Tag Archives: Top Ten Tuesday

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

I wasn’t sure how to organize these, so I’m going to start in 2010 and end this year.

2010  – Room by Emma Donoghue

What made this stand out from the typical thriller for me was that it was narrated by a five-year-old boy who really didn’t know how unusual his childhood was because he’d been born into captivity. I loved the film that was made about this story. It really captured his innocence and the mother’s horror well.

2011 – Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

The trick pictures that sparked the creation of this book were wonderful. I highly recommend checking them out before reading it.

2012  – Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

I’m a city person through and through, but this memoir made me want to go tramping through the woods for a long hike.

2013  – I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai

If you haven’t read this yet, you really should. The things Malala went through just to get an education are unbelievable. I’m so glad she survived and is currently in university.

2014 – The Martian by Andy Weir

I’ve gushed about this book so many times here that I’m not quite sure what else to say about it other than the fact that it made me want to go to Mars…but not until there are other people living there full-time first.

2015 – Orphan Number Eight by Kim van Alkemade

This was a hard read because the fictional events in this plot were inspired by what really happened to orphans who were medically experimented upon without consent a century ago. I believe it’s important to acknowledge these ugly parts of our collective past and work to ensure they never happen again, though.

2016 – Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

While the writing honestly wasn’t as strong as some of the other books I read that came out in 2016, the premise of this one refused to be ignored.

A racist white couple forbade a black nurse from touching their newborn son. When the baby went into cardiac arrest, the nurse hesitated before giving him CPR because she wasn’t sure whether the parents would be more angry that their irrational request was ignored or that their son didn’t receive medical attention ASAP.

The baby had a poor outcome, so the parents sued the nurse and hospital.

I had a pretty strong opinion about what the right thing to do in this case was, but I’ll leave it up to all of you to come to your own conclusions about that.

2017 – The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Something tells me that many of us will be picking T.H.U.G. for their 2017 book of the year! How many of you have seen the film? I really need to check it out sometime.

2018 – Becoming by Michelle Obama

I’m actually still reading this one, but I’m counting it as the 2018 Book of the Year since that’s when it was released. It’s so interesting to see the world through Mrs. Obama’s eyes.

2019 – Slayer by Kiersten White

I just started reading this one, too. It’s fantastic so far, and it’s making me wish that they’d hurry up and film that Buffy the Vampire Slayer remake that’s supposed to come out sometime.

The thought of a teenage girl protecting the world is just as relevant now as it was in the 90s.

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

This week’s prompt was “Books That I Refuse to Let Anyone Touch.” I was hopelessly stumped by it, so I decided to do one of the first Top Ten Tuesday prompts instead. This one is from almost a decade ago, long before I had any clue that Top Ten Tuesday even existed.

Favourite Places to Read

Underneath Trees

My family lived near a forest when I was in middle school.  Sometimes I’d ride my bike to the edge of the forest and read underneath one of the big trees just off of the official bike path. It was incredibly peaceful.

I still occasionally go to the park for this purpose today. There’s nothing like hearing leaves rustling and squirrels or other small animals chattering while you read.

On an Airplane

Flying makes me nervous, so it’s quite helpful to have a good book to distract me once the flight attendants have finished sharing the safety information they must discuss at the beginning of every flight.

I’ve actually been known to buy e-books that really catch my eye and then not read them until months later when I’m flying somewhere. It gives me something positive to look forward to during that time, and that’s always handy.

While Waiting 

I could be waiting for anything:

• A doctor’s appointment
• Dental treatments
• Food at a restaurant
• The chance to update my driver’s license

Books are a lovely and deeply-appreciated distraction in these moments…especially if the thing I’m waiting for carries the possibility of bad news!

When I Can’t Sleep

Occasionally, my brain decides to wake me up in the middle of the night for no reason. I’m simply wide awake at a time when I should be fast asleep on those nights.

It’s been my experience that the quickest way to get back to sleep is to read for a little while. Preferably, it should be something soothing, not exciting.

What are your favourite places to read? Did anyone else struggle with the original prompt for this week?

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Some weeks I struggle to come up with enough items for a Top Ten Tuesday list, but this sure wasn’t one of them. I could have easily given you all twice as many answers to this question. There are so many different things in our world that make me say, “Ooh! I want to read all about that.”

Also, I decided to accentuate my list with gifs this week. I hope you all enjoy them.

