I’m excited to write this post, this’ll be my first time participating in a Top Ten Tuesday! I got the idea from, Erika (hover over the link for a message if you’re her, or if you’re not that’s cool too). The idea of T10T is originally hosted and created by The Broke and the Bookish, and basically every Tuesday they develop a new Top Ten topic for other bloggers (and themselves) to feature in their blog. Now let’s get started! And these are not in order of favoritism. I’m just going to list them in the sequence I think I read them in the last 3 years. Oh and I’m sorry for such bad quality pictures, I thought it’d be more fun if I actually took pictures of the books if I had a copy. I have such a terrible camera! -___-
Half the Sky
by Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn
Genre: Nonfiction, Social Movement
If you haven’t read this, you must pick it up immediately! It’s an inspirational book with a compilation of real life stories of young women in less developed countries. It explores issues such as women oppression, sex trafficking, and gender inequality.
Graceling
by Kristin Cashore
Genre: [Young Adult] High Fantasy
If you like strong female characters and the high fantasy genre, this is the book for you.
The Mortal Instruments (Series) by Cassandra Clare
Genre: [YA] Urban Fantasy, Paranormal
It seems that people either really hate this series or love it. Obviously, I’m part of the latter. The shadowhunter world is just badass. I love Clare’s wit and humor in these. And don’t even get me started on Jace. 😉
East of Eden
by John Steinbeck
Genre: Classics, Fiction
This one has to be my favorite read from high school. It’s about two families and how fate brings them together. There’s a lot of biblical symbolism used in the book, and overall the narrative is really interesting. If you’re looking for a classic that’s not too challenging or too easy, I recommend this one.
Vampire Academy
(Series)
by Richelle Mead
Genre: [YA] Paranormal
Vampire Academy is probably my all time favorite vampire series if I had to choose one. I love to read paranormal fiction, but I always have a hard time reading vampire books (the first vamp series I read was Twilight, and I hated it, sorry!). But this one has a strong female lead, great humor, and an unpredictable plot!
Just Listen
by Sarah Dessen
Genre: [YA] Contemporary, Romance
My favorite Dessen book is The Truth About Forever, but this has to be a close second. It has all of the Dessen elements, and the characters are so lovable. Usually I hate weak protagonists (especially if they’re whiny). And in Dessen’s novels the girls are vulnerable, but there’s always character development throughout.
The Infernal Devices (Series)
by Cassandra Clare
Genre: [YA] Steampunk, Paranormal
You guys already know I’m Clare biased, so no need to explain how much I love this series. Will Herondale. That’s all I’m gonna say.
The Tiger’s Saga (Series)
by Colleen Houck
Genre: [YA] Supernatural, Mythology
This one was a real interesting series I started last year… It kind of reminds me of Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians because of the use of mythology. But this one has Indian lore. Even though I didn’t care for the main protagonist, it was interesting and fun!
(…why are the books out of order in the picture? This is going to bother me…)
Unbroken
by Laura Hillenbrand
Genre: Biography
This is a great biography, really well written. If you’re interested in looking at WWII through the eyes of a POW (prisoner of war), I’d recommend this one. Even for non-history buffs, this is a really great read. Louis Zamperini lived a great life.
If you want a longer review, I wrote one! (:
The Glass Castle
by Jeannette Walls
Genre: Autobiography, Memoir
This one was a recent read, and a very good one. If you’re into memoirs, this is wonderful. It’s written well and a fast page-turner.
I also have a longer review for this one if you’re interested.
xingsings 
I still haven’t gotten to East of Eden yet (despite my owning it for years)–can’t wait to start in on it soon (another couple of years). Also, if you’re interested, come check out some more great book reviews and musings at Book Guy! If you like what you see, be sure to follow! Thanks!!!
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You really should, it’s a great read! And I checked out your blog. Interesting musings! It’s no wonder you teach English, all the posts I looked at were all well written. Hopefully this blog will help me become as eloquent as you! Thank you for stopping by! (:
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Wowza, love the kind words. Thanks!
