Top Ten Tuesday – Carolina Book Nook

10 binge worthy TV shows

September 4, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is 10 binge worthy TV shows or amazing movies. These are my favorite shows, whether they are complete series or still airing. However, if they are still airing, they are shows that I’ve watched several seasons of (with the exception of “Outlander”…I’ve only seen the first season!)

Firefly

Five hundred years in the future, a renegade crew aboard a small spacecraft tries to survive as they travel the unknown parts of the galaxy and evade warring factions as well as authority agents out to get them.

Breaking Bad

A high school chemistry teacher diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer turns to manufacturing and selling methamphetamine in order to secure his family’s future.

Gilmore Girls

A dramedy centering around the relationship between a thirtysomething single mother and her teen daughter living in Stars Hollow, Connecticut.

Battlestar Galactica

When an old enemy, the Cylons, resurface and obliterate the 12 colonies, the crew of the aged Galactica protect a small civilian fleet – the last of humanity – as they journey toward the fabled 13th colony, Earth.

Friends

Follows the personal and professional lives of six 20 to 30-something-year-old friends living in Manhattan.

Supernatural

Two brothers follow their father’s footsteps as “hunters”, fighting evil supernatural beings of many kinds, including monsters, demons, and gods that roam the earth.

New Girl

After a bad break-up, Jess, an offbeat young woman, moves into an apartment loft with three single men. Although they find her behavior very unusual, the men support her – most of the time.

Outlander

An English combat nurse from 1945 is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743.

How I Met Your Mother

A father recounts to his children, through a series of flashbacks, the journey he and his four best friends took leading up to him meeting their mother.

Arrested Development

Level-headed son Michael Bluth takes over family affairs after his father is imprisoned. But the rest of his spoiled, dysfunctional family are making his job unbearable.

10 Hype Worthy Books

July 31, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Today’s theme is top ten books that are worthy of the hype they received. These are my ten picks, in no particular order.

The Language of Flowers by: Vanessa Diffenbaugh – This was before Goodreads was as popular and before I was part of The Silent Book Club on Facebook. So I heard about this book a on a few book blogs and from my mom. It was excellent and I’ve always heard good things about it, whether or not that qualifies as “hype.” 🙂

11/22/63 by: Stephen King – I read this fairly soon after it was released, but I still hear a lot about it today from book lovers. On Silent Book Club it is always one of the first recommended when someone asks what King book they should read. I loved it, in spite of the weird ending (which is true of many of King’s books).

The Book Thief by: Markus Zusak – Awesome, amazing book that people recommend all the time and rightly so. My husband did read the first chapter and decided he didn’t like it, but he’s not a cultured reader so he doesn’t count.

Beneath a Scarlet Sky by: Mark T. Sullivan – I haven’t heard as much about this book recently, but it was talked about a lot when it was first published. I loved it, whether or not it was an accurate portrayal of the real Pino’s life.

Room by: Emma Donoghue – This has been made into a movie that I haven’t seen yet, but it’s an excellent novel. The first few chapters were some of the most agonizing suspense scenes I’ve ever read. My oldest child was the same age as the protagonist of the book, which made it affect me even more.

The Help by: Kathryn Stockett – There’s a reason this book is one of the most popular novels of the modern age. The fact that it’s a movie has helped, but that’s the reason it became a film in the first place. Great story, well written, interesting characters.

Water for Elephants by: Sara Gruen – I don’t hear as much about this book now, but for a while it was highly talked about amongst book lovers. I never watched the movie, but the book was excellent and deserved to be recommended as much as it was.

Harry Potter series by: J.K. Rowling – Do I even need to justify why this is on my list? This series grows along with the characters and along with many of the first readers. That is neat in and of itself, but the original story, fun characters, and unique setting tops it off.

Wonder by: R.J. Palacio – For years I heard about this book but kept putting off checking it out. I figured it was just blown out of proportion or just appealed to young readers. Boy was I wrong. It’s fascinating how well this was written that it can reach young and adult readers. The message is so important as well.

To Kill a Mockingbird by: Harper Lee – Once again, I don’t feel there’s anything I can really add to make you understand why this book is on this list, but it truly is a classic tale. Part of it is how incredible this book was released when it was, at a time when the message was controversial as well as important. The message is still incredibly important. Also, I want to take this opportunity to say that I didn’t like Go Set a Watchman and I honestly don’t think it was ever supposed to be published. Harper Lee wouldn’t have wanted that considering it was a first “draft” of Mockingbird and she obviously decided to write something else instead.

10 Books Linked to Memories

July 27, 2018

I was traveling this past Tuesday so I missed That Artsy Reader Girl‘s Top 10 Tuesday meme, but I thought it was an interesting topic so I will do it late. This week’s topic is 10 books linked to specific memories/moments in your life.

The Host by: Stephenie Meyer – My mom gave me this book the day after I miscarried my first baby, along with a bouquet of flowers. It had just come out and I had been wanting to read it, but of course I wasn’t even thinking of it after the trauma of losing a baby. It was so thoughtful of my mom. I had a lot of trouble sleeping in the weeks following the loss and I vividly remember laying on the couch in the middle of the night reading this book, which I loved.

