Top 5 Wednesday: Books I Want to Finally Read in 2017

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Thoughts on Tomes. Check out the Goodreads group here.

My to-be-read pile is enormous, like monstrous enormous.

It feels like my own Black Books and I wouldn't have it any other way. With so many good books coming out all the time, it stands to reason that I would eventually buy more than I could keep up with in the reading. I tend to buy books as I see them if I have the money because I have this weird fear that if I don't, I might never find it again or I won't be able to read it when I want to. So, I buy it, I have it, I'll read it eventually.

This means my TBR spans the shelves and I have several books on it from years past that I really want to read, but this year was really the year of rereads. This week's theme got me to think about the five that I wanted to read the most that have been neglected for one reason or another.

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

These are the first books I put on my Goodreads TBR and I've only read the first two books and the fourth. As there are soon to be seventeen books in the series, I really need to play catch-up, so this entry is a catchall for the series rather than just one volume.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

I've tried to start this book a couple of times, mostly because the main character is a librarian. Any book that is about books, bookstores, libraries, librarians, etc., go on my list simply because they're about something I love. I want to read this and then watch the movie, something else I've been meaning to watch since it came out.

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

This sounds like the kind of book that I would have loved when I was the age of the kids in the book. I can easily imagine having a dream about running away to a museum, though I would have chosen the Natural History Museum rather than the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

I got this for my husband when it first came out. We're big Holly Black fans in this family, but for some reason I never got around to reading it at the time. However, I did see the book trailer and thought it was really creepy. My husband said yes, it was, and that it perfectly matches the tone of the book. If that's true, I'm really interested in reading it for myself.

A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books by Nicholas Basbanes

This was a Christmas gift years ago and I feel a slight sense of shame at not having read it yet. From what I remember, Nicholas Basbanes wrote a few books that are essential reading on the subject of reading and readers. It's non-fiction, so maybe that's what kept me from picking it up and reading it straight through? I hope I can make it through in 2017 because I'm pretty sure this was on a list for 2016 and I forgot.

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Top 5 Wednesday: Favorite Villains

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Thoughts on Tomes. Check out the Goodreads group here.

Villains used to be a character to be hated, someone that the main character had to triumph over and that was it. However, in recent years, I've begun noticing more well developed villains in literature, both newly written ones and ones that I've finally read about from older titles. They're much more interesting now and I've got a few favorites that I like reading about.

5. The Queen of Hearts, Alice in Wonderland

The Queen of Hearts is amazing in her insanity and nonsense. While the depiction of her in the Disney movie is more of a combination of the Queen of Hearts and the Red Queen, thus given her some mellow moments, the Queen from the book is a host of immense fury, liable to fly off the handle at the slightest offense. She is an unapologetic villain and doesn't let anyone or anything get in her way, even if that means sentencing them to beheading. Evil through and through, she was comical in her actions (what evil dictator plays croquet?) and plays her part of villain well.

4. Gestalt, The Rook

Gestalt is a very creepy villain because they're both one villain and four separate villains at one time. Confused? Well, this is a supernatural novel and there are several powers that one might have. Not everyone hast them, but of those that two, "one" is Gestalt: a single soul that is spread over four bodies. Quadruplets, if you will. One woman and three men that move independently but share a hive mind and you can see it when you look into their eyes.

There are quite a few events involving their unique situation that come into play regarding the main story line, but saying anymore would definitely qualify as spoiler territory. Suffice it to say that if you look into one person's eyes and feel the weight of four looking back, it's at a minimum disconcerting. You really have no idea what Gestalt is capable of until you read The Rook.

3. The Darkling, Shadow and Bone

The Darkling was a mysterious one. I thought that he was an anti-hero at first, but not necessarily bad. He turned out to be very good at keeping his true evil hidden, though, and how he acted up until then had me convinced that maybe his mother was lying. Maybe he really was a good guy? Maybe it was all a big misunderstanding? No, he is just that good at being bad.

2. Jadis, The Chronicles of Narnia

She never seems to go away. Jadis is quite adept at manipulation, as seen when she gets Edmund to betray his siblings. I thought she was especially terrifying in The Magician's Nephew. During her first appearance, we find out more about her origins, what she'd have been like if she was in our world, and just how terrified she was of Narnia in the beginning (with good reason!). Tilda Swinton portrayed her very well in the Narnia films and was my favorite of all the times I've seen the White Witch in a film.

1. Nothing, The Neverending Story

The Nothing is the most terrifying monster of all, and my favorite, because it is symbolically the most realistic one. The Nothing in Fantastica represents the lost of imagination and without imagination, that world is nothing. It rings true in our world today, when quite a lot of the time children are told to stop dreaming and to grow up quick as they can. That is a horrid fate because if you don't have imagination, you're barely able to cope with the depressing aspects of this world, whichever you may come into contact with (and I do hope they're few).

The Nothing doesn't look scary, precisely, but it is a big, gaping emptiness and looking into it, I imagine, would feel like having your anxiety, depression, your saddest thoughts of all, eating at you from the inside out and going on to consume everything around you.

It is both the most frightening and my favorite villain on this list because I think the author managed to encapsulate something so human in a fictional character, but he also showed that it was possible to push it back. Bastian manages this through his journey of reading The Neverending Story and believing in himself and the book. It's such a little thing, but it's power was more immense that anyone could have realized.







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Top 5 Wednesday: Books I Want to Re-Read

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Thoughts on Tomes. Check out the Goodreads group here.

I love to re-read books, even when I'm being threatened by my over enormous TBR pile. That is the ultimate compliment to be paid a book, I think, That you would spend your time and energy revisiting that story means that there was something special about it. The author clearly did something right in that case.

This week I'll share with you five books that I want to re-read in particular (leaving out, of course, Harry Potter, because otherwise I'd be here all day talking about them, but YES, I will always re-read HP).

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

I first read this book before I ever visited the Strand, where a great deal of the action takes place. Having since visited it, I want to re-read this story and be able to accurately picture all the things that these characters do as they engage in dare after dare. I love how well Rachel and David write together and I look forward to not only re-reading this book, but to getting my hands on the sequel as well.

The Art of Asking, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help by Amanda Palmer

Amanda Palmer is an amazing person in a lot of ways. She's smart, brave, fearless. When things do get to her, she doesn't sugar coat them. Her honesty is brutal and I think that's something that is sorely needed sometimes. She doesn't glamorize her life. Instead she uses her experience as a teaching tool for people that might need help. From what I can tell, she's the kind of person that would give you the last bite of food on her plate or the coat off her back is you needed it and asked. I want to re-read this book and see what I can learn upon a second reading. I think she has a lot more to teach.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

This was a multi-layered mystery and I'm not sure that I remember all the twists and turns that it takes. I need to re-read it to get back to the core of the story and figure out what really happened to these characters.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I loved the magical environment of the Circus the first time and I want to read it again, this time listening to it from the ever wonderful narrator Jim Dale. That's bound to add just another layer to the experience of this tale.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn has long been my favorite Betty Smith book. It's tale of Francie Nolan's childhood in poverty is poignant and so important in this day. We can't forget that this is what it was like for thousands of people, the children of immigrants, in the early 1900s, and what it is still like for millions of poor people.

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Top 5 Wednesday: Favorite Publishers

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Thoughts on Tomes. Check out the Goodreads group here.

I never really thought about my favorite publishers when it comes to traditionally published books. I do have favorite manga publishers and I noticed for the longest time that more and more of my best titles came from one or two. This week's topic gave me the chance to really think about it and take notice of where my favorite books come from.

I won't be putting them in any particular ranking among themselves, but suffice it to say that they have each released titles that are near and dear to my heart and I'll be sharing those titles with you below the publishing house it came from.

Also, as I noticed when I began researching where my favorite books came from, there's a bit of a maze between parent publishing companies and imprints within the companies (i.e. Little, Brown has smaller imprints beneath it i.e. Hachette). I will most likely be going by the publishing company that is printed on the spine of the book on my shelf, but if I catch an imprint, I'll mention it as well.

