Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books That Will Make You Cry

This week's Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Will Make You Cry.  Other then sad country songs and commercials for the Olympics that show parents of Olympians, books top the list of tear-inducing material.


1. The Fault in Our Stars.  Does this even need explanation?  The movie is also going to wreck us I am sure, the trailer did....

2. The Book Thief.  Again, a given.

3.  Harry Potter Book 8.  Not only an end of an era, but the ends of our character's lives were not all butter rum and quidditch practice.

4.  Allegient.  Tears for Four always.

5. Similarly, tears for Gale in Mockingjay

6. Just One Day- GS's review is coming and it made her sad. (ADDENDUM: it made her happy said, she reports, but tears nonetheless)

7. Code Name Verity.  I cried so hard at the end of the book, which was terrible because I was on the metro on the way to work....

8. Jellico Road.  (and here, we really loved this) We have gone on about those one before, but the relationships just hurt in a real way.

Cheers to the Broke and Bookish for hosting as always!  What's on your list?

YA Movie Procrastination: Buzzfeed's 14 Books to Read Before They Hit the Big Screen

In case you weren't catching up on high caliber news (cough cough trolling Buzz Feed) you may have missed the post "Buzzfeed's 14 Books to Read Before They Hit the Big Screen"

The moral? We are about to get a plethora of YA novels made into movies, an especially high percentage starring Shailene Woodley...and that us ladies here at YAF&WS are big fans of! Here is a selection of the 14 we are interested in.

1. Divergent by Veronica Roth (our reviews)

Source: divergentfans.com

Image by Summit Entertainment

Why you should read it: This will be the next Hunger Games, mark my words. A dystopian society with five factions and a courageous teen ready to change the future. Tris is the kind of protagonist you really want to root for, and there are no love triangles! You will not be able to put this trilogy down.

Movie release date: March 21, 2014 /Who’s starring: Shailene Woodley, Kate Winslet, and Theo James

3. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (our excitement over the movie)

Source: bookworm-babe.blogspot.com

Image by Sony Pictures

Why you should read it: A story about a girl who discovers she has a supernatural bloodline after her mom is abducted by demons. It’s a very long series, but totally worth it. Let’s hope Hollywood does it justice!

Movie release date: Aug. 21, 2013/ Who’s starring: Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell Bower

4. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (are you even questioning our love at this point)

Why you should read it: A terminally ill girl unexpectedly falls in love despite her inevitable fate. Grab the tissues, guys.

Movie release date: Unknown/ Who’s starring: Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort Source: thenewsweethottness.wordpress.com

5. The Maze Runner by James Dashner 

Source: jamesdashner.com

Image by Christopher Polk / Getty Images

 Why you should read it: A bunch of boys are trapped in a maze filled with deadly creatures ready to kill. Their home is a ticking time bomb, and you’ll race through the book to find out if they ever escape. P.S. The movie stars DYLAN O’BRIEN, ladies and gents.

Movie release date: Feb. 14, 2014/ Who’s starring: Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, and Patricia Clarkson

9. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (our review)

Source: pbfingers.com

Image by Music Box Films

Why you should read it: During WWII, a young girl named Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. Under the stairs in her home, a Jewish refuge is being sheltered by her adoptive parents. The book is narrated by Death, so it will be interesting to see how this translates to film.

Movie release date: Jan. 17, 2014/ Who’s starring: Sophie Nélisse and Geoffrey Rush

13. The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp (we ARE excited)

Source: goodreads.com

Image by A24

Why you should read it: This is a classic I-unexpectedly-fell-in-love high school story that will have you rapidly flipping through the pages. The movie premiered at Sundance and received rave reviews, saying, “John Hughes would be proud.”

Movie release date: Aug. 2, 2013/ Who’s starring: Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller

Which YA Series Is Your Next Hunger Games–Level Obsession?

Thank you Vulture once again for keeping us entertained:

Which YA Series Is Your Next Hunger Games–Level Obsession?

Head over to Vulture to give it a try... we all certainly did:

• Grad Student on Goosie Mama’s FB wall: MY personal favorite question was 

  
  

  about how  much I  wanted romance in my books.... I went with "Are you kidding right 

  
  

  now" and got myself to Delirium.  This is pretty funny.

  
  

  Grad Student: to clarify, I played with it again. I got Delirium. Again.

  
  

  Crazy Camper:  I had a hard time not getting Delirium too! Finally got to City of Bones and Maze Runner

  
  

  Goosie Mama: I GOT THE FAULT IN OUR STARS - John Green and I really are meant to be ... sigh!

  
  

  Grad Student: How many of these do you THINK I have read?

  
  

  Goosie Mama: That's not even a question ...

  
  

  Goosie Mama: clarification: ALL OF THEM

  
  

  Grad Student: TRUE STORY

Review: An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

One of my new years resolutions was to read more smart books, and since John Green is a fan favorite in these parts, I made my way once again into the young adult section of the library- Via:

When it comes to relationships, everyone has a type. Colin Singleton’s type is girls named Katherine. He has dated–and been dumped by–19 Katherines. In the wake of The K-19 Debacle, Colin–an anagram-obsessed washed-up child prodigy–heads out on a road trip with his overweight, Judge Judy- loving friend Hassan. With 10,000 dollars in his pocket and a feral hog on his trail, Colin is on a mission to prove a mathematical theorem he hopes will predict the future of any relationship (and conceivably win the girl).

Is anyone surprised I loved it?  Much less heavy (i.e., no painful public hysterical tears) compared to The Fault in Our Stars, but just as funny and engaging as ever! And the math and footnotes. It was just a cool idea.

Originality: 10.  O a book about a teenage boy overcoming a relationship, on a road trip to find himself?  No, you havent read this, this is much better then that.  Satan Pigs, Pink Mansions and tampon string factories combined with mathematical functions which made my brain spin a bit. 

Absurdity: 4. Forget the tampon string factory, this book just feels REAL.

Paranormal Romance: 0/ Teen Romance: 7.  While this book is about all the Katherines, the Dumpers and the Dumpees, it is also about friends, parents, and the expectations and labels  we put upon ourselves.  So much more than romance (but there is implied kissing which was way better then the actual kissing).

Harry Potterness: 10.  Sigh, J Green you did it again.  Your interest with infinite, the future, and what we offer to that and what it means for the individual is very interesting.   I will continue to think on this for awhile, especially in context of the Fault of Our Stars, in my own personal book group in my mind:

 Q. What inspired you to write An Abundance of Katherines?

A. I’m really interested in why we are all so obsessed with mattering–why people in our historical moment are so fixated on fame and notoriety and leaving a legacy. (It says something the word “individual” did not take on its current meaning until the 18th century.) So that was part of it. Also, at some point in your adolescence you become aware that you are not quite so special as you’ve been led to believe, and this is a pretty difficult thing to reconcile, and I wanted to write about a young man who was experiencing that in the most extreme way possible.

This was a laughing rollicking story about friends and growing up, and I loved it.