The Boys: We Gotta Go Now

Title: The Boys Vol 4: We Gotta Go Now

Author: Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson

Publisher: Dynamite 2009

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 184

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Graphic Novels

How I Got It: J owns it

Garth Ennis is the award-winning writer of Hellblazer, Hitman, Punisher, Preacher, Pride and Joy and War Stories. He is much in demand for his hard-edged, wickedly humorous style. Darick Robertson is the critically acclaimed artist and co-creator of Transmetropolitan. He is also the artist on Fury and Punisher (both with Garth Ennis), and the creator of Space Beaver.

Wee Hughie dressed as a superhero. That's all you really need to know about this volume. Okay, not really, but that part was absolutely entertaining. This volume gives us a broader picture of the different superhero factions. We get intimate with the G-Men and all the other G-(insert stupid word here) teams. The interactions really do say a lot about humans in general. Sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes enlightening, The Boys is always thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining. Can't wait for the next volume!

The Boys:

The Boys: Good for the Soul

Title: The Boys Vol 3: Good for the Soul

Author: Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson

Publisher: Dynamite 2008

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 192

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Graphic Novels

How I Got It: J owns it

In a world where costumed heroes soar through the sky and masked vigilantes prowl the night, someone's got to make sure the "supes" don't get out of line. And someone will. Billy Butcher, Wee Hughies, Mother's Milk, The Frenchman and the Female are The Boys: a CIA-backed team of very dangerous people, each one dedicated to the struggle against the most dangerous force on Earth-superpower. Some superheroes have to be watched. Some have to be controlled. And some of them-sometimes need to be taken out of the picture. That's when you call in The Boys. This volume collects issues 15-22 of the Boys by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson.

More politics, more intrigue, more violence, and a little bit of romance! Perfect volume to add to the collection. We get to see Hughie and Annie's first steps into dare I say it, a relationship. But they don't know who each other is! The reveal will have to be amazing. We get to hear from Legend about the history of the superheroes and Vought-American. Very interesting stuff in there. It even parallels our real history. And did I mention, we get zombies! Yup two superhero zombies... I love this series.

The Boys:

Meals a la Tobe! #10

Sunday

-- Pulled Pork Sandwiches

-- Potato Chips

Always a classic choice. I especially love them with dill pickles.

Monday

-- Orange Dill Mahi Mahi

Basically cook the fish over med-high heat with a sauce of orange juice, red onion, and dill.

-- Peas

-- Rice

-- French bread

Light, but refreshing. A definite addition to my recipe list.

Tuesday

-- Mini meatloafs

-- Baked potato

-- Green beans

-- French bread

J has professed that he doesn't like meat loaf, but he liked mine. I mixed cracker crumbs, an egg, oregano, garlic, onion, and red pepper. I like a bit of kick to my meat loaf.

Wednesday

-- Eat out: Ruby Tuesday!

Thursday

-- Eat out: Valentino's for a baby shower!

Friday

-- Eat out: Taco John's... I had a headache, so no cooking on my agenda.

Saturday

-- BBQ Chicken

-- Corn

-- Pumpernickel bread

Week summary/comments: A couple of classic favorites, a kicked up old favorite, and a new recipe. I am excited about the fish recipe. Looking forward to couple new recipes and some old favorites.

Frightful Fall Readathon Update 6

Time Read Today: 1 hours 24 minutes
Time Read Total: 12 hours 33 minutes

Pages Read Today: 354
Pages Read Total: 1601

Books Read Today: 1.5
Books Read Total: 7.5

Thoughts/Comments: Accidentally Dead wasn't the best read, but definitely entertaining for a few hours. And of course, The Boys is just awesome!

Accidentally Dead by Dakota Cassidy

Title: Accidentally Dead (Accidental Friends #2)

Author: Dakota Cassidy

Publisher: Berkley Trade 2008

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Pages: 352

Rating: 4 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Vampires: 2011 - It Wasn't Me

How I Got It: borrowed from the library

A vampire puts the bite on a dental assistant.
It’s a lousy first day on the job for Nina Blackman when a patient, loopy from the anesthesia, bites her. At least he was cute. But for real drama she can’t beat the next evening. Nina wakes up with a set of razor-sharp fangs, bionic vision, supersonic hearing, and a taste for blood. But there’s a good explanation: It’s her patient, Long Island vampire Greg Statleon. Actually they’re perfect for each other—if Nina’s willing to commit to one man for eternity.

Another fun paranormal romance. I am not as impressed with the second book in the series as the first book in the series. After a while, the story started to feel like a repeat. But the main characters were fun enough that they kept me engaged in the story. I liked Nina's brash confidence to a certain point. I liked Greg's mysteriousness to a certain point. I would never have been able to be friends with these people. They did make fairly fun characters for 350 pages. I am certain that I will read the third book in series. I'm not sure about the fourth and fifth. We'll just have to see how it goes.

Accidentally Paranormal (DNFed series)

Accidental Werewolf
Accidentally Dead
The Accidental Human
Accidentally Demonic
Accidentally Catty
Accidentally Dead, Again
The Accidental Genie

Day Zero Project: Week 2-3 Update

Instead of daily posts, I thought it would be a lot easier for me and you if I did weekly update posts. These will track my progress each week. I will highlight what I've done, what I want to do, and any interesting tidbits. Sometimes I'll add pictures and/or links. Hopefully these posts will keep me accountable to me list...

What I Did

22. Keep a journal for this project — Obviously an ongoing goal. I got a beautiful black soft cover journal to use. I am determined to journal at least a bit each day

19. Blog 1001 times -- 33 posts for the last two weeks (46/1001)

6. See all of IMDB’s Top 250 movies (3/250)

The Matrix

32. Read my height in books — This week’s height: 5 in So far: 9.5 in

55. Try 30 new recipes (4/30)

Strip steak with mango, peach, jalapeno salsa
BBQ Gouda Chicken
Orange Dill Mahi Mahi

What I Plan to Do Next Week

More of the same I imagine.

Monthly Goal

None. A breather month to adjust to the plan and my new work schedule.

Overall Progress

3 / 101

A to Z Movies: Zoolander

Title: Zoolander

Year Released/Rating: 2001 R

Starring: Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell, Owen Wilson

Directed By: Ben Stiller

Written By: Drake Sather, Ben Stiller, John Hamburg

Star Rating: 5 /5 stars

Trivia: Ben Stiller wrote David Bowie's scene as judge of the walk-off into the script without knowing for sure whether he would agree to it.

This movie is so silly and idiotic it is most amazing! I love the little one liners here and there. The looks of the actors get me every time. The best part is all the cameos here and there. Jon Voight--genius and gruff. Vince Vaughn--love the looks. Billy Zane--so ridiculous he's amazing. David Bowie--makes any movie better. I am especially fond of Katinka. But my absolute favorite is David Duchovny. He is the best little side character ever. This role is one of the best things he ever did.

Best Bits:

Mugatu: They're break-dance fighting.

~~

Billy Zane: It's a walk-off!

~~

Derek Zoolander: But why male models?

J.P. Prewitt: Are you serious? I just told you that a moment ago.

~~

Derek Zoolander: I'm not an ambi-turner.

~~

Derek Zoolander: Or are you here to tell me what a bad eugoogoolizer I am?

Matilda: A what?

Derek Zoolander: A eugoogoolizer... one who speaks at funerals.

[Matilda looks at Derek confused]

Derek Zoolander: Or did you think I was too stupid to know what a eugoogooly was?

~~

[a judge is needed for the "walk-off"]

David Bowie: If nobody has any objections, I believe I might be of service.

~~

[after he pokes a girl with a pin]

Mugatu: Oh, I'm sorry, did my pin get in the way of your ass? Do me a favor and lose five pounds immediately or get out of my building like now!

~~

Mugatu: It's that damn Hansel! He's so hot right now!

~~

Mugatu: Obey my dog!

~~

Derek Zoolander: How can we be expected to teach children to learn how to read if they can't even fit inside the building?

Frightful Fall Readathon Update 5

Time Read Today: 0 hours
Time Read Total: 11 hours 9 minutes

Pages Read Today: 0
Pages Read Total: 1247

Books Read Today: 0
Books Read Total: 6.3

Thoughts/Comments: I had an all day training, so no reading today. The training wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it still was a long 8 hours. At some point I developed a headache. I might do some reading tonight. Hopefully. We'll see.

