The Avid Reader

Top Ten Favorite Kick Ass Heroines

Today I'm participating in Top Ten Tuesday, sponsored by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is top ten favorite kick ass heroines.

Here are my ten:

1. Tris Prior (Divergent) Tris is someone who really transforms over the course of her story, and I love that. She's brave and she pushes herself.
2. Hermoine Granger (Harry Potter) Hermoine is one of the best female characters out there. She's smart, loyal, and incredibly brave, and she always does the right thing.
3. Professor McGonagall (Harry Potter) McGonagall is firm but fair. She adores her students and would do anything for them. She is fiercely loyal to her friends.
4. Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games) I mean seriously.
5. Rose Hathaway (Vampire Academy) Love her, love the not altogether appropriate relationship she has with Dimitri, love how this girl will do and risk anything to help the people she loves.
6. Daenerys Targaryen (A Song of Ice and Fire) Daenerys has a haunted family history, an overbearing, vicious creep of a brother, an arranged marriage to a warrior, and a war to wage... and she handles it all with strength of character and grace. By far my favorite character in this series...
7. Arya Stark (A Song of Ice and Fire) ...But Arya is fantastic too! She's young but she is fierce as hell and unafraid to challenge anything and everything.
8. Lyra Belacqua (His Dark Materials) I would love her if only for the fact that she has a daemon, but she's got plenty of other great qualities too.
9. Scarlett O'Hara (Gone With the Wind) Until Hermoine Granger came around, I would have called Scarlett my #1 favorite female character. I'm still lobbying hard for a future daughter named Scarlett.
10. Melanie Wilkes (Gone With the Wind) All of Scarlett's strength and then some. Melanie always puts everyone else first and she steadfastly refuses to believe the worst of anyone.

Who am I missing?

Top Ten Young Adult Villains

Today I'm participating in Top Ten Tuesday with The Broke and the Bookish. It's a freebie this week. so I'm listing the top ten villains in young adult literature.

If you're joining in, be sure to go link up!

1. President Snow from The Hunger Games. I absolutely adore this series, and President Snow really gives me the creeps. I don't know what's more disturbing, his fixation on Katniss or his obsession with blood red roses.
2. Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter series. I know this one may be debatable to some but ohhhhh, do I dislike this guy!
3. Mayor Prentiss from The Knife of Never Letting Go. I've seen some people cite Aaron as another significant villain from this book, and I agree, but there's something about how much power Prentiss has that makes him truly terrifying. There's not much scarier than that perfect blend of crazy and powerful!
4. Mrs. Coulter from The Golden Compass. And her golden monkey too!
5. Drake from Gone, and even moreso for the rest of the series. Here is a character without a single redeeming quality. Plus, the hand seriously freaks me out!
6. Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter books. I see her as very similar to Drake in that she just takes so much pleasure in the suffering of others. There's another layer of creepy to her when you add in the kitten obsession!
7. Jeanine Matthews from Divergent. Mind control serum? Now that's truly evil.
8. The white witch from the Narnia series. As a kid she scared me to death.
9. The Volturi from Twilight. Again I think a lot of what makes them so scary is the power that they yield.
10. The Strigoi from the Vampire Academy novels. Way to take vampires and make them even more terrifying!

Who are some of your favorite young adult villains??

Top Ten Tuesday (2)

Today I'm participating in Top Ten Tuesday, created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's theme is:

Top Ten Books That Would Make Great Book Club Picks

1. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins - There's just so much to discuss about this one. It's also a wonderful read!
2. Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell - This is one of my favorite books, and I think it's a great choice for a book club. Scarlet O'Hara is such a strong character and there's so much that can be said about her.
3. The Way We Fall, by Megan Crewe - A compelling look at human nature in times of strife.
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J.K. Rowling - Hey, these books are beloved for a reason. Choose any one of them and there's a ton of great avenues to persue for discussion. This just happens to be my favorite. :)
5. The Stand, by Stephen King - I think Stephen King is a master at depicting real human nature, and this is a great look at how various people react to the end of their world.
6. Summer Sisters, by Judy Blume - This is a great look at friendship and relationships. I loved reading it, and I know that I'll read it again in the future.
7. Delirium, by Lauren Oliver - I just flat out adore this book. There are plenty of things to discuss in a book group, and it's a fantastic read to boot. This is a book that kept me thinking long after I finished it.
8. Good in Bed, by Jennifer Weiner - I love books where the main character isn't rail-thin and gorgeous, and there aren't nearly enough of them.
9. On Writing, by Stephen King - I'm reading this now and every few pages I torture my husbannd with a running commentary of my take on the book. If I were reading this in a writing group, he'd be spared.
10. Backseat Saints, by Joshilyn Jackson - Joshilyn Jackson is easily my favorite author, and any one of her books would make for a great discussion.

What books would you recommend to a book club? What do you think of these?

 

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Suspense Novels I'd Recommend

Today I'm participating in Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week features a different "top ten" list, and this week's theme is "Top 10 books you'd recommend to someone who isn't a fan of X".

I'm a huge fan of all kinds of suspense novels, so I'm going with a list of ten suspense novels that I would recommend confidently even to reluctant suspense readers.

1. Blackout, by Lisa Unger - I love Lisa Unger's books, and this one is fast-paced and really keeps you guessing. It also has a very sympathetic heroine.
2. Little Face, by Sophie Hannah - The story didn't turn out how I expected, and I love that.
3. Shadow Man, by Cody McFadyen - This book is dark. Really, really dark. It's probably also the most suspensful book I've ever read. I can't recommend this highly enough.
4. To the Power of Three, by Laura Lippman - I love books that delve into the complex relationships between adolescent girls, and this is a great one.
5. Live to Tell, by Lisa Gardner - Is there anything more frightening than truly violent children? This book was chilling, and explored places I hadn't thought much about prior to reading it.
6. The Woods, by Harlan Coben - All of Coben's books are wonderful, but the plot of this particular story really grabbed me. I think it's a nice introduction to the author's work.
7. Roadside Crosses, by Jeffrey Deaver - I thought this had a compelling story and excellent pacing.
8. Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton - I really love this book. I just do. I'm a huge fan of anything dinosaur related, and it's action-packed the whole way through.
9. Abandoned, by Cody McFadyen - I know, it feels like cheating to use the same author twice, but I really can't recommend McFadyen strongly enough. That, and I simply couldn't bring myself to choose between Shadow Man and Abandoned - they're both that good!
10. The Watchers, by Dean Koontz - I'm a long-time Dean Koontz fan, and this has always been my favorite of his novels. It's a great read and very suspenseful!

What are some of your favorite suspense novels? I'm always looking for new favorites! Feel free to join in on Top Ten Tuesday, just be sure to link back to Broke and Bookish. (:

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Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for a chance to win the e-book of your choice from Decadent Publishing!