Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I’ve Read the Most Books From

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

~Top Ten Authors I've Read the Most Books From~

JK Rowling: 9

HARRY POTTER HARRY POTTER HARRY POTTER

Maddy Hunter: 9

The Passport to Peril series is one of my favourite series ever. These cozy mysteries are each set in a different place (Switzerland, Ireland, Italy, Hawaii, Australia, Norway, Holland, Scotland, and France, respectively), and not only are they hilarious, but even after 9 books, I've never been able to figure out the mystery. Plus they stir up my never-ending wanderlust, and I get to live vicariously through Emily.

Cecelia Ahern: 8

Ahern is best known for PS I Love You (gaaah my feels), but she also writes fantastic magical realism. I haven't loved her newer books as much, and I even DNF'd One Hundred Names (it just about killed me to do it because I loved her older books so much, but I was bored senseless). She has a few newer ones I haven't read, and I'm going to take a chance and give them a try sometime soon. If you haven't read any of hers but want to, I'd recommend starting with Where Rainbows End (also known as Rosie Dunne or Love, Rosie), If You Could See Me Now (also known as A Silver Lining) or A Place Called Here (also known as There's No Place Like Here). PS I Love You and The Gift are also personal favourites, but be prepared to be punched in the feels.

 

Sarah Dessen: 6

One of my favourite authors since I was about 15. I hate to admit that despite owning all but two of her books, I still haven't read them all!

Sarah Addison Allen: 5

Another author who writes incredible magical realism. The Sugar Queen is one of my all-time favourite books, and I absolutely love Garden Spells. I re-read it recently, and loved it even more than I did the first time.

Veronica Rossi: 5

THIS SERIES. Gah. Perry, Aria, and Roar are characters that will never, ever leave me.

Lilly Avalon: 5

Lilly is a good friend of mine, plus one of my critique partners (and I happen to design her book covers), so I've read pretty much everything she's written!

Stephanie Perkins: 4

Anna and the French Kiss is another of my all-time favourite books. I adore this whole series, plus Stephanie's contribution to the My True Love Gave to Me anthology was adorable and lovely. 

 

Lia Riley: 4

The Off the Map series is amazing beyond description. I adore Talia and Bran, and Lia's writing is fantastic. These books are honest, bold, sexy, emotional, and totally swoonworthy.

AC Gaughen: 3

ROBIN HOOD. These books turn the Robin Hood legend on its head, with "Will Scarlet" actually being a girl in Robin's band. Tons of action, adventure, heartache, swoons, and feels.

Who are some of the authors you've read the most books from? If you did this week's TTT, feel free to leave your link and I'll visit you in return!

Blog reminders: the cover reveal for my 7th book, Something in the Air, is August 20th, and sign-ups are currently open. I also have 3 giveaways open right now: a wishlist giveaway to celebrate the new design of my blog, plus 2 giveaways from Lilly Avalon!

 {Facebook || Twitter || GoodReads || Instagram || Pinterest || Author blog}

UK Appreciation Month: 15 Reasons to Love the UK

UK Appreciation Month is hosted by the lovely Mist from Bookaholics Book Club and Donna from Book Passion for Life.

I’ve always had a fascination with the UK, so when Mist from Bookaholics Book Club asked me to write a post for UK Appreciation Month, I jumped at the opportunity. I'm Canadian, and Canada has close ties to the UK - we still recognize the Queen as our sovereign - so I grew up loving the United Kingdom for a lot of reasons. Today I thought I'd share some of those many reasons with all of you.

