Top Ten Tuesday [3]

This Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week I'm stepping out of the strict realm of fiction to present you with (and these do not include poetry-structured-fiction-book-writers) :

Top Ten Favorite Poets

1. Emily Dickinson

• We've all heard of her, but how many of us have read beyond her few most famous poems, or beyond the poems you had to read for high school English class?  I have loved her writing for a long time because it's not clear.  You have to decipher what you think she was talking about and I feel like she is a master of analogies and metaphors.

2. Adrienne Rich

• In my travels for something I can tolerate reading during the semester I found one of her books in an undergraduate library.  She's very profound and very visual.  Her emotions and opinions shine through her narratives of people's lives, and in descriptions of cities.

3. Mattie J.T. Stepaneck

• A truly special young man who died well before his time.  He was a self-proclaimed "peacemaker" and his poems spoke of hope and the good in people.  It seems that he truly believed man could be good to their fellow man and the world would right itself.  In the age of profoundly deep depressing poetry, his books are a breath of fresh air.

4. Aimee Nezhukumatathil

• I can't say much more than: Unique.  Read her book, Lucy Fish.

5. Sylvia Plath

• I have a strange love of Sylvia Plath that I can't explain.  Maybe it's her tragedy, maybe it's the fact that she never became a great master no matter how powerful her poems are.

6. Lord Alfred Tennyson

• I love him only for "Charge of the Light Brigade".  If you haven't read it, go read it now.  Seriously, right now, you can read the rest of this list later.

7. Lewis Carroll

• The author of Alice in Wonderland, and let's face it, everything he writes feels like a poem, even an epic.

8. Whoever wrote "Beowulf"

• Unlike the other's listed here I'm not a fan of the author per-say because no one knows who that is, but I'm a fan of the work.  Beowulf is an amazing epic poem of a quest, but within the quest are questions and challenges people still face today.

9. Shel Silverstein

• Come look me in the eye and say you don't love his poems, even as an adult.  Bet you can't do it.

10. William Carlos Williams

• Not truly a favorite, but he is a classic master.

Review: My Book of Life by Angel

So I checked my latest posts and realized I haven't done an actual review of a book in well over a month!  This shocked me.  Considering that is the main type of post people read on book blogs, and the main type I've aimed to provide my readers with.

While I have no time to read an actual (non-law related) book until Christmas break, I can at least try to review some of the books I've read in the last year or so.  Plus I can review some of my all time favorites.

So up today is a book I read in April.

Title:  My Book of Life by Angel
Author:  Martine Leavitt
Rating: 5/5

Summary:

When sixteen-year-old Angel meets Call at the mall, he buys her meals and says he loves her, and he gives her some candy that makes her feel like she can fly. Pretty soon she's addicted to his candy, and she moves in with him. As a favor, he asks her to hook up with a couple of friends of his, and then a couple more.

Now Angel is stuck working the streets at Hastings and Main, a notorious spot in Vancouver, Canada, where the girls turn tricks until they disappear without a trace, and the authorities don't care. But after her friend Serena disappears, and when Call brings home a girl who is even younger and more vulnerable than her to learn the trade, Angel knows that she and the new girl have got to find a way out.

Review:

This is one of my favorite types of books for three main reasons:

• Hard-hitting current issue (thus emotional)
• Poetry based fiction (not written in the traditional prose format)
• No sugar-coating of the characters or the storyline

I read this in two days, and while it took me a while to pick up after I got it out of the library, I couldn't put it down as soon as I started reading it.  I don't recommend it to readers under 15 or 16 because it is an issue that is disturbing, and because of the format it can be a bit cryptic in its message.

I like how not every feeling and situation is fully written out because of the author's style, but I can understand how it can be a hard read.  Personally, I like that it forces my imagination further.

Rating:

Top Ten Tuesday [2]

This Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

I'm so shocked at the response I got from my last top ten!  Which is why I'm going to continue this, especially because I don't have time to do actual reviews right now.

Top Ten Best Series

SERIES:

1. Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling
2. Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
3. Everworld - K.A. Applegate
4. Maximum Ride - James Patterson
5. Divergent - Veronica Roth
6. Brac Pack - Lynn Hagen (for readers 18+)
7. Guardians of Justice - Irene Hannon
8. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
9. Dark Secrets - Elizabeth Chandler
10. Veil of Roses - Laura Fitzgerald (not totally a series, but has a sequel: Dreaming in English)

Top Ten Tuesday [1]

This Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

This is my first attempt at a true "Top Ten Tuesday" list.  The theme/topic for this week:

Top Ten Books I Wish I Was Reading Instead of Course Books

1. The Longest Ride - Nicholas Sparks

2. The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns - Chris Colfer

3. Tell The Wolves I'm Home - Carol Rifka Brunt

4. Black Box - Julie Schumacher

5. Two Boys Kissing - David Levithan

6. The Boy on the Bridge - Natalie Standiford

7. Allegiant - Veronica Roth

8. A Separate Peace - John Knowles

9. Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay

10. The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court - Jefferey Toobin (yes, I would rather read about the supreme court than continue to read their decisions)

I'm back, sorta

Hello all!  So it's well past the time I said I would post again, but I have a good reason!  After getting back from vacation I started doing pre-class reading for the semester and since then I've barely had a moment to breathe.  As it is, I'm writing this post while in a class.

I had a nice vacation if anyone is wondering, it was very relaxing.  Since then I've been losing my mind, and that's only a small exaggeration.  For those of you who don't know, I'm a law student so my life is like a literal hell populated with 400+ pages of textbook, legal cases to read per week.

So what does this mean for those of you reading this blog?  I don't get to read anything that isn't assigned for class until Christmas break.  So when I get a moment or two and feel like writing out even more things I'll write reviews on books I've read in the past.  I'll also try to put up some lists and such.

And how many people would be interested in a poll of some sort?  Give you guys a say?

Okay, so I'll let you guys leave me comments on that and while you do that I'm going to compile a list of all the books I wish I were reading right now (there's at least 6).  Hopefully, and please notice that word: HOPEFULLY, I will post again by the end of the week.