Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Characters I'd Crush On If I Were A Fictional Character

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created over at The Broke and the Bookish.  This feature was created because they're particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish (and who isn't?). They're all about creating new lists including a little bit of everything and I've been meaning to participate for so long but always seemed to get behind.  So here we are and hopefully you'll head over to their page and check out what everyone else put up for this week's Top Ten.

Hasn't everyone crushed on a fictional character at one time or another while reading?  If you haven't, I don't know what you're reading, but it couldn't be the same books I read.  No matter the genre, some authors just know how to write a good male lead.  More times than I can count I've put down a book and wished there were more real guys out there like the characters I read about and here are just a few.

Crush #1:  Four - Divergent (Divergent, #1) by Veronica Roth

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

I think he fit the mentor roll for me.  I loved how he looked out for Tris the whole way through even when it didn't seem like the case.

Crush #2:  Travis Maddox - Walking Disaster (Beautiful, #2) by Jamie McGuire

Finally, the highly anticipated follow-up to the New York Times bestseller Beautiful Disaster. Can you love someone too much?
Travis Maddox learned two things from his mother before she died: Love hard. Fight harder.

In Walking Disaster, the life of Travis is full of fast women, underground gambling, and violence. But just when he thinks he is invincible, Abby Abernathy brings him to his knees.

Every story has two sides. In Beautiful Disaster, Abby had her say. Now it’s time to see the story through Travis’s eyes.

Yep I like a bad boy and he plays the card to a T.  Now I'm saying I crushed on him while he was in boyfriend mode, not while he was sowing his wild oats, pre-Pigeon.  And I also chose to specify the second installment in the series instead of the first because I felt like we got a more a rounded view of who Travis really was in this version with his POV, and I liked him all the better for it.

Crush #3:  Caleb - Significance (Significance, #1) by Shelly Crane

Maggie is a seventeen year old girl who's had a bad year. She was smart and on track, but then her mom left, her dad is depressed, she's graduating - barely - and her boyfriend of almost three years dumped her for a college football scholarship. Lately she thinks life is all about hanging on by a thread and is gripping tight with everything she has.

Then she saves the life of Caleb and instantly knows there's something about him that's intriguing. But things change when they touch, sparks ignite. Literally.

They imprint with each other and she sees their future life together flash before her eyes. She learns that not only is she his soul mate, and can feel his heartbeat in her chest, but there is a whole other world of people with gifts and abilities that she never knew existed. She herself is experiencing supernatural changes unlike anything she's ever felt before and she needs the touch of his skin to survive.

Now, not only has her dad come out of his depression to be a father again, and a pain as well, but Caleb's enemies know he's imprinted and are after Maggie to stop them both from gaining their abilities and take her from him.

Can Caleb save her or will they be forced to live without each other after just finding one another?

He took on the role of a protector so quickly it made me melt.  I get the soul mate factor played a role in that but it was nice to see all the same.  His world shrunk down to making sure the woman he loved was happy and safe and welcomed into his family in a super big way.

Crush #4:  Dylan - Pulse (Pulse, #1) by Patrick Carman

From New York Times bestselling author Patrick Carman, a teen fantasy-adventure of epic proportions. In 2051, some teens have a “pulse,” the power to move objects with their minds. Compulsively readable, with thrilling action scenes and a tender love story.

The year is 2051, and the world is still recognizable. With the help of her mysterious classmate Dylan Gilmore, Faith Daniels discovers that she can move objects with her mind. This telekinetic ability is called a “pulse,” and Dylan has the talent, too.

In riveting action scenes, Faith demonstrates her ability to use her pulse against a group of telekinesis masters so powerful they will flatten their enemies by uprooting street lights, moving boulders, and changing the course of a hurtling hammer so that it becomes a deadly weapon. But even with great talent, the mind—and the heart—can be difficult to control. If Faith wants to join forces with Dylan and save the world, she’ll have to harness the power of both.

Patrick Carman’s Pulse trilogy is a stunning, action-filled triumph about the power of the mind—and the power of love.

He had a full plate and then some.  I think it was his patience and understanding above everything else that struck a cord with me.

Crush #5:  Morpheus - Splintered by A.G. Howard

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

This guy was always one step ahead of everyone else.  Cool, calm, and super witty, I couldn't help being drawn in.  He's a charismatic character full of so much energy that just about everyone fell under his spell.

Crush #6:  Valek - Poison Study (Study, #1) by Maria V. Snyder

Choose: A quick death…Or slow poison...

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear...

Unbeatable?  Strong leadership qualities and a guy everyone respects for one reason or another.  His reputation preceded him wherever he went and still somehow his character maintained his confidence without becoming cocky and over impressed with himself.  Now that's attractive!

Crush #7:  Derek - Born At Midnight (Shadow Falls, #1) by C.C. Hunter

Don’t miss this spectacular new series that will steal your heart and haunt your dreams, Welcome to Shadow Falls camp, nestled deep in the woods of a town called Fallen…

One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever. Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls—a camp for troubled teens, and within hours of arriving, it becomes painfully clear that her fellow campers aren’t just “troubled.” Here at Shadow Falls, vampires, werewolves, shapshifters, witches and fairies train side by side—learning to harness their powers, control their magic and live in the normal world.

Kylie’s never felt normal, but surely she doesn’t belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks either. Or does she? They insist Kylie is one of them, and that she was brought here for a reason. As if life wasn’t complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas. Derek’s a half-fae who’s determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin’ hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past. Both Derek and Lucas couldn’t be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart. 

Even though Kylie feels deeply uncertain about everything, one thing is becoming painfully clear—Shadow Falls is exactly where she belongs…

The nice guy that I hoped wouldn't finish last.  Not all "nice guys" do it for me but Derek was able to be genuine, sweet, protective, etc...without being a pushover at the same time.  He was honest to a fault and had no problem wearing his heart on his sleeve.  You have to give the guy credit for that.

Crush #8:  Ares - Song of the Moon (Artemis Lupine, #1) by Catherine Banks

What if you found out that there was another world inside your own? What if all of the things you thought made you weird, actually made you powerful? 

Artemis's life is changed forever when the mysterious man from her dreams, Ares, comes to claim her as his mate. The seventeen year old girl must find a way to adapt to her true life and accept her fate or run from it. She must overcome her fears and human ideals to give her self to the dangerous world, and man, that is her destiny.

While he surely had his moments of arrogance and high handedness, it usually came from a good place.  He was the whole package and yeah, there's the whole he turns into a giant wolf thing, but whatever, right?  Authoritative, romantic, patient (most of the time), respected, handsome, etc...his good qualities far outweighed his bad ones.

Crush #9:  Hunter - Love Story by Jennifer Echols

She's writing about him. he's writing about her. And everybody is reading between the lines.. 

For Erin Blackwell, majoring in creative writing at the New York City college of her dreams is more than a chance to fulfill her ambitions--it's her ticket away from the tragic memories that shadow her family's racehorse farm in Kentucky. But when she refuses to major in business and take over the farm herself someday, her grandmother gives Erin's college tuition and promised inheritance to their maddeningly handsome stable boy, Hunter Allen. Now Erin has to win an internship and work late nights at a coffee shop to make her own dreams a reality. She should despise Hunter . . . so why does he sneak into her thoughts as the hero of her latest writing assignment?

Then, on the day she's sharing that assignment with her class, Hunter walks in. He's joining her class. And after he reads about himself in her story, her private fantasies about him must be painfully clear. She only hopes to persuade him not to reveal her secret to everyone else. But Hunter devises his own creative revenge, writing sexy stories that drive the whole class wild with curiosity and fill Erin's heart with longing. Now she's not just imagining what might have been. She's writing a whole new ending for her romance with Hunter. . . . except this story could come true.

An up and comer for sure.  Throughout this book Echols revealed piece by piece new sides of this leading man and I crushed hard.  He was just a guy trying to work his way up in the world because what he wanted more than anything was to better himself and not be stuck in a role just because of where he was born or defined by his financial status.  How can you not love that?

Crush #10:  Rhode - Infinite Days (Vampire Queen, #1) by Rebecca Maizel

“Throughout all my histories, I found no one I loved more than you... no one.”

Those were some of Rhode’s last words to me. The last time he would pronounce his love. The last time I would see his face.

It was the first time in 592 years I could take a breath. Lay in the sun. Taste.

Rhode sacrificed himself so I, Lenah Beaudonte, could be human again. So I could stop the blood lust. 

I never expected to fall in love with someone else that wasn’t Rhode.

But Justin was... daring. Exciting. More beautiful than I could dream.

