I’m not particularly reliable when it comes to sticking with a meme every week, but I do always enjoy seeing what the Top 5 Tuesday topics are! This weekly meme is hosted by Meeghan Reads — check out upcoming topics here.
This week’s topic is Top 5 books with the 5 W’s in the title — which Meeghan is defining as who, what, when, where, why in book titles. What fun! It was hard to narrow it down, so I decided to include only books that I’ve actually read, and finally I came up with a list of books, one per “W”.
My books with one of the five Ws in the title:
The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (Lioness Quartet, #3) by Tamora Pierce
What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
When Sorrows Come (October Daye, #15) by Seanan McGuire
Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon
Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler & Maira Kalman
Just for fun… I’m wondering:
Who recommended the books on your list?
What about them caught your eye?
When did you read them?
Where did you get your copies?
Why would you recommend them to other readers?
Or, to keep it simple: What books made your list this week?
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 about our spring 2023 reading plans. So many exciting new books to choose from!
Here are 10 books I’m especially looking forward to this spring:
The Poisoner’s Ring by Kelley Armstrong
Said No One Ever by Stephanie Eding
Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan
Not the Ones Dead by Dana Stabenow
In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune
Happy Place by Emily Henry
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
To Swoon and To Spar by Martha Waters
Infinity Gate by M. R. Carey
Mika in Real Life by Emiko Jean
What books will you be reading this spring? Share your links, and I’ll come check out your top 10!
I haven’t done a Top 5 Tuesday post in quite a while, but when I went looking for inspiration for today’s post (not into this week’s Top 10 Tuesday), I realized that there are some awesome new topics available for T5T! This weekly meme is hosted by Meeghan Reads — check out upcoming topics here.
This week’s topic is Top 5 books with one word titles. I’ve done a similar post in the past, but it was over a year ago… so this time around, I’m only including books I’ve read in the past 12 months.
My top 5 books with one word titles:
Spare by Prince Harry
Lute by Jennifer Thorne
Upgrade by Blake Crouch
Honor by Thrity Umrigar
Persuasion by Jane Austen
What books made your list this week?
As always, if you have a TTT or T5T post this week, please share your link!
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 Favorite Heroines. This felt like a familiar topic to me, but it looks like it’s been many years since I put together a similar list, and by now I have plenty of new ones to highlight!
Here are ten of my favorites (hint: the first one will not be a surprise!):
Claire Fraser – Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
Mercy Thompson – Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs
October Daye – October Daye series by Seanan McGuire
Erin, Mac, Tiffany and KJ – Paper Girls graphic novels by Brian K. Vaughan
Zinnia Gray – A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
Mika Moon – The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
Marra – Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
Beatrice Clayborn – The Midnight Bargain by C. L. Polk
Jane Ellsworth – Glamourist Histories series by Mary Robinette Kowal
Sunny Nwazue – The Nsibidi Scripts series by Nnedi Okorafor
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 Love Freebie, which means we all put our own spin on the topic of LOVE.
Focusing on my favorite love stories from the books I’ve read recently has become my go-to topic for the “love freebie” TTT topic — I’ve been keeping it going since 2020! Here are my ten favorite love stories that I read in the past year:
1. Boyfriend Material and Husband Material by Alexis Hall: I read both of these in 2022, and loved the development of the main characters’ relationship.
2. Tokyo Dreamingby Emiko Jean: This secretly-a-princess duology is a wonderful treat, and I really enjoyed the main character’s romantic dilemmas.
3. An Island Wedding by Jenny Colgan: The 5th and final book in the Mure series is a wonderful wrap-up (despite my frustration over one dangling plotline). So many of the characters get happily-ever-afters, which is great, because five books in, I adore these characters so much.
4. The Comeback by Lily Chu: The romance — between a non-famous woman and her incognito houseguest who ends up being one of K-pop’s biggest idols of all times — is definitely wish-fulfillment, but it’s just so much fun. Loved the audiobook!
5. The No-Show by Beth O’Leary: This book is heart-breaking as well as entertaining, and it takes quite a while to feel anything but exasperated with the male lead… but then? Boom. Loved this book, and highly recommend reading it with as little info in advance as possible.
6. Not Your Average Hot Guyby Gwenda Bond: I’m including this here because it’s so, so silly, and because I’m pretty sure this is the only book I’ve ever read with a romance between a woman who works in her family’s escape room business and the (literal) Prince of Hell.
7. By the Book by Jasmine Guillory: What’s not to love about a modern-day retelling of Beauty and the Beast?
8. A Season for Second Chancesby Jenny Bayliss: I love a good small-town, new-chance-at-love story, and this one has so many great ingredients — lovely setting, a café, a sea rescue, and grown-ups in relationships!
9. Heading Over the Hill by Judy Leigh: Main characters Dawnie and Billy are absolutely #couplegoals! I need to read more (much more!) by this author.
10. The Unplanned Life of Josie Hale by Stephanie Eding: When’s the last time you read a romance with a single, pregnant woman as the main character? This was a first for me, and I really enjoyed it.
What were the best love stories you read during the past year?
If you wrote a TTT post this week, please share your link and let me know your topic!
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 2023 Debut Books I’m Excited About — but I really don’t tend to get very excited about debut books in advance (and don’t even keep track of upcoming debuts), so this topic was a non-starter for me.
