Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s is a Freebie/Throwback, with the prompt: Come up with a topic you’d like to do or go back and do an old topic you missed or just want to do again! Looking back at earlier TTT topics, I thought I’d go back and provide an update on my freebie topic from spring 2024: Backlist Books To Read.
What you’ll see below is a duplicate of my 2024 list… but with notes on which books I’ve read, which I’m still interested in, and which I’m not planning to pursue. I’ve actually read a decent amount of these… yay, me!
Here’s my 2025 update on my 2024 backlist post:
1. Kristin Hannah – Backlist titles identified in 2024:
2025 update: I read The Nightingale earlier this year, and loved it! My review is here. I’d still like to get to the other two, and probably more beyond that.
2. TJ Klune: Backlist titles identified in 2024:
(Note: Same book; original cover on the left, new cover for the 2025 reissue on the right)
2025 update: Read it, loved it! My review is here. I do have a few other early books by TJ Klune marked as to-read:
I’m not necessarily rushing to pick these up — but please do let me know if you’ve read them and recommend them!
3. William Kent Krueger: Backlist title (series) identified in 2024:
2025 update: Probably going to pass. I’m not really looking to get involved in even more series at the moment, and mysteries aren’t my go-to genre in any case.
4. Dana Stabenow: Backlist titles identified in 2024:
2025 update: Again, probably not. I do love this author, but I think I’ll hold off on any backlist titles, and will look forward to her upcoming 2026 new release, The Harvey Girl.
5. Abby Jimenez: Backlist titles identified in 2024:
2025 update: Yes! Read them all! I didn’t love this trilogy quite as much as the Part of Your World trilogy… but I still enjoyed all of these (especially the 2nd book) and I’m glad I read them!
6. Rachel Harrison: Backlist titles identified in 2024:
2025 update: Yes! This book was so creepy and disturbing, and I loved it! My review is here. And now, I’m eagerly awaiting her 2025 new release, Play Nice, coming this fall.
7. Kelley Armstrong: Backlist titles identified in 2024 (two different series starters):
2025 update: I read City of the Lost, book #1 in the Rockton series, and I’m eager to continue! In fact, I’m hoping to start the 2nd book this month. As for the Cainsville series, this will remain a “maybe someday” read for me, but I don’t feel any urgency about it.
8. Jenny Colgan: Backlist titles identified in 2024:
2025 update: I did read Where Have All the Boys Gone (review)… and didn’t especially love it. I have a feeling that her earlier books may all feel a bit dated to me at this point, so I don’t think I’ll follow through with any others. (But who knows? Never say never, when it comes to favorite authors…)
9. Eva Ibbotson: Backlist titles identified in 2024:
2025 update: I didn’t get to any of these, but still want to!
10. Katherine Center: Backlist titles identified in 2024:
2025 update: I didn’t get to either of these… but I still intend to! And then I’ll have made it through all of her backlist books.
BONUS PICKS: Because why stop at 10? Here are a few more authors I’m adding to my 2025 list, whose backlists I need to explore:
- Victoria Schwab: After loving both The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (review) and Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil (watch for my review later this week!), I’m feeling like I really should try her YA fiction too. Any favorites? Suggestions on where to start?
- Jennifer Weiner: I’ve read lots of her books, but there are plenty more that I’ve missed over the years. The two highest on my priority list are Mrs. Everything and Big Summer.
- Colleen Oakley: I’ve read her more recent books, but still need to get to You Were There Too and Before I Go.
Have you read any of my backlist picks? Any you especially recommend?
If you wrote a freebie post this week, what topic did you choose? Please share your link!
Bookshelf Fantasies 
I went with the easy topic of books with fireworks on the cover this week because my brain was too tired to think up anything else. ;D
That sounds like a fun one! I don’t think I could come up with a full list — now I need to see what books you included!
There’s nothing like diving into backlist books. I hope you find some real gems here.
Thanks! Looking forward to exploring these!
