Blog Tour - Winter's Sweet Kiss

Favorite Five Book Characters

Michelle Ziegler:
Anne (of Green Gables),

Elizabeth Bennett,

Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing),

Zara White,

Andromeda Miller.

I've no idea what this list says about me.

Terri Rochenski:

Elizabeth Bennett,

Drizzt Do’Urden,

Mitch Rapp,

any of L’Amour’s Sacketts, & Ethan Holloway.

Shaya Roy:

Harry Potter. I don't care if he's a Gary Stu or whatever. I still love him to pieces. In fact, all these five places would've been filled with HP characters but I decided to be more diverse ;) 

Sherlock Holmes. This man is a true genius, and without possessing any otherworldly powers. Having Robert Downey Jr. and Benedict Cumberbatch play him in the film and TV versions doesn't help either.

Scarlett O'Hara. I never could decide whether I hated her or liked her. 

Bridget Jones. A "v.g." rendition of the real woman, what with her wonderfully real weight worries and boy troubles. She always makes me laugh. 

Emma in 'Emma' by Jane Austen. She's beautiful, arrogant and thinks she knows best. She should've been the shrewish other woman in a romance but Austen manages to make her the heroine - and a very likeable one at that.

Annabelle Blume:
Dorian Gray (Not that Grey, the OTHER Gray)

Scarlett O'Hara

Nora Sutherland (Original Sinner Series)

Rebecca Bloomwood (Shopoholic Series)

Katniss Everdeen 

Lily Carlyle:

Stephanie Plum (Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich)—I love her attitude and pluckiness. Also, I’m jealous of the fact that despite all the junk food she eats, she still has two hot guys chasing after her. I think that’s the joy of fiction.

Grandma Mazur (Stephanie Plum novels)—She reminds me a lot of my own Hungarian grandmother, although much raunchier than Grandma ever was (or allowed me to see!).

Kinsey Millhone (Kinsey Millhone Mystery)—Can you tell I love mysteries? Attitude, again.

V. I. Warshawski—Again with the attitude. I can relate to her ethnic heritage and sense of justice that doesn’t always follow the law.

Hannah Tupper, the so-called witch in The Witch of Blackbird Pond—I admire her strong sense of right and wrong, which again, doesn’t necessarily follow the law or the whims of the time. “But remember, thee has never escaped at all if love is not there.”

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Top Ten Tuesday #11

Top Ten is run by The Broke and the Bookish 

Top Ten Books I've Read So Far In 2013

Dare to You By Katie McGarry 

Just adored this book, Katie is such an awesome author.

Boy Nobody By Allen Zadoff 

Such an action packed, awesome, unique read. 

Close My Eyes By Sophie McKenzie 

Sophie never disappoints!

Angelfall By Susan Ee

 Still to write my review on this, look out for it. 

A Shade of Vampire By Bella Forrest

Beat my expectations by miles. 

Hollywood Ever After By Sasha Summers 

Loved this book, so much more than a romantic read.

The Vincent Boys By Abbi Glines

 My first Abbi read =)

The Disappeared By C.J. Harper 

Completely action packed! 

The List By Siobhan Vivian 

Loved this, has meaning and heart behind it!

The Tragedy Paper By Elizabeth LaBan 

So nearly 5/5 but the end just let it down a little for me. 

Top Ten Tuesday (#4)

Top Ten is run by The Broke and the Bookish 

Top Ten Books I Recommend The Most

An old one I missed. 

Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy - E.J James

There is something about this book which can never make me forget it. The characters really were the best fictional characters ever and felt so real to me. I recommended this constantly and a few family members read this due to my recommendation.  

Delirium - Lauren Oliver
Oh how I adored this book SO much. I was so emotionally charged and connected with this book. I hated putting it down and having to enter the real work again.

Pushing the Limits - Katie McGarry

With the other two books I mentioned I went into them knowing they were very popular and that I was more than likely going to love them. With Pushing The Limits I really didn't expect to love it as much as I did. Always so nice to be suprised

Trafficked - Sophie Hayes

You probably haven't heard of this book, it's a non fiction written by a girl who was sold into the sex industry. It was such a shocking read, I couldn't put it down. 

Time Between Us - Tamara Ireland

Oh I loved this book. It is labelled as the YA version of The Time Travelers Wife. I loved it and couldn't recommend0 it enough. 

Die For Me - Amy Plum
As I am writing this I still remember sitting in my boyfriends garden in the rare British sunshine reading this. I got into it straight away. I still can't believe I haven't read the rest of the series!


Stay - Deb Caletti
This book is so intense but I coudn't put it down. I still need to read another Deb book but I WILL. I adored this book and think she is an author I will love.

Bitter End - Jennifer Brown
I couldn't wait to read this book and did go into it hoping I would love it as much as I did, It didn't let me down, couldn't recommend it enough.

Divergent - Veronica Roth
It took me ages to get to this one, the second one was already out and I decided it was time to read Divergent. I loved it! Took me into another world.