I never expected to be sixteen again... then again, I never expected my past to come back and haunt me...

Not willing to let his evil nature win out...he proved his love for Lenah by giving his life in order to make her happy and to give her the chance at a new start.  Not many can be so selfless, right?  He didn't just see what was on the outside of things, but looked deeper and was smarter and better for it.  The opening quote in the book's description above, pretty much sums it all up and makes it impossible not to love him and wish he'd jump out of the fictitious pages and join our reality.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I'd Recommend

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created over at The Broke and the Bookish.  This feature was created because they're particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish (and who isn't?). They're all about creating new lists including a little bit of everything and I've been meaning to participate for so long but always seemed to get behind.  So here we are and hopefully you'll head over to their page and check out what everyone else put up for this week's Top Ten.

Recommendations are hard but how can you resist a TTT like this when you're a total bibliophile like myself?  The answer is you can't.  So I went through Goodreads and scanned my lists of what I've read since joining and picked a few of my favorites.  No particular order and I know there are tons I've left out but there's nothing that can be done about that.  So here are ten good ones I'd highly recommend checking out if you haven't already.

Recommendation #1:  Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful, #1) by Jamie McGuire

INTENSE. DANGEROUS. ADDICTIVE.

Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University’s Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby wants—and needs—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.

It's fresh in my head and I think will always be on top of my favorites list.  There was just something about Pigeon and Travis that stayed with me.  They were the most dysfunctional couple but so real and lovable too.  The sequel from Travis' point of view, Walking Disaster, was icing on the cake.  Read this pronto if you haven't already and pick up the sequel in April a.s.a.p. because it's worth it!

Recommendation #2:  Fire (Graceling Realm, #2) by Kristin Cashore

It is not a peaceful time in the Dells. The young King Nash clings to his throne while rebel lords in the north and south build armies to unseat him. The mountains and forests are filled with spies and thieves and lawless men.

This is where Fire lives. With a wild, irresistible appearance and hair the color of flame, Fire is the last remaining human monster. Equally hated and adored, she had the unique ability to control minds, but she guards her power, unwilling to steal the secrets of innocent people. Especially when she has so many of her own.

Then Prince Brigan comes to bring her to King City, The royal family needs her help to uncover the plot against the king. Far away from home, Fire begins to realize there's more to her power than she ever dreamed. Her power could save the kingdom.

If only she weren't afraid of becoming the monster her father was.

An amazing world with amazing possibilities.  The characters Cashore created with Fire and the royal family along with Fire's makeshift family were impossible to resist.  They broke my heart and pulled at me with every turn of the page.  It was pure magic.

Recommendation #3:  Divergent (Divergent, #1) by Veronica Roth

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

I know this is a well known title and needs no help in the promotion department, but for me it blew the doors right open and had me falling love with the dystopian genre.  I thought I loved The Hunger Games series but when I read this book it paled in comparison.  I simply could not catch my breath from the first page to the very last.

Recommendation #4:  Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy, #1) by Richelle Mead

St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger...

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

It's hard to pick a favorite book from this series because they were all so good, but I decided on the series opener because that's where it all started.  Mead takes her readers on emotional roller coaster rides but it's always worth it in the end.

Recommendation #5:  Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

It's the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place. 

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. 

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune--and remarkable power--to whoever can unlock them. 

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday's riddles are based in the pop culture he loved--that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday's icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes's oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig. 

And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle. 

Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt--among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life--and love--in the real world he's always been so desperate to escape. 

A world at stake. 
A quest for the ultimate prize. 
Are you ready?

Its probably one of the most different, addicting, suspenseful, and enthusiasm-inducing book I've read in a very long time.  I just don't think there's another book like it out there.  Maybe you have to be a child of the 80s to get to the excitement level I did surrounding the material but regardless its amazing and totally under the radar in my opinion.

Recommendation #6:  Poison Study (Study, #1) by Maria V. Snyder

Choose: A quick death…Or slow poison...

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear...

I can't have a list like this without at least one of Snyder's titles on it.  Every world she creates is more wonderful than the next but this title and the rest of the series are forever my favorites.  Sheer brilliance from her scenery to her plot, her main characters as well as the supporting case.  It's all perfect.

