Tag Archives: Top Ten Tuesday

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Along with my blogging slowdown as of about a month ago, I’ve also been reading less.

 

The good news is that I’ve been enjoying what I’m reading more than I did when my list of finished books was longer.

Here are my ten most recent reads.

1. The Fact of the Matter by Madeleine L’Engle (My review)

Genre: Fantasy

My Favourite Part: The twist ending.

 

2. Ambush Predators by Marina Ermakova (My review)

Genre: Science Fiction

My Favourite Part: A scene involving the main character hiding in a car. It made me jump!

 

3. Clocking Time by Mark McClure (My Review)

Genre: Young Adult

My Favourite Part: All of the time travel. It would be amazing if such a thing were truly possible.

 

4. People Count: Contact-Tracing Apps and Public Health by Susan Landau

Genre: Non-Fiction, Science, Epidemiology

My Favourite Part: The comparisons the author made between previous epidemics and our current one. Human behaviour patterns have remained so consistent over the centuries when it comes to how we respond to invisible threats like disease.

 

5. A Story of Us: A New Look at Human Evolution by Lesley Newson

Genre: Non-Fiction, Science, Anthropology

My Favourite Part: Learning about how children were raised throughout human evolution, especially once our distant ancestors began trusting each other to watch the baby while mom went off to gather food.

 

6. Apeiorn – Tales of an Argonaut 1 by M.P. Cosmos (My Review)

Genre: Science Fiction

My Favourite Part: Meeting the same narrator in every story even though they were set in very different places and times. It was such a unique way to connect those worlds.

 

7. Searching for Sam by Sophie Bienvenu

Genre: Fiction

My Favourite Part: The descriptions of how emotionally draining it is to be homeless. I’d never thought about how difficult the mental part of homelessness must be when you have no idea where you’ll sleep at night or when your next meal might come.

 

8. Boo and the Boy – A Ghost Story by Wayne Barrett (My Review)

Genre: Fantasy

My Favourite Part: The heartwarming ending. It was something I was hoping for but really didn’t think the audience would get.

 

 

 

9. Fragments – A Collection of Short Stories by Jachrys Abel (My Review)

Genre: Science Fiction

My Favourite Part: Figuring out the speculative fiction angles to some of these stories. Not all of them were readily apparent.

 

10.Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age by Annalee Newitz

Genre: History

My Favourite Part: Reading the most recent theories about why Çatalhöyük was abandoned. It’s the first city humans ever built (that we know of), so I’m thrilled to see how much effort has been put into understanding who lived there and why they eventually moved elsewhere.

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Anyone who has followed this blog or my accounts on Twitter or Goodreads for a long time knows how much I love rabbits.

Today I will be sharing books about rabbits! Yes, I have read them all and recommend checking them out yourself if you’re interested. Do speak up if you know of other books about rabbits, especially if they’re fictional or humorous. I’m always in the market for new books on this topic.

1. The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

2. Watership Down (Watership Down, #1) by Richard Adams

3. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco

4. Bunnicula (Bunnicula, #1) by Deborah Howe

5. Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt

6. The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown

7. Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney

8. Disapproving Rabbits by Sharon Stiteler

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I narrowed this week’s prompt down a little bit. The original theme was so broad that I wasn’t sure where to begin.

You could interpret it to be about rainbow covers, or brightly-coloured covers, or books that include as many different colours in them as possible.

Honestly, even those interpretations are only barely scratching the surface of possibilities!

Therefore, my amended response to the prompt is of colourful book covers that are also artistic and beautiful.

 

1. Half-Blood (Covenant, #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

2. Swift (Swift, #1) by R.J. Anderson

3. Haunting Grace (Beyond Time, #1) by Elizabeth Marshall

4. The Crowfield Curse (Crowfield Abbey, #1) by Pat Walsh

5. Seraphina (Seraphina, #1) by Rachel Hartman

6. Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan

7. The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen

8. Life As We Knew It (Last Survivors, #1) by Susan Beth Pfeffer

9. Who Fears Death (Who Fears Death, #1) by Nnedi Okorafor

10. The Seahawk’s Sanctuary by Lynne Marie

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Technically, this week’s topic was “Book Titles That Sound Like They Could Be Crayola Crayon Colors.”

My apologies to Jana, but I couldn’t find a single title that fit this description no matter how hard I searched.

Due to this, I tweaked the topic to be literature themed colouring books. That is to say, colouring books that are inspired by actual novels. Get your coloured pencils ready!

1. Tolkien’s World: A Fantasy Coloring Book by Allan Curless

2. The World of the Hunger Games: The Official Coloring Book by Scholastic Inc.

3. Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Coloring Book by Terry Pratchett

4. Hansel and Gretel: An Amazing Colouring Book by Fabiana Attanasio

5. The Alice in Wonderland Colouring Book by Rachel Cloyne

6. The Lord of the Rings Movie Trilogy Colouring Book by Nicolette Caven

7. The Walking Dead: Rick Grimes Adult Coloring Book by Robert Kirkman

8. A Court of Thorns and Roses Colouring Book by Sarah J. Maas

9. Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Coloring Book by Terry Pratchett

10. The Official Eragon Coloring Book by Christopher Paolini

 

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Content warning: abusive relationships. Scroll past my first answer if you’d rather not read about that topic for any reason.

I’m a patient and forgiving reader in general. There are very few books out there that I have no patience for and will not provide links to here.

The Books: The Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer

Why I’d Toss It: I was in an abusive relationship when I was a teenager, and it was really painful. There were so many red flags in Bella and Edward’s relationship that I couldn’t keep reading and can’t recommend this series to anyone.

 

The Book: The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

Why I’d Toss It: Look,I completely agree that having a positive and optimistic attitude is a good thing in general. Anyone who follows me on Twitter will see how perky I usually am! Unfortunately, I’ve observed a lot of ugly victim blaming coming from the idea that terrible things happen to people because they entertained the wrong thoughts. Not every tragedy in life can be prevented. I believe in loving and supporting people when they’re at their lowest points instead of coming up with reasons why they deserved it.

 

The Book: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Why I’d Toss It: All of the characters were awful human beings. They all had the time and money to become better people and yet refused to do so. I do not have the patience to read about folks like that, but I won’t judge anyone who does. This was simply a case of my moral code clashing so strongly with theirs that I couldn’t get into the plot at all.

 

The Book: Anything written by Donald J. Trump

Why I’d Toss It: He’s Trump.

 

The Book: The Land of Painted Caves by Jean M. Auel

Why I’d Toss It: I loved the Earth’s Children series, but the final book in it was nonsensical at best. It destroyed character arcs, ignored thousands of pages of foreshadowing and plot development, and refused to answer the majority of the questions the audience had been carrying around for years.

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I adore living in Toronto, but there are parts of all of these places that intrigue me. It would be cool to see them in person someday if it were safe and affordable to do so.

If I didn’t mention a specific thing I wanted to do for the numbers on the list below, that means I’d want to talk to the locals to get their recommendations on the best restaurants, museums, parks, etc. before adding my own wish list to the agenda.

You can learn so much about other cities, countries, and cultures by listening to the people who live there and taking their advice on where to go and what to do.

If any of you ever visit Toronto once travelling for fun is possible again, I’d be happy to give you some suggestions of what to do here!

1. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou’s Autobiography, #1) by Maya Angelou

Location: Stamps, Arkansas

What I’d Do There: Soak up every ray of sunshine I can. I get the winter blues each year, so this would make a big impact on my life.

 

2. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Location: Japan (various cities)

What I’d Do There: Among many other destinations, I’d visit Rabbit Island.

 

3. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Location: Calcutta, India

 

4. Dubliners by James Joyce

Location: Dublin, Ireland

What I’d Do There: Visit whichever castle Irish people think is the nicest one there.

 

5. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

Location: Manchuria, China

What I’d Do There: See the Great Wall of China.

 

6. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Location: Nigeria

 

7. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

Location: Dominican Republic (various cities)

What I’d Do There: Visit the schools and other places that a relative of mine helped to build! He has a lot of experience with this kind of stuff and used to visit every year to help with various projects.

 

8. Nefertiti by Michelle Moran

Location: Egypt (various cities)

What I’d Do There: See the pyramids, of course!

 

9. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

Location: Mount Kanchenjunga in the Himalayan Mountains of Nepal

What I’d Do There: Quietly enjoy the majestic mountains for a day or two before asking about specific places there to visit.

 

10. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

Location: Mexico

 

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All of these titles make me giggle! I have not read any of them yet, so let me know if you’ve read and liked any of them.

1. The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin

2. Annie Gomez and the Gigantic Foot of Doom by Jay Cutts

3. It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita by Heather B. Armstrong

4. Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris

5. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda (Origami Yoda #1) by Tom Angleberger

6. How You Can Bowl Better Using Self-Hypnosis by Jack Heise

7. The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break by Steven Sherrill

8. How To Tell Your Cat About Trump by Breaking Burgh

9. The Grass Is Always Greener over the Septic Tank by Erma Bombeck

10. How to Make Your Cat an Internet Celebrity: A Guide to Financial Freedom  by Patricia Carlin

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I’m a mood reader, so these TBR posts for Top Ten Tuesday often turn out to be wildly different from what I actually get around to reading in any given season.

