Top Ten Tuesday -A Song for the Pages

I didn’t think I was going to get this post done. I hadn’t even looked at the topic until this morning, and this is one that requires some thought. But man, it’s right up my book/music  alley. And I was one of the people that sent the B&B the suggestion to do this topic. So, I had to get it done. So I thought about it while I went about the rest of my packed day. And tada, we have a list.

There are a couple duplicate authors here. Some of that is because I didn’t give myself a lot of time. But it’s also because these books spoke to me in a way that easily connects with music. For some I have specific scenes related to the songs. For others, it’s just a general feeling.

The Replacement – Brenna Yovanoff

It’s all fire and brimstone. baby.

The Mission – Puscifer  

This song gets to the overall feeling of the book, but would really highlight some of the scenes. I’m thinking the cemetery scene or going through the underground for the first time.

 

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Top Ten Tuesday – A Little Help from your Friends

Today’s top ten list is a Valentine’s Day freebie. I’m sure this will mean many lists about romantic books and love and whatnot. But my favourite part of Valentine’s Day (besides the abundant amounts of chocolate) is Galentine’s day. Wait, you don’t know what that is? Let’s fix that.

All too often we get so caught up in trying to be the things we’re supposed to be – wife, mother, career woman, crazy single cat lady, whatever. To be the best at all the roles we’ve been assigned. In the need to be all things to all people at all times, we lose track of our relationships with other women. Relationships that aren’t about competition. The friends that support and sustain us. That give us an outlet to stop being those other things for a while and just be friends. Because for so much of our time, we’re expected to be all these other things.

My book picks this week focus on women caught in struggle. Women trying to find their footing when they don’t seem to fit anywhere. Women who could have used a good friend.

Top Ten Tuesdays – Death Becomes Her

I stressed out about this list – what would I put on a syllabus if I could choose to teach anything… Yikes. I don’t know why, but I really wanted to come up with something that could actually be used in a classroom. I have a friend who’s an English teacher. I send her book suggestions all the time. I feel like this list is important, even though it’s really just for me. I also didn’t want it to seem like a repeat of the lists I’ve done in the past. I thought about gender roles and female representation. Group mentality. Collective behaviour. Male protagonists. Self-discovery.

What I ended up doing was going through my Goodreads list and jotting down every book I think would be interesting to discuss in a group setting. I then had to whittle the list down a lot. A lot! If I’d let my OCD take over, I would have pulled out my old university syllabuses and went through what I read then to see what fit where, but that’s just too much research for a TTT post.

I finally decided on Death and Dying in Young Adult Fiction. This was one of my favourite sociology courses, and since I like my books dark, it seems appropriate. I’ve listed an initial discussion perspective for each of the books. There are probably deeper levels we would get to through discussion, but this isn’t a real class. It’s just the idea of a class.

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes

Collective behaviour towards torture and death when religion and faith are involved. As well as the treatment of girls involved in crimes related to death.

Top Ten Tuesday – Library Loans

This week’s TTT post is that last ten books that came into my possession. I’ve decided to focus on library books, cause so many library books. I’ve also only included physical books, no audiobooks. I haven’t read them all/had to return some before I got to them, but here are ten books I thought about enough to put them on my holds list.

The Absolute Value of -1 by Steve Brezenoff (review coming soon)

The absolute value of any number, positive or negative, is its distance from zero: |-1| = 1
Noah, Lily, and Simon have been a trio forever. But as they enter high school, their relationships shift and their world starts to fall apart. Privately, each is dealing with a family crisis—divorce, abuse, and a parent’s illness. Yet as they try to escape the pain and reach out for the connections they once counted on, they slip—like soap in a shower. Noah’s got it bad for Lily, but he knows too well Lily sees only Simon. Simon is indifferent, suddenly inscrutable to his friends. All stand alone in their heartache and grief.

Top Ten Tuesday – New Additions to My Neverending TBR List

Our second TBR list this month, but that’s fine. I’m constantly adding books to my list. No need for a big introduction his week. These are all recent additions to the list. Courtney Summers is the only author on this list I’ve ever read so it’s a bit of a crapshoot as to what to expect. Several of these aren’t even out yet, so we’ll see if I’m still interested when their release date actually rolls around.

 

All the Rage by Courtney Summers

The sheriff’s son, Kellan Turner, is not the golden boy everyone thinks he is, and Romy Grey knows that for a fact. Because no one wants to believe a girl from the wrong side of town, the truth about him has cost her everything—friends, family, and her community. Branded a liar and bullied relentlessly by a group of kids she used to hang out with, Romy’s only refuge is the diner where she works outside of town. No one knows her name or her past there; she can finally be anonymous. But when a girl with ties to both Romy and Kellan goes missing after a party, and news of him assaulting another girl in a town close by gets out, Romy must decide whether she wants to fight or carry the burden of knowing more girls could get hurt if she doesn’t speak up. Nobody believed her the first time—and they certainly won’t now — but the cost of her silence might be more than she can bear.