Tag Archives: Top Ten Tuesday

March 12, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Standalone Books That Need a Sequel

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Last year, I wrote a (non-Top-Ten-Tuesday) post about books that need prequels. Today, I’ll be talking about some standalone books that need sequels. This list is shorter than usual because of how many authors and publishers are eager to publish sequels to stories that do well. There simply aren’t a lot of books that I wish had sequels. Hopefully, some of you will have longer lists.

1. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

While I loved the ending of this book, I couldn’t help but to hope we’d hear more from Starr again. The resolutions to her problems were incredibly realistic, but they also left a lot of room for speculating about how or if they might shift again in the future. What can I say? I wanted a happier ended than the one we got, and I’m still holding out home that it might happen someday. (The film is still on my to-be-watched list, so maybe it was different? Please don’t give me spoilers if they changed the ending!)

2. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Melinda, the main character, had been through something so awful she couldn’t even talk about it. I loved getting to know her sweet, creative personality and slowly uncovering the cause of her pain. She was a lovely person, and I sure would like to see what she was like a few years or decades after this terrible time in her life.

Skip the sentence below this paragraph if you want to avoid all spoilers. Keep reading if you prefer to know about potentially triggering subject matter ahead of time .

This book is about rape and the long-term traumatic effects of that crime. I was caught off-guard by that plot twist, so I feel obligated to let other potential readers know about it.

3. Bridge to Terabithia  by Katherine Paterson

The friendship between Jess (the main character) and his neighbour, Lesie is something I still think about to this day. While the ending to this tale was well done, I’d sure like to see what life was like for the characters decades later. There’s so much room for growth here.

4. Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman

Imagine what it would be like if your father tried to marry you off when you were fourteen! I was a kid when I read this book, so I knew very little about the cultural norms of the 1200s in Europe (or anywhere else for that matter). Birdy’s story is something that has stuck with me for years, and I’d love to find out what happened to her after the events of the final scenes.

5. 1984 by George Orwell

1984 was about a man living in a harsh, totalitarian society who tried to figure out a way to escape it. I had a lot of mixed feelings about the ending even though it fit the tone of this tale well. It would be so interesting to revisit this universe a few decades later to see what might have changed in it.

6. Coraline by Neil Gaiman

There were so many unanswered questions about the other flat Coraline discovered. How long has it existed? Why was it created? Will anyone else ever become endangered by it?

A sequel would be the perfect place to answer these questions.

What standalone books do you all wish would have sequels?

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March 5, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I’d Like to Switch Places With

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

My list this week is going to include several characters from TV shows. All of these shows have had books or graphic novels written about them, though, so they still fit the criteria for Top Ten Tuesday.

1. Biff from Christopher Moore’s Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal.

I love the offbeat humour of Monty Python and Douglas Adams. Christopher Moore was an author I discovered when I went hunting for other examples of tongue-in-cheek storytelling, and his irreverent character Biff was the perfect fit for what I was looking for. It would be pretty amusing to see the world through Biff’s eyes for a day.

2. Buffy from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home and other graphic novels

Buffy wasn’t the first female superhero I ever watched or read about, but she has remained one of my favourite ones over the years. Unlike a lot of other superheroes, she had tight-knit relationships with her family, biological and chosen. I also loved the fact that she regularly dealt with problems that couldn’t be solved by super strength or fast healing. I’d sure be interested in finding out what it would be like to have those kinds of powers.

3. The Thirteenth Doctor Who

It wasn’t until I saw Jodie Whittaker’s take on the Doctor that I finally became a fan of this show. I love the creativity and practicality of the Thirteenth Doctor. Without giving away spoilers for those of you who haven’t seen her beginning yet, I was impressed with how good she was at getting herself out of a tough situation when she lost her sonic screwdriver. Her choice of companions has been top-notch so far, too, and I’d love to go on an adventure with them.

There is a graphic novel scheduled to be released about Doctor Who in May. I’m quite curious to read it.

4. Watson from the original Sherlock Holmes series

While Sherlock was a brilliant detective, I always found Watson more relatable because of his high emotional intelligence. He had impeccable manners and a desire to genuinely get to know others that I think would make him a very interesting person to switch places with.

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5. Michael Burnham from Star Trek: Discovery novel.

Drastic Measures is the name of the first Star Trek novel about this show. Let’s see what I can tell you about Michael without giving away spoilers to anyone who hasn’t started Discovery yet. She’s an intelligent, hard-working woman who is excellent at reading and responding to other people’s emotions. I also love the fact that she is so quick to stick up for the underdog.

Also, who wouldn’t want to visit the Star Trek universe? That would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

6. Jayne Cobb from the Firefly graphic novels

Firefly was another TV show that I was pretty sad to see end, but luckily it was given new life in the graphic novel format. This story followed a group of rag-tag space travellers as they visited various planets and tried to find enough paying customers to make their space flights at least somewhat profitable. Jayne was the mercenary of the group, but as we got to know him we discovered parts of his personality that you’d never expect to find in someone as tough and aggressive as he generally was.

I loved discovering the hidden parts of his life and think it would be quite interesting to see what else might be quietly going on with him.

7. The mysterious old woman from the traditional fairy tale, The Child Who Came from an Egg.

I’m guessing that a lot of you haven’t heard of this legend, so I included a link to a site where you can read it for free in the line above. The most interesting to me about the mysterious old woman is that we know nothing about her, including her name. She has powers that she uses for good, but where she came from and how she acquired those powers is a mystery. I’d love to be her long enough to figure out the answers to those questions.

(Someday I hope we’ll have a Top Ten Tuesday prompt that I can use to talk about nothing but fairy tales. I love this topic and will talk all of your ears off about it if Jana ever gives me the opportunity to do so. Ha!)

8. Yorick Brown from Y: The Last Man

The premise of Y: The Last Man is simple. After a worldwide plague kills off all of the men in the world except for a guy named Yorick, he must travel halfway across the world to make amends with his ex-girlfriend.

I’m fascinated by the thought of living in a world full of women, and I thought this series did a good job of showing how society might adapt to that sort of massive change.

9. Lyra Belacqua from Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy.

Lyra was such an inquisitive girl. There’s no doubt in my mind that temporarily being her would bring a lot of adventure my way.

10. Michonne from Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead graphic novels

Survivor is the first word I think of when I think of Michonne. She lived in an incredibly dangerous world, and yet she figured out ways to survive even the most dangerous situations without losing her humanity or will to survive. Without giving away spoilers, this is something that became pretty rare in this universe by the time I stopped reading the graphic novels.

I know that Rick Grimes is technically the main character of this story, but I’ve always felt like that honour should have been given to Michonne instead. She’s more than earned it.

What characters would you all like to switch places with?

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February 26, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Places Mentioned in Books That I’d Like to Visit

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

One of the coolest things about this week’s prompt is how nicely it complements tomorrow’s prompt for the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge. Today I’m going to be talking about places mentioned in books that I would like to visit, and then tomorrow I’ll get to talk about fictional places I definitely would not want to visit.

I have a lot to say on this topic today. Oh, this is going to be fun!

1. Honeydukes, the sweets shop in Hogsmeade.

Honestly, what Harry Potter fan wouldn’t want to eat a chocolate frog or a sherbet lemon from that shop or one like it? Who knows what other magical treats have been introduced to the wizarding world in the last couple of decades.

Some of you might even be brave enough to try Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. I tried the muggle version of it one time, and now I know what grass tastes like.

2. Wonderland. 

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland blew my mind when I was a kid. I loved all of the riddles she was given and how delightfully odd all of the creatures in that world were. This is a place I’d visit in a heartbeat, especially if I could bring a few snacks from Honeydukes with me.

3. Xavier’s Academy.

One of the things I like the most about the X-Men universe is how Xavier’s Academy is generally described in it. I get the impression it was a fairly casual and welcoming school where everyone was welcomed. I’d sure love to tour this facility.

4. The Hundred Acre Woods. 

I will never be too old to stop wishing that Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends were somehow real. Wouldn’t it be fun to go have an adventure with them for a day? Or, better yet, to take them on a tour of modern society?

5. Cair Paravel. 

If you want to see Narnia without being turned into a stone or otherwise vexed by certain antagonists, I’d argue that the best time to do so was when Cair Paravel was ruled by the Pevensie children. It would be incredible to have a conversation with the talking animals who lived back then and see what their world was like during those peaceful years.

6. Avonlea. 

I’m a lifelong fan of the Anne of Green Gables series. While I know it isn’t actually possible to meet the descendants of a fictional character, a small part of me would love to somehow be able to visit Avonlea. I’d hope to run into Anne Shirley’s descendants and hear what the younger generations have been up to since the last story was written about Anne and Gilbert’s lives in the early days of World War II.

7. Rivendell.

By far my favourite part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy were the numerous scenes that showed how the elves lived, especially since they spent so much of their lives doing things like eating delicious food and learning for the sheer joy of it. As much as I’d miss the Internet, I think being surrounded by the beauty and peace of an Elvish city would more than make up for it.

8. The Ingalls Homestead. 

Anyone reading this who has met me in real life is probably chuckling now. I both loved the Little House on the Prairie books and am arguably the least rugged person in Canada, if not all of North America. The thought of me living on a totally non-magical homestead that also obviously wouldn’t have any modern conveniences like air conditioning or wifi is, well, hilarious. I think I would last about half an hour there before trying to call an Uber to take me back to the comforts of city life and away from all of the mosquitoes and mud the Ingalls dealt with so often.

Still, though, I would enjoy that very short visit quite a bit. Laura Ingalls Wilder’s childhood definitely was an interesting one!

9. Avalon. 

For those of you who aren’t too familiar with the various legends of King Arthur, Avalon is the magical island where King Arthur was taken to recuperate after he was wounded in battle.

There was a book called “The Mists of Avalon” that came out a couple of decades ago that retold this legend from the perspective of his half-sister that described this island as an oasis for women. Ever since then, I’ve wished I could visit it for real.

10. Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. 

Have you all noticed the slightly sugary pattern in my answers yet? I’m trying to stick to a low-sugar diet in real life for health reasons, so maybe that’s part of the reason why I spend so much time dreaming about worlds where dietary restrictions aren’t a thing and where there are no negative consequences from eating sweets every day.

How many of these places would you also like to visit?

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February 19, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Loved with Fewer Than 2,000 Ratings on Goodreads

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

It took a lot of digging for me to come up with enough books for this week’s list. I read several these titles when I was in high school or middle school. Many of the other titles are pretty far back in my already-read queue, too. So I sadly don’t remember specific details about what I loved about these books anymore or if I’d feel the same way about them today. All I know is that at some point I thought they were the bee’s knees. Now I’m wondering if I should give some of these titles a reread!

Since I can’t rightfully gush about any of them like I normally would for a Top Ten Tuesday post, I’ll tell you how many ratings they have on Goodreads instead. The list-maker in me insists on sharing them in order from the biggest to the smallest number of ratings.

1. The Eye of the Heron by Ursula K. LeGuin 

# of ratings on Goodreads as of February 7: 1688

2. The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Writings by Charlotte Perkins Gillman 

# of ratings on Goodreads as of February 7: 1520

3. The Margarets by Sheri S. Tepper. 

# of ratings on Goodreads as of February 7: 1512

4. Shame of Man (Geodyssey #2) by Piers Anthony

# of ratings on Goodreads as of February 7: 1057

5. The Meaning of Wife: A Provocative Look at Women and Marriage in the Twenty-First Century by Anne Kingston

# of ratings on Goodreads as of February 7: 1018

6. Collected Sonnets by Edna St. Vincent Millay 

# of ratings on Goodreads as of February 7: 858

7. Eutopia: A Novel of Terrible Optimism by David Nickel

# of ratings on Goodreads as of February 7: 728

8. Hope of Earth (Geodyssey #3) by Piers Anthony

# of ratings on Goodreads as of February 7: 698

9. The Dark Beyond the Stars by Frank M. Robinson 

# of ratings on Goodreads as of February 7: 61

10. Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community by Andrea Weiss

# of ratings on Goodreads as of February 7: 10

It will be interesting to see how many of you, if anyone, will share your lists beginning with the title that had the biggest number of Goodreads ratings and ending with the smallest one.

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February 12, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Favourite Couples in Books

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

I’m not a romantic person in real life, and I don’t generally find myself that interested in romance novels or stories spend a lot of time talking about characters falling in love. (Y’all, how on Earth did I ever manage to get married? Ha!)

So this week’s list required some thought, and I was a little short of the full 10 books we were supposed to come up with once I finished it.  Honestly, I like it when blog hops make you think, though. It’s nice when you can automically come up with a dozen or more books to fit a Top Ten Tuesday theme, but there’s also something to be said for digging deeply to get one of these posts put together.