Frightful Fall Readathon Update 4

Time Read Today: 3 hours
Time Read Total: 11 hours 9 minutes

Pages Read Today: 276
Pages Read Total: 1247

Books Read Today: 1.3
Books Read Total: 6.3

Thoughts/Comments: I finished The Boys: Get Some and started Accidentally Dead. I'm only 60 pages into Accidentally Dead, so I haven't really decided what I feel about it yet. Slow reading day. Work was a big crazy (lots nd lots of meetings and people coming in) and I had a baby shower to attend after work. Tomorrow I have an all day training but get off work early. I plan on finished Dead and at least one more Boys volume.

Mini Challenge from The Book Retreat:

1. My mini challenge is for you to choose a character from a book you have read or are reading during this read-a-thon, and pick a Halloween costume for them. What would they want to dress up as for Halloween? A vampire? A superhero? A sexy pirate? Think about the character and what you think they would want to be if they were heading off to a Halloween party.1. Identify the character and the book they appear in.
2. Tell what kind of costume they'd choose.
3. Explain WHYyou chose that costume: What is is about the character that makes you think they'd want that type of costume?For an extra point toward winning the prize, share a picture you've found online that shows what you think the character would look like in their costume (or create your own picture if you're so inclined).You can only enter one character per book, but if you read multiple books during the read-a-thon, you can enter a character for each one you read.

My answers:

Marty Andrews from The Accidental Werewolf would be a fairy princess. As she has now been turned into a werewolf, she misses her blond hair and pastel color wheel. She would want to be able to live that etheral beauty of a fairy princess at least for one day.
Wee Hughie from The Boys would be a ninja. Hughie has just joined the band of superhero police. He's very innocent and insecure and having a hard time using his genetically altered strength and reflexes. If he could hide behind a ninja mask, I'm sure it would make him feel more confident.
Angela from The Elephant Mountains would be an angel. Early in the book, Angela's entire life has been taken from her. She professes that everything that has happened is part of God's plan. If she dresses up for Halloween, it would be as an angel to show her devotion to God.
Jack from Jack of Fables would definitely be a well-dressed gangster. He always wants money and power, but doesn't want to get them through legal means, so a gangster is perfect. And I could totally see him a pinstriped suit with fedora and cigar as accessories.

The Boys: Get Some

Title: The Boys Vol 2: Get Some

Author: Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson

Publisher: Dynamite 2008

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 192

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Graphic Novels

How I Got It: J owns it

The second volume of Garth Ennis and Darick Roberston's acclaimed series The Boys is here! BIGGER! THICKER! UNCUT! (not that Garth would ever allow this gang of idiots to cut anything!) Get Some collects issues 7-14 of the critically acclaimed series and is an excellent companion to Dynamite's best-selling Volume I trade "The Name of the Game! These issues feature the legend the story of the Tek-Knight and the team's journey to frozen Russia!

Another series that I just adore. And it's all J's fault. Yep, that's right, I'm blaming him. Now I have to read the rest of these volumes. Oh well, at least the reads will be enjoyable.

The second volume had more politics, superhero antics, mystery, and conflicted. I am loving Hughie's gradual accepatance of his job and place in the world. The storyline from Tek Knight was an itneresting take on politics and corprations. I really liked the mystery of the story. The story set in Russia was a blast, literally! My only problem: they did away with Little Nine so soon. She seemed like an interesting character. It would have been nice to see more from her.

The Boys:

Bout of Books Readathon Redux

From On a Book Bender:

