Top Ten Tuesday: Where are they now? #TTT

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish (click the link to visit them) who pick a different topic each week.

This week the topic is…Top Ten Childhood Characters You’d Love To Revisit As Adults. Or you could pick 10 characters and guess what you think they’d be doing in 10 years or 20 years.

There were a few different options for this week’s topic but I decided to do characters that I’d like to check up on ten years later.

Peter Pan and Wendy: Is Wendy married? Does she still think about Peter Pan? Is Peter Pan still in Neverland? There have been quite a few versions of what may have happened to Peter and Wendy but none of them have satisfied me thus far.
The Pevensies (Narnia): Did Susan and Peter ever return to Narnia? Or maybe they had children (not together of course…now that would be a different kind of story altogether) and they somehow ended up in Narnia? There is always room for more Narnia stories in my mind.
Winnie & Tuck (Tuck Everlasting): Did Tuck ever find love? Did Winnie ever go back to the immortal spring? Did she get older and change her mind?
Bella & The Cullens (Twilight): Where do Bella & Edward settle next? Do they get jobs or go back to school? Do they ever argue? Does Carlise ever do anything wrong? Does Jasper crack a smile? ALL THINGS I THINK ABOUT. LOL!
Katniss (Hunger Games): Where you at, Katniss? Please tell me you left ugh-Peeta and went to find Gale. Your children will understand, they’re probably Gale’s anyway, amiright?
Melinda (Speak): I’d love to see what Melinda gets up to after high school. Is she able to enjoy her life? Is she stronger for what she went through? Does make friends?
Jack (Room): Similarly I’d like to know how Jack got on after his traumatic childhood. What was he like as a teenager? Was he able to live a normal life?
Ari & Dante: Oh how I’d love to check up on these guys 10 years on. Are they still together? They have to be, right?

I’m struggling to think of more…that’s enough book-dreaming for now methinks! Who would you like to check up on ten years later?

The Madwoman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell #OutThisWeek

Title: The Madwoman Upstairs
Author: Catherine Lowell
Series: Into the Dim #1
Format: Digital ARC, 353 pages
Publication Details: March 1st 2016 by Touchstone
Genre(s): Literary Fiction; Mystery
Disclosure? Yep! I received an advanced copy in exchange for an HONEST review

Goodreads // Purchase

In this smart and enthralling debut in the spirit of The Weird Sisters and Special Topics in Calamity Physics, the only remaining descendant of the Brontë family embarks on a modern-day literary scavenger hunt to find the family’s long-rumored secret estate, using clues her eccentric father left behind.

Samantha Whipple is used to stirring up speculation wherever she goes. As the last remaining descendant of the Brontë family, she’s rumored to have inherited a vital, mysterious portion of the Brontë’s literary estate; diaries, paintings, letters, and early novel drafts; a hidden fortune that’s never been shown outside of the family.

But Samantha has never seen this rumored estate, and as far as she knows, it doesn’t exist. She has no interest in acknowledging what the rest of the world has come to find so irresistible; namely, the sudden and untimely death of her eccentric father, or the cryptic estate he has bequeathed to her.

But everything changes when Samantha enrolls at Oxford University and bits and pieces of her past start mysteriously arriving at her doorstep, beginning with an old novel annotated in her father’s handwriting. As more and more bizarre clues arrive, Samantha soon realizes that her father has left her an elaborate scavenger hunt using the world’s greatest literature. With the aid of a handsome and elusive Oxford professor, Samantha must plunge into a vast literary mystery and an untold family legacy, one that can only be solved by decoding the clues hidden within the Brontë’s own writing.

A fast-paced adventure from start to finish, this vibrant and original novel is a moving exploration of what it means when the greatest truth is, in fact, fiction.

Review

I’m not really sure why I requested this novel from Netgalley because I never got on with the classics at all and I couldn’t even differentiate between the Brontés (I can now though, whoop), but I can’t even express how happy I am that I gave it a go – I think it’s been my favourite of the year so far!

Samantha Whipple is the last living descendent of the Bronté family. She has been home-schooled by her father – with a heavy emphasis on literary criticism – and has a sharp mind as a result. She is also however, a bit strange and socially awkward, but adorably so.

Samantha has always lived with the Brontés legacy hanging over her like a cloud. It seems the more she tries to distance herself from them, the more they follow her around. Everyone assumes that she’s inherited a secret part of Bronté estate following from her father’s death but she has no idea what it could be or where.

