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Top Ten Tuesday | May 21, 2019

Posted May 21, 2019 by Kaity in Bookish Memes, Top Ten Tuesday / 5 Comments

Happy Tuesday!

Top Ten Tuesday is a Bookish Meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, and this week’s theme is Books That I Refuse to Let Anyone Touch! (But as you probably guessed… that’s not what I did!)

I just was not feeling this week’s theme. The sad truth is that even though my best friends love to read (almost) as much as I do, they live too far away for loaning them out to be an issue. So! This week I decided to do TOP TEN NINE BOOK SERIES I AM DEFINITELY GOING TO FINISH SOMEDAY (SOON)!

(I’m only listing the first book in each series, so head over to Goodreads to learn more!)

Top Ten Tuesday | May 21, 2019Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen
Series: Bright Young Things #1
Published on October 12, 2010 by HarperCollins
Genres: Historical Fiction, YA
Pages: 404
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The year is 1929. New York is ruled by the Bright Young Things: flappers and socialites seeking thrills and chasing dreams in the anything-goes era of the Roaring Twenties.

Letty Larkspur and Cordelia Grey escaped their small Midwestern town for New York's glittering metropolis. All Letty wants is to see her name in lights, but she quickly discovers Manhattan is filled with pretty girls who will do anything to be a star...

Cordelia is searching for the father she's never known, a man as infamous for his wild parties as he is for his shadowy schemes. Overnight, she enters a world more thrilling and glamorous than she ever could have imagined—and more dangerous. It's a life anyone would kill for...and someone will.

The only person Cordelia can trust is Astrid Donal, a flapper who seems to have it all: money, looks, and the love of Cordelia's brother, Charlie. But Astrid's perfect veneer hides a score of family secrets.

Across the vast lawns of Long Island, in the illicit speakeasies of Manhattan, and on the blindingly lit stages of Broadway, the three girls' fortunes will rise and fall—together and apart. From the New York Times bestselling author of The Luxe comes an epic new series set in the dizzying last summer of the Jazz Age.

(I’ve read the first book and half of the second.)

Top Ten Tuesday | May 21, 2019Heist Society by Ally Carter
Series: Heist Society #1
Published on February 9, 2010 by Disney-Hyperion
Genres: Thriller, YA
Pages: 287
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When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her on a trip to the Louvre…to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria…to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own—scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving “the life” for a normal life proves harder than she’d expected.

Soon, Kat's friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring Kat back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has a good reason: a powerful mobster has been robbed of his priceless art collection and wants to retrieve it. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat's father isn't just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help.

For Kat, there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it's a spectacularly impossible job? She's got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family's history--and, with any luck, steal her life back along the way.

(I’ve read the first and second books, but not the third.)

Top Ten Tuesday | May 21, 2019Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
Series: Dorothy Must Die #1
Published on April 1, 2014 by HarperCollins
Genres: Fantasy, Retellings, YA
Pages: 452
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I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.

But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado - taking you with it - you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little bluebirds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still a yellow brick road - but even that's crumbling.

What happened? Dorothy.

They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm - and I'm the other girl from Kansas.

I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.

I've been trained to fight.

And I have a mission.

(I’ve read the first book, part of the second, and a handful of the short stories.)

Top Ten Tuesday | May 21, 2019Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
Series: Wicked Lovely #1
Published on June 12, 2007 by HarperTeen
Genres: Fantasy, YA
Pages: 328
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Rule #3: Don't stare at invisible faeries.Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in the mortal world. Aislinn fears their cruelty - especially if they learn of her Sight - and wishes she were as blind to their presence as other teens.

Rule #2: Don't speak to invisible faeries.Now faeries are stalking her. One of them, Keenan, who is equal parts terrifying and alluring, is trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer.

Rule #1: Don't ever attract their attention.But it's too late. Keenan is the Summer King, who has sought his queen for nine centuries. Without her, summer itself will perish. He is determined that Aislinn will become the Summer Queen at any cost — regardless of her plans or desires.

Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe are working anymore, and everything is on the line: her freedom; her best friend, Seth; her life; everything.

Faery intrigue, mortal love, and the clash of ancient rules and modern expectations swirl together in Melissa Marr's stunning twenty-first-century faery tale.

(I’ve read the first book for sure, and I think I read the second and third? But it was so long ago I don’t really remember.)

