Top Ten Tuesday | Top Ten Books Featuring Girls Disguised as Boys

Top Ten Books Featuring Girls Disguised as Boys

So I’m pretty excited about this list, guys, but I’m going to tell you right now: Some of these books feature girls who merely favor dressing like boys as opposed to deliberately trying to pass themselves off as boys. Mostly I put those books on here because they loosely meet my topic and I wanted to have 10 books. And also I really loved them and want to talk about them.

Also, there’s a few books on here that aren’t out yet, but whose synopses talk about girls disguising themselves as boys, so I’m SUPER excited to read them!

PRINCESS OF THORNS | STACEY JAY • Friends, if you love fantasies and haven’t read this book, I can’t recommend it enough. It was well-written, fun, dramatic, and very swoony. The main character, Aurora, spends nearly the entire book passing herself off as her brother, Ror, and it makes her relationship with Niklaas verrrry interesting.

THE BURNING SKY | SHERRY THOMAS • This entire series–well the first two books, anyway–belong on this list. Iolanthe Seaborn attends Eton College with Titus as a way to keep her under the radar of Atlantis. If none of that makes any sense, these books are just WAITING for you to pick them up. I personally love seeing Iolanthe, under the name Archer Fairfax, interacting with the boys at Eton and fitting right in.

LEVIATHAN | SCOTT WESTERFELD • I wasn’t a big fan of steampunk until I read this series about Deryn Sharpe and her escapades during a reimagined World War I that saw the two sides as Darwinists (think radically altered natural species) and Clankers (machines). But there is almost NO character more awesome than Deryn. Legit. She’s confident and tough and so smart, and in order to get herself firmly entrenched in fighting the war like she wants, she’s got to do a little faking.

SCARLET | A.C. GAUGHEN • To be honest, I’ve only read the first book in this series and I don’t remember too much. But I DO recall that Scarlet, in order to perform her duties as a super thief for Robin Hood’s band of men, she has to pose as a boy. Definitely have plans to catch up on this series, guys.

EON: DRAGONEYE REBORN | ALISON GOODMAN • I have such wonderful memories of reading this series. It’s one of the most awesome takes on dragons that I’ve ever read since the dragons aren’t physical creatures. Rather, they are spiritual beings that are controlled by specific masters. One dragon in particular has been inaccessible for ages until a young boy named Eon shows up. BUT! LO! Eon is actually EONA. She’s disguised herself as a boy so that she would be allowed to train as a Dragoneye. This story is pretty amazing.

A GAME OF THRONES | GEORGE R.R. MARTIN • Who has read these books and doesn’t remember Arry, Arya’s male identity that she uses after she leaves King’s Landing and heads north towards the Wall? In order to keep herself safe from people looking for Eddard Stark’s children, Arya chops off her hair and becomes Arry, and so begins her long journey.

ALANNA: THE FIRST ADVENTURE | TAMORA PIERCE • I’m beyond excited to reread these books soon, friends, and it’s mostly down to how awesome Alanna is. In order to train as a knight, she has to appear as Alan of Trebond. Of course, she KILLS IT.

REVOLUTION | JENNIFER DONNELLY • So, this is one of the stretches, guys. But this book is wonderful and I still think about it over a year later. It’s told across two timelines: One a modern girl struggling with depression after the death of her younger brother, and the other of a girl during the worst days of the French Revolution, who spends her nights setting off fireworks and becomes known as The Green Man. Not a light book, but still really lovely. Plus, more French Revolution, pls.

GRACELING | KRISTIN CASHORE • Another stretch! But like, this is kind of a big one. Katsa never overtly pretends to be a boy or tries to hide the fact that she’s female. But she does keep her hair short and favors dressing in boys clothing. I told you, a stretch. Anytime I can work in a GRACELING mention, though, is an effort well-made as far as I’m concerned.

NEVER JUDGE A ROGUE BY HIS COVER | SARAH MACLEAN • So I don’t want to talk too much about this one because when the truth is revealed in one of the previous volumes of this series, it’s kind of a huge deal. It belongs, though. I love historical romances, and Sarah MacLean does them exceptionally well.

VENGEANCE ROAD | ERIN BOWMAN • And now we reach the portion of the list that features books I haven’t read yet or are unreleased. I’m incredibly excited to read this one. IT’S THE WILD WEST. WITH DRAMA. The main character, Kate, assumes the identity of a boy to search out her father’s killers. It just sounds SO FANTASTIC!

UNDER A PAINTED SKY | STACEY LEE • I CAN’T WITH THIS. Historical fiction that takes place on the OREGON EFFING TRAIL. STOP. Not only is it set in one of my favorite, most underrepresented time periods, it’s about two girls who disguise themselves as boys while they’re on the trail, running from their pasts together. Dying to read this one.

TANGLED WEBS | LEE BROSS • Another one that I can’t wait for. It takes place in another one of my favorite time periods: 18th century England. It’s got secrets and fancy parties, but also a young girl who has to dress as a boy to keep herself safe on the streets of London. GIMME IT.

BLOODY JACK | L.A. MEYER • Can you guys believe that I haven’t read any of these books? Ever? A girl disguised as a boy so that she can serve on a pirate ship? Not sure what I’ve been thinking, not picking this one up ASAP.

Top Ten Tuesday | All-Time Favorite Authors

Top Ten All-Time Favorite Authors

Would you guys believe me when I tell you that this list was actually really hard? ALL-TIME FAVORITE? That’s a huge deal. How do I determine this? Author’s I read and loved when I was a wee thing whose work has stuck with me? Authors I love who are still writing books? Author’s who’ve written my favorite books, but maybe not necessarily authors whose entire catalog I’ve read? THE DECISIONS! So I kind of just threw a list together. I still think it’s a pretty accurate list, though. BUT AHH THE PRESSURE!

It’s only been about four years since I started reading A Song of Ice and Fire, but it’s already assumed a huge role in my fandom life. When I first read these books, I hadn’t started blogging yet and I read nothing else–literally–for almost a year. I completely immersed myself in the world of Westeros and House Stark and dragons and The Wall. Any time the world-building in a book is this good and this consuming, I’ll be that author’s biggest fan for always.

Like there’s any way the author who created James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser wasn’t going to be on this list. You guys know me better than that, I hope. On a serious note, I can pinpoint my love for all things Scottish to the Outlander series. For real. And I love the relationship that Diana has crafted between Jamie and Claire.

I’ve read all of Maggie’s currently released work, and her books are some of my all-time favorites. If you guys can tell me the last time I went more than a week or two without mentioning THE SCORPIO RACES, I’ll be shocked. I feel like I talk about it all the time. Understandable, though, once you’ve read it and met Puck Connolly and Sean Kendrick. I LOVE Maggie Stiefvater. There’s nothing she could write that I wouldn’t want to read.

What do you guys think the odds are of basically every Top Ten Tuesday including J.K. Rowling on it? I think those odds are high. Although she’s on my list of all-time favorite authors, I basically only mean Harry Potter. I don’t really have any desire to read her adult books. Soooo, take from that what you will, but I can’t have this list without J.K. Rowling on it.

Jandy Nelson has written only two books, but they’ve both been so lovely and so heartbreaking and have stayed with me so long that I can’t NOT have her on my list of all-time favorite authors. She cemented her place on this list after just one book!

I’m getting the feeling that a lot of authors on this list are here because their characters are some of the most amazing I’ve ever read, and Patrick Rothfuss is no exception. Kvothe is in a league all his own, but I also love Wil and Simmon and Fela (let’s just pretend that Denna doesn’t really exist, mmkay?). Like GRRM, Patrick Rothfuss is on this list as much for Kvothe as he is for his stellar world-building. If I could live in the world where Kvothe lives, I’d be a happy camper.

I’m getting ants in my pants for something new from Kristin Cashore. GRACELING was one of the first YA books I ever read, and it essentially hooked me. I loved all three books in that series for different reasons, and I’ve been eagerly awaiting the announcement of her next book ever since.