When random Bronté books that belonged to her father start turning up she is both annoyed and intrigued about the whole thing. Luckily for Samantha she has a dashing tutor who may be willing to help her…

I loved everything about this book. The interactions between Samantha and Professor Orville were hilarious, and Samantha’s character in general (especially her hatred of all pretty much all fiction) just made me do actual LOLs.

I loved the academic setting and the literary debates. It even made me want to revisit that world. Not that my time at uni was anything like this…but maybe it could have been! I loved that it was like a literary treasure hunt. I loved the debate about ‘is all good fiction actually the truth’. It was nice to read a book that actually made me think a bit.

It even made me want to try the classics again. Maybe. One day 😉

The Madwoman Upstairs is definitely a book for Lit nerds. Like me, you don’t have to enjoy the classics to enjoy this, but it would probably help if you’re interested in the study of literature in general. Oh, and did I mention how swoon-worthy the professor is? OK so yeah…unethical…but y’know…HOT.

The Madwoman Upstairs gets ALL the unicorns from me!

Top Ten Tuesday: Book Nerds

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish (click the link to visit them) who pick a different topic each week.

This week the topic is: Ten Characters Who Are Fellow Book Nerds (love reading, are writers, work at a bookstore, etc.)

I went for characters from both books, movies and TV. Gotta love a book nerd in any capacity.

1. Meggie & Mo ~ Inkheart
Mo is a book collector and his love of books has been passed on to his daughter Meggie, but why doesn’t he read to her anymore?

2. Rory Gilmore ~ Gilmore Girls

3. Giles ~ Buffy the Vampire Slayer

4. Charlie ~ The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Charlie is such a beautiful character. There’s a lot more to him than just being a book nerd!

5. Flavia de Luce ~ The Flavia de Luce Mysteries
Flavia is too clever for her own good. She has taught herself everything she knows about chemistry and solving mysteries by reading and experimenting.

6. Bastian ~ The Neverending Story

7. Sarah ~ Labyrinth

8. Liesel ~ The Book Thief
People burning books in the street is the least of Liesel’s worries, but still…hell no!

9. Belle ~ Disney’s Beauty and the Beast
“It’s not right for a woman to read”

10. Bella ~ Twilight
I don’t exactly share Bella’s taste in books, but I loved that she’s a reader who never quite fit in…apart from with the Vampires, of course!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten books which feature characters who…crack me up!

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish (click the link to visit them) who pick a different topic each week.

The topic for this week is: Top Ten Books Which Feature Characters Who _____ (are musically inclined, have lost someone, have depression, who grow up poor, etc.) I decided to go for my favourite funny characters. The ones that make you do a LOL when reading in public places.

Book titles link to the Goodreads page

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy: “Magic, monsters, crime fighting, a sarcastic skeleton detective and a girl who kicks ass…what more could you want?”

Mystery Man & Dan Starkey by Colin Bateman: Black humour at its best. Mystery Man is like Bernard Black from Black Books, trying to solve crimes. So good! I did a whole feature on it here. And, Dan Starkey is a feckless journalist who finds himself in ridiculously stupid yet very sticky situations, constantly!

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness: Manchee the dog provides a lot of laughs and also tears in this book. I’ve never known a literary dog to have so much impact! Genius. [Review]

I am the Messenger by Marcus Zuzak: I loved Ed Kennedy’s self-deprecating sense of humour in this book. It’s such an underrated book overall in my opinion.

The Gates by John Connolly: Samuel Johnson and his dachshund, Boswell are a hilarious duo in John Connolly’s book about demon neighbours, portals, and the Large Hadron Collider.

A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon: I found this book really funny as well as bittersweet and slightly heartbreaking.

George Hall doesn’t understand the modern obsession with talking about everything. ‘The secret of contentment, George felt, lay in ignoring many things completely.’

I loved George so much, and he was darkly hilarious without meaning to be.

The Martian by Andy Weir: Mark Watney provides some much needed humour in this book about one man stranded on Mars. [Review]

The Ruby Redfort books by Lauren Child: I loved Ruby’s ‘sarky, feisty wit’ in these action-packed spy books. [Review]

The Flavia de Luce books by Alan Bradley: “Flavia is witty, tenacious and doggedly independent with a fiery, yet caring spirit,” making these classic mystery books a breath of fresh air. [Review]

Lazy Saturday Review: Hold Me Closer by David Levithan

Title: Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story
Author: David Levithan
Series: Companion to Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Edition: Paperback, 256 pages
Publication Details: March 17th 2015 by Puffin
Genre(s): YA; LGBT
Disclosure? Nope, I bought it

Goodreads // Purchase

Larger-than-life character Tiny Cooper, from the bestselling novel Will Grayson, Will Grayson, finally tells his own story the only way he knows how – as a stupendous musical.

This is the full script of Hold Me Closer, the musical written by and staring Tiny Cooper, from the New York Times bestselling novel Will Grayson, Will Grayson, written by David Levithan and John Green. Filled with humour, pain, and ‘big, lively, belty’ musical numbers, readers will finally learn the full story of Tiny Cooper from his birth and childhood to his quest for love and his infamous eighteen ex-boyfriends.

Review

I loved John Green & David Levithan’s Will Grayson, Will Grayson. It’s a beautiful coming of age story about two different Will Grayson’s who both struggle to be open with people for different reasons, and whose lives intertwine during the makings of the biggest, gayest high school musical in the history of high school musicals.

When I finished reading WG, all I could think was that I wanted to watch (or read) Tiny Cooper’s musical so badly, it was definitely one of my favourite things about the book – and here it is; The story of Tiny Cooper, BFF to Will Grayson, hopeless romantic, and self-proclaimed biggest, gayest, most fabulous human there ever lived!

Hold Me Closer is a funny, adorable, sometimes sad, but always fabulous story of Tiny cooper’s life, written as a musical, the very musical Tiny and Will worked so hard to produce in Will Grayson, Will Grayson. I loved it. The songs were great and funny, and I could picture exactly how it would look on a stage – it totally needs to be a stage show now, right?

It was exactly what I imagined from reading Will Grayson, I only wished it was longer! Hold Me Closer is an extremely quick read and easily devoured in one sitting. I highly recommend reading WG first, but it would probably still be a fun read regardless!

Available now in hardback, paperback and e-book from Waterstones

Top Ten Tuesday: You don’t write, you don’t call…where’s the love?

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish (click the link to visit them) who pick a different topic each week.

The topic for this week is: Ten characters I’d like to check in with (as in who you’d like to catch up with and see what they’re up to).

**Beware they may be spoilers ahead**

Ari and Dante // Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe: It’s only been a few weeks since I finished this book but I already want an update! Has Dante completely come out, are him and Ari going to live happily ever after??? Ahhhh.

James Frey // A Million Little Pieces/ My Friend Leonard: I’d like to know if James has stayed on the wagon and what he’s up to. I hope he’s found happiness & love!

Katsa, Po and Princess Bitterblue // The Graceling Realm: I don’t need an excuse to catch up with these awesome characters. I just wanna hang with them!

Jack // Room: I want to know how Jack grew up, what’s he like? What does he remember about his time in the room and how has it affected him?

Gale // The Hunger Games: Let’s face it, Gale is never far from my thoughts. Where you at Gale?

Claire Graham // Of Scars and Stardust: I loved this book so much. I want to check in on poor Claire and see if she’s still institutionalised!

Everyone from The Darkest Part of the Forest: I loved them all. I’m really hoping that Holly Black will give in and write a sequel to this; I need to know how Hazel, Jack, Ben and the horned boy are!

Tiny Cooper // Will Grayson, Will Grayson / Hold Me Closer: Why isn’t Tiny Cooper my BBF, WHY? I want to know what’s going on in his life! Did he find lasting love???

Bella, Edward & Jacob (ugh) // Twilight: It kind of goes without saying that I want to check up on this lot. Mainly just to make sure Jacob is behaving. Team Edward til I die. lol.

Winnie and Tuck // Tuck Everlasting: I’d love to know how Winnie and Tuck’s lives played out. Did Winnie ever see Tuck again? Did she live her life differently knowing the secret to immortality? Has Tuck stayed under the radar?

Top Ten Tuesday: High School BFFs

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish (click the image to visit them) who pick a different topic each week.

This week the topic is: Top Ten Book Characters That Would Be Sitting At My Lunch Table (you know…back to school theme).

OK, so these characters wouldn’t necessarily be sitting at my lunch table (especially not all at the same time – they’d probably kill each other), but here is my Top Ten of characters that I would have liked to be friends with at school.

