Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Bookish Settings I'd Love to Visit

Top Ten Tuesdays is a weekly feature hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. 

1. Hogwarts (from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling)
2. Brakebills (from The Magicians by Lev Grossman)
3. The Shire (from The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien)
4. Diagon Alley (from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling)
5. Battle School (from Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card)
6. The planet where Swans & Klons by Nora Olsen takes place. 
7. Hogsmeade (from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling)
8. The island the Amazons live on in Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo.
9. The land of David Wiesner's Tuesday where the frogs fly around town. 
10. The Burrow (from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling) - actually, I'd be happy living there if Molly Weasley would adopt me.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I'd Recommend to a Child

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. 

I don't have children, which surprises some people who meet me and say things like, "But you're so good with them!" I am, but that's because they are not mine and other people's children are super easy to chat with and spoil and suchlike. So these are not ten books I'll be passing on to any of my own offspring, but rather books I'd give to a friend's child or to a niece/nephew, which I don't have, either.

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling because everyone should believe in magic and courage and love.
2. The Giver by Lois Lowry because sometimes the majority are wrong and it's important to stand up for what you believe.
3. Red: A Crayon's Story because labels are for crayons and attic boxes and not for people.
4. Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester because oddballs make the best friends.
5. Love Monster by Rachel Bright because everyone, at some point, feels as though they do not fit in.
6. The Very Hungry Caterpillar because produce is good for you and junk food can give you a tummy ache.
7. The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat because wonder, magic, and imagination can carry you through the worst day.
8. A Family is a Family is a Family by Sara O'Leary because there are lots of different types of people in this world and we need to be able to get along with all of them.
9. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak because a hot dinner, forgiveness, and open arms will always, always be there for you.
10. Miles is the Boss of His Body by Abbie Schiller because consent is beyond important.

If you could purchase / give ten books to a child, hypothetical or otherwise, which books would you give them? 

TTT: Top Ten Character Names I'd Borrow

All the yarns are belong to me.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by the Broke and the Bookish.

I regularly name things, not just animate things, like my cat, but also house plants, cars, stuffed animals in the library, etc. Without further ado, here are ten character names I would borrow or have borrowed to name both animate and inanimate objects:

1. Crookshanks from Harry Potter. My cat is named Crookshanks, because she is orange. Fortunately, she doesn't have the squashed-face look or temperament of her namesake.
2. Tacky from Tacky the Penguin. My baby storytime plushie is a penguin, and I have named him Tacky in honor of my favorite picture book character. 
3. Clifford from Clifford the Big Red Dog. At my previous library we had a large, red, stuffed dinosaur whom the children dubbed Clifford the Big Red Dino. 
4. I once had an umbrella named Mahershalalhashbaz, which is a name from the Old Testament book of Isaiah. The name means something like, "swift to the booty, speedy to the prey," which doesn't sound like an umbrella at all, but I was a weird college kid, so what can I say?
5. When I was in college I suffered from chronic vertigo, requiring me to use a cane when I walked places on campus because the world was spinning so much I could barely stay upright. I gave my cane a biblical name, too: Abel. 
6. I am considering naming my spider plant Longbottom, in honor of Neville Longbottom from Harry Potter. It certainly grows as though the Herbology professor is caring for it. 
7. I named my dad's cat Yoda in honor of the Jedi master who has appeared in numerous books, not the least of which is The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda. Yoda the kitten had unusually large ears. Unfortunately, Yoda the adult cat looks nothing like a Yoda, so now he gets all kinds of nicknames.
8. If I ever have another animal, which I don't want to think about because that involves my current animal being no longer with me, I want to give it a very long pompous-sounding name like Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, which is Nearly Headless Nick's full name. 
9. I am considering naming our Christmas cactus Ebeneezer, because like its namesake it tends to ignore Christmas altogether and bloom at whatever time it feels convenient, like Fathers Day or Constitution Day.
10. Finally, I have a few stuffed dinosaurs, many of whom I have named Steggy in honor of Steggy from What the Dinosaurs Did Last Night. 

What names do you like to co-opt from books? Do you have a list of names you'd like to use in the future? Let me know in the comments!

My Fall TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly series hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. 

I try to keep a relatively short to-be-read (TBR) list, so my "Fall TBR" list is pretty much just my TBR list right now, since it's fall.

1. One Half from the East by Nadia Hashimi
2. Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
3. Burn, Baby, Burn by Meg Medina
4. Heartless by Marissa Meyer
5. Vicarious by Paula Stokes
6. Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee
7. Three Truths and a Lie by Brett Hartinger
8. The Bronze Key by Holly Black
9. When the Moon was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore
10. We Found a Hat by Jon Klassen

What are you itching to read this fall?

Top Ten Tuesday: Best Fantasy Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by the Broke and the Bookish.