Scholastic Press

Publishers of: Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, Goosebumps by R.L. Stine, Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older

Little, Brown

Publishers of: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (Hachette Group/Little Brown Teen), The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey, Bad Magic by Pseudonymous Bosch (LB Kids)

Tor Teen

Publishers of: Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter, Truthwitch by Susan Dennard, The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

Disney Hyperion

Publishers of: Shadow Magic by Joshua Khan, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty

Bloomsbury Publishing

Publishers of: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, Stealing Snow by Danielle Paige, Learning to Swear in America by Katie Kennedy

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Top 5 Wednesday: Characters You Used to Love but Don't Anymore

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Thoughts on Tomes. Check out the Goodreads group here.

It is sad to say, but sometimes the characters we loved as children or young adults don't age as well as we do. They don't hold the same charm for us for any number of reasons: we outgrow them, they look different in our adult eyes, etc.

This week's topic is featuring these characters that once upon a time we might have loved and now either hate, dislike, or are simply neutral about.

5. Harry Potter (Harry Potter series)

This character falls sharply into the neutral territory and is somewhat complicated. I still love the Harry Potter stories, make no mistake, but Harry Potter himself has lost a lot of his charm for me. As I've been rereading the books, particularly from Order of the Phoenix onward, I've realized that he's not the hero I always remembered him being. His heroics are not his alone and the people that help him don't get nearly the amount of credit they deserve. 

4. Ariel (The Little Mermaid)

Ariel used to be my favorite Disney princess when I was younger. I was obsessed with mermaids and used to pretend that I could turn into one all the time. Ariel probably contributed to my love of swimming and that's a lovely thing. However, her character isn't the same for me as it once was. Watching the movie now, I realize that there are a lot of problems with her as a person that can be attributed to being a teenager, but she's glorified for it. This is even before we take into account the instalove situation with Prince Eric which is another thing that lost it's charm for me. It was cute when I was a kid, but it is now one of the most annoying tropes in film or literature.

3. Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables)

When I was her age and read this, I thought that her imagination was a wonderful thing. She didn't make sense a lot of the time, but that didn't matter to me at the time. I tried to go back and reread it lately, but I found myself disliking Anne. She wasn't the imaginative idol of my childhood anymore, merely an annoying child that prattles on.

2. The Tillerman Children (The Tillerman Cycle)

Dicey and her three siblings are decent enough in the first book, Homecoming, but for books two through seven I became disinterested in them. It might have something to do with the fact that not all of the books are strictly about them, so we miss out on some of their development, but also Dicey especially seems too self assured in some parts and then foolish in others. I remember loving these books years ago, but the only book I care to read now is the first one and pretend the rest don't exist.

1. Peter Pan and Tinker Bell (Peter Pan)

If The Little Mermaid was my favorite Disney film as a child, then Peter Pan was another one (these were both before I had seen Beauty and the Beast, which is my #1 favorite classic Disney movie now). Watching it now with my son, though, has shown me that Peter and especially Tink are a pain. They play off each other and that isn't a compliment. They've both got bad behaviors that grate on me now that I never really noticed or didn't bother me as much before, I haven't read Barrie's book yet and I'm curious what the original story is like compared to the Disney version.

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Top 5 Wednesday: Most Misleading Synopses

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Thoughts on Tomes. Check out the Goodreads group here.

After having had a rash of one and two star reads lately, I'm more than equipped to tackled this week's topic: most misleading synopses. Sometimes the synopsis sounds so amazing and just the right thing in the moment, but then you settle down to read the book and it just drains you because it sucks so bad!

These titles all disappointed me in one way or another. I've included the synopsis for each book as well so that perhaps you can see where I'm coming from when I explain why I disliked them after having read them based on their synopsis.

5. The Heart of Henry Quantum by Pepper Harding 

In the bestselling tradition of A Man Called Ove and the beloved film Love Actually, a quirky, socially awkward man goes on a quest to find his wife a last-minute Christmas gift and encounters several distractions—including bumping into his ex-girlfriend who was the one who got away.

