Category: Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday | Recent Books I Read In One Sitting

Posted February 5, 2024 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 30 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Recent Books I Read In One Sitting

Some of these books are novellas, and there’s also a gag book, but many of them are full-length novels which I finished very quickly because they were easy reads and so good I couldn’t put them down.

Top Ten Recent Books I Read In One Sitting

  1. 10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston – 336 pages. It’s a fun YA romance set around Christmas season. I didn’t expect to enjoy it so much, but I did!
  2. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster – 248 pages. Too many people were telling me to read it, so I did, and I loved it!
  3. The September House by Carissa Orlando – 344 pages. It’s so good, I couldn’t put it down! It was scary and horrifying, but also funny and insightful. It’s my favorite book of January!
  4. All My Friends Are Dead by Avery Monsen and Jory John – 96 pages. Funny story; I came across this book while I was looking up another book on this list (Book Love by Debbie Tung), and this book came up in the “Readers also enjoyed…” section. It looked fun, so I went on Libby and it was available so I borrowed it, and opened it intending just to look inside. I ended up finishing the whole thing in maybe… 10 minutes? It was funny and sad, and I felt totally called out by the plant that said to stop buying their friends only to kill them slowly!
  5. Book Love by Debbie Tung – 137 pages. I loved this book! I relate so much to it because of all the book related jokes and tales of the reading life.
  6. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros – 498 pages. This isn’t a short book and it was also pretty intense, but it was so good and I just couldn’t put it down. I finished it way too fast, and I wanted more, but I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir here with most of you.
  7. Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher – 116 pages. I’m a huge fan of T. Kingfisher, and this was a short but really good story! I love this perspective of the Sleeping Beauty fairytale.
  8. You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle – 368 pages. I didn’t expect to love this so much when I started it because I thought they were horrible to each other, but it got really good and I loved how it all went down.
  9. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus – 390 pages. I laughed out loud at so many parts in the story, and also cried at some places. I went in with zero expectations because I didn’t know about the hype at the time, but it became one of my favorite books in 2023.
  10. We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – 65 pages. This is a very short book, but so impactful. It says so much in so few pages, and it really makes you think. I’d highly recommend it to anyone.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? What books did you finish in one sitting because they were just so good?

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Top Ten Tuesday | New-To-Me Authors Discovered in 2023

Posted January 29, 2024 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 31 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2023

I wasn’t sure if I had ten new authors I read in 2023, but apparently I did! Some of them I liked better than others, but I’m happy to say all of them are authors whose works I’d read again.

Top Ten New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2023

  1. M.R. Carey – I read the Rampart Trilogy and I loved it. He is also the author of The Girl With All The Gifts series, which was turned into a movie I remember enjoying. I didn’t know at the time it was based on books, but I’m curious to read the series.
  2. Tomi Adeyemi – I read Children of Blood and Bone, the first book in the Legacy of Orisha series, and I’m intending to finish the series this year, hopefully.
  3. Madeline Martin – I read The Last Bookshop in London, and have since read The Librarian Spy. I also want to read The Keeper of Hidden Books.
  4. Bonnie Garmus – I read Lessons in Chemistry. It looks like she’s only got a single book released, but if/when she writes more, I’ll be reading them.
  5. Sarah Hogle – I read You Deserve Each Other. It was so well-written and I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it. It looks like she’s got plenty of books in the same vein and I’m going to make my way through them.
  6. Allison Ashley – I read The Roommate Pact. Fun, light-hearted, heartwarming contemporary romance. I’ll be reading her other books as well.
  7. Emma Straub – I read This Time Tomorrow, a time-travel story with a lovely father-daughter relationship I fell in love with. Apparently she’s the daughter of famed author Peter Straub. I’ve never read him, but I’ve seen many of his books around. I’m interested in reading more of her books as well as trying some of Peter Straub’s books.
  8. Rebecca Yarros – I read Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, and I’m obviously going to read the next books in this series!
  9. Louis Erdrich – I read The Sentence. It was not what I expected at all. It was simultaneously so mundane and yet magical. I love the glimpse into the Native American world, and I want to read more from her.
  10. Ashley Elston – I read 10 Blind Dates and it was such a joy to read that now I want to read more. There’s a sequel, and there are several other books I’m looking forward to.

Have you read any of these authors? Did you read any of these books? What did you think of them?

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

Posted January 22, 2024 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 58 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Books I Meant to Read in 2023 but Didn’t Get To

Oh, the shame!

Not only are there so many books that I meant to read in 2023 but didn’t, some of them go so far back on my TBR list, I don’t even remember what they’re about or if I still want to read them! These are just the few that I most want to read, and I really hope I get to them some time this year!

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

Top-Bottom, Left-Right:

  1. The Rook by Daniel O’Malley – Well, the whole Checquy series, actually. This is the first book in the series, and I’ve read it a while ago. I meant to reread this and then the rest of the series in 2022, but I didn’t, and then I meant to read it in 2023, but didn’t. The good news is, I got the audiobook last week and have started reading it, finally! So hopefully I’ll actually finish the series this year.
  2. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir – I keep meaning to read this and the rest of the series too, but this one isn’t my fault. It took a long time to get to me on the waitlist, and I had other books in the queue as well, and didn’t manage to get to it before I had to return it again for the next reader. Let’s hope the timing works out for this year!
  3. Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer – And yet another series I meant to read. I hear great things about it, I just haven’t gotten around to it.
  4. The Glass Chateau by Stephen P. Kiernan – This is one of my favorite authors and I’ve read all his other books. I was so excited when this book came out last year, and I meant to read it, but I took it for granted and before I knew it, the year ended and it’s still unread!
  5. The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang – I loved the first book in this series, and I have this and the next book on my high priority list. The first book was good but a little heavy, and I’m afraid the next books will be too, so I’m procrastinating a bit.
  6. Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller – By all accounts, I think I’d love this book and I keep meaning to read it but I just haven’t picked it up yet.
  7. Between Us by Mhairi McFarlane – I’m not too ashamed of this one because it’s relatively new, but I originally planned to read it as soon as it came out, so I hope I get to it this year.
  8. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster – I’ve had this on my physical bookshelf for a couple of years and I keep meaning to read it. It was supposed to be one of the first books I meant to read this year too, but I haven’t gotten to it yet.
  9. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon – I won’t lie, I’m a bit intimidated by the size, but then again I do love big books. I’m not in a hurry to read this, but I do want to try to get to it before the end of 2024.
  10. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder – This series has been on my TBR for years and years and years. I hope to at least read the first book this year!

Did you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Are they worth still keeping on my TBR for 2024?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Bookish Goals for 2024

Posted January 15, 2024 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 44 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Bookish Goals for 2024.

This topic is giving me a bit of anxiety. I’ve got bookish goals for this year, don’t get me wrong, but they’ve been mostly held loosely in a “we’ll see” way. Writing them down here and talking about them make them feel more serious, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that. On the other hand, maybe this is exactly what I need to help me achieve those goals.

Many of them are related and build on each other, so in a way, I could either easily achieve most of them, or fail at most of them!

Top Ten Bookish Goals for 2024

Read more non-fiction – Specifically self-help and reference books I bought long ago that I meant to take notes on. It’s just so easy to breeze through fiction, while putting non-fic aside because I feel like I need to put aside focused time for them.

Take notes and/or annotate books – I love annotated books, but I find it hard to read while annotating because I get so engrossed and forget to stop. I also can’t annotated borrowed books, so I’ll need some kind of notebook if I want to take notes on library books.

Read slower – I tend to rush through books and end up forgetting details, and eventually forgetting the stories. I have reread books without realizing that I’ve read them before! My whole reason for wanting to take notes is so I’ll slow down and remember the books I read.

Write reviews for books I read – Another way to help me remember the books I read, but more concise. I anticipate being very long-winded with my annotations, and the reviews will help me summarize my thoughts.

Read books I own – Related to the first goal, but not limited to nonfic. I just want to read some of the books I bought long time ago because I wanted to read them then and never did. It’s so easy to get caught up in the excitement of new books, and prioritizing library books because they have deadlines. There’s no urgency with books I own because they belong to me, but I should at least try to read some this year!

