I don't think it's over the top to ask for at least a little creativity. Cliche doesn't have to be boring. I mean Mortal Instruments is cliche as hell but it takes cliches and throws in new things and it manages to be entertaining while doing so. This? Is not entertaining. This was a big yawn and quite frankly a lazy first effort.
WHO SHOULD READ: Twilight fans, those who don't mind cliche after cliche
MY RATING: Two out of Five eye rolls 

Book Review: Social Suicide

TITLE: Social Suicide
Book 2 in the Hartley Featherstone series
AUTHOR: Gemma Halliday
PUBLISHED: 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Mystery
PREMISE: Hartley gets caught up in another mystery when she finds the dead body of one of the most popular girls in school.
MY REVIEW: I enjoyed Deadly Cool a lot last year and this one is more of the same so I enjoyed it. Maybe I enjoyed it a little less then the first book but it's still a fun series and I'm looking forward to the next book.
I admit, Hartley can be a bit of a frustrating heroine sometimes. But at least she has some sort of brains (which is more then I can say for Halliday's adult heroine). Mostly I like the sly humor in this. It's very reminiscent of Meg Cabot (though not as good). The mystery isn't really hard to figure out and is about as plausible as most cozy mysterys go. But still, it's fun and you can do a lot worse then this.
Mostly I hope this paves the way for more YA contemporary mysteries. Because honestly other then this one, Sara Shepard's two series, and Nancy Drew there really isn't much in the way of pure YA mysteries out there. As a mystery junkie, this makes me sad.
WHO SHOULD READ: Mystery fans, Meg Cabot fans, fans of Deadly Cool
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five school papers

Book Review: Unraveling

TITLE: Unraveling
Book 1 in a series?
AUTHOR: Elizabeth Norris
PUBLISHED: 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Science Fiction, adventure, mystery
PREMISE: When Janelle is run over by a car, she is sure she's dead...but then she comes back to life by a boy she's never had much to do with till now...
MY REVIEW: Admitedly I have to take a few points off for the romance. Cute as Janelle and Ben were, they were insta romance and are quite cliche. Honestly I felt that romance dragged down Janelle's otherwise rather awesome character. I also need to take off points for head scratching science that makes no sense (doesn't help that the author keeps trying to explain it and that furthers just how improbable it all is).
But other then those beefs, this was a rather strong debut. When Janelle wasn't melting into Ben's arms and gushing about how connected they were, she was pretty awesome. Norris is a great suspense writer who manages to keep you turning the pages. I really hope she decides to go into adult thrillers sometime soon because if she ever does, ho boy would that be awesome. There was a decent sense of humor to the book that I liked, there was fabulous dialogue, and there were fun side characters that I grew to adore and was then devastated when Norris did stuff to them (Alex...). Also I have to give props to the author for the ending. Although I'm fairly certain that Ben will be back as I'm fairly certain this will be made into a series/trilogy. It is YA after all. I would love if she left it here because as a ending, I like that one. But I know she won't. Contracts and everything.
So if you're looking for something on the bit of different side with your YA, this book may be what you're looking for. It's not wholly unique or anything but considering it's mostly dystopians nowadays, this feels fresh and new. I for one am looking forward to book two. If there is a book two.
WHO SHOULD READ: Sci-Fi fans, thriller fans, those that like action.
MY RATING: Four out of Five parallel universes

Book Review: Insurgent

TITLE: Insurgent
Divergent series Book 2
AUTHOR: Veronica Roth
PUBLISHED: 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Dystopian, adventure, romance
PREMISE: Tris and Tobias are on the run from the Eurodite faction after said faction has revealed they are after Divergents and has attacked Daughtless.
MY REVIEW: I'll be honest, I still sort of think this series isn't very original and I still don't understand at all how this world works or came to be. I also still find Tobias/Tris rather boring and predictable even though at least they are a healthy couple for a change. But that aside, one can not deny that this series is highly entertaining.
Roth's strong suit is that she knows how to keep you reading. Despite my issues, I like this series and am greatly looking forward to the next book. Especially after that evil evil EVIL cliff hanger. Also I really like Roth's writing. Despite the averageness of the story being told, her writing style is nice and simple without trying too hard. She knows how to write good action (which believe me, is hard to do) and again: she knows how to entertain. I am not bored with Divergent, despite how unoriginal it is because there's always something happening and she's not afraid to kill off people. Perhaps if Wither or Matched were as entertaining as this series is I wouldn't be annoyed by those books as much.
So I have my issues with this series but I get why it's popular. It's highly enjoyable, very readable, and very entertaining. If that movie ever gets made I'm so seeing it. In short, if you loved Divergent, you will probably like this just as much. There's no sophmore slump in this continuation. It's just as fast paced and as entertaining as the first one.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Divergent, Hunger Games fans, dystopian fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five fighting factions

Waiting on Wednesday: Sep 5th

TITLE: The Dead and Buried
AUTHOR: Kim Harrington
RELEASE DATE: January 1rst, 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: mystery, ghost story, paranormal
SUMMARY FROM PUBLISHER:

A haunted house, a buried mystery, and a very angry ghost make this one unforgettable thriller.

Jade loves the house she's just moved into with her family. She doesn't even mind being the new girl at the high school: It's a fresh start, and there's that one guy with the dreamy blue eyes. . . .

But then things begin happening. Strange, otherworldly things.

Jade's little brother claims to see a glimmering girl in his room. Jade's jewelry gets moved around, as if by an invisible hand. Kids at school whisper behind her back like they know something she doesn't.

Soon, Jade must face an impossible fact: that her perfect house . . . is haunted.

Haunted by a ghost who's seeking not just vengeance, but the truth. The ghost of a girl who ruled Jade's school -- until her untimely death last year. It's up to Jade to put the pieces together before her own life is at stake. As Jade investigates the mystery, she discovers that her new friends in town have more than a few deep, dark secrets.

But is one of them a murderer?

 

WHY I'M EAGER FOR IT: I love me my ghost stories. If it involves mysteries all the better. Plus, I love Harrington's Clarity series so chances are I'm going to like this one a lot.

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books on my Fall TBR List

This is a weekly meme hosted by the girls at The Broke and the Bookish .

This week's Topic: My Fall TBR List

Top Books between September 22nd and December 20th that I'm eager to read:

1) Daughter of Smoke and Bone Book 2: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor-This is probably on everyone's list and not terribly original. Don't care, Daughter of Smoke and Bone was fabulous and I can't wait to read the sequel.

2) The Bar Code series: The Bar Code Prophecy by Suzanne Weyn-The Bar Code books came out ages ago before dystopians were hot. It was actually one of the first few books I read for this blog. It's been some time since book 2 and book 3. I had honestly though Weyn was going to leave it there. But lo and behold, book 3.

3) Dustlands Book 2: Rebel Heart by Moira Young-I loved Dustlands last year even if the writing style drove me up the wall (honestly authors, quotations marks are HELPFUL. Why would you not use them?) so I'm really looking forward to book 2.

4) Beautiful Creatures Book 4: Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia and Margeret Stohl-I'm still in love with this series and am really sad it's ending. But hey, Kami has a series coming out so more to look forward too, right?

5) Dark Star by Bethany Frenette-2012 Debut that looks awesome, involving superheroes.

6) The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress-Awesome looking steampunk debut.

7) Croak Book 2: Scorch by Gina Damico-If you haven't read Scorch, picture Percy Jackson combined with Dead Like Me. It makes for a hilarious and charming combination. I can't wait to read book 2.

8) Iced: Dani O'Malley novel by Karen Marie Moning.-Yes my friends, Dani is getting her own book. Any of you who has read Fever knows why this is a awesome thing.

9) The Iron Fey series: The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa-Even if I sort of think The Iron Fey needs to end already, that's not going to stop me from reading this.

10) Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes-Epic Fantasy YA debut that looks awesome. I hope it's good because we need more epic fantasy in YA. Really, I can name like three series and maybe two books that are pure fantasy in YA and two of them (Circle of Magic, Tortall) are written by the same author and have been around for decades.

Book Review: Monument 14

TITLE: Monument 14
Book 1 in a series?
AUTHOR: Emmy Laybourne
PUBLISHED: 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Dystopian, apocolyptic, survival
PREMISE: After a series of disasters devastates Earth, a group of students is left abandoned in a convenience store to survive until help arrives.
MY REVIEW: Well, I don't know about anyone else but while reading this I was strongly reminded of Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. This is not a bad thing. I really liked Life as We Knew It. It just means that I didn't get much originality from this.
It is definitely a well written book. Laybourne is a good writer and she's a decent story teller. I understood what was going on, I got where characters were coming from, there was dark stuff that made you think, and so on. It's just...I didn't really LIKE anyone and I found it hard to click with the characters. Plus I'm sorry, you're trapped in a superstore while Earth is going to hell and you have several kids to take care of, you're seriously going to have teen drama? NOW? Yeah, that was just a little much of a stretch to me and part of what tried my patience with these characters so much. Seriously, Earth is going to hell. WHO CARES who's dating who.
Other then the hard to like characters and annoying teen drama, this was good with everything else (even if the scenario I found...hard to believe). It's not the strongest debut I've read this year. But it's not the worst. If there is a book two I'll definitely look into it because of where the author left it.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Life as We Knew It, apocolyptic survival fans, dystopian fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five supermarkets

Stacking the Shelves: September 2nd

This is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews that tells people what new books we've gotten over the week.

Downloaded to Kindle:

Penryn and the End of Days series Book 1: Angelfall by Susan Ee-Was cheap and it's a new release. Maybe by some miracle it'll be a angel book I actually like.

Library Haul:

Dark Companion by Marta Acosta-2012 debut from this year that looks fun.

Of Poseidon Book 1 by Anna Banks-2012 debut. I'm wary of this because it's a mermaid book and mermaid books and I have a troubled history. But I've heard really good things so I'm giving it a shot.

The Magnolia League series Book 2: The White Glove War by Katie Crouch-Magnolia League was a cheesy but fun read for me last year so I'm continueing the series.

Order of Darkness Book 1: The Changeling by Philippa Gregory-I honestly have never read any of Gregory's adult books because of lack of interest and too many mixed reviews of her work. This one sounds interesting though so I'm giving her a shot.

Deadly Cool Book 2: Social Suicide by Gemma Halliday-Second book in a mystery series started last year that I enjoyed even though I'm not a particular fan of the author's adult books.

Unraveling Book 1 by Elizabeth Norris-2012 debut that so far is not half bad.

Hemlock Book 1 by Kathleen Peacock-2012 debut I hope is good.

Divergent series Book 2: Insurgent by Veronica Roth-Finally off of reserve from the library. Only took three months and three tries getting it.

The American Fairy Trilogy Book 1: Dust Girl by Sarah Zettel-another 2012 debut that sounds really awesome and that I hope is good.

Book Review: Timepiece

TITLE: Timepiece
Book 2 in the Hourglass series
AUTHOR: Myra McEntire
PUBLISHED: 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Time Travel, Adventure
PREMISE: Kaleb and his friends continue their adventures as they search for Jack, the man who killed Kaleb's father.
MY REVIEW: All my issues still stand with this series (sloppy science makes no sense, kind of flat characters, YA stock cliches abound). But I've kind of learned to let it go. Once you let the rather clicheness of this go it's an enjoyable series. I definitely commend the author for deciding to ditch boring Emerson and go with the far more interesting Kaleb this time around.
Honestly, Kaleb is my favorite and this book reminded me of why. Though I have to say the way his friends treat him sometimes really irritated me and also reminded me of why I didn't care for Emerson or Michael in the last book that much. Kaleb and Lily are so much more fun for me and less "it's all about us!" like I feel Michael/Emerson can be. Plus, I actually get chemistry from these two.
Plot was pretty much more of the first with a few interesting revelations here and there. As a second book, this was not bad. I just still am not overwhelmed with this series. I like it just fine and will be reading book 3 though.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of the first book, time travel fans (who aren't interested in details)
MY RATING: Four out of Five time travelers