Top Ten Tuesday: Halloween freebie — Ten horror books on my TBR list (2025 edition)

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Happy Halloween!

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. (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.)

About half of these are holdovers from last year’s Halloween TBR… giving you some idea of how behind I am when I comes to keeping up with my reading plans! Of the books on my list, most have been around a while, and a couple are upcoming new releases:

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
Needful Things by Stephen King
Dread Nation by Justine Ireland
Hemlock Island by Kelley Armstrong
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
A Dowry of Blood by S. T. Gibson
Dead Weight by Hildur Knutsdottir
The Place Where They Buried Your Heart by Christina Henry
Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon

Have you read any of these (or for the upcoming new releases, do you plan to read them)? Which ones look best to you?

What’s on your Halloween TTT this week? Share your link, please, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

Save

21Oct2025

Top Ten Tuesday: Cozy Reads

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 Cozy Reads. Cozy fantasy is having a moment, but there are so many other types of cozy books too.

I tend to think of cozy fiction as anything with a focus on cuteness, baked goods, restoring an old building, settling in a small town, bookshops, cats… you get the idea!

Here are my top ten:

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna (review)
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree (review)
The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong (review)
The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald (review)
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst (review)
Jane of Lantern Hill by L. M. Montgomery (review)
Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne (review)
Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards
Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan (review)
The Vintage Village Bake-off by Judy Leigh (review)

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

Save

14Oct2025

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Wish I Could Read Again for the First Time

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 Wish I Could Read Again for the First Time. To me, that means books that made a huge impact the first time around — anything from an intense emotional experience to sheer delight to big twists and surprises I never saw coming.

Here are my top ten:

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon: As a die-hard fan of the series, I can’t help but think back on how powerfully the first book affected me.
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell: The opening pages knocked me for a loop.
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger: The jumps between times confused me and delighted me so much.
Fingersmith by Sara Waters: This book made me literally gasp out loud at certain twists.
The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans: I just remember sobbing. That’s it.
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison: Such an incredible reading experience. I find something new to appreciate with each reread, but the first time was especially mind-blowing.
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal: My heart was in my throat.
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn: Such a delightful, playful story.
The BFG by Roald Dahl: I don’t know if I’d appreciate it on my own, but I read this for the first time with my kiddo when he was about 9 or 10, and his laughter was everything.
Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant: This horror novella is like nothing I’d read before, and the key horror element is a knock-out.

What books do you wish you could read again for the first time? Do we have any in common?

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

Save

6Oct2025

Top Ten Tuesday: Satisfying Book Series

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 Satisfying Book Series, with the prompt: Maybe all the books were amazing or there wasn’t any second book syndrome or the final book wrapped everything up soooo perfectly

The prompt seems to put the focus on series that are already completed, but there are at least a few I can think of that really satisfy me even though they’re not done! Here are some favorites:

Series: A Stitch in Time
Author: Kelley Armstrong
# of books: 4 (plus novellas)
Completed? Yes

Amazing timeslip romances with threads to link the stories together, great lead characters, and real emotion!

Series: Folk of the Air
Author: Holly Black
# of books: 3 (plus stories and a related duology)
Completed? Yes

The original trilogy is practically perfect!

Series: Well Met
Author: Jen DeLuca
# of books: 4
Completed? Yes

This Ren Faire-centered series has great characters, interesting plot complications, and a fabulous setting!

Series: The Expanse
Author: James S. A. Corey
# of books: 9 (plus stories)
Completed? Yes

I absolutely did not want to see this series come to an end! But it comes to such a perfect ending that it’s hard to complain. Love the characters, the complex universe… really, just everything about this series.

Series: October Daye
Author: Seanan McGuire
# of books: 19 and counting!
Completed? No

I honestly hope we never reach the end of this series! I love it to pieces, and there’s not a weak book in the bunch.

Series: Lady Astronaut
Author: Mary Robinette Kowal
# of books: 4
Completed? Unclear

The Calculating Stars blew me away, and is a fabulous read. The following three books are all good, but none have quite the emotional impact of the first. Still, it’s a great series! And while I thought the 4th book was supposed to be the last one, it now seems that there may be more to come in this world.

