Top Ten Tuesday: Weird or funny things I’ve Googled thanks to a book 

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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 Weird or Funny Things I’ve Googled Thanks to a Book.

Isn’t there a meme out there about how authors’ search history would make people think they’re all serial killers or seriously disturbed? I’m guessing the same is true for plenty of readers. What can we say? We readers are curious people!

Here are random questions and phrases that you’d find in my book-related search history — and the books that inspired them:

1. What do Satanists believe? (while reading Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison)

2. Would the Titanic have sunk if it hit the iceberg head-on rather than along its side? (So many Titanic books, but most recently, A Night to Remember by Walter Lord). And in case you’re wondering, the answer is mixed: I’ve seen very strong arguments saying it absolutely would have sunk, and very strong arguments saying absolutely not!

3. What does someone with face blindness see when they look at a person? (while reading Hello Stranger by Katherine Center)

4. Has anyone ever been swallowed by a sperm whale? (while reading Whalefall by Daniel Krauss). And since I’m sure you’re dying to know too, here’s what Ocean Conservancy has to say:

Can sperm whales swallow humans?

While there have been cases where humans end up in a whale’s mouth, generally these human prey get spit out and not swallowed. It’s an extremely rare and unpleasant day for all involved. Technically sperm whales are the only creatures in the ocean with throats large enough to swallow a human. There was one case of a man named James Bartley, labeled as a “modern day Jonah,” who was allegedly swallowed by a sperm whale off the Falkland Islands in the early 1900s. The story claims that he was rescued from the stomach after whalers took down the animal that ate him. This story doesn’t hold up to close inspection, however, and the science suggests that anyone who had the misfortune of being eaten by a whale would probably not live long. 

5. Very small owls (while reading The Parliament by Aimee Potwatka)

6. Britney’s denim outfit (while reading The Woman in Me by Britney Spears)… and for those who might want to know, this is the image I was looking for:

7. Oz’s family – Buffy (while reading One Girl in All the World by Kendare Blake, because I couldn’t remember how Oz became a werewolf)

8. What does a tree surgeon do? (while reading The No-Show by Beth O’Leary)

9. Treacher Collins syndrome (while reading Wonder by R. J. Palacio

10. Examples of surf movies from the 1960s (while reading California Golden by Melanie Benjamin)

There you have it. Definitely not a serial killer… just a reader with eclectic interests!

I’d love to see what everyone else has been googling, so…

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

Top Ten Tuesday: Covers with Things Found in Nature

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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 Covers/Titles with Things Found in Nature. I’m sticking with covers — maybe I’ll come back and do titles another time (like when I’m stuck for a freebie topic!).

Ten of my favorite nature-themed covers:

  1. The Fall of Koli by M. R. Carey
  2. The Parliament by Aimee Pokwatka
  3. The Suite Spot by Trish Doller
  4. What Should Be Wild by Julia Fine
  5. The Wild Silence by Raynor Winn
  6. Wolfsong by T. K. Klune
  7. Spindle’s End by Robin McKinley
  8. Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton
  9. Birds of California by Katie Cotugno
  10. The Children of Red Peak by Craig DiLouie

Do we have any books in common this week?

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

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Superpowers I Wish I Had

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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 Bookish Superpowers I Wish I Had. This is a fun one!

Here are ten powers I’d love:

  1. Ability to remember every detail from books already read… especially earlier books in series.
  2. The power to read even when too tired to keep my eyes open.
  3. The ability to listen (and absorb) audiobooks throughout my day without getting distracted.
  4. A superpower that makes signed first editions of my favorite books magically appear on my doorstep the second they’re available.
  5. Teleportation powers that allow me to attend favorite author’s book signings anywhere across the country, with no airplane flights or loss of sleep involved.
  6. The ability to transport myself into the world of a book for a day (but without having to face any real dangers such as disease, getting lost, etc)
  7. The power to snap my fingers and have Hollywood decide to adapt all my favorite books (and do them all perfectly)
  8. A special food-related power that makes any delicious sounding food or drink that I read about in a novel pop into existence in my hands.
  9. One that sounds magical even if it isn’t: The ability to read as much as I want, wherever and whenever I want, without having to worry about work, money, errands, or anything else real-world-ish.
  10. Another teleportation/time travel-y one to round out the list: The ability to travel back in time and meet certain favorite authors from the past!

