Top Ten Tuesday – Books that will make you cry

This was probably the worst top ten that I had to choose, I’m such an emotional reader that I find it difficult to find a book that didn’t made me cry. I will try my best to find the ones that made me cry the hardest :p
This weeks topic: Books that will make you cry.

 

(In no particular order)

1. The Fault in Our Stars (John Green) – Presented without comment. Okay?  *sob* Okay.
   
2. The Harry Potter Series  (J.K.Rowling) – Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince I wasn’t prepared to loose him, I was too young to be in so much pain, it just broke my poor little heart. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows it wasn’t any of the deaths (major or minor), but rather the very last lines of the very last book. Judge me if you want.
3. Eleanor and Park (Rainbow Rowell) – I knew this book was going to break my heart. I was right. There were a lot of feels in this one. The characters just became so real to me. I just wanted to hug them and make everything right for them.
4. Looking for Alaska (John Green) – Oh John Green, is your sole purpose in life to make us all cry?
5. If I stay and Where She Went (Gayle Forman) – This is actually two books, but both of them made me cry like mad, for different reasons.
6. Norwegian Wood (Haruki Murakami) – Is utterly heartbreaking. Set in 1960s Japan, Murakami’s most famous work follows a university student named Toru, whose life is altered by the suicides of people he loves. It’s a classic story of love, loss, and overcoming grief to seize life.
7. Beautiful Disaster (Jamie McGuire) – Sweet Jesus, can we just take a moment here to discuss how this book throws your emotions around? I cried easily 3 times during this book.
8. Mockingjay (Suzanne Collins) – KILL ALL MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS, WHY DON’T YOU, SUZANNE.
9. Allegiant (Veronica Roth) – Choking, punched-in-the-chest, dying from asphyxiation sobs.
   
10. The Book Thief ( Markus Zusak) – Predictaby enough, Holocaust books tent to end in tears for us. But this gorgeous, captivating account of nine-year old foster child is probably at the top of our pile.  What’s more romantic than a starving girl who can’t help but steal every book she comes across? Death’s unsentimental narration makes it all more raw.
    

Ana

 

Top Ten Tuesday – Characters who remind me of myself or someone I know

 

I think that in every book there is a character that reminds me of someone I know or even myself and most of you probably can relate to that.

This weeks topic:  Characters who remind me of myself or someone I know.

(In no particular order)

1. Hermione Granger (Harry Potter) –  While I was growing up and reading the Harry Potter series, Hermione totally reminded me of one classmate who was that geeky over achiever that did extra reports just for the fun of it, who constantly had her hand raised, and though you were crazy for not wanting to be in class. It was awesome to see a character like that who played such an important role in the series.
   
2. Mrs. Bennet (Pride and Prejudice) – Pretty much all of my aunts and most female relatives. They just can’t stop themselves from asking, every time that they see me, which I have to say it’s quite often, if I have a boyfriend or if I’m even thinking of getting married and he, whoever he is, should be rich.  
3. Catherine Morland (Northanger Abbey) – In this novel, Catherine totally finds herself caught up in the fiction she reads to the point that it causes drama in her love life. Yeah, that’s totally happened to me and I can totally see it happening to me in the future.
4. Katy Swartz (Obsidian) – Katy obviously reminds me of myself, she’s a book lover and it’s easy to relate to all the funny little things she says about  all her book loving and blogging things!
5. Molly Weasley (Harry Potter) –  Reminds me of my mommy. My mom cooks and cleans her way through the house! But, just like Mrs. Weasley, you do not want to get on her bad side or mess with her kids.
6.  Rose Hathaway (Vampire Academy) – She really reminds me a lof of my best friend MT. She is strong and doesn’t allow anything to stop her in what she wants to do in life even though she has an underlying soft spot and a fear of a lot of things. She gets knocked down a lot and still somehow manages to pick herself back up. She is unwaveringly loyal to her friends (even though they have their ups and downs) and she fights for those she loves to the death. That is her in a nut shell. In my honest opinion she’s strong when needed to be though, she has her weak moments. She tries and takes life by the horns and live life to the fullest. Friends and family come before herself. Maybe that’s why I connect with Rose so much.
   
7. Charlie Bucket (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) – Charlie is the kind, loving, good soul that grounds the book.  He is a dreamer.  The same can be said of my friend, LS.  He is kind, loving and the good soul that grounds me.  He props me up when I need it and tells me the honest truth when he thinks I need it.  He like Charlie, is the underdog that I root for.  His life hasn’t always been easy.  Yet, he soldiers on, always with a kind word and a gentle manner, always trying to better himself, to make his life meaningful and rewarding.  I can’t wait to see how he turns out.  There are great things in store for him.  I can just feel it.
8. Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter) – I like to think that on my better days I channel Luna’s aloof spirit. I’ve always marched to the beat of a different drummer and endured a healthy dose of ridicule for it from my peers as a child. Yet like Luna, I know the value of staying true to yourself, even if that makes you a flamingo among sparrows.

