Top Ten Characters I’d Like To Switch Places With For 24 Hours

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish and is a weekly meme.

This week's topic is Characters I'd Like to Switch Places with for 24 Hours. I think this is a tough one, because most book characters inevitably go through something in their respective books which I would most definitely NOT want to deal with, but for just 24 (mostly uneventful) hours I would probably pick...

1) Hermonie from Harry Potter.

Helps that I would be beautful too!

No sense picking an average wizard, I want to be an awesome one who knows ALL the spells so I can try them out for awhile. Plus, I just to hang out with Harry and Ron and all my other fav Hogwarts mates. This would be an awesome day, providing we didn't have any Voldy run-ins.

2) Lisbeth Salander from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

"There is not one thing I forget"

This girl is a crazy, kick-ass, genius. Who wouldn't want to be her for a day?? Just a day though, she's too antisocial for me to survive, and I wouldn't want all though tattoos, piercings, and all around terrifying persona.

3) Anna from Anna and the French Kiss

picture taken from: The Authoress

Anna gets to live in PARIS, and she gets to date St. Clair who seems rather amazing... Yeah, I'd be her for a day, no problem!

That's all I can really think of... I have been reading a lot of books lately where I wouldn't want to be the characters at all (think vampires, hunger games, cancer patients, other dystopians, etc) and I don't want to be too random and choose people no one has heard of for this either, as it won't be as fun. Oh well, 3 will have to be enough! I look forward to reading everyone else's lists and having a lot of "oh yeah, me too!" moments :)

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Goodreads Summary: One choice can transform you--or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves--and herself--while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love. 
Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable--and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.


Why I Read This Book: Obviously I had to read this book, as I read the epic-ness that was Divergent.


Review: I loved this book! I thought it was a fantastic 2nd book in this trilogy. It did a great job of answering a lot of the mysteries of Divergent while still keeping you guessing and being surprising. I tried to avoid all reviews of this before reading, however I did glimpse a piece of one somewhere (can't remember where) but it said something about overhearing stuff in obvious hiding places. I don't normally talk about other peoples reviews, and I tried really hard to avoid ones about this as I was so excited to read it (my stupid brain was reading before I knew what was going on!!) but, I have to say that is not that accurate. I think that is something to say about this book when you are just looking for negative things to say. Of course they may have hid in some places that seem like they should be found (like under that bridge) but if you are enjoying the book, your brain will make it so that when you visualize that hiding place, it is good. To me, I pictured the bridge to be wide planked, so that if you were under it, you would easily be concealed... see what I mean. Book descriptions are not soooo good that you can't create what it needs to be to work in your mind, and if they are, then either your reading it wrong, or the author is doing to much telling and not enough showing. You should be able to use your imagination a little bit too :)
Anyway, now that I have rambled about that enough, wow, was this book good. I thought the changes in Tris were pretty believable, she has done a lot of growing from her Dauntless training, but here other faction qualities which make her Divergent come out as well. And, I thought Roth also did a good job of showing she was still just a young girl. (I actually really liked that in the book it was pointed out by someone that she picks which she wants to be when its convenient for her - because don't we all? When I was younger, and I wanted to stay out late, or do something that I wasn't allowed it was all "but Mom, I'm 16 now!" but when I needed something done for me... different story!). I also thought the Divergent qualities in Four were subtly evident as well. I liked a lot of the supporting character development too. I was genuinely sad when some were killed off. I am so excited for book 3! I look forward to just learning the title!

Rating:

Blog Title and Other Bloggy News

Hey Folks,

So today I decided to loose the super long title of my blog. Last year when I started it, I thought the name 'Imma Bee, Imma Bee... No, Wait, Imma Bookworm' was funny (I still do, as it really is) however, it is too long. Way too long. Also, since I have also decided to work a little harder on making this blog more appealing, and brand-able, and all the other stuff us bloggers hope our blogs grow up to be, I thought the first step in doing this was to have a better title. I'm not in love with calling my blog just 'Imma Bookworm' so I may in fact decide to change it totally. In the meantime however, I have shortened the title to just Imma Bookworm. In the next few months, I'm hoping you will see big changes around here. I am almost computer illiterate, however I am looking at things such as; getting a blog designer to make a header/button/layout for me, researching better ways to get out there (including advertising, networking, and yes, increasing my followers) and I also am considering Wordpress. These are all very big decisions, and many which I know NOTHING about. Today I signed up my blog for a twitter and Facebook account, so I guess that's a good first step! Anyway, if there is anyone who has any advice for me, or any comments on this subject at all, I would be extremely grateful to hear what you have to say! When I started this blog, I didn't know what I wanted from it, but now I am starting to realize I want a little more than what I have right now, so I'll see where this gets me!