Recommendation #7:  Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder

Restless souls and empty hearts

Brooklyn can't sleep. Her boyfriend, Lucca, died only a year ago, and now her friend Gabe has just died of an overdose. Every time she closes her eyes, Gabe's ghost is there waiting for her. She has no idea what he wants or why it isn't Lucca visiting her dreams.

Nico can't stop. He's always running, trying to escape the pain of losing his brother, Lucca. But when Lucca's ghost begins leaving messages, telling Nico to help Brooklyn, emotions come crashing to the surface.

As the nightmares escalate and the messages become relentless, Nico reaches out to Brooklyn. But neither of them can admit that they're being haunted. Until they learn to let each other in, not one soul will be able to rest.

Thank you for changing my mind regarding prose Lisa Schroeder.  Sitting through lit classes as an English literature major was not always fun and poetry and prose were involved in the lessons I liked the least.  Never really in my wheelhouse, but Schroeder changed my mind and showed me the light so to speak.

Recommendation #8:  Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier.

On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.

Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.

Not every book is going to be all love and romance, or laugh out loud comedy.  Sometimes the right book comes along and speaks to you.  I use reading as a break from reality and enjoy a great happy ending, but while Asher put me through a very sad and emotional read with this one, it was also too powerful and moving not to be a permanent favorite of mine.  It isn't one I'm going to re-read anytime soon, if ever, but it's one I'm proud to have on my shelf and a part of my library.

Recommendation #9:  Angel Star (Angel Star, #1) by Jennifer Murgia

Seventeen-year-old Teagan McNeel falls for captivating Garreth Adams and soon discovers that her crush has an eight-point star etched into the palm of his right hand; the mark of an angel. But where there is light, dark follows, and she and Garreth suddenly find themselves vulnerable to a dark angel's malicious plan that could threaten not only her life, but the lives of everyone she knows.

Divinely woven together, Angel Star takes readers on a reflective journey when one angel's sacrifice collides with another angel's vicious ambition in a way that is sure to have readers searching for their own willpower.

For bringing angels back!  I love a good story of good versus evil and angels versus the other guys, and Murgia does it to perfection.  I couldn't put it down and didn't want to.  It had all the elements I wanted and her writing brought it all together and it packed a big punch!

Recommendation #10:  Obsidian (Lux, #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something...unexpected happens. 

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades. 

If I don't kill him first, that is.

For leaving me torn.  The cliffhangers at the end were almost too much for me.  Who would have thought aliens could be so much fun to root for right?  I laughed and cried and finally cursed...because the next installment wasn't out yet.

Top Ten Tuesday: All Time Favorite Characters in Books

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created over at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they're particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish (and who isn't?). They're all about creating new lists including a little bit of everything and I've been meaning to participate for so long but always seemed to get behind. So here we are and hopefully you'll head over to their page and check out what everyone else put up for this week's Top Ten.

This week we're all looking back to see which characters really stand out in our memories as the all time favorites. As a huge reader, there were so many to choose from, but with this being a top ten list, here are the characters I just couldn't picture leaving out.

Favorite Book Character #1: Elizabeth Bennett

Jane Austen has forever been and forever will be my all time favorite author. There isn't a title yet of hers that I haven't absolutely fallen in love with. Admittedly there is no comparison to Pride and Prejudice in my mind, but they're all fantastic and classic for a reason. My senior thesis in college involved this work as well as how it's been portrayed in the theater with the numerous renditions out there. If I could make it through that semester long project and still come out on the other end loving this book as much if not more so than before, I think it's beloved status is safe for eternity.

But it's Elizabeth Bennett that has me re-reading this book over and over again. Her character is what everyone looks for in a heroine. She's smart, resourceful, independent and not afraid to speak her mind. While she may be shortsighted in the beginning, she readily admits her mistakes and corrects them as best she can. She's humble on top of everything else in the end, and a better person for it!

Favorite Book Character #2: Miranda Priestly

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger is a favorite of mine as well. After hearing it would be made into a movie, I rushed out to get my own copy of the book so I could devour it before it his the theaters. I wanted to see if it would live up to all the hype surrounding it, and it did! But while the main character Andrea was likable, it was her boss Miranda that stole the show. If you've seen the movie you've got a picture of Meryl Streep in your mind, and I will admit that Streep brought her A game when playing this character, but Weiseberger's words and creation had me drooling over the pages of this title.