The Scorpio Races - Maggie Stiefvater
I am a massive fan of Maggie and adore her books. She's one of those writers which really grabs my attention and keeps it through the whole book. The Scorpio Races was no difference!

Guest Post - Top Ten by Pete Johnson

Please welcome Pete Johnson to Books for Company!

Thank you Pete for sharing your favourite top ten children books. You have included some great books =)

My Ten Favourite Children's Books

Starting from a short list of nearly forty books and after several lengthy arguments with myself, I have picked the ten children’s books which mean the most to me. In fact, just looking at their names bring back my childhood so vividly. You will notice how many comedies are in the list – and these have certainly influenced my own humorous books such as. ‘How To Train Your Parents,’ and the Vampire trilogy.
The books are roughly in the order in which I read them. So let’s go through the round window and back to my childhood favourites, starting with …
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‘THE SECRET GARDEN’ by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
The first time I discovered this book I sat reading it until about half past one in the morning. The characters especially fascinated me. They were so unexpected in children’s books, especially Mary Lennox with her ‘thin, little face and a sour expression.’ She hears Colin crying at night. He’s as unlikeable as her, being miserable, ill-tempered and self-centred. Yet their transformation through the magic of the Secret Garden is one of the most moving in all literature. Many years later, in my comedy, ‘How to Get Famous,’ I have Harvey perform ‘The Secret Garden rap’ as a modern day tribute!
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‘THE 101 DALMATIANS’ by Dodie Smith.
‘You’re not reading it again, are you?’ friends would exclaim. Yet this story of Pongo and Missus setting off to rescue their pups from one of the great villains, Cruella de Vil captivated me every single time. I especially loved the idea of dogs passing on messages via the Starlight Barking. When I was eight I wrote a fan letter to the book’s author, Dodie Smith. To my friends (though not mine) amazement, she wrote back, and we went on corresponding for the rest of her life. (She lived to be ninety-four) She was the first person who suggested that I try and become a writer
-
‘THE MYSTERY OF THE VANISHED PRINCE’ by Enid Blyton
I read so many Enid Blyton books – the Faraway Tree stories, all twenty- one. Famous Five Books; the Barney books – but my favourites were certainly the Mystery books, as these were undoubtedly the funniest stories Enid Blyton ever wrote. What with all Fatty’s disguises and the out-witting of pompous policeman Mr Goon. As Duncan McLaren wrote. ‘Joy runs through the mystery books like a river,’ but especially in The Mystery of the Vanished Prince, which is just full of the sparky humour I loved. A good mystery too, full of clues and surprises.’
-
‘EMIL AND THE DETECTIVES’ by Eric Kastner
While travelling by train to Berlin to stay with his grandmother, Emil is robbed of all his money. But Emil and a gang of boys his own age decided to track down the thief. Exciting, funny and full of great characters – not least Emil himself. This cracking book fuelled my love of detective books, which has lasted up to today.
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‘WILLIAM THE PIRATE’ by Richmal Crompton
They are quite simply the funniest children’s books ever written, even though Richmal Crompton herself (and for years I thought the author was a man) regarded these books as her ‘pot-boilers. But William Brown – scruffy, opinionated, ever optimistic and in his own way well meaning – lives on triumphantly eighty years after his first appearance. The most famous William book is the first: ‘Just William.’ But I think some of the later books are even better, especially ‘William the Pirate.’ This contains some brilliant farces including, ‘William and the Princess Goldilocks,’ my nomination for the best ever William story.
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‘SUSAN INTERFERES’ by Jane Shaw
One of the great advantages of having a sister is you get to swap books. So while Linda, my sister, read all my Jennings and William books – I read the Susan books. These too are wonderfully funny. Susan is an interfering but well-meaning character who likes to help people. Here, with her cousins (including a beautifully observed boy character, Bill, who when I first read this book I identified with strongly) Susan becomes caught up in a crazy mystery in Switzerland – which towards the end becomes very tense and extremely exciting.
-
‘DR DOLITTLE’S ZOO by Hugh Lofting
Rather neglected now, these most bewitching and charming books are surely due for a revival. In this one Dr Dolittle says a ‘zoo should be an animal home, not an animal prison.’ So he sets up the most wonderful zoo ever – really a complete Animal town with a Squirrel Hotel and a Mouse and Rat Club and a Home for Cross-Breed dogs. Well worth searching out.
-
‘HOLIDAY AT THE DEW DROP IN’ by Eve Garnett
In 1937 Eve Garnett won the Carnegie Medal for ‘The Family at One End Street,’ which I quite enjoyed. I thought the sequel ‘Further Adventures of the One End Street Family,’ was much better though – looser and funnier, especially when Kate stays at the Dew Drop Inn in the countryside. Then came the sequel to the sequel, the aforementioned book, which is not only the best of the three, ‘One End Street’ books, but in my opinion one of the best children’s books ever written. This tale, about Kate returning to The Dew Drop Inn has a wonderful humanity about it, and is full of shrewd observations and beautifully realised characters. If you’ve never read this book before – you’re in for a treat.
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‘THE WITCHES’ by Roald Dahl
I vividly remember being part of the audience when Roald Dahl read aloud from this book for the very first time. I was in a packed audience at The National Theatre. An immensely tall man stomped in – authoritative, brisk, but with a definite twinkle in his eye – and started waving a tatty notebook about. This contained a story Dahl said he was still correcting. He read aloud the opening chapters. It sounded totally brilliant to me already – exuberant, funny and scary. It’s been my favourite Dahl ever since.
-
A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L’Engle
I’m by no means a fantasy fan. Begin a tale with a map and a note that the wizard lives here and you’ve lost me already. But this book – celebrating its 50th anniversary this year – is a rare exception. It begins on a ‘dark and stormy night,’ as Meg speeds through the universe to find her dad. The story fizzes with warmth and energy and even managed to hook a fantasy sceptic like me.