Due to popular demand, we are going to have another Bout of Books read-a-thon. I took the feedback that I received after the first Bout of Books read-a-thon, and have made some changes to see if they work better.
Bout of Books will run from 12:01am 10/24 through 11:59 pm 10/30 (your time zone)
Read as much as you can whenever you can. I know that this Bout of Books is close on the heels of the Dewey Read-a-Thon; this was an oversight on my part, but if you plan on reading AT ALL, please sign up. The only person you are competing against here is yourself. There is no pressure.
Bout of Books should be about networking with fellow bloggers in addition to reading. You were going to read that week anyway, right? Bout of Books gives you the opportunity to share your reading experience with other readers.
Use #boutofbooks on Twitter to update people on your progress and what you are reading. Feel free to follow me (@BookBender) and your co-hosts (links to follow) for Bout of Books information, but please do NOT @ me (or the co-hosts) with all your updates. This happened during the last Bout of Books, and it was unnecessary and flooded people’s timelines. Using #boutofbooks should suffice. I will try to repopulate the Bout of Books Twitter list.
Sign-up (beginning 10/6), the master list of participants, official schedule (up by 10/20?), and wrap-up post will all be here on my blog. I will also give people the opportunity to post their read-a-thon goals and possible books to read. My Bout of Books “starting line” post will go up on 10/22.
Each day during Bout of Books has a different co-host. They are in charge for the day, and will offer you a place for you to share your daily progress if you wish as well as a challenge. Please note that co-hosting is an experiment and I am hoping you will give me feedback at the end of the Bout of Books regarding your experience.
Your co-hosts (with blog and Twitter links) and the tentative challenge schedule are as follows:
10/24: Shirley @ Creative Deeds (@creativedeeds) — Guess the Love Triangle Challenge
10/25: Darla @ D for Darla’s Definite Reads (@DforDarla) — Dream Cast: Book to Movie Challenge
10/26: Joli @ Actin’ Up with Books (@ActinUpwb) — Book Spine Poetry Challenge
10/27: Erin @ Let’s Evaluate — Guess the Cover Challenge
10/28: Jen @ Not Now…I’m Reading! (@NotNowImReading) — Match the UF sidekick with the hero/heroine challenge
10/29: Christi @ Smitten with Reading (@ChristiSnow) — Bout of Books Babble Challenge (creating a haiku)
10/30: Vivienne @ Muse Books (@musesong) — Witchcraft in Popular Fiction Challenge

Of course I will be joining in. Dewey and then 2 days later Bout of Books! Very exciting reading events this October.

Frightful Fall Readathon Update 3

Time Read Today: 1 hours 54 minutes

Time Read Total: 8 hours 9 minutes

Pages Read Today: 252

Pages Read Total: 971

Books Read Today: 2

Books Read Total: 5

Thoughts/Comments: I finished The Elephant Mountains by Scott Ely and The Boys: The Name of the Game. Two great reads... but work got a little crazy and I had a headache. So it ended up not being the best reading day. Never fear, I have big plans for Thursday. That is, until I have to go to a baby shower.

The Boys: The Name of the Game

Title: The Boys Vol 1: The Name of the Game

Author: Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson

Publisher: Dynamite 2007

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 152

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Graphic Novels

How I Got It: J owns it

This is going to hurt! In a world where costumed heroes soar through the sky and masked vigilantes prowl the night, someone's got to make sure the "supes" don't get out of line. And someone will! Billy Butcher, Wee Hughie, Mother's Milk, The Frenchman, and The Female are The Boys: A CIA-backed team of very dangerous people, each one dedicated to the struggle against the most dangerous force on Earth - superpower! Some superheores have to be watched. Some have to be controlled. And some of them - sometimes - need to be taken out of the picture. That's when you call in The Boys!

J has been hounding me to read this series for a very very long time! He swore I would love it, but I kept getting distracted by library books, fairy tales, and zombies. I finally picked it up and started reading yesterday. And he was right (but don't tell him), I loved it! The Boys blends the classic comic book superheroes with the complicated world of things like Watchman. We see how the supes act once the final panel has been drawn. They aren't the boy scouts we often see. Instead, they are real people with real issues. And in some cases, not so real issues, but definitely weird. The Boys are there to protect us nonsupes from the collateral damage of fighting crime. I loved Hughie's innocence (that opening page is a killer!), MM's father status, Butcher's mysterious agenda, and Frenchman and The Females shrouded past. I can't wait to learn more about these characters.

The Boys:

The Elephant Mountains by Scott Ely

Title: The Elephant Mountains

Author: Scott Ely

Publisher: Orca 2011

Genre: YA dystopian/survival

Pages: 203

Rating: 3 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: A to Z Authors: E

How I Got It: ARC from LibraryThing Early Reviews Program

Global warming and an unprecedented series of hurricanes have put New Orleans and most of the low-lying areas of the South underwater. In the chaos and anarchy that results as cities and towns are abandoned, fifteen-year-old Stephen is suddenly left to fend for himself. He soon encounters Angela, a college student whose parents have been killed. Navigating the labyrinth of flooded fields and towns in an airboat, the two set out in search of Stephen's mother and higher ground. Armed with both guns and the skills his survivalist father has taught him, Stephen struggles to maintain hope and his humanity in the face of violence and desperation.

