Top 10(er, 11?) Childhood Favorites

                                                  Top 10 Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and The Bookish

Today is a "freebie" Tuesday, meaning you get to pick any of the previous topics that you might have missed or never got a chance to do.

 1. Jamberry by Bruce Degen: I think this was probably one of the first books I identified as a favorite. This book is just cute.
 2. Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola: I think I liked this book mainly because of the copious amounts of pasta in it. I've always liked reading about food.
 3. Anatole by Eve Titus: I have always loved mice, or at least reading about them. This series of books is about a mouse who lives in France named Anatole. He lives with his wife, Doucette, and their six children. He is dissatisfied with the traditional way of life for a mouse and sets out with his friend Gaston to find an honest way to make a living. Someone else compared these books to Ratatouille which is actually a pretty good comparison as they are very similar in some ways, but at the same time totally different in others. I think with a lot of these books it's kind of hard for me to pinpoint all of the reasons that they are on this list, so you're just going to have to take my word for it and read them because they are amazing.
 4. The Digby & Kate Books by Barbara Baker: Stories about two friends: a dog, and a cat. And their shenanigans together.
  5. The Golly Sisters Books by Betsy Byars: One word: Hilarious.
 6. The Dorrie Books by Patricia Coombs: Again, really cute. A series of stories about a little girl witch named Dorrie ("her hat's always on crooked and her socks never match") and her cat, Gink.
 7. Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm by Jerdine Nolen: I think the title's enough explanation, right? I mean a balloon farm? How much more interesting can you get?
8. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett: A lot of you have probably seen the movie. I haven't, but I have loved this book almost from day one. The illustrations are fabulous and such an amusing storyline. Wouldn't we all love it if food came down from the sky? Well, probably not. But it's a cool idea, right?
   9. The Easter Egg Farm by Mary Jane Auch: Erm, so this book is just dang cute! It's all about this hen named Pauline that doesn't lay normal eggs like the other hens. The other hens kind of shun her because her eggs come out looking like whatever she was looking at, at the time. Her owner however, sees the gift that she has and lets her live inside with her and takes her new places to see what kind of eggs she'll end up laying. Super adorable.
 10. Looking For Atlantis by Colin Thompson: I don't even really remember the whole point of this story. It lured me totally because of the pictures. You can get a bit of an idea from the cover, which as you can see is totally jam-packed with stuff. You could spend hours looking and find new things.
 11. The Wacky Book of Witches by Annie Civardi: So seeing how this is the third book on this list about witches you're probably starting to think I'm a little weird. Which I am, I admit it. I had an obsession with witches when I was little. Not like the ugly, creepy, satanic kind. I just thought they were fun because they wore pointy hats and made potions and stuff. So I read like every story I could find about witches--it wasn't just witches either, I had an obsession with fairy tales and mythical/fictional creatures/people in general--which is actually kind of interesting because with all my interest in them, I don't think I ever dressed up as one. I was a princess multiple years in a row, but I don't think I ever went trick-or-treating as a witch. But that's beside the point. The point is, that this is a really fun(if slightly gross--there are newts' eyes and warts and all that)book with lots of pictures that are insanely detailed and fun to look at.

Other books that I really love, but didn't include in order to keep this post a semi-reasonable length.
-Meanwhile Back at the Ranch
-One Morning in Maine
-The Flying Dragon Room
-Madeline
-Harold and the Purple Crayon
Eish, you know what? I should just make a top 50 list or something... this is ridiculous.

What were your favorites books as a child?

Tons of awesome!

So....I realize I have been gone an abominably long time from blogging, and I'm not even going to try to come up with a valid excuse. But.... I did want to share a few things with you all.

1. This week The Apocalypsies are hosting the YAmazing Race with MGnificent Prizes, which is something you are going to want to check out. If you participate in it, you get to find out about a bunch of new Young Adult and Middle Grade fiction that either has/will be released this year by debut authors, plus enter a bunch of really awesome giveaways to win ARCs, swag, and other craaazy cool stuff. Not to mention the 5 awesome prize packs that will go to the winners of the race. Want more info? Click on one of the links above.

2. Over at Literary Rambles Casey and Natalie are hosting ANOTHER amazing giveaway with 20 YA/MG books that you could win!

