Booking through Thursday

Today was a rough day. Remember that cute little pup in my last post? She's currently in training to become a service animal. She's supposed to be well trained. She's gone to enough classes and seminars to be a freaking expert on being a model of good canine conduct. Well, this afternoon, she tried to jump through a window.

Don't worry, she is fine. However, my window is not. It is broken. So, I pack up Roxie, put her fancy back pack on and march her to Lowe's to figure out how much her little hissy fit (she was mad because one of the other dogs and myself were outside and she was not) was going to cost me. While we were checking out, out of no where, she breaks out with WOOF WOOF WOOF in her big girl bark at some random guy. Poor dude jumped like three feet in the air, she scared the jeepers out of him! Yeah, so not pleased with my little prodigy today. Oh, and Lowe's, after telling me it was no problem to replace my window, blah blah was out of glass. So, I have a garbage bag taped to my broken window. Very classy.

That being said, I desperately need to just sit and chill, participate in some fun memes and then retire to my bed with my kindle and a (hopefully) good book! So, without further ado, Booking through Thursday!

Booking through Thursday is a meme hosted over at http://btt2.wordpress.com/. Every Thursday they pose a question about (mostly) books and reading for us to ponder and answer! 

This weeks question is....

If someone asked you for a book recommendation, what is the FIRST book you’d think to recommend (without extra thought)?

That is a VERY tough question! There are so many good books out there and I know at least five off of the top of my head that I would recommend. Of course, this imaginary person would have to enjoy the type of books I enjoy. Either way, the very first book that came to mind was...

 

  When thirty-year-old English tacher Anna Emerson is offered a job tutoring T.J. Callahan at his family's summer rental in the Maldives, she accepts without hesitation; a working vacation on a tropical island trumps the library any day. T.J. Callahan has no desire to leave town, not that anyone asked him. He's almost seventeen and if having cancer wasn't bad enough, now he has to spend his first summer in remission with his family - and a stack of overdue assignments - instead of his friends.  

 Anna and T.J. are en route to join T.J.'s family in the Maldives when the pilot of their seaplane suffers a fatal heart attack and crash-lands in the Indian Ocean. Adrift in shark-infested waters, their life jackets keep them afloat until they make it to the shore of an uninhabited island. Now Anna and T.J. just want to survive and they must work together to obtain water, food, fire, and shelter. Their basic needs might be met but as the days turn to weeks, and then months, the castaways encounter plenty of other obstacles, including violent tropical storms, the many dangers lurking in the sea, and the possibility that T.J.'s cancer could return. As T.J. celebrates yet another birthday on the island, Anna begins to wonder if the biggest challenge of all might be living with a boy who is gradually becoming a man.

This book is just amazing. I wasn't planning on loving it, I actually just picked it up because I needed a contemporary book for a reading challenge. Then I started reading it and I could not put it down. The details are perfect, absolutely perfect. They aren't overwhelming to the point where it gets boring but just descriptive enough to really draw you into the story. You feel like you are there on the island with T.J and Anna. The way that T.J grows and matures is addicting to read about. The way Anna deals with the emotions of being stranded with this young man pulls at your heart. The epilogue is the most perfect wrapping up to any story I have ever read. The writing is smooth and easy to read and consistently engaging! I really can't recommend this book enough, the plot is amazing, the writing is outstanding and I am more than happy to recommend this book to anyone!

((Edited to add in that I mistakenly answered LAST weeks BTT. Whoops!))

Booking Through Thursday

Booking through Thursday is a lovely meme hosted by BBT2. Every Thursday they pose a question for us to answer! Let's jump right into this weeks question!

Have you ever fallen in love with a fictional character? Who and what about them did you love?

Well, that is just a loaded question. Who haven't I loved?! I tend to fall in love with characters pretty easily. Some I love more than others but probably 7 out of 10 male leads in books I read, I fall in love with. Maybe 8 of 10 even. I don't even know where to start but I will give it a shot! 

Ren from Tiger's Curse

Ren started out being a little unsure and even a little shy. I loved the way his character developed through out the series. By the last book that was published, he had turned confident, adamant, had a bit of an attitude and a biting sense of humor. I am a sucker for a biting sense of humor. Smart ass boys do something crazy to me that probably isn't healthy. Plus, he isn't your standard American boy next door which was intriguing to me and he speaks a different language! That's sexy. 

Travis from Beautiful Disaster

Oh, Travis. You are a hot dysfunctional mess.  I don't know how else to explain him. He is the boy that your mother would have a heart attack over and your daddy (if you are from the south like me) might shoot on the front porch and not feel badly about it in the least. He has a temper, he says horrible things when he is drinking, he doesn't think out his actions before he performs them...he yells, he curses, he's a sinner  but he's also this amazing, passionate, intense, emotional man. I fell in love with Travis because he is the bad boy that all girls dream about but most girls know better than to fall in love with. 

Beau from The Vincent Boys

Beau is a Southern Rock Bad Ass. Yes, that did need to be all capitalized because it is a title that isn't easy to earn. He had swagger and sexiness just oozed off of him.  He's a country boy at heart, a bit of a drinker but with an emotional, tender side and a sense of honor to boot. He's got this vulnerability about him that is hard to resist. 

Po from Graceling

“I know you don't want this, Katsa. But I can't help myself. The moment you came barreling into my life I was lost. I'm afraid to tell you what I wish for, for fear you'll... oh, I don't know, throw me into the fire. Or more likely, refuse me. Or worst of all, despise me," he said, his voice breaking and his eyes dropping from her face. His face dropping into his hands. "I love you," he said. "You're more dear to my heart than I ever knew anyone could be. And I've made you cry; and there I'll stop.” 

That is why I love Po. Po is amazing. Absolutely amazing. He is completely okay with Katsa  being able to kick his ass, he encourages her to be as good as she can be. He accepts who she is and what she wants out of life and yet he pushes her to challenge herself constantly. He's attentive and yet doesn't lose himself in loving her which drives me nuts in some books. He is not ashamed to show his vulnerability or his feelings and he has a beautiful way of
speaking. He's always mischievous, a smart ass,  and definitely bad ass in his own way.

T.J from On the Island
One of the main reasons I fell in love with T.J was because of the way he grew throughout the book. If you haven't read On the Island yet, I highly recommend it. It's different and the characters do have a rather intimidating age difference but because of the circumstances in the book, I barely even noticed the age thing. T.J goes from a teenager to a man in this book and the way he copes with the situation, matures and grows up to be an incredible, responsible, amazing person just blew me away. He was so real. He wasn't a super hero or this sexy bad ass (as much as I love them!) he was a person with feelings and concerns and insecurities and we get to see them all and how he overcomes and deals with everything life tosses at him. The epilogue in this book, centering around T.J. only clinched me being in love with him and was probably the best epilogue I have ever read.