When I try and think of an author who’s a sure thing, Morgan Matson is one that usually comes to mind pretty quickly. I just LOVE her stories and her characters and her everything. I’ve been moved by all of her books, and I just can’t gobble her books up fast enough. GIMME ALL OF THEM.

When I was younger, I didn’t really read a lot of fantasy, which seems crazy because I love it so much now. It’s probably a cliche that Tolkien is on this list but he really deserves a spot. I read The Lord of the Rings in college (*piles on more cliche*) and would, like, stay home on the weekends while my friends went out drinking so that I could read these books in peace. This was also right around the time when the movies were coming out, so I was totally invested. If I’d never read these books, I’m not sure how my love of the genre would exist.

Talk about an author whose work is super poignant and lovely. I don’t think I’ve ever read a Rainbow Rowell book and not been moved by it. I’ve laughed and swooned and cried–basically I run the gamut of feels when I read her stuff. I have just one book from her catalog left to read (THE ATTACHMENTS), and I have to admit that I’m a little nervous about CARRY ON. But one thing that all of the authors on this list share is their instant readability for me: I’ll never not read a book they write. Rainbow is a “no duh” author for me.

Top Ten Tuesday | Most Inspiring Quotes

Top Ten Most Inspiring Quotes

Friends, I do love quotes. I’ve got journals filled with them, random scraps of paper covered in them, and a woefully incomplete Goodreads list that barely scratches the surface. But honestly, is there anything better than reading a passage–long or short–that just makes you go, “OMG. I’VE BEEN STRUCK BY LIGHTNING JUST NOW. WORD LIGHTNING.”? I don’t think so. Some of the bookish quotes that’ve stuck with me the longest came from exactly these kinds of moments. Not just because they’re pretty and well-said, but because they actually meant something to me. So this list isn’t just my favorite quotes, nor the ones that I think are the prettiest. They’re the ones that, when I read them, they make me think a little bit more about myself: the things I’m afraid of, the things that give me warm fuzzies, the things that remind me not to be so hard on others or myself, the things that make me different and, frankly, super cool. (You guys, too.)

Sooo, I’ve never read this book. BUT! It just strikes a major chord with me, especially when I’m afraid, which is often. I’m a scaredy cat. But this reminds me to be kind. To try to understand where others are coming from. To make an effort to turn dragons into princesses, if they want to be, and to leave the dragons that want to be dragons as they are.

I love this quote. LOVE IT. I love the way Jandy Nelson explains GROWING. Screwing up and learning from mistakes. Making sure to keep all of the shitty parts so that we can remember how far we’ve come.

“In many ways, unwise love is the truest love.” BOOM, PROPHET ROTHFUSS HAS SPOKEN. This quote is such an important thing to remember in relationships of all kinds, for me. How love is true when you see the nasty parts and love it (or him or her or whomever) anyway. I also love how this quote urges me to not always THINK. FEEL sometimes, Amy.

Listen, when GRRM tells you to WAR UP, you obey. I remember exactly what’s happening when this quote is spoken by Tyrion Lannister. He’s at Winterfell, outside at night talking to Jon Snow, who’s emoing about being a bastard. Tyrion’s like, “DUDE, take it from me: Being dealt a crap hand doesn’t meant you have to fold.” Best. And I love the message. Toughen up. Don’t let the (ahem) bastards get you down.

As someone who reads all the books, words are important to me. I’m better at expressing myself with written words than spoken ones. But words can also be hollow, and this quote is a great reminder that words often need to be backed up. DOING instead of SAYING.

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE, YO. Can’t get much more inspiring than this. God, this book made me weep like an infant.

OMG. Ok. So, I read THE POISONWOOD BIBLE in college when I was going through an Oprah’s book club phase. Of all the books I read then, this is the one that burrowed into my deepest parts, especially this line. Maybe it’s not inspiring so much as it is frank about life. Sometimes good things happen to bad people, and sometimes good people still get screwed. Sometimes, shit’s just not fair. I take it to the next step in my head, though: Don’t get discouraged. Even when things suck, life is fickle. The chances of things being better in five minutes or a day are pretty good.