Henry Quantum has several thoughts going through his head at any given time, so it’s no surprise when he forgets something very important—specifically, a Christmas gift for his wife, which he realizes on the morning of December 23. Henry sets off that day in search of the perfect present for her: a bottle of Chanel No. 5 perfume. But much like Henry’s ever-wandering mind, his quest takes him in different and unexpected directions, including running into the former love of his life, Daisy. His wife, meanwhile, unhappy in her marriage, is hiding a secret of her own. And Daisy, who has made the unsettling choice of leaving her husband to strike out on her own, finds herself questioning whether she and Henry belong together after all.

A sweet, funny, and touching debut from author Pepper Harding shows how the seemingly insignificant events of one single day can change our lives forever—perhaps, if we’re lucky, for the better.

I have read  A Man Called Ove and I love the movie Love Actually (it's one of my favorite holiday movies of all time). When this book promised that it was similar to the two, I thought it would be a great read. It was very much not what it promised. It was rife with terrible characters that didn't have a redeemable bone among them. My first thought would be I was sad about it not being what I thought it would be, but no, I was angry because the story was just that bad and  the people in it were horrible. I was glad when it was over.

4. Rebel Bully Geek Pariah by Erin Jade Lange

"The Breakfast Club" gets a modern, high-stakes reboot in this story of four very different teens and a night that changes them forever. 

The Rebel: Once popular, Andi is now a dreadlocked, tattooed wild child.
The Bully: York torments everyone who crosses his path, especially his younger brother.
The Geek: Tired of being bullied, Boston is obsessed with getting into an Ivy League college. 
The Pariah: Choosing to be invisible has always worked for Sam . . . until tonight. 

When Andi, York, Boston, and Sam find themselves hiding in the woods after a party gets busted by the cops, they hop into the nearest car they see and take off—the first decision of many in a night that will change their lives forever. By the light of day, these four would never be caught dead together, but when their getaway takes a dangerously unpredictable turn, sticking together could be the only way to survive. 

With cinematic storytelling and compelling emotional depth, critically acclaimed author Erin Jade Lange takes readers on literary thrill ride.

I almost thought this would also have a touch of How to Get Away With Murder: a group of people trying to hide their dirty deeds, or in this case, survive the deeds of others and the insane situation they got themselves into. However, I was sorely disappointed. It was supposed to be emotionally deep (it wasn't), have cinematic storytelling (if this is cinematic, then it's a box office flop), and a "The Breakfast Club" reboot (that is an insult to The Breakfast Club).

3. Mosquitoland by David Arnold

"I am a collection of oddities, a circus of neurons and electrons: my heart is the ringmaster, my soul is the trapeze artist, and the world is my audience. It sounds strange because it is, and it is, because I am strange." 
After the sudden collapse of her family, Mim Malone is dragged from her home in northern Ohio to the "wastelands" of Mississippi, where she lives in a medicated milieu with her dad and new stepmom. Before the dust has a chance to settle, she learns her mother is sick back in Cleveland. 
So she ditches her new life and hops aboard a northbound Greyhound bus to her real home and her real mother, meeting a quirky cast of fellow travelers along the way. But when her thousand-mile journey takes a few turns she could never see coming, Mim must confront her own demons, redefining her notions of love, loyalty, and what it means to be sane. 
Told in an unforgettable, kaleidoscopic voice, "Mosquitoland" is a modern American odyssey, as hilarious as it is heartbreaking.

This was neither unforgettable, hilarious, nor heartbreaking. The main character Mim reminded me of a lesser Holden Caufield, but not in a great way. I understand the use of an unreliable narrator, but I still couldn't find much to like in Mim. I thought the story would be an interesting journey based on the road trip advertised, the "quirky cast of fellow travelers", but it was a bit disappointing.

2. Hansel and Gretel by Neil Gaiman and Lorenzo Mattotti

This all happened a long time ago, in your grandmother's time, or in her grandfather's. A long time ago. Back then, we all lives on the edge of the great forest.

Neil Gaiman and Lorenzo Mattoti both remember the horror and fascination with which they read the Grimm Brothers' "Hansel and Gretel." The writer and the artist now join forces for a brilliant reimagining of one of humanity's most enduring tales. Be brave, be bold, and keep your wits about you--Gaiman and Mattoti are welcoming you into the woods.

