Top Ten Tuesday: Ten books added to my (never-ending) TBR list – fall 2016 edition

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’ve Added To My To-Be-Read List Lately. My TBR list seems to grow and grow, almost by magic! In no particular order, here are ten books I’ve added in the last month or so:

1)Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners by Therese Oneill: A non-fiction book actually makes my TBR! A look at the nitty gritty details of Victorian women’s lives sounds too good to miss.

2) The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan: A friend just recommended this one, and I have to admit, it sounds perfect for me.

3) The Taxidermist’s Daughter by Kate Mosse: I just happened to pick this book up when there was a Kindle price drop. The description says it’s “a chilling and spooky Gothic historical thriller “. Works for me.

4) Extreme Makeover by Dan Wells: Creepy, satirical sci fi. I love the description – can’t wait to see if the book lives up to its billing.

5) The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian: Okay, I’ll read anything by this author at this point.

6) Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman: Yes, please.

7) Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire: A follow up to Every Heart a Doorway, which was one of my very favorite things this year.

8) Lady Cop Makes Trouble by Amy Stewart: Book 2 about the Kopp Sisters, after the terrific Girl Waits With Gun. I won this in a giveaway, and have been waiting for the right moment to dive in.

9) What Light by Jay Asher: A new book by the author of Thirteen Reasons Why. Tissue box is ready, so let me at it.

10) Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton: I’m not sure that I know what this book is about, but I’ve read enough of the synopsis to be intrigued.

Have you read any of my TBR books already? What books made your list this week?

Share your links, 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 feature, 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!

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24Oct2016

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten creepy, gross, scary horror books for getting in the Halloween mood

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Happy (almost) Halloween!

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 Halloween freebie!

I’ve decided to focus on great books to scare or give the willies. To mix things up, I’m highlighting five books that I’ve read, and five from my TBR list:

Icky, squicky, creepy, scary books that I’ve read (with links to my reviews):

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill (review)

The Girl with All the Gifts by M. R. Carey (review)

The Dead Lands by Benjamin Percy (review)

Breed by Chase Novak (review)

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix (review)

Creepy, chilling, horrifying-sounding books that I really want to read:

Red Moon by Benjamin Percy

Bird Box by Josh Malerman

Wraith by Joe Hill

A Love Like Blood by Marcus Sedgwick

Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day by Seanan McGuire

What scary books do you love to recommend? What’s on your Halloween TTT? 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!

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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.

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3Oct2016

Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten despicable bad guys in 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 all about villains — fictional bad guys, TV bad guys, villains we secretly love, or any other spin on the topic.

I’m focusing on really awful fictional villains. Not the “love to hate” kind — there’s no secret love here. I just straight up despise all of these characters — no shades of gray or redeeming characteristics or hidden hearts of gold.

My 10 most hideous, despicable villains fall into two categories — the “real” people, as in, those who inhabit our world and are merely human, albeit terrible humans, and the fantasy/otherworldy villains; who are more easily classified as evil due to their superhuman or supernatural powers.

In the non-fantasy category:

1) Black Jack Randall (Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon): A sadist who delights in inflicting terror, pain, and psychological damage.

2) Stephen Bonnet (Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon): A pirate who’s casually cruel just because. He causes so much harm to beloved characters without even blinking an eye.

3) Dolores Umbridge (Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling): I include Dolores Umbridge in the real-world section of my list because what makes her so terrible is not her magic, but her mundane cruelty. She’s a despotic bureaucrat who enjoys using her power to make others suffer, not through charms or hexes, but by wielding her authoritarian control.

It’s a lot easier, in some ways, to come up with a list of horrible villains from fantasy worlds:

4) Voldemort (Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling): He Who Must Not Be Named. You Know Who. The Dark Lord. Tom Riddle. I don’t think I need to explain this one, do I?

5) Charles Manx (NOS4A2 by Joe Hill): One of the scariest horror novels I’ve ever read features one of the scariest bad guys in fiction. Wow. It gives me the shivers to think about this book too much.

6) The Beast (The Magicians series by Lev Grossman): The Beast is a thing of horror who used to be a person, and I won’t give away more than that — but the horror caused by the Beast is really awful.

7) Sauron (Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien): As with Voldemort, I’m not sure someone who represents ultimate evil needs an explanation!

8) Queen Levana (The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Mayer): Even though Fairest offers a glimpse into Levana’s childhood and seems to provide a teeny grasp at sympathy for her, Levana is such a cruel psycho that she remains an thoroughly villainous character.

9) Joffrey Baratheon (A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin): Horrible little shit.

10) Walder Frey (A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin): Worst host ever, basically.

(Dis)honorable mention (because I ran out of room):

From the world of Fables, the amazing graphic novel series by Bill Willingham, come two terrible bad guys who pretty much tear worlds apart: The Adversary and Mister Dark. And because The Adversary’s true identity is a secret for quite a while, I’ll avoid spoilers and not say any more about this character.

What villains made your lists 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!

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26Sep2016

Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten books on my TBR list for fall 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 the top ten books on our fall to-be-read lists. Only ten? I’ll give it a try. Some of these are recent and upcoming releases, and some are books that may have been around for a little while.

My top ten books to read this fall:

1) Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

2) Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty

3) Cross Talk by Connie Willis

4) Paris For One and Other Stories by Jojo Moyes

5) Heartless by Marissa Meyer

6) Yesternight by Cat Winters

7) Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal

8) Miss Jane by Brad Watson

9) Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

10) The Wonder by Emma Donoghue

What books are on your fall TBR list? 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!

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22Aug2016

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten books I’ve been meaning to read since before I started blogging

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 That Have Been On Your Shelf (Or TBR) From Before You Started Blogging That You STILL Haven’t Read Yet.

As of this summer, I’ve been blogging for four years. FOUR YEARS. Incredible. I started it on a whim, and here I am, all this time later, still blogging away. Just because I’m blogging about books doesn’t mean that I’m reading more books — in fact, it’s probably the opposite. Sad to say, there are enough unread books in my house and on my Kindle that I could probably go a few years without buying a single book before I’d run out of new stuff to read.

So, here are 10 books that I swear I want to read, which I’ve owned for over four years… and which I still haven’t gotten around to.

1) Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest

2) Affinity by Sarah Waters

3) In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson

4) Lilith’s Brood by Octavia Butler

5) Little, Big by John Crowley

6) World War Z by Max Brooks

7) Other Kingdoms by Richard Matheson

8) Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir

9) The Children of Men by P. D. James

10) Sorcery & Cecelia by Patricia C. Wrede

Have you read any of my TBR books? What books made your list this week? 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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21Sep2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten books on my TBR list for fall 2015

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 the top ten books on our fall to-be-read lists. Sigh… I love these TBR topics. Ten books that I want to read? No problem.

New books, recently released and soon to be released:

1) The Marvels by Brian Selznick

2) The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood

3) Saga, volume 5 by Brian K. Vaughan

4) The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss by Max Wirestone

5) Until We Meet Again by Renee Collins

6) The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher

And some books that I’ve had for a while, but need to actually read:

7) The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

8) Depth by Lev AC Rosen

9) Lock In by John Scalzi

10) And wrapping it all up, I want to finally get to one of the three Austen Project books currently sitting on my shelves:

One more for good luck? Why not? I got all the way to ten, and realized I forgot to include a book that I’m really looking forward to:

So, there you have it — my top ELEVEN reading projects for fall 2015. What books are on your fall TBR list? 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!

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3Aug2015

Top Ten Tuesday: My favorite fairy tale retellings

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 about fairy tale retellings — either ones we’ve read or ones we want to read. I’m doing a bit of both.

I’ll start with the fairy tale retellings that I’ve read and loved:

1) Deerskin by Robin McKinley: An incredibly moving and disturbing, yet oddly beautiful, retelling of the somewhat obscure fairy tale Donkeyskin.

2) Robin McKinley writes such amazing reimaginings of fairy tales, that I’m going to include another three as one item: Beauty, Rose Daughter (both retellings of Beauty and the Beast), and Spindle’s End (a retelling of Sleeping Beauty).

3) Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale: I’ll admit to being confused by the tower for a while and assuming this was a retelling of Rapunzel, which it is not. According to the author’s website, it’s a retelling of a lesser known Grimm tale called Maid Maleen. But in any case, no matter which tale it’s based on, I really enjoyed it!

4) The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine: I think the concept of this book is just so clever — The Twelve Dancing Princesses retold as a tale of harshly confined sisters in Jazz Age New York. (review)

5) Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce: I really liked this retelling of Red Riding Hood (who seems here to be mixed with heaping spoonfuls of Buffy).

6) The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer: I have a sneaking suspicion that these books will be everywhere for this week’s TTT topic! I’ve absolutely loved the books in this series so far, and can’t wait for the final one to be released this fall. (And then the series will be over… sob.) (review)

7) My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me edited by Kate Bernheimer: This collection of rewritten fairy tales includes some really weird and wonderful new versions of classic tales. You can read the collection straight through or pick it up and read stories at random. Either way, very entertaining. Plus, you just can’t beat the title.

8) Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm by Philip Pullman: Another collection of rewritten tales, in this case classic Grimm stories rewritten by the masterful Philip Pullman. Includes both tried-and-true favorites and well as more bizarre or obscure tales — quite fun to read. (review)

9) Fables by Bill Willingham: The Fables series is simply one of my very favorite things ever. Take just about every fairy tale character you can think of, put them into modern day New York, create incredibly complex world-building, and write 150 comic books in the series. The series is available as a series of paperback volumes, and the final volume, #22, was just released last week. I can’t quite bring myself to read it — I just don’t want it to be over! (tribute)

10) Finally, two from my shelves which I haven’t read yet, although I’d like to:

Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth, a retelling of Rapunzel
Bound by Donna Jo Napoli, a retelling of Cinderella

Fairy tale retellings are such fun to read. Which ones do you love?