There's no way I could pick the top ten books in ANY genre. It's like asking me to choose my favorite child (which is part of the reason why my only child is a cat). I can't pick the top ten books of all time, but I can give you the top ten books of right now.

With that caveat in mind, here are my current top ten fantasy books:

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling. I still remember exactly where I was sitting when I read this book, and I consistently re-read it, too.
2. The Magicians by Lev Grossman. Like HP but for grown-ups. Also, not as happy. But still really good.
3. Ash by Malinda Lo. Cinderella retold with a queer angle.
4. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. Allegorical Christian references aside, this series defined my childhood. I re-read these books then like I re-read HP now.
5. Tuesday by David Wiesner. This picture book is fantastic! I find new things every time I look through its pages.
6. The Iron Trial by Holly Black. This is a different take on the Harry Potter story. What if Harry discovered he was actually a reincarnation of Voldemort?
7. A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston. This book is truly lyrical and beautifully written. This is a book to be savored, not devoured.
8. Egg and Spoon by Gregory Maguire. This is a thick book, but it's well worth the journey.
9. Lair of Dreams (Diviners #2) by Libba Bray. This book also makes an excellent audiobook, and it had my spouse sobbing as we listened to it.
10. The Princess Bride by William Goldman. If you haven't read this book yet, watch the movie first. Then read the book. Then watch the movie again and appreciate all the back stories you don't get in the movie, since you've read the book. 

Did I miss one you think should be on this list? Let me know in the comments!

Top Ten Tuesday: TV edition

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by the Broke and the Bookish.

Confession: I confuse cable providers whenever they call me, because even though I like television, I don't have cable. I only got cable in my last apartment because cable+internet was less than just internet, which is an equation that still doesn't make sense to me. In any case, Netflix is my go-to source for television viewing, which seems to work just fine for me. If I'm desperate to see something recently aired, I can always check online and watch it there.

That being said, when I do have access to television, or if I'm binge-watching reruns on Netflix, these are the shows I usually choose:

1. NCIS. I have watched this show since its beginning, and Abby is still, hands-down, my favorite character on television. 
2. Bones. Ditto on this show. I especially liked the first several seasons when Bones and the other "squints" were more socially awkward, but it's still a favorite.
3. Criminal Minds. So apparently I really enjoy what my spouse calls "bang, bang, shoot 'em up" shows, but I actually like listening to the "why" behind what a person did, rather than watching the crime-committing parts. 
4. Hart of Dixie. This show is funny, and the small-town life that Zoe is trying to fit herself into describes some of the places where I've worked.
5. The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. I've written before about the similarities between Kimmy and me, and that's probably a lot of why I like this show. Unfortunately, since it gets released all at once on Netflix, I end up binge-watching the entire season, then slowly rewatching it as I wait for the next one.
6. Dr. Who. Confession: I don't like the current Doctor. I liked #10 and #11, but I am just not a fan of #12. Also, I miss Amy and Rory, so watching this on Netflix works well for me since I want to see the old episodes anyway. 
7. Star Trek. In answer to the inevitable question: Next Generation, Voyager, and Deep Space Nine, in that order. I can't really stomach much of either of the other two iterations. 
8. Cutthroat Kitchen. Why are "reality" shows so fun to watch? I particularly enjoy cooking shows, and Cutthroat Kitchen is a favorite just to see what weird things Alton Brown is going to do to the contestants and how they'll be able to make something amazing even having to work with their hands tied behind their backs or using tinfoil as their only utensil or whatever.
9. MasterChef Junior. The regular version of this show is also mildly entertaining, but I like watching the kids cook. First, they're adorable. Second, they're usually pretty nice to each other. Third, the judges are so much nicer to them than they are to the adults. It amazes me that the Gordon Ramsey on this show is the same one on Hotel Hell. 
10. My Little Pony:Friendship is Magic. I hadn't seen any of this MLP reboot at all until I met a colleague who was very interested in the entire franchise and was indeed writing a book about it. She recommended the ten episodes I should watch if I wanted to be able to have an intelligent conversation about the show, so I watched them, then I finished the rest of the first season, then I watched the first season in proper order, and before I knew it I had watched the entire five (now six) seasons as well as the movie spin-offs. I still like it, and now I know enough about it to talk with my young patrons. 

Is there a particular show you can't live without? How about a show that your spouse/roommate/partner/friend loves that you can't stand? 

Top Ten Tuesday: Back to School

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by the Broke and the Bookish.

Every August I have to resist the urge to buy massive quantities of pencils, notebooks, and especially crayons. I was/am one of those nerdy types who is excited for school to start. Since I went to college, then grad school, then taught, my life revolved around a school year schedule for 25+ years, so it's weird now to know that September doesn't mean a new notebook and freshly sharpened pencils and cute erasers that I won't use because it will "ruin" them.

