Audio Adventures: Wish List

It is a sad fact that for as many books that get published, not all of them can become audiobooks. The following is a list of all the books (or authors' entire works) I wish I could listen to.

Audiobook Wish List

Paula Stokes 

You're right, Paula isn't a book, but I would like ALLLLLL of her work to be audiobooks. I ADORE The Art of Lainey and Girl Against the Universe. I have not read Vicarious yet, but I'm sure it is also fantastic. Paula's characters are so REAL. They're dynamic individually, and dynamite as an ensemble. I would love to hear her stories since I always get a different perspective when I listen to a book.

Jennifer Echols

Jennifer is a favorite of mine, but she has always been part of the quiet YA movement. Her books aren't flashy bestsellers (which is a darn shame!), but I have always connected with her stories and her characters from the very first time I saw Major Crush's cover. Something in each of Jen's books feels like it's been pulled out of the diary of my life, and how could I not want to listen to them? Plus, Jen has some seriously swoony guys and sassy gals I'd love to hear!

Jodi Meadows

I LOVED Jodi's Incarnate series; each installment kept getting better and better. So it pains me that only Incarnate has an audiobook. Conversely, I didn't LOVE The Orphan Queen duology, but I enjoyed it. I would love to see if listening and gaining new perspective would make me enjoy the story even more. The bottom line is that Jodi writes kickass fantasy, and that always makes for entertaining and engrossing audiobooks. C'mon, Harper, jump on it!

I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

Again, I didn't LOVE this book, but I did really like it. Plus it's a 13 on the 1-10 swoony scale. Skylar and Josh have phenomenal chemistry, and that translates well in audiobooks if you have the right narrators. With as popular as IMYT is, honestly I'm shocked it didn't get an audio.

Meg Cabot's Boy series

I have long loved Meg's teen books: Princess Diaries, Mediator, Airhead, Abandon, Avalon High, Teen Idol, etc. She's queen of teen fiction. But Meg ALSO has a ton of amazing adult books, and I got hooked on those when I picked up Boy Meets Girl probably about a decade ago. Since then, I have read the entire companion trilogy about once every two years or so (probably a little more), and I have long stalked Meg's website FAQ which has hinted for a couple years that she was working on another epistolary novel. This year when The Boy is Back was announced, I couldn't have been more excited. To celebrate, I began searching for the audiobooks of the other three so I could listen to them before number four releases in September. Imagine my disappointment, nay, horror when I realized THEY DON'T EXIST. Granted, this is probably because they are epistolary novels and instead of traditional prose narration, these stories are told through letters, notes, emails, IMs, diary entries, airplane tickets, documents, etc. But if Illuminae can make it work, SO CAN THESE.

Update: I just discovered an AUDIO CASSETTE of the first book in the series The Guy Next Door (I guess before it was Boy Next Door! Sold from Germany and the UK so maybe that's why?) on Amazon for $9.08. This shall be mine!

This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills

This book isn't out yet, but it's already one of my favorites of the year. Emma herself narrated the audiobook for her first novel First & Then, which was pretty good. I wouldn't mind if she narrated This Adventure Ends; I just want one period!

I wrote this list a couple months ago. This Adventure Ends released last week, and I haven't seen an audiobook pop up on Amazon or Audible. FINGERS CROSSED that it will happen!

The Storyspinner and The Skylighter by Becky Wallace

 

 Fantasy novels make the best audiobooks, and I'd love for Becky's Brazilian-inspired world to come to life in an audio. It's a magical, beautiful series, and I think it would sparkle and shine via audio interpretation.

The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

I just don't think it's very fair that both of Emery's other books have audios, but Me and You doesn't. It was a really interesting story, and I would love to hear Paige's intense and emotional story.

Tiffany Schmidt's Once Upon a Crime Family series
 

I would love to have audiobooks (and more sequels!) for Hold Me Like a Breath and Break Me Like a Promise. They're such unique books, and I think they would be really exciting in audio. Again, these are more quiet YA, but these books are really cinematic (seriously, these should be movies!), and that's a great quality to have in an audiobook.

Do you agree with my picks? What books would you choose to have audiobooks? Let me know in the comments!

Blog Tour: Perfect Couple by Jennifer Echols

Rating: 5 stars

Pub Date: January 13, 2015

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Genre: young adult contemporary romance

Format/Source: DRC & ARC, from the publisher

Status: Book 2 of the Superlatives companion series
Links: Biggest Flirts review (also 5 stars)

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review as part of the blog tour, which was organized & hosted by The Fantastic Flying Book Club. The full tour schedule can be found HERE. Please go give my fellow tour hosts some love!

Summary:

Perfect Couple is #2 in the Superlatives series about seniors at a Florida high school who are selected for their class's superlative categories in the yearbook, and how the labels change the way they view themselves and alter the course of their lives.

Can your heart be put to a popular vote?

As yearbook photographer, Harper is responsible for capturing those candid moments that make high school memorable. But her own life is anything but picture perfect. Her parents' bitter divorce has left her wondering what a loving relationship would look like. And ever since the senior class voted her and star quarterback Brody the “Perfect Couple That Never Was,” her friends have been on her case to ask Brody out.

Brody doesn’t lack in female admirers, but Harper can't see herself with him. He seems confused about why they were matched together, too. They’re total opposites—the last people in the world who would ever be compatible, let alone the “perfect couple.” Yet ever since the class paired the two of them, they've found themselves drawn together--first by curiosity, then by an undeniable bond.

The trouble is, though they're very attracted to each other and both of them admit this, they have a hard time getting along or even communicating clearly. If they’re the perfect couple, this shouldn’t be so difficult! Soon it becomes clear their class was wrong, and they throw in the towel. But after they walk away, both of them feel so changed from making the effort that they can’t forget each other. What if that means this match made in hell is the perfect couple after all?

Top Ten Tuesday #53: Authors whose books I hoard more than usual

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and The Bookish. Each week the girls at B&B think up a fun theme, and participating bloggers post their favorite 10 books in that category. This week's theme is

Top ten authors whose books I own the most of

This is actually a little bit of a difficult topic for me because my library is split in half between my parents' house in Tennessee and my place in Dallas and also my books are not very well organized at the moment so there's no way for me to easily look at all my books and be like, oh yeah. So today I'm splitting my list up, and I'm going to go over ten. But this is me so I usually go over ten.

 

 I took these shelfies when I was home during my huge February roadtrip. The shelf on the left is my "favorites" shelf and contains many of the book collections on this list. The shelf on the right is one of my overflow shelves with very little rhyme or reason. However, I do know where my books are. A couple months ago, I called my mom and asked for the "matching blue, pink, and yellow books" that were on that shelf "around chest height." Before I could give her the titles, she already knew what they were. Also, they didn't make this list, but shout out to my Dear America diaries, which are all on that shelf on the right.

Note 1: I do count arcs (but only the physical ones, not digital) and duplicates, but I do not count duplicates that I bought with the intent of giving them away, which is one reason why this was difficult.

Note 2: Usually, I'm very specific about always using italics with book covers but eff that today. Ain't nobody got time for that with this list!

10. Suzanne Collins: 8

• The Underland Chronicles: Gregor the Overlander, The Prophecy of Bane, The Curse of the Warmbloods, The Marks of Secret, The Code of Claw
• The Hunger Games: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay

My Hunger Games copies are on my favorites shelf, but here are my 

Underland Chronicles, Eoin Colfer collection, Charlie Bone & Percy

Jackson. Basically all my favorite middle grade books.

***********

9. Laura Ingalls Wilder: 9 

• Little House on the Prairie series: Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, Farmer Boy, On the Banks of Plum Creek (my favorite!), By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Big Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years, and The First Four Years

***********

8. Ally Carter: 10.5

• Gallagher Girls series: I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You, Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, Don't Judge a Girl By Her Cover, Only the Good Spy Young, Out of Sight Out of Time, United We Spy, United We Spy chapter sampler (this is the .5), "Double Crossed"
• Heist Society: Heist Society, Uncommon Criminals, Perfect Scoundrels

me with Ally @ TLA 2013!

(I went through her line three times so I could get all my books signed)

(worth it)

***********

7. Cassandra Clare: 12

• The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls, City of Heavenly Fire
• The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel (hc & pb), Clockwork Prince, Clockwork Princess
• The Bane Chronicles: I don't know which one, but I have exactly one story from these
• The Magisterium: The Iron Trial

 me with Cassie @ B&N Franklin, Dec 2011

This is the same store where I got to meet Elizabeth Eulberg,

Jackson Pearce, Jen Calonita & that hosted Dark Days in Feb

***********

6. J.K. Rowling: 13

• Harry Potter: Sorcerers Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince,  Deathly Hallows + 3 UK editions (I honestly can't tell you which ones because I just got them)
• Quidditch by the Ages
• Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them
• The Tales of Beetle the Bard

 

Bookshelf staples, I mean come on. HP, Shatter Me (and

yes, I put Tahereh & Ransom together because duh),

Twilight (Steph clocked in with a measly 6 so she's not allowed 

on my list), Inheritance Cycle, and my Ally Carters. There's 

my bonus Clockwork Angel (because Magnus's vow &

this copy was like $1 at the Scholastic sale) and some of my

adult Richelle Meads. Also Sarah Ockler <3

***********

5. Eoin Colfer: 13

• Artemis Fowl series: Artemis Fowl, The Arctic Incident, The Eternity Code (my fave!), The Opal Deception, The Lost Colony, The Time Paradox, The Atlantis Complex, The Last Guardian, The Artemis Fowl Files
• W.A.R.P series: The Reluctant Assassin, The Hangman's Revolution
• The Supernaturalist
• Airman

It took 2 separate signings, but I got all my EC books AND my mom's signed in

April (This pic is from TLA. Eoin said he would sign all my books "as long as [he] 

didn't have to carry them." Also worth it. Best mother's day gift I've ever given!

***********

4. Abbi Glines: 17

(I know we're not supposed to be ashamed of what we read, but I'm definitely sad I have more of Abbi's books than other authors I like better.)

• The Vincent Boys: The Vincent Boys (2 copies), The Vincent Brothers
• Sea Breeze series: Breathe, Because of Low, While It Lasts, Just for Now, Sometimes It Lasts, Bad for You, Hold on Tight
• Rosemary Beach series: Fallen Too Far, Never Too Far, Forever Too Far, Rush Too Far, Twisted Perfection, Simple Perfection (absolutely horrible & I want to pretend it doesn't exist because it ROYALLY PISSED ME OFF)

Me with Abbi at the Take a Chance launch in February. No

shelfie with her books because I own all of hers on Kindle.

 

***********

3. Jennifer Echols: 14.5 17.5

• Standalones: Major Crush, The Ex Games, Love Story, Going Too Far, Forget You, The One That I Want, Such a Rush (arc & hc), Dirty Little Secret, Levitating Las Vegas
• The Boys Next Door: The Boys Next Door, Endless Summer (omnibus of TBND + ES so I gave it the .5)
• The Superlatives trilogy: Biggest Flirts (arc & hc), Perfect Couple (arc)
• Stargazer: Star Crossed, Playing Dirty

I really did almost cry when I met Jenn at TLA last year.

This is a partial pic of my JE collection, but I'm giving

myself bonus points for having nearly all the Simon 

Pulse romantic comedies. Also, you see the Mediator 

books there? Remember them for later...

 ***********

2. Richelle Mead: 21 + 1.5 27 + 1.5

• Vampire Academy: Vampire Academy (first edition pb + special edition hc), Frostbite, Shadow Kiss, Blood Promise, Spirit Bound, Last Sacrifice PLUS I bought the entire series last year when it was on sale for Kindle
• Bloodlines: Bloodlines, The Golden Lily, The Indigo Spell, The Fiery Heart, Silver Shadows
• Dark Swan series: Storm Born, Thorn Queen, Iron Crowned, Shadow Heir + ebook collection of all four
• Age of X trilogy: Gameboard of the Gods (audio)
• anthologies (I did .5 for these so hence the 1.5): Foretold: 14 Tales of Prophecy & Prediction , Kisses from Hell, Immortal: Love Stories with Bite

 Meeting Richelle in June of 2012. I drove 2 hours with my mom to sit

in the bookstore for 2 hours (we missed Richelle's Q&A) and wait for

the line to go down. This began my waiting until the very end to get

my books signed, a practice I still do today. And yes, I am wearing

a Rock the Vote t-shirt & I gave one to Richelle. You can see the 

backs of the t-shirts here.