Instead, I thought I’d spin off from the designated topic, moving from books by new authors to books by authors who are new to me. Much easier to come up with a list of ten!
Here are ten authors whose books I plan (or hope) to try in 2023:
Farrah Rochon
Deepa Varadarajan
Victor LaValle
Claire Keegan
Nikki Erlick
Colleen Oakley
Jenni Fagan
Trish Doller
Nita Prose
Deesha Philyaw
Two of these (Nikki Erlick and Claire Keegan) are authors of books my book group will be reading later this year, and the rest are an assortment of books that I’ve had on my radar for a while plus a couple of ARCs.
Have you read any of the books pictured above, or read other books by these authors? Are there any in particular you’d recommend?
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 New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2022.
I actually have a very long list for 2022 — but I’ll narrow it down to the the 10 I enjoyed the most. So hard to choose!
Darcie Little Badger
Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton & Jodi Meadows (yes, these are three people, but they co-authored the book I read!)
Jennifer Thorne
Sara Novic
Julia Whelan (I’ve listened to her narrate audiobooks before, but this was my first encounter with a book she wrote herself)
Judy Leigh
Malinda Lo
Zoje Stage
Alexis Hall
A. G. Slatter
If you’ve read any other books by these authors, please let me know which you’d recommend!
What new-to-you authors did you discover in 2022? Any particular favorites? Do we have any in common?
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 Bookish Goals for 2023.
At the risk of being totally repetitive, I’m basically repurposing the version of this topic that I did in 2021 (apparently, I didn’t bother writing one in 2022!). Year after year, certain basic goals, resolutions, concepts remain true.
I really don’t believe in making resolutions, but I do have some general ideas about how I want to focus my reading in 2023, so here we go:
Read whatever I feel like. Okay, I say this every year… and every year it’s worth repeating! Other than book group reading commitments, I’m going to mostly be sticking to reading without a plan. It’s a wonderful feeling!
Keep ARCS to a minimum. I feel like I’ve been getting better at this. It can be hard to resist requesting every shiny new book that comes up on NetGalley, but I know I’m happiest when I’m not overloaded with obligation books.
Read at least a few of the books/series I highlighted in my series-to-read post for this year.
Tackle at least a few books outside my comfort zone or that will take a bit of extra effort. The main one I have in mind is The Silmarillion (but don’t hold me to it — plans may change!)
For the sake of keeping bad habits in check, don’t hit the Buy Now button for Kindle books just because they’re a price break! I have more books in my Kindle library than I know what to do with. I’m trying to get better at only buying e-books when I’m ready to read them. (This already seems like it’ll be tough to stick with… but it’s worth making the effort.)
And one ongoing task — I should probably reorganize my bookshelves (yet again) and put together a new stack of books to donate. One of these rainy days, I’ll get around to this one!
That’s about it for me. I hope to have a year full of fun, enjoyable reading with very few requirements about when I finish a certain book or what to read in any given moment.
What are your bookish goals for 2023? Wishing everyone a very happy and healthy year… with plenty of great books to read!
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 Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2023.
There are plenty to choose from — but here are ten I’m really excited for:
Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie (1/24)
Lessons at the School by the Sea by Jenny Colgan (3/7)
Backpacking Through Bedlam (Incryptids, #12) by Seanan McGuire (3/7)
A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher (3/28)
The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth (4/4)
Said No One Ever by Stephanie Eding (4/4)
Not the Ones Dead (Kate Shugak, #23) by Dana Stabenow (4/13)
In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune (4/25)
Happy Place by Emily Henry (4/25)
Late Bloomers by Deepa Varadarajan (5/2)
What new releases are you most looking forward to over the next six months? Share your links, and I’ll come check out your top 10!
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 about our winter reading plans.
So many books to choose from! This time around, my list includes a mix of upcoming new releases and books already on my shelves. My top 10 priorities to read this winter will be:
New releases:
1) Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie: I’ve loved every book I’ve read by this author so far, even though they’re always super disturbing. (release date 1/24/2023)
2) The Magician’s Daughter by H. G. Parry: I don’t know much about this one, but it looks good! (2/21/2023)
3) Lost in the Moment and Found (Wayward Children, #8) by Seanan McGuire: If it’s January, it must be time for another Wayward Children book! (1/12/2023)
4) The Stolen Heir by Holly Black: I’m beyond thrilled that there’s a new book in the world of Folk of the Air on the way! (1/5/2023)
5) Backpacking Through Bedlam (Incryptids, #12) by Seanan McGuire: Another series by Seanan McGuire that I love! Of course I’ll read the new book as soon as possible. (3/7/2023)
6) A Sinister Revenge (Veronica Speedwell, #8): This series continues to be so much fun. (3/7/2023)
And books I already own:
7) Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir: Although I didn’t completely love Gideon the Ninth, I’m interested enough to want to keep going.
8) A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers: On the other hand, I did love the first book in this series, so #2 is a must!
9) The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal: I bought this right when it came out, and I love everything I’ve read by this author… and I’ve ended up saving this book to read when I can savor it (which hasn’t happened yet).
10) Akata Woman by Nnedi Okorafor: I really enjoyed the audiobook of the first two in this series, so if my library has this one available via audio, I’ll probably go that route… but otherwise, the paperback will do just fine.
What books will be keeping you warm this winter? Share your links, and I’ll come check out your top 10!
Bookshelf Fantasies 