I always try to see things in a positive light. Being hopeful is something I try to do every day because I do believe that hope has its own magic.

Another quote that inspires me to be tough. To not let me troubles get the best of me. One of these days, I’m actually going to ENVISION this. Me lining up all the crap that’s bugging me and punching each one in the face. I can imagine how awesome that would feel.

There are SOOO many quotes from Harry Potter that are thoughtful and inspiring, but I’ve always loved this one for so many reasons. I think it’s important not to lose some of your childish sense of magic. Which is cheesy, but I believe it’s important. I also love this quote because it reminds me that kids are going to be kids, and it’s important to remember that I was a kid once too, screwing up and barely having any cares in the world. So when those brats in the souped up cars barrel down my street going 50 mph in a 25 at 2 am, I think of this quote and remind myself that I once did annoying things too. … Then I curse them out and call them horrible names and complain for a day that they woke me up in the middle of the night.

Top Ten Tuesday | Top Ten Characters I Want to Check in on

Top Ten Characters I Want to Check in on

I don’t know about you all, but this checking in thing is something I do ALL THE TIME. I’m constantly wondering about characters from books I’ve loved as if they were real people–How are they now? What are they up to? Are things still the way they were when I last saw them? Are they still together? (The answer to this is OBVS always yes.) So this Top Ten Tuesday is exciting for me. It’s also mostly couples. Can’t help myself. But the truth is, it’s mostly couples because I love them both and want them both to be OK. Better than OK.

Elisa & Hector | Girl of Fire and Thorns | If you’ve read this series–and if you haven’t, I can’t recommend it enough–you’re probably wondering how things are going for Elisa and Hector. They’re two of my favorite characters who’ve dealt with so much: war, death, love, responsibility, priorities. The evolution of their romance is really special, and their loyalty to one another is solid.

Isla & Josh | Isla and the Happily Ever After | I just reread this book and rediscovered that I LOVE IT SO MUCH. These two. They’re so passionate and intense. Different from Anna and Etienne, who are such AMAZING friends that their love burns slowly. Isla and Josh burn quickly and HOPEFULLY FOREVER. I just want to make sure they’re still in love and living their dreams together up in New Hampshire.

Sean & Puck | The Scorpio Races | DUH. I want to see Sean and Puck, I want to see Corr and Dove, I want to see Thisby, I want to see Sean’s house that they’re inevitably living in. I wish I lived in Thisby so that I could see these two every day.

Lennie & Joe | The Sky Is Everywhere | Another DUH. Talk about two people saving each other from grief and stress with an all-consuming connection. I think we left these two in a really great place, but I still want to see how they are. I want to make sure Lennie is doing what she wants for herself, playing her clarinet or not. I hope she finds some trace of her mother. I hope Joe’s dad isn’t such a tool, and maybe that he’s in a well-respected and awesome indie band with his brothers. I hope they’re happy, together. I’d love to see them again.

Karou & Akiva | Daughter of Smoke and Bone | I got the distinct feeling that this series was over but not OVER, you know? Like there’s maybe more to be told about this world and these people. Because I know that there was so much to repair between the angels and the chimera, I wonder if Karou and Akiva have been able to bridge the hatred a little more.

Eleanor & Park | Eleanor & Park | I heard a rumor that was hopefully not a rumor that Rainbow Rowell was writing a book about Eleanor and Park in their 30s. YES. YES A MILLION TIMES. Their story, even though it’s sad sometimes, is always a little brighter in those moments when their troubles are taking a back seat to THEM.

Josh & Sky | I’ll Meet You There | Ever since I finished this book, and then since I got the special letter from Heather Demetrios, I’ve been ever more convinced that I need to live in a world where these two are real. How is Sky doing at school? How is Josh doing with his puppy? These are really important things. I want to know them.