Jessica

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey

Goodreads Summary: The undead can really screw up your senior year ... 
Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit into Jessica Packwood’s senior year “get-a-life” plan. But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new exchange student named Lucius Vladescu shows up, claiming that Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth—and he’s her long-lost fiancé. Armed with newfound confidence and a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health, and Emotions, Jessica makes a dramatic transition from average American teenager to glam European vampire princess. But when a devious cheerleader sets her sights on Lucius, Jess finds herself fighting to win back her wayward prince, stop a global vampire war—and save Lucius’s soul from eternal destruction



Why I Read This Book: The god's honest truth is, I'm kind of a sucker for a book where the character has the same name as me... I have NO idea why (I have every idea why, and her name is Jessica Wakefield) but I am drawn to them. I won't just read any old book with a Jessica walking around in it, I have to be at least somewhat interested. For example, I wasn't planning to start any new vampire book series' until I finished with the ones that I have already started (Vampire Academy/Bloodlines, Sookie Stackhouse, Vampire Diaries, etc.) so that I can keep them all straight! But, I just couldn't resist a Jessica...

Review: For a book about vampires, I thought this was incredibly cute and kind of charming. Since the main character, Jessica is, in a lot of ways, still a pretty normal teenage girl. There isn't much killing in this book like there is in most other vampire series, so you can relate to the characters very easily. I really liked this book, but I did have some issues with it. First, it has a stupid name. There is not dating a vampire in this book, it should be called 'Jessica's Guide to Learning about Vampires' if she wanted to go that route. It's inappropriately named, and that irritates me, kind of a lot for some reason. I think the book title is very important, and this one just isn't good. It lost a full star for me here. Second (this of course has no bearing on my rating of the book, but it definitely made it a little more frustrating to read) for some reason this ebook and my ereader HATED each other! The pages took FOREVER to turn. It wasn't too bad at the start of the book, maybe 10-15 seconds for each page, but as I got further along, the pages took even longer to turn, to the point where it was almost 2 minutes a page near the end. It was super frustrating, and I have no idea why it happened. I thought it could have been a problem with my ereader, but I just bought two other books, and they work fine. Either way, I was annoyed, but of course, that's not the books fault!
The title was the main thing that irked me, otherwise I did enjoy the book, and I'm going to get the next one (Jessica Rules the Dark Side) - yes even the ebook version! It was a refreshingly different vampire series, and I liked it.

Rating:

Top Ten Most Vivid Worlds/Settings In Books

This Week's TTT is a really tricky one, because I think the vividness of a books setting directly correlates with how much you actually like the book. For example, if I am loving a book, and it's setting is simply a high school, I literally picture it happening in my old high school, as I can walk the halls in my mind and really feel part of the books setting, and to me that is what vivid is. Conversely, you can have a book set in a far away fantasy land, but if I'm just not into it, well it's not vivid to me. So, with that being said, I will try to find a balance between the two:

1) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson
This is probably the craziest, most vividly unbelievable book in the world. If you can't get into the book, at least watch the movie, as they did an amazing job on it. It is out of this world (like, literally).


2) Modelland - Tyra Banks
For what Tyra lacks in decent writing skills, she makes up for in imagery, even when it doesn't make a damn bit of sense. I don't blame you if you can't get through this book, but Ms. Tyra has one vivid imagination!


3) The Iron King - Julie Kagawa
This book has an amazing setting, with each Fey territory having different descriptions, sometimes I just took a moment to stop reading, close my eyes, and just try to picture it. The ice, the gardens, the iron, all the areas in the books seemed amazing.


4) The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
It may have helped that I have seen quite a few movies from this time period, however the imagery and scenery in this book is very vivid, I even got chills during some of the descriptions of Germany while reading this novel.


5) Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland - Lewis Carrol
How can you not think the world created for this book is vivid? It is amazingly so. I wasn't a huge fan of this book, because it makes absolutely no sense at all, but the world it is set in is very, very vivid.


