Top Ten Books I’m Excited To Read in 2012

Top Ten Tuesday | The Broke and the Bookish

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We’d love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists! Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists.

Click here to see the upcoming topics!

1 Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Marriage Plot

2. Terry Brooks’ The Sword of Shanara

3. Lee Strobel’s The Case for Christ

4. Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote

5. Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time

6. Anna Godbersen’s The Lucky Ones

7. Stephanie Perkins’ Isla and the Happily Ever After

8. Rivers Cuomo’s The Pinkerton Diaries

6. Stephen King’s 11/22/63

7. John Grisham’s The Firm

8. Tim Tebow’s Through My Eyes

9. Tina Fey’s Bossypants

10. Stephen Greenblatt’s The Swerve: How the World Became Modern

 

Top Ten Books I Read Because Of Another Blogger

Top Ten Tuesday | The Broke and the Bookish

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We’d love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists! Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists.

Click here to see the upcoming topics!

September 13: Top Ten Books I Read Because Of Another Blogger (In honor of BBAW!)

(These are books that were recommended by friends, family, colleagues, and library patrons as well as bloggers.

1. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins – (The Broke and the Bookish)

2. The Luxe Series by Anna Godbersen – (Colleague)

3. Beth Revis’ Across the Universe series – (Colleague)

4. The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins – (Colleagues)

5. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows – (Friend)

6. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson – (Family)

7. The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier – (Friend)

8. The Shack by William P. Young – (Family)

9. The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich -  (Friend)

10. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen – (Neal Wyatt/ Library Journal)   

 

Top Ten Sequels Jorie’s Dying to Read

Top Ten Tuesday | The Broke and the Bookish

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We’d love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists! Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists.

Click here to see the upcoming topics!

September 6: Top Ten Sequels Jorie’s Dying to Read

1. V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton – I began reading the first Kinsey Milhone last week and it’s addictive.

2. Beautiful Days by Anna Godbersen – Sometimes, I wish I’d waited until all the books were published before reading the first. I may need to review Bright Young Things.

3. The Next Book in Beth Revis’ Across the Universe series – I’m happy there’s more that Revis has to say but I want it five minutes ago.

4. Whatever Sarah Dessen publishes next – Not a series but she drops enough Easter eggs that it’s always good to read these in the order they’re published.

5. Persepolis III by Marjane Satrapi – Yes, it’s out there but not in English.

6. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson – Actually, I’m reading it right now. However, I put aside a few other books just to finish the Millennium Trilogy.

7. Aurora Teagarden Series by Charlaine Harris – Okay, I’ve not read one of these. Nonetheless, my mom picked up the first one and it definitely qualifies for my TBR. Unfortunately, Harris has shelved these as she writes more Sookie Stackhouse novels.

8. The Robert Langdon books by Dan Brown – While these books aren’t my favorites, I do like the random facts within each volume.

9. The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich – I haven’t kept up with Ms. Plum in a while but I hear she’s making her between Morelli and Ranger public in the next one.

10. The Case for Christ series by Lee Strobel – I need to read all of these.

 

Top Ten Books I’d Like to See Made Into Movies | Top Ten Tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday | The Broke and the Bookish

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We’d love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists! Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND fill out Mr. Linky  . I

If you can’t come up with ten, don’t worry about it—post as many as you can!

1. Katherine by Anya Seton – I think I mention this book in all my Top Ten Tuesday posts, which indicates how much I enjoyed it. This would make for a gorgeous period piece that would have everything – passion, love, war, history, intrigue. . . I could go on for days.

2. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein – Okay, I’m really curious as to who they’d cast for Valentine Michael Smith and Jubal Harshaw. Also, Heinlein needs to come to the silver screen.

3. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers – Another period piece so the costuming and the sets would be fantastic. On top of that, there’s a good story to be told. I imagine it would land on the Hallmark station but what the heck?  

4. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen – They’ve promised this oddball book whose author scoffed at being an Oprah Book Club selection would be made into a film. Viewers would be able to identify with these characters just as well as readers have.

5. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides – Rumor has it that this book will be made into an HBO miniseries. The screenplay seems to be there already and I can’t hardly wait.

6. The Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld – This might have to be an animated feature due to all the quirky physiques described. Yet, I’ve been awaiting this for years.

7. The Luxe Series by Anna Godbersen – Have you noticed I’ve got a thing for period pieces? This would be cool; a guilded age version of Gossip Girl on the big screen. The key would be casting the perfect Diana Holland who lept off each and every page of the quartet.

8. Bright Young Things Series by Anna Godbersen – I loath to use the phrase “my aesthetic” (which makes viewing Project Runway somewhat painful) but I’m a fan of Art Deco. I didn’t enjoy the movie The Great Gatsby much but I loved the costumes and the setting. I should’ve muted it and enjoyed the film that way. BYT would be awesome, though.

9. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green – This enjoyable book had me laughing at least once a paragraph. I imagine it being akin to the Numbers.  

10. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver – Even my least favorite Kingsolver book would make for a good film. The script is ready for it’s closeup.

 

Anna Godbersen’s The Luxe Series

The first of the series (Elizabeth Holland)

The Second of the Series (Penelope Hayes)

The third of the series (Diana Holland)

(Pictures of Splendor to come – I promise!)

Godbersen, A. (2007). The luxe. New York, NY: HarperCollins. 9780061345661

Godbersen, A. (2008). Rumors: A Luxe novel. New York: HarperCollins. 9780061345692

Godbersen, A. (2009). Envy: A Luxe novel. New York: Harpercollins. 9780061345722

Godbersen, A. (2010). Splendor: A Luxe novel. New York: HarperCollins. 978006162319.

The staff book club turned me onto The Luxe series. Being touted as a nineteenth century Gossip Girl, this series has been very popular. Although I haven’t read any of the Gossip Girl books, I have seen episodes of the show here and there. Ultimately, I was sold of the amazing dresses on the book covers.

The series begins in 1899 Manhattan. The old Dutch families attend the funeral of one of their own – the exquisite Elizabeth Holland. In third person, the narrator introduces us to big players of the series – the dearly departed Elizabeth Holland, her gorgeous best friend – Penelope Hayes, her handsome fiance Henry Schoonmaker, and her romantically lovely little sister , Diana Holland.

The first chapter takes us back a month or so to Elizabeth’s return from Paris. The Hollands have lost their patriarch and the family could be in ruins. That’s why Mrs. Holland desperately needs her elder daughter to marry the wealthy son of William Schoonmaker, Henry. Henry just happens to be the paramour of Elizabeth’s frenemy Penelope Hayes. The worst part is Elizabeth couldn’t care less about Henry; she longs for another. Matters aren’t helped when Henry falls for the younger Holland, Diana. To top all of it off, both Hollands better watch their backs around their spiteful maid Lina Broud.

The Luxe Series is a quartet and I’ve only revealed some from the first book. I enjoyed the first book. The descriptions of the conspicious consumption and the elaborate gowns were stellar. Godbersen’s understanding of kids playing grownups was superb. She even provides us context with ample clippings from “society pages” and quotations on etiquette of the day.

However, I wasn’t pleased with the culmination. I didn’t like the obvious subscription to Murphy’s Law, either. If I were to have this to do over again, I’m not sure I’d do it.

The series overall gets Two and a half out of Five Pearls.

Word bank: pending

Places: Manhattan, New York, Paris, California, Yukon, The Philippines, Cuba

For more on The Luxe Series, please check out the following links:

• Gimme More Books!: Review: The Luxe Series
• The Luxe Series Book Cover| Uncover
• Philadelphia Women’s Fiction Examiner – Review: The Luxe Series
• The Luxe Series | Harris County Public Library
• Sellers Library Teens - Book Review: The Luxe Series
• The Luxe – The Official Site
• Harper Teens – The Luxe Books by Anna Godbersen