Priestly is vicious but also multi layered. She's deep and yet so awful that it's easy to forget that most of the time. I know we've all been there, where there are characters in books so that are so awful it's amazing, but Priestly was one of those characters that's so fabulous regardless, you can't help but love to hate her! There are none like her.

Favorite Book Character #3: Kade

As another one of my favorite authors, Maria V. Snyder brings life to characters that become instant friends and readers will undoubtedly become invested right from the start. It's impossible to avoid. In her first installment in her Storm series, Storm Glass, her main character Opal meets many people along her journey, but it was the character Kade that really stuck with me throughout this book and the rest of the series. He was hard to resist for sure. While Opal had her work cut out for her in regards to solving the mystery behind Kade's stormy attitude, once she dug a little deeper, readers were introduced to a guy who had it all working for him.

He's often described as "mercurial" which is fitting, but it's his softer side that left me putty in Snyder's hands. I just loved watching his and Opal's interactions, and the lengths he was willing to go for her throughout the series. A true knight in shining armor.

Favorite Book Character #4: Valek

Keeping with Snyder's characters, I couldn't resist putting Valek on this list. Readers will first meet Valek in Poison Study and will be run through the gauntlet on what to make of him. I couldn't get enough of him. It was a constant challenge to try and figure him out, and I was always anxious for Snyder to reveal more of his background, what made him tick, why he did things the way he did. He was always calculating, constantly reading others, and it was just plain fun to watch. He was one of those characters that kept things interesting throughout the books he's featured in. Readers never knew what to expect next or what move he'd decide to make.

What didn't seem to make sense at the time, would later be revealed as a masterfully executed plan on his part, and readers could only bow down to his character and Snyder for thinking him up. I also must mention that he and Yelena's relationship and interaction made for quite the drama and ratcheted up the intensity level in each book without fail!

Favorite Book Character #5: Wayland North

I'm a sucker for the tall, dark, and mysterious guys...what can I say? Alexandra Bracken's Brightly Woven is one of my favorite debut YA novels out there. She kept me up late at night doing my best to fly through the pages of this title in the hopes that I could put myself out of my misery and find out what would happen to these characters I'd come to care about instantly. Wayland North was one of those characters. But he was also a puzzle, and I'm a girl that likes to work things out. I'm also a reader who enjoys a good teasing throughout the book, where readers aren't truly given a full picture until the bitter end. It makes things more exciting and keeps you on the edge of your seat, don't you think? It's no fun if you can figure everything out before you've even reached the half way mark, right?

Wayland North was so mysterious that along with Bracken's main character, I couldn't figure out if he was coming or going. Was he a guy that could be trusted, or yet another character just in it for himself? Bracken kept things extremely interesting and at time confusing (in a good way of course) so that by the end, I only wanted more. More of the dynamics going on between Wayland and Sydelle, and yes just more Wayland!

Favorite Book Character #6: Rose Hathaway

Richelle Mead took the YA genre by storm with her Vampire Academy series, and that was largely due to her character Rose Hathaway. I'm not sure what faults readers would be able to find with her? She's a kick butt kind of character that gets what she wants because she works her butt off in order to make it happen. She's a loyal friend and her heart and head are constantly in battle over how she should make her decisions. If you're looking for a friend, I would think you'd want someone like Rose that you could count on for a number of reasons, and who would come in handy in a number of situations.

Her romantic involvements throughout the series, left readers in a heated debate of who's "team" they were on. It was because Rose was different with each of her suitors. She was always able to be herself (and refused to be anything else) but it was the slight differences that made the world of a difference. She's a heroic characters who is easy to get behind and root for. Fans were often heard saying they were known to throw their books across the rooms at random moments because things weren't working out they way they wanted them to, when it came to Rose. She's a character readers get passionate about.

Favorite Book Character #7: Fire

I think since Kristin Cashore's Bitterblue will finally be released in only a few short weeks I've got her books on the brain. But no matter how much I enjoyed Graceling, it was her second series installment, Fire that really turned me into a HUGE fan. I couldn't get enough of her book's namesake, Fire. Her character was so unique and different and not just because of her abilities, although that whole idea and creation was genius on Cashore's part, but it was everything about her. Her powers over others was interesting and entertaining to watch, he history and involvement with her good friends was hard to resist. Readers were constantly wanting to know more, with no details left out.