6) I was going to try and leave this out, because I guarantee it will be on almost everyone's list, but it's not fair to Ms. Rowling not to acknowledge her amazingness.

Everything Harry Potter is amazingly vivid. I can easily be absorbed into this world of magic.


7) Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
For a book I didn't enjoy, again, the setting is beautifully described. My wanderlust can most likely be attributed to reading this novel.


8) Animal Farm - George Orwell
Maybe it's because I have had to read it for school twice, and we analyzed it to death, but I can always vividly picture this world of talking farm animals taking over.


I can't think of anymore! I tried to be somewhat creative and try to use some that maybe not everyone would have thought of right away, but I guess I will have to hop around and check out other people's. I'm sure I will see tons that I agree with.

Sick Day Blues

Hey Everyone, today I am home sick from work, and sick I am. I have spent so long in bed that I needed a change of scenery and thought I would give you all a little update on what I'm reading and what else I am up to these days.

So first, I have a horrible horrible head cold. The kind where my throat, nose, eyes, sinuses, neck, and back all just ache from the sheer terribleness of it. I have been in bed for about 24 hours and I think that's why I'm aching so much, so I thought I would spend 30 minutes sitting up to see if I am feeling better. I feel so crappy, I can hardly even read. So yeah, now you KNOW its bad!

Other than that, there are a few life things going on. I went back to my part time job in addition to my full time one. I had initially left it because I was planning to buy another house that needed several renovations, and I will be working towards a MBA/CMA designation starting in the fall (well, I already have started, but I  took the summer off, so I will be starting again!) But, instead we decided to purchase something new, so I won't have to put in the sweat equity, and we will rent out or current house. We have some big life plans which we are trying to sort out, that the extra income certainly won't hurt, so I went back! And they are so good to me there, I might as well. I'm very lucky having two jobs where I have fantastic co-workers.

Also, I mentioned some big plans - well, in recent years I have had a huge wanderlust growing inside of me. I have always loved to travel, but it is so expensive! So, my lovely boyfriend, being the dear that he is is going to allow me to indulge in this passion for a few years, if we can meet some criteria first. *side* it is probably important to mention he is the responsible one of the two of us. So, first - we need to have a home to come back to, with some sort of asset. So, that's why we will have two houses being rented by the time we leave, so we will have other people paying our mortgage while we are away, and we have something to come back to. Second - we need to get rid of all our bad debt! That includes any lines of credit and consumer debt. Of course we will have mortgages and I will still have some lingering student loans, but those are/were investments. I am making good on paying my student loans back though, so no trouble there. This is why I am working the second job, to bank some money because all my income from my other job has to pay of debt - booo. I think we are going to do an Eat Pray Love type trip (except it won't be as lame as that book) where we actually live in certain places, and get jobs there to make enough to live off of, and then after 6-8 months, move on. We are somewhat limited to our choices of where we can go for some time, as we have a 7(ish) year old dog that I would not leave behind. So, in late 2014-early 2015 I think our first stop is going to be New York City! That is my dream city to live in, and since its expensive, it's probably a good place to start while we still have some savings, and in my research, it seems like a lot of small apts. let you have animals (not the case here, almost all rentals say no pets). Anyway, even though that isn't for quite awhile, it's all I think about, so I thought I would write about it! If any one who reads this has ever done anything similar, any and all advice would be appreciated (unless you're jaded, then I don't want to hear it! haha).

Finally, I have made a commitment to try and make a lot of my Christmas gifts to people this year. I have a sister blog to this one about my craftiness, but I almost always forget to take pictures of things, so it never gets updated! But maybe this time I will, and of course I can't post til after Christmas, but it's exciting to think of all the stuff I can make that people will love!

And finally for today, I'm working on too many books right now. Four is just too many. I started a new one last night, and I shouldn't have but I have been dying to get to it, and I finally loaded it on to my ereader, so I had to start.
That book is: Insurgent by Veronica Roth
I had been waiting for this book to be released for so long, and then when it finally was, and I bought it, it just sat there... I know, story of so many of our lives, but really. I should have started it earlier. I'm on Ch.4 cause I fell asleep from my delirious illness, and now that I am slightly more alert I'm making myself finish one of the others before I keep going.





The book that I will finish today is: Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey.
I have no idea what is wrong with this book, but it is not compatible with my ereader, it takes like a full minute for each page to turn, I feel like I have been reading it forever. I'm over 90% done it though, so hopefully I can finish it. It sucks because it's not a bad book, but the book acting funny is making me dislike it more!




Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
This book I started because when I reviewed my 2012 TBR Original Challenge list, it was on there, and I realized I wasn't doing so well with my original list, and I don't want to feel like I failed that challenge. I'm about 30% done this one now, but it isn't a genre I normally read, so I'm not really flying through it. It is good though.






Last but not least, Under The Dome by Stephen King
This book I am reading the paper copy of, and it is HUGE and HEAVY, so I have only been picking at it. I bet when it starts to get good I will have a hard time putting  it down, but I have barely started it so far.


Otherwise, that's really it. I'm going back to bed now. I really home that I feel better tomorrow! I hate taking sick days, and I HATE being sick!!

Back on the Top Ten Tuesday Train

When I first started blogging last year, this meme was my absolute favorite (it still is really). For some reason I stopped participating, and even though I am still reading lots of peoples TTT's this past week I really felt like I missed participating. In the coming weeks I'm also going to start posting a little bit more about me and what I'm up to as well. I am pretty busy, and I'm just not turning out book reviews as frequently as I would like to be writing this blog. It really helps me with thinking through things, and I would like to start getting more involved with it, rather than just posting some short reviews when I finish books.

I have never one to be after just getting followers, however I do think it would be more enjoyable if I was making some blog friends, but in order to do that I need to step up my game! So, while this will always be predominantly a BOOK blog, I think I'm going to start adding some more ME stuff in as well.

However, today I'm just going to post the most recent TTT because I am having huge envy for everyone who made such awesome lists!

I'm going to use one of my all time favorite books here:

For those who liked Summer Sisters by Judy Blume, you might like...

1) The Last Summer (of Me and You) by Ann Brashares

2) The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants Series - Ann Brashares

3) The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

4) The Summer - Sarah Desson

5) Twenty Boy Summer - Sarah Ockler
6) The Summer I Turned Pretty - Jenny Han

7) Claiming Georgia Tate - Gigi Amateau
8) Forever - Judy Blume
9) In Her Shoes - Jennifer Weiner


10) Firefly Lane - Kristen Hannah
and special mention to
11) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society - Mary Ann Shaffer & Anne Barrows


Most of these books are about summer, and if you are no longer a teenager (like me) these books instill that nostalgic feeling of having two carefree months of nothing but possibility. I love that in a book sometimes.

Fablehaven (Book 1) by Brandon Mull

Goodreads Summary: For centuries mystical creatures of all description were gathered into a hidden refuge called Fablehaven to prevent their extinction. The sanctuary survives today as one of the last strongholds of true magic. Enchanting? Absolutely. Exciting? You bet. Safe? Well, actually, quite the opposite.

Kendra and her brother, Seth, have no idea that their grandfather is the current caretaker of Fablehaven. Inside the gated woods, ancient laws keep relative order among greedy trolls, mischievous satyrs, plotting witches, spiteful imps, and jealous fairies. However, when the rules get broken — Seth is a bit too curious and reckless for his own good — powerful forces of evil are unleashed, and Kendra and her brother face the greatest challenge of their lives. To save their family, Fablehaven, and perhaps even the world, Kendra and Seth must find the courage to do what they fear most.

Why I Read This Book: One day when I was on Goodreads checking out some recommendations, I added this to my list on a whim. And then another day, not so long after that first one, I was at the used bookstore browsing and I just happened to come upon this little gem, so for $1.50 I picked it up.


Review: This was a fantastic children's book. It was the right amount of adventure mixed with magic and disbelief that gets you hooked on reading it. One thing that irritated me, but I guess it was sort of necessary, was how disobedient those damn kids were! I'd have lost my mind if I was their grandparent! Maybe I'm just too goody-goody though :\ Either way, if you have children who loved Harry Potter (or if you yourself loved it!) this could be a good 'next read' to keep children interested in reading books. I think there is 5 in the full series, and I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for them!


Rating:

The Last Summer (of Me & You) by Ann Brashares

Goodreads Summary: Set on Long Island's Fire Island, The Last Summer (of You and Me) is an enchanting, heartrending page-turner about sisterhood, friendship, love, loss, and growing up. It is the story of a beach community friendship triangle-Riley and Alice, two sisters in their twenties, and Paul, the young man they've grown up with-and what happens one summer when budding love, sexual curiosity, a sudden serious illness, and a deep secret all collide, launching the friends into an adult world from which their summer haven can no longer protect them. 

