Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Loved that Made Me Want More Books Like Them

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Close-up photo of typhography and typecases I feel like I talk about the same books every time a topic like this one comes up.

Did any of you have the same reaction to this prompt?

I’m going to do my best to only mention books I haven’t gushed about a dozen times before, so this will be a pretty eclectic list that doesn’t mention science fiction and fantasy (my favourite genres) at all.

Let’s dig into it.

 

Exercised- Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding by Dan Lieberman book cover. Image on cover is a cave painting of someone running on a treadmill

1. Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding by Dan Lieberman

Why: There is so much conflicting information out there about diet, exercise, and living a healthy lifestyle. I relish the opportunity to read the latest scientific theories on this topics, especially as it pertains to how humans lived back when all of our ancestors were hunter-gatherers.

 

The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine book cover. Image on cover is a photograph of both Doctor Blackwells.

2. The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine by Janice P. Nimura

Why: There’s something to be said for reading about trailblazers and the obstacles they faced. I was saddened by the crushing sexism they faced and amazed by how much their persistence permanently changed not only the face of medicine but what people expected from their doctors.

 

The Toronto Book of Love by Adam Bunch book cover. Image on coer is a drawing of two birds sitting in a pink field of flowers.

3. The Toronto Book of Love by Adam Bunch

Why: It’s fascinating to see how so many things related to love, marriage, infidelity, and courtship are influenced by one’s culture and historical era. These are also topics that generally aren’t discussed in history books.

 

American Baby- A Mother, a Child, and the Shadow History of Adoption by Gabrielle Glaser book cover. Image on cover is of ink impressions of a baby's footprints

4. American Baby: A Mother, a Child, and the Shadow History of Adoption by Gabrielle Glaser

Why: The subject of this book was teenager who was forced to  place her baby for adoption in the 1960s because she was young and unmarried. It was a traumatic event for both her and her baby. Many non-fiction books about this topic are unflappably cheerful and positive. I think it’s important to also read about how unethical adoptions have happened so that adoption agencies and society will hopefully never make the same mistakes again in the future.

 

A Funny Kind of Paradise by Jo Owens book cover. Image on cover is a drawing of an elderly woman sitting in a wheelchair

5. A Funny Kind of Paradise by Jo Owens

Why: There are so few books out there written from the perspective of a character who is living in a nursing home or other institutional setting. We need more of them if you ask me!

 

The Book of the Earthworm by Sally Coulthard book cover. Image on cover is a drawing of large earthworms crawling through the soil in a peaceful rural setting near trees and fields.

6. The Book of the Earthworm by Sally Coulthard

Why: I love reading about the latest scientific discoveries about mundane things like earthworms. It’s neat to think that we still have a lot to learn about what’s happening right below our own feet.

 

7. The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin

Why: Intergenerational friendships are beautiful things. While most of my friends are roughly the same age that I am, it’s delightful to occasionally meet someone much older or younger than you are and immediately click with them. I believe we can all learn a lot from being open to befriending folks in completely different stages of life when the opportunity arises. Some friendships were simply meant to be in my opinion. Reading about them is almost as wonderful as experiencing them in real life.

 

That’s as many books as I was able to come up with! I look forward to reading your responses to this week’s prompt.

64 Comments

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64 Responses to Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Loved that Made Me Want More Books Like Them

  1. Great list! I love the sound of The Doctors Blackwell.

  2. I do feel like I kind of gush about the same books over and over. For this list I made the rule that I couldn’t use any books with tv/film adaptations, which meant that I couldn’t use a lot of “popular” stuff. I like your idea of just trying to be as eclectic as possible with your choices.
    My TTT https://franlaniado.wordpress.com/2021/06/08/top-ten-tuesday-books-for-which-ive-wanted-read-alikes/

  3. You know, I didn’t remember that we had done this one before. I bet if I did it, I have almost the same books listed. LOL

  4. This one, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin, is big on everyone’s radar at the moment. I really need to grab myself a copy and find out what all the fuss is about!

  5. I also had a hard time coming up with different books for this list than my usual books, so I included my usual books, also. I was able to find a few new ones, at least. 😉 I haven’t considered reading about earthworms, but I do love non-fiction about everyday things.