My VA collection plus my Gallagher Girls (and some TMI)

 ***********

1. Meg Cabot: WHAT EVEN ARE NUMBERS

• The Princess Diaries: I don't even know which ones I have, but it's at least seven plus two of the "bonus" books like Holiday Princess so...9? So I just looked at the picture of my Meg Cabot books that I took in February, and I have 1-4 (x2) plus five and six plus three of the bonus books so: 13
• Abandon trilogy: Abandon, Underworld, Awaken + Awaken ARC: 4
• Mediator series: Shadowland, Ninth Key, Reunion, Darkest Hour, Haunted, Twilight (AND OMG THERE WILL BE A BOOK 7 AND I WANTS IT): 6 (but rest assured I WILL buy #7)
• Avalon High: Avalon High, Avalon High: Homecoming: 2
• Boy series: Boy Next Door (two pb, one is a first edition with Meg's pen name), Boy Meets Girl, Every Boy's Got One: 4 (and she could totally write more of these & I'd buy them)
• Heather Wells series: Size 12 is Not Fat, Size 14 is Not Fat Either, Big Boned, Size 12 & Ready to Rock: 4
• Insatiable: Insatiable, Overbite (c'mon, Meg, WRITE BOOK 3 ALREADY DANGIT): 2
• Standalones: Nicola & the Viscount, Victoria & the Rogue, Teen Idol, She Went All the Way, Ransom My Heart: 6
• anthologies: Foretold: 14 Tales of Prophecy & Prediction, Prom Nights from Hell: 2 x .5

Guys, that is NOT my entire Meg collection. I brought

a bunch with me to Dallas, and I've bought some since

I moved here. Yeah.

You guys think those are the big guns, though. HA. The ACTUAL winners of most books in my library are Carolyn Keene, whose Nancy Drew books (mostly the original yellow books, but a handful of Nancy Drew Files) have starred on my shelves for two decades; Franklin W. Dixon, whose Frank & Joe (mostly Joe) Hardy were the stars of my tween daydreams (mostly Hardy Boys casefiles, but my brother has most of the original blue ones); (and yes, that means I have most of the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Super Mysteries!); R.L. Stine (long live the Goosebumps, but I also have one of his ya novels); Gertrude Chandler Warner, whose Boxcar Children were my elementary school staple; and Ann M. Martin (I bought FORTY of The Baby-sitters Club books in ONE trip to my local used bookstore when I was eleven or so. The price tag for such a haul? $2 + tax.).

 This is the bookshelf with my Nancy Drews,

Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen collection (I was a

child of the 90s!), and Hardy Boys.

So....yeah. As you can tell, most of these authors are among my favorites, and I have been fortunate to meet most of them too (so a disproportionate number of these books are signed)! I obviously have not met Laura Ingalls Wilder, but I HAVE been to her home. I have met Meg Cabot, but I don't know where the picture is for that. :(

But I digress. I am a second generation book hoarder. My mom still has boxes full of the Bobsey twins from when she was a kid.

Whew! This post literally took all day to do, but I had a lot of fun. I'm glad I could find all these pictures to include as well! Who are your favorites and how many do you have? Share your thoughts and links in the comments!

Waiting on Wednesday: Perfect Couple by Jennifer Echols

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.

Perfect Couple
Superlatives #2

by Jennifer Echols

Coming January 13, 2015

Simon Pulse

Summary:

Can your heart be put to a popular vote?

As yearbook photographer, Harper is responsible for capturing those candid moments that make high school memorable. But her own life is anything but picture perfect. Her parents' bitter divorce has left her wondering what a loving relationship would look like. And ever since the senior class voted her and star quarterback Brody the “Perfect Couple That Never Was,” her friends have been on her case to ask Brody out.

Brody doesn’t lack in female admirers, but Harper can't see herself with him. He seems confused about why they were matched together, too. They’re total opposites—the last people in the world who would ever be compatible, let alone the “perfect couple.” Yet ever since the class paired the two of them, they've found themselves drawn together--first by curiosity, then by an undeniable bond.

The trouble is, though they're very attracted to each other and both of them admit this, they have a hard time getting along or even communicating clearly. If they’re the perfect couple, this shouldn’t be so difficult! Soon it becomes clear their class was wrong, and they throw in the towel. But after they walk away, both of them feel so changed from making the effort that they can’t forget each other. What if that means this match made in hell is the perfect couple after all?

Why I want it:

I am in a perpetual state of waiting on the next Jennifer Echols book. She's one of my all-time favorites!

Why I think you should want it:

This series is brilliant. High school superlatives narrow people down into one flat characteristic, one label they're stuck with forever. At any reunion, they will forever be known as Mr. or Miss or Biggest or Most whatever. Jennifer plays on this stereotyping with each couple in the series. Sure, each character has been pigeonholed into whatever label their classmates stuck them with, but Jennifer allows them to tell their story and become more than the title. Will and Tia proved there was more to their relationship and, more importantly, more to them as individuals than Biggest Flirts, their official titles, or even the Snobby New Guy and the Slacker Girl, the unofficial titles they're trapped by. I have no doubt that Jenn will do the same for Brody, the Daredevil Jock, and Harper, the Artsy girl. Can't wait! If you need more convincing, check out my five star review of Biggest Flirts for further explanation why this series is amazing.