I’ve read Lightning Struck Heart and it was a 5 from me, full of innuendo, sass and banter! Audio was fab!
That’s great to know! I’ll try to track down the audio — I’m excited to hear that it’s a 5-star choice!
Nice list, Lisa. I haven’t read any of these, but my daughter says Abby Jimenez is one of her go-to authors. I need to read Katherine Center’s books. Hope you get to all the ones you want to read this year.
https://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2025/07/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten-bookish.html
Thanks so much! Your daughter has good taste 🙂 Abby Jimenez was new to me last year, and I’ve now read all her books!
When books change covers I wish they would put warnings on them. I can’t tell you how many books I’ve bought twice, because so much time had passed between new covers, I was just excited to see an author I love with what I thought was a new book. Now I look for the date it was published, so I don’t make any more mistakes. I find it difficult to believe that I’m the only one this has happened to, but maybe I am.
Oh, I’m sure you’re not the only one! For The Bones Beneath My Skin, I already had the Kindle edition from its earlier publication, and then they rereleased the hardcover with a new cover… so fortunately for me, I didn’t end up with two physical editions of the same book! But you’re right, some sort of warning or alert could be helpful!
Thank you for that. 😊
From your list, the only book I’ve read is Diamond’s Are A Girl’s Best Friend. I actually posted a review for it last year. I enjoyed it. Don’t let it fool you, it’s more of journey of self-discovery than a romance.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!https://readbakecreate.com/celebrating-more-canadian-authors-ten-more-authors-from-canada/
Good to know about Diamonds! I usually enjoy her books very much, but a couple of the older ones didn’t enchant me as much, so I’ve been hesitant about trying any other from the backlist. I’m glad to hear this one is worth checking out!
I’m glad you loved THE NIGHTINGALE. It’s my favorite Hannah book, at least of the ones I’ve read. I haven’t read the other two you mentioned. I also love Kelley Armstrong’s mysteries. I’ve read just about all of them. I also need to catch up on Center’s books. *Sigh* So many books, so little time…
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
I hear you — it’s impossible to keep up! I loved The Nightingale, and have really loved her other recent books, so I do want to dig a little farther back and see what else she’s written! I’m looking forward to continuing the Rockton series 🙂
I still have to read Abby Jimenez’ books. Great post!
My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2025/07/01/top-ten-tuesday-2025-backlist-mid-year-check-in/
Thank you! You definitely can’t go wrong with Abby Jimenez… although for what it’s worth, I recommend the trilogy that starts with Part of Your World over the trilogy in this post 🙂
Such a great list! I enjoyed The Nightingale as well, and I can definitely recommend Night Road. I can’t wait to read The Bones Beneath My Skin soon and I agree with you on The Friend Zone trilogy…
As for Schwab’s books; I basically loved them all, so that isn’t particularly helpful. xD I named one of my cats after one of the characters in A Darker Shade Of Magic (Delilah Bard), so that should count for something I guess. The City Of Ghosts books are great if you want to read ghost stories with great atmospheric settings… And I loved the Monsters Of Verity duology.
Good to know about Night Road! I think I may actually have a copy of A Darker Shade of Magic, so that might make sense for me to start with — but I”m glad to hear that you love them all!
It looks like you’ve done pretty well getting to some of these books. I’ve looked back at the odd past list and been horrified to realised I’d read nothing from it 🙈 it’s wonderful seeing you’ve loved some of the ones you’ve gotten to as well. That new cover for The Bones Beneath My Skin is gorgeous 😍 Klune, Jimenez & Hannah are all authors I really want to try. You’ve also really intrigued me for The Return. I’m trying Black Sheep out soon but if it goes well I know what to try next by the author.
I loved ADSOM by Schwab and really enjoyed Gallant as well. I still need to catch up on the rest of her books, besides the two you mentioned, so I can’t help anymore than that though.
I read my first Kristin Hannah novel recently, The Women, and I really enjoyed it. I am hoping to read The Nightingale next