Share your link, 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 feature, 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 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!

27Jul2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Book lovers unite! Top ten characters who NEED to 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 about characters who are book nerds, book worms, book lovers… you know, people like us!

My top 10, with links for the ones I’ve reviewed here at Bookshelf Fantasies:

1) Catherine Morland, Northanger Abbey: Sure, her tendency to get swept up in gothic novels leads to trouble (like suspecting her crush’s dad of dastardly deeds)… Still, she’s responsible for one of Jane Austen’s most quoted booklover lines:

2) Tyrion Lannister, A Song of Ice and Fire: Tyrion credits at least a portion of his survival to wits gained through reading. “Sleep is good. And books are better.”

3) Jo March (and her sisters), Little Women: Is there anything better than the March sisters acting out the stories they read, or Jo’s own writing efforts? (Until Amy burns her stories. Curse you, Amy!)

4) Leisel Meminger, The Book Thief: Does this even need explanation?

5) Mori Phelps, Among Others: A girl whose life revolves around interlibrary loans, and who has read pretty much every work of science fiction, ever. I love the fact that this book has its very own book list (put together by fans, I believe) of every book mentioned in the course of the story. See an assortment of bibliography links here on Jo Walton’s website.

And some love for the bookstore owners (and workers):

6) A. J. Fikry, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry: A man whose entire life can be explained by the books he loves — and whose bookstore is everything I would want in my own bookstore. (review)

7) Chloe Sinclair, The Book of Secrets: Bookstore owner, with a secret past in which book-related clues hold the key to everything. (review)

8) June Andersen, Goodnight June: Owner of a children’s bookstore with a secret connection to Margaret Wise Brown. (review)

9) Maggie Duprès, The Moment of Everything: More bookstores! Gotta love a character who turns from a high-tech job to running a dusty used book store. (review)

10) Jane True, the Jane True series: Jane works in a bookstore with the fabulous name Read It and Weep, and when she’s not learning about her supernatural gifts, she’s busy selling books to the peculiar characters in her small Maine town.

What books about booklovers are on your list this week?

Share your link, 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 feature, Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

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22Jun2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Favorite TTT Topics!

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, The Broke and the Bookish is celebrating 5 years of Top Ten Tuesdays!

Breaking my own “no GIFs” rule to wish The Broke and The Bookish a very happy 5th anniversary of Top Ten Tuesday!

Congratulations to the blogging team that brings us such a fun weekly gathering place! I always look forward to seeing my blogger friends’ lists, even when I don’t participate. I blame other people’s TTT posts for a big chunk of my out-of-control to-read lists!

In honor of the 5th anniversary, we’re celebrating our favorite Top Ten Tuesday topics. Wheeeeee! Below are some of my favorite top 10 lists, with links included in case you want to check out the original posts that go with. It was hard to stop at just 10 — but here goes:

1) Top ten books when I need something light and fun

2) Top ten books dealing with tough subjects

3) Top ten books I thought I’d like more or less than I did

4) Top ten childhood favorites

5) Top ten books to get in the Halloween mood

6) Top ten things that make my reading & blogging life easier

7) Top ten super long, super funny, or just plain super awesome book titles

8) Top ten TV shows for book lovers (“You watch that? Then read this!”)

9) Top ten characters with essential survival skills

10) Top ten most unique books I’ve read… in five words or less

This little trip down memory lane was fun… and I discovered that I have oodles of TTT posts from my almost three years as a blogger that are a blast to revisit (well, for me, anyway!).

Congrats again to the fine bloggers of TB&TB… wishing you many more!

Raising a glass to five years of TTT!

For all my other blogger buddies — what have been your favorite TTT topics so far?

Share your links, 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 feature, Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

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15Jun2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books on My Summer TBR List – 2015 edition

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 about reading plans for summer. What’s on my to-be-read list? As usual, it’s a mix of new releases and books from my shelves…

1) Another Day by David Levithan

2) What You Left Behind by Jessica Verdi

3) Jesse’s Girl by Miranda Kenneally

4) Circling the Sun by Paula McLain

5) A Window Opens by Elizabeth Egan

6) All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (a book group pick for this summer)

7) The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (another one for the book group)

8) Ross Poldark by Winston Graham (because I’m dying to watch the BBC version)

9) Depth by Lev AC Rosen

10) Dreams of the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn (the sequel to After the Golden Age, which I just read and really enjoyed!)

What books are you looking forward to reading this summer?

Share your links, 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 feature, Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

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