 

15 Reasons to Love the UK

1. JK Rowling

2. Robbie Williams

3. The Royal Family (I’m almost exactly in between Princes William and Harry age-wise, so I’ve always been fascinated with them, and now I adore Duchess Catherine)

4. William Shakespeare

5. Colin Firth

6. Robin Hood legends

7. Coldplay

8. Kate Winslet

9. The entire cast of Harry Potter

10. Hugh Grant

11. The Spice Girls

 12. King Arthur legends

13. Orlando Bloom

14. Sexy accents!

15. English-style fish and chips

Those are just 15 of the many, many reasons to love the UK. Sometimes it’s hard for me to believe I’ve never actually been there, because I’ve been dreaming about it since I was a little girl. I have a list a mile long of places I want to visit in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland - Stonehenge, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, the London Eye, Edinburgh Castle, Statford-upon-Avon, Belfast Castle, just to name a few. I have a feeling that when I finally do get to visit the UK, it will feel like going home.  

What are some of the reasons you love the UK? Do you live there, or have you visited? Where's somewhere you think I should visit when I finally get to the UK?

Stacking the Shelves - September 30th, 2012

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

 

Hey guys! Can you believe it's almost October already? September flew by. I got a lot of awesome books this month, and I hope you all did too. Here's what I got this week:

***Subscribe to my YouTube channel***

Oh YouTube, why must you always take the most unflattering stills for videos?!

BOUGHT:

The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling

Yes, that's it! As I explained in the video, I debated whether to even do a book haul this weekend since I only had one thing, and also since I know I'll be getting quite a bit next week, but...well...IT'S JK ROWLING!!! Anything by JK Rowling is awesome enough to deserve its very own vlog/post. ;-)

What did you get this week?

{Facebook || Twitter || GoodReads || Pinterest || YouTube || Author blog || Personal/photography blog}

Top Ten Bookish People I Want to Meet

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

Top Ten Bookish People I Want To Meet (Authors, Bloggers, etc.)

I apologize in advance for the extremely long-winded post, but it's not often I get to thank the people who mean so much to me - my online family. <3

 

BLOGGERS

Jessica from Thoughts at One in the Morning, and Molli from Once Upon a Prologue.

It may seem weird to group these two together, but I met them around the same time, and I consider these two girls my best online friends. We have tons in common - besides reading (of course), we're all writers, we like a lot of the same TV shows, movies, and we all share a love for music...oh, and swoonworthy book boys. ;-) I absolutely love these two, and I visit their blogs every single day. They've been amazing friends, and they've both been incredibly supportive of my writing and the crazy journey I've been on in the last year. They're both beta readers for my second novel, The Game Changer, and Jessica actually finished within days of receiving it, which was amazing and exciting. I have future projects planned with both Jess and Molli, and I've pretty much made it my goal in life to meet them 'in real life' someday. The internet is fantastic for bringing people together, but it sucks when you get really close to people and they live so far away!

Kathy from I Write, I Read, I Review

Kat is another blog/reader/writer friend. Funny thing is: she just lives half an hour away. I'm pretty sure she's the closest blogger geographically that I've come across so far. Kat's a sweetheart, and I always love talking books and writing with her. 

 

Katie from The Hob

I met Katie through Molli just a few months ago, but in those few months I've come to love her to bits. We've had some hilarious and borderline ridiculous conversations on Twitter, but also some pretty deep conversations. I like being able to get 'real' with people, even when you're online friends and live so far apart (she's even farther than Jessica and Molli). I've always wanted to go to California, and visiting an amazing online friend sounds like a good excuse, right?

Sharon from Obsession With Books

Sharon was actually one of the very first people to offer to help me promote Blue Sky Days last year (I just went to her blog to check, and the first post she did for the book was October 11th - almost a year ago!). She's one of the sweetest people I've come across, she always has a kind word, and I can tell she has a lovely, gentle, loving soul. Plus she's very patient when I ask her incessant questions about Australia lol

AUTHORS

JK Rowling

Do I really need to explain this one? JK Rowling is just...she's...there are just no words. I can't imagine the world without Harry Potter. I can't imagine my life without Harry Potter. I'm seriously sitting here getting teary right now, that's how much Harry Potter means to me. Even though I'm afraid I'd be a crying, squeeing, ridiculously embarrassing fangirl if I ever met her, I'd like to shake her hand (ok, I'd actually like to give her a great big hug), and say thank you from the bottom of my heart for not only creating a world which I've escaped to countless times, and characters I love as if they were real people, but also for making me want to be a better writer.