An interesting plotline, but I think the book failed to live up to the promise. I love dystopian/survival literature. I think it has to do with my love of zombies. But really any survival stories are right up my alley. I started this book seeing the scary potential future. What Ely predicts could happen. Hurricanes and global warming could rise the waters enough to swallow a lot of the low-lying southern lands. New Orleans would be toast. Florida would disappear. And the rest would be under varying amounts of water. People would have to flee to higher ground or attempt to ride out the water. Anarchy and chaos would reign if it happened quick enough. I bought all of the environmental changes. I bought the desperation the changes brought. I could imagine all this happening. Those parts of the book rang true.

Unfortunately, the characters fell flat. Stephen, while the most interesting character, seemed lost; as if he didn't have a personality apart from the "not quite a man" status. I couldn't quite connect to his inner struggles. Angela started as an interesting character but quickly got lost. She portrayed herself as a devout Christian, but then that aspect fell away. I would have liked more consistency with the character. And everyone else was only in the picture for a few pages each. We met someone, shared a few stories, and then they disappeared or were killed. I get that it is supposed to be a fairly solitary journey, but I would have liked to spend a little more time with some of those characters.

Overall, an interesting premise. But it didn't quite follow through. I would recommend to fans of dystopian/survival literature.

A to Z Movies: xXx

Title: xXx

Year Released/Rating: 2002 PG-13

Starring: Vin Diesel, Samuel L. Jackson, Asia Argento

Directed By: Rob Cohen

Written By: Rich Wilkes

Star Rating: 4/5 stars

Trivia: Stunt player Harry O'Connor was killed when he hit a pillar of the Palacky Bridge in Prague, para-sailing during one of the actions scenes. The accident occurred while filming the second take of the stunt; O'Connor's first attempt was completed without incident and can be seen in the completed film.

Cheesy action fun. If we actually start to pick apart the movie, there are so many odd little mistakes and issues, but overall this film makes me smile. I love the crazy action fun. And Vin Diesel is too fun as an action hero. So enjoy.

Best Bits:

Milan Sova: First you set me up in the bar. Then you shoot me in the back.

Xander Cage: My boss does it to me. I did it to you. It's a vicious circle.

~~

[after a police SWAT team crashes in on his party]

Xander Cage: Okay, I'll turn down the music.

~~

Toby Lee Shavers: [showing Xander the darts to the revolver] Datura knockout darts. POW! Guy goes down for 12 hours, wakes up, doesn't know who the hell he is, and his head's splitting like a cord of firewood.

[starts laughing]

Xander Cage: I was shot twice with those.

~~

Xander Cage: See that guy there? In the suit made out of motel drapes? That's a cop.

~~

[last lines]

Gibbons: Oh by the way, you passed the test. The Gibbons Test.

Xander Cage: You gotta be kidding me.

Frightful Fall Readathon Update 2

Time Read Today: 2 hours 57 minutes
Time Read Total: 6 hours 15 minutes

Pages Read Today: 393
Pages Read Total: 719

Books Read Today: 2.5
Books Read Total: 3.5

Thoughts/Comments: I finished Jack of Fables: Americana and Fables: Wolves. Plus I read about half of The Elephant Mountains. Of course I loved Jack and Fables. The Elephant Mountains is intriguing. I'll have to see what happens in the second half of the book.

Fables: Wolves by Bill Willingham

Title: Fables Vol. 8 Wolves

Author: Bill Willingham

Publisher: Vertigo 2006

Genre: Graphic Novel; Fantasy

Pages: 160

Rating: 5/ 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fables

Fabletown's ex-sheriff Bigby Wolf and ex-deputy mayor (and power behind King Cole's former mayoral throne) Snow White finally tie the knot in this arc from the series about the fairy-tale characters who walk among us (or, at least, New Yorkers). That can't happen before Mowgli finds missing, moping Bigby and the latter undertakes a reprisal mission against the Adversary.

Collecting issues #48-51 of writer and creator Bill Willingham's award-winning Vertigo series, WOLVES also includes newly-created maps of Fabletown and the Homelands illustrated by Willingham and, as a special bonus, Willingham's complete script to the double-sized issue #50.

