Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
As promised yesterday, here are the best books I read in 2024. I think these posts are more interesting when Top Ten Tuesday bloggers include reasons why they loved certain titles, so I will be adding that into my responses as well.
Seven of my ten answers are books I wrote reviews for, and links to my reviews are included for those ones.
1. What Does It Feel Like? By Sophie Kinsella
Why I Loved It: This book was such an interesting and educational peek at what it’s like to live with a nearly 100% fatal type of brain cancer. I’m hoping that Ms. Kinsella will be around for many years to come.
2.Bodega Botanica Tales by Maria Rodriguez Bross
Why I Loved It: Urban fantasy is such an under-appreciated genre in my opinion. I love reading about how fantasy worlds works in large, bustling cities.
3. Strange New World by A.R. Grosjean
Why I Loved It: It retells one of my favourite childhood stories in the zaniest way.
4. What Love Survives & Other Stories by DB MacInnes
Why I Loved It: The blend of genres and the willingness to try new things. I don’t think speculative fiction is something this author writes much of – or at least that’s the impression I got – so it’s awesome to see them branch out.
5. Cloudspotting for Beginners by William Grill
Why I Loved It: Clouds are endlessly fascinating. Who wants to go cloud watching with me and point out what shapes they make?
6. The Killer Catfish of Cape Cod by Bill Russo
Why I Loved It: The slight absurdity of it all, beginning with the title. It sounds like the sort of tall tale a local person would swear is true if you visited a small town bar.
7. Neuro Noir by Al Hess
Why I Loved It: Computers as protagonists. The way these ones saw the world was so wildly different from how the average person would interpret the same data.
8. Ghosted – A Short Story by H.L. Burke
Why I Loved It: What a cozy little fantasy. It felt like the literary equivalent of drinking a nice cup of tea and warming up after a damp, chilly walk outdoors.
9. Veterans of Love and War: A First World War Ghost Story by Steven Glick
Why I Loved It: While I normally shy away from war stories, I loved how this one showed how a young closeted gay man experienced World War I.
10. Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood by Gretchen Sisson
Why I Loved It: This book shed light on the shady, and in my opinion sometimes downright immoral, tactics many adoption agencies in the United States use in order to convince people – and mostly mothers – to place their babies for adoption. Adoption can be a great option for kids who can’t safely remain with their birth families, but there are many families that could stay together and thrive if offered support through hard times.
1. Quiet Reading and Writing Time
I don’t know about all of you, but sometimes when a particularly bad snowstorm or blizzard hits southern Ontario it almost feels like there’s an angry creature shrieking outside as it tosses snow everywhere.
I have one word for you all today: cloaks.
My vivid imagination sometimes spills over into the dream world, and with this freebie post I finally get to talk about them today. Here are several books I’ve had dreams about over the years.
When I was a kid, I loved 
This annual prompt continues to be a bit of a stumper as I don’t actually celebrate Thanksgiving unless you count making a fancy meal to celebrate the end of the growing season as part of this tradition!
On damp, chilly days, I do things like: