Tag Archives: Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Was SO EXCITED to Get, but Still Haven’t Read

In: Blog Hops


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Black-and-white photo of books hanging from a glass ceiling by pieces of thick string.I have a confession to make: my eyes are bigger than my stomach and my TBR list.

That is to say, I have the tendency to put more food on my plate than I can actually eat and to gush about more books that i can realistically read if I don’t pay attention to what I’m doing.

This is even more true if we’re talking about books from highly-anticipated authors or places that serve dairy-free meals and desserts. When you have food allergies (or any other dietary restriction, I’m sure), you get used to not being able to eat a lot of delicious-looking foods that others enjoy without a second thought. It’s simply part of life.

When I get the rare chance to pick anything on the menu at a restaurant, I often have the urge to over-order because of how unusual this experience is. The same thing can be said for when there are more attention-grabbing books than I have hours in the day to read.

Here are some books I am still excited to read but haven’t actually picked up yet. I’ve mentioned all of them in previous seasonal TBR posts for Tio Ten Tuesday over the past few years.

 

City of Refugees: The Story of Three Newcomers Who Breathed Life Into a Dying American Town by Susan Hartman Book cover. image on cover is a drawing of buildings in a town.

1. City of Refugees: The Story of Three Newcomers Who Breathed Life Into a Dying American Town by Susan Hartman

 

The Trayvon Generation by Elizabeth Alexander Book cover. Image on cover shows a photo of a black child staring into the camera with a neutral expression on his face.

2. The Trayvon Generation by Elizabeth Alexander

 

Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore Book cover. Image on the cover shows drawing of two teens standing in a lake with leaves on their heads.

3. Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Ask: Building Consent Culture by Kitty Stryker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

 

Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi book cover. Cover image is of a woman's face.

6. Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi

 

Friendship: The Evolution, Biology, and Extraordinary Power of Life's Fundamental Bond by Lydia Denworth book cover. The only images on the cover are of stylized DNA strands lying on their sides at the top and bottom. They are behind green or blue backgrounds.

7. Friendship: The Evolution, Biology, and Extraordinary Power of Life’s Fundamental Bond by Lydia Denworth

 

Finna by Nino Cipri book cover. Cover image is of bent tubes and screws scattered around.

8. Finna by Nino Cipri

 

Book cover for Ghost Wood Song  by Erica Waters. Image on cover is of book title in the shape of curved pieces of wood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9.Ghost Wood Song by Erica Waters

 

Book cover for Sara Seager's The Smallest Lights in the Universe. Image on cover is of an adult and two children walking outdoors at dusk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10.The Smallest Lights in the Universe: A Memoir by Sara Seager

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Characters

In: Blog Hops


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Silhouette of 3-inch tall person holding up the page of a book.My list for this week is a hodgepodge of books as it often is. I’ll be quite curious to see what everyone else has come up for it as most of my answers were of older stories and I wasn’t able to come up with the full ten answers this time.

1. Liesel from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

2. Matilda from Matilda by Roald Dahl

3. Guy from Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

4. Clay from Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore (Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, #1)
by Robin Sloan

5. Francie from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

How long did it take all of you to come up with your lists?

 

 

Top Ten Tuesday: One-Word Reviews for the Last Ten Books I Read

In: Blog Hops


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Green typewriter with a piece of paper stuck in it. The word “review” has been typed on that page. Narrowing down my opinions of these books to a single word each was definitely not easy, but it was an amusing challenge.

Tiny Humans, Big Lessons: How the NICU Taught Me to Live With Energy, Intention, and Purpose by Sue Ludwig

The One-Word Review: Mindful

 

The Heart of Caring:  A Life in Pediatrics by Mark Vonnegut

The One-Word Review: Hopeful

 

The Story Girl by L.M. Montgomery

The One-Word Review: Playful

 

The Golden Road by L.M. Montgomery

The One-Word Review: Bittersweet

 

You Have More Influence Than You Think: How We Underestimate Our Power of Persuasion and Why It Matters by Vanessa Bohns

The One-Word Review: Inspiring

 

Hildie at the Ghost Shore by Paula Cappa

The One-Word Review: Spooky

 

A tachometer for feedback. From left to right, each section reads poor, fair, good, and excellent. The colours for each one left to right are red, orange, yellow, and green.

To Walk About in Freedom: The Long Emancipation of Priscilla Joyner by Carole Emberton

The One-Word Review: Amazing

 

The One-Word Review: Sobering
The One-Word Review: Surprising
The Annals of a Country Doctor by Carl Matlock, MD
The One-Word Review: Reflective

 

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with Curly-Haired Characters on the Cover

In: Blog Hops


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A red headed woman with long, curly hair standing in front of a wall plastered over with magazine covers.
This isn’t me, but my hair is similar to a brunette version of hers.

