Top Ten Tuesday: Ten books to read if you’re in the mood for shocking twists

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Ten Books To Read If You Are In The Mood For X… which means lot of room for individual interpretation… which makes checking out other bloggers’ lists so much fun.

My spin on the this week’s topic is all about the big shockers. When’s the last time you read a book that made you gasp with a sudden game-changing reveal? Or something that made you have to go all the way back to the beginning to see how it all looks different now that you know what you know? Or even (see #1 below) something as basic as assuming a certain character is the THE most important character, only to see him/her killed off in the very first book in a huge series?

My ten books with the biggest game-changing shockers — those “what did I just read???” moments — are:

1) A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin: You know what I mean, right? That heartbreaking moment when the character you love DOESN’T get a last-minute reprieve from the executioner? Damn you, GRRM, for killing off the people I expect to win! And he just keeps doing it and doing it and doing it.

For the rest, I’m not going to include any comments. Because even knowing that there’s a twist, or knowing what kind of twist it is, can really take away from the impact of that OMG! WTF! moment.

2) We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (review)

3) Everything, Everything by Nicola Joon (review)

4) The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler (info)

5) Fingersmith by Sara Waters (info)

6) Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (review)

7) Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (review)

8) Hater by David Moody

9) The Uninvited by Cat Winters (review)

10) Then and Always by Dani Atkins (review)

Have you read any books with mind-blowing twists? Please let me know in the comments! And if you’ve written a TTT post this week, please share your link and I’ll come check it out. Thanks!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out our regular weekly features, Shelf Control and Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

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Do you host a book blog meme? Do you participate in a meme that you really, really love? I’m building a Book Blog Meme Directory, and need your help! If you know of a great meme to include — or if you host one yourself — please drop me a note on my Contact page and I’ll be sure to add your info!

22Feb2016

Top Ten Tuesday: My ten most unusual (or uncomfortable) reads from the last 12 months

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Ten Books I Enjoyed Recently (last yearish) That Weren’t My Typical Genre/Type of Book (or that were outside of your (my) comfort zone).

I’m not sure that I actually have a comfort zone when it comes to reading, or what could possibly be outside it. I read a lot of different genres, and can’t think of much of anything that would actually be uncomfortable for me to read. Well, apart from extreme violence, hard-core porn, gratuitous brutality, and… I don’t know… books about car racing? Okay, I guess there are some things I just won’t read.

In any case…

For purposes of this list, I think I’ll focus on books that are a little different from what I might be most likely to read, for a variety of different reasons. My top ten unusual reading choices from the past year are:

1) The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown (review): I read very little non-fiction, and might not have picked this one up on my own if not for my book group. I’m so glad I read it! It’s a marvelous piece of historical storytelling that is moving and informative and so very readable.

2) Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman (review): I am just not a short-story reader. I get bored, my mind wanders, and I’m dying to get back to “real” reading (i.e., novels). But I discovered that I can tolerate short story audiobooks, and having Neil Gaiman narrate his own stories made this one a pleasure.

3) The Expats by Chris Pavone (review): I don’t gravitate toward spy thrillers all that often. I don’t remember why exactly I was drawn to this book, but I’m glad I read it and want to read more by this author.

4) The Dead Lands by Benjamin Percy (review): It’s not that I don’t read horror, although I haven’t read quite as much lately. But The Dead Lands was certainly an uncomfortable read, despite being a great story. So icky and full of scary creepiness and nastiness. But really worth reading!

5) All I Love and Know by Judith Frank (review): This one actually made me uncomfortable because of its political stridency. I was surprised, because I’d expected to really enjoy this book, but found it so preachy that it made me unhappy.

6 & 7) Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke (review) and The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick (review): I love science fiction, but it’s been several years since I’ve read any of the classics. Both of these books were terrific.

8) Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee (review): I wouldn’t call this an unusual choice for me, exactly — but I was uncomfortable with the questions marks surrounding this book, including whether we really understand the author’s wishes and whether she truly wanted this book to see the light of day.

9) The Chocolate Thief by Laura Florand (review): Not a bad book, but romance is definitely not my genre. I mean, I love a good love story, but this was a bit too much for me.

10) My final book is perhaps a weird choice, but I think it’s got to be Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined by Stephenie Meyer (review): I never thought I’d want to read another book related to the Twilight universe, but this gender-swapped version of the original story was a quick read and satisfied my curiosity.

What books made your list this week? Please share your links!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out our regular weekly features, Shelf Control and Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

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15Feb2016

Top Ten Tuesday: The soundtrack of my reading life

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic has to do with books and music, and since the suggested approach didn’t really call to me, I thought I’d put my own spin on it.