What bookish superpowers would you wish for?

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

PS – I played with an AI image generator using search terms like superhero, woman with superpowers, superhero woman reading… the images in this post are two of the results!

Top Ten Tuesday: It’s all above LOVE… My ten favorite love stories from this past year of reading (new & improved for 2024)

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 Love Freebie, which means we all put our own spin on the topic of LOVE.

Focusing on my favorite love stories from the books I’ve read recently has become my go-to topic for the “love freebie” TTT topic — I’ve been keeping it going since 2020! Here are my ten favorite love stories that I read in the past year:

  1. Once More With Feeling by Elissa Sussman (review)
  2. The Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner (review)
  3. Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan (review)
  4. With Love, From Cold World by Alicia Thompson (review)
  5. Queen Charlotte by Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhimes (review)
  6. The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren (review)
  7. Hello Stranger by Katherine Center (review)
  8. Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer (review)
  9. The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston (review)
  10. Trish Doller trilogy (Float Plan, The Suite Spot, Off the Map) (review, review, and review!)

What were the best love stories you read during the past year?

If you wrote a TTT post this week, please share your link and let me know your topic!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Quick Reads/Books to Read When Time is Short

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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 Top Ten Quick Reads/Books to Read When Time is Short, which the host is defining as books under 150 pages.

For my list, I’m not paying too much attention to page counts; instead, I’m going with the general idea of shorter reads — basically, novellas.

I’ve been reading more novellas over the past few years — here are ten that I’ve loved:

1) Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky (review)

2) The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler (review)

3) Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher (review)

4) Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth (review)

5) Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower by Tamsyn Muir (review)

6) To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers (review)

7) A Psalm for the Wild-Built and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers (yes, more Becky Chambers — her books are THAT good)

8) A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow (review)

9) Gwendy’s Button Box by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar (and I do recommend the entire Gwendy trilogy) (review)

10) Rizzio by Denise Mina (review)

Do you have any favorite novellas?

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

Top Ten Tuesday: New-to-Me Authors I Discovered 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 New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2023.

I always love this TTT topic — it’s fun to look back and appreciate how many new authors I’ve tried, especially when there are more of their books for me still to read!

I actually “met” more than 10 new-to-me authors in 2023, and it’s hard for me to narrow down the list… but here are ten whose books I really enjoyed.

1) Author: Trish Doller. Books read:

2) Author: Elissa Sussman. Books read:

3) Author: Victor LaValle. Book read:

4) Author: Elizabeth Acevedo. Books read:

5) Author: Travis Baldree. Books read:

6) Author: Heather Fawcett. Books read:

7) Author: Annabel Monaghan. Books read:

8) Author: Paul Tremblay. Book read:

9) Author: Colleen Oakley. Book read:

10) Author: Sara Goodman Confino. Book read:

Have you read other books by these authors? Do you have any recommendations?

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

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

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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 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:

  1. Akata Woman by Nnedi Okorafor
  2. How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix
  3. Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
  4. Saga, volume 11 by Brian K. Vaughn
  5. Infinity Gate by M. R. Carey
  6. The Thorns Remain by JJA Harwod
  7. Pat of Silver Bush by L. M. Montgomery
  8. A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice by Rebecca Connolly
  9. Deaf Utopia by Nyle DiMarco
  10. 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!

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Goals for 2024

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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 Bookish Goals for 2024.

OK, I’m more or less repeating what I’ve written in past years. I’m not a big fan of resolutions, so let’s consider this instead that I’m setting some basic intentions. Whether or not I’ll stick to these as the year progresses remains to be seen… and I’m fine with that.

These are a few general concepts I hope to apply to my reading this year:

Read whatever I feel like. I say this every year… and every year it’s worth repeating! Other than book group reading commitments, I’m always happiest when I read without a plan. It’s a wonderful feeling!