Review: Biggest Flirts by Jennifer Echols

Rating: 5 stars

Pub Date: May 20, 2014

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Genre: young adult contemporary romance

Format/Source: ARC, from the author

Status: First book in the Superlatives companion trilogy

Summary:

The yearbook votes have been cast. Senior year is about to get interesting.

Tia just wants to have fun. She’s worked hard to earn her reputation as the life of the party, and she’s ready for a carefree senior year of hanging out with friends and hooking up with cute boys. And her first order of business? New guy Will. She can’t get enough of his Midwestern accent and laid-back swagger.

As the sparks start to fly, Will wants to get serious. Tia’s seen how caring too much has left her sisters heartbroken, and she isn’t interested in commitment. But pushing away Will drives him into the arms of another girl. Tia tells herself it’s no big deal…until the yearbook elections are announced. Getting voted Biggest Flirt along with Will is, well, awkward. They may just be friends, but their chemistry is beginning to jeopardize Will's new relationship—and causing Tia to reconsider her true feelings. What started out as a lighthearted fling is about to get very complicated…

Top Ten Tuesday #44: Characters Who Are Musically Inclined

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and The Bookish. Each week the girls at B&B think up a fun theme, and participating bloggers post their favorite 10 books in that category. This week's theme is

Top Ten Musically Inclined Characters

Originally I thought I might go with characters I'd want as my best friend or my favorite book boyfriends, but I had to show SOME self control here. If I did book boyfriends, there's zero way I could limit myself to fifty, let alone try to cut it to ten. So instead, I was inspired to do a list full of characters who display some amount of musical talent, whether they sing or play an instrument. I did limit to those who can play and perform, not just music lovers or I'd want to include way more than the, erm, 23 characters who did make this list. Oops.

1.Drew & Virginia, Major Crush by Jennifer Echols. These two are, by far, my favorites on this list. Virginia is a saucy beauty queen majorette turned little drummer girl turned drum major. Then there's beautiful Drew, who is a goofy trombone boy who grows up and also becomes drum major. These two are enormously talented, and their chemistry is palpable. Sure, they don't pick up instruments for the majority of the book because they're busy directing the band (sometimes successfuly and sometimes not so much), but it's their passion for band and music that keeps them working hard at what they do and also keeps them together.

2. Davy, Uninvited by Sophie Jordan. Davy also doesn't spend much time at the keys of a keyboard in Uninvited so I hope she does get a chance to do so in Unleashed a little bit, but Davy's extraordinary talent helps to round out her character and gives one more piece of evidence that the HTC gene doesn't always prove a reliable judge of a person.

3. Jem, The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare. Um, duh. Jem's music is an intrinsic part of himself. The scenes when he plays are so absurdly gorgeous; the writing is so descriptive that the words float off the page like sound. Also, Jem's playing led to so many lovely moments between Tessa and himself such as their introduction and, um, some other pretty great scenes. ;)

4. Bailey & Sam, Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols. I'm enormously jealous of Bailey's pitch perfect talent. I have decent pitch, but hers is literally perfect. I like that Bailey doesn't give up on music even though her parents forbid it. Once again, like with Will and Virginia in Major Crush, Jennifer uses her characters' passion for music as the catalyst for their relationship. Bailey and Sam spend much of DLS fighting about this and that, but it's their talent and their spark, their mutual respect and dedication to music that keeps them together.

5. Edward, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Say what you want about Twilight, but when you have lived over 100 years, you probably will find a hobby or two to be brilliant at. Edward is a phenomenal pianist, and I love the scenes when he plays. It shows a more human side to him. He's calmer when he plays. He also uses his talent to prove to his family how much he loves them, which I can respect.

6. Dee and Matt, Open Road Summer by Emery Lord. Man, I loved this book! I'll be posting a review soon, but I think Emery NAILED the songs in book. I often think that authors who write out lyrics use cheesy rhymes and cheap clichés, but Emery's lyrics for Dee and Matt both are meaningful. Dee shines as a rising star who uses her long-term relationship and devastating breakup as inspiration for a raw and relatable album while Matt is a former child star struggling to make sense of a very personal loss. Both of these characters use their music to guide them through their losses and realize the beauty of the lives they have. If you're wondering why I wrote out 'and' instead of using an ampersand, it's because these two are not romantically involved.

