Top Ten (Randi): Favorite Kick-Ass Heroines

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.  

This week our list (brought to you by Randi!) is on the top ten Favorite Kick-Ass Heroines. I've chosen my fave heroines from a variety of genres, so enjoy! Lots of linkage to Goodreads, so feel free to get click-happy. 

Randi's Top Ten Favorite Kick-Ass Heroines:
(in no particular order)

1. Zulaikha from Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy - review here
2. Katsa from Graceling by Kristin Cashore
3. Hazel from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - my review here & Becky's here
4. Darla from Ashfall by Mike Mullin - can't wait to read Ashen Winter which is sitting on my shelf!
5. Cinder from Cinder by Marissa Meyer - Becky & I both eagerly await Scarlet

6. Karou from Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor - my review here. I cannot wait to get my grabby hands on Days of Blood and Starlight! 7. Faythe from the Shifters Series by Rachel Vincent - kick-ass werecat woman! 8. Lina from Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys - can't wait to read her next book! 9. ALL THE WOMEN from The Help by Kathryn Stockett 10. Lisbeth Salander from The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson - I wish there were more than three books!
So which kickass heroines made YOUR list? Link us up, we wanna know!

Terror 'Tober (Randi): Very, Very Peculiar... Review of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Check out Terror 'Tober Event Page here!

Title: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine #1)

Author: Ransom Riggs
Publisher: Quirk
Publication Date: June 7th, 2011
Page Count: 352
Genre: paranormal fantasy
Audience: young adult
Source: bought
Rating: 3 I would friend this book on Facebook so I could look at its weird pictures

Goodreads Summary: 
A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs. Fiction is based on real black and white photographs. The death of grandfather Abe sends sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, and explores abandoned bedrooms and hallways. The children may still live.

My thoughts:  Okay. So I read this book last fall (2011) and gave it four stars. I re-read it for a class last week, and I've lowered my rating to three. Why? Because I feel like rereading it allowed me to judge it a little more rather than simply enjoy the story. Overall, I think I liked it...But some flaws were pointed out to me by peers that I can't ignore this time around. I actually picked up this book initially because the majority of the book takes place on an island off the coast of Wales. I studied abroad in Wales four years ago, so it's an understatement to say that I have a soft-spot for anything relating to Wales! The setting description is great and quite fitting (especially the inclusion of sheep since Wales has more sheep than people). The plot is intriguing and I may end up continuing the series (when the later books are released) so that I can find out what happens to some of my favorite characters.

Characters...I love the peculiar children. I don't really care for Jacob. He's not a very likable character; he seems like a spoiled brat who isn't very nice to his one friend and who is despised by his coworkers because he's kind of a jerk. I kind of ignored the flaws in his character the first time around, but honestly, I wish the protagonist was more relatable and more likable in general. His family bugs me as well - Jacob seems like the only person who has any real reaction to his grandfather's death (that's not a spoiler, I promise). That tells me that these people are not people to whom I can relate. At all. Anyway, the photographs throughout the story really create a spooky and eerie atmosphere and, while I'd hesitate to label this book as "horror," it is unique in that it contains elements of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. I like that genre bending; it doesn't fit a neat category. Overall, I'd recommend this if you can deal with a character that you may not find all that likable, if you want to read about the beautiful country of Wales, or if you're really interested in a unique twist on paranormal fantasy. 

FTC Disclaimer: All reviews are solely the opinions of Becky and/or Randi. We are not paid in any way for our reviews, and all opinions are 100% honest.

The Sunday Post (8)

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by  Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~ It's a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. 

This Week 

Halloween is in the air, and what with playing catch-up on homework from last week and having an awesome houseguest, I haven't been on much or reading much this week.  We still managed to get some posts up, but i have to apologize if I missed and comments.  Randi, meanwhile is booking it through all literature in sight.  

(Reviews)

Memes

(What's Next)
Help Becky pick out her next read!  This week's theme is what to read after "The Night Circus".

(Top Ten) 
Books for Halloween

(Twice Baked Thursday) Randi and I went head to head reviewing the same book and (gasp) agreed.

Randi: 4
Becky: 4

Special Posts

Picture Book Spotlight

Stacking the Shelves

Next Week

easel.ly

Terror 'Tober Review (Becky): The Last Werewolf

Check out Terror 'Tober Event Page
here!

Title: The Last Werewolf

Author: Glen Duncan

Pages: 293

Audience:Adult

Genre: Horror (werewolf)

Source: library

Rating: 2 stars- I'd kick this book where it hurts for wasting my time/existing 

Goodreads Summary

"Then she opened her mouth to scream--and recognised me. It was what I'd been waiting for. She froze. She looked into my eyes. She said, "It's you."
"
Meet Jake. A bit on the elderly side (he turns 201 in March), but you'd never suspect it. Nonstop sex and exercise will do that for you--and a diet with lots of animal protein. Jake is a werewolf, and after the unfortunate and violent death of his one contemporary, he is now the last of his species. Although he is physically healthy, Jake is deeply distraught and lonely.  

Jake's depression has carried him to the point where he is actually contemplating suicide--even if it means terminating a legend thousands of years old. It would seem to be easy enough for him to end everything. But for very different reasons there are two dangerous groups pursuing him who will stop at nothing to keep him alive.
Here is a powerful, definitive new version of the werewolf legend--mesmerising and incredibly sexy. In Jake, Glen Duncan has given us a werewolf for the twenty-first century--a man whose deeds can only be described as monstrous but who is in some magical way deeply human.
One of the most original, audacious, and terrifying novels in years.

My Thoughts 

*spoiler: I hated this book.

It feels wrong to even label this horror, since the only disturbing part of it was the apathy of the main character.  I have never struggled more to finish a book, but it would have been harder to leave part way through, wondering if it improved.  It did not, in case you wondered. 

 All you really need to know  is that A-it is about a werewolf, and B-he sees everything through a lens of gritty sex.  Everything.  I read a lot of horror, so graphic violence and sex isn't exactly shockingly new to me.  It is the boring yet revolting way this sex is written that makes it so abhorrent.  Even the scenes which were meant to be somewhat romantic or at least love-induced, seemed detached and almost clinically described.  It seemed like the author was trying hard to impress the bestial nature of the sex on us, yet awkwardly ended up making it seem the very worst kind of human.  You will not be able to go a single page without reading about Jake being aroused by something weird or describing women liberally with the C word after "clever" or "sly".  Really?  

Just to clarify, this is not the kind of werewolf story where the creature is like a wolf in any way.  There is no pack mentality or relation to how a wolf in nature behaves.  This is the hairy man-monster-hybrid kind that makes you feel like you're watching a B horror movie.

I think the greatest offense of this book is that it had an interesting story that was really poorly written.  The language tries way too hard and ends up being repetitive, fractured and un-realatable.  The characters are vivid yet there is nothing especially interesting or likable about any of them.  Ellis was my favorite because he seemed to be the only one with depth.  From the first chapter I wanted Jake to die more than he did.  More than Grainer, even.  I felt pretty much the same about Talulla.  I also thought it was ridiculous to switch to her pov at the very end of this book. I will not be reading the second book.

FTC Disclaimer

All reviews are solely the opinions of Becky and/or Randi. We are not paid in any way for our reviews, and all opinions are 100% honest.

Stacking the Shelves (8): Becky & Randi's huge haul

This meme is hosted (and was created by!) the lovely Tynga at Tynga's Reviews to share any new books we procure - from purchased books, review books, library books, gifted books, and ebooks! We're excited to be participating! :) As always, all titles link to Goodreads.

For Becky this week!

These are all books I'v purchased in various forms over the last few weeks! The Little Giant of Aberdeen County, by Tiffany Baker I read this two years ago after seeing as a staff-pick at the West-Des-Moines Library.  I remember loving it and the general plot, but it's definitely about due for a re-read. I purchased it in hardcover at a giant library booksale on Thursday in Bloomington, IN. 
The Sister, by Poppy Adams I read this three years ago and did not see the twists coming.  The gothic atmosphere and meandering descriptions really appealed to me.  Another purchase from the giant booksale on Thursday.  Hardcover, of course :)
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski This was a daring purchase for me, since I never buy books I haven't already read and loved.  I've seen this in several reader's advisory tools at different libraries and couldn't resist the hard copy for 2 dollars at the library on Thursday.
The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield I very nearly died when I saw this in hardcover on the booksale shelf.  I snatched it up!  The rich language and gothic atmosphere is amazing!
The White Darkness, by Geraldine McCaughrean I bought this online (hardcover) for a class discussion in youth materials. I LOVED it.
The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern This was purchased as an audiobook in a moment of desperation.  I had an 18 hour car ride and the library was closed.  I'm going to have to buy the hardcover later as well.
World War Z, by Max Brooks This was also bought for the car ride, and I liked it significantly less.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to sell it on ebay or give it to a friend.
Gossip Girl, by Cecily von Ziegesar I got the ebook version of this one,which I had to read on my computer to finish it in time  for my youth materials class.  If I knew how to resell an ebook I'd definitely do it.  This was a fun read but not one I'm really interested in owning.  Maybe I'll get a Kindle someday and feel like it's actually a real book and not something I just read on the web.    30 Days of Night: Rumors of the Undead, by Steve Niles & Jeff Mariotte I thought this was the actual 30 days of night book (shakes fist at hidden subtitle).  I'll probably read the others before I try this one.

Randi's new books! These are the books I've gotten in the past few weeks, so they are NOT all from this week! We save up our books to make a big post when we have lots of them to show you! :)

Received:

 My signed copy of Spark by Brigid Kemmerer was sent by the awesome Brigid Kemmerer herself!!! It says "Dear Randi, Gabriel says 'hi'!" *SWOON* I looove the Merrick brothers! This is one of my favorite series. And Brigid is a sweetheart. :) You can read my 4-star review of Storm (the first book in the Elemental series) here. My 4.5-star review of Spark will be up soon!

I won my signed copy of The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney from the fantastic Tara @ Tater's Tall Tails ! You can read my 5-star review here.

The super awesome signed Kimberly Derting swag (author of The Body Finder series and The Pledge series) is from the lovely Mandee @ Compelled by Words!

Thank you all, ladies!!! All of your packages totally made my day!!!

Bought:

The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron - got this one for my book club!

Eucalyptus by Murray Bail - got a really cheap used copy on Amazon! 

Ashen Winter by Mike Mullin - cannot wait to read this! I looooved Ashfall!

So what's new on YOUR shelves this week? (Or, if you're like us, the last few weeks?) ;)