Top Ten Tuesday: Two-word word association for the last 10 books I’ve read (updated for 2026!)

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is One-Word Reviews for the Last Ten Books I Read — a topic previously features in 2022. Last time around, I couldn’t get very far with the topic (my list would have been basically: scary! funny! sweet! etc… not very enlightening), so I switched it up and went with a word association theme instead. My 2022 post is here… and I’m sticking with the same approach for this week’s post too.

Here’s how it works: Remember playing word association games? Say the first word that comes to mind… Well, in this case, I decided to do the two words that come to mind when I think about the most recent books I’ve read. Here goes!

Pregnancy & Paychecks

Fainting & Castles

Mermaids & Pirates

Confusion & Music

Camelot & Hobbits

Tea & History

Plants & Planets

Cowboys & Trains

Costumes & Swords

Terror & Detours

How did you do with this week’s TTT prompt? Did you have better luck than I did writing one-word reviews?

Share your links, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

27Oct2026

Top Ten Tuesday: A Halloween freebie, inspired by classic trick-or-treat costumes

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Happy Halloween!

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is a Halloween freebie! For this year’s Halloween post, I’m taking inspiration from classic trick-or-treating costumes — witches, ghosts, and vampires (oh my!).

Here are ~~ten~~ eleven light-hearted books featuring some of these classic Halloween characters… yes, eleven, because I couldn’t decide which one to leave out!

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna
Mr. and Mrs. Witch by Gwenda Bond
Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca
My Roommate Is a Vampire by Jenna Levine
Bite Me by Christopher Moore
Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

What’s on your Halloween TTT this week? Share your link, please, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

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20Oct2026

Top Ten Tuesday: Things That Make Up My Perfect Day

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Things That Make Up My Perfect Day, with the prompt: share the people, places, activities, foods, circumstances, etc. that make a day perfect for you. Go into as much or as little detail as possible!

My first instinct was to go with the dream of a perfect day — a tropical beach somewhere, white sand, cool breezes, fresh fruit, a great book… but I think instead I’ll keep my focus on the here and now. Here are little things that contribute to a great (maybe even perfect!) day for me:

Long walk, preferably with great views out in nature somewhere
Good coffee
Uninterrupted reading time for at least a couple of hours
Sitting down for a delicious dinner with my family
Catching up by phone with a long-distance friend or two
Dancing (preferably outdoors, with a mix of old and new dances, and my favorite dance companions)
Binge-watching an episode or two of a great drama or comedy series
Word games and jigsaw puzzles
Planning my next trip
Spending time with the people I love

It’s rare to get all of these in one day… but I’ll take any combination I can get!

What about you? What makes up your perfect day?

If you wrote a TTT post, please share your link!

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13Oct2026

Top Ten Tuesday: Book Covers Featuring Autumnal Colors

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Book Covers Featuring Autumnal Colors.

My list includes books I’ve read plus a bunch from my TBR. My top 10 are:

Hawaii by James Michener (read long ago)
Dust by Hugh Howey (TBR)
The Burning Girls by C. J. Tudor (TBR)
Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon (TBR)
The One That Got Away by Mike Gayle (TBR)
A Wild and Heavenly Place by Robin Oliveira (TBR)
My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin (review)
East of Eden by John Steinbeck (read long ago)
The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune (review)
The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger (review)

Have you read any of these? Do you have a favorite book with autumn colors on the cover?

If you wrote a TTT post, please share your link!

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6Oct2026

Top Ten Tuesday: Books that Conjure Up Happy Memories

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Books that Conjure Up Happy Memories.

I ran out of time to really think this one through, so I’m stopping at just 8 for this week’s list! Here’s my selection of books that I associate with happy memories:

1) Outlander by Diana Gabaldon: I picked up this paperback for the first time while on a family trip near Yosemite. I went out to the meadow behind our cabin, sat on a big rock, and started reading. I’ll always associate this book with that gorgeous setting!

2) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith: This one is a little bittersweet. The book was a gift from a very dear friend who has since passed away, and I miss her all the time. But whenever I come across this book, it makes me think of her, and that’s worth smiling about.

3) The Emily Starr trilogy by L. M. Montgomery: Another choice that mixes happiness with a bit of sadness. During the pandemic, I did a lot of traveling back and forth to spend time (in full protective gear!) with my elderly father. My only distraction was going to the hotel fitness room at the end of each day and getting on the treadmill, and the Emily books were my workout companions. They’re so joyful and wonderful, and always lifted my spirits.

4) Letters from Thailand by Botan: This book is part of my love story with my husband! Our conversation about this book was the first time we really connected on a level beyond being casual acquaintances. And of course, talking about books was the key to my heart!

5) Alanna: The First Adventure (Song of the Lioness, #1) by Tamora Pierce: My daughter fell in love with this series when she was in middle school and insisted that I read it. What a great shared reading experience!

6) All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor: I loved these books as a kid, and later shared them with my own kids!

7 & 8: Historical fiction from James Michener: I read this author’s massive historical novels, Alaska and Hawaii, before traveling to each place for the first time, years ago. I loved the books, and loved how they made the visits to each place so much richer and meaningful.

Do you have certain books that bring up happy memories for you?

If you wrote a TTT post, please share your link!

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29Sep2026

Top Ten Tuesday: [Fall Freebie] Books with “fall” in the title

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Fall-Themed Freebie… so we all come up with whatever take on the theme we choose. I’m keeping it simple and very literal… so here are ten books I’ve read with some variation of the word “fall” in the title.