Here are my top ten favorite school stories, in approximate age-appropriateness order:

1. Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. I love Chrysanthemum. I love her music teacher and her parents and this whole story. I make my storytime kids listen to it every year because it's such a sweet story. Henkes's other works are equally adorable and appropriate for this topic. 
2. Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard. I remember loving this story as a child, and as a former teacher I can somewhat relate to Miss Nelson's troubles and admire her solution.
3. Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar. This book, amazingly, was popular when I was a child and remains popular today. 
4. Ungifted by Gordon Korman. This book; I love it. The story is funny and sweet and has plenty of lessons embedded in it without being preachy, and the main character is adorably hilarious. This one would make a great classroom read-aloud.
5. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. This is an excellent book for kids who have read everything or think they are super "advanced" for their age or just for kids who like clean reads. 
6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling. I still remember where I was sitting when I read the first book in this series. The magic of Hogwarts and the wizarding world still sucks me in every time. 
7. The Wednesday Wars by Garry Schmidt. I read this book out loud to my seventh grade students, and they loved the way the main character thinks and all the hijinks he gets up to. 
8. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. This is a hard book to read, but it's important and it's good and necessary. I have needed this book, and I make sure to recommend it as appropriate.
9. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. This book is right up there with Harry Potter in my list of books that I love and often re-read. Just as many people imagine themselves being Harry, I think many people can imagine themselves as Ender, too.
10. The Magicians by Lev Grossman. This book is another one that I have savored, as it's magical like Harry but definitely darker than Harry and has many allusions to Narnia as well. 

What is your favorite school story? Do you have one you read every year?

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books Set in Space

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by the Broke and the Bookish.

Space: the final frontier ... Here are the top ten books set in space:

1. Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card. The author's personal beliefs aside, I really liked this series.
2. Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson. This book is set on Earth, but a comet/planet/something from space - they call it Calamity - comes to Earth and sets the whole story in motion.
3. Illuminae by Amie Kaufman. This was an excellent book to listen to as an audio selection. I don't know that I would have enjoyed the print version as much as I enjoyed the audio, which was excellent.
4. Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay. Beauty and the Beast set in space on another planet. Shut up and take my money.
5. Cress by Marissa Meyer. This is book #3 in the Cinder series, and Cress is a Rapunzel-esque hacker trapped in orbit of earth. 
6. The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett. To be fair, I'm not a big fan of the rest of the series, but this first book in the Long Earth series is really good.
7. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. Love this one. 
8. Binky the Space Cat by Ashley Spires. Binky doesn't technically go into space, but he does build himself a rocket ship and prepare to leave orbit. In the end, though, he doesn't want to leave his people behind.
9. The Martian by Andy Weir. I still love this book. I have read it maybe five times already and I haven't gotten bored yet.
10. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Again, the author's personal beliefs turn my stomach, but this is by far one of my favorite books ever. The movie was on the yucky side of "meh," but the book is excellent.

Have you missed one of these excellent titles? Then add it to your to-read list. Is there one I'm missing? Let me know in the comments.

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I've Never Read

The Red Badge of Nope

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by the Broke and the Bookish.

According to my Goodreads profile, I've read nearly 4,000 books so far in my life, and that's only counting the books I've added on Goodreads. I read across a wide variety of books - picture books, young adult novels, adult nonfiction, etc. Even so, there are a few books that "everybody" has read that I just haven't. Without further ado, here are ten books that everyone has read that I have not and probably will not:

1. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. I am not a horse fan. I never went through a horse phase as a child, and although I read books where the main character was a dog, I never got into the horse stories.
2. The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks. I never read this one as a child. I'm not sure why. 
3. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. I think I would have liked this one as a child, but I never read it, either.
4. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. I recommend this one regularly to kids who enjoy adventure stories, but I've actually never read it. 
5. The Life of Pi by Yann Martel. Everyone was talking about this book a while back, and I still see it circulating occasionally, but it's not for me.
6. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. My mother loved this book and the movie that followed. I couldn't possibly be interested in either. 
7. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. Nope. I didn't read this one, either, and I know people who loved this book.
8. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. In college I assisted a high school teacher by marking her students' papers so she could grade them more quickly. I read through a large stack of papers written about this book without ever having read it. 
9. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. I taught senior English for one year, and I had to teach this book, but I was less interested in reading it than the kids were, so I didn't. I discussed it with them, I wrote quizzes over it and gave them projects, but I never actually read the book. In fact, I didn't even try.
10. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. This book is the first book that was ever assigned to me where I did not finish it. It was not my cup of tea then and it still isn't now. I even completed a final project on this book - for which I received an A - and hadn't read more than two chapters. What's more, I taught this book to my 11th grade students for six years in a row, and I still never read through the entire book. When kids would ask questions in class about a particular point in the book, I would pretend I was a really good teacher and turn it back to the class: "What does everyone else think about this?" 