Prioritize older books on my TBR instead of new releases – I mean… LOL! Look, I know me, and I know I can’t resist new releases. We just did a TTT on anticipated new releases, ya know?! But I’m going to try to read more old books than new ones?

Finish some of the series I’ve started – So. Many. Series. So. MANY. I need to finish some of them or I’ll go crazy. I don’t know why I do this to myself.

Read more diverse books – I tend to not pay very much attention to what I read or who the authors are beyond the fact that the book’s premise interests me. I do end up reading many diverse books anyway, but I’d like to be more intentional about choosing them.

Read more in print – Physical books or ebooks. Last year more than half my books read were audiobooks, and that’s because it’s convenient for me when I’m getting chores done, and necessary for me to get to sleep, but that means I’m usually borrowing whatever audiobooks are available in the moment instead of reading physical books and ebooks I already have. I end up reading a lot of books I’d never heard of nor were interested in. On the bright side, I’ve also discovered some great books by accident because of this.

Reorganize my bookshelves – It’s a bit messy right now, ngl. And I’ve also got non-bookish stuff, random files, piles of paper, taking up space on those shelves because I have nowhere else to put them. I’d have to go through them all to clear up space.

DNF books I don’t like sooner – I’m really bad at this and I need to get better. Rationally, I have no problem DNF-ing books, but emotionally, I always hope that they get better and I keep reading to give them that chance.

I hope I’m able to achieve most of these. What are your bookish goals this year?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Most Anticipated Books for 2024 Jan – Jun

Posted January 8, 2024 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 58 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2024

There are so many that I’m so excited for!!! Almost all of these are authors I have read and loved, and I would read anything they write so that’s why I can’t wait for these. I know they are going to be good!

Top Ten Most Anticipated Books Releasing Jan-Jun 2024

Top-Bottom, Left-Right:

  1. The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo – releasing Feb 13. She’s a Malaysian author writing about Malaysian Chinese folklore. I’ve read The Ghost Bride and The Night Tiger, both written by her and I loved them. I’m very excited for this one.
  2. The Bride Bet by Tessa Dare – releasing Jan 15. This is the fourth book in the Girl Meets Duke series, and I’ve read the first three, so obviously this is next on the list!
  3. What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher – releasing Feb 13. I love T. Kingfisher, and I loved the first book in this series. I didn’t even know there was going to be a second book, but of course I have to read it too!
  4. Funny Story by Emily Henry – releasing Apr 23. I’ve read several of Emily Henry’s books and always enjoy them. This one has a storyline that is just too good to pass up.
  5. The Girl in Question by Tess Sharpe – releasing May 14. The first book I read by Tess Sharpe is the first book in this series, The Girls I’ve Been, and I was hooked. I love her strong female protagonists, and I was so excited to find out she wrote a sequel.
  6. The Dark Fable by Katherine Harbour – releasing Jan 30. The only author on this list whom I’ve never read. I’m not sure what to expect and I hope I won’t be disappointed, but I love the premise and I love fantasy stories, so I’m excited to read this!
  7. You Like It Darker by Stephen King – releasing Mar 21. I mean, it’s Stephen King. I haven’t read all his books but I’m sure going to try, and his new stories keep getting better so of course I’m going to read this.
  8. The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden – releasing Feb 13. I loved The Winternight Trilogy and I am very interested in this story. I want to read it!
  9. The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo – releasing Apr 9. I loved many of Leigh Bardugo’s books, and I am very interested in this story too. Anticipating it very much!
  10. The Bad Weather Friend by Dean Koontz – releasing Jan 23. I’ve only read one of Koontz books so far and I loved it, and I keep meaning to read more. I love the premise of this book, it sounds so deliciously creepy and I just can’t wait to read it.

Have you read any of these authors? What did you think of them? What are your most anticipated books this year?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Favorite Books of 2023

Posted January 2, 2024 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 44 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Favorite Books of 2023.

Happy New Year 2024, everyone!

2023 wasn’t the best reading year for me because I felt like there were way too many books I read that I didn’t like, did not finish, or otherwise felt lukewarm about. But there were a few books that were amazing and some that have found a place as my all-time favorite books in my heart.

I hope 2024 will be an incredible reading year for all of us with lots of great books!

Top Ten Favorite Books of 2023

Top-Bottom, Left-Right:

  1. Labyrinth’s Heart by M.A. Carrick – The third and final book in one of the most incredible trilogies I have ever read. The world-building and magical system in this book is so rich and detailed, the authors ended up creating a real-life divination deck that reflects the one in the book. They had a very successful Kickstarter launch, but I missed it and I’m sad.
  2. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros – One of the most hyped books I’ve read this year. At first I was skeptical, because it can’t be that good, right? But it is! The plot kept moving, there was so much action and drama and emotions, I just couldn’t stop reading! Admittedly there were a few cliches and eye-rolling moments, but everything else was so good it’s worth overlooking the problems.
  3. Jade War by Fonda Lee – I read both the second and final book in this trilogy this year and they were both so good. I mean, the whole series is amazing! The scope of the books, the story, is so vast. The character development is incomparable. This might be one of the best books in terms of character development. It’s just so good.
  4. Morning Star by Pierce Brown – I read books 2 through 5 of the Red Rising series this year, and I’m currently waiting on the 6th book. The whole series is great, but I think the 3rd book is my favorite so far. I’m hesitant because the 5th book left me on an uncertain note, and I’m holding back my heart until I read the 6th book and know that my beloved characters are doing okay.
  5. Barbed Wire Heart by Tess Sharpe – This is the second book I’ve read by Tess Sharpe and I have to say that I am loving her writing and her books! They have such bad-ass young female MCs, and the stories are so compelling and completely just sucks you in.
  6. This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub – This one hits me in the feels. It’s a time-travel story, which I love, but ultimately, it’s the everyday mundaneness of the story that gets me. It’s the things you take for granted.
  7. The Book of Koli by M.R. Carey – The first book in another amazing series. It’s so interesting from beginning to end, and I love how technology is presented as artifacts in the story, and I love seeing how the characters learn to work with the technology.
  8. Sooley by John Grisham – This is not your typical John Grisham story. It is not a legal thriller, it’s a story about an athlete. I’m not typically a fan of sport stories, but this one… It’s not really about the sport, anyway, it’s about the people.
  9. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes – This one hurts. Those of you who have read it know what I mean. I have so much awe and respect for the author’s portrayal of Charlie and the way he changes throughout the book, and yet he’s still the same character talking to us. So masterful.
  10. The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin – This was such a powerful story about the importance of books and community, how could I not love it?

Did you read any of these books? What did you think of them? What were your favorite books in 2023?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Most Recent Books Borrowed from the Library

Posted December 25, 2023 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 45 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Most Recent Additions to my Bookshelf, but I didn’t buy or get a lot of books recently (I did get a couple of gift cards to the bookstore though!), so I’ll do the Most Recent Books I Borrowed from the Library instead. These are a mix of physical books, e-books, and audiobooks I currently have from the library. I have to say, I love my library and I love that we get such a wide catalog of books.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and got many of the books they wanted!

Top Ten Most Recent Books I Borrowed from the Library

Top-Bottom, Left-Right:

