The Top Ten Books I Read Before I Was a Blogger

This weekly meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

I haven't been doing many Top Ten Tuesdays lately (most of the topics haven't interested me much), but as soon as I saw this one I immediately decided to do it. I've only been blogging about books for a few months, and there are tons of books I love that I read before I started blogging, and it makes me sad to know that it might be years before I post about them (if I ever do). So here they can have a little place on this blog. 

10. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. This is my favorite book in the whole world. I want to re-read it this year, so if that happens, I will post about it! 

(Also, I've been toying with the idea of hosting a Les Miserables readalong...would anyone be interested in joining that, or if you're not, do you think other people would be? I've never hosted a readalong so I'm not quite sure if this would be a good option, but I think there are a lot of people who want to read this and are just too afraid. Any opinions?)

My Top Ten Romances

This weekly meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

I haven't done one of these in a while (I've been choosy with the topics) but I liked the idea of listing my favorite romances in honor of Valentine's Day! So here they are: 

10. Amy and Laurie in Little Women. I really liked their story because it was fun, but realistic. Sometimes things don't go the way you planned and you don't end up with the first person you fell in love with, but you end up with someone better for you. (I know that happened to me!) 

9. Emma and Mr. Knightley in Emma. Maybe it's the way-too-practical soul in me (or maybe it's the fact that I married someone several years older than me?) but I've always preferred Mr. Knightley over Mr. Darcy. I like that Emma's and Knightley's strengths and weaknesses complement each other. 

8. Margaret and John Thornton in North and South. I love how these two teach other so much throughout the book. Like Emma and Mr. Knightley, they're opposites that complement each other, but through the book we also discover that they are very much alike. 

Top Ten Bookish Goals for 2013

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Finally back to doing this!

1. Read at least 50 books.
2. Don't neglect the classics! I'm hoping to read at least 5 classics (it had BETTER be more, though).
3. Blog about the books I read!
4. Don't read JUST classics. Read more recent/just-for-fun books.
5. Read non-fiction! And a lot of it!

Well, okay, that's only five, and they're not exactly concrete. But since I'm not at all sure what's going to happen this year as far as work and school, it's just a good starting point. Here's to reading in 2013!

Top Ten Books I Wouldn't Mind Santa Bringing Me

I didn't do a Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by The Broke and the Bookish) last week because, well, it was about new releases in 2013, and I'm not really a "new release" kind of person. There are literally zero books I'm holding my breath for in the new year. I feel like most people who do that are more YA/fantasy/series kind of people, and I'm just not.

However, I do thoroughly like the topic for this week because this year I feel like all I want for Christmas is books! Since I will be moving to a space with a lot more room for books than I've had in the past, I want to start my collection.

10. Anything on my Classics Club list. Okay, this is probably cheating, and I will reiterate some of the ones I want the most later in the list, but it is much nicer to own a copy that I can mark and love and spend more than 3 weeks reading than it is to borrow it from the library, especially when it's a classic.

9. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I've been truly loving this book, and I'm afraid I might not be able to finish it before the break since I have so much to do in preparing for a wedding and the end of the semester. What will I do if I have to turn it in before I leave town?! And even if I do finish it, I'd just love to own it anyway.

8. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. This is such a long book, I know I might run out of renewals before I can finish it, once I get it started. And I've heard so many good things about it.

7. Make the Bread, Buy the Butter by Jennifer Reese. Ever since I heard of this book I've been wanting to read it, since I'm sort of obsessed with making my own food (and I will be even more once I have my very own blender, food processor, candy thermometer, and various other wonderful kitchen items which will hopefully grace my kitchen after I'm married).

Top Ten Books I'd Want on a Deserted Island

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

Here are the top ten books I would want on a deserted island...whether or not I've read them.

10. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. This book is everything I could want in a book, not to mention it's extremely long! I've been wanting to re-read it ever since I read it for the first time, so on a desert island I could really dig into it.

9. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. I can't die without reading a thick Dickens tome, you know. Sometimes I dream about the day I get to read this book...

8. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. A few days ago I wrote about being afraid of it, so I'd finally get a chance to face my fears. ...Yay.

7. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. After three ridiculously long books to keep me busy, here's a book I would read on days when I was feeling depressed about, you know, being stranded on a desert island. And I would finally get more time to finish it.

6. My Jane Austen collection. (That might be cheating, but technically it is one book...) I could re-read some of the great ones and finally get into the ones I haven't read yet (i.e., Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey).

Top Ten Books I'm Most Excited to Read

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

Today is a Top Ten Tuesday freebie and since my literary excitement is still new and fresh, I thought I'd write about books I'm excited to read! (Both from my Classics Club list and otherwise.)

10. The Romance of the Forest by Ann Radcliffe. This isn't on my list, but I need to read it for a class. I'm actually really excited about it! I'm severely deficient in pre-Victorian novels (except for Shakespeare), so I'll be glad to get one under my belt. Especially because a) it was written by a woman, and b) at the time it was written, novels were just starting to get popular. Aaaand it's a Gothic novel. It just intrigues me...

9. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. Oh, Dickens! I'm really excited to just get my teeth into this book. It's been a while since I've read a really massive novel, and I also want to get a lot more familiar with Dickens (hence my many titles by him on my list of classics). Plus, one of my professors mentions it and how wonderful it is every couple weeks, and she is one of my favorite professors (despite some horrific expectations, but that's another blog post).

Top Ten Kick-Butt Heroines

Thank you to The Broke and the Bookish for this Top Ten Tuesday meme (sans profanity)!

10. Margaret Hale from North and South. One of the things that got me about this book right away was its fantastic heroine. Margaret is tough and fights tooth and nail to protect and take care of her family. She's willing to defend a man she dislikes in front of an angry mob, even taking a hit for him. She never backs down, even in the face of death.

9. Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice. I actually hesitated to put her name because it felt cliche, but just because Elizabeth is well-liked doesn't mean she doesn't deserve a place on my list. Lizzie does what she wants without following proper societal "rules," but she does what it takes to protect her family's reputation. She's determined to marry for love and won't let any other circumstance prevent her from doing that.

8. Juliet Ashton from The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Juliet is the heroine of my all-time favorite non-classic novel. Juliet makes people laugh in the worst of times in England and then reminds them of what's important once the worst is over. She has her priorities straight--she's willing to run into a burning building to save books. She's protective of those she loves and tough with those who don't love her. I secretly want to be just like her.

Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara

7. Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With the Wind. In some ways I hate Scarlett, but in truth, I really, really love her. She doesn't care what anyone thinks of her, unless they're a man and she wants to get something out of them. She's clever and cunning and does what it takes to get what she wants. She takes care of her own and never looks back. She's tougher, stronger, and more determined than any other character in the story.

6. Aibileen from The Help. Heroine of another non-classic, Aibileen is one of those people you can't help but love. She works long and hard for her family, but she's tougher than she seems. She's talented and strong and everyone knows that God answers her prayers the most.

5. Viola from Twelfth Night. In the face of tragedy, Viola decides to run off and earn her own living dressed up as a man, but she knows when it's time to tell the truth. She's clever and witty and works hard to gain favor, but she can talk her way out of an uncomfortable situation. She doesn't let anyone tell her what to do.