Series: The Glamourist Histories
Author: Mary Robinette Kowal
# of books: 5
Completed? Yes

“Jane Austen with magic” is the short-hand description for this series, but it’s so much more! These five books feature terrific characters, an intricately crafted system of magic, compelling relationships, and high stakes. Completely satisfying from start to finish!

Series: The Interdependency
Author: John Scalzi
# of books: 3
Completed? Yes

Such an interesting sci-fi world! And yes, it’s funny, even while being more along the lines of “hard” science fiction. I feel like this trilogy is much less well known than the Old Man’s War series (also amazing!), and I think these books deserve more attention! Terrific storytelling.

Series: The Parasol Protectorate
Author: Gail Carriger
# of books: 4 (plus other related series and many stories)
Completed? Yes

I love everything about the Parasol-verse, and this four-book series started it all! The Finishing School and Custard Protocol series are both terrific too!

Series: Gunnie Rose
Author: Charlaine Harris
# of books: 6
Completed? Yes

Some books in this series are stronger than others, but overall, it’s a terrific alternate world, and I ended up loving the main characters. The series wraps up well… the only unsatisfying thing about it is that I wish the story would continue!

Do we have any series in common? What series do you consider most satisfying?

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

Save

30Sep2025

Top Ten Tuesday: Book Covers that Give off Autumn Vibes (2025 edition!)

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 Book Covers that Give off Fall Vibes. I last did this TTT topic in 2020 and 2019 — let’s see if I can come up with a fresh batch of 10!

When I think of autumn, I think of browns and oranges and yellows — so here are a selection of books from my shelves with cover colors in a fall palette.

What books make you think of autumn? Please share your TTT link!

Save

23Sep2025

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Fall 2025 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 2025 to-Read List.

Once again, summer whooshed by! I read 8 out of 10 books on my summer TBR list, and I’m including one of the two remaining on my TBR for fall. (I do still want to read the other one… eventually.) Looking ahead now that fall is here, I have a new set of books to prioritize — and hope to do a decent job balancing commitment books (ARCs, book group books) with books that I just feel like reading!

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 2025… but yes, I still intend to read the five remaining from that list too!

My top 10 for fall are:

Green Rider by Kristen Britain: I swore I’d start this series in 2025, and the clock is ticking!
Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree: These books are always so much fun.
Alone in the Wild (Rockton, #5) by Kelley Armstrong: I’ve been loving this series, and I’m kinda, sorta hoping to get through the three books I have left by the end of the year.
My Friends by Fredrik Backman: I’ve been waiting for the mood to strike to pick up this book, and I think it’s about time I make it happen.
Swordheart by T. Kingfisher: My summer holdover. Again, I’ve just been waiting to be in the mood… which hasn’t happened yet, but I know I always end up loving this author’s books, so I think I just need to commit and get started.
A Pirate’s Life for Tea by Rebecca Thorne: The first book in this cozy fantasy series was sweet and entertaining — just waiting for my library hold to come in for book #2.
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky: Another series that I swore I’d finally start, and since this book also checks a box on a reading challenge I’m trying to finish, I think it’s about time to read it.
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman: I think everyone has read these books but me!
The Austen Affair by Madeline Bell: I apparently have an insatiable appetite for Austen retellings!
A Town with Half the Lights On by Page Getz: I randomly grabbed a copy of this book when I saw I price drop, and I think it sounds like fun.

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!

Save

2Sep2025

Top Ten Tuesday: You’re Hired! Books With Occupations in the Title

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 With Occupations in the Title.

This is a fun one! Here are books from my recent reading years that fit the prompt:

The Lieutenant’s Nurse by Sara Ackerman (review)
The King’s Messenger by Susanna Kearsley (review)
The Hebrew Teacher by Maya Arad (review)
The Auctioneer by Joan Samson (review)
The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill (review)
Midwives by Chris Bohjalian
The Bookseller of Inverness by S. G. Maclean (review)
Disappearance of a Scribe by Dana Stabenow (review)
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray (review)
The Bodyguard by Katherine Center (review)

Which books made your list this week?