  1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy – I actually think I played myself with borrowing both this one and the next one. They are both thick books and I didn’t know they’d be ready at the same time! It’s very likely that I’ll have to return one or the other unfinished and have to go back on the waitlist.
  2. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy – See above!
  3. The Dance of Anger by Harriet Lerner, Ph.D. – This has been on my TBR for a while. I don’t remember exactly, but I think it got on my radar because of a conversation I had with someone about how men are shamed for crying and women are shamed for showing anger. I could be remembering wrong, but I’m curious to read the book anyway.
  4. Lighter by Yung Pueblo – I flipped through a copy of Yung Pueblo’s newest book, The Way Forward, and loved the few pages I read, so I placed a hold on all his books from the library. This was just the one that became available first.
  5. Accountable by Dashka Slater – A fellow book blogger, Anne @ Head Full of Books, featured this book on her blog and I was intrigued!
  6. The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin – I recently read Madeline Martin’s The Last Bookshop in London, and I loved it, so of course I have to read her other books too!
  7. Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson – This book has also been on my TBR for a while, but it took another fellow blogger recommending this book because we both loved Allie Brosh’s Hyperbole and a Half, to move it up my list.
  8. The Second Mrs. Astor by Shana Abe – I came across this book purely by accident while browsing my library’s audiobook catalog. It’s a historical fiction set on the Titanic, so of course I was interested!
  9. Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson – Another book I came across while browsing my library’s catalog. Books about books, I have to read it!
  10. The Forbidden City series by Melissa Addey – The edition I have from the library is a 4-in-1, and I found it browsing the physical shelves. I’ve always been fascinated by stories of Imperial China, so I’m very interested in reading this.

I am very much looking forward to these books! Have you read any of them? I’d love to hear your thoughts. What books are on your bookshelf?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Books on my Wish List

Posted December 18, 2023 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 36 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Bookish Wishes.

I used to have a small library of books I collected over many years, but I moved across the world and had to let many of them go. I don’t have a lot of space for physical books now (but I do have a Kobo!), so I usually only buy the ones I love and know I’ll read over and over again, or new books only if I already love the author, or if they are useful as reference books. Otherwise, I try to stick to e-books and library books. Sometimes, however, I do like to buy multiple copies of my favorite books because I wear them out and need new ones. Does anyone else do that?

You can find my Amazon Wish List here.

Top Ten Books on my Wish List

Top-Bottom, Left-Right:

  1. The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo – I cannot recommend this book enough. It’s set in Malaysia and it’s about a young woman who is being forced to marry a dead man’s ghost, per outdated Chinese customs. It’s a story I love that has stayed with me for a while. I’ve also bought her other book, The Night Tiger, but I prefer this one. She’s got another book coming out next year, The Fox Wife, and I can’t wait!
  2. Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher – T. Kingfisher is one of my favorite authors and I’ve loved all her books that I’ve read, so I’m slowly collecting them. Nettle and Bone is my favorite so far, but they are all so good.
  3. The New Annotated Frankenstein by Mary Shelley – I’m very much coveting all the annotated classics, but I’m only listing one and I chose Frankenstein because it’s one of my favorite stories of all time.
  4. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery – This is one of my favorite childhood books, and I used to have the full set but I left them behind. It’s not a priority because I’ve already read them, it’s just a collection I want to have, and that would be handy to have whenever I feel nostalgic.
  5. The Glass Chateau by Stephen P. Kiernan – I’ve read all his books except this one, and I loved all of them. I’m slowly collecting them because they’re just so beautiful and profound. The author has such a way with storytelling. I always feel like I’ve been transported into a magical world.
  6. XX by Rian Hughes – I haven’t read this one so I don’t know if I’ll like it, but it’s a book that’s better experienced on a physical copy because of the way it’s designed. The author is a graphic designer. I’ve read and love The House of Leaves which is similar in terms of type designs being a part of the story, and I ended up buying a physical copy of that book too after finishing the library copy, because it was so good.
  7. The Field Guide to Witches – I came across this book while browsing at the library and I loved that it was basically an encyclopedia of the different kinds of witches in myth and folklore.
  8. Mosaic Crochet by Alexis Sixel – I’m not the best crocheter, but her patterns are so beautiful and I’d love to try my hand at mosaic crochet one day.
  9. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir – I loved this book. Loved it. And I definitely need my own physical copy, but also, I really need my library to get the audiobook. For some reason, the audiobook isn’t available, but people say it’s so good, and I need it.
  10. Light Bringer by Pierce Brown – I love the series and I’ve already got the first five books, so this is the next on my list.

Have you read any of these books? Do you think you’d like them? Do you have a specific collection of books you’re acquiring?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Books On My Winter 2023 To-Read List

Posted December 11, 2023 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 41 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Books On My Winter 2023-2024 To-Read List. I don’t typically read a lot of Christmas-themed or winter-themed books on purpose. If they happen to be set in winter or at Christmas, that’s fine and I enjoy them, but I don’t seek them out, so my winter TBR are just regular books I want to read. I do love watching a lot of cheesy Christmas-themed movies during the season though!

Below are the books I hope to read this winter. Many are library books that I’m on the waitlist for, and I’m estimating that they’ll be getting to me this winter, so fingers crossed!

Top Ten Books on my Winter 2023-2024 To-Read List

Top-Bottom, Left-Right:

  1. The Switch by Beth O’Leary – I read and loved a couple of her other books but I haven’t gotten around to this one yet.
  2. Holly by Stephen King – I really enjoyed the Mr. Mercedes series where we first got to know Holly, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of her here.
  3. Light Bringer by Pierce Brown – I am stuck in limbo waiting for this one to get to me because it’s Book 6 in the Red Rising series, and I was in pain seeing my beloved characters suffer in Book 5. I need to know what happens next!
  4. Slewfoot by Brom – I don’t actually know what this is about. I just heard a lot of good things about the book and author. I did just recently read a different book by this same author and didn’t like it, so I’m tempering my expectations.
  5. Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett – It’s the title that got me for this one. I would’ve read it even if it was an actual nonfic encyclopedia. In fact, I’d probably want to read it more if it was a real encyclopedia of faeries!
  6. Watership Down by Richard Adams – This has been on my TBR for ages and ages. It’s one of those books you take for granted because it’s a classic and you know it will always be relevant so you can read it any time.
  7. A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid – Not sure if I should be embarrassed to admit that Bookstagram is responsible for this one.
  8. The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson – Also this one. What can I say? I’m weak and easily influenced!
  9. Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross – I actually have a different book by this author on my TBR, A River Enchanted, but yes, Bookstagram is making me want to read this first. We have already established I’m weak.
  10. The Glass Chateau by Stephen P. Kiernan – This is one of my favorite authors and I’ve read everything he’s written so far, except this one which is his latest. His books are beautiful and profound and beautiful and lyrical, and did I say beautiful? I cannot recommend him enough.

I am very much looking forward to these books! Have you read any of them? I’d love to hear your thoughts. What books are you excited for this winter?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Reasons I’m Happy to be Book Blogging Again

Posted December 5, 2023 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 32 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is a freebie and it’s my first one on this blog so I’m going with Top Ten Reasons I’m Happy to be Book Blogging Again!

  1. I love the book blogging community. I book blogged for many years before I stopped 10 years ago due to things getting hectic IRL, and while I continued to follow book lovers on other platforms, there’s really nothing quite like the book blogging community.
  2. One of the things I loved most about book blogging were the weekly memes! I actually did TTT more than 10 years ago before I stopped blogging.
  3. I love doing the memes, but I also loved seeing what everyone else was doing. I loved discovering new books, new ideas, and most of all, new friends.
  4. I also love the reading challenges, and following along with everyone else’s progress and achievements. I love that the challenges help me to expand my own reading.
  5. As you can see, I used the word “love” a lot when I talk about books and book blogging. That means I’m passionate about it, and you should always do what you love!
  6. I’ve still been reading a lot, but had no one to talk to about the books I’ve loved. Which makes me sad. Starting a book blog again means I can talk about books here, and that makes me happy!
  7. Sometimes I’ve hated the books I’ve read and want to complain about them but had no one to complain to. Which makes me frustrated. Now I can complain here, and that makes me happy too!
  8. I’ve got a really bad memory when it comes to books I’ve read and I desperately needed a place to write down my thoughts and organize my reading plans and challenges.
  9. I actually started a physical book journal in an effort to organize my reading, but I found it difficult to keep up with when I had to write everything by hand! Plus, it’s not very interactive. Unlike a book blog.
  10. Some of my best memories are of when I used to blog. I had so much fun and made so many reader friends. I hope to make new memories, and new friends, and maybe reconnect with some old friends.

That’s my first TTT post! I’m so happy to be book blogging again. What do you love about book blogging? Let me know!

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