Top Ten Books I've Read So Far In 2013

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND post a comment on our post with a link to your Top Ten Tuesday post to share with us and all those who are participating. If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. If you can't come up with ten, don't worry about it---post as many as you can!

 

I haven't read a lot this year so far so I am going with my Top Five

Adult Fiction

My Review 4 1/2 - This is one of the most emotional heart wrenching dark family horror stories I have ever read but with an alluring character.......
 

 

 

Psychological Thriller

My Review 5 - This is one of the best unreliable character driven books I have read. 

 

Novel

My Review 4 1/2 - The book had me engaged and very intrigued with the imaginary friend world but once the crime took place the book took on a suspenseful adventure......

 

 

 

Adult Fiction (not erotica)

My Review 5 - I loved reading about adults who find themselves, you are always growing and the unorthodox romance set this apart from the romance books you expect.

 

 

 

Thriller

My Review 4 1/2 - Ackerman is the craziest, cruelest killer I have ever read about so to mix it up with sadistic cult killers also, terrorizing to say the least.

 

 

 

 

I look forward to networking and seeing your top reads so far.

 

 

 

Monday - Reading and Personal on goings.....

Sheila over at Book Journey has an incentive for networking so go over and have fun while adding to your 2013 Wishlist.

Personal on goings......

What a week it has been.  My mom got knee replacement and so I took the week off to be with her and assist.  She is doing amazing with being mobile every few hours and doing what the Dr. ordered, tomorrow is first check in. Staying home is harder than I thought, goodness me.

My best friend lives in the US, I miss her lots.  Another good friend/colleague leaves the island in a couple of weeks to go back home in Canada, very sad, my friends are moving overseas.

School is out this Wednesday, summer is truly officially here now.

And my full reading groove is not back but I am reading, I keep getting pulled to grief books, oh how I want this phase to be over.

Book Related

And on to the books before I ramble to long.

I reviewed this one, great book, I think everyone will enjoy. My Review 4 1/2

 

 

I just completed this, need to review this week, it was good also.

 

 

 

 

I think I may read this next....

 

 

 

 

If interested, my 2nd personal countdown post about moving into my home.  I will be sharing once a month.

 

 

 

 

 

Countdown with Marce - My Home in Bermuda

My 1st post was about my inspiration for bookshelves and book art.

9 months left, tenants move out April 1 and we will start transition, hopefully be in fully by May 1.  One weekend every month I will share something with you.

We celebrated on June 11 for officially signing the papers and receiving the key.  We went out to dinner, food was divine.

I love living in Bermuda but the down fall is finding furniture and then figuring out the international shipping.  Some companies have been amazing with sending me fabric swatches but of course making it clear they don't ship overseas.

Here are my choices for living room sectional sofa and bedroom.

From Room and Board - the sectional, in this chocolate colour.

Picture from Houzz

Modern Sectional Sofas

From High Fashion Home

I am in love with this bed, hands down I am getting a tufted bed.  The biggest decision is choosing upholstery or leather.  I was very keen on lush fabric but I have had a few say dust and mold collectors. 

What are your experience or thoughts?

 

These tiles around our master bedroom fireplace is a must, aren't they beautiful.

Picture from Houzz  

Contemporary Bedroom by Calgary Interior Designers & Decorators Bruce Johnson & Associates Interior Design

 

And this is my inspiration for the room walls, ceiling and chandelier.  I'm going with grey - light, medium and dark on ceiling.

Picture from Houzz

 

Contemporary Bedroom by Calgary Interior Designers & Decorators Natalie Fuglestveit Interior Design

Thanks for visiting Tea Time with Marce

 

Review - Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Green

Book Summary

I am not imaginary...

Budo is lucky as imaginary friends go. He's been alive for more than five years, which is positively ancient in the world of imaginary friends. But Budo feels his age and thinks constantly of the day when eight-year-old Max Delaney will stop believing in him. When that happens, Budo will disappear.

 

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend is a triumph of courage and imagination that touches on the truths of life, love, and friendship as it races to a heartwarming . . . and heartbreaking conclusion.

 

My Review - 4 1/2

 

I really enjoyed this novel, very unique, Matthew Green has a special talent.  I enjoy stories that allow us to hear what the characters are thinking but not actually saying so to get a story told from the imaginary friends point of view, it was brilliant in my mind, very clever.

 

Imaginary friends usually have a short lifespan but not Budo, he is five and counting.  I believe Max to be autistic even though this was not confirmed.  Max and Budo have a great trusting relationship, when this is tested is for the best.  His mom and dad are good parents even though they are struggling with deciding to get Max help or as his dad says, wait, he is a late bloomer.  This book made teachers look wonderful, I appreciated this as early educators are usually the one's that are remembered the most.  The author is also a teacher which comes across while reading.  One teacher had a special interest in Max, she was his paraprofessional and this relationship became a crime.

 

The book had me engaged and very intrigued with the imaginary friend world but once the crime took place the book took on a suspenseful adventure, loved this.  We knew who done the crime but the when they will be caught, if they will be, by who was edge of your seat worthy, almost makes you want to skip ahead because you just have to know how it ends, very well done.

 

I loved how Budo was struggling through out the book on when imaginary friends and himself will die and that their person is in charge of your destiny with continuing to believe in them.

 

My only issue is it felt a little repetitive at times and I felt like the author considered changing who Budo's audience was.  When he was talking to other imaginary friends I got it but when he was speaking to the reader it felt patronizing, as if I was five.  eg. I feel like the elephant in the room.  This is an expression that means there is something two people know that is as big as an elephant but no one wants to talk about it.  On Kindle at 25%

 

Such an engaging read, I think many will enjoy this novel.

 

 

Teaser Tuesday - Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

Just do the following and go here to participate: Teaser Tuesday

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) 'teaser' sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I am really enjoying this book.

I am tied to Max the same way that an astronaut is tied to his spaceship by hoses and wires.  If the spaceship blows up and the astronaut dies, that doesn't mean that the astronaut was imaginary.  It just means that his life support was cut off.

1% on Kindle


Book Summary

I am not imaginary...

Budo is lucky as imaginary friends go. He's been alive for more than five years, which is positively ancient in the world of imaginary friends. But Budo feels his age and thinks constantly of the day when eight-year-old Max Delaney will stop believing in him. When that happens, Budo will disappear.

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend is a triumph of courage and imagination that touches on the truths of life, love, and friendship as it races to a heartwarming . . . and heartbreaking conclusion.

 

Start Over: Create the life YOU want by Mary Jaksch

Book Summary

This book will give you a blueprint on how to start over and find happiness.

When change happens it life, it's easy to get stuck in negativity and self-blame. "Start Over" will show you how to overcome fear, negativity, self-blame, and inertia order to move ahead and find serenity, success, and happiness.

It will help you to come through changes in your life, and make starting over your greatest opportunity.

Think of how a caterpillar finally becomes a butterfly – this book will inspire you to find your wings and learn to fly.

My Review - 5

You may remember, in Feb/March I was struggling with reading and realized it was life over all and I was really overwhelmed without a plan.  I joined a 100 day happiness project to boost the start and Start Over really made me 'check' myself.

For my review, I have decided to share amazing quotes Mary Jaksch used throughout the book to motivate the reader.  It is a good work book, short but with a punch.

Favourite Quotes

"Out of difficulties grow miracles." - Jean De La Bruyere

When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. - Henry Ford

Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery.            -Joanne Kathleen Rowling

What is to give light must first endure burning.  - Victor Frankl

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do.  - Confucious

The ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where they stand at times of challenge and controversy.  - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.                     
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Review - Faking It by Elisa Lorello

Book Summary from Amazon

After breaking off her engagement, thirty-something writing professor Andi Cutrone abandons New England for her native Long Island to focus on her career and start over. When she meets Devin at a cocktail party, the sight of an honest-to-goodness male escort shocks her—and fascinates her more than a little. Months later, Andi impulsively calls Devin. Over cheesecake in Brooklyn, she offers him a proposition: he will teach her how to be a better lover, and in return, she will give him writing lessons. He agrees, and together they embark upon an intense partnership that proves to be as instructive as it is arousing. For in the midst of lessons in rhetorical theory and foreplay, Andi and Devin delve into deeper questions about truth, beauty, and self, gradually coming face-to-face with the issues at the core of their emotional limitations. Smart, witty, and introspective, Faking It is an engrossing novel about two people discovering their authentic selves.

My Review - 5

Another book that just came at the right time.  I started to slip into a reading funk again, started 4 books and it just didn't work and then I started this one and ate it up this weekend.  It was so good I am starting the sequel tonight.

Andrea meets Devin and they agree to an arrangement both believing not a true client agreement.  I really loved how they helped each other.  Andrea is a writing instructor and helps Devin learn how to write, understanding prose, who your audience is etc, very intriguing.  Andrea asks for Devin's help on how to own her sexuality and become a better lover.  The once a week sessions were entertaining to say the least, I loved the interaction and connection they had, really adding a sense of suspense throughout the book.

I loved reading about adults who find themselves, you are always growing and the unorthodox romance set this apart from the romance books you expect.  Andi and Devin were strong characters but not honest with themselves and the outside world.  I really enjoyed the character building in this novel and look forward to more.  A beautiful complex journey with a great non typical ending.

Favourite quotes

If you are uncertain about your purpose, then your audience is ambiguous.  If you are uncertain about your audience, then your writing is ambiguous.  23% on Kindle

This past year, I lived the life I always wanted, and you know what? I was still faking it.  I was trying to cover up so much:  my body, my sexuality, my insecurity, my fear....   81% on Kindle

Similar Book Recommendation - Attachments by Rainbow Rowell (my review)




 

It's Monday, what are you reading?

Sheila over at Book Journey has an incentive for networking so go over and have fun while adding to your 2013 Wishlist.

I just completed, review up tomorrow, I loved it.

 

 

Up next is the sequel since I loved Faking It so much

 

 

 

 

I also reviewed Sliver of Truth - 4, I enjoyed the follow up to Beautiful Lies