The Top Ten Tuesday meme is brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish.  As per usual, if you guys want to participate and see more bloggers participating in this meme, feel free to follow the link - it's a fun weekly challenge.  I'm enjoying it immensely.

So this week has me answering what I would like the Book Genie (book genie?) to grant me.  This sounds like a fun topic.  I'm probably going to go off the top of my head with this one.

1. Give me a YA dystopian that doesn't primarily focus on romance.  Because it seems like so many of them do,  I really enjoy dystopians because I like the otherworld and watching characters struggle in the circumstances behind these environments. While there's nothing wrong with a story that chooses to focus on romance in this vein (and let's face it, not having those kind of stories at all would be unfortunate), sometimes it gets a little tiring when it seems to be the only thing a story focuses on, or the story seems to suffer because it's trying so hard to shape a particular "ship".  So what other things can a dystopian story do besides have romance?

• have a pulse pounding tale of survival in variant elements or various depravities
• immerse the reader in learning a different culture/society
• have the characters fight for a cause they believe in

Heck, I'd be game for all three in one story if it had it, and it'd be awesome if I could learn the plights of the characters and their personalities that much more.   I mean, there are so many things you can do with these kinds of stories, but I think if my searches still come up empty, I think I'll just hope the Book Genie comes through and I can get something that knocks my socks off in this vein.

2. I just want more time to read.  I do try to fit reading in whenever I can - between commutes to work, bedtime reading, audiobook reads at the gym and doing chores, but even then, it's still not enough.  Maybe extend the weekend another day?  That would help.

3. I'd like to collect at least 2-3 different editions of a favorite book from other countries.  Because sometimes the cover of a book in another country is so much prettier than the one you end up getting in your home country.  Plus, I personally find it interesting to see how a book may translate linguistically in another language compared to my own.

I'm still trying to decide on that favorite book though.  I might try Daphne Du Maurier's "Rebecca" first.

4. Don't necessarily ask for a private library as big as Belle's from Beauty and the Beast (though that would be nice), but I would like my own nice little reading nook.   Because I already spend hours on Tumblr browsing through spaces I wish I could have as my own. Like this:

5.  More motivation to finish writing the book reviews I started a long time ago, but never finished.  It's because I get sidetracked by so many other books I want to read and a day turns into a week...a week turns into a month...you get the idea.

6. Send my blessing of coffee cake to all of my favorite writers. (Or perhaps their choice of something sweet.  It'd be my token of appreciation.  But I'm guessing for authors who aren't from my respective time, someone's going to have to take the cake via the TARDIS.  Now I wonder who I can recruit for that...? ;) )

7. Just get rid of all the comparison marketing that I see publishers use surrounding new books. Let the book's accolades and distinctions stand on their own and proudly.  (If I have to hear a thriller referred to as the next "Gone Girl" or "Girl on the Train" one more time...Oy vey.  Unfortunately, I've seen an example of this far too recently in my reading pursuits.)

8. Longer stamina in staying awake.  Because if I'm reading books into the wee hours of the morning (like I will be doing tonight after penning this post), I'll need all the energy that I can get.  Non-caffeine fueled preferably.

9. To throw a book-themed party for myself and my bookish friends.  Because that would be fun. It'd be like a birthday party and a slumber party all in one.  Bookish treats, prizes, games, and a read-along.  I've never had the chance to do something like that, but I think I know one person who did it and loved it.

10.  Just to be able to share the bookish love I have with others.  Self explanatory.

Cheers, and until next entry,

Rose

Admit it, you thought math was boring in school, didn't you?

Here to prove it doesn't have to be that way is Carl Lupton, with a multimodal story- and work-book that engagingly presents basic geometry ideas to an elementary school audience.

It's a clever book on many levels. First, the story itself: Genie Geometry tells her family's story, which quite literally is about how geometry concepts relate to one another. There's Grandpa Pythagoras, Grandma Trulia Right Angle, Great Uncle Linus and Great Grandpa Segy, and a family tree of triangles right, isosceles, and equilateral. The puns in the names are great fun for the adult reader and help make the characters memorable, along with the delightfully quirky illustrations by Philip Godenschwager.

Second is the format. Lupton has arranged the book to read in both directions. Read it from the front and you get Genie's story itself, but if you flip the book over, you get prompts to draw the characters doing various things--and thus practice drawing the shapes themselves. In the middle is a useful glossary, containing not only mathematical terms, but also definitions of words that crop in the story, like "confidence" and "reservation," which might be new to some kids. In this way, Lupton engages the students on many levels at once. There's math, drawing, and vocabulary development all embedded in one entertaining story.

As you might imagine, packing all of this into under 80 pages is a challenge. Lupton tells Genie's story in one fairly breathless take that fills each page to the margin. Elementary readers might find it difficult to read this for themselves, but it's clear that the intention is for a classroom teacher to read this aloud. Given more space, the notes to the teachers and notes to the students could be separated out more clearly to make it easier for the reader to pause at the appropriate spots.

A useful, and entertaining, addition to the classroom or the homeschool curriculum.

I chose to read this title as I love shifter romance, however, I was not aware that it was a novella. As a general rule I tend to avoid novellas. I find that they are too short and as a result the story is rushed or character development is limited. However, since I made a commitment to read and review this title I had no choice but to go against my own rule. Well, after completing Purr-fect Mating my reasons for not reading novellas were reiterated. The characters were not sufficiently developed. There was no growth. There was no background information, especially as it relates to the curse that had been placed on the main characters. The story was told from the POV of Fhina, the main female character. It would have been good to also have Wulfar’s POV as it would help to understand what was his take on the effects of the curse. What I loved about this story is that it was unique and magical. Here we read about a family of shifters that were a mixed breed. For example Fhina is a cat shifter and her twin Bella is a wolf shifter. It would have been nice to learn more about this family dynamic. I also liked that the story was sweet and fast paced. It was entertaining and it held my attention from the first page. The ending was somewhat predictable. Regardless, this is an interesting read. If you like novellas and shifter romance, then get yourself a copy of Purr-Fect Mating.