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Graceling is so good! I really need to read the rest of the Vampire Academy series. I loved the first book! I hope you have a great week. 😉
Krystianna @ Downright Dystopian
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Wasn’t it? I can’t wait to read the other Graceling Realm books, I’m kind of behind but I’ll get to the already released ones eventually. And VA is great, you’ll have to tell me what you think if decide to pick them up again! Thank you! ^.^
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I recently bought East of Eden because I loved John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men so I had to read some of his other works. The book is rather long though.lol Hopefully I’ll get a chance to read it soon.
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I’ve read that one, but for some reason I wasn’t able to sympathize with Lennie… The Pearl is another short novel by him, and I liked that one okay. But this one is a definite must read when you get the chance, Erika!
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Half the Sky is quite the book. Sad but hopeful.
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Very much so! If you found Half the Sky interesting, you should check out SVC2A (http://svcall2action.wordpress.com). My class started this blog about 5 years ago, and it discusses issues that were mentioned in Half the Sky and introduces other global problems. I believe it’s still updated a couple of months by honors students at my high school, I’m sure they would love your input and insight! And I’m about to begin Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Kathrine Boo sometime this month, I believe it mentions similar topics that were found in Half the Sky.
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Yay, another first time Top Ten blogger! It’s a fun meme to take part in.
I’ve heard such great things about Infernal Devices, but couldn’t get into Mortal Instruments. The steampunk element appeals to me so much more than urban fantasy at the moment. Do you think Infernal Devices stands alone okay?
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It sure is! I’m excited to partake in this meme, it really is fun! (: That’s too bad TMI wasn’t for you, but I understand. It really is a hit or miss for most readers. I would definitely give TID a try though, maybe the influences from the steampunk genre will get you going for Clare’s works! And it definitely stands alone well, in fact, (obviously, since it’s during the Victorian England era) it sort of serves as a prequel to TMI. There are some connections and references to TMI, but nothing that should stop you from reading these! I would love to hear your thoughts if you ever do decide to read them! (:
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Excellent, thanks for the info! I knew it was a prequel, but wasn’t sure how strong the ties were. Will give it a try sometime.
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OH. MY. GOSH. I love The Infernal Devices and up til now, I can’t choose between Will and Jem. I’m a fan of TMI too but not as much as I do for TID.
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Trisha, I know what you mean, I think deep inside of me I know TID is a better series than the TMI in terms of originality and plot, but I can’t help but love them equally (my first fictional crush ever was Jace, hehe)! Have you finished the trilogy? (I thought I loved Will, but I eventually started rooting for Jem to the very end. He’s just so sweet, and it seems like I’m a sucker for violinists even in real life.)
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Maybe I liked TID better partly cos I read it before TMI that it became my “standards” lol. And yes, I’ve finished all of it. I’m about to start with Bane Chronicles and The Shadowhunter Academy 🙂
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THE SHADOWHUNTER ACADEMY? I’ve never heard about it before, what is it? Nice, I really want to read The Bane Chronicles when I get the chance!
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it seems Cassandra Clare is on everyone’s list this week. I will take this as a push to read her books. Very interesting post.
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Thank you! They’re really good, I would love to hear your opinion on them! (:
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Thank you for liking my poem King Xenophobe. It is a poem a long time aborning. Please return to my blog, WordMusic, as there are over 230 more poems on this one blog alone. I have another that has over 700.
Brent Kincaid
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A gave a closer look, and checked out your blogspot. Nice writing, I look forward to your future poems! And good luck on making a .com! 🙂
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we have the same book taste *-*
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Great, we’ll have to have internet tea sessions some time and discuss books! 😉
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TEAAAAAA *@_@* ♡^_^♡ YOU SPEAK MY LANGUAGE! id love that ^-^ hehehe im so excited! shizzle i forgot my tea thermus at home… oh well. have a wonderful day darling 🙂
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😀 Thank you!
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Excellent selections. I have tagged Graceling to read. In love and light Cheryle
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Nice, I hope you like it! 🙂
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