The Blue Sword by: Robin McKinley – This was the book that got me hooked on fantasy. My mom recommended it to me and I remember sitting on my bedroom floor reading this for hours. Looking back I can’t believe I could sit/lay on the floor without being sore after.

Where the Red Fern Grows by: Wilson Rawls – One of the first traumatic books I ever read. I was in fifth grade sitting at my desk during silent reading time and was struggling not to cry.

Maniac Magee by: Jerry Spinelli – I read this when I traveled to Arkansas to visit my grandma all by myself (can you imagine an 11 year old traveling on a plane across the country along nowadays?). While reading this I noticed I was feeling kind of funny. That night I had nightmares about Maniac Magee running lost around town and woke up with a raging fever. I had do delay my flight home because I was so sick.

The Ruins by: Scott Smith – I read this one the way home from my honeymoon in the Caribbean. I just remember being on the plane reading this horrifying book. Haha, not the most romantic honeymoon read. 😉

The Little Book of Baby Names by: Karen Kaufman Orloff – Here’s a more romantic memory. Sitting on the deck of a cruise ship on our honeymoon talking about names we liked for a future baby.

The Shining by: Stephen King – I read this with my “book club” (two best friends). It always reminds me of them. I even took it to my friend’s house and we read it at the same time while sitting on her couch. And then they came over on Halloween and we talked about it. Fun times!

The Myst series by: Rand Miller – I read these in high school when I had just started dating the guy who would become my husband. They give me a warm fuzzy feeling.

David Copperfield by: Charles Dickens – My dad gave me his childhood copy of this book (that I think may have belonged to his grandmother) when I was in second or third grade. I started reading it and he was just so proud that I could read it at such a young age. But it was so boring and I didn’t really understand it, but I didn’t want to stop reading it and disappoint him. So I just pretended to read most of it. I still own it and I still haven’t read the whole thing!

Star Wars: The Crystal Star by: Vonda N. McIntyre – I read this in high school and listened to the same song on repeat while reading it. For years after every time I heard the song I would think of this book. And now I can’t remember the song! But I still remember the feeling I had from the music and book combined.

10 Red, White, & Blue Book Covers

July 3, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Tomorrow is Independence Day in the U.S. which is where I live, so I’m sticking with the red, white, and blue theme. These are books that I’ve either read or that I want to read that have those colors on the cover.

Books I’ve read:

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The Woman in the Window ° Counting by 7s ° Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand

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Unwind ° Cinder

Books I want to read:

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American War ° Wonder Woman: Warbringer ° Outrun the Moon

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Shadowsong ° Behind Closed Doors

Top Ten RED books

May 8, 2018

TTT #16

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is 10 books that feature your favorite color. My favorite color has been red for years and years. Lately I’ve also been loving teal, but red holds a special place in my heart so here we go. 10 books that have red covers in no particular order. In choosing from my favorites list, I noticed that most of these books are sci-fi and that isn’t my most read genre. Just an interesting observation.

Wool by: Hugh Howey (Silo #1)

This is an interesting and unique sci-fi read. It was my introduction to Howey’s books, most of which I very much enjoy.

Inkheart by: Cornelia Funke (Inkworld #1)

A great children’s fantasy that was made into an okay movie.

Life of Pi by: Yann Martel

An incredibly unique fantasy/magical realism. It didn’t sound like something I’d usually enjoy, but I loved it. I still haven’t seen the movie.

The Martian by: Andy Weir

Am I veering into orange? This is a popular sci-fi for a reason. Who would have thought that I’d enjoy it so much with all of the scientific jargon? It was also a good movie.

Ready Player One by: Ernest Cline

Once again, a sci-fi that takes place in the future and includes an extensive virtual reality aspect. It’s an awesome book and I’m hoping the movie will be good too, but I haven’t seen it yet.

Doctor Sleep by: Stephen King (The Shining #2

This is the sequel to The Shining. Read my review because I really connected with this book and thought it was a great sequel. I was nervous about reading it, but it didn’t disappoint even though it was very different from The Shining.

Dark Matter by: Blake Crouch

Once again, I didn’t think I’d enjoy a sci-fi book that relies heavily on the theory of quantum mechanics, but this was an interesting, action-packed book. Yes, I did read a few articles about quantum mechanics and yes, it’s still hard to wrap my head around. My brain just doesn’t think that way.

Illuminae by: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (Illuminae Files #1)

The first in a very unique sci-fi series that isn’t complete yet. So far only the first two books have been published and they were both great.

Beneath a Scarlet Sky by: Mark Sullivan

An historical fiction about the Italian resistance during WWII. It was so well written and I was glad to read about a part of the war I wasn’t familiar with.

11/22/63 by: Stephen King

I know I’m stretching with the red here, but the red really pops on this cover and it’s a great book. Once again, it’s a sci-fi that deals with time travel back to 1963 and the assassination of JFK.