3. Have you heard about SOPA/PIPA yet? The internet censorship thing that could kill Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.? If you haven't you've probably been living under a rock or in a cave or maybe on a desert island. You may or may not have already noticed that Wikipedia's English site is not accessible today as part of the protest. Abigail at Rear Window did a great post on it, if you want to learn more about it. Or you can Google it.Click here if you want to sign the petition against it. (<<Do it!! Please?)

Love y'all!

Blog Party! :)

Hey guys,

I just started following Abigail Kraft's blog Rear Window and right now she's hosting an "Authentic People" blog party (click here if you would like to participate too) and it sounded kinda fun so here we are.

Intro:

My name is Emily. I am a writer. Of stories. Not poetry. I love Owl City, Doctor Who, Scrabble, and Jane Austen(and Harry Potter!!! and chocolate!! and--oh dear, this could go on forever. :P). I like to think about things. Life, and love, and people, and pretty much everything under the sun. I sometimes run out of things to say to someone when I find out they don't like reading.

1)What's the nerdiest/geekiest/weirdest thing about you?

Um...well I think that top part pretty much summed it up.

Scrabble, Doctor Who, umm...and I browse the dictionary for fun.

2)If you could live in a fictional universe from any book, movie, or television show, what would it be?

Narnia

Or Hogwarts/The Wizarding World. :)

3)Little or big, practical or frivolous, what is one of your favorite items in your house?

\

4) Do you like animated movies? If so, what is your favorite?

YES! Ahh! Can't pick!! I really love Tangled, Meet the Robinsons, Despicable Me, Jungle Book, The Aristocats, and Mulan. But really almost all Disney movies are amazing. :)

5) What is your favorite household chore?

I guess I like vacuuming. Kind of satisfying. Dusting can be fun too.

6) What's your favorite thing to get at Starbucks (or your favorite coffee shop)?

I don't drink coffee, so I don't really have a favorite shop but I LOVE hot chocolate.

7) What is your favorite pizza topping?

Pepperoni & jalapeños!

8) Waffles or pancakes?

Waffles, definitely. I don't like the texture of pancakes.

9) Do you like to play games? If so, what is your favorite?

Scrabble, Scattergories, Uno, Quiddler, etc.

10) Have you ever let anyone win a game?

In special/rare instances. I let a little kid catch my sister's wedding bouquet. I had my hands on it too, but she was six. What was I supposed to do?

11) Have you ever dyed your hair?

Nope.

12) Do you make your bed every morning?

Ha, no.

13) Picasso or Norman Rockwell?

Love this picture!

14) Do you like carpet, tile, or hardwood floors?

I love cushy carpet because it's warm and soft, but hardwood's nice too.

15) If you could put one thing in a safe under your bed, what would it be?

Probably my Halloween candy.

16) What's your favorite condiment?

Mustard/Barbecue Sauce.

17) Have you ever thrown up on someone (excluding when you were a child)?

Nope.

18) What was the last thing that made you laugh?

Look at Harry's face!

19) Think fast...what's the first song that pops into your head?

Umm...well kinda cheated with this one, it was already playing. My Time With You by Kina Grannis & David Choi

Haha, there was way more Harry Potter in that then there was supposed to be. Oh well.

Top 10 Tuesday (on Wednesday)

So, I am going to apologize right now for the major awful absence for the past three weeks. NaNo and school have taken over my life, and I feel like I am in a vicious circle of enough words>not enough sleep>too much sleep>not enough words/homework. And though I can't promise any more posts in the very near future, I did want to do this one.

Top 10 Tuesday!

Hosted by the Broke and the Bookish

Soo....this week's topic is:

The Top 10 Books I've Been Meaning to Read for Forever, but haven't yet.

1. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

I am ashamed that I have not read this series yet. Everyone I've talked to says they're amazing and that I would really identify with her, but it just hasn't happened yet. Soon, though.

2. The Fellowship of the Ring(and the rest of the LotR trilogy)by J.R.R. Tolkien

Totally am like halfway through this one, but I have no clue where that halfway mark is. I started reading it like a bazillion years ago and don't remember a lot of what happened.

3. Almost ALL of Jane Austen's books. (Except for Pride and Prejudice! I DID read that one!)

Currently working my way through Northanger Abbey (and loving it!)

4. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Another one that everyone's supposed to have read, right? Well... I read A Little Princess, does that count for anything?