    My TTT this week

    • You might really like that earthworm book, then! It was short and entertaining. Not at all dry or textbook-like.

      And I thought your list was lovely. 🙂

  6. Great list. I have not read any of these.

  7. I definitely also had to get a little creative to avoid just rehashing old TTT posts I’ve made. The Doctors Blackwell sounds really interesting!

  8. Haha, there is a book on the link between exercise and evolution. I’ve just got to read that!

  9. Exercised sounds so informative, I would definitely want to read more like it also (and I’d like to read it as well! I might have to check it out. The Doctors Blackwell is also calling out to me quite a bit.

  10. Great list! Haha, I’m sure if I thought about it, I’m probably always rehashing the same old favorite books too, but it’s just a sign we love them so much 🙂

  11. A Funny Kind of Paradise sounds wonderful! Definitely looking that one up!

  12. Jo

    I do get you, there are definitely a lot of my common favourites on my list this week too, but I did try to share a few that I don’t talk about as much as well.
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2021/06/08/top-ten-tuesday-319/

  13. I have Lenni and Margot on my TBR!

  14. I love that you have such a wide variety of books on your list!

  15. great list, you’ve included so many good books!

  16. A funny kind of paradise sounds really good, don’t think I’ve ever read anything with an old aged protagonist
    (My TTT:https://basedonthebook.blogspot.com/2021/06/ttt-historical-adaptations-id-like-to.html)

  17. This was an interesting prompt! I’m always interested too in how our bodes have adapted/ hunter-gatherer information. You are right there is so much info out there, it’s hard to know sometimes.

  18. Great point about feeling like you’re always including the same books for these type of prompts — I have the same problem. Nice list! I’m glad to see book about the Blackwells — it’s one I’ve been wanting to read, and keep forgetting to look for on my library’s website. Thanks for the reminder!

  19. This is a wonderful list. It gave me a lot of books to add to my TBR (not that I need more).

  20. I do gush about the same books over and over. Kudos for finding a way to approach this topic that avoided that pitfall. The book about the Blackwell sisters sounds appealing; I will keep an eye out for it.

  21. The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot seems interesting. You bring up a good point there too! As important as friendships are in real life, there’s so much you can learn from reading about them too.

  22. I like this list because I haven’t read anything on it and discovering new books for the tbr list is always fun!

  23. Wow, so many books I’ve never heard of. This blog is getting more and more explensive. 😉

    Thanks for visiting my TTT earlier.

  24. I have read none of these. In fact, I have not even heard of any of these. I love that. Thank you for sharing these unsung heroes of books. They are my favorite sort of read. Small gems.

  25. Have you read ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ by Richard Osmand yet? The elderly residents of the retirement home are intelligent, plotting and funny.

  26. Sue

    I really enjoyed this post. I think I’d enjoy most of these books. They sound so wonderful and I love how they are from perspectives we (or maybe just me) don’t read often, if ever. Thank you so much for sharing these with us.

  27. These sound like pretty good books! Always trying to add more non-fiction to my reading list.

  28. I love Intergenerational friendships so that last book on your list is really calling to me. 🙂

  29. A few of these are on my radar. Thanks for visiting my blog earlier. 🙂

  30. Definitely adding some from here to by TBR!!

  31. RS @ The Idealistic Daydream

    I really like intergenerational friendship stories too. (Here is where I’d insert recs, but they’ve suddenly fled my mind. I gotta add some new Goodreads shelves.) I’ve never really known any adults over 60 except my parents and the occasional teacher, but given how much I love researching personal histories, I’ve always thought having conversations with older people would be interesting. Long story short, thanks for bringing 100 Years of Lenni and Margot to my attention.

    • If you think of recs for intergerational friendship books in the future, I’d love to read them! I’m Lydia Schoch on Goodreads if we’re not already buddies there. 🙂

      And you’re welcome. I hope you enjoy 100 Years of Lenni and Margot.

  32. Lovely list. A lot of interesting reads here! I can’t even pick one that I find most interesting x)

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