   

9. Amy Curry (Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour) – Like Amy my friend, AR, tends to be somewhat reserved and guarded. She doesn’t open up to people quickly, and usually gives them limited information about herself. To be honnest I’ve never understood why when you first meet some people they tell you their entire life story.
10. Jo March (Little Women) – I’ll take the leap. I always find myself gravitating back to Jo each year, reading Little Women with slightly different eyes. Each time I read it, I want to be like Amy or Beth, but I always end up with Jo. She’s a tough girl – the tomboy – and the one who speaks her mind and shows her beliefs by her actions. Like Jo, I’ve never been entirely comfortable in my place in the world, and have felt slightly off of my friends and colleagues. It takes a while for Jo to find her place in the world and when she does, it’s not necessarily where everyone expects her to be. Still, she ends up happy, and that’s all I could ever ask for myself.

Ana

My Favorite Movie Adaptations

I would have to say that books and movies are two of my absolute favorite things.
So when there is a movie adaption of one of my favorite books, count me in… even if it means that I will end up utterly disappointed, mad with world, crying my eyes out (most of the times), making me momentarily loose all the faith in the human race.

Favorite Movie Adaptations (by no particular order):

• The Lord of the Rings Trilogy – This is probably my favorite book trilogy, I cannot tell you how much of a nerd I am concerning LOTR. Peter Jackson dusted off the J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy, published in the mid-’50s, in a film trilogy that boasted a first-rate cast and never-before-seen special effects, especially in its creation of Gollum, a CGI creature voiced and embodied by actor Andy Serkis. It won a well-deserved Best Picture Oscar, among others, for the final 2003 installment. I will admit that I watch this trilogy every single month (sometimes more than once :P)
  

• The Harry Potter Series – I grew up reading these series and I LOVE the books and the movies, some a little more than others, still I love them. Though they occasionally suffered from being too close to a literal interpretation of the books, the Harry Potter movies by and large proved that a fantasy series could be brought to the big screen in glorious, engaging, humanized detail and satisfy the vast majority of its all-ages readership.
  I’m a big fan o J.K.Rowling and I’m thankful to her every single day for welcoming me to the wonderful world of literature.
  
• The Notebook – I like to consider Mr.Sparks one of the biggest romance writers of our generation.
  The heartbreaking 2004 adaptation of Mr.Sparks’ first novel about a lifelong, tortured love affair made Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams instant stars. Subsequent Sparks books-to-films have not fared as well. As a Notebook book fan, I have to say that the movie in my honest opinion the movie is really faithful.
• Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – So.. An adaptation and a Hollywood re-make. I wouldn’t usually touch this with a ten foot barge poll and initially I got on my high horse and said, ‘No.. Not even going to watch it when it comes to DVD.’ Having seen the Swedish trilogy I was already annoyed because I believed they just didn’t come up to scratch to the extraordinary trilogy of books by Stieg Larsson. What made me give it a try was what my two of my friends said, both lovers of the book too, when they came back from watching it at the cinema. They said it was good and that they really enjoyed the watch, but I wasn’t inclined to believe them. Then I asked, How did it end?’ ‘It ended as it did in the first book.’ they told me. Well.. this grabbed me. The Swedish films missed out this part, which devastated me because it missed out one of the most interesting character developments that then make the next two books so interesting. The American version’s dedication to the preservation of the literature and even the locations and settings is something that blew me away. I loved the story from the books an this film doesn’t mess with it. Brilliant.
• Requiem for a Dream – Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream is arguably one of the best anti-drug films to come out of Hollywood in the past few decades. Based on the acclaimed Hubert Selby Jr novel of the same name, the film explores addiction in its purest form. The beauty of the film is that it itself is an addiction that sucks you in with its brilliant script, soundtrack, characterization, and cinematography until you’re hooked, and then the inevitable happens. Like Trainspotting, the film projects the effects that drugs has on the mind on screen, but unlike the Danny Boyle classic, there is no bleak humor, there is no comic relief at all. This film simply injects itself into your veins and stays there for a very long time.

So far these are the ones that make my Top 5 favorites.
I do have to say that I’m looking forward to a few movie adaptations coming out this year, such as:

• The Fault in Our Stars,
• Divergent,
• The Maze Runner,
• The Giver,
• Gone Girl,
• Mockingjay.

Top Ten Tuesday – Fictional Characters that I’d crush on

I’ve been reading a lot of top ten Tuesday posts from other bloggers and some  of them have inspired me.
This weeks topic: Top Ten Fictional Boys I Would Crush On If I Were Also Fictional or if they were real. The only problem is that I just don’t know if I can narrow it down to ten. These authors know how to create some very attractive gentleman.

