Top Ten Favorite Heroines

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten Rewind so I picked Top Ten Favorite Heorines.

1. Rose Hathaway from Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead - Rose kicks butt. She's passionate, loyal, and does nothing with less than 100%. I love her snarky attitude.

2. Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Elizabeth has her flaws, but she's willing to grow, and that's one of the main things I love about her.

3. Fire from Fire by Kristin Cashore - She's got so many things fighting against her that she has to hide herself with clothing and using other methods. Yet, despite pretty much hating what she is, she still strives to be good about all else.

4. Gabry from The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan - Truthfully, Gabry is scared crazy, but who can blame her? Zombies are a part of her every day life. But she pushes herself outside of her comfort zone and beyond the walls for a friend more than once.

5. Ismae from Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers - Ismae has been marked as different from birth. Most people avoid her. But she finds strength and despite the bad things that have happened to her, she doesn't allow herself to become a victim. She turns her troubles into an opportunity to empower herself.

6. Scarlet from Scarlet by Marissa Meyer - Scarlet runs head first into the danger zone to save her grandmother. Yet, in my opinion, she didn't go in half-cocked like so many young adult "heroines."

7. Cinder from Cinder by Marissa Meyer - Bless her. Cinder's another person that's just had it rough from day 1. Along with her troubles, she also hates herself for what she is (doubly), yet presses on for the cause of the Commonwealth, the world, Prince Kai...etc.

8. Sydney Sage from Bloodlines by Richelle Mead - Sydney is very different from Rose, but she's extremely intellectual. I hate reading about daft leading ladies. Sydney can solve problems with the best of them. And she's ever growing and changing as time goes by.

9. Hermione Granger from Harry Potter by JK Rowling - Again with the intellectual characters. How many time did Hermione save the day? Love her! She's everything that a heroine should be.

10. Jane Eyre from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - Jane is seriously a role model. She respected herself to the deteriment of her personal happiness. I can do nothing but respect Jane and hold her in high esteem. Able to forgive as well which is a huge characteristic missing from so many these days.

You guys know how hard it is for my to stick to 10. Honorable mentions are Arya Stark and Daenarys Targaryen from A Song of Ice and Fire by George R R Martin, Anne Elliot from Persuasion by Jane Austen, and Puck from The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater.

What about you? Who are your favorite heroines? Let me know!

Sunday Post - 39 & Stacking the Shelves - 12

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ The Caffeinated Book Reviewer ~this meme was inspired in part by ~ In My Mailbox~ It's a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

Well, this past week I've been on vacation with my in-laws. We left March 30th to travel to Florida--Port Canaveral to be exact. The next morning we borded a cruise ship--yes it was Carnival and we had NO problems with our ship--and set sail (so to speak, considering there are no sails on a boat that big) for Freeport and Nassau. It was a good trip overall, but I have to say that I'm glad to be home. It's nice to go, but it's nice to come back. We went to celebrate my mother-in-law's retirement.

I have to say that I enjoyed my week off, but I missed blogging. I did get one entire book read on this trip and about 20% of another. Not as much as I would have liked but still good.

THIS PAST PAST WEEK:

Monday: Review of The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead (4.5 Stars)

Tuesday: Top 10 Tuesday: Books I'd Recommend (couldn't stop at 10)

Wednesday: Waiting on Crossing the Line

Thursday: Review of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (4 Stars)

Friday: My going on vacation announcement and Review of The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa (3.5 Stars)

UPCOMING THIS WEEK:

Monday: Review of One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

Tuesday: Top 10 Tuesday: Top 10 Books I Read Before Blogging

Wednesday: Waiting on Wednesday

Thursday: Review of Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

I managed to keep the past two weeks down to only 1 new book since half of that was still the March Take Control of Your TBR Pile challenge and the other half I didn't really have internet access or come upon a book store. And I've also managed to already read the one book I got. Here it is:

Dare You To (Pushing the Limits, # 2)

By: Katie McGarry

Expected Publication: May 28th 2013 by Harlequin Teen

462 pages

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon)

Goodreads description--Ryan lowers his lips to my ear. "Dance with me, Beth."

"No." I whisper the reply. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to touch me again....

"I dare you..."

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does....

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all....

Also since the challenge I mentioned above ended while I was gone, here's my recap of that...

