Top Ten Tuesday: Top 10 books recently added to my (never-ending) 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 Ten Books You Recently Added To Your To-Be-Read List. Since my list seems to grow day by day and week by week, this should be easy!

In no particular order, books I’ve recently added to my to-be-read list — some not yet released, some newly published, and some that have been around for a while but are still new to me!

1) Sweet Forgiveness by Lori Nelson Spielman

2) Rook by Sharon Cameron: A YA re-telling of The Scarlet Pimpernel? Yes, please!

3) Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson: Because a little history is sometimes just what I need!

4) Peace Talks by Jim Butcher: Can’t wait for book #16 in the amazing Dresden Files series! Not due out until spring of 2016, but worth waiting for!

Found on Pinterest…

5) A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

6) The Buffalo Soldier by Chris Bohjalian: I’ve been on a roll with books by this amazing author, and I need more!

7) The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

8) Winter by Marissa Meyer: Okay, technically this has been on my TBR list ever since I read the rest of the series, but since the cover was just recently revealed, I think it counts!

9) This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! by Jonathan Evison

10) Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs: The 9th Mercy Thompson book doesn’t have a cover image yet and isn’t due out until spring of 2016… but you can be sure I’ll be preordering this one the second it becomes available!

My Briggs shelf… just waiting for new additions!

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!

23Mar2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Top 10 kid/tween/teen books that I’d love to revisit

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 10 Books From My Childhood (or Teen Years) That I Would Love To Revisit. Putting together this list is a little bit harder than I’d first thought. Since it’s all about books that I want to re-read, I’m going to rule out books that I’ve already revisited with my own kids… making my brain work a bit harder to remember my childhood favorites!

Books I loved as a kid/tween/teen — and which I should surely revisit one of these days:

1) Tall and Proud by Vian Smith: A girl, a horse, polio, bad guys, a dramatic rescue… is this book really as amazing as I remember it? Or did it just perfectly suit 11-year-old me at the time?

2) Light a Single Candle by Beverly Butler: Anyone else remember this book about a 14-year-old girl losing her eyesight, learning Braille, and getting a seeing eye dog? In my tween mind, this was the best thing ever.

3) Merry Rose and Christmas-Tree June by Doris Orgel: It took me years as an adult to track down a copy of this childhood favorite about a girl separated from her beloved dolls. I remember this book as being awesome. I did not remember that the illustrations are by Edward Gorey!

4) Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West by Marguerite Henry: Despite never taking a single riding lesson, I went through the standard-issue young girl horse phase, as evidenced by my obsessive reading of the works of Marguerite Henry. I loved them all, but Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West was my absolute favorite:

5) The works of Judy Blume, especially Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret and Deenie. Judy Blume was THE way to learn about bras, boys, periods, and scoliosis.

6) The All-of-a-Kind Family books by Sydney Taylor: I absolutely wanted to be one of the girls in this large, rambunctious family. Somehow, in the books, living in a cramped apartment on the Lower East Side of New York in the early 1900s sounded so glamorous!

7) Lisa, Bright and Dark by John Neufeld: Another tween/early teen obsession: Reading about teens with all sorts of physical and mental illnesses. I remember thinking this one was SO GOOD, but maybe it was just because of the main character’s name…

8) Knight’s Castle by Edward Eager: I had no idea what this book was called for many, many years. I just remember loving a story about a group of kids who kept ending up inside the imaginary worlds that they set up in their playroom each night. Finally finding this book as an adult was a major achievement!

9) The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare: I’d love to read this one again! I remember utterly loving it.

10) And finally, two childhood classics that sparked fantasies and countless short stories focused on running away from home to exciting destinations: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg and My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George.

Which childhood (or tween/teen) favorites would you most like to revisit?

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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16Mar2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books on My Spring 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 about reading plans for spring. What’s on my to-be-read list? Well, I suppose I could start with the six books from my winter TBR post which I still haven’t read… but where’s the fun in that?

