Tag Archives: Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday: Quotes About Canada


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Happy Canada Day to everyone observing it today!

A Canada goose sitting in front of a pond looking every bit as grumpy as this species often are. For this week’s freebie/throwback theme, I’m going to share ten quotes about Canada in honour of Canada’s birthday. Many of them are humorous.

I included a photo of a Canada goose in this post because of the old joke that Canadians are so friendly because we channel all of our anger into these beautiful but often grumpy animals.

1. “I get to go to overseas places, like Canada.”
Britney Spears

 

2. “What part of Canada are you from, honey?”
“THE LEFT PART,” said Jay.”
Adam Rex, Fat Vampire: A Never Coming of Age Story

 

3. “Every Canadian has a complicated relationship with the United States, whereas Americans think of Canada as the place where the weather comes from.”
Margaret Atwood

 

4. “We would drive to Canada, where it would probably be legal for us to get married- it was Canada where they let people do whatever they wanted because it was too cold to bother stopping them.”
W. Bruce Cameron, Emory’s Gift

 

5. “The maple leaf in 1965 was chosen to symbolize our land
Its points are five; like the fingers of a hand”
Mohamad Jebara, The Illustrious Garden

 

6. “A major principle of Canadian foreign aid has been that where the USA wields its big stick, Canada carries its police baton and offers a carrot.”
Yves Engler, The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy

 

7. “This was Canada after all, where no one was overly impressed by anything.”
Harper Lin, Killer Christmas

 

8. “Cemeteries are deceptive places. You go there for quiet remembering and find yourself assailed by noisy questions. If Mr. Wong didn’t turn his back on his homeland, if he didn’t forget it or forsake it, what then did he feel about becoming a Canadian citizen? Was it a statement of belonging?”
Susan Crean, Finding Mr. Wong

 

9. “There is room on this land for all of us and there must also be, after centuries of struggle, room for justice for Indigenous peoples. That is all we ask. And we will settle for nothing less.”
Arthur Manuel, Unsettling Canada: A National Wake-Up Call

 

10. “I was obligated to be nice. I couldn’t be the one Canadian who ruined the country’s reputation. How could I live with myself if I caused a Yankee to say, “I used to think Canadians were so nice, then I met that asshole, Steve”?”
Steven Barker, Now for the Disappointing Part: A Pseudo-Adult?s Decade of Short-Term Jobs, Long-Term Relationships, and Holding Out for Something Better

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Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the Second Half of 2025


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A row of colourful beach huts painted red, blue, yellow, green, and other primary colours. The beach has white sand and looks pristine. This week’s list is going to be a shorter one because there aren’t many books that have been announced for the second half of this year yet.

It will remain as eclectic as always, though! Jumping around between genres is so much fun.

I’m sure I’ll find more titles that pique my interest once we’re further into the year.

In the meantime, I’m excited about….

 

 

Book cover for The Macabre by Kosoko Jackson. Image on cover shows a painting that has blood dripping out from behind it. The painting itself shows a faceless figure wrapped in white gauze standing in front of a terrifying forest where all of the trees are red and look like they’re covered in blood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. The Macabre by Kosoko Jackson

Publication Date:  September 9

Why I’m Interested: Haunted paintings are so interesting to read about.

 

Book cover for Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood. Image on cover shows a possibly AI-generated image of a white cat sitting and peering up at a light that has a rainbow assortment of coours in it. The cat’s face is orange, purple, green, blue, white, and pink depending on where you look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood

Publication Date: September 23

Why I’m Interested: The protagonist has a mysterious disease that is resistant to all treatments. I am so hungry for more books about characters who are not perfectly able-bodied and healthy.

 

Book cover for . The Hunger We Pass Down  by Jen Sookfong Lee. Image on cover shows a painting of a frightened-looking woman who is peering over her shoulder at you from the shadows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. The Hunger We Pass Down  by Jen Sookfong Lee

Publication Date: September 30

Why I’m Interested: The comparisons in the blurb to The School for Good Mothers and Jordan Peele’s Us make me think this will be exactly the sort of story I like.

 

Book cover for Good Spirits (Ghosted, #1) by B.K. Borison. Image on cover shows a drawing of an olive-skinned man kissing a pale blond woman gently.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.  Good Spirits (Ghosted, #1) by B.K. Borison

Publication Date: October 7

Why I’m Interested: I reread A Christmas Carol every year and am curious to see how this spinoff of it goes.

 

(This book doesn’t have a cover or a specific publication date available yet.)

5. Brandy Norwood’s untitled memoir. That link goes to the People article about it. 

I will probably include this title again in an autumn TBR post once we have more details.

Publication Date: October 2025

Why I’m Interested: I was a huge Brandy fan as a kid and am curious to read her life story from her perspective. There are some interesting clues about her life in her music, but of course you never know how much artistic license may have been taken with lyrics or storytelling. Will she discuss her occasional past controversies in her personal and professional life? Is she happy now? I hope she’s thriving!

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


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A 1970s, muted rainbow-themed graphic that reads “here comes the sun.” The rainbow colours are arranged to look like a circle or the sun instead of a traditional rainbow. I have been saving some of these titles in a document for months as I slowly accumulated them in an attempt to make my seasonal TBR posts a little longer than they have been previously.

Here’s hoping they are all excellent reads.

Do you all do similar things with these seasonal TBR posts and have to do a lot of digging to find books for them?

I am so impressed with Top Ten Tuesday blogggers who routinely come up with ten or more answers for these prompts.

 

 

 

Book cover for The Afterlife Project by Tim Weed. Image on cover looks like an oil painting of a valley filled with spruce and fir trees that has a meadow in the centre of the valley. It looks like it was painted in the 1800s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. The Afterlife Project by Tim Weed

Why I’m Interested: I love science fiction novels about time travel and trying to save humanity from extinction!

 

Book cover for One Yellow Eye by Leigh Radford. Image on covers shows a stylized drawing of a pale person turning their head away from the viewer. In place of hair, they have fire flickering their head. As well, a portion of their neck skin is missing and you can see the various muscles and tendons in the neck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. One Yellow Eye by Leigh Radford

Publication Date: July 15

Why I’m Interested: Of course some people would try to cure their loved ones if zombies were real. I like it when this genre explores what those cures might look like.

 

Book cover for The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Image on cover shows a drawing of a pale-skinned hand reaching up and out to a small golden phoenix that is flying away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Publication Date: July 15

Why I’m Interested: Ms. Moreno-Garcia writes such interesting premises.

 

Book cover for  The Lies They Told by Ellen Marie Wiseman. Image on cover shows a painting of a little farmhouse sitting next to the woods at dusk. There are a few fireflies flying around outside as well as some flowers of various hues at the top of the cover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. The Lies They Told by Ellen Marie Wiseman

Thank you to Susan @ Blogging’Bout’Books  for alerting me about this title.

Publication Date: July 29

Why I’m Interested: Eugenics was an ugly chapter of history that still echoes loudly through to the present.  I shudder and then become angry when I read about folks who think people with disabilities are somehow less valuable than the able-bodied or express even more horrifying opinions than that one.

 

Book cover for Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz. Image on cover is a neon drawing of a large robot picking up red neon noodles from a gigantic neon orange pan of noodles while a small golden robot stands next to the pan and looks on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.  Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz

Publication Date: August 5

Why I’m Interested: Science fiction has given us so many frighting stories about robots that a cozy one is a refreshing change. I wonder what sorts of dishes service bots make?

 

Book cover for The Space Cat by Nnedi Okorafor. Image on cover shows a drawing of a tabby cat that’s lying comfortably on the word Space in the title and peering ahead at the audience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. The Space Cat by Nnedi Okorafor

Publication Date: August 12

Why I’m Interested: She writes such interesting stuff.

 

Book cover for Legendary Frybread Drive-In by Cynthia Leitich Smith. Image on cover shows a drawing of two Native American women holding a platter of fry bread in a parking lot and gazing down at it as a red heart blooms from it. Behind them there is a car and a few other people standing around. Perhaps they are waiting for food?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7.  Legendary Frybread Drive-In by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Publication Date: August 26

Why I’m Interested: I love interconnected collections of short stories and poems.

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Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Wishes


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

I am blessed to have access to a wonderful public library system that has most of the books I want to read, so I will once again pick wishes that are more whimsical in nature.

Dandelion seeds being blown away by the wind from a mature dandelion in a grassy field. My bookish wishes are as follows:

1) Just like I mentioned last time, I wish the Toronto Public Library could raise their hold limit for ebooks. They cut it in half last autumn, probably due to how expensive ebooks are. If only such decisions were never necessary.

2) A comfortable bench in the shade to sit on at the park on a day that isn’t too hot or humid. I love hearing birds chirp and leaves rustle while I read.

3) Satisfying and logical endings for every series. It’s irritating when the last book or books in a series are never written or when they are eventually released but totally ignore the foreshadowing and character development from earlier instalments.

4) Tasty new dairy-free treats at my favourite coffee shops…and ideally a shaded empty table on their patios so I can sit and watch friendly people and dogs pass by as I eat, drink, and read.

5) Growth for the bookish community in general and Top Ten Tuesday in particular. The more readers, reviewers, and bloggers we have, the better if you ask me!

6) More time for blog hopping. I am so behind on commenting on other people’s posts it’s not even funny.

7) New books being released from everyone’s favourite authors. I want us all of to be excited for what is to come.

8) Ideas for blog posts. I haven’t any creative ones in a while, so thank goodness for blog hops like Top Ten Tuesday and the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge.

9) More virtual bookish events. If anyone knows of any, please share!

10) More bookish friends. I’m casting my net widely.

I wonder if anyone else will take a similar approach this week?

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Top Ten Tuesday: LGBTQ Summer Fiction


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Drawing of a heart that has ridges and swirls in it like a fingerprint.The heart has all of the colours of the Pride flag in it with red at the bottom and then going counter-clockwise for the rest of the of the shades. Happy Pride Month to everyone who is celebrating it! Here are ten LGBTQ+ books with summer settings or themes that I am curious to check out once the humidity and heat rises and it’s too hot to spend much time outdoors.

We’ll see how many of them I get around to.

If you’ve read any of them, I’d love to hear your thoughts on their characters and plots!

1. Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan

2. The Summer of Jordi Perez by Amy Spalding

3. Kings of B’more by R. Eric Thomas

4. Donut Summer by Anita Kelly

5. The Dead of Summer by Ryan La Sala

6. The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake

7. Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler

8. This Pact Is Not Ours by Zachary Sergi

9. If We Were a Movie by Zakiya N. Jamal

10. Get Real, Chloe Torres by Crystal Maldonado

Do you also tend to save up books to read for when the weather becomes less pleasant for outdoor adventures?

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Top Ten Tuesday: Animal Companions


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A green frog sitting peacefully in the water of a pond. The water includes algae and a few small green leaves that have fallen from nearby plants. Thank you to P.S. I Love Books for submitting this theme.

Here are ten books about animal companions that are based on true stories. They make me wish I could have a pet!

1. Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World’s Worst Dog by John Grogan

2. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron

3. Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl by Stacey O’Brien

4. A Lion Called Christian: The True Story of the Remarkable Bond Between Two Friends and a Lion
by Anthony Bourke

5. Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived by Ralph Helfer

6. Justin Morgan Had a Horse by Marguerite Henry

7. A Seal Called Andre by Harry Goodridge

8. In Search of Lost Frogs: The Quest to Find the World’s Rarest Amphibians by Robin Moore

9. Mexican Mutts Tequila Pups & Chili Dogs: True Stories of the Dogs of Mexico by David Gordon Burke

10. The Big Squeal: A True Story About a Homeless Pig’s Search for Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness by Carol Alexander

Do you all have pets? What types of pets do you wish you could have?

 

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Top Ten Tuesday: Books that Feature Travel


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Travelling isn’t something I’m generally that into due to a few health problems I have that can make things  like keeping myself fed, well-rested, and pain-free more complicated than they probably are for most people.

Aerial shot of a plane wing as the plane flies over rock terrrain. You can see mountains below that look small and some fluffy, white clouds in the sky. I do like reading about travelling, though, so here are ten books about that.

1. Spirited Waters: Soloing South Through the Inside Passage by Jennifer Hahn

2. Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria by Noo Saro-Wiwa

3. Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell by Kristiana Gregory

4. Llamas & Empanadas: 5000 Kilometres by Bicycle Through South America by Eleanor Meecham

5. The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman by Nancy Marie Brown

6. The Crystal Desert: Summers in Antarctica by David G. Campbell

7. The Last Man on the Moon: Astronaut Eugene Cernan and America’s Race in Space by Eugene Cernan

8. Kalashnikovs and Zombie Cucumbers: Travels in Mozambique by Nick Middleton

9. Big in China: My Unlikely Adventures Raising a Family, Playing the Blues, and Becoming a Star in Beijing by Alan Paul

10. Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia by Jeffrey Alford

 

How do you all feel about traveling?

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Top Ten Tuesday: Ways in Which My Blogging and Review Style Has Changed Over Time


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Thank you to Susan @ Bloggin’ ‘bout Books for submitting this topic!

The words “stories matter” have been typed out on an old-fashioned manual typewriter. Here are five ways my blogging style has changed and five ways my reviewing styles has changed over the years.

For blogging:

1) I write shorter posts now, generally 100-500 words a piece instead of 800+ words.

2) I rarely if ever write advice posts anymore. (I used to publish longer posts about stuff like meditation, fitness, or writing and share what I’d learned about them).

3) I’ve reduced the number of posts per week I publish from 4 to 3…and 2 of those posts are Blog Hops so I don’t have to come up with a topic for them unless it’s a freebie post.

4) Bloghopping isn’t something I do as much these days…although I am trying to get back into the habit of it!

5) It’s less common for me to share stories about my personal life now. Mostly, I talk about books and other media.

 

For reviewing:

1) Almost everything I review these days are books from indie authors or small publishers.  Big name authors don’t count on every single new review to reach new readers the way the little guys (and gals and nonbinary pals) do, so most of the time I’d rather focus on the folks who really need that exposure.

2) I’m more selective about what I review. 3-star reviews are generally the lowest ones I have ever published (with only a handful of exceptions to that rule over the years), and even then I only review the books I thought had good bones but maybe didn’t quite stick the ending, or should have worked more on character development, or something similar. A 3-star review from me means I liked that story!

3) I avoid social media book recommendations unless they come from a friend who knows my tastes well because it’s so uncommon for the hottest books on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, etc. to be my cup of tea. If one of them did appeal to me, I would, of course, still read it, and no offence intended to people whose tastes do match up with what often goes viral on those sites.

4) I’m much less nervous about sharing relevant plot details in my reviews these days. Years ago someone told me that they found one of my reviews hard to understand because they couldn’t tell why I was dissatisfied with a conflict between two characters. While I still avoid any major spoilers, I think it’s okay to say something like “I wish Megan’s anger with her mother had been explored more deeply to help explain why the flashbacks of things I thought were fairly trivial disagreements between them were such a sticking point with this character.” (This example is made up and not a reference to any specific book).

5) I now include content warnings in my reviews, although I’m still not always sure what topics I should and shouldn’t warn readers are in a book other than the usual things like violence, blood, death, and abuse. For example, I know someone who has a phobia of flowers, but that’s not something I’d typically think to include in a content warning.

Now let’s see how you all responded to this prompt!

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Top Ten Tuesday: Authors Who Live In My Country


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A Canadian flag flying on a flagpole in front of the Banff National Park mountains which are large and spectacular. There’s a large hill or maybe a small mountain between the flagpole and Banff that’s covered in fir trees. Thank you to Jennifer @ Funk-N-Fiction for submitting this week’s theme.

Here are ten books written by Canadian authors other than L.M. Montgomery or Margaret Atwood due to how well-known their books are across the globe.

There is another Canadian author I’m leaving off this list due to some terrible allegations that were made about them a few years ago. No need to give them any more attention if you ask me. 

I’d rather focus on authors with good reputations – at least so far as I know –  that you may not have heard of yet!  If you see this little asterisk symbol * it means I have read something they’ve written.  (I hope that’s the right word for that symbol. I believe it is). 

1. Cheryl Kaye Tardif

2. Margaret Laurence *

3. Jane Urquhart

5. Kelley Armstrong *

6. Michael Ondaatje

7. W.O. Mitchell *

8. Carol Shields

9. Farley Mowat

10. Richard Wagamese *

11. Robert J. Sawyer *

I’m purposefully not saying what I’ve read from the authors I have tried from this list because I don’t want to influence your opinions if you decide to give anyone’s books a shot.

(And also because in at least one case I believe I’ve read one of their books but don’t remember enough about it to have a strong opinion in any direction anymore. Don’t you hate it when that happens? 😂)

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Top Ten Tuesday: Books with the Word Rose in the Title


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Two red roses against a black background. The roses are still attached to their stems. Here are ten books with the word rose in the title. They’re such a pretty type of flower!

1. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

2. The Tea Rose (The Tea Rose, #1) by Jennifer Donnelly

3. Rose Red and Snow White: A Grimms Fairy Tale by Ruth Sanderson

4. Rose Madder by Stephen King

5. Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley

6. A Rose for Emily and Other Stories by William Faulkner

7. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Hannah Green

8. The Nightingale and the Rose by Oscar Wilde

9. A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1) by Sarah J. Maas

10. The Black Rose by Thomas B. Costain

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