I could attempt to go back and redeem myself by reading these books, but honestly my to-read pile is large enough as it is, and I need to keep up with current children's and teen books for my job, so it's not likely that I will read any of these books any time soon.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I'd Buy

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

If someone handed me a fully loaded gift card right now and sent me to buy books, I'd be at a loss.

Here's my secret: I am a librarian, I am a bibliophile, but I am not a book hoarder.

I'll give you a second to digest that.

It's true. I love books, I love reading, I love connecting other people to books and talking about books I've read or books that are similar to other books, but I don't collect them around me like a dragon's treasure.

One reason behind this is that I've moved a lot in my life, and it's never been a "couple miles down the road" type of move, but usually a "to another state / country / time zone / continent" type of move. That means downsizing. That means only your very best books or toys or whatever come with you. [If you like sad stories, ask me about the stuffed animal box routine my mom had for us, where we had a Hunger Games-esque reaping of our stuffed toys before a move.] So the books I have, I've kept for a long, long time. And new books? Well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't like books, but I usually donate any books I receive to the library after I've read them, and I don't make a habit of purchasing any new ones, because I know they won't last on my shelf.

The other reason is simply this: I believe books are meant to be shared. If it's on my shelf, that means you're not reading it. The kid down the street isn't reading it. The lady in line behind me at the grocery store isn't reading it. I want books to be read and loved and used and beat up and dog-eared and talked about. And they do all of those things much better when they don't stay on my shelf.

That being said, if I were able to purchase ten books right now, and money and publication dates weren't issues, I'd purchase these ten soon-to-be-published books, and after I read them I'd donate them to the library or mail them to a friend or stick them in a Little Free Library somewhere unless they joined the small group of Books I Do NOT Give Away:

1. Heartless by Marissa Meyer. Cinder's author writing about Alice in Wonderland. WANT
2. the graphic novel version of Kindred by Octavia Butler. I just read the print version of this and can't wait for the graphic novel version
3. As I Descended by Robin Talley
4. The Bronze Key by Holly Black
5. Spindle by E.K. Johnston (actually, anything by E.K. Johnston would be on this list)
6. Three Truths and a Lie by Brett Hartinger
7. We Found a Hat by Jon Klassen
8. Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee
9. Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown
10. When the Moon was Ours by Anna Marie McLemore

These books have been on my TBR pile since I first heard of them, and I am *patiently* waiting their publication so I can read them and pass them along to others. 

What book would you buy right now if money and publication date weren't issues? Are there any books on your "I absolutely must keep these forever" shelf?

Top Ten Tuesday: The Books Made Me Do It

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by the Broke and the Bookish.

In no particular order, here are ten things that books have made me want to do or learn about after reading:

1. Plant a Garden. After reading The Martian, I really wanted to grow potatoes. On Mars. My compromise is that we have a tomato plant and a pepper plant and sometimes I grow potatoes in my cupboard by forgetting they're there. I'm sure Mark Watney would be proud.
2. Buy School Supplies. After reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, I really wanted to visit Diagon Alley. Yes, of course, a Hogwarts visit would be amazing, but I already have a school supply-buying problem, so magical school supplies are that much more enticing.
3. Fold Papers. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda made me want to try out my origami skills once again. I was quickly reminded, however, that those skills are mostly in my imagination.
4. Build a Bot. I would love to build a working robot like the kids did in Ungifted. I've built two so far that were for work, but none that I was able to design and tinker and ultimately destroy in epic battle.
5. Make a Mess. What the Dinosaurs Did Last Night is a great story of some dinosaurs that make big messes. I love the idea of posing dinosaurs and photographing them, and I was able to do just that last Dinovember!
6. Shelve Books. Book Scavenger made me want to hide books around the city of San Francisco. Once again, I was actually able to do that - I hid copies of Book Scavenger in places mentioned in the book itself!
7. Bake a Cake. Anytime I've read any of the Redwall series, I am overwhelmed by the inevitable feast scenes. They make me want to eat all. the. things.
8. Go Back in the Closet. Seriously, who hasn't wanted to find a magical land a la Narnia in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe?
9. Fly to the Moon. After reading Binky the Space Cat, I wanted to build my own cardboard rocket ship. Again, I got to do this one as part of my job. My book club kids read that book, so I made cardboard rocket ships for them to decorate.
10. Buy Another Book. Donnalyn Miller's Book Whisperer made me want to buy truckloads of books (with my truckloads of librarian salary) and give them to kids and teachers alike so we can destroy the Accelerated Reader program forever. Okay, so maybe we got a bit off-track on that one, but I still do want kids to be surrounded by books, hoards of books, all the time on the chance that they'll find something they like to read.

Has reading a book ever made you want to do something or learn something?