Amanda’s Top Ten Tuesday – Reading Slump

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Every week there’s a new topic where we get to choose our top ten and write about it. This week’s topic is top ten books that pull me out of a reading slump. This may or may not just turn into a list of favorite books. So here’s my list in no particular order.
1. Any of Nora Roberts books – I would list some specifics but then this would just turn into a list of my favorite books by Nora.
2. Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich – These books are always funny and interesting. They’re books that I can read super fast and can always pull me out of a funk.
3. Looking for Alaska by John Green – I just adore this book. I adore these characters. I adore all the feels it gives me. Even though I know it’s going to make me cry this is one of my go-to books when I’m in a reading slump.
4. Argeneau series by Lynsay Sands – These books are fast paced, interesting and just trashy enough for me to read no matter what mood I’m in.
5. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas – I love these series too much. Like, honestly I worry sometimes about how much I love these characters. Reading these books are like going to spend time with my best friends.
6. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas – I don’t know what it is about Maas and the characters that she writes, but I adore all the characters in this series. They impress me and make me laugh. There’s never a dull moment with this series.
7. Women’s Murder Club by James Patterson – I’m a sucker for a good mystery. A bit of mystery and suspense, throw in a handsome male character and you’ve got a book that I’ll read in almost any situation.
8. Crank by Ellen Hopkins – Hopkins’ books are fast-paced and thrilling. I used Crank for this list but really I could put any of them. Her books are almost always about heavy hard hitting topics, but the way they’re written make them quick, but intense reads.
9. A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest – This is a sixty plus book series. I can read three of them in a day. They will always get me out of a reading slump because they’re unique and funny and the action never stops.
10. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty – This was a recent read for me. But if all of her books are as good as this one was, I have no doubt I will turn to her books in the future when I find myself in a funk. The characters were funny and ridiculous and made it so I couldn’t put the book down.

Here are my top ten books that get me out of a reading slump (so basically a list of my favorites.) What would you put on your list for this week’s topic? Do you think I missed any? Let me know in the comments.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

Amanda’s Top Ten Tuesday – Series I’ve Given up on

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week we’re given a new prompt for a top ten list of all things bookish. This week is top ten series I gave up on or do not plan to finish. This is going to be a bit of a challenge for me because I rarely give up on books. So let’s see what I can come up with this week. Okay, so after coming up with an insufficient list I’ve decided I’m going to do a few series that I will definitely be finishing, but haven’t managed to get around to it yet.

1. House of Night by P.C and Kristen Cast – This series just had so many books. It got to the point where it was hard to keep up with the story and when new books came out. So I just stopped trying to stay on top of it. Now they’re coming out with books again and I just don’t think I’ll ever get around to rereading them all.
2. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon – I read the first four books in this series. I borrowed them from Antonia’s mom. But I ended up losing the fourth book and by the time I bought a new copy she had caught up to me and needed the books back for her to read them. I may eventually pick this series up again, but I have no real burning desire to do so anytime soon.
3. The Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn – These books were another series that I had a hard time keeping up with. There are so many books and I just lost track of which ones I’ve read and still need to read. I may pick them up again because I did really like the books, but it’s not high on my priority list.
4. The Women’s Murder Club by James Patterson – Once again, too many books coming out to keep track of. I will eventually read these again because they’re easy mystery reads but it won’t be anytime soon.
5. The Princess series by Alexa Riley – I just was not impressed by these books. I think I only read the first and part of the second before giving up.
6. The Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard – The final book in the series came out recently and I’d like to reread the whole series. When am I going to do that? Eventually, my TBR list seems to just keep growing instead of getting smaller.
7. The Talon series by Julie Kagawa – Again, the final book in this series was finally released and I’m planning to reread the entire series, eventually.
8. Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld – A few weeks ago, I learned that the third book, Nexus, was released sometime last year and I didn’t even realize. So I need to buy this and get around to finishing the series.
9. Millennium series by Stieg Larsson / David Lagercrantz – Literally just now while looking for books to add to this post learned that another book has been released in this series. I will read it, but when I get around to it and who knows when that will be.
10. Shadow Falls series by C.C. Hunter – I finished the main series of these books; I actually own all of them. But there’s a few spin-off series with other characters that I haven’t managed to get around to reading yet, but I definitely plan to.

This is my top ten for this week! What series have you given up on?

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

Amanda’s Top Ten Tuesday – Books I Recommend Most

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post where we talk about our top ten. This weeks topic is our Top Ten books that we would recommend most. This is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

1. Looking for Alaska by John Green – I recommend this book not only because it’s my favorite book, but because it’s thought provoking, interesting, slightly mysterious, and will have you laughing as well as crying and maybe even on the same page.

2. The Lux Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout – These are on my list because they’re the no sleep, no eating, skip work and school, forget to pick your kids up kind of good. They have a great female lead character and a relatively unique story line.

3. The Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich – This series has nineteen books out with twenty coming out sometime this year, but they don’t have to be read in order. These should be read because you’ll laugh to the point of tears at the situations the main character gets herself into. They’re great books to read if you’re in the mood for a funny book.

4. Burned by Ellen Hopkins – Hopkins writes about things that most people won’t talk about. She writes about serious issues in fictional story lines. These books make you thing about so many things but you can’t help but keep reading.

5. Eon and Eona by Alison Goodman – I recommend these to anyone that enjoys books with a strong female lead. These two books were amazing. I couldn’t put them down until I was finished reading.

6. The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks – This is another one of my favorites and I’m recommending it because of that. I enjoyed this book very much, to the point where I’ve read it several times. And all I’m saying is that you should do the same.

7. Any of the books written by Susan Elizabeth Phillips – Her romance novels are so easy to get lost in. They’re usually all around fun and enjoyable books. Lots of laughs and some great story lines.

8. The Fault in our Stars by John Green – I’m slightly obsessed with John Green. The Fault in our Stars is my second favorite book. And I suggest it because even my third time reading it I laughed and I cried and I thought about things I never considered thinking about before reading this.

9. Women’s Murder Club Series by James Patterson – I have read most of this series and have decided to re-read them. The four main characters are very strong women. I love these because throughout the books I feel like I gain such a strong bond with these ladies, even though they’re not actually real people.

10. The Bridgerton Series by Julia Quinn – I recommend this series because the first book just sucks you in then each book after you get to learn about the other siblings. With each next book you get to hear the stories of one more sibling until there aren’t any left and they’re all happily married. I just love these books, and that means you should too.

Keep on reading lovelys, Amanda.

1st to Die – James Patterson

Summary:
Enjoy the riveting debut of The Women’s Murder Club-James Patterson’s most exciting series ever. In San Francisco newlyweds are being stalked-and slaughtered. Enter four unforgettable women, all friends..Lindsay, a homicide inspector in the city’s police department…Claire, a medical examiner…Jill, an assistant D.A….and Cindy, a reporter who has just started working the crime desk of the San Francisco Chronicle. Joining forces, pooling their talents, courage, and brains, they have one goal: to find, trap and outwit the most diabolical and terrifying killer ever imagined.

Review:
1st to Die by James Patterson cause me to have a slight mental breakdown today. Patterson writes wonderfully and had me hooked from the very first page. The way this book was written was probably my favorite part about this book. He wrote it from two different perspectives, the main character, Lindsay Boxer, and the killer, who I’m not going to name. Throughout the whole book you know what is going on with both sides. You see how the killer is doing what he’s doing, and you also see the process that Lindsay goes through to catch the killer. The thing I liked most about this book was the fact that while I was reading I found myself yelling at the book because I didn’t expect things to happen the way they did. You can even ask Antonia, when I got to the end of the book I yelled very loudly and a lot with how it ends. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading, and I finished the book in a couple of hours. Every time I tried to predict what was going to happen next I was completely and totally wrong. The story twists and turns with every page and will leave you in shock once it’s over. I would read this book again and again, and probably will.
Onto the characters, their always my favorite part to talk about because I get so attached to them. The one’s I’m going to mention are the four best friends, Lindsay, Claire, Cindy, and Jill, then there’s the last on my list, Lindsay’s new partner Chris Raleigh.
I love Lindsay the most. She’s strong and determined and doesn’t let anything or anyone get to her. She goes through more than just the stress of finding the murderer and she comes out stronger than ever. She never loses her sense of what’s right and what’s wrong and always does what she thinks is best. Lindsay, unlike many other characters I’ve come to love, doesn’t lie to her friends about anything going on in her life. She finds things out and may wait a day or two to think about it, but always confides in those she cares about and trusts them to help her through. I really don’t think there was anything I didn’t like about Lindsay.
Now we get to talk about Chris! He comes into the book as Lindsay’s new partner. Neither can deny the attraction that’s between them. Chris always supports Lindsay in any way that he can. He helps her every step of the way, and doesn’t hesitate to let her know when she’s wrong. He has two sons that he very obviously cares about more than anything. Chris just is the perfect man throughout the entire book and I think I love him more than Lindsay does.
Next comes the girls, Cindy, Clair, and Jill. Claire is the first we meet in the story. She’s strong and dependable. She knows when she needs to be there for Lindsay and when to back off. She never criticizes Lindsay even when she thinks she’s wrong. She trusts Lindsay and because of that trust Claire helps solve a key piece into who the murderer is. We meet Cindy next. Cindy starts off as an annoying reporter that Lindsay doesn’t want to deal with and ends up becoming part of their circle and also helps instrumentally in the police case. I think I would be the Cindy of the group. She seems focused and caring but also doesn’t want anything to get in the way of her career. She’s fun loving and very clever, seeming to find a different way to almost every situation that arises. Jill comes last and kind of way later in the book. We didn’t get to see much of Jill, but from what we did see I think she’s a lot like Antonia. She’s very stubborn, but cares for her friends and is willing to give in for them and what they want and need. I love all of these girls, and that they remind me of my group of friends.
Overall this book was fantastic. Exactly what I expected from James Patterson, funny, suspenseful, heart wrenching, and well written. I’m very excited to continue reading this series and suggest that you go and pick up this one.

Keep on reading lovelys, Amanda.