Spring is also the time of year when I generally read less and spend more time outdoors.

Toronto doesn’t have many dry days with mild and pleasant temperatures, so you’d better believe we take full advantage of them when they start showing up in the spring! The heat and humidity of the summer will encourage us to head back indoors soon enough.

With those things in mind, these books do sound good to me and I do plan to eventually read them on days that weren’t meant for picnics and hikes in the warm, friendly sunshine instead.

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Publication Date: Already released

Why I Want to Read It: I enjoyed “Never Let Me Go” by Mr. Ishiguro and thought the fairytale-like themes of this new release from him sounded right up my alley.

Girlhood by Melissa Febos

Publication Date: March 30

Why I Want to Read It: I love reading about other women’s experiences with every stage of life, including girlhood and puberty. These aren’t topics that are discussed enough in my opinion.

The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler’s Ghettos by Judy Batalion

Publication Date: April 6

Why I Want to Read It: I didn’t realize there were resistance fighters in the ghettos in Germany.

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

Publication Date: May 4

Why I Want to Read It: I loved “The Deep” (my review of it is here) and can’t wait to see what Ms. Solomon does with the Gothic Fiction genre! It’s so cool when authors dip their toes in other genres or sub-genres.

 

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Publication Date: May 4

Why I Want to Read It: I loved ” Martian” and can’t wait to see what thought-provoking hard science fiction Mr. Weir has for his fans this time. Yes, I do tend to stick with certain authors once I have an amazing experience with one or more of their books.

 

The President’s Daughter by Bill Clinton

Publication Date: June 7

Why I Want to Read It: It makes me wonder which parts of the plot might have been inspired by President Clinton’s time in the White House! No, I don’t think it’s secretly autobiographical or anything like that, but maybe there were quiet moments from his presidency that inspired him to wonder how they’d fare as a thriller.

Rez Dogs by Joseph Bruchac

Publication Date: June 8

Why I Want to Read It: I have relatives who worked in the medical field during the first few waves of Covid-19. They only know about its effect on reservations from secondhand experience, but even those tidbits of information were more than enough to make my ears perk up at the thought of learning more.

Are you also a mood reader and/or someone who struggles with these seasonal TBR prompts? Please tell me I’m not the only one!

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I prefer to tidy up my TBR and home at regular intervals rather than doing spring cleanings every year.  I tweaked this week’s prompt a little bit, but I am sticking to the spirit of it.

There’s something about the arrival of spring that feels like a fresh start to me. All of the snow melts in Toronto and we generally don’t get any more of it by the middle of April.

It’s so nice to reach the time of year when it’s warm enough to go outside and try something new or give old hobbies and interests another shot after maybe giving them up for the winter.

This list is filled with books about people who get fresh starts. Some are true stories while others are fictional. A few are set during the spring. What other titles would you add to it?

1. Everyone’s a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too by Jomny Sun

2. The Arrival by Shaun Tan

3.Recursion by Blake Crouch

4. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

5. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

6. Welcome to Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo

7. The Woman Next Door by Yewande Omotoso

8. The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X

9. Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell

10. Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss by Rajeev Balasubramanyam

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Kudos to whomever came up with this unique topic! I have not read these books and am only mentioning them because these occupations sound amazing.

 

Title and Author: The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani

The Job: Carpet designer

Why I’m Interested: It’s quiet, intricate work that creates beloved family heirlooms.

 

Title and Author: The Queen’s Dollmaker by Christine Trent

The Job: Dollmaker

Why I’m Interested: Dolls bring so much joy to the world.

 

Title and Author: Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier

The Job: Poet

Why I’m Interested: I used to write a lot of poetry. It’s harder than some people imagine it to be but quite rewarding when you finally figure out the right turn of phrase to make your point succinctly.

 

Title and Author: The Naturalist’s Daughter by Tea Cooper

The Job: Naturalist

Why I’m Interested: This specific naturalist studied the platypus, an animal I find utterly fascinating. Wouldn’t it be cool to be the first person from your culture to discover such a thing? I’d like to think he spoke to the people who already lived there about what they knew about the life cycle and physiology of the platypus.

 

Title and Author: The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

The Job: Lighthouse Keeper

Why I’m Interested: It was generally quiet and peaceful work which appeals to this introvert quite a bit.  I’d have time to write stories or read books while I was on the job.

 

Title and Author: The Archivist by Martha Cooley

The Job: Archivist

Why I’m Interested: I adore organizing, cataloguing, and sorting all sorts of different things. Being an archivist sounds heavenly to me.