1.  It’s Historically Accurate

I love it when authors research the time and place they’re writing about in precise, accurate detail. For example, they might include descriptions of foods that truly were staples in the diet of that culture then, describe how people hunted/grew their food, or show what the average day was like for ordinary folks from that era. If I immediately know or later find out  that they got all of those little details right, I’m going to be quite happy with that writer.

2. It Includes Non-Romantic Types of Love

If the main character’s relationships are with their best friend, sibling, pet, or some other living being that isn’t a romantic partner, I get excited. There’s something refreshing about fiction written about these things, and I wish we had more books that explored why and how platonic relationships enrich all of our lives.

3. There Are Spaceships and Space Exploration

I grew up watching reruns of various Star Trek shows, and they taught me to look forward to the day when humans will be able to explore the universe. Any book that takes a similar approach to all of the wonderful things we might find if we ever visit other planets – or, better yet, meet other intelligent forms of life – is something I’m going to want to read.

4. It’s Willing to Poke Fun at Itself (and/or Its Genre)

If a story or character has enough self-awareness to make jokes about themselves, I immediately become even more interested in following them until the final scene. I love it when narrators realize they’re following the same old tropes in their genre and do something to let the audience know that they’re doing this on purpose.

5. There’s Compassion for and from Everyone

It’s much easier for me to read about terrible things happening to characters if they have compassion for each other and if the author has compassion for them, too. If even an antagonist manages to do this like Inigo Montoya did in The Princess Bride, I’m going to read (or watch) that story over and over again.

6. LGBTQ+ People Get Happy Endings

This is starting to slowly shift, but I used to have the hardest time finding books about LGBTQ+ characters that had upbeat endings for them (when I could even find them at all!) I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to finally read stories about people like me who get to live happily ever after in the last scene. We need many more examples of this, please.

7. It’s About Palaeontology and/or Anthropology

So you all already know that I like reading about history. I also enjoy reading fictional and non-fictional books about the things we’ve learned about what happened on Earth long before anyone started writing stuff down. Whether we’re talking about   ancient humans or dinosaurs that went extinct millions of years before hominids existed, I want to read about all of it.

8. At Least One Character Has an Allergy to Something

I’m not allergic to 109 different things, but I do have multiple allergies. It is so rare for me to read books about people who are like me in this area that I get ridiculously excited when authors not only mention a character being allergic to something but describe it in medically accurate detail. We desperately need more representation in this area.

9. At Least One Character Has a Mental Illness

There are books out there about characters who have mental illnesses, but as someone who has personal experience with this topic I’d definitely like to see more stories that discuss it without using it as an excuse to vilify anyone. I feel like having more characters who have a mental illness will help reduce the stigma associated with it. It might also encourage more people to seek help when they’re struggling with something.

10. Someone Has a Beloved Pet (and That Pet Doesn’t Die or Get Injured)

I’m allergic to many of the mammals that people commonly keep as pets, including cats, dogs, and rabbits. Since I can’t live with any of these creatures, the next best thing would be to read about characters who live happily ever after with their pet(s). There’s something so wholesome about that.

What do you all look for in a book? How much do we have in common here?

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

I’ve never been able to get into audiobooks for two reasons: I’m a fast reader who finds the pacing of most audiobooks far too slow, and I like coming up with my own ideas about what any particular character’s voice might sound like.

So this week’s prompt needed to be fiddled with a little in order for me to come up with a (mostly on-topic) response to it. If I had to listen to audiobooks for some reason, these are the things that would make that experience more interesting for me.

Hot Tea

My grandmother likes to brew two cups of tea, one for each of us, from the same teabag when I visit her. If there’s no one around to share her teabag, she’s been known to save it until later on in the day and use it again. I credit her for my love of tea.

Healthy Snacks

I’m a nibbler. Rather than eat two or three big meals a day, I’d prefer to graze my way through several little ones. There’s something so emotionally satisfying about eating bits of various fruit, vegetables, or nuts while you’re in the middle of a story.

Reading Socks

The bookstores in Toronto sell warm, thick reading socks that look something like the socks in the stock photo above. If I didn’t live in such a warm and cozy apartment, I’d buy a pair in a heartbeat!

Adult Colouring Books

Few things are as relaxing to me as colouring. I love picking out which shades to us and slowly seeing my picture come to life. If I could colour while I was listening, I think I might be able to finish an audio book or two.

Fidget Spinners

I’m not a wiggly person in any other scenario, so why am I so wiggly at the thought of sitting down and listening to a book being read to me? No idea, but a fidget spinner might also help.

How many of you listen to audiobooks? Who else might need distractions in order to fully enjoy this type of storytelling experience?