Top Ten Tuesday: Best Beginnings and Endings!

In which Sam rants about the English language, raves about Hemingway (as usual) and rambles on absolutely forever. 

For this week's TTT, we've been asked to share the best book beginnings & endings. I took this rather literally and sought out the words that most shook me up when I read them first (rather than "I'm so glad that X person got a dragon in the end" because, well, I am nearly always glad to rave about the presence/rant about the absence of dragons.)

Also, this TTT is super long. You've been warned. 

And as always, credit to The Broke and the Bookish for this fabulous feature!

Top 10 Tuesday- Intimidating Reads aka Kate Reads Classics

(original feature of The Broke and the Bookish)

There are a number of reasons we’re afraid to approach certain books.

• The movie was so awesome, will the book hold up (Book lover rule #1- the book is always better).  
• My friend loved it there’s no way it’s as good as he says and then I'll have to uncomfortably pretend I love it as well in order to spare his delicate feelings
• The title literally translates to “Miserable People.”  
• 1500 pages?? So this is what people did before Netflix... 

Of course, intimidating books have their benefits

• You look smart reading it in public
• You build up your arm muscles toting around those heavy tomes
• These are classics for a reason; they are enduring stories of humanity
• In more cases than not, it’s not intimidating once you get reading

Here are some of my favorite books that I was once too intimidated to read: 

Uncle Tom’s Cabin- The Book that Sparked a War

My first intimidating read- put on the list when I was 12.  I finally got around to it 10 years later and was surprised at how accessible it was.  Although rife with condescension and backhanded racism, the little glimpses into minor characters’ lives were the parts that really hit me hard (I’m looking at you, Hagar and Emmeline).

Top Ten Tuesday - Books that Feature Travel

I LOVE this week’s category. Travel can be such a rich metaphor, especially in the YA world where protagonists struggle to figure out who they are. Travel is often able to serve as the vehicle for that – pun definitely intended! So without further ado, here are the top ten (mostly YA) books that feature travel in some way:

(Original feature courtesy of The Broke and the Bookish)

    1. Daughter of Smoke and Bone  by Laini Taylor

While I wasn’t 100% thrilled with this book (largely because it seems to become a different novel halfway through), I did adore the notion of portals that Brimstone, the mysterious chimaera who serves as father-figure to main character Karou, is able to conjure. These portals are secret doors that can only be opened from the inside, and from within, they lead to places all over the world: Prague, Paris, and Hong Kong. Brimstone sends Karou on errands through the portals, and between these and the big wish she makes later in the novel to be gifted with a certain mode of transport (think: the feathers on the cover), overall I was left with a taste of the joyful freedom of travel, although for Karou this is tempered by her loneliness.