Tuesday Ten: Books Set Outside of the USA

This week's theme from The Broke and Bookish is "Ten Books With X Setting," and I'm choosing to showcase ten awesome books set outside of the United States. In cases where the books were originally published in another country (hello, Austrailia, land of incredible writers!), I tried to include the foreign title and cover.

1. What Alice Forgot

Liane Moriarty

This Aussie-published novel about a woman who gets a bump on the head and forgets the last decade of her life isn't setting-heavy, but it is set in Australia and it is absolutely wonderful. It's amazing. One of those rare books that I stayed up all night long reading. (Honestly I think I finally forced myself to go to sleep around four in the morning, then woke up at 7-ish and finished the book.)

2. Jellicoe Road (On The Jellicoe Road)

Melina Marchetta

Another Aussie book (you'll notice a definite trend in this post), Jellicoe Road was published originally as On the Jellicoe Road in Australia and unlike What Alice Forgot, the setting plays a huge role. It's another amazing, incredible, I-love-it-so-much book. There must be something in the water down under.

3. Tiger Lily

Jodi Lynn Anderson

Set in Neverland, Tiger Lily is a truly original, awesome take on the tale of Peter Pan. A love story, it tells us, but not like any you've heard. True, that. 

4. Love and Other Perishable Items (Good Oil)

Laura Buzo

Here's Australian book number three. The tagline on this Australian cover says, "A Novel of First Love and Second Thoughts," and that sums up Love and Other Perishable Items/Good Oil so well. The tale of a teenage girl who falls in love with her older coworker isn't nearly as tawdry as it sounds; instead it's well-written, angsty, and impossible. Though I had some conflicted feelings on this one (in spite of how amazing it is, it also has the one thing I really, really hate in YA novels), in the end I can't leave it off this list.

5. Mothership

Isla Neal & Martin Leicht

Set in space. Space! And, oh, it's everything you ever wanted a space-set YA novel to be.

6. Anna and the French Kiss

Stephanie Perkins

Sigh. Paris, Etienne, Anna. You knew this one was coming up, right? In related news: I need that paperback edition in my life.

7. serafina67 *urgently requires life* (Big Woo: My Not-so-secret Teenage Blog)

Susie Day

A UK-set book! Woo! This, my favorite YA novel of them all, is pure pure pure awesome and so wonderfully non-American. *huggles*

8. How I Live Now

Meg Rosoff

Okay so I think this is the original cover for the UK-set (yep, a second one!) How I Live Now. A weird, uneasy, hilarious novel.

9. Bloomability

Sharon Creech

Switzerland! Boarding school! If this list were ranked according to my love for these books, Bloomability would be way up near the top instead of down here at the bottom.

10. Code Name Verity

Elizabeth Wein

Various parts of Europe. Come on, we all love Code Name Verity.

Tuesday Ten: Books I Want Answers About/Sequels To

This week's topic from The Broke and the Bookish is "ten books I wish could have had sequels." But the thing about this topic is that I rarely wish for this. So much of the time I feel like the book that was written was the story that deserved to be told, and maybe adding a sequel would have taken away from the experience. (Of course, then you have situations like If I Stay and Where She Went, in which case the sequel blew my freaking socks off.)

But anyway. Though I don't often wish for sequels exactly, I do often wonder what happens to the characters after the book ends. So here are ten books I want answers about. Oh, and obviously spoilers ahead! Be warned all ye who enter here!

1. Love and Other Perishable Items

Laura Buzo

Come on, do Amelia and Chris end up together or not? I need to know!! 

2. The Rivals (The Mockingbirds #2)

Daisy Whitney

File this under "unfinished sequels." I know there was, at one point, supposed to be three Mockingbird books, and so it makes sense that this second one ended with a bit of WIDE OPEN QUESTIONS, but since no third book materialized I'm left wondering what happens after. What happens to Alex, to the Mockingbirds, to Themis Academy. This is why you should never get attached to series white they're in-progress. Reasons like this.

3. Okay For Now

Gary D. Schmidt

I love endings that are a bit open-ended (but not too much), so I really did like this ending -- at least, if I remember it correctly -- but I still want to know what happens. Long-term, what happens with Doug? With Doug and his family? With Doug and Lili? What happens with Lili? 

4. After the Kiss

Terra Elan McVoy

Again, while I liked the ending here I just still want to know what happens to the characters after, especially with Camille and her Chicago Boy.

5. Fashionista (Bradford #2)

Micol Ostow

And another case of series that didn't get the finish they deserved. I loved the Bradford novels, which use blog posts to tell the story (and, I think, texts/emails too, though it's been quite a while since I've read the books) and was surprised and disappointed when after the second book a third didn't follow. I guess I was the only one who read them?

6. After

Amy Efaw

This book disappointed me because I wanted so much more of the trial and what came after. I really wanted a resolution here and didn't get it.

7. So Many Boys (The Naughty List #2)

Suzanne Young

Really this post should just be called "series I loved that got cut short," because once again we have a fantastic contemporary series that didn't get its final book. I loved Tessa and all her boy/friendship drama and really wanted to see how things played out, especially with the betrayal of her best friend near the end of (I think) this book. BOOK THREE, PLEASE!!

Alright, I know I've only got seven books here but it's surprisingly hard to come up with ten books I want sequels to because, like I said, I generally feel like the story that's told is the one that deserves to be told, and I'm such a fan of stand-alone novels.

Top 10: Favorite Beginnings/Endings of Books

This week's Top Ten topic from The Broke and the Bookish is "top ten favorite beginnings or endings of books," meaning awesome scenes, lines, or just whatever. And yes, I know this meme is supposed to go up on Tuesday, but, uh, HELLO FRIDAY!

BEGINNINGS

Across the Universe, by Beth Revis

The first chapter of Across the Universe is one of the best, most stunning first chapters I've come across. It is perfection. The bad side of that, though, is that you end up holding the whole rest of the book/series to that same impossible standard and it never quite reaches such epic heights. (That said, the whole series is really good. It's just that the first scene, with Amy in the cryo chamber, is flat-out gripping.)

Golden, by Jessi Kirby

Specifically the prologue. Now, I am not normally a prologues kind of person and more often than not I snooze through them, but the prologue to Golden is, if you'll excuse the awful wordplay... absolute gold. So perfect and dreamy and pretty, a great set-up for the mystery that follows.

Twenty Boy Summer, by Sarah Ockler

The opening scene and chapter for this book is so heartbreakingly perfect for the story that follows. The characters -- even (or especially) the one who is quickly killed off -- are so fully formed that it makes what happens near the start of the book even more painful.

Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell

This book sets you down right in the middle of Scarlett O'Hara's enviable life as a southern belle and it's such a great set-up (I feel like I'm using the word "perfect" too much in this post) for the rest of the story and the downward spiral of Scarlett's life.

Tiger Lily, by Jodi Lynn Anderson

This is a love story, but not like any you've heard.

This almost-first line sets the tone for Tiger Lily and daaaaang if that's not one of the best lines ever ever ever. Adore.

ENDINGS

We'll Always Have Summer, by Jenny Han

Whenever I see people complaining about "love triangles" in YA I always think but, but, the Summer trilogy. Because these three books did it right (as did, you know, the next book/series on this list). We'll Always Have Summer, the last in the trilogy, ended exactly as it should have, with pitch-perfect writing to boot.

Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins

This ending was heart-wrenchingly sad, but it was also, to me, the only way the series could end. And, yes, as far as the romance aspect, spot-on for these characters (and, erm, also what I wanted to happen). I'm in complete awe of Suzanne Collins for how she did this book, this huge ending to such a huge series.

Flipped, by Wendelin Van Draanan

This book ends with just the right amount of hopefulness and the turning over of a new leaf. It fits the book and the characters so well.

Alright, this was all I could come up with. Eight books. There are other endings I love as well (the end to Mothership, for instance), but it's hard to really come up with a solid ten so I'll leave it at a solid eight instead.

Tuesday Ten: Mean Girls Rewind

Alright, this week is a Broke & Bookish top ten REWIND week, and I've missed a lot of weeks but am going to go with top ten Mean Girls from fiction.

1. Scarlett O'Hara

Gone With the Wind

Margaret Mitchell

There's no way for me to make a list of literature's mean girls without having Scarlett right at the top of it. As much as I love Scarlett (and I do, I really do), she's kind of awful to other girls. It's somewhat forgivable because her life is a total complete mess, but really when you get right down to it Scarlett's a very young, immature, selfish girl who's used to getting her own way and not sure how to deal with disappointment. Of course, the course of the book changes her but it's quite a long time (and many super-sad deaths) before she realizes how awful she's been to those who love her.

2. Lina Broud

The Luxe series

Anna Godberson

Ugh. I can't even pretend to like Lina. She's just awful.

3. Hilly Holbrook

The Help

Kathryn Stockett

For obvious reasons.

4. Anna Morrison

Some Girls Are

Courtney Summers

I know that the main character, Regina, also fits squarely into the "mean girl" category, but there's one big difference between her and Anna: Regina knows she's been a mean girl. She hates it about herself. Anna, on the other hand, enjoys it, and that's the scariest, meanest part of all.

5. Shay

Uglies series

Scott Westerfeld

I don't know about this one. I don't entirely (or at all, really) remember how the relationship between Tally and Shay ended up ending... were they friends or enemies in the end? I do know that I never really liked Shay and there always seemed to be a not-nice edge to her all through this series.

6. Samantha Kingston

Before I Fall

Lauren Oliver

If this were a list of "reformed mean girls," Sam would make the very top of the list. She went from being a character I loathed to one I loved and admired, which is no easy feat to pull off.

7. Nicola

Wicked Jealous

Robin Palmer

Nicola is the stepmother in this modern retelling of Snow White. So, you know, she's not the most loving of characters (to say the least).

8. Mandarin

Like Mandarin

Kirsten Hubbard

Alright I know that Mandarin is supposed to be this amazing wild child girl, but really she's selfish. And she reminds me of so many fast-and-furious friendships that only ended in shipwreck (much like Grace and Mandarin's friendship here). So she might not be mean exactly, but she's definitely bad news.

9. Bianca Piper

The DUFF

Kody Keplinger

Oy. If I get started on this one I'll never shut up.

Aaaand I'm leaving #10 empty because I had a hard enough time coming up with nine mean girls. The truth is, many books/characters that would fall into this category I don't end up finishing. But agree with my choices? Disagree? Thoughts?

tuesday 10: books i read before blogging

This week's topic from The Broke and the Bookish is top ten books I read before I started blogging, and here's my list.

1. Gone With the Wind

Margaret Mitchell

2. The Truth About Forever

Sarah Dessen

3. Bloomability

Sharon Creech

4. Bridge to Terabithia

Katherine Paterson

5. To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee

6. Feeling Sorry for Celia

Jaclyn Moriarty

7. Stop Pretending

Sonya Sones

8. I Was A Non-Blonde Cheerleader

Kieran Scott

9. Lost It

Kristen Tracy

10. Uglies

Scott Westerfeld

the minimalist approach to books.

My family is in the midst of moving, so yesterday me and my mom were discussing minimalism. You know, get rid of all your belongings, one fork one plate one bowl sort of thing. And we were talking about what we could get rid of if we needed to -- could you get rid of your knickknacks? Your piles of notebooks? Old toys? Books? Gadgets? Basically: how much do we love this stuff? Because we shouldn't love any of it so much that we couldn't get rid of it if we needed to.

And I have a lot of books. They're all books I love, or at least really really like, and I'm glad I'm not in a position where I have to get rid of all of them, but I know that if I had to I'd be okay. My books are not the most important thing in my life.

But. Something else I think about sometimes: not getting rid of all my books, but the hypothetical situation of what if I could only keep a few? Five? Or ten? What if I had to fit my life into a suitcase or a couple of boxes? Which books would make the cut? Obviously there'd be my Bible, and a notebook. But I'm talking novels, memoirs, etc. You know.

So as of now, here's my list:

1. Jellicoe Road, by Melina Marchetta - because it's such, such a personal story for me.
2. Sweethearts, by Sara Zarr - again, so personal, and one i tend to reread fairly often.
3. Anna and the French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins - this one has plenty of my own notes in it and it's a sweet book that would obviously make whatever situation i'm in where i can only have ten books more bearable.
4. serafina67, by Susie Day - favorite ever ya novel. i need my fictional personality doppleganger with me.
5. The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss - just so incredibly beautiful.
6. Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell - my favorite book.
7. Bloomability, by Sharon Creech - another personal pick, and one that brings me back to my childhood.
8. Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech - another brilliant book.
9. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee - i just love this one.

Alright, excellent counters will notice that there are only ten books on that list. My last spot is open. And honestly, making that list was harder than I thought. Not because I wanted to keep all of them, but because there were very few where I felt like oh, I need this book. And even though I've often been known to refer to my books as "my friends," and I do love having shelves full of my favorite books, I think it's a good thing I didn't have too hard of a time imagining getting rid of most of them.

But now I ask you -- ten books only: which ones would you keep? And would you be able to do it?

tuesday ten: fiction crushes

This week's topic from The Broke and the Bookish is "top ten fictional characters i'd have a crush on if i were also fictional." Alright, first of all this topic supposes that all fictional characters somehow live in the same universe. Which, okay, I guess I can go with that. FictionLand! Where all your favorite characters live and breathe.

Also, I'm keeping this limited to guys from books. And there's only eight. And yes, I know this post is late in going up.

1. Peeta Mellark

Hunger Games (series)

Suzanne Collins

2. Adam Kent

Shatter Me

Tahereh Mafi

3. Kurt Brodsky

Leverage

Joshua C. Cohen

4. Chris

Love and Other Perishable Items

Laura Buzo

5. Cole Archer

Mothership

Isla Neal & Martin Leicht

6. Xander Carrow

Matched (series)

Ally Condie

7. Alpha

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

E. Lockhart

8. Spencer Martin

Suite Scarlett (series)

Maureen Johnson