I've read 8 books from my TBR pile since the beginning of March. They are:

1. Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin, # 1) - Robin LaFevers

2. The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden, # 1) - Julie Kagawa

3. The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, # 1) - James Dashner

4. The Secret of Ella and Micha (The Secret, # 1) - Jessica Sorensen

5. Jenny Pox (The Paranormals, # 1) - JL Bryan

6. Rule (Marked Men, # 1) - Jay Crownover

7. The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden (The Coincidence, # 1) - Jessica Sorensen

8. Succubus Blues (Georgina Kincaid, # 1) - Richelle Mead

I finished Walking Disaster (Beautiful, # 2) by Jamie McGuire, Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices, # 3) by Cassandra Clare and Dare You To (Pushing the Limits, # 2) by Katie McGarry also this month, but since these do not have a publication date before March they don't count toward this challenge.

That's it for my shelves and recaps of my past and upcoming week. What did you add to your shelves this week? Any bookish news you want to talk about? Let me know!

Jane Eyre - Review

Jane Eyre

By: Charlotte Bronte

First Published 1847

507 pages

Source: Personal Kindle Library

( Goodreads | Amazon )

Goodreads description--Orphaned into the household of her Aunt Reed at Gateshead, subject to the cruel regime at Lowood charity school, Jane Eyre nonetheless emerges unbroken in spirit and integrity.

She takes up the post of governess at Thornfield, falls in love with Mr. Rochester, and discovers the impediment to their lawful marriage in a story that transcends melodrama to portray a woman's passionate search for a wider and richer life than Victorian society traditionally allowed.

With a heroine full of yearning, the dangerous secrets she encounters, and the choices she finally makes, Charlotte Bronte's innovative and enduring romantic novel continues to engage and provoke readers.

My 5th and 6th grade reading teacher read Jane Eyre to us one of those years (I can't remember which), but she skipped some sections, and I truly didn't remember too much about the story. I remembered there being a crazy woman living in the house and I remembered Jane being a governess because that was the first time I learned what a governess was. So when I decided this year to add reading six classics to my goals for the year, Jane Eyre made obvious sense to me. Plus I saw the recent film adaption and loved it--which of course ruined any surprises for me, but that's okay. I'm not complaining.

It took me a while to get into the story. I guess it was really by the time Jane reached Lowood school that I really ended up getting into it. Helen is one of my favorite characters in a long time. While she doesn't have a huge part in the story, she makes a huge impact on Jane. She helps Jane to see past her anger and hatred. She tames her in a sense. Plus in a world that is so largely anti-Christian, I eagerly devoured a character that appeared to me to demonstrate true faith and true Christianity. Today's YA literature sorely lacks a representation of accurate Christian characters. Mind you, I'm not talking about Christian literature. While I realize this story takes place in an entirely different era than the one we're now living, it was entirely refreshing to find talk of God, religion, and spirituality so repeatedly mentioned, discussed, and indicated as part of their daily lives. Of course, we do have to throw in a Mr. Brocklehurst who completely misuses and abuses Scripture and religion. There must be one of those--and in truth there are many Mr. Brocklehursts alive today that give Christianity a bad name.

I applaud Jane over and over for making the hard choices. For sticking to her beliefs when the very core of her being wishes to follow after it's desires. She sees that she must respect herself because if she does not then no one else will. She sees that Mr. Rochester truly would have lost respect, admiration, and love for her had she indeed stayed, for she would no longer be who and what he fell in love with. And I can't help but wonder, if this book had not been a classic but a modern day story, how many readers would have thrown the book across the room and been utterly angry with Jane for not staying? For not satisfying her every whim and desire?

St. John was utterly confusing to me. While I appreciated how much Jane could still look at him as a brother and a good person, it was hard to watch that relationship develop. It reminded me of an emotionally abusive relationship and again I have to applaud Jane for standing her ground in not marrying him and being able to see that to do so would be to commit a suicide of sorts. I wish our teenage girls today were as self-aware.

Jane Eyre was another story where one party decides to better himself in order to be worthy of the other party. Yet again, another aspect I wish we saw in today's world more often. While Jane was utterly terrified of what would become of Mr. Rochester--what he would run off and do--after she left, he did nothing of which she feared, and it's because of her that he didn't.

I realize that reviewing a classic such as Jane Eyre is a bit risky and there's probably nothing I can say that hasn't already been said, but I enjoyed the overall story so much that I couldn't help but want to spread the love.

Jane Eyre gets 4 stars from me. Have you read Jane Eyre? What did you think? Let me know!