5. Calling on Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

I LOVED the first two books in this series (The Enchanted Forest Chronicles) but ended up stopping somewhere in this one. I'll get back to it. Someday.

6. Spindle's End by Robin McKinley

I have had this book forever and it looked so good and I started it, but I think at the time it was kind of long and I just lost interest, but it looks amazing so I'm gonna go back and read it sometime.

7. The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Ahhh! I LOVE mysteries. Nancy Drew? I probably read more than half of her books(of which there are like 60 something...). And have read like five other mystery series since, but Sherlock Holmes? The all-time classic? The KING of mystery? Not yet.

8. Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce

I have friends who love Tamora Pierce. I don't think I've ever finished a single book by her. SAd, I know.

9. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

So....I found this book, and there was a quote on the front from J.K. Rowling about how charismatic the narrator was, and stuff. And that got my attention, for sure.

10. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

My brother LOVED this book, and it sounded totally awesome to me. I think our library had run out of copies by the time I was interested in reading it though. I recently picked up a copy, but there it has remained. :P

What books have you never read, but feel obligated to or would like to, but just haven't had the time yet?

Hope y'all are having a fabulous week! :)

News!

1) Head over here and take a look Shannon Messenger's awesome blog contest in celebration of her book deal! She's giving away a bunch of really awesome stuff so you should check it out! Shannon's a super cool person and I can't WAIT to read her book!

2) For those of you who don't know... November is "National Novel Writing" month so if you haven't yet, you should check out the website at nanowrimo.org - the object is to write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days. I'm going to take a swing at it this year!

3) And, if you're looking for some comic relief--http://inkygirl.com/wwfc/

4) Last, but not least... a question: What do you do to get motivated to write?

Hey guys!

I'm not really feeling inspired today, but I found this at The Mirror in my Mind and it looked kinda fun so here we are!

a) Choose 10 of your all-time favorite books.

b) Take the first sentence of the first chapter(NOT the prologue) and make a list in your journal blog.

c) Don't reveal the author or title of the book.

d) Now everyone try and guess!

Note: I should probably warn you--most of these books are not best-sellers or even well known at all. This was done semi-intentionally, as I'm pretty sure 99.9% of you have the first sentence of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone memorized word for word. So, if you can by some unlikely chance guess them ALL, you deserve a medal. Or a box of fudge. ;)

1. On a warm October night in Chicago, three deliveries were made in the same neighborhood.

2. "Gramma, is that man following us?"

3. That fool of a fairy Lucinda did not intend to lay a curse on me.

4. Almost choked with excitement and joy, Betsy Ray leaned against the railing as the S.S. Richmond sailed serenely into New York City's inner harbor.

5. I've heard it said that girls can't keep secrets.

6. The train began to move at last.

7. It happened just the other day, to a boy named Roger.

8. Once on a dark winter's day, when the yellow fog hung so thick and heavy in the streets of London that the lamps were lighted and the shop windows blazed with gas as they do at night, an odd-looking little girl sat in a cab with her father and was driven slowly through the big thoroughfares.

9. I still remember the day we celebrated Krishna Jayanthi, the festival of Lord Krishna's birth, at our home in Bombay.

10. Miri woke to the sleepy bleating of a goat.

Bonus: From the highest point of Watchtop Hill, Urchin could see the whole island.

Top 10 Tuesday #2

Top 10 Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by

The Broke and the Bookish

This week's topic is:

Top Ten Book Endings That Left Me With My Mouth Hanging Open

1. Possession by Elana Johnson

2. Matched by Ally Condie

So glad these two have sequels coming out! If they didn't, I would cry!

3. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You (Gallagher Girls #1) by Ally Carter

4. Scorpia (Alex Rider #5) by Anthony Horowitz

5. Several of the Sisters Grimm books by Michael Buckley

These three are all part of their own series, so there's not much to be said about them...

6. Bright Shadow by Avi - GRRR!!! Least favorite heroine EVER!

7. A Drowned Maiden's Hair: A Melodrama by Laura Amy Schlitz - With a name like that, you can guess the nature of the ending at least...

8. Who Are You? By Joan Lowery Nixon - Um...could you explain the point of this book to me?

9. The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks - :') So gorgeous!!

10. Okay, I'm going to cheat on this last one and use the movie because I haven't read the book. Tuck Everlasting --What??? Why?? Gaaaah!!! So freaking painful it's not even funny!