This Fallen Prey by Kelley Armstrong (review)
A Longer Fall by Charlaine Harris (review)
Snow Falling by Jane Gloriana Villanueva (review)
The Fall Risk by Abby Jimenez
A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcy Little Badger
Leviathan Falls by James S. A. Corey (review)
The Fall of Koli by M. R. Carey (review)
Donut Fall in Love by Jackie Lau (review)
Before the Fall by Noah Hawley (review)
A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner (review)

What fall theme did you choose this week?

If you wrote a TTT post, please share your link!

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22Sep2026

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Fall 2026 TBR List

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Books on My Fall 2026 to-Read List.

Where did all that leisurely summer reading time go? It’s hard to believe autumn is here already. From my 2026 summer TBR list, I read 8 out of the 11 books I’d hoped to read (yes, eleven — ten new books, plus one holdover from my spring list, which I did finally read!). I do intend to read the remaining three, but probably two of them will get deferred for a bit, and one will be via audiobook whenever my library hold comes in.

The spring holdovers are:

And as for a new batch of picks…

For my fall TBR, I’m going with a fresh list of even more books I plan to read! My top 10 are:

As You Wake, Break the Shell by Becky Chambers
Dive Bar at the End of the Road by Kelley Armstrong
Monsters of Ohio by John Scalzi
Murmuration by TJ Klune
A Divided Duty (October Daye, #20) by Seanan McGuire
Eight Ways To Say I Love You by Amanda Elliot
Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel
A Symphony of Echoes (The Chronicles of St. Mary’s, #2) by Jodi Taylor
Life Out of Order by Audrey Niffenegger
Wool by Hugh Howey

I should also mention that I have three book group books coming up this fall as well… and being a responsible book group member, I fully intend to read them in time for our discussions!

What books are on your fall TBR? Do we have any in common?

If you wrote a TTT post, please share your link!

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15Sep2026

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I’ve met

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Authors I’ve Met. I love getting the opportunity to go to book signings and other bookish events, and over the years have had the opportunity to meet some of my favorites.

1. Diana Gabaldon: At a massive speaking/signing event in Arizona for the release of the 9th Outlander book.

2. John Scalzi: I attended an event where he was in conversation with another sci-fi writer, and then got a few books signed.

3. Joe Hill: At a signing for his first novel, back when he was new and pretty unknown, and then again for a later book, when a very large crowd showed up.

4. Rainbow Rowell: At a signing for a Simon Snow book — such a packed room!

5. Gail Carriger: I’ve been to a few of her events!

6. Felicia Day: Did a very fun speaking engagement when her book You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) came out, and I got my book signed.

7. Chris Bohjalian: I attended a presentation he did at the local Armenian Cultural Center, and of course got books signed.

8. Mary Doria Russell: When a local girls’ high school chose her book The Sparrow for a school-wide reading project, she came to give a talk and engage with the students. I was able to attend as a guest, and actually got a little time to chat with her before the event started.

9. Susanna Kearsley: A long-time favorite, she was kind enough to Zoom with my book group last year, and we found her so lovely and interesting.

10. Matt Haig: I attended a recent speaking engagement of his, which was funny and revealing, and got books signed.

How about you? Have you had any memorable author encounters?

If you posted a TTT list this week, please share your link!

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8Sep2026

Top Ten Tuesday: Let’s hear it for indie bookstores!

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Indie Freebie with the prompt: This topic encompasses a lot: your favorite indie bookstores, indie books, indie authors, indie publishers/presses, indie books on your to-read list, indie authors I read before they became traditionally published, etc.

My list today includes some favorite indie bookstores, plus a few ways to support indie booksellers.

First, my local faves:

1. The Love Potion Library: A new romance bookstore!

2. Borderland Books: Mainly sci-fi and fantasy, but also horror, mystery, and all sorts of cool and eclectic items for sale.

3. Green Apple Books: A San Francisco destination for new and used books (now with two locations).

4. Peninsula Books: A non-profit bookstore selling used books and hosting a variety of bookish events, supporting Peninsula Book Collective.

Next, a few other ways to shop and show support for indie bookstores and authors:

5. Poisoned Pen Bookstore (Arizona): For non-locals like me, a great source for virtual events and for ordering signed books copies, especially for Outlander books (but also plenty of others)

6. Bookshop.org: An online alternative to you-know-what, with purchases supporting the bookstore of your choice.

7. Libro.fm: Up to now, a great resource for audiobooks, but about to expand into ebooks as well. And like the previous item on my list, you can designate a bookstore to support via your purchases.

8. Independent Bookstore Day, sponsored by the American Booksellers Association: The last Saturday in April each year, this is a terrific event offering all sorts of opportunities to get out and enjoy indie bookstores across the country.

9. Check your favorite authors’ websites for preferred sellers! Many authors I follow have a designated local bookseller where we can order signed books (and sometimes fun extras too! It’s a nice way to support an indie bookseller while also getting access to a bookish treat for ourselves.

10. Gumroad: A place for creators to sell directly to consumers (rather than through the big A). I only know about this thanks to author Gail Carriger, who has several of her books and audiobooks available here.

What indie bookstore or resources do you recommend?

If you posted a TTT list this week, please share your link!

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1Sep2026

Top Ten Tuesday: Books With Nationalities In The Title

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Books With Nationalities In The Title with the prompt providing example such as The French Lieutenant’s Woman, Mexican Gothic, An American Marriage, etc. Well, clearly I can’t use those! But I did manage to come up with ten others…