Her new relationships and interactions with the royal family in the novel were thrilling. I couldn't wait to see what fight or intense situation her and they would find themselves in. When Cashore gives readers flashbacks of her and her father it's hard not to instantly respect Fire as a character. Each and every turn of the page had me wishing in the end that Cashore would add another book to her repertoire involving Fire and her friends so that readers would get the chance to see what was in store for them next.

Favorite Book Character #8: Ares Lupine

Catherine Banks is another of my favorite authors, and one of the main reasons is that I couldn't get enough of her characters. Her main werewolf, Ares is intense, endearing, lovable, and unpredictable at times. He's a lot of fun to watch. He's got that alpha male, predatory, protection thing going for him. After readers begin falling in love with Artemis, it's hard to not love Ares and how great he is with her. He's everything she needs. When thrown into an unexpected and scary supernatural world, he's patient with her and understands her needs.

While at times he keeps more information from her than absolutely necessary, it's hard to fault him when you learn that he only does it because he thinks it's what's best for her at the time. He's willing to fight for her at every turn, and what girl doesn't want a guy who will defend her, and protect her with their last breath, am I right? Banks weaves an incredible world together with her scenes, characters and circumstances, but it's her main characters like Artemis and Ares, that have readers reserving a special place in their hearts just for them.

Favorite Book Character #9: Penny Lane

Who didn't love Elizabeth Eulberg's The Lonely Hearts Club? I've read it a couple times myself (I know!) and can't seem to stop myself from liking it more and more each and every time I start it up again. Penny Lane grew up with parents obsessed with The Beatles (who isn't right?) and all things Lennon and McCartney related. She's put through the ringer when it comes to the boy department and makes every girl stand up and cheer when she decides to do something about it. While she may have at times (a lot) been misguided or ignorant of what was going on around her, it added to her endearing qualities in a way. She was lost and confused, but rather than standing around or curling up into a ball and crying about it, she decides to take a stand and fix the problem. Or at least she tries to.

And in the midst of it all, she learns a few lessons and changes her mind and the way she sees things in the process. Eulberg leaves readers demanding more! But as wonderful at this story is, it wouldn't be half as good without Penny Lane. Her friends might be entertaining and hilarious, but she's the glue that holds everyone and everything together.

Favorite Book Character #10: Hannah Baker

Jay Asher's book Thirteen Reasons Why is one that has received mixed reviews and feelings surrounding it's content and release. I myself, will admit that while reading it and long after I was finished I was unsure how I felt about it overall. I know my choice of Hannah Baker is strange when compared with my nine other favorite characters, but I couldn't leave her out. While she's already gone when the book starts, it's her voice that carries readers and Asher's characters throughout it's entirety.

Her voice is one that stays with you, and has stayed with me long after finishing this novel. It's a heart wrenching journey that she takes her fellow classmates on, and it makes for a chilling and eye opening read without a doubt. Asher's book is a tough one for me to recommend to friends and family, but at the same time, it's almost impossible for me to not recommend it at the same time. It's too moving and terribly moving to pass up. She turned out to be a character that refused to leave this world without at least making an attempt to right the wrongs she'd witnessed and at the same time trying to not only make a difference, but encourage realizations that not only the other characters needed to experience but readers as well.

I'd Like A Movie Version Please

After yesterday's post about the new young adult titles that will eventually be adapted to the big screen I got to thinking about other YA faves of mine that I'd like to see in the same position. I think everyone has thought about this at one point or another and you guys know that I love my countdowns with a passion, so I'm going to use the rest of this week to showcase of few of my favorite young adult titles each day that I'd like to see turned into a movie and maybe even who I would like cast in those movies.

Which titles are you shelves would you like to see hit the big screen? Any actors or actresses in mind that you could see featured in those films? Shoot me an email or leave me a comment and let me know what you've got up your sleeve. It's always fun to speculate and cross your fingers that one day maybe these favorites of ours will be premiering at the movies just like we'd always wanted!

I'd Like A Movie Version Pick #1: Poison Study (Study, #1) by Maria V. Snyder

Choose: A quick death…Or slow poison…

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear…

Who doesn't love Maria V. Snyder's writing, right? Right! I really wouldn't mind if any and all of her books were optioned to become movies, but this was the first of hers I read and I still hold it up at the top of my list of favorite books. It's got a wonderful and exciting new world for readers to experience, characters like Yelena and Valek that you won't be able to resist, and action packed plot twists that are jammed with cliffhangers and surprises that will leave you on the edge of your seats every single time. Can some file company please get on the ball and pick these babies up? You've got the Study series, the Glass series, Insider series and now the Healer series to choose from. While I haven't read the Insider series, the others are all amazing and I have no doubt that it falls into that bracket as well. Snyder was born to write and hopefully to also have her work translated to the movies!

