Book boys (yummm)

I read all the time. Like, really, ALL the TIME. And - while there's absolutely nothing wrong with a straight shot of action - most of my books have plenty of yummy male leads.

Most of these are YA boys (I'm not TOO old yet) but there are some grown-up books' heroes interspersed. The list is not in order - they're all sort of tied for the top spot. In that vein, the numbers are arbitrary, there for listing purposes only.

1. Severin of Langthorne-Trent (Rosehaven by Catherine Coulter)
        ...from about mid-book, anyway. At first he's all "my way or the highway" (being from the time when it really would have been, if he'd wanted it that way), but then he gets better. Plus he's delicious, all muscle and blue eyes and arrogance. Mmmmmm.....

2. Jace Wayland (The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare)
        NO self-respecting delicious-book-boy list would neglect to include Jace. He's snarky, cocky, stubborn and tortured. He's beautiful - and he knows it. Not to mention, he's capable of turning even the most unassuming item into a weapon of lethal proportions.

3. Zane (The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld)
        Zane's a pretty, so we know he's gorgeous and perfect. BUT he doesn't necessarily believe that it's the right way, and he's willing to risk his life to change it. Not to mention he doesn't mind doing the whole bad-boy thing and break some rules.

4. Benton Wesley (The Scarpetta novels by Patricia Cornwell)
        He's old. I'm not going to lie. WAY older than anyone previously mentioned. BUT he's awesome. He's an FBI profiler, and he's &$^%ing brilliant, and - although I haven't read the books in a long time and therefore can't be SURE - I'm pretty sure he's gorgeous, for all his old-ness.

5. Jem Carstairs (The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare)
        Everyone likes Will Herondale - snarky, arrogant, self-absorbed Will - but I really don't think I do. I mean, not with Jem around. Jem's sweet, and tolerant of Will's bad-boy act, and pretty much is the only reason Will Herondale is remotely tolerable. If Jem weren't around, all I'd want to do is punch Will. But since Jem IS around, tolerating him, it makes it easier for me to as well.

6. Cassel Sharpe (The Curse Workers series by Holly Black)
        My adoration of Cassandra Clare's books are what drew me to White Cat. Cassel, however, is the reason I've stayed. He's just a wee bit sarcastic, but the fact that he's kinda lost and tortured, and all he wanted was the truth about himself, is so endearing.

7. The Weasley Twins (The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling)
        I can't decide which one I like better! But they're both tricksy and smart, although they neither one care about school-smart, so I guess I can just be content with not knowing which one is which, much less which one I like better.

8. Nat Eaton (The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare)
        Nat is pretty cool, for a boy in Puritan times. He puts up with Kit and her headstrongness, and takes care of Hannah even though everyone else thinks Hannah's a witch (and, by association, Kit).

9. Rab Silsbee (Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes)
        Okay. What can I say? Rab has the same fierceness that Jace has, actually. He's stubborn, and he's devoted (devoted) to the cause of American independence. Plus, he believes in Johnny Tremain before Johnny Tremain believes in Johnny Tremain. Plus my mental image of Rab, since I've got nothing to go on outside of what Mrs. Forbes offers, which isn't much, if I recall from my last reading, is delicious.

10. Sarah Dessen's boys
        They'll get their own post a little later, but for now I feel like I've got to say SOMETHING about them, because my book-boys list couldn't be complete without a mention of them. So for now, just know they're all awesome enough to make it into my book-boys list of awesomeness.

11. Peeta Mellark (The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins)
        (Added because I'd forgotten him. Hot guys (even fictional ones) addle my brain!) Peeta's sweet, smart, brave, strong, deliciously handsome, and he's completely, totally, utterly devoted to Katniss, even more than Rab is the American Revolution. He'll do anything to protect her, at any cost to himself.

#2, or Favorite Books of All Time.

List #2 is on deck now, pretty much pumped for his chance at bat. Another top ten:

My Top Ten Favorite Books of All Time, in No Particular Order

First off: I'm an AVID reader. I read EVERYTHING. So this took a while to put together in some sort of logical form. But here goes.

1. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

        Sarah Dessen, in general, is one of my favorite authors. I've got every one of her books in paperback (because they all have to match). Just Listen is one of hers that I can read OVER and OVER again. It's YA (as is most of my library) but there's nothing wrong with that.

2. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

        Yes. I'm one of THOSE. These, I have all in hardback. It took me about six months to get them all. Hardbacks are expensive, y'all.

3. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

        I. Love. This. Series. I recommend it all the time, to anyone who asks (and some who don't), because it's so good. I could go on and on and on about the Uglies series. But... I won't. Read them.

4. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

        See above. Different style, same idea. Hunger Games is, granted, vastly more popular, and - since there's a movie - will be even more well-known.

5. The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

        It's a 5-book sequence, complete with Good, Evil, magic, and British accents. Read them, but don't watch the movie (it sucked).

6. Rosehaven by Catherine Coulter

        Hey! First grown-up book! It's good. Romance, hatred, revenge - it's all in this one, plus it's a historical novel (set not long after the Crusades, if I'm not completely mistaken) AND there's a marten (see: stoat [see: weasel]) who is a strong supporting character.

7. The Shining by Stephen King

        Got this one for my birthday one year. Sat under a tree on campus reading it; every time someone saw me they scared me. My boyfriend at the time found it hilarious. My heart? Not so much.

8. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

        Back to the world of YA fiction! The entire Mortal Instruments series (and The Infernal Devices, the "prequel" series) should be on this list. Yummy guys. Magic. Vampires, werewolves, faeries, warlocks, angels, demons.... Must... Continue.

9. Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis

        They're phenomenal. They're really quick reads, because they're actually a little younger than YA. But they can be read and enjoyed by adults - perhaps even more than the age group they seem to be geared towards - because they can provoke a lot of thought. 

10. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

        I was given these - in a single volume - for my 13th birthday. I. Was. Ob. Sessed. I read them about a gajillion times between my August birthday and the release of the first movie that December. I wore leather pants and pretended I was an elf in the woods. It was really really bad. :/