Top Ten Tuesday | May 21, 2019Secret Society Girl by Diana Peterfreund
Series: Secret Society Girl #1
Published on July 18, 2006 by Delacorte Press
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery
Pages: 293
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Secret Society Girl takes us into the heart of the Ivy League's ultraexclusive secret societies when a young woman is invited to join as one of their first female members. Elite Eli University junior Amy Haskel never expected to be tapped into Rose & Grave, the country's most powerful-and notorious--secret society. She isn't rich, politically connected, or...well, male. So when Amy receives the distinctive black-lined invitation with the Rose & Grave seal, she's blown away. Could they really mean her? Whisked off into an initiation rite that's a blend of Harry Potter and Alfred Hitchcock, Amy awakens the next day to a new reality and a whole new set of "friends"-from the gorgeous son of a conservative governor to an Afrocentric lesbian activist whose society name is Thorndike. And that's when Amy starts to discover the truth about getting what you wish for. Because Rose & Grave is quickly taking her away from her familiar world of classes and keggers, fueling a feud, and undermining a very promising friendship with benefits. And that's before Amy finds out that her first duty as a member of Rose & Grave is to take on a conspiracy of money and power that could, quite possibly, ruin her whole life. A smart, sexy introduction to the life and times of a young woman in way over her head, Secret Society Girl is a charming and witty debut from a writer who knows her turf-and isn't afraid to tell all....

(I’ve read the first three books, but not the fourth or any of the short stories.)

Top Ten Tuesday | May 21, 2019Flunked by Jen Calonita
Series: Fairy Tale Reform School #1
Published on March 3, 2015 by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Retellings
Pages: 256
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Would you send a villain to do a hero's job? An exciting new twisted fairy tale series from award-winning author Jen Calonita.

Full of regret, Cinderella's wicked stepmother, Flora, has founded the Fairy Tale Reform School with the mission of turning the wicked and criminally mischievous into upstanding members of Enchantasia.

Impish, sassy 12-year-old Gilly has a history of petty theft and she's not too sorry about it. When she lifts a hair clip, she gets tossed in reform school-for at least three months. But when she meets fellow students Jax and Kayla, she learns there's more to this school than its sweet mission. There's a battle brewing and she starts to wonder: can a villain really change?

(I’ve only read the first two of these. I need to catch up!)

Top Ten Tuesday | May 21, 2019The Syndicate by Sophie Davis
Series: Timewaves #1
Published on March 1, 2016 by Sophie Davis Books
Genres: Futuristic, Romance, Time Travel, YA
Pages: 586
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In a future where time travel has been outlawed, a black market exists for anyone with the money, connections, and nerve to request items from days past. As a Runner for one of the underground syndicates that now controls the timewaves, Stassi 2446-89 has seen it all: the fall of Rome, the rise of Hitler, the end of democracy, the establishment of time tourism, and the devastating consequences of it. Her job is to seamlessly slip through the past, in search of items of value to the syndicate's clientele.

Stassi's next assignment takes her to Paris in the 1920’s, in search of a lost manuscript by one of the twentieth century’s greatest writers. She and her partner, Gaige, are swept up in the City of Light during the height of fashion and culture—as alluring a locale as they’ve ever visited. But a seedier side of life lurks beneath the glamorous façade, and the pair quickly learns this run is more dangerous than any of their previous missions.

Because history isn’t playing out as it should be—a first for the syndicate. When the stakes are raised and it becomes a matter of life or death, Stassi and Gaige must ultimately decide how far they’re willing to go to ensure the future as they know it.

(I read the first book, and then the second took so long to come out that I haven’t read it yet. But someday I will…)

Top Ten Tuesday | May 21, 2019Timekeeper by Tara Sim
Series: Timekeeper #1
Published on November 8, 2016 by Sky Pony Press
Genres: Alternate History, Historical Fantasy, Romance, Steampunk, YA, Queer
Pages: 414
Add to Goodreads

I was in an accident. I got out. I’m safe now.

An alternate Victorian world controlled by clock towers, where a damaged clock can fracture time—and a destroyed one can stop it completely.

A prodigy mechanic who can repair not only clockwork but time itself, determined to rescue his father from a Stopped town.

A series of mysterious bombings that could jeopardize all of England.

A boy who would give anything to relive his past, and one who would give anything to live at all.

A romance that will shake the very foundations of time.

(I read (and loved!) the first book, but haven’t started books two and three yet.)

Top Ten Tuesday | May 21, 2019The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket, Brett Helquist
Series: A Series of Unfortunate Events #1
Published on September 30, 1999 by Scholastic
Genres: Middle Grade, Mystery
Pages: 176
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Dear Reader,

I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets for misfortune.

In this short book alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast.

It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing.

With all due respect, Lemony Snicket

(I’ve read books one through twelve, but I haven’t read The End yet. And at this point I feel like I need to reread the whole series so I know what’s going on.)

 

So that’s it! I’m listening to Bright Young Things on audio right now, and I’ll definitely finish the series this time! (I’ve only tried to finish it… three times before?) Next I think I’ll probably try Heist Society, but let me know if you think there’s a series on here you think I need to complete right away! And don’t forget to have a splendiferous week!

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

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5 responses to “Top Ten Tuesday | May 21, 2019

  1. I love reading series, but it’s so easy to get stuck in the middle of them! My memory is so bad, too, that I often forget what’s going on from one book to the next, but I don’t want to go back and re-read so I just don’t continue with the series and … yeah …

    Good luck with finishing these!

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