Tag Archives: top ten tuesday

Nov 26 2013
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Top Ten Childhood Books I’m Thankful For!

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 Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

 This week, I’m paying homage to the books that sparked my love of reading. Without them, I doubt I would have grown up to be The Obsessive Bookseller I am today. I owe them for introducing me to my passion in life.

Top Ten Childhood Books I’m Thankful For!

Most of these books kept me entertained a dozen times over – when I was younger we lived almost two hours from the nearest bookstore, so I reread these books until they were falling apart. Some of them I would challenge myself to read cover to cover every day… It was a lot of fun. :-)

What books sparked your love of reading as a kid?

by Niki Hawkes

Nov 18 2013
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Top Ten Books I Recommend to Nonreaders! (11/18/2013)

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Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

 For avid readers like myself, there is no end to the number of great books just waiting to be added to our colossal TBR piles. For nonreaders, however, it can be really difficult finding quality reading if you’re not immersed in the book world. It has been my experience that most nonreaders select their next books based solely on word of mouth and personal recommendations.

 Because they are not familiar with many of the subgenres of speculative fiction, I always try to get them started on “gateway” novels – ones that aren’t too intimidating for the casual reader but are good enough that I can recommend them confidently to a wide range of people. As a side note, I consider anyone who reads fewer than five books a year to be a nonreader. These recommendations also work for avid readers looking to explore other genres.

Top Ten Books I Recommends to Nonreaders!

   Now keep in mind that I wouldn’t hand any of these titles to people who only like creative nonfiction or biographies. They have to be interested in these genres to begin with, and I do a lot of brain picking before I throw my heart and soul into a recommendation. I actually have a list of about five titles per genre that I mention to an interested person, but tried to pick the best from each one to represent here. Would any of these make your list?

by Niki Hawkes

Nov 12 2013
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Top Ten Tuesday – Top Ten Book Covers I Wish I Could Redesign! (11/12/2013)

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 Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

 Let’s face it, despite the old saying, most of us always consider the cover when deciding whether or not to pick up a book. I’ve always been a firm believer that the cover can tell you quite a bit about a title. Often times, publishers award the most desirable covers to the books they think are going to make them the most money. Even though it’s not a foolproof method, you could say that books with beautiful covers usually deserve a second look. That doesn’t mean a good book can’t have a crappy cover, as quite a few of my redesign selections today are among my all-time favorites. So without further ado:

 Top Ten Book Covers I Wish I Could Redesign! 

Interestingly enough, three of my ten covers were illustrated by the same person… I guess it’s safe to say his work just doesn’t speak to me. I’ve also included two Richelle Mead books because, as my favorite, I need covers that will help entice people to pick them up. There’s nothing worse than handing a customer a book with the disclaimer “don’t let the cover throw you off, it’s excellent!” The added visual really does help me get people excited to try new series. I realize a few of these actually have been redesigned, but I include them on my list anyway because I still don’t like how they were done.

  I love covers, so as a bonus I decided to include my:

Top Ten Favorite/Least Favorite Cover Redesigns:

Favorite Changes – Before:

Favorite Changes – After:

 Least Favorite Changes – Before:

 Least Favorite Changes – After:

 I liked the old designs better… I’m almost embarrassed to hand the Dawn Cook series to anybody now – it’s one of my favorite Dragon stories, but you’d never know it from the new covers.

I hope you enjoyed the extra mile I went this week. What book covers would you like to redesign? 

Nov 4 2013
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Top Ten Tuesday – Top Ten Sequels I Can’t Wait to get My Hands On (11/5/2013)

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 Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Top Ten Sequels I Can’t Wait to get My Hands On!

The first five are sequels that have covers and release dates (and, incidentally, are the books I am most excited to pick up within the next six months):

 For the next five, I decided to feature the first books in the series, as covers, titles, and release dates aren’t yet available for their sequels. Some of these rank among my favorite books read this year, and I am impatiently awaiting the next installments:

You may notice that most of them are YA which should illustrate the direction my reading tastes have been lately. I can’t seem to help it, though, because there are so many great new authors hitting the market that I’m having trouble keeping up with them all!

Is anybody else as excited for these sequels as I am?

 by Niki Hawkes

Oct 29 2013
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Top Ten Tuesday – Top Ten Book Covers by Luis Royo

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Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

 In honor of Halloween, this Top Ten post was supposed to be devoted to my favorite scary book covers. As I don’t particularly like books with creepy covers I thought I would (yet again) take it in a different direction:

 Top Ten Book Covers by Luis Royo

 Not only is Royo my favorite artists, but his works often have a bit of a darker edge – perfect for Halloween (The covers I’ve chosen lack of a little bit of that darkness, but they’re in the minority of his works. Just do a google search and you’ll see what I mean…caution: they can get pretty racy).

 I been wanting to feature these covers for a while, so I’m glad I finally found an excuse. I will admit that some of these I picked up based on the cover art alone, which sounds weird, but he hasn’t let me down yet – some of these books are among my favorites.

 There you have it! What books made your list this week?

Oct 22 2013
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Top Ten Tuesday – Top Ten Character Names (10/22/2013)

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Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

For me, a name is only as good as the character behind it, so this week’s topic could also be dubbed “Niki’s Top Ten Favorite Characters.” In any case, here we have:

Top Ten Character Names!

Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur
Bloodlines by Richelle Mead
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

#1: Riley Jensen – This chick kicks butt. She’s half vampire half werewolf, and if I were constantly surrounded by the supernatural, I’d definitely won her on my side!

#2: Sydney – Of all the literary characters, I’ve yet to identify with one as much as I do this awesome Alchemist. We have a lot of the same tendencies and issues… that’s all and saying.

#3: Minerva McGonagall – you would think I would love a character that’s more close to me demographically, but I can’t help it – I love this woman. I admire her spirit, loyalty, and determination, and find her scenes to be some of the most powerful.

Servant of the Shard by R.A. Salvatore
The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts

 #4: Jarlaxle – I loved that I never knew whose side this character was on. Capable of great evil, he still managed to be incredibly likable. His part in Drizzt’s saga really made the series something extra special for me.

#5 Chubs – Best side character ever! He was so rich and rounded right from the beginning, and his constant loyalty and protectiveness outshone the main characters at times (in the very best way). I was not expecting that to happen.

 #6 Mara of the Acoma – This memorable character taught me it’s possible to be both feminine and strong. Her story will always be on a pedestal in my mind.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
The Spirit Eater by Rachel Aaron
Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind

#7: Kvothe – This star of my favorite novel is kind of a shit… but I kind of love him because of it.

#8 Nico – This little girl has more bravery and determination in her little finger than most of us have in our entire bodies. She manages to be both unassuming, dynamic and fascinating all at the same time – what a cool character!

#9: Kahlan – Hands down my favorite female character in literature! I love her so much I’m naming my first daughter after her (although I’m spelling it Kaylen so more people know how to pronounce it).

 And my favorite:

Fool's Errand by Robin Hobb

Fool’s Errand by Robin Hobb

#10: The Fool – this is my favorite character ever. The Fool is simply fascinating and I devour every new novel hoping to learn more about this golden character. His journey touches my heart in ways no other character has, and he is partially responsible for why I started to review blog. A++ all the way!

by Niki Hawkes