Books I Own and Can't Wait to Read

I'm writing this post early and setting it to post automatically.  When this posts, I'll probably still be at my aunt and uncle's celebrating Christmas Eve with my family.

I have a several stacks of books in my room just waiting to be read.  Christmas is tomorrow, and guess what I asked for even more of:  books!  Since my to-read pile is sure to grow even more tomorrow, I decided to post some of the books in my to-read pile right now.  This is by no means all of them.  These are just the ones I'm most anxious to read.

Living Abroad in Spain by Nikki Weinstein

Imagine yourself living in Spain. You head home after a fiesta, eating churros and chocolate and celebrating with your neighbors. You know the locals and speak Spanish with ease. You show visiting friends around with the confidence of one who belongs. Author Nikki Weinstein shows you how to make your dream take shape. She left her life as a magazine writer in New York to make a home abroad in Spain. While some give up—daunted by the financial, bureaucratic, and decision-making issues that accompany a move so extraordinary—you'll be led step-by-step through the information you need on visas, money, jobs, housing, safety, language, culture, and history. Nikki has done the research and made the mistakes—so you don't have to. There's a place that matches your budget, needs, and dreams: perhaps it's an apartment in the vibrant city of Barcelona, a villa in sun-drenched Andalusia, or a beach house on the dramatic Galician coast. You can make it happen. With Living Abroad in Spain, it's easier than you think.

I'm not planning to go to Spain anytime soon, but I'll definitely be day-dreaming about it while I'm reading this.

Guys Are Waffles, Girls Are Spaghetti by  Chad Eastham, Bill Farrel, and Pam Farrel

Boy meets Girl; Boy wonders what in the world Girl is talking about and how he will ever keep up. Girl wonders what is wrong with Boy. Enter, Waffles and Spaghetti-every teen's guide to figuring out the opposite sex and understanding and valuing our unique differences.

In a pivotal time of their development and social lives, teens are left to try and understand one another without much guidance. The purpose of this book is to help better understand themselves as well those from the "alien gender".
Guys' brains are like waffles-they keep their lives compartmentalized in boxes. Girls' brains are like spaghetti-everything in their life is connected to everything else. This book for teens includes brain development, social habits, differences in emotions, and relationship building skills for teens to develop early in their life. Loaded with humor and fun examples, this is a great way for teens to learn about healthy relationships with the opposite sex.

I just like the title of this one.

Lights! Camera! Fiction!: The Movie Lover's Guide to Writing a Novel by Alfie Thompson

How many times have you watched a popular movie and thought, "I'd like to write something like that," or "Even I can write better dialogue!" Here's your chance to learn how to write a novel...by watching movies like "Speed," "The Sixth Sense," "Clueless," "Die Hard," "While You Were Sleeping," and more! For the first time, a professional writing instructor and movie buff will take you through the steps necessary to craft your own commercial novel using techniques found in your favorite films. What can Hollywood's biggest features teach you about writing? How to watch movies with a writer's eye. Infusing character traits into scenes and plots. Using material goals to show internal motivation. Techniques for making scenes do double duty, including foreshadowing and flashback. What is a credibility gap, and how you should bridge it.

Plus: Three 'tricks' for fixing holes in your plot, characters or anything else in your story. Thompson guides you frame by frame through the ins and outs of writing a hit, in a text that is packed with "Quick Tips" and "Quick Fixes." This is an indispensable reference work that will have you polishing your prose--and preparing it for publication--in no time!

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . .
Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

I've heard so much about this series.  I really need to get around to reading it.

Ouran High School Host Club, Volume 6 by Bisco Hatori

In this sharp-witted romantic comedy about the clash of the classes (of all kinds), a poor girl at a rich kids' school ends up working at the school's toniest club-and gets mistaken for a boy!

In this high anticipated title, a kind of cross between HANA-KIMI and BOYS OVER FLOWERS, Haruhi is a scholarship student at an exclusive private school: Ouran High School, where it turns out the bespectacled, short-haired Haruhi is the only student from a lower-middle class family in attendance!
Then, to make matters worse, one day she breaks an $80,000 vase that belongs to one of the campus clubs-a mysterious outfit called the "Host Club," consisting of six superrich (and gorgeous) guys. Haruhi can't afford to pay back the cost of the vase, of course, so she's forced to work for the Host Club! And it's there that she discovers just how rich all the boys are and how different the rich are from you and me...And meanwhile, the eccentric but good-hearted rich boys are shocked to find out how life is on the other side...

I have several volumes of Ouran that I need to read.

Beastly by Alex Flinn

Now a major motion picture starring Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer

I am a beast. A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog, but a horrible new creature who walks upright – a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a monster.
You think I’m talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It’s no deformity, no disease. And I’ll stay this way forever – ruined – unless I can break the spell.
Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and a perfect life. And then, I’ll tell you how I became perfectly beastly.

Matched by Ally Condie

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious Witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil?

Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability, and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to become the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly, and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil. 

Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright

The blacksmith would marry her.

The woodcutter would run away with her.
The werewolf would turn her into one of its own.
Valerie's sister was beautiful, kind, and sweet. Now she is dead. Henry, the handsome son of the blacksmith, tries to console Valerie, but her wild heart beats fast for another: the outcast woodcutter, Peter, who offers Valerie another life far from home.
After her sister's violent death, Valerie's world begins to spiral out of control. For generations, the Wolf has been kept at bay with a monthly sacrifice. But now no one is safe. When an expert Wolf hunter arrives, the villagers learn that the creature lives among them--it could be anyone in town.
It soon becomes clear that Valerie is the only one who can hear the voice of the creature. The Wolf says she must surrender herself before the blood moon wanes...or everyone she loves will die.
Based on a screenplay written by David Leslie Johnson. 

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it's the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago.

Soon "Rippermania" takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn't notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities. 

Can you believe that this is just part of the stacks of to-be-read books in my room?  I need more time to read!  All of these sound fantastic, so hopefully I get around to them soon.