You’re going to see several friends-turned-lovers on today’s list. On the rare occasions that I get excited about a fictional romance, a friendship evolving into something more than that is often the biggest reason why I’m thrilled. Most of the people I’ve developed crushes on or fallen in love with have started out as friends first, so it’s always nice to see characters have that same wonderful experience.

1. Jo and Laurie from Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women.”

I really like it when characters who have similar personalities end up in flirtatious or romantic situations. Jo and Laurie not only acted a lot alike, they had some of the same flaws. That can be a good thing for certain couples! If you both struggle with the same bad habit, it can be easier to show empathy when your partner messes up in that area.

2. Alice and her partner in Claire Kann’s “Let’s Talk About Love.”

To the best of my knowledge, this was the first book about an asexual character I ever read. (I’m purposefully not mentioning her partner’s name for spoiler purposes). While there were parts of the plot I didn’t find so interesting, I was fascinated by the idea of someone having a romantic relationship without ever wanting to have sex with them. It’s not something that’s talked about very often in mainstream fiction, and I don’t know anyone in real life who is asexual to the best of my knowledge, so it’s nice to see an example of how these types of relationships work.

3. Ron and Hermione from the Harry Potter series. 

Most people seemed to think Hermione would end up with Harry. I personally assumed she’d end up with Ron’s wickedly intelligent older brother, Percy, because they were both so bookish in the very best sense of that term.

I do see the logic in Ron and Hermione ending up together, though, and I like the thought of them raising a couple of bright and probably terribly mischievous kids.

4. Annie and Liza from Nancy Garden’s “Annie on My Mind.”

There’s something about young love that’s always interesting to read. I developed crushes on others so rarely when I was in school that my dating history was almost non-existent until I was in my 20s. It was nice to read about girls who had a totally different adolescence than mine.

5. Anne and Gilbert from L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series. 

I did not like the thought of Anne and Gilbert dating when they were teenagers because of how fiercely competitive they were, but my opinion changed once they’d both had a chance to grow up and experience life a little more. They were both smart, compassionate, and very kind. I don’t know about all of you, but I always cheer at the thought of these sorts of folks ending up together.

6.Valancy and her partner in L.M. Montgomery’s “The Blue Castle.”

Once again, I can’t say who the main character ended up with for spoiler reasons, but I thought Valancy and her lover made a wonderful couple. Valancy’s life had been so drab, strictly controlled, and sometimes even peppered with emotional abuse when we first met her that this twist in her fate was a true breath of fresh air.

7. Josh and Emma from Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler’s “The Future of Us.”

Imagine getting glimpses of your possible futures through the Internet! I loved this premise just as much as I did trying to figure out if these two friends were actually going to one day end up together. The fact that it was set in the 90’s only made it better. There haven’t been too many contemporary stories set in that decade yet, so I’m happy whenever I find one.

8. Jane and Mr. Rochester from Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre.” 

The romantic subplot wasn’t one I knew about in advance because I read this book on my own for the sheer joy of it instead of  for a class assignment. Due to this, Jane’s relationship with Mr. Rochester came as a huge surprise to me. Her neglectful childhood was oddly a nice match for all of the troubles Mr. Rochester had been through. I hope they’d find some happiness in each other after all of the hard times they’d both know. There’s something so emotionally satisfying about that, don’t you think?

9. Ennis and Jack from Annie Proulx’s “Brokeback Mountain.”

I saw the film version of this tale long before reading the short story it was based on. Ennis and Jack’s gruff and pragmatic personalities worked so well together. They were perfect for each other. If only they’d live in a time and place where it was easier for two people of the same gender to share a life together.

What would you recommend I add to my list to bring it to up to 10 books? I tried so hard to think of one final couple, but I just couldn’t do it.

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February 5, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Upcoming Releases I’m On the Fence About

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

I’m going to be very honest with all of you today about my mixed feelings on the mystery genre. What I’m about to say is not a judgement on anyone else’s reading habits in any way. Theoretically, I do like the idea of reading or watching something that requires the audience to pay close attention to the clues in order to figure out who the murderer was before the main character does.

What I don’t like about the mystery genre is its fixation on what can often be pretty gruesome crimes, especially since  they seem to happen to young women in so many tales. I don’t have much interest in gory stuff in general, and I really don’t like reading about all of the horrible ways innocent people can be killed.