Buffy Summers – BTVS: Well they didn’t specify book characters did they! I would totally want to be friends with Buffy in high school. I mean, I know I’d be in danger every day if I was one of the scooby gang, but she’d totally save my life. That’s what she does.

Stephanie/ Valkyrie Cain – Skulduggery Pleasant: It would likely be Stephanie’s mirror self who I would be friends with in school, because Valkyrie is always off fighting the bad guys with Skulduggery. But that would be OK with me. She’s awesome in all of her forms.

Patrick – Perks of Being a Wallflower: We would just be the bestest of BFF’s OK.

Tiny Cooper – Will Grayson, Will Grayson: I would totally help Tiny Cooper put on his Rocky Horror musical and become the very best of friends. I’m sure of it. I mean, I can’t sing, or act, so I’d probably be in charge of props or help with the script or something. He would relentlessly try to get me on stage. Oh the lolz we’d have.

Laureth Peak – She is Not Invisible: Granted, this one is unlikely as Laureth goes to a school for the blind and partially sighted, but maybe we’d meet during one of her adventures. Lauren (that’s me btw) & Laureth could take over the world.

Rose Hathaway – Vampire Academy: Rose is probably too hot to be my friend, and she’s always chasing after Lissa and Dimitri. But maybe I could win her over. I would totally let her feed on me if she ever felt like it.

Allison Reynolds – The Breakfast Club: Obviously, Allison and I would sit in the back of all of our classes listening to our Walkmans and hating the world in our all black outfits and unnecessarily heavy eyeliner. It would be a good time.

Alec – The Mortal Instruments: Me and Alec would totally swoon over Jace together, but I’d definitely support him in his relationship with Magnus Bane. I think he’d be a great friend. He’s pretty badass but sensitive and cute to boot.

Leo – Stargirl: I’d like to be Leo’s Stargirl. That is all.

Nick & Norah – Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist: I feel like both Nick and Norah are my soul mates. We could be a threesome, yeah? Kinky.

I’m looking forward to seeing who made everyone else’s list this week. Leave a comment and I’ll come take a look 🙂

Friday Feature: Great YA Father Figures

It’s my dad’s birthday today (happy birthday, Daddy Lipsy!), which got me thinking about my favourite dads or father figures in YA.

I actually tried to do this feature with mums on Mother’s Day but could hardly come up with any! I’m pleased to say I had more success with dads.

Jack Peak – She is Not Invisible

This one is fresh in my mind because I finished the book earlier in the week (review will be up tomorrow). I absolutely love Marcus Sedgwick but I was worried about SINI because it’s such a departure for him. I needn’t have worried of course. Considering Jack isn’t actually in most of the book, due to being missing, he made a big impact. We get to know him through his daughter Laureth who decides to go and find him in New York.

There were so many things that I loved about Jack, but I think my favourite was that always treated his kids like equals, like adults. He never talked down them, or thought they were incapable, and he trusted them and valued their opinions.

He’s also slighty mad. I think all the best dads are!

BUY ME

Mo Folchart – Inkheart

It’s been a long time since I read Inkheart, but I always think of Mo and Meggie’s relationship as one of the the greatest father/daughter relationships in contemporary fiction.

Both characters are grieving over the disappearance of Meggie’s mum but it only seems to make them stronger.

And, in the words of Dianne Tanner: HE COULD READ CHARACTERS OUT OF BOOKS SO THEY ARE ALIVE IN REAL ACTUAL LIFE !!!!! BEST SUPER POWER

He also passed on his love of books to Meggie, even if he won’t read aloud to her anymore…

BUY ME

Shalom Singer – The Selection

Similar to SINI, Shalom doesn’t get a whole lot of page time in The Selection trilogy but through letters and the occasional visit it’s clear that America is the closest to her dad.

He’s the only one who didn’t push her into entering The Selection despite how much it could help their family.

He also turns out to be pretty badass.

BUY ME

Charlie Swan – Twilight

Oh Chief Swan. I had to go there didn’t I.

So yeah, he might be a bit overprotective as far as boyfriends go but who can blame him, his daughter is seeing a vampire with control issues. Compared to Edward he’s like the mellowist guy ever.

He doesn’t lurk, or pry, and he’s always off fishing. Party Time!

He’s also totally hot, right? RIGHT?

BUY ME

Skulduggery Pleasant

This series is full of great father figures, from Stephanie’s actual father, to her late grandfather Gordon who still manages to help her out when she’s in a pickle, and then of course there’s Skulduggery.