Nora Roberts

For the last decade or so I've been saying I want to be Nora Roberts when I grow up. She's so incredibly talented and prolific, she amazes me. I've read so many of her books and loved every single one of them. If I could have even half her talent someday, I'd consider myself lucky...and maybe half her success too? A girl can dream. ;-)

Maddy Hunter

Maddy is another of my favourite authors, but she's one of the rare ones I actually consider a friend. I happened upon her Passport to Peril series at the library several years ago, and both my mum and I read them all. I was so sad when the series ended, but last year I was doing a Top Ten Tuesday post and was double-checking the order of Maddy's books and saw that she had another one coming out. I was so excited, you have no idea. I immediately went to Facebook to see if she had a fan page, and long story short, we got chatting, and she is so nice, so supportive, and just overall wonderful. I have to admit, it's incredibly surreal every time we have a conversation or she 'likes' something of mine on Facebook - I still get a bit starstruck! Plus, she's been incredibly supportive of my writing, which amazes me, because most of the traditionally published authors I've gotten to know via Twitter, Facebook, and blogs...well, it's not that they necessarily look down on indie authors, but I've never really seen any of them show any indie love or support, but Maddy's been awesome about cheering me on, and it means so much to me. PLUS, her books are incredible - hilarious, full of mystery, lovably kookie characters, and fantastic settings. They always temporarily ease my wanderlust because I get to live vicariously. I think it would be so awesome to tag along with her someday on one of her research trips, and to pick her brain about how she comes up with ideas.

 

Sarah Dessen

 When I was fifteen or sixteen, I read Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen. It was like she had written it just for me. That book was about me. I connected with it on such a deep level, and I still consider it my special story. I'd like to say that I've read all of Sarah's books, but I'd be lying. I've probably read about half of them (Along for the Ride is my next favourite to Someone Like You), but I intend to read them all. I would have already except that I didn't start reading YA again until last year. Since this post is already getting really long, if you want to read more about my love of Sarah and her books, I dedicated an entire post to her a year ago May - Early Inspiration - or - Why I Love Sarah Dessen.

 

Sarah Jio

I discovered Sarah last year around the time her debut novel, The Violets of March, debuted. Since then, she's become a favourite online presence. She's incredibly sweet, and she not only answers tweets, she's actually initiated a few (which I've found is rare for big authors.......and on a geeky fangirl note, I remember each tweet she's sent me, because, again, it's so incredibly surreal and exciting for a book lover to talk to someone whose books you love). Sarah seems like such a down-to-earth person, and I'd love to just hang out with her for a day in Seattle, talking books and writing and life.

 

So there you have it. The top ten bloggers and authors I'd love to meet. Who would you meet? Have you already met any of your favourite authors or bloggers?

{Facebook || Twitter || GoodReads || Pinterest || YouTube || Author blog || Personal/photography blog}

 

Review Copy Cleanup Challenge: Love Will Find a Way

Review Copy Cleanup is hosted by Vicky at Books, Biscuits & Tea, and Celine from Nyx Book Reviews.

 

I can't believe it's the end of March already! This was a terrific challenge, because I ended up getting 4.5 of my 6 books read! You can see my original post here and see the books I chose to read and how I made out.

 

The final challenge in the Review Copy Cleanup is to share our all-time favourite books...the ones we'd take with us if we were stranded on a desert island. And unlike most challenges that make you pick just a few, we can choose however many we want! My mind immediately started racing, because I can never pick a favourite book, but here are some of the ones I came up with:

 

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

  The entire Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

The 7 books of the Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis

U2: At the End of the World by Bill Flanagan

The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

 

I could go on and on, but these are the first ones that popped into my head. These are favourites that I've either reread several times already, or plan to reread, and that I wouldn't want to be on a desert island without!

 

Thank you to Vicky and Celine for hosting such a great, fun challenge!