Violet Markey | All the Bright Places | Oh, Violet. I don’t worry about Violet because I think Finch saved her from her grief. But that doesn’t mean I still don’t want to make sure she’s ok, that she’s learning and moving forward and cherishing all the times she visited unassuming spots across Indiana with a boy she loved.

Michael Merrick | The Elementals | I still haven’t worked up the nerve/desire to write my review of this book because it let me down pretty majorly. Which is devastating because Michael Merrick was my favorite brother. I want to go back and see what’s going on with him and Hannah and his brothers. I also want more kissing this time.

Day & June | Legend | UGH the ending of this series was OUTSTANDING. I loved that Day and June found each other again and that everything was filled with such promise. So even though the ending was pretty perfect, I’d never turn away the opportunity to see how things are with them now.

Top Ten Tuesday | Ten Books I Recently Added to My TBR

Top Ten Books I Recently Added to My TBR

Like most of you, I’m sure, I’m CONSTANTLY adding books to my TBR. It’s the number one reason why I’ll never finish reading all the books on it. These aren’t the ten books I JUST added, but I’ve added all of these books in the last two weeks, and I’m STOKED to read all of them.

The Tsar’s Game | Evelyn Skye • Not too much info on this one, friends, except that the deal announcement mentioned Tsarist Russia–STOP IT LOVE THIS–magic, and star-crossed lovers. I CANNOT. Too bad I have to wait at least a year for it to come out.

Mystic and Rider (Twelve Houses #1) | Sharon Shinn • Sharon Shinn is one of my NEED TO READ fantasy authors. I’ve had other books of hers on my TBR for a long time, but I just found this one, the first in a series about a land experiencing some trouble because of perceived dangers of magic.

Saga, Volume 4 | Brian K. Vaughan • DUH, I need to keep reading about Marko, Alana, and their bebe, Hazel. Not to mention the intergalactic wars that are going on. Need this one real bad.

Romancing the Dark in the City of Light | Ann Jacobus • Do you know what book this reminds me of a little bit? REVOLUTION. But only the contemporary parts of that book. Something about the way this makes living in Paris and falling in love seem dark and troubled. I’m a little wary of the two guys business, but I’m still going to give this one a go.

The Hanged Man (Her Majesty’s Psychic Service #1) | P.N. Elrod • WHOA, you guys. THIS BOOK sounds amazing. Historical paranormal about a forensic psychic in London in 1879 who’s brought into a murder investigation to help suss out whether or not the death was suicide or murder-by-magic. The psychic? Queen Victoria’s goddaughter. PS this psychic lives on Baker Street. PPS there’s a handsome lieutenant and an enigmatic lord.

The Bride of Dusk and Glass | Roshani Chokshi • I’m noticing a new trend in YA, friends, and it involves Indian mythology. I can’t wait to delve into this vibrant culture! This one is a retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth, so it’s like two mythologies. I AM READY.

First & Then | Emma Mills • First of all, this cover is just so colorful and happy-making. Second of all, CUTE CONTEMP ALERT! There’s a best friend crush and a cocky boy crush, and it just sounds delightful and adorable.

Starborn (The Worldmaker Trilogy #1) | Lucy Hounsom • Not sure when this is coming out in the States, but it sounds like a super fantasy. There’s unnatural storms, betrayal, ancient ceremonies, visions, war, and “powers fueled by the sun and the moon.” WUTTTTT.

The Unquiet | Mikaela Everett • So I can’t lie: One of the things that drew me to this book is the name of the main character–Lirael. But what kept me interested is the awesomely weird things going on. A girl has been trained to go to a parallel universe and kill other herself, except things are not really what they seem. It’s described as unsettling, but it also still sounds potentially awesome.

Silver in the Blood | Jessica Day George • I’ve never read any books by Jessica Day George, but this one about young girls from turn-of-the-2oth-century New York go back to their ancestral home in Romania and come into contact with some dark things there sounds wonderful.

A Thousand Nights | E.K. Johnston • Ok, so first thing I noticed about this synopsis? The MC isn’t named. She’s only “she.” It sounds like “she” is some spin on Sheherezade, though, and I can get behind that 100%.