I have naturally curly hair that ranges from Type 2C (wavy/loose curls) to something a little curlier than Type 3B (springy ringlets) depending on which part of my head you’re looking at, how recently I’ve washed and moistured it, how humid or dry the air is, and a million other factors that anyone who knows curly hair no doubt is already well aware of.

When I was a kid, I’d always get so excited to see a curly-haired person included on a book cover or described in a story.

Sometimes that was the deciding factor in whether I read a book!

I grew up in a community that was so homogenous that even minor differences in human appearance like this were hard to find.

And I’m saying that as someone who is Caucasian. I’m sure the small number of classmates I had who were from other racial backgrounds yearned for representation of people who looked like them even more than I did.

Representation matters.

While there’s still plenty of work to do in this area, I’m glad publishers are doing a better job these days of representing characters from a wider range of backgrounds.

This week I’m going to be sharing ten wonderful book covers featuring people who have curly hair.

 

The Stolen One by Suzanne Crowley Book cover. Image on cover shows a woman with curly red hair sitting at a table and glaring at the reader.

1. The Stolen One by Suzanne Crowley

 

Baby Girl by Lenora Adams book cover. Image on cover shows a young black woman wearing hoop earrings as she looks over her shoulder and has flowers tucked behind her ear.

2. Baby Girl by Lenora Adams

Nobody's Prize (Nobody's Princess, #2) by Esther M. Friesner book cover. Image on cover shows a white girl with long, curly brown hair standing and staring at a large aquarium.

3. Nobody’s Prize (Nobody’s Princess, #2) by Esther M. Friesner

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill book cover. Image on cover is a drawing of the heroine wearing her hair naturally in a big puff of gorgeous curls.

4. The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

Liar by Justine Larbalestier book cover. Image on cover shows a young black woman hiding her face in her hoodie.

5. Liar by Justine

Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher book cover. Image on cover shows a blond woman staring off into the distance.

6. Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher

Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann book cover. Image on the cover shows a dark-skinned African-american girl dancing for joy while wearing a white, sleeveless top.

7. Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann

 

8. The Freemason’s Daughter by Shelley Sackier

Blue Flame (Perfect Fire Trilogy, #1) by K.M. Grant book cover. Image on cover shows a young woman with loosely curly brown hair standing outside by the ocean during a storm.

9. Blue Flame (Perfect Fire Trilogy, #1) by K.M. Grant

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo book cover. Image on cover shows a drawing of a woman who has a large, black Afro.

10. The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Merchandise I’d Love to Own

In: Blog Hops


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

My answers to this week’s prompt might be a little unorthodox.

I have enough bookmarks, ereaders, tea mugs, and cozy socks to last for many years to come.

I do not have enough chocolate to nibble on while reading, but that’s because I have a sweet tooth and chocolate is hard to resist. Perhaps some of you who do not like sweets so much have never had this problem. Ha!

These are the bookish things I wish I had.

A cozy little home library in a the corner of a room. There is a red rug on the wooden floor and a light shining on the books and rug from a nearby shelf.

A Spare Room to Turn Into a Personal Library.

There are many things I love about living in a cozy apartment in a city, but one of the few downsides of it is that housing here in Toronto is too expensive to devote an entire room to reading. If only that were different!

A man using a laptop while sitting on a couch. A woman has stretched out next to him on the cough and has her legs by his thighs as she listens to something.

A Big, Comfortable Couch

I want to gently flop over the sides of the couch and find every position comfortable while still leaving space for someone else to sit there, too.

Yes, sometimes I’d probably sit on the “proper” way, too. But not every time.

Pink clouds floating through the sky near a full moon at either sunrise or sunset.

Peace and Quiet 

I want a few hours of peace and quiet in which to read.

It’s okay if a truck rumbles by or a bird sings outside of my window, but I would rather not have conversation, music, blaring horns, or anything else that might be distracting.

Quiet reading sessions are the best if you ask me.

A little white dog sleeping on a chair.

A Leash and Soft Place to Sleep for My (Hypothetical) Dog or Dogs

Yes, I know that’s worded a little oddly, but let me explain. I don’t think of pets as objects to be owned. They’re members of a family instead.

If I weren’t allergic to dogs and if my home were large enough to accommodate one, I’d also want to have a canine companion or two. (Let’s also assume that my spouse agrees to this plan!)

Ideally, they’d sleep or play quietly for a couple of hours while I read and then let me know that they were ready to go for a walk.

There’s something about taking a walk that makes reading even better. It  gives you time to think about what you’ve read and wonder what might happen next in the story.

Dogs are also good listeners from what I’ve surmised from people who can live with them, so I’d probably talk to them while we exercised together.

It wouldn’t matter to me what the dog looked like. I simply included the picture above because the dog in it looked so peaceful.