The smudgy sketch style of the art was good for the story, but when the synopsis advertised a "brilliant reimagining" and it's written by Neil Gaiman, I expected something amazing and what I got was the same old story. It was a big let down because there was nothing new or interesting in it. I said in my review that I think it would have been a lot better if Gaiman had just narrated it because then at least his voice, always excellent at capturing creepy goings on, would've saved a mundane narrative.

1. Disney Manga Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas by Jun Asuka

Manga publishing pioneer TOKYOPOP brings you a special edition gorgeous hardcover manga based on the classic Halloween masterpiece Disney Tim Burton s Nightmare Before Christmas. A must-have for manga fans, Tim Burton fans, and Halloween fans alike!! Collect this horrifying masterpiece!"

I will willingly collect multiple editions of a book if it has a gorgeous binding. I've got more than a few editions of the Harry Potter books, for example. When this synopsis says that this is a must have for manga fans, I think that is quite the overstatement. It's nothing special in terms of art and the story has none of the heart or fun of the original poem or movie. It most certainly is not horrifying except in that it stands as a "manga remake" of The Nightmare Before Christmas and does not live up to the quality that title deserves.

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Top 5 Wednesday: Favorite Spooky Settings

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Thoughts on Tomes, created by Gingerreadslainey. Check out the Goodreads group here.

Halloween is almost here (YES!) and to celebrate it, this week's Top 5 Wednesday is all about my favorite spooky settings. These are going to be a mix of settings that I've read already and thought were fantastically creepy and ones that I'm looking forward to reading, whether I've heard about them from someone else or whether I've seen the movie version and now want to read the source material.

5. Fangorn Forest, The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkein

I've been meaning to get to Lord of the Rings forever. The movies are old favorites and I can only imagine how much more amazing the book is. Fangorn Forest first appears in the second movie in the trilogy, The Two Towers, and the lighting and music set a very eerie tone. I look forward to reading this volume of the book to see if it is the same on the page.

4. Cabeswater, The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

There are little pockets of Cabeswater that are creepy, but I don't think that most people would call it creepy as a whole. The thing that creeps me out the most about it is the seasons changing as Blue and company journey through it, all in the span of an hour or less. That sort of pacing would get my senses up, definitely ramp up the paranoia, because obviously that is not normal and how do you fight against something like that?

3. Castle Gloom, Shadow Magic by Joshua Khan

Castle Gloom is the one of the best castle environments I've ever read in middle grade literature. It's got all manner of dark creatures being mentioned, the threat of undead, dark passageways, and more. Let's not forget, sequestered away, the GIANT BAT. :D

2. The Forest, The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

The Forest in this book was so freaky. You think you're getting into a nice retelling of your favorite fairy tales, you think you'll run into some nice woodland creatures? NOPE! Everything is off in one way or another. It's the not knowing and the thinking you do know that creeps me out. It keeps you from being able to keep your feet and in a weird situation, that's the best you can usually hope for. What do you have if not that?

1. New Hampshire College Prep, Asylum by Madeleine Roux

I haven't finished this book yet, but let me tell you why it ranks so high. It's take place in a former insane asylum. It's chock full of old photos that really set you into the setting. GHOSTS, MAN! This is not a book I'm going to read at night, let me tell you. I have a think about insane asylums. I will read them, but I tend to have a weird feeling about doing it at night. Something about the darkness makes it feel like these places could be even more real than simple ink on the page and midnight is the last time I want to feel vulnerable.

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Top 5 Wednesday: Characters You WOULDN'T Want to Trade Places With

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Thoughts on Tomes, created by Gingerreadslainey. Check out the Goodreads group here.

There's often speculation as to what character we'd change places with in our favorite books, but what if we take a moment this week to think about the characters we wouldn't want to change places with/ That's the prompt for this week's Top 5 Wednesday and I think I've got some picks you'll agree with wholeheartedly.

Paul Sheldon, Misery

I would love to be a writer. I wouldn't mind being a writer like Paul Sheldon. The man had a super successful romance series that sold millions of copies and made him exceedingly rich. However, I sure as hell wouldn't want to trade place with him in this book because look who he ends up stuck with for the majority of it? Annie freaking Wilkes, that's who. Obsessed fan who kidnaps and maims her favorite author after the death of a beloved character? No thank you, I'll stay poor and a non-writer for now if it keeps me safe from her.

Kamala Khan, Ms. Marvel

I could barely get through high school as a normal kid, but as a super powered kid (she's an Inhuman, right?) it would be damned near impossible. Kamala's got to somehow keep up her normal life while protecting Jersey City from a whole host of problems and then she becomes an Avenger too? Geez Louise, as much as I'd love me some super powers, I would not want the responsibilities that Kamala get along with them.

The Little Boy, The Strange Library

The main character in this book isn't named, if I remember correctly, but that doesn't make his terror any less real. Going to the library, a supposed safe place filled with stories and wonder, only to be kidnapped and held captive with others underground for who knows how long? Um, no thank. Plus, it would ruin my love of reading.

Gigi, Bette, or June, Tiny Pretty Things

I wouldn't want to switch places with any of these girls for a variety of reasons. There's an insane amount of pressure that each faces from different sources, whether it be from a parent, society, or themselves. There is no good for any of them in this book. There's backstabbing, constant self doubt, an insane amount of paranoia. How any of them will make it out of this school alive is beyond me, but I'll have to read the sequel to find out, if I can bear it.

The Small Boy, The Ocean at the End of the Lane

This is another book where the main character is not named, at least not that I can remember. I think that this is a plot device that makes their role even creepier because it makes it that much easier to imagine yourself in their shoes. Now, why would I NOT want to be in the small boy's shoes?

Well, for one thing, his new babysitter is like Dolores Umbridge as a young woman. Oh, and did I mention she nearly incites the boy's father to the murder of his son? And the worm the boy has to pull from a seemingly endless hole in his foot? There are too many psychological horrors in this book and at that age I wouldn't have been sane for long. Heck, I don't think I'd be able to stand his circumstances much at this point in my life either.

The point is, the babysitter character who is some sort of otherworldly creature inflicts all sorts of torture upon a fragile mind and I can say, quite without a doubt, that I would never want to be in that position.

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Top 5 Wednesday: Characters You'd Want As Family

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Thoughts on Tomes. Check out the Goodreads group here.


It would be more than easy to fill this list with Weasleys because even with all their problems, they really managed to be there for one another and work things out (eventually).

There will definitely be Harry Potter characters on this list but I'm going to do my best to broaden my answers for some of the spots.

5. Mortimer "Mo" Folchart as a Father

This man is quite possibly the ultimate father figure. He has a very kind personality and would do anything for his daughter. He's one of the biggest bookworms in the book world. Not only does he have a collection that might rival the Beast's someday, but he can fix almost anything that could ever happen to them. I think that kindness is essential in a parent and having the open mind of bookworm lends a person that something extra that makes a great parental unit.

4. Professor Digory Kirke as a Grandfather

Professor Kirke has the ultimate grandfather persona. He's a kindly old man who believes the stories the children in his care tell him and doesn't mock them. His house is full of history and I bet he'd share those stories if you asked. There's plenty to explore, so visits to grandfather's house would never be boring. He's a sweet old man that would be my ideal grandpa.

3. Lupin as an Uncle

It's weird thinking about Lupin as a wise old uncle type character considering that, reading the books now he's my age, but that's how his character comes across. He has a wisdom that belongs to a man twice his age, he's kind to kids that are afraid, and he'll do whatever he can to protect those he loves, even if it puts him in pain.

2. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle as a Grandmother

She could either be my grandmother or my mother and thus the grandmother to my children, but either way she would be a great one. She's a lot of fun and she knows a lot more than me about raising children and ways around their bad behavior. She's be a great source for maternal knowledge one way or the other.

1. Tonks as a Sister

I feel like Tonks would be an amazing big sister. Sure she's got a lackadaisical personality at times, but she really can step up when the situation calls for it. She'd probably help me dye my hair and she wouldn't let me hide in my room worrying over something. I can see her helping me out, either by sitting with me and working it out or dealing out a well deserved punch if needs be. ;)

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