At this point, I don't know if I have anything inventive to say about the Fables series. I love each and every volume. This one was no exception. We see the reappearance of Bigby Wolf (always one of my favorites). Plus, the kids the grown so much. I love seeing all six (I mean seven! hee hee Frau Totenkinder) kids grow and change. They're such fun little side characters. And Cinderella makes a very integral appearance to the mission in the Cloud Kingdoms. Can't wait for the next volume, but I will have to as it's on hold at the library.

Fables:

Jack of Fables: Americana by Bill Willingham

Title: Jack of Fables Vol 4: Americana

Author: Bill Willingham

Publisher: Vertigo 2008

Genre: Graphic Novel; Fantasy

Pages: 128

Rating: 5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fables Series

Jack hits the road in search of a lost city of gold in this new collection featuring issues #17-21. Aided by his sidekicks Paul Bunyan, Humpty Dumpty, Gary the pathetic fallacy and the mysterious Hillary Page, Jack's in for the adventure of a lifetime!

Another hit! Jack has really grown on me in the last few volumes. He's more than just the bad boy of Fabletown. His stories just keep getting more and more involved. This time we encounter a few old favorites (Hello Mr. Dumpty and Alice) and a few new ones (Goodbye Mr. Burner). I have loved the twists and turns. Finding out the connections between all the fables, and more importantly the stories themselves, has been a great adventure. And this volume has zombies! Best volume yet!

Jack of Fables:

Frightful Fall Readathon Mini Challenge #1

From Castle Macabre:

First of all, I want to apologize for the late posting of this mini-challenge. Hosting a read-a-thon is a lot of work. No wonder Dewey's 24 hour needs so much help! I know why now. =O) Anyway, since it is so late, I'm going to make this relatively simple. Also, since I'm doing three mini-challenges this week (and I had more prize donations, so I might be throwing in a little scary trivia contest. We'll see!), each one will run for two days. This one will kind of overlap with the next one because I posted so late. So this mini-challenge will be open until Wednesday at 10pm CST.

All you have to do is go online to an image site (Google images, photobucket, etc.) and find the scariest image you can. Post the link in the comments and as they come in, I will put the images up in the post so everyone can see them (a nod to vvb32 reads...she does this on her blog all the time). If you want to also do a blog post with the image, that is totally up to you. All I ask is that you leave the link in the comments. At 10pm tomorrow night, I will choose 3 winners randomly and each of the winners will pick a prize from the prize page. Fun, fun, fun!!!

Once I post these, I will never be able to look at my post again. Notice that they are all related. Can you guess my phobias? My scary pics:

Top Ten Tuesday - Books With Endings That Left My Mouth Hanging Open

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!

Books that left my mouth hanging open, from surprise, anger, disgust, happiness, etc. There have definitely been a few that I just couldn't speak afterwords or found myself sputtering out nonsense.

1. The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa -- Such a cliffhanger. What is going to happen? I couldn't wait for The Iron Knight. Thankfully I got a Net Galley of The Iron Knight to read.

2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Loved the series. Loved the ending to the story. But the epilogue just bugs the crap out of me. I can't stand epilogues. They are too Cutesy cutesy wrap-ups. Not needed.

3. LOTR: The Two Towers -- Are Frodo and Sam going to make it? Tolkien leaves us on such a cliffhanger. OMG!

4. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies -- I didn't think I was going to like a Jane Austen retell, but I loved it. A surprising experience.

5. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan -- Such a great book. Very scary and the ending killed me. What was going to happen to Mary? We find out in the next book, but it's not quite what you think.

6. The Prestige by Christopher Priest -- I did not see that one coming. It totally threw me for a loop, but in a good way. I loved the ending.

7. Emma by Jane Austen -- Overall, I like this book. However, the ending where Frank Churchill sorta apologizes to Emma just gets me every time. I can't stand it. I then want to feel like he didn't mean to lead Emma on, but he did. I have these mixed feelings about Frank. I don't like it.

8. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald -- Such a beautifully sad ending. It is just so beautifully written. I love it!

9. The Awakening by Kate Chopin -- An unexpected ending. In retrospect, the ending completely makes sense for the story and Edna's journey. It's great.

10. This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer -- I liked the first two books. They were interesting takes on a dystopian world and survival. However, the third one's ending just made me so upset. The tornado was so convenient. Everything just changed in the last 10 pages. I didn't like it one bit.