7. Tia & Will, Biggest Flirts by Jennifer Echols. Yep. As a former band girl, Jennifer earns three spots on this list. She just gets it. Tia and Will are a hot mess together, and the only time they're being true to themselves is when they're on the field. Tia is a major slacker who shines on the field while Will is an upstanding All-American Boy who also shines on the field, but after he moves to Florida, he allows himself to loosen up a bit. They're a good match. They make each other more complete.

8. Mik, Daughter of Smoke & Bone series by Laini Taylor. Sure, Mik isn't one of the primary players in the DoSaB series, but he and Zuzana provide much-needed comic relief and as well as a "normal" healthy human relationship, arguments and silliness and sweetness and love included. Mik's talent not only brought him to Zuz, but it also helps him interact with the chimaera. In Days of Blood & Starlight, Mik's violin playing helps him to entwine with the monster society in the sand castle (for the life of me, I can't remember the official term!) because his music transcends language. Once the chimaera escape back to Eretz, it's Mik's playing and his and Zuzana's presence overall that helps ease the tension between the monsters and the angels.

9. Lizzie, Prom & Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg. Lizzie's piano playing again is the catalyst for much of the book. Without her talent, Lizzie never would have attended

Longbourn; ergo, no piano, no book. And, like many books listed above, the music also helps intensify the connection between love interests. Will helps Lizzie get tickets to see his mother play and arranges a meeting between the two because he knows it will make her happy, even though he hides the fact that he's the one helping her. When Lizzie finds out, she realizes that what he did was for her, and it helps them grow closer. Awwww, squishy feelings!!

10. Destiny, Michael, & Isaac, Destiny by Cindy Ray Hale. I think it's really cool that Cindy includes male characters who aren't ashamed of their vocal talents. Too many people in our society consider arts education "unmanly" and a lot of fictional characters reflect that unfortunate sentiment. I like that the characters in the Destiny trilogy not only share their musical talent frequently, but they work hard to improve as well! Once again, the music is used as a plot device as the characters imitate what they're singing (Les Mis, but there isn't an actual revolution with guns and death and stuff in Destiny).

11.  Emme, Ethan, Sophie, Ben and Jack, Take a Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg. I enjoyed Take a Bow, but I admit it's the Eulberg novel I remember the least. Still, this is the book that most exhibits Elizabeth's love for music, and I wanted to include it. This group attends a private school for the arts in New York, and music drives both the plot and the characters. Music is who they are. Elizabeth recently released an epilogue from ten years after the book, and it's so interesting to see how music continued to shape these characters after The End.

12. Mia & Adam, If I Stay by Gayle Forman. *sobs incontrollably* It's hard to talk about this book without getting really emotional so I'll just say that music is really important to this book and to Mia and Adam. There is one scene in particular between these two that is so beautifully written that I just can't even handle it.

 I personally love how I rarely can narrow my picks down to just ten, and even with cheating a lot and grouping musically minded characters from the same book, I couldn't even limit myself. You know you love it too. Do you have any favorite musical characters that I left off the list? Share your thoughts and your TTT lists in the comments!

Top Ten Tuesday #38: Favorite Contemporary Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and The Bookish. Each week the girls at B&B think up a fun theme, and participating bloggers post their favorite 10 books in that category. This week's theme is

Top Books in the Contemporary Genre

Technically, today's theme is top books in X genre, but my X genre is contemporary, which has always been a favorite of mine.

Normally, I go through my TTT picks individually and describe what about each of them makes me love them, but today, I'm just going to say that I love all these books for so many very different reasons. Strong kickbutt spy girls and confused but adorable teen boys. Intense lusty romance and sweet, innocent first love; Good friends who become something more and strangers with an intense immediate attraction. Quirky humor and serious life stuff. Shallow beauty queens who become tough wilderness-surviving feminists and pageant-hating feminists who realize there's nothing wrong with loving some lip gloss and a cute pair of shoes. These books are wildly different and at times fantastic in scope, but they all capture parts of the reality of being a teen today, even if you're only a teen at heart.

Those are my contemporary picks for today. What would you put on your contemporary list? Or, what genre did you pick for today and what books were on it? Let me know in the comments & feel free to share your links!