(In no particular order)

1. George Knightly (Jane Austen’s Emma) – I know that most people go for Mr.Darcy, and I though we would be in my top ten, but giving it a second though, Mr.Knightly is a much better choice. He is everything that Mr. Darcy should be and a little bit more. He’s funny, sweet, loyal, he wants to help the people that he loves be better and guess what? He’s smart enough to marry is best friend.
2. Park Sheridan (Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor & Park) – First of all, he’s half-Korean. I just can’t being to describe how much I crush on good looking Korean guys. 😛 Park is such a great character. He likes comic books, awesome music taste, great sense of style. He’s the sweetest, cutest, most interesting fictional boy that I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. I can’t even being to describe my feelings for him.
   
3. Augustus Waters (John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars) – Augustus Waters is the boyfriend I always wanted and the boyfriend I was (am)  also scared to love so much. He’s sweet, he’s sarcastic, he introduces you to video games and makes them really dirty and hysterical, and the most important, he’ll be there for you in the hard times. He is the guy who gives up his own Make-A-Wish request to make sure you got to live your life’s dream. He’ll waste no time because he knows that’s the one thing he can’t give, so he makes sure that all the time you spend together is worth it. But the one true thing that makes Augustus probably one of the best is that he’ll truly love you until the very end.
4. Etienne St.Clair (Stephanie Perkins Anna and The French Kiss) – It’s really hard not to love Etienne. He’s an America boy with a British accent and French name. He may be a little bit on the short size, but that doesn’t really matter, since he’s so smart, interesting, charming and totally sweet. I just can’t help myself but smile when thinking about him.
   
5. Jase Garrett (Huntley Fitzpatrick’s My Life Next Door) – There isn’t much to be said about Jase, but the fact that he is very much perfect. He’s sweet, funny, beautiful and sexy, caring and hardworking.
   
6. Peeta Mellark (Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games) –  This catch of a man is clever and classy, rebellious and realistic. With his sharp wit and determination, Peeta is a natural leader who is man enough to let the strong lady in his life shine. Most importantly, he possesses that most underrated of human qualities: kindness. I just find Peeta such a good person and let’s not forget that he bakes!
7. Ronald Weasley (J.K.Rowling’s Harry Potter) – I think that has a boyfriend, Ron would totally be the type to make sure you didn’t take everything so seriously, and let’s face it, if you’re even slightly as high strung as Hermione can be at times, you totally need someone like Ron in your life to remind you not to sweat the small stuff! He’s fiercely loyal and unafraid to stand by his friends, even when it means putting his own life on the line, and I’d say that makes Mr. Ron Weasley quite the catch indeed!
8. Gilbert Blythe (Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables) – Gilbert is one of the most wonderful men ever written about, period.  From the time he was about thirteen, he has wanted one thing: Anne Shirley’s love.  He is most girls’ idea of “the perfect man,” one who waited for her for years.  He’s so funny and smart and sweet and handsome.  Love him.
9. Tobias Eaton/Four (Veronica Roth’s Divergent) – Tobias is the bad boy fantasy of my list. He’s tall and dark, has deep blue eyes, and a full lower lip (YUM!).  He’s mysterious, quiet, and likes to think of things first before he does something. He’s also intelligent and loving.
   
10. Daemon Black (Jennifer L.Armentrout) –  Daemon is great, that said there isn’t much more to be said. Sexy and arrogant and brooding and hilarious with a very sweet and compassionate side.

I had such a hard time to narrow it down to just ten and I know that I’m probably missing some very important names in here, but this is really difficult. 😛
I would love to know your fictional crushes are! So that I know that I’m not alone with my obsession with fictional man.

Ana

Top Ten Tuesday

Hello!

Hope everyone is having a good week.
So, I’ve decide that every Tuesday, from today onward, I will write a Top Ten post. It can be about anything that I like or hate. So please look forward to it, so that we can discuss our opinions.

I will be starting with, TOP TEN BOOK COUPLES!

All book addicts have their favorite book couples and if you are like me, the list keeps getting bigger by the day.
But, I still have my all time favorites and here is some of them;

• Elizabeth Bennet & Fitzwilliam Darcy – Pride and Prejudice,
• Hazel Grace Lancaster & Augustus Waters – The Fault in Our Stars,
• Margaret Hale & John Thornton – North and South,
• Wendy Everly & Loki Stadd – The Trylle Trilogy,
• Anna Oliphant and Étienne St. Clair – Anna and the French kiss,
• Peeta & Katniss – The Hunger Games,
• Tessa & Will – The Infernal Devices,
• Severus Snape & Lily Evans – Harry Potter,
• Eleanor Douglas & Park Sheridan – Eleanor & Park,
• Aragorn & Arwen – The Lord of the Rings.

I just love them all and I know that Snape and Lily aren’t actually a couple, but it’s my favorite one-sided love.
Let me know your favorites book couples and if there is any  book that I should read with a great couple.