So, to welcome spring, here’s a brand new set of 10 books that I’m looking forward to reading:

1) Epitaph by Mary Doria Russell

2) Prudence by Gail Carriger

3) A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley

4) A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

5) Inside the O’Briens by Lisa Genova

6) The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson

7) The Secrets We Keep by Trisha Leaver

8) The Well by Catherine Chanter

9) Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave

And turning to books that have been on my to-read list for far too long…

10) With the passing last week of Sir Terry Pratchett, I realize that it’s time for me to stop saying that I’ll eventually read some Discworld books and just go ahead and get started! Or, you know, finally read the copy of Good Omens that’s been calling my name for a few years now. RIP, Terry Pratchett.

What books are you looking forward to reading this spring?

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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12Jan2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten 2014 Releases I Meant To Read (But Didn’t)

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 we’re talking about books from 2014 that we really wanted to read… but didn’t. Some of these I actually own; some are just books that I thought sounded great, but then never actually pursued. Oh well, there’s always 2015!

My top 10:

1) Locke & Key, volume 6: Alpha & Omega by Joe Hill: I was DYING for this one, the final volume in the awesomely creepy and brilliant Locke & Key series. And then when I got a copy, I realized I should re-read volumes 1 – 5 to get the maximum enjoyment out of the series wrap-up. But somehow, I still haven’t made it happen.

2) Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King: I practically jump up and down whenever Stephen King publishes new books and read them immediately — except for this one. I still intend to… eventually.

3) Frog Music by Emma Donoghue: Loved the sound of Frog Music, and I hope to read it in the next month or so.

4) The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd: I was hoping that my book group would choose this book, so I held off. It hasn’t happened yet, so I’ll probably end up going for it on my own.

5) The One-Hundred Year House by Rebecca Makkai: Another one that sounds great, and I just haven’t found the right time.

6) The Vacationers by Emma Straub: I read a review of The Vacationers when it was released and made a mental note to borrow a copy from the library, and then completely forgot about it.

7) Lock In by John Scalzi: I had this one on preorder and everything — then decided it wasn’t urgent and that I didn’t need another hardcover on my bookshelf. Now I’m waiting for the paperback release this coming summer.

8) Euphoria by Lily King: I didn’t pay attention to Euphoria at first, but after seeing it pop up on so many “best of 2014” lists, I have a renewed interest in reading it. Another great possibility for my book group, I think.

9) Hollow City by Ransom Riggs: I can’t believe it’s been about a year since this book came out, and I still haven’t read it. The question is, am I still interested at this point?

10) The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey: This should probably be up at the top of my list, as it’s the one I intend to read ASAP. I bought a copy when it came out last year, then decided I should re-read The 5th Wave first. I got side-tracked, big time… and finally finished the audiobook version of The 5th Wave last week. So, hurray! I’m ready for The Infinite Sea!

Have you read any of the books on my list? Which do you think should be my top priority? And what books from 2014 do you still need to read?

Share your thoughts! And leave me your links, please, so I can 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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1Dec2014

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I’m Looking Forward to Reading in 2015

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

What am I looking forward to reading in 2015? Let’s see…

For this week’s list, I’m going to stick to books that I haven’t already drooled over in recent TTT posts. Keeping that in mind, here are ten books I’m excited about for next year, including brand new releases plus a few new paperback editions scheduled for 2015:

1) The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

2) Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen

3) Blue Stars by Emily Gray Tedrowe

4) The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

5) I Was Here by Gayle Forman

6) The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson

7) Girl Runner by Carrie Snyder

8) Vicious by V. E. Schwab
(paperback to be released January 2015)

9) Lock In by John Scalzi
(paperback to be released August 2015)

10) All I Love and Know by Judith Frank
(paperback to be released April 2015)

What books are you dying to read in 2015?

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 our regular weekly feature, Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

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24Nov2014

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books on My Winter 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 about reading plans for this winter. What’s on my to-be-read list? Ha, what isn’t? Not that I ever end up sticking to a plan — but as of now, here are the top 10 books I’m looking forward to reading during the next few months.

1) Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.
It’s about time that I finally read this, right?

2) Noggin by John Corey Whaley

3) The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

4) The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian

5) The Hundred Year House by Rebecca Makkai

6) Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

7) The Last Letter From Your Lover by Jojo Moyes

8) Washington’s Secret Six by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger (because it’s about time that I venture outside my little world of fiction and read some history, yo)

9) Saga by Brian K. Vaughan (need to re-read volumes 1 & 2, then go on to read volumes 3 & 4)

10) The Boy Who Drew Monsters by Keith Donohue

boy who drew

What books will be keeping you warm this winter?

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 our regular weekly feature, Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

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17Nov2014

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Sequels I Can’t Wait 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 hotly awaited sequels… the ones that keep us jumping and down in crazy anticipation.

My choices fall into two general categories:

Sequels coming soon… and we already know when:

By release date:

1) Symbiont by Mira Grant (sequel to Parasite… ick!) – to be released 11/25/2014

2) The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion (sequel to The Rosie Project) – to be released 12/30/2014

3) Dead Heat (Alpha & Omega series, #4) by Patricia Briggs – to be released 3/3/2015

4) Epitaph by Mary Doria Russell (sequel to Doc) – to be released 3/3/2015

5a) Fables, volume 21 by Bill Willingham – to be released 3/3/2015

and

5b) Fables, volume 22 (6/2015) … which I’m not really eager for because IT’S THE LAST IN THE SERIES! I’m seriously upset about Fables coming to an end.

not the actual cover…

6) Prudence by Gail Carriger – to be released 3/17/2015 (I know, I know: Technically, this isn’t a sequel — it’s the start of a brand-new series — The Custard Protocol — but since it follows The Parasol Protectorate series, I’m saying it counts!)

7) Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray (sequel to The Diviners) – to be released 4/1/2015… although at this point, it’s been so long since I’ve read The Diviners, I’m not sure how much I really care about continuing with the series.

Since I’m not convinced that I actually want to read Lair of Dreams, I’m including an alternate #7:

7) Stiletto by Daniel O’Malley (sequel to The Rook) – to be released 7/1/2015

Sequels coming eventually… but no actual date has been announced:

8) Peace Talks by Jim Butcher (#16 in the Dresden Files series).

9) The Winds of Winter by George R. R. Martin (#6 in A Song of Ice and Fire)

And last, but not least — and certainly the book that I want to read more than any others on this list (but too bad it’s not written yet!):

10) Untitled 9th book in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon

OK, yes, my top 10 list has 12 books on it… but the more the merrier!

Did any of mine make your list? What sequels are you most eager to read?

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 our regular weekly feature, Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

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29Sep2014

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books That Were Hard For Me 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 focuses on books that are hard to read, for any number of reasons. For my list, I’m including books that were hard to take — some because the subject matter is very emotional or upsetting, some because of the high levels of violence or horror, and at least one because I just hated the reading experience (but finished it anyway).

1) Room by Emma Donoghue: This story of abduction, imprisonment, and abuse, as seen through the eyes of a five-year-old, made me feel like I’d been put through a wringer.

2) The Pact by Jodi Picoult: The Pact was my first Jodi Picoult novel, and while I loved it, I was also devastated throughout. So much pain, both on the part of the teens involved and their parents.

3) The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell: The Sparrow is one of my very favorite books, and it’s beautiful in so many ways, and yet the main character suffers so tragically that it’s simply heartbreaking to read.

4) A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon: Bad things happen to Diana Gabaldon’s characters in all of her books, and yet in this one, the 6th in the Outlander series, the bad just keeps coming and coming and coming. It’s still essential reading for fans of the series, but it’s really hard to take… and considering that the book is over 1,400 pages in length, that’s a lot of bad to deal with.

5) The Fault in Our Stars by John Green: No explanation needed, right? TFiOS is a beautiful book, but who can read a book about teens with terminal cancer and not completely melt down? Not me.

6) Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein: Another beautifully written book, but so tragic and disturbing to read.

7) Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay: A terribly sad novel that hits so many of my auto-cry buttons. Imperiled children, family tragedy, Holocaust, generations of suffering. Reading this book felt like getting punched over and over and over.