I'd Like A Movie Version Pick #2: Hex Hall (Hex Hall, #1) by Rachel Hawkins

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire student on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

How much fun would this book be as a movie? There would bit a little bit of everything thrown into this film don't you think? Witches, vampires, werewolves and witches, oh my! Don't forget the demons either...all in all there would be so much that could be done and dreamed up for this series in the movies that I think it would draw fans of all ages. Just like Harry Potter movies had fans salivating over all the different aspects that Rowling included in her books, much of the same can be said for Hawkins. She didn't just stop at one kind of creature from the paranormal worlds. She decided to go for the gold and just about all of them!

I'd Like A Movie Version Pick #3: Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken

When Wayland North brings rain to a region that's been dry for over ten years, he's promised anything he'd like as a reward. He chooses the village elder's daughter, sixteen-year-old Sydelle Mirabel, who is a skilled weaver and has an unusual knack for repairing his magical cloaks. Though Sydelle has dreamt of escaping her home, she's hurt that her parents relinquish her so freely and finds herself awed and afraid of the slightly ragtag wizard who is unlike any of the men of magic in the tales she's heard. Still, she is drawn to this mysterious man who is fiercely protective of her and so reluctant to share his own past.

The pair rushes toward the capital, intent to stop an imminent war, pursued by Reuel Dorwan (a dark wizard who has taken a keen interest in Sydelle) and plagued by unusually wild weather. But the sudden earthquakes and freak snowstorms may not be a coincidence. As Sydelle discovers North's dark secret and the reason for his interest in her and learns to master her own mysterious power, it becomes increasingly clear that the fate of the kingdom rests in her fingertips. She will either be a savior, weaving together the frayed bonds between Saldorra and Auster, or the disastrous force that destroys both kingdoms forever.

I don't know any readers who have come across this book who wouldn't want to see Wayland North up on the big screen. There was just something about he and Sydelle that left readers only wanting more. I fell in love with him right there along Sydelle and was so happy with the way Bracken wrapped things up in this standalone. Now there are equal numbers of people who enjoy a standalone novel better than an installment in a series, just as there are a good amount of readers who crave a series or trilogy of books as opposed to only the one title. I get both sides, but I happen to usually fall into the series category. I wish Bracken had decided to expand this story into a series, but even though she didn't I consider this one of my favorites despite that fact. With all the magic and intrigue throughout these pages, I think this one would draw quite the audience as well.

I'd Like A Movie Version Pick #4: Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy, #1) by Richelle Mead

St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger...

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.

No matter if you're a fan of the paranormal genre or not, no matter if you prefer to read young adult titles or something different, I have yet to meet a reader or non-reader alike that has given this book and series a try and not come out the other end racing to the stores to get the next installment in the series. It's addicting, and dare I say it...I might even prefer this series to the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyers. I adore the Twilight novels, but Mead's world and characters grabbed a hold of me and refused to let go afterwards. I could not get enough and even now I couldn't be more excited to have the Bloodlines series out on the shelves, for no other reason than at least we didn't have to say goodbye to all of her characters when her final installment in the Vampire Academy series came to a close. Bring this one to the movies, and I'll be the first in line to buy a ticket! In fact, now that I've been talking about these books for the past couple of days, I think I might just go and re-read them again...I've got it bad!

I'd Like A Movie Version Pick #5: The Iron King (Iron Fey, #1) by Julie Kagawa

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined.

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

The only bad part about doing a list like this is the fact that now that I've thought about how these titles would be so great if they were adapted to film, I'm a little sad that it's not a reality. I'm still going to cross my fingers and hope that one day maybe they will be made into movies, but for now it's still fun to just think about it. Kagawa's Iron Fey series, has just about everything one could want in a fantasy novel. It's fun and witty, filled with characters both unique and endearing, and the land of the Fey is magical and awe inspiring. Not to mention a little scary. I think fun would be had by all if this were turned into a movie, don't you?