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

Save

19Aug2025

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with a High Page Count

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 with a High Page Count. I’ve definitely done variations on this topic before, focusing on the longest books I’ve ever read, plus the longest read in particular years (here are my lists from 2021 and 2017/2018) — but it’s been a while, so why not give the topic an update?

To kick things off, here are (more or less*) the longest books I’ve ever read, according to my Goodreads stats:

*this is actually somewhat changeable, depending on the edition… but let’s just say these are among the longest I’ve ever read!

A Breath of Snow and Ashes – 1488 pages
Les Misérables – 1463 pages
The Fiery Cross – 1443 pages
A Storm of Swords – 1177 pages
The Stand – 1152 pages
Shogun – 1152 pages
A Dance with Dragons – 1125 pages
Under the Dome – 1074 pages
A Feast for Crows – 1060 pages
War and Remembrance – 1042 pages

(Hmmm… I suppose without Diana Gabaldon, George R. R. Martin, and Stephen King, I’d have a lot more free reading time on my hands!)

To keep things fresh, I’ll add in the longest books I’ve read from 2022 until now. My ten longest recent books are:

Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon – 902 pages
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot – 796 pages
Paper Girls: The Complete Story by Brian K. Vaughan – 784 pages
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros – 623 pages
Fairy Tale by Stephen King – 607 pages
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah – 593 pages
Persepolis Rising (The Expanse, #7) by James S. A. Corey – 560 pages
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan – 546 pages
My Calamity Jane by Cynthia Hand et. al. – 546 pages
Babylon’s Ashes (The Expanse, #6) by James S. A. Corey – 541 pages
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab – 535 pages

More Gabaldon and King… and yes, that makes 11 books, simply because the 11th longest book is too good to leave off my list!

Which are the longest books you’ve read in the past few years?

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

Save

12Aug2025

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Guaranteed to Put an End to Your Book Slump

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 Guaranteed to Put an End to Your Book Slump, with the prompt: Which books would you recommend to someone dealing with the dreaded book slump? No book is grabbing their attention or making them excited to sit down and read and they are suffering for it.

Of course, no one book is going to work for everyone — but here are ten that grabbed me right from the start and never let me go, which is just what we all need when a slump hits.

1. The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal: This story of women astronauts is set during an accelerated space race after a meteor strike changes the future of life on Earth. It’s gripping and fascinating, and the characters are unforgettable. (review)

2. Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree: Sometimes, all you need is a bit of cozy fantasy and great coffee! This book is understated and charming. (review)

3. The Husbands by Holly Gramazio: One of the strangest concepts for a novel, and it’s amazing! (review)

4. When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi: Outright silliness can be the perfect antidote to a slump… and what’s sillier than a book about the moon turning to cheese? (review)

5. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab: A tense, layered vampire story that spans centuries — I couldn’t put it down. (review)

6. Weyward by Emilia Hart: I loved everything about this beautifully written witchy tale. (review)

7. Every Summer After by Carley Fortune: A gorgeous romance with a beautiful setting and complicated characters. Prepare to be swept away to a sunny summer lake! (review)

8. Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto: More silliness! And so much fun. (review)

9. Kills Well With Others by Deanna Raybourn: A group of older women approaching retirement from life as assassins — unique and funny. (review)

10. The Guncle by Steven Rowley: This book’s lighthearted surface hides deeper emotions and beautiful connections. Lovely, and also lots of fun. (review)

What books would you recommend to break a reading slump?

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

Save

5Aug2025

Top Ten Tuesday: Genre freebie — time travel (and other time oddities)!

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 a Genre freebie, with the prompt: Pick any genre you’d like and build a list around it. You can even narrow the topic if you’d like, such as: thrillers with unreliable narrators, fantasy romance with fae characters, or historical romance with suspense elements.

I considered and discarded a bunch of options before settling on time travel as my theme for the week. I’m sure I must have covered this topic before — many times!! — but it’s just such a good one, and there are always more books to add.

Here are some favorite, beloved time travel books*… plus a smaller handful that I read but didn’t love, although in most cases, there were at least a few elements to appreciate.

*Technically, these aren’t all exactly time travel. Some just have time-related weirdness (such as extraordinarily long lives) that make me include them in this category!

LOVED: