Tag Archives: TBR books

First Lines Friday 9/11/2026

Posted in Fun and Whimsy by

First Lines Friday is a weekly feature for book lovers created by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here’s how to join in:

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page.
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first.
  • Finally… reveal the book!

Today’s line are from the upcoming new book in a favorite series:

According to the clock on the bedside table, it was almost noon, the solid middle of the day, when all good fae should be asleep and dreaming of better worlds.

So what’s the book?

A Divided Duty (October Daye, #20) by Seanan McGuire
Release date: September 29, 2026
384 pages

Synopsis:

Seanan McGuire’s New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-nominated October Daye series finds Toby Daye torn between caring for her newborn daughter and keeping the world of Faerie—and her found family—safe.

October “Toby” Daye is settling into life with a baby, remembering the ins and outs of motherhood, and trying to find ways to balance her work with her desire to keep her baby safe at home and away from all the terrors Faerie has to offer. Her whole household is pitching in, from May all the way down to Raysel, the estranged daughter of Toby’s liege lord, who is currently serving out a term of offense in Toby’s home.

Naturally, as everything is beginning to find a balance, it’s time for Raysel’s term of offense to end, and Luna Torquill very much wants her daughter back.

But Toby has been helping Raysel get the help she desperately needs, from giving her a safe place to hide all the way to finding her a licensed therapist who works with the fae, and Raysel isn’t ready to leave. Luna isn’t taking no for an answer, and before anyone can realize what she’s planning, she steals her own child away to Blind Michael’s lands.

Not even Luna knows all the terrible secrets her father and his works hid from the world, and not even she can protect her daughter from the monsters in their lineage. All too quickly, Toby must race the clock to save Raysel—before it’s too late for her to ever come home.

It’s been years, but now the question will be asked again: can she get there and back by the light of a candle?



October Daye is one of my all-time favorite fantasy series… and it amazes me that it remains so incredibly strong after so many books! Can’t wait to get started!

Happy Friday! Wishing everyone a great weekend!

First Lines Friday 9/4/2026

Posted in Fun and Whimsy by

First Lines Friday is a weekly feature for book lovers created by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here’s how to join in:

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page.
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first.
  • Finally… reveal the book!

Today’s line are from a gorgeous book that I bought months ago but haven’t started yet:

To the best of her knowledge, Vera was twenty-two years old. And by the time she finished tying the laces of her running trainers on this early October morning, she had ten hours and fourteen minutes remaining of the life she knew in a little town called Glastonbury in the southwest of England.

So what’s the book?

The Once and Future Queen by Paula Lafferty
Published 2025
512 pages

Synopsis:

Vera always knew she didn’t fit in. When she learns that she is meant to be in another time, she leaps at the chance to embrace a new life in a world of valor, intrigue, and unexpected magic in this bold and romantic retelling of Arthurian legend . . .

22-year-old Vera is at a crossroads: waiting tables, grieving her previous relationship, and jogging aimlessly each morning as if toward an uncertain future. Then an odd man shows up at her workplace, insisting that she was once the legendary Queen Guinevere of Camelot, and that her lost memories hold the key to changing both the past and the present. Somehow, it all feels like the direction she’s been looking for. But when she asks the mysterious man to tell her more about Lancelot, Arthur, and a faithless queen, he can only say that much of what she’s heard about Camelot is wrong. The truth, he claims, is something she must see for herself.

After jumping through a portal in Glastonbury’s historic center, Vera is not prepared for what she finds. Magic is everywhere, but a curse on the kingdom means it dwindles every day. She has no idea how to perform a queen’s duties. Her fast friendship with Lancelot sets gossip flowing, and the stranger she must call “husband” often refuses to meet her eye. Arthur is a puzzle: cold, forbidding, and, while angry to her face, keeps leaving secret tokens of tenderness in her chambers. Worst of all, Vera’s memories—and the answers locked within them—show no signs of returning. If Vera is truly destined to save Camelot, she’ll have to trust her instincts. And her king will have to trust her . . .


I’ll admit that what first drew me to this book is how absolutely stunning the hardcover edition is!

So yes, I bought myself a copy when it was released last year… and just haven’t found the right moment to start it. With a sequel scheduled for release in January 2027, I’m committing to reading this book by the end of 2026. The timeslip elements sounds right up my alley!

Does this sound like something you’d read?

Happy Friday! Wishing everyone a great weekend!

First Lines Friday 8/28/2026

Posted in Fun and Whimsy by

First Lines Friday is a weekly feature for book lovers created by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here’s how to join in:

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page.
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first.
  • Finally… reveal the book!

Today’s line are from a contemporary romance that’s been sitting on my TBR for a few months now:

Of the many psychological tricks Layla Bailey had played on herself in preparation for this — only her second trip ever to her favorite… well, was it better to say, former favorite? onetime favorite? nostalgic, painful, heartbreaking favorite?… city in the world — typing positive affirmations into her translation app was possibly the most personally embarrassing.

So what’s the book?

The Paris Match by Kate Clayborn
Published 2026
454 pages

Synopsis:

A woman tests the limits of her so-called amicable divorce when she flies to Paris for the destination wedding of her former sister-in-law, only to butt heads with the deliciously gruff best man, in a poignant and romantic novel from Kate Clayborn.

Physician Layla Bailey has spent over a year telling herself she’s moved on from a painful but amicable divorce from her college sweetheart. Staying friends with her ex seemed like the mature thing to do, but when Layla is invited to her former sister-in-law’s destination wedding in Paris—where Layla once spent her own romantic honeymoon—she knows her commitment to maturity might be her worst enemy…especially since her ex isn’t attending alone.

The only thing that could make the week more difficult is getting through it without the distraction of the wedding…. But when what Layla thought was a harmless conversation about the choices of her younger self leads to the bride getting cold feet, Layla finds herself facing down the groom’s mysterious, taciturn best man, Griffin, who will do anything to make sure this wedding happens.

Since she broke it, Griff demands she help him fix it. Going along with his plan to alleviate the engaged couple’s doubts seems like Layla’s best chance at maintaining a good relationship with a family she once called her own. But as she learns more about the past heartbreak that’s driving Griff to help his friend, she gets closer and closer to confronting the true depth of her own pain…while finding herself more and more willing to risk it all again for Griff.


I’ve been on the fence about picking this up, mainly because it’s longer and seemingly a bit heavier than I tend to prefer when it comes to romance reading. If you’ve read this book already, do you recommend it? And if not, does this sounds like something you’d enjoy?

Happy Friday! Wishing everyone a great weekend!

First Lines Friday 8/21/2026

Posted in Fun and Whimsy by

First Lines Friday is a weekly feature for book lovers created by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here’s how to join in:

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page.
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first.
  • Finally… reveal the book!

Today’s FLF selection is from a book I recently added to my Kindle library (but haven’t started yet):

As the crowd screams, all Henri thinks is that he’s going to be in so much trouble when his parents find out. He closes his eyes, trying his best to undo what happened. Unwind his day. End up anywhere but here.

So what’s the book?

The Fox and the Devil by Kiersten White
Published 2026
350 pages

Synopsis:

Anneke has a complicated relationship with her father, Abraham Van Helsing—doctor, scientist, and madman devoted to the study of vampires—until the night she comes home to find him murdered, with a surreally beautiful woman looming over his body. A woman who leaves no trace behind, other than the dreams and nightmares that now plague Anneke every night.

Spurred by her desire for vengeance and armed with the latest forensic and investigatory techniques, Anneke puts together a team of detectives to catch this mysterious serial killer. Because her father isn’t the only inexplicable dead body. There’s a trail of victims across Europe, and Anneke is certain they’re all connected.

But during the years spent relentlessly hunting the killer, Anneke keeps crucial evidence to herself: infuriatingly coy letters, addressed only to her, occasionally soaked in blood, and always signed Diavola.

The closer Anneke gets to her devil, though, the less sense the world makes. Maybe her father wasn’t a madman after all. Diavola might be something much worse than a serial killer . . . and much harder to destroy. Yet as Anneke unearths more of Diavola’s tragic past, she suspects there’s still a heart somewhere in that undead body.

A heart that beats for Anneke alone.


Does this sounds like something you’d enjoy?

Happy Friday! Wishing everyone a great weekend!

First Lines Friday 8/14/2026

Posted in Fun and Whimsy by

First Lines Friday is a weekly feature for book lovers created by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here’s how to join in:

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page.
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first.
  • Finally… reveal the book!

Here are the opening lines from a book that’s been on my shelf… unread… for far too long:

I don’t like to start with an apology — there’s probably even a rule against it, like never ending a sentence with a preposition — but after reading over the thirty pages I’ve written so far, I feel like I have to. It’s about a certain word I keep using. I learned a lot of four-letter words from my mother and used them from an early age (as you will find out), but this is one with five letters.

So what’s the book?

Later by Stephen King
Published 2021
248 pages

Synopsis:

The son of a struggling single mother, Jamie Conklin just wants an ordinary childhood. But Jamie is no ordinary child. Born with an unnatural ability his mom urges him to keep secret, Jamie can see what no one else can see and learn what no one else can learn. But the cost of using this ability is higher than Jamie can imagine – as he discovers when an NYPD detective draws him into the pursuit of a killer who has threatened to strike from beyond the grave.

Later is Stephen King at his finest, a terrifying and touching story of innocence lost and the trials that test our sense of right and wrong. With echoes of King’s classic novel It, Later is a powerful, haunting, unforgettable exploration of what it takes to stand up to evil in all the faces it wears.



I bought a paperback copy of Later when it first came out, and it’s been on the shelf right above my desk ever since. Have you read it? And if not, does it sound like something you’d enjoy?

Happy Friday! Wishing everyone a great weekend!

First Lines Friday 8/7/2026

Posted in Fun and Whimsy by

First Lines Friday is a weekly feature for book lovers created by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here’s how to join in:

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page.
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first.
  • Finally… reveal the book!

Here’s a long-ish opening that I found really amusing… so I didn’t want to cut anything!

LYSSA HEFTED THE bloodstained burlap sack and shoved her way through the door of the Kingmaker, tracking sooty slush on the expensive carpet. She bypassed the line of patrons waiting to be seated, ignoring the ripple of protests that followed in her wake, and made her way to where a pinch-faced headwaiter stood by the entrance to the main dining room. He glanced her way with an automatic, “I’m sorry, miss, you’ll have to…” then faltered, his expression landing somewhere between disgust and horror as the sight of her sank in. The trio of ladies he had been speaking to turned—as well as they could in forty pounds of petticoats, layered skirts, steel-boned corsets, and starched collars, anyway—and glared at her. Their eyes skated right over the bloody bag in Lyssa’s arms, seeming to find her mud-spattered pants and unkempt braids far more objectionable.

It was too bad no one had ever figured out how to feed off the disdain of the rich; the downtrodden would never go hungry again.

So what’s the book?

Kill the Beast by Serra Swift
Published 2025
309 pages

Synopsis:

The night Lyssa Cadogan’s brother was murdered by a faerie-made monster known as the Beast, she made him a promise: she would find a way to destroy the immortal creature and avenge his death. For thirteen years, she has been hunting faeries and the abominations they created. But in all that time, the one Beast she is most desperate to find has never resurfaced.

Until she meets Alderic Casimir de Laurent, a melodramatic dandy with a coin purse bigger than his brain. Somehow, he has found the monster’s lair, and—even more surprising—retrieved one of its claws. A claw Lyssa needs in order to forge a sword that can kill the Beast.

Alderic is ill-equipped for a hunt and almost guaranteed to get himself killed. But as the two of them search for the rest of the materials that will be the Beast’s undoing, Alderic reveals hidden depths: dark secrets that he guards as carefully as Lyssa guards hers. Before long, and against Lyssa’s better judgment, an unlikely friendship begins to bloom—one that will either lead to the culmination of Lyssa’s quest for vengeance, or spell doom for them both.



I picked up a copy of this book earlier this year, but haven’t had a chance to start it yet. Have you read it? And if not, does it sound like something you’d enjoy?

Happy Friday! Wishing everyone a great weekend!

First Lines Friday 7/31/2026

Posted in Fun and Whimsy by

First Lines Friday is a weekly feature for book lovers created by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here’s how to join in:

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page.
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first.
  • Finally… reveal the book!

I’m going with a short opening line that says a lot with just a few words. This is from a book that’s been on my shelf (unread) for far too long:

The real story isn’t half as pretty as the one you’ve heard.

So what’s the book?

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Published 2018
480 pages

Synopsis:

With the Nebula Award–winning Uprooted, Naomi Novik opened a brilliant new chapter in an already acclaimed career, delving into the magic of fairy tales to craft a love story that was both timeless and utterly of the now. Spinning Silver draws readers deeper into this glittering realm of fantasy, where the boundary between wonder and terror is thinner than a breath, and safety can be stolen as quickly as a kiss.

Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father’s inability to collect his debts has left his family on the edge of poverty—until Miryem takes matters into her own hands. Hardening her heart, the young woman sets out to claim what is owed and soon gains a reputation for being able to turn silver into gold. When an ill-advised boast draws the attention of the king of the Staryk—grim fey creatures who seem more ice than flesh—Miryem’s fate, and that of two kingdoms, will be forever altered. She will face an impossible challenge and, along with two unlikely allies, uncover a secret that threatens to consume the lands of humans and Staryk alike.



I keep promising myself that this will be the year when I finally read this book! Have you read it? If not, does this sound like something you think you’d enjoy?

Happy Friday! Wishing everyone a great weekend!

Top Ten Tuesday: Getting fancy: Books with titles in a cursive font

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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 Handwriting on the Cover.

The topic got me thinking: Do kids still learn to write in cursive these days? I’m guessing not. I used to have a fairly nice cursive handwriting… and now when I attempt it, it’s mainly a big, messy scrawl. Sigh. I love how quick and easy it is to use a keyboard, but it’s a bit sad to think about handwriting as a lost art.

By the way, did you know that the National Archives is looking for people who can read cursive to volunteer to transcribe historical documents? Sounds like a really fun project… that I’ll bookmark for when I have more free time in my life! Learn more here: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/01/12/national-archives-needs-citizen-archivists-cursive/77493951007/

Back to the books! Rather than focusing on actual handwriting, I just started looking through my physical and digital shelves for book titles in cursive fonts… and found more than I expected! Here’s a round-up of 13 that I really like… because I couldn’t decide which to drop to get to ten.

  1. Cinnamon & Gunpowder by Eli Brown
  2. Ready or Not by Cara Bastone
  3. The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
  4. Letters to the Lost by Iona Grey
  5. The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald
  6. All’s Fair in Love and War by Virginia Heath
  7. The Bronte Plot by Katherine Reay
  8. Off the Map by Trish Doller
  9. Pat of Silver Bush by L. M. Montgomery
  10. Pride by Ibi Zoboi
  11. Reputation by Lex Croucher
  12. The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch by Melinda Taub
  13. The One That Got Away by Mike Gayle
  14. Love Lettering by Kate Claybourn

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

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Can’t Believe I’ve Never Read

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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 I Can’t Believe I’ve Never Read.

My picks this week include a classic I should have read by now and a bunch of books that have been sitting on my shelves for way too long.

In no particular order, my top 10 are:

1. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
2. Venetia by Georgette Heyer
3. Vicious by V. E. Schwab

4. Moloka’i by Alan Brennert
5. Hemlock Island by Kelley Armstrong
6. Lilith’s Brood by Octavia Butler

7. Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
8. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
9. Pat of Silver Bush by L. M. Montgomery
10. Sorcery & Cecelia by Patricia C. Wrede

Do you see any here that you’d particularly recommend?

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

Top Ten Tuesday:  Unread Books on My Shelves I Want to Read Soon

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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  Unread Books on My Shelves I Want to Read Soon. I’ve done plenty of posts about my unread books, so at first I thought I’d skip this week’s TTT rather than repeat myself… but the thinking about the key word soon, I realized I could work with it!

Some of these have been on my shelves for a long time now, and some are more recent additions, but all are books I want to read sooner rather than later. I’m not making any commitments (those never seem to work), but here are ten I hope to get to this year (or maybe next?):

  1. The Thorns Remain by JJA Harwood: Bought on a whim about a year ago.
  2. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith: It’s been years and years. This one is on my Classics Club spin list, and I’ve been waiting for its number to come up! (I suppose I could finally just read it anyway, but it’s nice to have the spin as motivation.)
  3. Pat of Silver Bush by L. M. Montgomery: I only came to LMM’s books as an adult, and have been on a mission to read as many as possible ever since! I picked up the two Pat books a couple of years ago.
  4. A Turn of the Tide by Kelley Armstrong: This is a more recent addition. I added it to my shelves last year, but now that I’m finally reading the series (this is #3), I expect to read it quite soon.
  5. The Return by Rachel Harrison: I added the Kindle edition to my library a couple of years ago.
  6. The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler: Maybe this is cheating a bit — I bought this last year, and I know I’ll be reading it soon since it’s my book group’s pick for June.
  7. Needful Things by Stephen King: I bought this a few years ago to take on vacation; didn’t end up reading it that time, but maybe this summer?
  8. Happily Ever Afters by Elise Bryant: Bought a copy on my daughter’s recommendation a year or two ago.
  9. Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala: Another one I bought to take on a trip and then didn’t read, but I keep packing it in my travel bag just in case.
  10. Theft of an Idol by Dana Stabenow: I also finally started this series this year after stockpiling the books as they came out, and intend to read this one in the next few months.

Have you read any of these? Are there any you particularly recommend?

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