Keep ARCS manageable. I have a lot of ARCs on my plate for books releasing in the first half of the year, but many of these are books I’d want to read no matter what. I intend to slow down my requests from this point forward — so I can get back to the point above!

Spend some time reading (or sampling) at least a few of the books/series I highlighted in my series-to-read post for this year.

Make a dent in my classic reading plans. I’ve been participating in the Classics Club spins for the past couple of years, which I love — but I have a big list of classics yet to read, and I’d like to carve out some time for at least one or two outside of the “spin cycle”.

Decide what to do with the books I’ve pulled from my shelves but haven’t yet removed from my house. I keep fantasizing about installing a Little Free Library, but I’m not sure that where I live is really conducive to having one of those. So, I need to start doing some sorting – some nicer books to try to sell, some to trade it an a used bookstore, and some to go to my library’s donation center.

Do a big audiobook reread: I’ve been planning to do audio rereads of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and also want to do the same with the Green Creek series. Both will take a lot of time, and are probably multi-year projects. I want to at least get started in 2024.

Mostly, for 2024 and always, this pretty much sums up my attitude:

What are your bookish goals for 2024? Whatever they may be… wishing you lots of bookish delights!

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2024

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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 Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2024.

There are so many to choose from — but since I already featured a bunch in my winter TBR post, I’ll focus on a different set of books this week.

Here are (just some of) the books I can’t wait to read in 2024!

Listed in order of release date:

  1. The Women by Kristin Hannah (2/6/2024)
  2. To Woo & To Wed by Martha Waters (2/6/2024)
  3. The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden (2/14/2024)
  4. The Prisoner’s Throne by Holly Black (3/5/2024)
  5. Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle (3/5/2024)
  6. Studies at the School by the Sea by Jenny Colgan (3/26/2024)
  7. The Princess of Las Vegas by Chris Bohjalian (3/26/2024)
  8. The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto (3/26/2024)
  9. The Evolution of Annabel Craig by Lisa Grunwald (4/16/2024)
  10. Funny Story by Emily Henry (4/23/2024)

What upcoming new releases are you most excited for? If you wrote a TTT post, please share your link!

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books of 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 Favorite Books of 2023.

There were so many great ones! It’s hard to narrow my list down to just ten…

Consider this just a sampling of the great books I read in 2023!

1.. Wolfsong by TJ Klune: But really, the entire Green Creek series is my top reading experience of the year. I loved all four books, but Wolfsong holds an especially strong place in my heart. After all, it’s all candy canes and pinecones and epic and awesome. (review)

… plus…

2. Hello Stranger by Katherine Center: The main character’s situation is like nothing I’ve ever read before. This book is fascinating and entertaining and lovely. (review)

3. Hard to pick just one T. Kingfisher book! I read three by this author in 2023, and these two are especially wonderful: (reviews here and here)

4. Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree: The hype is real! This book has gotten so much buzz, and it’s all deserved. The cozy fantasy I never knew I needed. (review)

5. Whalefall by Daniel Kraus: This wins the prize for the weirdest thing I read all year… and yet, I still can’t get it out of my mind! (review)

6. A duo from a favorite series: Sleep No More (review) and The Innocent Sleep (review), books 17 and 18 in the excellent October Daye series by Seanan McGuire, were released one month apart in the fall, telling the same story from two different characters’ perspectives. Simply awesome.

7. Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer: Every once in a while, a Georgette Heyer novel is just right for the moment, and I absolutely loved reading Sprig Muslin this year. (review)

8. Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto: This book made me laugh and kept me guessing. Just pure fun. (review)

9. The Celebrants by Steven Rowley: I loved this story of friendship across the years — beautiful and emotional and truly resonant. (review)

10. The Gunnie Rose series by Charlaine Harris: I hadn’t thought this would interest me, but after reading the first book (An Easy Death) early in the year with my book group, I couldn’t stop until I’d read all five (and I’m hoping for more!).

The rest of the best:

Who am I kidding? I can’t name just 10!! Here are other books from my 2023 reading adventures that I loved too much not to mention:

What were you favorite books of 2023? If you wrote a TTT post, please share your link!