How about you? What are your favourite books? What books would you load into a trunk and take with you if you could?

Showing gratitude for books ~ Harry Potter

Beth Revis, author of the incredible 2011 debut Across the Universe (<--- click the link to read my review) is having an epic giveaway. 19 books, a boatload of swag, one winner. All you have to do is write a post about the book you're most thankful for. 

The book(s) I'm most thankful for are Harry Potter by JK Rowling. If you're a regular on my blog, you'll know that I'm a Harry Potter fanatic. I swear 99% of my Follow Me Friday posts include HP in some way. And there's a reason (or 20) for that. 

Harry Potter was my reintroduction to YA. I had pretty much stopped reading young adult novels because I thought I was 'too old', but I made an exception for Harry Potter, and they became instant favorites. So, really, they're the books that started my love affair with YA - for that alone, I'm extremely grateful.

I love Harry, Ron, and Hermione. I got to watch them grow up, and I've known them so long, I feel like they're real people. They're such fantastically-written, believable, relateable, likable characters. They pop off the pages and grab your heart and never let go. All the secondary characters are incredible, too, and I got attached to them very easily (which made it that much harder when Rowling decided to kill some of them off...I cried through at least half of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and during the last movie...well, I hadn't cried that hard in ages).

The books themselves...my god. Just amazing. I've never been able to completely immerse myself into a world the way I have with Hogwarts. It's so real. JK Rowling has such an easy writing style, but there's something about it that is so beautiful and magical it draws you in and you feel like you're really there - on the train, or in the Great Hall, or in Snape's classroom, or strolling through the streets of Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley.

Then there's the lessons in Harry Potter - lessons about love, friendship, loyalty, good versus evil, persevering, and so many other things. How many people are lucky enough to have friends like Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who would do anything for you and be there for you no matter what? How many of us have had to overcome seemingly impossible obstacles? I would think that no matter what a person's life is like, there's at least one situation in Harry Potter that people can relate to.

Another reason I'm grateful for Harry Potter - it's one more thing that has brought my mum and me closer together. We're best friends as it is, but she's one of my only friends who has read the series, and therefore gets my HP references (and obsession). I was also beyond thrilled when my nephew Noah showed an interest in the movies a few years ago. I didn't think he'd like them, but one night he was sleeping over and asked to watch one, and he watched the entire thing straight through. I couldn't believe it! Since then, it's been a common bond for us and has brought us closer together, too. We even went to the Harry Potter Exhibition last summer, which was pretty much the coolest thing ever. I can't wait until he shows interest in reading the books. 

The world wouldn't be the same without Harry Potter, in my opinion. I know my world wouldn't be, anyway. I've heard so many people say that Harry Potter got them into reading. I've also heard people say they want to be writers because of JK Rowling. To me, that's an incredible thing.

Follow Friday Fun (16) & TGIF @ GReads (12)

Weekly recap - what's been going on at Ramblings of a Daydreamer:

Reviews:

Moonglass by Jessi Kirby 

Memes:

In My Mailbox Week 9 

Cover Crazy Week 4 

Tune in Tuesday Week 4: Soundtrack Edition - Labyrinth 

Other:

Top Spot: September

2011 Spooktacular October Paranormal Reading Challenge - post your reviews

2011 Spooktacular October Paranormal Reading Challenge - my progress

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Follow Friday Fun Week 16: This weekly meme is hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.  Check out their blogs for details/rules, and to join!  Also, be sure to check out this week's featured bloggers on each of the girls' sites!

 

This week's question: If you could pick one character in a book, movie or television show to swap places with, who would it be?

You probably saw this coming, but like most other weeks, this week's question leads to one obvious answer: Harry Potter. If I could trade places with one character in a book, it would be Hermione. I'd love to be friends with Harry and Ron, go to Hogwarts, have amazing magical powers, and I'd happily end up with Ron. <3

A less predictable answer: Jude from Jewels of the Sun by Nora Roberts. I've read a ton of Nora Roberts books and would be happy to switch places with most of her female leads, but the Gallaghers of Ardmore trilogy is my favorite, and I absolutely adore Jude and Aidan. I'd love to move to Ireland the way Jude did and meet a super sexy, wonderful, sweet Irishman and live happily ever after. 

