Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten books on my TBR list for winter 2024/2025

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 Winter 2024-2025 to-Read List.

I’ll have a slew of new releases and ARCs to read from about February onward, but before then, I’m going to try to focus on books I’ve been meaning to get to for a while… with maybe one or two new releases mixed in as well.

My top 10 books on my winter TBR:

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley: I keep saying this is a priority read, and yet I still haven’t read it! I’d like to get to it before the end of 2024… but the clock is ticking.
The Naturalist Society by Carrie Vaughn: A new release from a favorite author! I haven’t seen any chatter about it yet, but it sounds so interesting.
The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer: Another one I’ve been wanting to get to. I loved this author’s more recent book, The Lost Story.
Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire: The 10th Wayward Children book will be released in January. I’m always up for another book in this series.
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix: Upcoming new release for January. I love the sound of it.
The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune: This backlist title is being reissued (with a gorgeous new cover) in Februrary — meanwhile, I have the Kindle version, and can’t wait to dive in.
The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava: My library hold is (finally) almost ready!
Hogfather by Terry Pratchett: It’s been a while since I’ve picked up a Discworld book, but this one seems like a great choice for this time of year!
Ready or Not by Cara Bastone: I stumbled across a description of this romance, and it caught my attention… and was available from the library when I went looking for it.
A Darkness Absolute by Kelley Armstrong: This is the 2nd book in the Rockton series; I’m about 50% through with book #1 (City of the Lost), and I know I’ll want to keep going!

What books will be keeping you warm this winter? Share your links, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

26Nov2024

Top Ten Tuesday: Thankful titles (a Thanksgiving freebie)

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 Thanksgiving Freebie — we choose our own topic related to Thanksgiving.

After playing around with a few different options, I decided to go with books that express some sort of thanks, gratitude, or good cheer in their titles. Here’s my list of 10 11 (sticking to ten has gotten hard for me!):

Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan
Thank You for Sharing by Rachel Kunya Katz
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams
Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? by Dr. Seuss
Thank You, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse
The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith
Yours Cheerfully by AJ Pearce
All Things Wise and Wonderful by James Herriot
Joy in the Morning by Betty Smith

Can you think of other books with “thankful” titles?

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

Wishing everyone a very happy Thanksgiving!

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19Nov2024

Top Ten Tuesday: Oldest (aka Earliest Published) Books On My TBR

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 Oldest (aka Earliest Published) Books On My TBR.

At first, I went to my Goodreads to-read shelf to sort by publication year and look for the earliest, but then realized that I was missing many of the classics I want to get to. So… I went to my handy-dandy Excel spreadsheet (yes, I’m an Excel nerd!) dedicated to my future classics reading, and then did a little mixing and matching.

The results originally showed a few instances of multiple books by the same author, and I made the executive decision to limit it to one book each. In the end, it was very hard to whittle the list down, so…

Here is my list of 10 12 of the oldest books on my to-read shelf!

Belinda by Maria Edgeworth (1801)
Waverley by Sir Walter Scott (1814)
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)
The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper (1826)
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte (1848)
Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1862)
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (1850)
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot (1860)
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne (1872)
Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott (1875)
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell (1877)
The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy (1878)

Note: I’ve read Frankenstein, but it was so long ago that I feel a reread is needed!

Have you read any of the books on my list? Any thoughts or recommendations?

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

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29Oct2024

Halloween posts for Tuesday!

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Lately, I’ve been bouncing back and forth for my Tuesday posts, alternating between the Top Ten Tuesday and Top Five Tuesday memes, depending on their topics for the week. This week, both are Halloween themed… so I’m doing them both!!

First up… it’s Top Ten Tuesday:

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 my Halloween post, I’m going to focus on horror novels on my to-read list (updated for 2024). I’ve done this topic a few times in the past several years, and given the state of my TBR list, it’s time to do it again.

Noted with shame: Some of these books were on my Halloween horror TBR list last year! So, you know, I’m not exactly great at following through…

Still, here are a bunch I really do want to get to… including a few upcoming 2025 new books.

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
Dread Nation by Justine Ireland
The Changeling by Victor Lavalle
Diavola by Jennifer Thorne
Hemlock Island by Kelley Armstrong
The Return by Rachel Harrison
Cutting Teeth by Chandler Baker
Overgrowth by Mira Grant (upcoming 2025 new release)
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix (upcoming 2025 new release)
My Ex, the Antichrist by Craig DiLouie (upcoming 2025 new release)

Are any of these on your TBR too? Which ones look best to you? And if you’ve read any, let me know what you thought!

Next, let’s take a look at this week’s Top 5 Tuesday:

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Meeghan Reads — check out the next batch of upcoming topics here.

This week’s topic is Top 5 books to recommend for Halloween, and the prompt is: It’s trick or treat time — are you going to tell us your best scary books or cutesy Halloween tales?

My picks are mainly ghost stories, plus a funny/clever fantasy that I reread every October!

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The Uninvited by Cat Winters (review)
The Veil by Rachel Harrison (review)
Thornhill by Pam Smy (review)
I’ll be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong (review)
A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny (review) — I’m reading this one again right now! Such a fun annual tradition.

What books do you recommend for Halloween? I love a good ghost story — do you have any favorites? Save

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In case it’s not obvious, I’ll probably be spending my Halloween with my nose in a book! Wishing you all a happy Halloween, whatever you’ll be doing!Save

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24Sep2024

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Fall 2024 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 2024 to-Read List.

Is it fall already? Where did the summer go? I did pretty well with my summer 2024 TBR list, with just one book still to read, and I’m including it in my fall reading plans. Other than that, my list this week includes an upcoming new release, books from my shelves, and one old favorite that’s become an annual reading tradition.

In the interest of not repeating myself, I’m not including any of the books already featured in my list of anticipated new releases for the 2nd half of 2024… but yes, I still intend to read all of those too!

My top 10 for fall are:

Extinction by Douglas Preston: I haven’t read this type of science thriller in a while, and I think I’m up for it.
A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny: My annual October reading tradition. Always a blast!
D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins: I needed an LGBTQ+ romance for a reading challenge, and this one came highly recommended.
On Her Own by Lihi Lapid: A recent new release that sounded promising based on the reviews I’ve seen.
A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston: My summer holdover — which I’ve been looking forward to, but just haven’t gotten around to reading yet.
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley: I love the sound of this book!
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: I think I have a reading block when it comes to this book… but I’m determined to finally get through it!
The Wrong Lady Meets Lord Right by Suzanne Alain: The only upcoming new release on this list. This author’s books are always such fun!
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi: I feel like I’m the last person left who hasn’t read this book, and it’s about time to fix that.
The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer: I love this author’s newest novel, The Lost Story, so I’m eager to read this one too.

What books are you most excited to read this fall? Do we have any in common?

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

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25Jun2024

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2024

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 Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2024.

But oops – last week’s topic was Books on My Summer 2024 to-Read List, and since I didn’t look at upcoming topics, I focused my list only on new releases for summer 2024… which means for this week, I have to come up with 10 more!

Fortunately, I never lack for books to look forward to (although the books already on my shelves are giving me some serious side-eye as I write this)… but I couldn’t quite come up with ten more must-read new releases, so…

Here are NINE new releases — coming July through December 2024 — that I can’t wait to read:

Listed in order of release date:

Drop Dead by Lily Chu (8/1/2024)
The Life Impossible by Matt Haig (9/3/2024)
Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune (9/10/2024)
Songs for the Brokenhearted by Ayelet Tsabari (9/10/2024)
So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison (9/10/2024)
I’ll Be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong (10/1/2024)
Rough Pages (Evander Mills, #3) by Lev AC Rosen (10/1/2024)
The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman (10/8/2024)
The Naturalist Society by Carrie Vaughn (11/1/2024)

What are your most anticipated new releases for the 2nd half of 2024? Please share your links!

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18Jun2024

Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten books on my TBR list for summer 2024

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 Summer 2024 to-Read List.

There are so many new releases coming this summer, and I want to read them ALL. I’d like to say that my reading plans also include books from my shelves… but that’s looking kind of iffy at the moment.

Here are ten new releases I can’t wait to read:

Close Knit by Jenny Colgan
Finding Mr. Write by Kelley Armstrong
A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston
Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs (just released today!)
The Black Bird Oracle by Deborah Harkness
Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell
The Mercy of Gods by James S. A. Corey
Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca
The Night Guest by Hildur Knútsdóttir

What are you planning to read this summer? Please share your links!

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18Mar2024

Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten books on my TBR list for spring 2024

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 about our spring 2024 reading plans. There are so many amazing books to choose from — it’s hard to narrow it down to just ten. But I’ll give it a try.

Here are 10 books I’m especially looking forward to this spring:

The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto
The House That Horror Built by Christina Henry
The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley
Disturbing the Dead by Kelley Armstrong
Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs
Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan
Just For the Summer by Abby Jimenez
Against the Darkness by Kendare Blake
The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren
The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean

Please note: This is my last post for about a week or so, as I’ll be offline with family. I look forward to seeing everyone else’s spring reading plans when I get back!

What books will you be reading this spring? Share your links, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

23Jan2024

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Meant to Read in 2023 but Didn’t Get To

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 I Meant to Read in 2023 but Didn’t Get To.

At the end of each year, I share a list of all my book purchases that I didn’t actually read (All the Books I Meant to Read), and I don’t really want to repeat myself, so…

I thought I’d focus on the books I listed on my 2023 quarterly TBR posts… but realized that I mainly read them all! So, I’m digging back a little further, and just listing 10 books from the past couple of years that I’ve been meaning to read… and haven’t yet.

My top 10 are:

Akata Woman by Nnedi Okorafor
How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
Saga, volume 11 by Brian K. Vaughn
Infinity Gate by M. R. Carey
The Thorns Remain by JJA Harwod
Pat of Silver Bush by L. M. Montgomery
A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice by Rebecca Connolly
Deaf Utopia by Nyle DiMarco
Gilded by Marissa Meyer

Have you read any of these? Which should I make a top priority?

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

12Dec2023

Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten books on my TBR list for winter 2023/2024

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 about our winter reading plans.

As always, there are endless options! Since next week’s topic is about new releases in 2024, this week, I’ll focus on already released books that I’m determined to read during the next few months.

My top 10 books on my winter TBR: