Top Ten Tuesday: Book covers with interesting typography

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 Featuring Cool/Pretty/Unique/etc. Typography, with the prompt Typography is the art of arranging letters so they look visually appealing and more interesting than, for example, the body text of this blog post you’re reading now.

I’m not always great at visuals and graphics (my artistic side is… let’s say… rather under-developed). Still, perusing my shelves, I was able to find books where the cover lettering feels different and really fits the theme or subject:

Paperbacks From Hell by Grady Hendrix
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
White Cat by Holly Black
I’ll Be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
You Suck by Christopher Moore
Doll Bones by Holly Black
Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison

I also have in mind a couple of series with iconic typography:

Can you think of any others, similar to Harry Potter and Outlander, where the font/typography is so strongly associated with the book series?

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

27Jan2026

Top Ten Tuesday: New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2025

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 Bookish Discoveries I Made in 2025, with the prompt New-to-you authors you discovered, new genres you learned you like, new bookish resources you found, friends you made, local bookshops you found, a book club you joined, etc.

I always enjoy taking a moment to reflect on and appreciate new-to-me authors whose books I experienced for the first time… and there were quite a few in 2025!

Here are ten new-to-me authors I read in 2025 — all of whom are authors whose books I’ll be looking for in the future as well:

Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding (co-authors)
Freya Marske
Mike Gayle
Richard Osman
Liz Moore
Kirsty Greenwood
Janelle Brown
Ariel Lawhon
Rachel Koller Croft
Kiersten White

Do you have other books by these authors to recommend?

Which new-to-you authors did you discover in 2025?

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

20Jan2026

Top Ten Tuesday: Even more books releasing in the first half of 2026!

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 Goals for 2026 (Bookish or not! Share your reading goals, personal goals, etc.).

Since I already shared my bookish goals at the start of January, I’m going rogue! Today’s TTT post is essentially part two of last week’s list (my most anticipated books for the first half of 2026). This week, here are even more upcoming new releases to look forward to! After all, I felt bad leaving some of my top choices off the list last week…

Here we go — EVEN MORE new releases for the first half of 2026:

Listed in order of release date:

Anne of a Different Island by Virginia Kantra (1/20/2026)
Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett (2/17/2026)
A Ghastly Catastrophe (Veronica Speedwell, #10) by Deanna Raybourn (3/3/2026)
Where the Girls Were by Kate Schatz (3/3/2026)
Butterfly Effects (Incryptids, #15) by Seanan McGuire (3/10/2026)
Once and Again by Rebecca Serle (3/10/2026)
Love by the Book by Jessica George (4/7/2026)
Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell (4/14/2026)
Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth (4/21/2026)
Take Me with You by Steven Rowley (5/19/2026)

Are any of these book on your TBR? Which sound good to you?

And since I went off-topic this week… if you wrote about bookish goals, please share your link! I’d love to see thoughts and intentions about the year to come.

13Jan2026

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2026

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 Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2026.

I have a huge list of upcoming new releases that I’m planning to read. Between ARCs and preorders for books by favorite authors, I’m in no danger of running out of reading options!

As always, it’s difficult to narrow down the list to just ten. Here are some of the books I’m really looking forward to, with release dates between now and the end of June. (I could probably add another ten… but I’ll save those for another day!)

Listed in order of release date:

Love Me Tomorrow by Emiko Jean (2/3/2026)
The Harvey Girl by Dana Stabenow (3/5/2026)
The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer (4/7/2026)
The Name Game by Beth O’Leary (4/7/2026)
We Burn So Bright by TJ Klune (4/28/2026)
Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune (5/5/2026)
The Shippers by Katherine Center (5/19/2026)
An Ordinary Sort of Evil (A Rip Through Time, #5) by Kelley Armstrong (5/19/2026)
Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan (5/26/2026)
Obstetrix by Naomi Kritzer (6/9/2026)

Which upcoming new releases are you most excited for? Do we have any in common?

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

6Jan2026

Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books I Read in 2025

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 Best Books I Read in 2025.

I read so many great books this past year! According to StoryGraph, I gave 5-star ratings to 30 books in 2025. It’s too painful to narrow down to just ten… so I’m not! Leaving off books that were re-reads (such as three Tolkien and one Austen!) and a few children’s books, here are 22 of the best books that I read in 2025:

Next Time Will Be Our Turn by Jesse Q. Sutanto (review)
The Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage (review)
My Friends by Fredrik Backman (review)
Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench (review)
The Sirens by Emilia Hart (review)
The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune (review)
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab (review)
The Jackal’s Mistress by Chris Bohjalian (review)
When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi (review)
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (review)
Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire (review)
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (review)
Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell (review)
Dracula by Bram Stoker (review)
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon (review)
Overgrowth by Mira Grant (review)
It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan (review)
One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune (review)
The King’s Messenger by Susanna Kearsley (review)
The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow (review)
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix (review)
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (review)

Even at 22, that’s ignoring other books I really loved, but for whatever ever reason gave 4.5 or 4.75 stars on StoryGraph. This topic is a lot harder than I expected!

What were you favorite books of 2025? Do we have any in common?

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

30Dec2025

Top Ten Tuesday: The Ten Most Recent Additions to My Kindle Library

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 Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf.

I’ve already shared most of the recent physical books I’ve added to my shelves — mainly hardcover editions of books I’ve already read (either as ARCs or from the library). So, for today’s post, I’m focusing on my Kindle library. Kindle books are an ongoing source of temptation for me. I can’t resist clicking that “buy now” button when there’s a sudden price drop! $1.99 for a book I’ve been wanting? Yes, please! Of course, I end up with more Kindle books than I can possibly read right away… but it’s nice to have options.

Here are the ten Kindle books I’ve added most recently:

The Guest in Room 120 by Sara Ackerman
The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner
A Dowry of Blood by S. T. Gibson
The Once and Future Queen by Paula Lafferty
All of Us Murderers by KJ Charles
Heartwood by Amity Gage
The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali (an upcoming book group read)
To the Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage
Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein
The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict (another upcoming book group read)

Have you read any of my recent additions? What books have you bought most recently?

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

23Dec2025

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Wishes

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 Hope Santa Brings/Bookish Wishes. My holidays have already wrapped up and I don’t expect a visit from Santa… but in case a Book Fairy ever ends up in the neighborhood, here’s what I’m wishing for!

There are a few books here that I’m hoping to read in the coming year, a few that I’ve read but would love to own for myself… and who can resist a bookish Lego set?

Already read – want to own:

Cinder House by Freya Marske: I loved this novella! (review)
Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green: Such a powerful, informative book. I’d like my own copy so I can refer back to it again (and again) (review)
The Heir Apparent by Rebecca Armitage: Loved this one too! I borrowed a library edition, but would really like a hardcover for my shelves. (review)

Pretty editions plus a book I want to read:

Harper Muse Classics edition of Mansfield Park — I’ve slowly managed to add all of the other Austen books in this collection to my shelves. This is the last one I still need!
This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews: I’ll be honest — I don’t actually know what this book is about, but it’s so gorgeous that I’m itching to buy a copy every time I see it pop up.
The Once and Future Queen by Paula Lafferty: Yet another book that I’m definitely judging by its cover! The story sounds really good… but that beautiful design is what’s calling my name.
Apprehension by Mary Robinette Kowal / Red Star Hustle by Sam J. Miller: This two-in-one sci-fi book sounds amazing… and with half of it by a favorite author, I really do need a copy!

LEGO!

I mean… these just seem too perfect!

What books (or other bookish items) are you wishing for this winter? Share your links, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links. I may earn a small commission for purchases made using these links, at no cost to you.

9Dec2025

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Set in Snowy Places

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 Set in Snowy Places.

Here are ten from my shelves:

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
The Silent Land by Graham Joyce
Snowpiercer by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette
The Shining by Stephen King
Snowblind by Christopher Golden (review)
A Cold Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow (review)
Three Holidays and a Wedding by Uzma Jalaluddin and Marissa Stapley (review)
Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot (review)
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (review)
Beartown by Fredrik Backman (review)

Note: The Silent Land is an under-the-radar gem! I read it back before I was blogging, so I don’t have a blog-based review to share — but here’s what I posted on Goodreads at the time:

A couple on a romantic ski getaway in the Pyrenees is caught in a sudden, early morning avalanche on the ski slopes. When they finally manage to dig themselves out and find their way back down the mountain, they find their hotel and its village have been evacuated, and they’re completely alone. Or is there something else going on? “The Silent Land” is simply told, but does a masterful job of evoking the glory of a snowy mountain, the joy of being with a soulmate, and the disquiet of realizing that some things defy explanation, no matter how hard you try to understand it all. It’s hard to go any further without divulging spoilers, which I won’t do. Suffice it to say that “The Silent Land” is both beautiful and ominous, gave me the chills, and kept me intrigued enough that I ended up reading in all in one day. Definitely recommended.

Do you have any favorite books with snowy settings?

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

Save

2Dec2025

Top Ten Tuesday: Can you keep a secret?

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 freebie — we choose whatever topic appeals to us! I enjoy finding patterns among my book titles — and I also enjoy having simpler TTT topics during weeks I know will be especially busy — so this week, I’ve chosen books with the word SECRET in their titles. There are a lot of them!

I’m focusing on books on my physical and virtual bookshelves. Some of these are books I’ve read, and some are from my TBR… and there are plenty of others I haven’t included, mainly because I’m trying to keep this list under control!

Reading now:

The Deepest of Secrets (Rockton, #7) by Kelley Armstrong

Read previously:

The Secret Christmas Library by Jenny Colgan (review)
The Ladies of the Secret Circus by Constance Sayers (review)
The Secret Commonwealth (The Book of Dust, #2) by Philip Pullman (review)
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna (review)
The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks (review)
The Secrets We Keep by Trisha Leaver (review)
The Book of Secrets by Elizabeth Joy Arnold (review)
The Secret Countess by Eva Ibbotson
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Book on my TBR:

The Baker’s Secret by Stephen P. Kiernan
The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle by Matt Cain
The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry
The Secret River by Kate Grenville
Secret Santa by Andrew Shaffer
Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones

Do you have any favorite “secret” books?

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

Save

25Nov2025

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten books that make me grateful for book groups & book friends

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 Thanksgiving freebie — so we can each come up with our own take on something we’re thankful for this year.

A few years ago, my Thanksgiving freebie post was about books that make me feel thankful to my book group and bookish friends — generally, books I might not have read without the booklovers in my life either recommending them or picking them for our discussions. And now that several years have passed since I shared that list, it’s about time for a fresh look!