My TTT list this week is about my reading habits, as described by 10 songs:

1) The Sounds of Silence: There’s nothing I like better than having a quiet room to read in. No music, no TV, no people… just me, a book, and maybe some birdsong or rain sounds coming in through the windows.

2) Forever Young: I’m a fully grown adult, but I keep coming back to YA fiction. There’s something so immediate and emotional about YA books, isn’t there?

3) Time Warp: Time travel books are always a favorite.

4) Walking on the Moon: I love to read anything about space travel, whether sci fi, or non-fiction about the space program, or even astronauts’ memoirs.

5) Thrift Shop: Nothing better than a used book store for spending a few hours lost among the stacks! My best finds are all from used book stores.

6) Time After Time: I do love to re-read! If I really and truly love a book, then once is never enough.

7) (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction: I try, and I try, and I try, and I try… but sometimes there’s no choice but to DNF.

8) Let the Sunshine In: One of my very favorite things to do is read outdoors on a sunny day. A blanket in the sun, or sitting somewhere on the grass, with clear blue skies and the sun on my face… bliss!

9) All You Need Is Love: Because even though I don’t read much in the romance genre, I’m still a sucker for a great, momentous, unforgettable love story.

10) Where Do We Go From Here?: Okay, this one might be a stretch — but if you’re a Buffy fan, then no doubt you’ve watched the season 6 musical episode (“Once More With Feeling”) a time or two (or a couple of dozen times, if you’re like me)… in which case, you absolutely know this song (and maybe sing along???). So where do we go from here… is what I ask myself every single time I finish a great book and just can’t imagine what to read next.

What was your musical theme this week? Share your link, please, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out my regular weekly features, Shelf Control and Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Do you host a book blog meme? Do you participate in a meme that you really, really love? I host a Book Blog Meme Directory, and I’m always looking for new additions! If you know of a great meme to include — or if you host one yourself — please drop me a note on my Contact page and I’ll be sure to add your info!

8Feb2016

Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten extra special love stories

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is a Valentine’s Day freebie, meaning we can come up with our own take on the theme.

I’m keeping it simple, and going with a list of love stories that have really stayed with me:

Love Across Time

Jamie and Claire, Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Henry and Clare, The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Richard and Elise, Somewhere in Time by Richard Matheson

Married Love

Rosetta and Jeremiah, I Shall Be Near To You by Erin Lindsay McCabe

Don and Rosie, The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

Unrequited Love

Severus Snape and Lily Evans, the Harry Potter series

Sidney Carton and Lucie Manette, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Love Between Friends

Maddie and Julie, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Supernatural Love

Matthew and Diana, All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness

Mercy and Adam, Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs

Happy Valentine’s Day!

What kind of Valentine theme did you pick this week? Please share your links so I can check out your TTT posts!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out my regular weekly features, Shelf Control and Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

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1Feb2016

Top Ten Tuesday: My top 10 settings for historical fiction

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is:

Top Ten Historical Settings You Love/ Ten Historical Settings You’d Love To See or Top Futuristic Books You Love/Ten Futuristic Societies I’d Love To Read in Books — basically this week is all about the past or the future….spin it however you choose!

I do love historical fiction, but I almost decided to skip this week’s topic. Part of my problem is that I enjoy reading about lots of different times and places, but if I read too much of any one in particular, it’s like sensory overload, and I end up having to avoid it ever after. Problems, problems… what’s a reader to do?

Still, I have certain favorites when it comes to historical eras and faraway lands. Here are my top 10, along with a stellar example or two for each:

1) Scotland, 1700s, especially around the time of the Jacobite Rising.
Top pick: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (obviously)

2) Colonial America
Top pick: The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

3) Civil War
Top pick: Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell or I Shall Be Near To You by Erin Lindsay McCabe

4) Women’s suffrage movement (US) – early 1900s
Top pick: The Cure For Dreaming by Cat Winters

5) World War I – battlefield dramas or hospitals or post-war mysteries — all good!
Top pick: Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear or In Falling Snow by Mary-Rose MacColl

6) World War II
Top pick: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr; The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult; The Ship of Brides by Jojo Moyes… (the list is endless, but these are three recent ones that I read and loved)

7) Tudor England
Top pick: Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

8) Australian history
Top pick: The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

9) French Revolution
Top pick: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

10) 1400s Spain
Top pick: People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks or Incantation by Alice Hoffman

Do you have any recommendations for historical novels set during my favorite eras?

Please share your links so I can check out your TTT posts!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out my regular weekly features, Shelf Control and Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

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25Jan2016

Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten series I want to read in one gulp

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is a freebie, meaning we can choose whatever we feel like writing about. Since I’ve still been thinking about my New Year’s resolutions and whether they’re going to end up being doable, I thought I’d tie my top 10 list this week to one of my resolutions: Reading new-to-me series all in a row, rather than reading individual books in a series as they become available. You can read more about this resolution here.

Here are the series I’ve yet to start (or in some cases, continue past the first book to the end) — but when I do finally read them, I want to read them all in one big gulp, bingeing from start to finish:

Note on images: With the exceptions of #1 and #10 below, all photos are taken by me. What can I say? I was bored and felt like playing!

1) Curse Workers series by Holly Black: I’ve heard these are great, and I’m looking forward to finally reading them!

2) Miss Peregrine series by Ransom Riggs: I’ve read the first book, but by now I’ll need to start again at the beginning if I want to appreciate the rest of the trilogy.

3) The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss: Friends have been pushing me to start this series for years now, but I refuse to begin until I know the final book is on its way

4) Imperial Radch series by Ann Leckie

5) The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh: The second book of this duology comes out this spring, and I’m going to wait until #2 is available before I start the first book.

6) The Last Policeman by Ben Winters: I’ve had these books for a while now, and just need to convince myself to get started.

7) Buffy, season 9 graphic novels: I have all of season 9 and most of season 10, but haven’t read any yet. I enjoy these most when I read a complete season all the way through… and I just need to pick a week to do it.

8) The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch: I guess this series isn’t completely finished yet, but I suppose I could read the first three and then see if I want to stay on the bandwagon.

9) The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny: I read books 1 – 5 of this series so long ago, but never read 6 – 10. I think I should start over again at the beginning and see it through, finally.

10) The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante: I haven’t read any of these, although I do have a copy of My Brilliant Friend on my Kindle. I keep hearing how wonderful these books are, and I think I should make a point of at least starting the series in 2016.

I always love freebie weeks — it’s such fun to see what everyone else has come up with! Please share your links so I can check out your TTT posts!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out my regular weekly features, Shelf Control and Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

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18Jan2016

Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten books I’ve recently added to my TBR list

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Top Ten Books I’ve Recently Added To My TBR. I’m actually kind of proud of myself, because last week I went through my Goodreads to-read shelf and deleted 175 books that I realized I’d probably never read (some of which I had no idea why I’d ever added them in the first place). But no worries — my TBR list is still huge and somehow keep growing week by week.

Here are the books I’ve added most recently, including release dates (since all are upcoming releases for 2016):

1) Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave (5/3/2016): A new novel from the author of Little Bee and Gold, set during WWII.

2) My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix (5/17/2016): The title alone makes me giggle… plus, I thought Horrorstor last year was such an inventive twist on a horror story.

3) Defending Taylor by Miranda Kenneally (7/1/2016) — no cover yet, unfortunately… but I’ve loved everything I’ve read so far by this author, so I’m game for whatever’s next.

4) The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem by Sarit Yishai-Levi (4/5/2016): Historical fiction covering four generations of women in Jerusalem.

5) Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke (3/22/2016): I love the sound of this YA book — mysterious and full of secrets.

6) Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan (4/13/2016): Yes to anything new by Brian K. Vaughan!

7) It’s All Your Fault by Paul Rudnick (1/26/2016): I really enjoyed this author’s previous YA novel, Gorgeous.

8) Up To This Pointe by Jennifer Longo (1/19/2016): I also really enjoyed this author’s previous book, the YA novel Six Feet Over It. The plot has something to do with ballet… and Antarctica… and I don’t know how that fits together, but I want to find out.

9) To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey (8/2/2016): Can’t wait for the new book by the author of The Snow Child.

10) The Midnight Watch: A Novel of the Titanic and the Californian by David Dyer (4/5/2016): I’m always fascinated by anything to do with the Titanic, and this novel sound like it has an interesting and different perspective to share.

What’s new on your TBR shelf? Please share your TTT links!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out our regular weekly features, Shelf Control and Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

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11Jan2016

Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten books I bought in 2015… but still haven’t read

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Top Ten 2015 Releases I Meant To Get To But Didn’t. I’m reinterpreting this one to include anything I bought in 2015 but haven’t read yet, not just new releases from 2015. Here are the books that for whatever reason I had to have RIGHT NOW! IMMEDIATELY! GIMME!, but then stuck on my shelf and never picked up again.

1) Carry On by Rainbow Rowell: OF COURSE I bought this one the second it came out. I love Rainbow Rowell and I loved Fangirl and… I have no idea what my problem is.