Find Pete

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Guest Post : Top Ten by Anna Stothard

Please welcome Anna Stothard to Books for Company!

Thank you Anna for a great guest post, you have included some great villains! 

Top Ten Villains and Anti-heroes

"The very grandest poetry is immoral, the grandest characters wicked," wrote the poet William Blake. From John Milton’s silver-tongued Satan in Paradise Lost to Roald Dahl’s Grand High Witch trapping children in paintings or turning them into rodents, it’s often the villains in literature who capture our imaginations with the tightest grip.

The protagonist of my second novel, The Pink Hotel, is by no means evil, but she’s no angel either. These are some of my favorite villains and antiheroes in literature:


1. The White Witch from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C S Lewis
This is the woman responsible for freezing Narnia in perpetual winter, but stopping Christmas from ever coming. Her cronies are ogres and spectres, giant bats, minotaurs and other beings who the author claims to be, “so horrible that if I told you, your parents probably wouldn't let you read this book.” She seduces poor besoted Edmund with Turkish Delight and, in sympathy, I have never eaten a single square of Turkish Delight in my life.

2. Pinkie Brown from Brighton Rock, by Graham Greene
“Heaven was a word: hell was something he could trust,” Greene writes of Pinkie, the sociopathic antihero of Brighton Rock. He has fair hair, scars on his neck, and “grey inhuman seventeen-year-old eyes”. I had nightmares for weeks after readingBrighton Rock, yet there’s something dreamily compelling about this neurotic young gangster.

3. Miss Havisham from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Miss Havisham was my go-to Halloween and fancy dress costume as a kid. I had a moth-eaten white dress, a pair of yellow plastic teeth, and fake-spider webs to go in my hair. In Great Expectations, Dickens describes how Miss Haversham stopped all the clocks in her house at the exact moment she learnt that her fiancé had betrayed her, then uses her beautiful daughter Estelle to exact revenge on the male race. The vengeful old woman repents late in the novel, but she’s still fantastically villainous.

4. Satan from Paradise Lost, by John Milton
Sensitive to beauty and goodness, fiercely ambitious and individualistic yet fatally flawed, Satan is such a spellbinding character that William Blake thought Milton was “of the Devil's party without knowing it”.

5. Becky Sharp from Vanity Fair by Thackerey
Becky is ruthless and dissembling, but boy is she charming. From the moment she flings a dictionary out of her carriage window and announces, “revenge may be wicked, but it’s natural. I’m no angel,” it’s difficult not to be besotted by Thackeray’s anti-heroine.

6. Grenouille from Perfume by Patrick Suskind
Perhaps one of the most uniquely evil and haunting villains in literature, Grenouille doesn’t kill for the thrill of it but to collect the scents belonging to his victims. After 272 pages with this olfactory evil-doer, you’ll find your senses torturously heightened.

7. Mrs Danvers from Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Mrs Danvers is a master of psychological warfare, carefully breaking the sanity of du Maurier’s nervous and self-conscious heroine. Mrs Danvers is fiercely loyal to Rebecca, the former mistress of Manderley, and offers only false advice to the current Mrs de Winter. Danvers is so powerful that she almost succeeds in inciting the novel’s heroine to commit suicide. Scary stuff.

8. Iago from Othello by Shakespeare
Cynical and brutal, the key to Iago’s villainy is jealousy. He destroys because he can. “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;/It is the green-ey'd monster, which doth mock/The meat it feeds on.” But Iago is racked with jealousy first, before he spreads the disease that consumes Othello.

9. The Grand High Witch from The Witches by Roald Dahl
Possibly the most creatively sadistic villain in any children’s book, The Grand High Witch applauds the act of turning children into hot dogs so their parents will eat them. You don’t get much more evil than that.

10. Frederick Clegg from The Collector by John Fowles
Frederick Clegg collects butterflies, carefully pinning their wings into boxes. Then one day he decides to “collect” a woman, hoping that she will learn to love him. Though shards of sympathy are incited for this lonely, delusional man, he shifts from strange and cruel to just plane evil by the end of the novel.

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