As wise, compelling, and endearing as her Traveling Pants series, and as lyrical, thoughtful, and moving as the best literary women's fiction, this novel is sure to win an entire new generation of adult fans.

Why I Read This Book: From the Travelling Pants series, I knew I liked Brashares books, and since this was being compared to Summer Sisters by Judy Blume (one of my all time favorite books), I thought I would read this one.


Review: This was a pretty good book. I am almost always a fan of writers who transition between characters point of views. I can't say any of the events in the book were shocking, as I think they may have been intended to be, but it was still a great story of Alice's growth. I do get a little irritated by books when all the problems that arise in it could have been avoided if the characters were just honest!! But, I guess that is what real life is kind of like, so what can you do about it? Anyway, this was a good summer read, and I enjoyed it a lot. It's nice that it isn't a series, it's just a story and not it's done. I have been reading so many series books lately that it's kind of refreshing not to have the next book to think about.


Rating:

The Millennuim Trilogy by Steig Larsson

Goodreads Summaries:
Book 1: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch--and there's always a catch--is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a cache of authority issues. Little is as it seems in Larsson's novel, but there is at least one constant: you really don't want to mess with the girl with the dragon tattoo. 


Book 2: The Girl Who Played With Fire
Mikael Blomkvist, crusading journalist and publisher of the magazineMillennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation between Eastern Europe and Sweden, implicating well-known and highly placed members of Swedish society, business, and government.

But he has no idea just how explosive the story will be until, on the eve of publication, the two investigating reporters are murdered. And even more shocking for Blomkvist: the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to Lisbeth Salander—the troubled, wise-beyond-her-years genius hacker who came to his aid in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and who now becomes the focus and fierce heart of The Girl Who Played with Fire.

As Blomkvist, alone in his belief in Salander’s innocence, plunges into an investigation of the slayings, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous hunt in which she is the prey, and which compels her to revisit her dark past in an effort to settle with it once and for all


Book 3: The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest
Lisbeth Salander—the heart of Larsson’s two previous novels—lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She’s fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she’ll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. And, on her own, she will plot revenge—against the man who tried to kill her, and the corrupt government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life.

Once upon a time, she was a victim. Now Salander is fighting back.


Why I Read These Books: These books came highly recommended by a number of people I work with, so much so that for our office secret Santa I was given the first in the trilogy as my gift. When I was about half way through it, I ordered the next two online.


Reviews: If you have read these books, you know it takes about 100 pages of book one to really get into them. I'm going to try and do this without spoilers, so this will be a pretty short review (but mine always kind of are, I don't want to ruin anything!). First off, Larsson is a very detailed writer, so much so that he kind of over explains some things. For example, in book one, you are bombarded with the Vanger family. There are so many of them, that I was thinking "OMG, I will never remember all these people". You only really need to know few, but you get tons of details on ALL of them. Other than the books being a little dry because of this reason, they were fantastic. I loved Lisbeth as a heroine in this story, and I was so into this series. I'm not normally one to pick up a political mystery but maybe I should be, because these books were fabulous. I can definitely say they were totally worth the hype. My favorite was the second one, as it had the fewest dry parts. The boring bits were the only reason all three weren't 5 star reads!


Ratings:

Book 1

Book 2

Book 3

Bumped by Megan McCafferty

Goodreads Summary: In 2036 New Jersey, when teens are expected to become fanatically religious wives and mothers or high-priced Surrogettes for couples made infertile by a widespread virus, 16-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony find in one another the courage to believe they have choices.


Why I Read This Book: This was another book that was pretty popular on the blogs awhile back that I had marked to read.


Review: This book was OK. It took me awhile to get into it because I didn't like either Melody or Harmony very much at all. It gets better as the book goes on, with the last 1/3 of the book being quite good. The idea behind the book is really good, being that pregnant teens are the world's hottest commodity, but I felt that the book lacked some of the information surrounding this. I guess because it was mostly from the two girls POV, but I would be interested in some of the background of the story as well. You don't learn much about either girls past, and the book has a lot of holes which will hopefully get explained in the coming book.

Overall, it was enjoyable, but not as good as what I think it could have been. I expected a little bit better from McCafferty because I love the Jessica Darling series so much, but I am still looking forward to seeing what happens in 'Thumped'.

Rating: