Top 10 Tuesday #1

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish!

Top 10 fantasy or syfy books I'd recommend to someone who doesn't read fantasy or syfy...

1. The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross - this is literally my favorite book EVER at the moment! Think of each amazing classic science fiction/fantasy novel by Shelley, Wells, Verne, etc.  Then think…amazing group of vigilantes/crime fighters with special abilities derived straight from these old classics in London in the late 1800's. Plus, the main character is the most amazing, kick-butt "regular" class girl who quite literally has to fight to keep the wild, angsty side under control while also making sure that her demure and pleasing side doesn't get "stepped on" by others. Now I don't know about you, but this is what I have to do every darn day of my life= find a balance and hope that one side or the other doesn't overwhelm the other. Best book ever for me! (Plus the short story eBook is great and FREE.) Can’t wait for the next book! Hurry Kady, hurry!
2. Fire by Kirstin Cashore- this is an amazing world of the Seven Kingdoms that Cashore has created where sometimes there are people who have special abilities and usually something special, or perhaps horrifying, about their looks (depending on how you look at it. Read it and you'll see what I mean.) Before Cross's books, this was my favorite! It is a world where people can be monsters too. They have the ability to persuade you to do anything they'd like you to do. Now, what if there was only one or two of these people left? This really makes you think about the “what ifs.” What if you could do this? Would you? If so, would you do it all the time or only some of the time? Would you be able to control yourself? It's the classic "If you had powers, would you use them for good or for evil?"
3. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins- If you haven’t read this all ready…shame on you! LOL! Read it already! These are amazing! There is so much of this book that I can already see in our world. What if….? Could this happen? Is it possible?  
4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling- the book that started it all…the amazing rush of people young and old who were reading about Rowling’s world. Why? Because not only is stepping into another world better than staying in your own sometimes but the battle between good and evil has always been something that has fascinated us all. If you’ve never read the books and only watched the movies, you are missing out on SO much. I you want to read books about hope, then these are the books! Get started!
5. Dark Life by Kat Falls- Think deep sea pioneers and you've hit the nail on the head with this one. What I love about this one is the originality! Love it! I couldn't believe that this was a debut novel for this author after I read it. The future world that she has created is done so wholly that you can absolutely believe that it is a possibility. Plus there is the question: would living in Deep Ocean for an extended time period affect you? Would it affect your children? Then on top of everything, there is also the question “How much is too much governmental control?” What a perfect time period in politics for this book honestly.
6. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld- Maybe the real problem with our world is what the parochial schools have been getting right all this time…if everyone is the same, then everyone is equal and even happy! This is a world where everyone becomes “pretty.” Once you’re a pretty, life is a party non-stop where all you ever have to worry about is where the next big thing is happening. If everyone’s beautifully perfect then what could anyone ever want for? You don’t even have to worry about what you eat because there is a pill you can take to take care of that. Perfect, right?
7. The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong- What if you could see ghosts? What if you could even reanimate them? The beginning of the Darkest Powers series brings us into a house full of “broken” teenagers who aren’t what they appear to be. What they really are has yet to be completely discovered. What have they all been brought together for? Find out by reading the series! These literally couldn’t be read in the dark by me! Yikes!
8. The Dead-tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan…and...The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan- these are the 2^nd & 3^rd in a trilogy which means you of course need to read the first one BUT these are amazingly moving! W-O-W! I loved these. Who would ever think that books that are post-zombie apocalypse could ever be great!? I was so wrong thinking this! The humanity is astounding in it. The decisions that people make or don’t make are fascinating. The world that exists or doesn’t exist is also fascinating. I can’t wait to see what else Carrie Ryan has in store for us. Please write faster Carrie!
9. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl- a sleepy southern town where everything is the same as it was over a hundred years ago….enter a mysterious new girl in town…and everything changes! The sleepy little town will never be the same when the Castor world explodes both beneath and above the streets. Will there be anything left when everything is said and done? I loved the flashes of the past that dragged me into the Civil War and the reenactments that the students in town are required to be a part of! As a civil war reenactor, it was just cool to know that my family wasn’t the only group of crazies out there! I can’t wait to see the movie!
10. Dying to Meet You by Kate Klise- a young boy is living on his own in an old house where he finds a ghost who becomes his companion. She fends for him, cares for him and even finds him an actual person (a grumpy old fella) to be his caretaker so he isn't taken away from his home. Throughout the book there are drawings, letters and the most adorable names that go along with the person’s personality or job. Just cute as cute could be as a whole package while also being very moving.