Top Ten Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s theme is Top Ten Gateway Books/Authors. Here’s my Top Ten:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling–this was my gateway book into fantasy and the wonderful world of  Harry Potter. There’s a funny story behind my reading this actually: my younger brother had to read it for school when he was about 9 years old and I was 12, and since he hates reading so much it was taking him forever to finish it. I bet him that I could start the book and finish the entire thing before he could finish the second half of it, and I loved it so much that I ended up reading the first three books before he finished the first!

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare–my gateway into Steampunk. I really had no idea what this genre even was until I read this book, and once I picked this one up I was hooked!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins–this was my gateway dystopian novel and also the book that made me realize how much I loved books with strong female protagonists. Katniss was one of the most kickass heroines I had ever read about and it made me want to read more books like this. Now, years later, dystopian novels are one of my favorite subgenres.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan–this book made me love zombie novels!! I have always been a huge fan of all things zombie but mainly just movies and video games. Once I read this book, it made me want to hunt down more zombie novels!

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins–while I had read some contemporary stuff before I read this, this was definitely the book that made me a huge contemporary fan. I literally could not put this down, and once I had finished it a second time I had to search for books just like it.

The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot–I read this many, many years ago and I’m pretty sure this was what really got me started on my love for young adult fiction. This was such a great story and a great way to be introduced to my favorite genre.

Across the Universe by Beth Revis–this was definitely my gateway into sci-fi. I was a bit apprehensive about reading this one but once I started it, I couldn’t put it down. This book made me interested in the exciting world of outer space, and led to me reading other great sci-fi novels like Cinder and These Broken Stars.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green–my first John Green novel, which made me want to read every book he’s ever written! This book was so amazing/heartbreaking, and I am slowly but surely working my way through the rest of John Green’s novels.

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund–this was my gateway into retellings. This book was such an amazing retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion and it really made me love retellings of all kinds–fairy tales, classics, and more! There’s just something about someone being able to reinvent a story that you’ve read before and make you feel like you’re reading something entirely new.

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire–my gateway into New Adult. I loved this book and couldn’t wait to read more like it! Unfortunately, the New Adult genre is saturated with books that are borderline erotica, so my New Adult reading has been very limited. There are definitely a few gems out there though, and this was one of them!

What books/authors made your Top Ten this week?

Top Ten Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish! Today’s theme is books that you wish had sequels. Unfortunately I was only able to come up with six this week because it seems like nearly every book I read lately actually does have a sequel in the works! Here’s my top six in no particular order:

1. This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers–This was such a fabulous standalone book, but the ending was left a little bit up in the air and I would love to know what actually happened afterwards. Plus, the writing was so beautiful that I would probably read anything Courtney Summers writes!

2. The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan–Okay, so this is cheating a bit since this is already a sequel, or rather a sequel to a sequel. I loved the way this book ended but this series was one of my favorites and I would love to read many more books about this world.

3. Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross–This was a bunch of fairy tale retellings in one story and it seemed to me that the ending was left open for a possible sequel. So far I haven’t heard any news about one, but I would definitely read it if Sarah Cross decided to write it!

4. Every Day by David Levithan–This was such a great book and I loved A’s character. I would love to see how the rest of his life turned out and if he ever found the answers he was looking for.

5. The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester–I read this years and years ago so I don’t remember much of it, but I do remember that when I read the end of the book I felt like there was definitely a hint that there might be a sequel. However, many years later, there is no such book and I find myself still wishing there was!

6. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore–I know, this is already a sequel, but I am a huge fan of the Graceling world and would love to read more about it. Plus, I really loved Bitterblue and I would love to see how she is doing after everything that happened in the last book.

Which books made your Top Ten this week? Are there any books that have sequels that you wish didn’t?

Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week’s topic is Top Ten Best/Worst Movie Adaptations! Here is my Top Ten in no particular order:

BEST

1. All of the Harry Potter movies except for Prisoner of Azkaban–I figured it would be cheating to name each one! These movies were so well done and I can’t imagine a better cast to play these characters.

2. Matilda–One of my favorite movies from my childhood, and also one of my favorite childhood books!

3. The Hunger Games–This was really well done and I think Jennifer Lawrence exceeded my expectations as Katniss.

4. The Lord of the Rings movies–While these books put me to sleep, the movies were amazing. Definitely a bit long, but worth it!

5. The Chronicles of Narnia movies–Another great series that really translated well on to the big screen. I’m glad they decided to do more of these movies!

6. The Princess Diaries–This is where Anne Hathaway really made her start in movies and she did a fabulous job as Mia Thermopolis. This was such a great adaptation!

WORST

7. The Twilight movies–I guess they were okay adaptations because they were nearly as bad as the books, but Kristen Stewart made them so much worse than necessary.

8. Percy Jackson and the Olympians–While I really enjoyed this movie, it was completely not true to the book. The main characters are all practically in their twenties when Percy and his friends are supposed to be in junior high. Also, most of the characters look nothing like they are described in the book.

9. The DaVinci Code–This is a book that kept most readers on the edge of their seat, while the movie put me to sleep.

10. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban–The kids walking around school in jeans and hip clothes? A shrunken head on the Knight Bus? A random bridge in the middle of the school grounds, and Hagrid’s hut a million miles from where it originally was? Plus, a horrible casting decision for one of my favorite characters, Remus Lupin, and a super speedy version of the best scene in the book (the scene in the Shrieking Shack where Sirius Black reveals himself). Overall, a huge disappointment!

What do you think are the best/worst movie adaptations? Did any of mine make your list?

Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week’s topic is Top Ten Most Intimidating Books. Here’s my Top Ten in no particular order:

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card–I’ve heard so many mixed reviews about these books. Some people hate it, some love it, and I’ve heard a lot of people say that they don’t like the way Orson Scott Card writes women. I want to read this because the movie is coming out this year, but I’m not sure I’ll like it.

Sever by Lauren Destefano–I got this book the day it came out but it has been sitting on my shelf ever since. Wither was fantastic but the sequel, Fever, was a big disappointment. I think the reason I haven’t picked this up yet is because I’m worried it won’t live up to my expectations.

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling–This is another book that has gotten a lot of mixed reviews. I am a huge Harry Potter fan so I feel like I should read everything Rowling ever writes, but to be honest the plot of The Casual Vacancy really doesn’t interest me at all.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater–I’ve had this book on my Nook for awhile but haven’t read it. I didn’t like Stiefvater’s Shiver series but I love The Raven Boys so I’m wondering how I will feel about this one. It did win a bunch of awards, but I’m not sure if the story is one I would like.

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin–Aside from the size of this book, the amount of huge books in this series is very intimidating. I feel like once I start this book it’ll take me months to get through the series, so I’ve yet to start it.

Rapture by Lauren Kate–I had mixed feelings about the first book in this series but the second and third were just plain awful. I have a thing about wanting to finish the entire series no matter what, but I haven’t been able to bring myself to read this yet.

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare–I love this series but I haven’t started this final book yet because, aside from it being huge, I haven’t decided myself how I want it to end. This is one of those love triangles where I like both choices so I think I would be happy however it turned out, but I’m nervous about how it will end.

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini–The problem with this series is that the books came out so far apart. There were three years between the release of each book, so by the time the next book came out I had already forgotten what happened in the previous ones. This is another series I just need to finish, but the fact that this book is huge and I don’t even remember what happened in the past few books is intimidating.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien–I read all three of the Lord of the Rings books and wanted to pull my hair out the entire time I was reading them. I’ve heard that The Hobbit is not as bad as those books, but I’m still hesitant to read it.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young–This is a really popular series that I’ve been meaning to get into, but I’ve heard that a lot of people have problems reading it because it’s written in dialect. I’m not sure if this would bother me, but it has stopped me from picking it up yet.

Which books do you find most intimidating and why? What is your Top Ten this week?