2) Epitaph by Mary Doria Russell: I love everything by Mary Doria Russell, and loved her Doc Holliday book (appropriately named Doc). I bought Epitaph right when it was released so I’d have a chance to read it before she came to my town on her book tour. And then her book tour appearance was cancelled, and I never got around to the book.

3) The Porcupine of Truth by Bill Konigsberg: I loved the author’s previous novel, Openly Straight (review), and I’m really excited for this one. Plus, a porcupine on the cover!

4) The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber: Really sounds awesome, and I have a friend who loved it — but it’s over 500 pages, and I just haven’t been in the mood to tackle it yet.

5) The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan: I actually have a good excuse for not reading this one yet. I was going to read it as soon as I got a copy last year, and then my book group picked it for this coming spring, so of course I had to wait!

6) Cheating here and listing a trilogy as one entry: I picked up all three books in Holly Black’s Curse Workers series last year, but haven’t touched them yet. Given that one of my resolutions is to binge-read series instead of reading them one book at a time, this might make a good place to start!

7) Conversion by Katherine Howe: This is a 2014 book (described as “Prep meets The Crucible”!) that I bought in 2015, and it’s been sitting on my nightstand ever since.

8) Letters to the Lost by Iona Grey: This one actually is a 2015 release, and it sounds like just the kind of historical fiction that gets me in the heart.

9) Pioneer Girl by Bich Minh Nguyen: A Vietnamese-American woman with a possible connection to Laura Ingalls Wilder? Yes, please!

10) Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain: The little bits and pieces I’ve read so far tell me that this is a book designed for me!

If I stick to my plan to read more from my shelves this year, then I should be able to get to these book in 2016!

What 2015 books do you still need to read? Please share your TTT links!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out our regular weekly features, Shelf Control and Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

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4Jan2016

Top Ten Tuesday: Top (Almost) Ten Reading Resolutions for 2016

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Top Ten Resolutions for 2016.

I don’t generally go for formal resolutions, but here are a handful that I’ve come up with that relate to my reading life. Will I stick with them? Time will tell.

1) I resolve to concentrate on reading the books I already own.

2) I resolve to ease my guilty conscience by finally catching up on my NetGalley books from last year.

3) I resolve to read all the books I urgently needed in 2015, which I bought as soon as they came out and then left sitting on my shelf.

4) I resolve to resist the urge to participate in challenges or any other sort of activity that tells me what or when or how much to read.

5) I resolve to (attempt to) read series as a whole — all books in a row — rather than reading them as they come out and then forgetting all the details in between volumes.

6) I resolve to attach my backlog of graphic novels. Buffy, I’m looking at you!

7) I resolve to branch out just a wee bit when picking books from the library, sampling genres and subject matter that I might not normally read.

8) I resolved to continue my recent trend of Reading On a Whim! (Stated in bold upper case, because I want to hammer it into my own head…) My best and most enjoyable reading happens when it’s unscheduled, not glued to a calendar, but driven purely by whatever strikes my mood when I’m looking for the next book. It doesn’t always work that way, but it’s certainly the reading pattern I want to strive for.

9) And in non-bookish resolutions… I need to exercise more, explore my city more, and make more of an effort to play and relax.

That’s what I’m aiming for in 2016!

What are your bookish (and non-bookish) resolutions for 2016? Please share your links!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out our regular weekly features, Shelf Control and Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

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28Dec2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Can’t-Wait Books for the 1st Half of 2016

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases For The First Half of 2016.

Organized by release month, here are the books I’ll be dying for in the first six months of 2016… some of which I already have on preorder!

January:

1) All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders: A new sci-fi novel by one of my favorite writers and recappers at io9.

February:

2) Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys: About a WWII-era tragedy. Sounds amazing.

3) All the Winters After by Seré Prince Halverson: Fiction set in Alaska! I’m in.

March:

4) Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs: The new Mercy Thompson book!!! I love this series so much.

5) The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters: After reading three of her novels in 2015, I’ve officially moved Cat Winters onto my “must read no matter what” list of authors.

April:

6) Fellside by M. R. Carey: I loved The Girl With All the Gifts. This new book sounds deliciously creepy.

7) Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld: The newest volume in The Austen Project is a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, and for me, it’s a must!

May:

8) The Fireman by Joe Hill. Yes. Just yes.

9) At the Edge of Summer by Jessica Brockmole: I loved the author’s previous novel, Letters From Skye!

10) Peace Talks by Jim Butcher: the 16th book in the always amazing Dresden Files series!

No cover yet for Peace Talks, but here’s a classic Dresden image.

What books are you most eager to read in 2016? Please share your links!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out our regular weekly features, Shelf Control and Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

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