So I really don’t know what to think about these titles. I’ve added links to their interesting blurbs for anyone who would like to check them out, but I don’t know if I actually should read any of them. What do you all think? Are you planning to read any of these books? If you read mysteries in general, can you recommend any stories that break this pattern?

1. The Ghost Manuscript by Kris Frieswick

2. The Escape Room by Megan Goldin

3. If You’re Out There by Katy Loutzenhiser

4. Fake Plastic Girl by Zara Lisbon

5. Call Me Evie by JP Pomare

6. Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips

7. The Blameless Dead by Gary Haynes

8. American Heroin by Melissa Scrivner Love

9. The Promise by Teresa Driscoll

10. House on Fire by Bonnie Kistler

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January 22, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Meant to Read in 2018 But Didn’t Get To

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Does something count as a TBR list if it’s simply a list of library books you haven’t gotten around to requesting yet? If so, today’s post is going to be a simple one! I’ve been meaning to read all of these books, but I haven’t actually requested them from my local library yet due to the incredibly long wait times for them.

Hopefully, those times will be reduced in 2019. This is a real grab-bag of genres, styles, and topics because that’s exactly what my reading habits are like in general.

1) Heart–A History by Sandeep Jauhar

If you ask me, the history of how humans slowly figured out more and more effective medical treatments for various ailments is a fascinating one. This book spends a lot of time showing how doctors came to understand the heart well enough to perform serious operations like heart transplants.

2) Fierce Fairytales: Poems and Stories to Stir Your Soul by Nikita Gill

Possibly feminist (or at least more modern) retellings of what were originally pretty stereotypical fairy tales? Sign me up!

3) The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias by Dolly Chugh

This book is so relevant to our current age it’s not even funny. I can’t wait to read it.

4) Anger Is a Gift: A Novel by Mark Oshiro

People are almost certainly going to compare this to Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give, but I’m going to do my best to avoid that. It sounds like it will have a unique spin on the topics of racism and police brutality.

5) The Cowkeeper’s Wish: A Genealogical Journey by Tracy Kasaboski

Genealogy is such an interesting topic. My family knows a decent amount about who our ancestors were and what they were doing over the last couple hundred years. I love seeing other families get that same opportunity, too. There’s something really cool about knowing basic things like what a great-great-great grandparent’s occupations was, how many children they had, and where they were born.

6) The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

I absolutely loved the Netflix series based on this book! It’s going to be a lot of fun to see how the original differed from it. My fingers are crossed that more time will be spent explaining the backstories of the various ghosts since many of them weren’t given much screen time in season one of this show.

7) This Is the Way the World Ends: How Droughts and Die-offs, Heat Waves and Hurricanes Are Converging on America by Jeff Nesbit

Obviously, I hope our collective future is much brighter and more hopeful than this. It’s still good to know what the less optimistic predictions are as well.

8) Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited by Elyse Schein

Oh, this is heartbreaking. I can’t imagine separating twins on purpose simply to see how similar or dissimilar they might be if they were raised by different adoptive families and had no knowledge of each other. The best way to learn from the past is to study what happened, though.

9)  The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

So many of you lovely Top Ten Tuesday bloggers have mentioned this book that I simply must read it for myself.

10) The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner

Once again, a lot of Top Ten Tuesday bloggers have talked about this story. If everyone is gushing about it, it just might be amazing! Either way, I must find out for myself once the wait list for it is less than eighty years. (I’m joking….mostly. It is pretty long, though).

How many of these books have you read or do you hope to read?

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January 15, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2018

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

To be honest with all of you, at first I wasn’t sure if I should participate in this week’s prompt. I spend so much time reading new titles from authors I discovered years ago that I wasn’t positive I’d be able to come up with enough people to fill out all ten spots on this list.

Then I remember all of the short stories I read in the average year. My favourite genre has always been science fiction, and my favourite kind of sci-fi  to read is the short stuff. There’s something immensely satisfying about seeing how much world- and charcter-building an author can squeeze into a few dozen pages…or less!

Not only will you get to read my thoughts on today’s list as usual, you’ll also be able to check out the stories that first introduced me to these authors for free if any of them grab your attention. How cool is that?

1. Author: Sara Norja

What I Read from Them: Birch Daughter 

Why I Loved It: The main character’s mother was turned into a tree before the first scene began. If that’s not the makings of a must-read, I don’t know what is!

2. Author: A.C. Buchanan

What I Read from Them: Girls Who Do Not Drown 

Why I Loved It: So many stories are written about young women dying in ghastly ways. I adored the fact that this steadfastly refused to be one of them.

3. Author: Shiv Ramdas

What I Read from Them: Guardian

Why I Loved It: For something that took only a couple of minutes to read, this sure did pack an emotional punch at the end. That’s all I can say without giving you all spoilers.

4. Author: Adam R. Shannon

What I Read from Them: On the Day You Spend Forever With Your Dog

Why I Loved It: So many of us have outlived beloved pets. Imagine what it would be like to be reunited with them again in this lifetime…or maybe even forever. If the death of animals is a trigger for you, you might want to skip this even though it’s not really meant to be a tearjerker.

5. Author: Kathryn Kania

What I Read from Them: Tablecloth

Why I Loved It: In the very first scene, a mischievous (and possibly magical) cat shows up in the main character’s life and refuses to leave. That was such a cat-like thing to do that I couldn’t help but to keep reading.

6. Author: Chesya Burke

What I Read from Them: For Sale: Fantasy Coffins (Ababuo Need Not Apply)

Why I Loved It: The unique title was what grabbed my attention at first. I stuck around because of how kind the main character was despite – or maybe because of? –  the fact that people feared her.

7. Author: Beth Goder

What I Read from Them: How to Identify an Alien Shark

Why I Loved It: Now I know exactly how to identify an alien shark. Ha! Also, I love the idea of an alien invasion happening in our oceans because the invaders were an aquatic species.

8. Author: Alexandra Rowland

What I Read from Them: Love in Every Stitch

Why I Loved It: Sewing isn’t as easy as it might first appear to be, and even the most ornate handmade articles are rarely respected enough to be thought of as art. It’s nice to see stitches get the attention they deserve even if they aren’t quite the same sort of stitch you’d use to patch up a hole in a jacket or sew on a button.

9. Author:  Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali

What I Read from Them: Talking to Cancer 

Why I Loved It: I know I’ve wished I could talk to cancer before. It’s a truly awful disease that has prematurely ended far too many lives. The thought of actually convincing it to go away like the main character did in the first scene is too good to be true.

10. Author: Kristi DeMeester

What I Read from Them: With Lips Sewn Shut 

Why I Loved It: The metaphor in it was outstanding. Oh, there’s so much more I want to say about it, but everything I can think of will give you unforgivable spoilers for why lips are sewn shut in this universe.

Who else loves short stories? I’m hoping at least a few Top Ten Tuesday bloggers will say yes to this question!

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January 8, 2019 · 1:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Non-Fiction Releases for the First Half of 2019

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

When I’m not reading the science fiction and fantasy genres, non-fiction is something I love diving headfirst into. Thus far, it looks like 2019 is going to be an amazing year for all sorts of non-fiction titles, from biographies to sociology and so much more!

1. Influenza: The Quest to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History by Jeremy Brown

Release Date: Today

2. Womanish: A Grown Black Woman Speaks on Love and Life by Kim McLarin

Release Date: January 15

3. What We Talk About When We Talk about Rape by Sohaila Abdulali

Release Date: January 26

4. No Beast So Fierce: The Terrifying True Story of the Champawat Tiger, the Deadliest Animal in History by Dane Huckelbridge

Release Date: February 5

5. Becoming Emily: The Life of Emily Dickinson by Krystyna Poray Goddu

Release Date: February 5

6. Louisa on the Front Lines: Louisa May Alcott in the Civil War by Samantha Seiple

Release Date: February 26

7. Bats: An Illustrated Guide to All Species by Marianne Taylor

Release Date: April 9

8. Beyond Words: What Elephants and Whales Think and Feel by Carl Safina

Release Date: April 23

9. The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games by Ebony Elizabeth Thomas.

Release Date: May 21

10. Dissenter on the Bench: Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Life and Work by Victoria Ortiz

Release  Date: June 4

Are you planning to read any of these books? What books are all of you looking forward to over the next six months or so?

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January 5, 2019 · 1:00 am

Blog Hops I’ll Be Participating In

A blog hop is a weekly prompt in which group of bloggers all write posts about the same, pre-determined subject. The person or site that came up with that topic provides a space for everyone to share links to their own responses and read what others had to say about it as well . This gives everyone a chance to attract new readers, find out how other people responded to the same subject, and discover blogs that might be right up their alley.

Blog hops are sometimes called link parties or link-up parties.

However you refer to them, I’ll be participating in two of these things in 2019. Today I wanted to tell you about them in advance so my readers know what is happening when these posts begin popping up here in the next week or so.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010. In January of 2018, it moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. As per That Artsy Reader Girl, “it was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.”

This is what Top Ten Tuesday participants will be talking about over the next two months. New topics are generally announced  1-3 months in advance for this blog hop, so be sure to check That Artsy Reader Girl in the future to find out what the rest of her prompts will be for this year if you’re hoping to join in or wondering what I might be discussing here.

January 8: Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2019
January 15: New-to-Me Authors I Read In 2018
January 22: Books I Meant to Read In 2018 but Didn’t Get To
January 29: The Ten Most Recent Additions to My To-Read List
February 5: Upcoming Releases I’m On the Fence About (these are the books you need help deciding if they’re worth adding to your TBR or not.)
February 12: Favorite Couples In Books
February 19: Books I LOVED with Fewer than 2,000 Ratings on Goodreads
February 26: Places Mentioned In Books That I’d Like to Visit (submitted by Georgia @justreadthemm)
March 5: Characters I’d Like To Switch Places With (submitted by Sara @ A Gingerly Review)
March 12: Standalone Books That Need a Sequel
March 19: Books On My Spring 2019 TBR
March 26: Audiobook Freebie

This probably isn’t something you’ll see me writing about every single Tuesday. My goal is to write about the prompts that speak to me in any particular month, whether that is none, some, or all of them.

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

The Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge was created by Long and Short Reviews in January of 2019. Their first blog hop will happen on January 8.

This is what they will be discussing in 2019. Unlike Top Ten Tuesday, they’ve released all of the topics for this year simultaneously. I find that really helpful from the perspective of someone who likes planning ahead!

January 9: Books That Need a Prequel
January 16: What I Would Do with a Million Dollars
January 23: Favorite Things to Do in the Winter
January 30: Characters I’d Name a Baby After
February 6: Favorite Movies of All Time and Why
February 13: Most Romantic Memory
February 20: What to Read To Learn About X
February 27: Fictional Worlds I’d Rather Not Visit
March 6:  Favorite Hobby and Why
March 13: A Day in My Life
March 20: Characters I Want to Meet
March 27: Favorite Websites/Podcasts/Blogs
April 3: Favorite Comfort Foods & Why (& Recipes)
April 10: Characters I Never Want to Meet
April 17: 10 Unusual Things About Me
April 24: Books I Discovered on Social Media
May 1: X Things I Wish More Books Talked About
May 8: Books I Want Youth to Discover
May 15: Favorite TV Shows and Why
May 22: Books I Love That Became Films or TV Shows
May 29: Lessons I Learned from a Book Character
June 5: Books That Need a Sequel
June 12: Favorite Books Covers & Why
June 19: Favorite Things to Do in the Summer
June 26: Humorous Book Titles
July 3: Books That Should Be Made into a Movie and Why
July 10: Favorite Authors in X Genre
July 17: Fictional Worlds I’d Love to Visit
July 24: My Favorite Quotes from Books
July 31: Favorie Food and How I Use (+ Recipe)
August 7: Books I Loved But Never Wrote Reviews For
August 14: Books I Had to Read in School and Didn’t Like
August 21: What I Read When I’m Not Feeling Well
August 28: Books I Had to Read in School and Liked
September 4: Books That Deal Well with Tough Topics
September 11: Books I Keep Meaning to Read (But Haven’t)
September 18: What Is My Superpower?
September 25: Authors I Wish More People Knew About
October 2: What I’d Want on a Deserted Island
October 9: Books That Did a Great Job of Explaining X
October 16: Popular/Famous Books I Don’t Plan to Read
October 23: Books I Read on Someone’s Recommendation
October 30: Things That Scare Me
November 6: Books I’ve Recommended & Why
November 13: A Strange or Useless Talent I Have
November 20: Things I’m Thankful For
November 27: Books That Influenced My Life
December 4: Book Boyfriends or Girlfriends
December 11: My Earliest Memory
December 18: 10 Gifts for People Who Love X

My goal for this one is to participate every single week. Some of their prompts aren’t things I’d normally blog about, so you’ll be learning stuff about me that you otherwise wouldn’t know.

If any of my readers are also  interested in joining these blog hops, I’d love to read your responses!

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