Tag Archives: top 10 tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Audiobook Narrators

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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 Favorite Audiobook Narrators. I do love audiobooks, and definitely have some narrators I especially love to listen to.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

Here are my 10:

  1. Julia Whelan – I’ve listened to so many audiobooks that she’s narrated, but favorites include Thank You For Listening (which she also wrote), The Giver of Stars, and Daisy Jones & The Six.
  2. Moira Quirk: Narrator of the Custard Protocol and Finishing School series by Gail Carriger, and also the excellent The Midnight Bargain by C. L. Polk.
  3. Wil Wheaton: Does a great job with John Scalzi’s books. Most recently, I loved his hilarious presentation of The Kaiju Preservation Society.
  4. Zachary Quinto: Another Scalzi narrator — he’s great in the Dispatcher series of audiobooks.
  5. Mary Robinette Kowal: Besides being an absolutely awesome author, she’s also a wonderful audiobook narrator. In addition to her own books, I’ve loved her narration for Seanan McGuire’s many audiobooks.
  6. Lorelei King: Terrific narration of the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs.
  7. Davina Porter: Narrates the Outlander series, and that’s not easy! She’s convincing as an 18th century Scottish Highlander as well as a 20th century British nurse.
  8. Jeff Woodman: In another of Diana Gabaldon’s series, Jeff Woodman is the perfect narrator for the Lord John books — his delivery as Lord John is fabulous.
  9. Juliet Stevenson: There’s not another narrator I’d rather listen to for Jane Austen audiobooks.
  10. Christina Moore: I love her narration of Amy Stewart’s Kopp Sisters books. She gives such personality to each of the characters.

Who are your favorite audiobook narrators? Do we have any in common?

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

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with animals on the cover

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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 Titles with Animals In Them and/or Covers with Animals On Them. I love looking at interesting book covers, so I’m going with the book cover theme. Here are my 10:

  1. Hollow Kingdome by Kira Jane Buxton
  2. 100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith
  3. The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black
  4. Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham
  5. Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
  6. American Hippo by Sarah Gailey
  7. The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal
  8. Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs
  9. Winter Rose by Patricia A. McKillip
  10. The Chronicles of Chrestomanci by Diana Wynne Jones

What books made your list this week? If you wrote a TTT post, please share your link!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten books on my TBR list for spring 2023

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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 about our spring 2023 reading plans. So many exciting new books to choose from!

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

  1. The Poisoner’s Ring by Kelley Armstrong
  2. Said No One Ever by Stephanie Eding
  3. Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan
  4. Not the Ones Dead by Dana Stabenow
  5. In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune
  6. Happy Place by Emily Henry
  7. Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
  8. To Swoon and To Spar by Martha Waters
  9. Infinity Gate by M. R. Carey
  10. Mika in Real Life by Emiko Jean

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

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Heroines

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snowy10

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 Favorite Heroines. This felt like a familiar topic to me, but it looks like it’s been many years since I put together a similar list, and by now I have plenty of new ones to highlight!

Here are ten of my favorites (hint: the first one will not be a surprise!):

  1. Claire Fraser – Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
  2. Mercy Thompson – Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs
  3. October Daye – October Daye series by Seanan McGuire
  4. Erin, Mac, Tiffany and KJ – Paper Girls graphic novels by Brian K. Vaughan
  5. Zinnia Gray – A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
  6. Mika Moon – The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
  7. Marra – Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
  8. Beatrice Clayborn – The Midnight Bargain by C. L. Polk
  9. Jane Ellsworth – Glamourist Histories series by Mary Robinette Kowal
  10. Sunny Nwazue – The Nsibidi Scripts series by Nnedi Okorafor

Who are your favorite heroines?

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

Top Ten Tuesday: New-to-Me Authors I Hope to Try in 2023

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snowy10

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 2023 Debut Books I’m Excited About — but I really don’t tend to get very excited about debut books in advance (and don’t even keep track of upcoming debuts), so this topic was a non-starter for me.

Instead, I thought I’d spin off from the designated topic, moving from books by new authors to books by authors who are new to me. Much easier to come up with a list of ten!

Here are ten authors whose books I plan (or hope) to try in 2023:

  1. Farrah Rochon
  2. Deepa Varadarajan
  3. Victor LaValle
  4. Claire Keegan
  5. Nikki Erlick
  6. Colleen Oakley
  7. Jenni Fagan
  8. Trish Doller
  9. Nita Prose
  10. Deesha Philyaw

Two of these (Nikki Erlick and Claire Keegan) are authors of books my book group will be reading later this year, and the rest are an assortment of books that I’ve had on my radar for a while plus a couple of ARCs.

Have you read any of the books pictured above, or read other books by these authors? Are there any in particular you’d recommend?

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

Top Ten Tuesday: New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2022

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snowy10

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 New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2022.

I actually have a very long list for 2022 — but I’ll narrow it down to the the 10 I enjoyed the most. So hard to choose!

  • Darcie Little Badger
  • Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton & Jodi Meadows (yes, these are three people, but they co-authored the book I read!)
  • Jennifer Thorne
  • Sara Novic
  • Julia Whelan (I’ve listened to her narrate audiobooks before, but this was my first encounter with a book she wrote herself)
  • Judy Leigh
  • Malinda Lo
  • Zoje Stage
  • Alexis Hall
  • A. G. Slatter

If you’ve read any other books by these authors, please let me know which you’d recommend!

What new-to-you authors did you discover in 2022? Any particular favorites? Do we have any in common?

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

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Goals for 2023

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snowy10

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 Bookish Goals for 2023.

At the risk of being totally repetitive, I’m basically repurposing the version of this topic that I did in 2021 (apparently, I didn’t bother writing one in 2022!). Year after year, certain basic goals, resolutions, concepts remain true.

I really don’t believe in making resolutions, but I do have some general ideas about how I want to focus my reading in 2023, so here we go:

Read whatever I feel like. Okay, I say this every year… and every year it’s worth repeating! Other than book group reading commitments, I’m going to mostly be sticking to reading without a plan. It’s a wonderful feeling!

Keep ARCS to a minimum. I feel like I’ve been getting better at this. It can be hard to resist requesting every shiny new book that comes up on NetGalley, but I know I’m happiest when I’m not overloaded with obligation books.

Read at least a few of the books/series I highlighted in my series-to-read post for this year.

Tackle at least a few books outside my comfort zone or that will take a bit of extra effort. The main one I have in mind is The Silmarillion (but don’t hold me to it — plans may change!)

For the sake of keeping bad habits in check, don’t hit the Buy Now button for Kindle books just because they’re a price break! I have more books in my Kindle library than I know what to do with. I’m trying to get better at only buying e-books when I’m ready to read them. (This already seems like it’ll be tough to stick with… but it’s worth making the effort.)

And one ongoing task — I should probably reorganize my bookshelves (yet again) and put together a new stack of books to donate. One of these rainy days, I’ll get around to this one!

That’s about it for me. I hope to have a year full of fun, enjoyable reading with very few requirements about when I finish a certain book or what to read in any given moment.

What are your bookish goals for 2023? Wishing everyone a very happy and healthy year… with plenty of great books to read!

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2023

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snowy10

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 in the First Half of 2023.

There are plenty to choose from — but here are ten I’m really excited for:

  1. Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie (1/24)
  2. Lessons at the School by the Sea by Jenny Colgan (3/7)
  3. Backpacking Through Bedlam (Incryptids, #12) by Seanan McGuire (3/7)
  4. A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher (3/28)
  5. The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth (4/4)
  6. Said No One Ever by Stephanie Eding (4/4)
  7. Not the Ones Dead (Kate Shugak, #23) by Dana Stabenow (4/13)
  8. In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune (4/25)
  9. Happy Place by Emily Henry (4/25)
  10. Late Bloomers by Deepa Varadarajan (5/2)

What new releases are you most looking forward to over the next six months? Share your links, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten books on my TBR list for winter 2022/2023

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snowy10

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.

So many books to choose from! This time around, my list includes a mix of upcoming new releases and books already on my shelves. My top 10 priorities to read this winter will be:

New releases:

1) Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie: I’ve loved every book I’ve read by this author so far, even though they’re always super disturbing. (release date 1/24/2023)

2) The Magician’s Daughter by H. G. Parry: I don’t know much about this one, but it looks good! (2/21/2023)

3) Lost in the Moment and Found (Wayward Children, #8) by Seanan McGuire: If it’s January, it must be time for another Wayward Children book! (1/12/2023)

4) The Stolen Heir by Holly Black: I’m beyond thrilled that there’s a new book in the world of Folk of the Air on the way! (1/5/2023)

5) Backpacking Through Bedlam (Incryptids, #12) by Seanan McGuire: Another series by Seanan McGuire that I love! Of course I’ll read the new book as soon as possible. (3/7/2023)

6) A Sinister Revenge (Veronica Speedwell, #8): This series continues to be so much fun. (3/7/2023)

And books I already own:

7) Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir: Although I didn’t completely love Gideon the Ninth, I’m interested enough to want to keep going.

8) A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers: On the other hand, I did love the first book in this series, so #2 is a must!

9) The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal: I bought this right when it came out, and I love everything I’ve read by this author… and I’ve ended up saving this book to read when I can savor it (which hasn’t happened yet).

10) Akata Woman by Nnedi Okorafor: I really enjoyed the audiobook of the first two in this series, so if my library has this one available via audio, I’ll probably go that route… but otherwise, the paperback will do just fine.

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

Top Ten Tuesday: [FREEBIE TOPIC] Books my book group will be reading in 2023

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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 a freebie — we all choose our own topics!

I haven’t done a TTT post in a while and my brain cells are not feeling up for anything too challenging… so I’m keeping it simple. My book group picks our monthly discussion books for an entire calendar year ahead of time, and we’ve just finalized our selections for 2023!

So yes, that makes this a top 12 list — but I couldn’t decide which two to leave out, so I’m going for it.

Here’s what we’ll be reading in 2023:

  1. January – Miss Austen by Gil Hornby
  2. February – An Easy Death (Gunnie Rose, #1) by Charlaine Harris
  3. March – The Heroine’s Journey by Gail Carriger
  4. April – Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
  5. May – Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert Heinlein
  6. June – The Matchmaker’s Gift by Lynda Loigman Cohen
  7. July – The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray
  8. August – Cotillion by Georgette Heyer
  9. September – The Measure by Nikki Erlick
  10. October – Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson
  11. November – Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal
  12. December – Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

As you can see, we aim for a mix of genres as well as a mix of newer and older books. I have to say, I think we’ve done a great job planning for next year! I’ve already read our March and November books, but I’m happy to read them again, and I’m excited for all the new books I’ll be reading and discussing with my amazing group.

Have you read any of these? What do you think of our choices?

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