8) Hater by David Moody: I probably wouldn’t have finished this book had it not been a gift, due to the unrelenting violence and bloodshed and overall intense level of senseless mayhem and hatred. I ended up glad to have stuck with it and the rest of the trilogy, as the story is fascinating, but these books are definitely not for the faint of heart.

9) NOS4A2 by Joe Hill: I loved NOS4A2, but I also can’t recall the last time I was this creeped out by a book.

10) The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson: I hated this book. Really hated it. I read it through to the end to see what would happen, but I found it just vile, with its oversensationalized violence and brutality.

What books are on 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 our regular weekly feature, Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

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22Sep2014

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books on My TBR List for Fall 2014

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? My TBR list is ridiculously long. My goal this fall is to catch up on books I’ve been meaning to read for ages now, so some of these are probably on the older side. Here are the top 10 books I want to bump to the head of the line this fall:

1 & 2) Two by Stephen King: Mr. Mercedes (released this past June) and Revival (coming in November.

3 & 4) Two by Jojo Moyes: Me Before You and The Ship of Brides

5) What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

6) The Undertaking of Lily Chen by Danica Novgorodoff

7) Some graphic novel/comic catch-up is needed. I’d like to make sure to devote time to at least one of these two series:

The Unwritten series by Mike Carey
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 9 by Joss Whedon et. al.

8) Horns by Joe Hill. Perfect for Halloween, and a must-read before the movie version is released. Plus, Horns is the October pick for Fields & Fantasies Book Club!

9) The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion

10) At least one of three possible non-fiction books — because I almost never read non-fiction, and I really should branch out. (Plus, I’ve had these on my shelf forever, it seems):

1776 by David McCullough
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson

Oh, no! I finished my list of 10 (and then some), and realized I left one off that I’m definitely planning to read:

So I guess this makes this a top 10+ list!

What books are you most looking forward to reading this fall?

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 our regular weekly feature, Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

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15Sep2014

Top Ten Tuesday: One Down, Bunches More to Go!

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 authors whose works we’ve sampled, but not fully explored. In other words, authors who have written many books, but we’ve only read one so far… and need to fix that!

My top 10 are:

1) Alexander McCall Smith: I really enjoyed The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency and would love to read more of the series. Plus, I’m fairly certain that I’ll end up loving his 44 Scotland Street books too.

2) Emma Donoghue: Room was amazing, and I’m looking forward to reading Frog Music and Slammerkin.

3) Marcus Zusak: I’ve only read The Book Thief, but would like to explore more works by this author.

4) Patrick Ness: A Monster Calls was intense and beautiful. I have copies of The Knife of Never Letting Go and More Than This — now I just need to read them!

5) Rick Yancey: Ooh, The 5th Wave! I loved it, and can’t wait for my copy of The Infinite Sea to arrive. Meanwhile, I’ve been wanting to read his Monstrumologist series as well, which I hear is gruesome and amazing.

6) Keith Donohue: I loved The Stolen Child, and have copies of his other books sitting on my to-be-read stack.

7) Jo Walton: After reading Among Others, I made sure to get copies of My Real Children and Tooth and Claw… but haven’t read them yet.

8) Kate Mosse: The Winter Ghosts is so beautiful, but I haven’t read anything else by this author. I’ve been told I should read Labyrinth, for starters.

9) Charles de Lint: The only book of his I’ve read so far is The Mysteries of Grace, which was fabulous. He has so many published books that it’s a little intimidating trying to figure out where to start. Any suggestions?

10) Connie Willis: I’ve wanted to read her time travel books (Doomsday Book, Blackout, All Clear, etc) ever since I heard about them, but so far have only actually read Fire Watch, a short story collection.

I almost went in a completely different direction with this list, which would have been to focus on authors whose debut novels I’ve read… and now I’m waiting for them to publish more books! My top choices would be:

Bee Ridgway (The River of No Return)
Helene Wecker (The Golem and the Jinni)
Graeme Simsion (The Rosie Project)
Lev AC Rosen (All Men of Genius)

Which authors’ works do you most want to explore? Any suggestions for where I should start with the ones on my list?

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 our regular weekly feature, Thursday Quotables. Happy reading!

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