 

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TGIF at GReads Week 12: TGIF is hosted by Ginger at GReads - be sure to check out her blog and join in the fun!

This week's question: To-Be-Reads: How big is your pile? Which book keeps getting pushed down the stack, but you keep meaning to read it?

My physical pile isn't that bad because I can't afford to buy books, so my pile is either books from the library, books I've won, or books I've been sent for review. Probably about 10 books right now. My 'virtual' TBR list...well, a few years ago when Facebook had the virtual bookshelf, I had over 1,000 books on my TBR list. Since joining GoodReads in April, I've added 424 books, so that doesn't even begin to skim the surface. I add books every single day, and never seem to make a dent in it! There are a lot of books that keep getting pushed down, and for no particular reason. The first that come to mind are the Mortal Instrument series by Cassandra Clare. I really want to read these books, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. No idea why!

 

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Happy Friday, book lovers! Sorry it's been quiet around here the last two days, but I've been even busier than usual. I'll be back to my normal posting starting tomorrow though (hopefully), with a review of Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. Happy Thanksgiving weekend to my fellow Canadians!

If you participate in either of these memes (or even if you don't), I'd love to hear from you, so please leave a comment and I'll be sure to visit you in return. :-) Have a great weekend!

 

Top 10 Tuesday: Books I want to reread

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It was created because of their love of lists and books, and since I love those things too, I thought it'd be a fun meme to participate in!

Top Ten Books I Want to Reread

I read most of these books awhile ago, but some of them are recent reads. 

1. All of the Harry Potter books by JK Rowling. I've read 1-5 numerous times, 6 a couple of times, and 7 once. These are books I will continue to reread probably for the rest of my life.

2. The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis. I read these books a few years back, loved them, and definitely need to read them again.

3. The Circle Trilogy by Nora Roberts (Morrigan's Cross, Dance of the Gods, Valley of Silence). Nora Roberts is one of my favorite authors and this trilogy was quite possibly what really got me hooked on paranormal books - there are witches, sorcerers, vampires, demon hunters - it's amazing.

4. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. One of my favorite books ever. EVER. I want to read this one again just for pure pleasure, but also so that I can review it now that I'm a book blogger. Hardly anyone I know has read this book, and I'd love to bring more attention to it.

5. Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson. I just finished reading this book a couple days ago, and already I want to reread it. I loved it so much, and for so many personal reasons, I haven't been able to write my review yet. I'm hoping to have it up by Thursday though.

6. U2: At the End of the World by Bill Flanagan. Ok, so if you've visited my blog before, chances are you know I'm U2 obsessed. This book is known among U2 fans as the U2 bible - an insider's view of the boys during the early 90s, the good, the bad and the ugly. I love this book and I've been saying for years I'm going to reread it, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

7. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa. I read this one just a few months ago and know that I'll definitely reread it at some point - probably once I've read the entire series, I'll go back and start again.

8. On Fortune's Wheel by Cynthia Voigt. I read this book in my early-to-mid-teens and remember loving it. I even own it, plus the first book in the series, Jackaroo, which I still haven't read. I didn't realize OFW was the second book in a series, but I've been saying for a long time that I'd read Jackaroo and then reread On Fortune's Wheel to see if I enjoy it as much as an adult.

9. PS I Love You by Cecelia Ahern. Well, basically anything by Cecelia Ahern because I love all her books, but PS I Love You is the first one that comes to mind, possibly because I love the movie so much (mmm, Gerard Butler). 

10. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series by Ann Brashares. I really wanted to reread this series this summer and then read the new book, The Last Summer, but I ran out of time. I'm still planning to read it eventually and buy the last book so my collection is complete.

What are some of the books you want to reread? Have you read any of the books on my list? All comments are welcome, and I always try to visit back - if you participate in this meme, be sure to leave a link!

Top 10 Tuesday: Books I loved but never reviewed

A bit of shameless self-promotion first. This week, I'm participating in Novel Publicity's Social Media Whirlwind Tour to advertise Terri Giuliano Long's book In Leah's Wake.  Yesterday's post was a Twitterview with the author, and tomorrow I'll be posting an excerpt from In Leah's Wake. The self-promo part: if you go to Terri's blog, you can vote for the bloggers participating in the tour, and I'd be ever-so-grateful if you'd go and vote for Ramblings of a Daydreamer. It would only take a second, and it would mean a lot to me. As incentive, I've been thinking of holding a 200 follower giveaway (I'm getting so close!) and if I win the Amazon gift certificate, that would help fund the giveaway. So please, please go vote for me!

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. It was created because of their love of lists and books, and since I love those things too, I thought I'd join in every once in awhile, when I have time. 

 Top 10 Books You Loved But Never Wrote A Review For  

(either books you loved and couldn't bring yourself to write a review for or books that you read long before blogging...time to give them a shoutout!)

Usually I struggle to come up 10 things for a list, but this is the first time I’ve actually had to pare down a top 10 list. These are all books I read before I became a book blogger (in some cases, years before). They are basically personal favorites. A lot of them are on my re-read list, so I might write reviews for them eventually, but I doubt it’ll be any time soon – there are just too many great books out there that I haven’t read!

1. All the Harry Potter books by JK Rowling. I don’t know if I could write reviews for these even if I wanted to because they’re so near and dear to me. I’ve read them a gazillion times though, so if any books on this list were to make it to reviews, these would be the most likely.  {Amazon || GoodReads}

2. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. One of my favorite books ever. Ever. I cannot express how much I love this book. Sarah Addison Allen is a genius, and I read all of her books before I started blogging, except for The Peach Keeper, which I have a review written for and just never posted it…must do that!
{Amazon || GoodReads}

3. Zel by Donna Jo Napoli. A dark, slightly disturbing, beautifully-written retelling of the classic Rapunzel. I’ve read this one a couple of times. {Amazon || GoodReads}

4. Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen. I’ve talked about this book a dozen times or more on my blog. It was my story when I was 17; I was convinced Sarah had written it for – and about - me and my best friend. {Amazon || GoodReads}

5. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. One of the most amazing books ever. Like, life-changing amazing. 
Everyone should read this book.  {Amazon || GoodReads}

6.  If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern. Well, basically all of Cecelia Ahern’s books (have read them all, but of course they were all pre-blogger days), but for this list it was a toss-up between IYCSMN and The Gift…ok, and PS I Love You. lol An amazing, magical, fun, slightly bittersweet book that has stuck with me for years, just like all of Cecelia’s other books.  {Amazon || GoodReads}

7. The Passport to Peril series by Maddy Hunter. (Alpine For You, Top O’ the Mournin’, Pasta Imperfect, Hula Done It, G’day to Die, Norway to Hide) These books have something for everyone – romance, mystery, comedy, you name it. Even though I didn’t get a chance to review the first 6 books, I’ll be reviewing an ARC of Maddy’s new book, Dutch Me Deadly, which comes out early next year. I’m so excited! {Amazon || GoodReads}


8. The Year of Living Famously by Laura Caldwell. This was a cute, funny book that I still think about years after reading it. It’s romance/chick-lit, and the main guy is a hot Irishman - what could be better?  {Amazon || GoodReads}

9. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. This was one of the books on the BBC’s list of 100 must-read books, and a couple of years ago, I was trying to make a dent in the list, so I chose this book. I’m so glad I did. Unique, heartbreaking, romantic, and bittersweet, this book made the list for a reason.  {Amazon || GoodReads}

10. The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown. Books like this usually aren’t my cup of tea, but a friend lent it to me and I loved it. I even convinced my Grama to read it (probably 5 years ago, so she’d have been 94), and she loved it. I also really enjoyed the others in the Robert Landon series, Angels and Demons, and The Lost Symbol. {Amazon || GoodReads}

What are some of the books you read and didn't review? Did you not review them because you weren't blogging yet, or because they were so personal that you just couldn't write a review? I'd love to hear from you!

Follow Friday (8), TGIF @ GReads (4), Book Blogger Hop (8)

This past week at Ramblings of a Daydreamer:
 

Miscellaneous:

A tribute to my Grama ~ 1911 - 2011 (I didn't participate in the blog hops last Friday because my beloved Grama passed away the day before, so I wrote a tribute to her instead)
Liebster Blog Award!

Book Reviews:

Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris 

Weekly Memes:

WWW Wednesdays (12) & Waiting on Wednesday (1) 

Top 10 Tuesday: Underrated/obscure books

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TGIF at GReads Week 4: TGIF is hosted by Ginger at GReads - be sure to check out her blog and join in the fun!

This week's question: Author Block Party: If you could gather a handful of authors to hang out with, who would you choose?
I'd choose authors who's brains I'd love to pick (not literally, I so don't get the whole zombie craze) while we munch on hamburgers and potato salad. You know, all casual-like so it doesn't seem like I'm picking their brains. Who am I kidding, I'm not that smooth. Anyway, I'd invite my two biggest writing inspirations, Nora Roberts and JK Rowling...authors I think are talented and write funny books (funny writing is something I haven't been able to master) like Maddy Hunter, Janet Evanovich and MaryJanice Davidson. Oh, and Sarah Jio, just because she's amazingly talented and a sweetheart, and I'd love to hang out with her (and yes, pick her brain too)!

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Follow Friday Fun Week 8 - this weekly meme is hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.  Check out their blogs for details/rules, and to join!  Also, be sure to check out this week's featured bloggers on each of the girls' sites!

This week's question: How have your reading habits changed since you were a teen? 

As much as I loved to read as a teen, I was so busy that a lot of the books I read seemed to be assigned novels, books to write reports on, research books, etc. My local library had literally one book shelf with young adult books (compared to now where they have more than I can count), and I didn't like my school library's selection, so my tastes were limited. I bought quite a few books back then and my tastes ran mostly to fluff - The Baby-Sitters Club (I kept reading them way after my friends stopped, just because I loved the characters), Sweet Valley High, stuff like that. Now I'll read just about anything - I still read young adult (although not BSC or SVH lol) but I read just about every other genre imaginable, too. Books have changed a lot in the handful (or so) years since I was a teen, and I've changed a lot too.

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Book Blogger Hop Week 8 - This is a weekly meme hosted by Crazy For Books.  Be sure to stop by her blog to check it out.  This week's post is here.

This week's question: Let’s talk crazy book titles! Highlight one or two (or as many as you like!) titles in your personal collection that have the most interesting titles! If you can’t find any, feel free to find one on the internet!

I love titles that are a clever play on words. I don't personally own any of these books (although I wish I did), but I've read them all:
*Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series (One for the Money, Two for the Dough, Three to Get Deadly, Four to Score, High Five, etc etc, all the way up to
Explosive Eighteen, which will be released this November)
*Maddy Hunter's Passport to Peril series (Alpine for You, Top O' the Mournin', Pasta Imperfect, Hula Done It? etc)
*MaryJanice Davidson's Queen Betsy series (Undead and Unwed, Undead and Unemployed, Undead and Unappreciated, etc)
*Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series (Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas, Club Dead, Dead to the World, Dead as a Doornail, etc)
*Victoria Laurie's Ghost Hunter series (What's Ghoul to Do?, Demons are a Ghoul's Best Friend, Ghouls Just Haunt to Have Fun, etc), as well as her Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye series (Better Read Than Dead, A Vision of Murder, Killer Insight, Crime Seen)

*****

Have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend, everyone!  If you participate in Book Blogger Hop, Follow Friday Fun or TGIF - or even if you don't - be sure to leave a comment (I love comments!) and I'll visit you in return!