Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’ve Recently Recommended to Others


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Drawing of two hedgehogs standing on their hand legs. One of them is holding one red, one green, and one blue balloon with it’s right paw as both hedgehogs look at the balloons with content expressions on their faces.This week’s prompt was “Books I Recommend to Others the Most.”

As I don’t recommend books to other people very often, this is going to be a pretty short list.

I would normally pick a typical stock photo of a stack of books for this sort of topic, but this drawing of two hedgehogs admiring some balloons made me smile.

A great book recommendation is a gift that you can enjoy over and over again.

Yes, I’ve blogged about some of these books before on my site. Like I said earlier, I really don’t recommend books very often, so there were bound to be repeats here today.

 

 

Book cover for Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. Image on cover shows a drawing of a little town that is getting blanketed in a heavy snowstorm. The background of the cover is green and the town and snow can be seen because they are all white.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

Why I recommended it: What a beautiful novella this was, especially considering the ugly subjects it dealt with like the terrible stigma single mothers faced in Ireland in previous generations. Some of my favourite scenes were the ones that explored how certain characters pushed back against the assumption that women who had babies out of wedlock were damaged goods or that their children were inferior to children whose parents were married.

 

Book cover for The Mysteries by Bill Watterson. Image on cover is a black and white drawing of a person wearing a cloak as they stand outside of a cottage in a dark winter forest. The person has a frightened expression on their face.

The Mysteries by Bill Watterson

Why I recommended it: This book doesn’t come out until October. While I haven’t read it yet,  I know so many people who loved the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip that I’ve been telling them all about Mr. Watterson’ new project so they can decide whether they want to read it.

 

Book cover for The Invaders: How Humans and Their Dogs Drove Neanderthals to Extinction by Pat Shipman. Image o cover shows two people walking on a grassy plane next to two wolf dogs. The people are carrying wooden spears, dressed in heavy animal fur cloaks, and have long, shaggy brown hair and pale skin.

The Invaders: How Humans and Their Dogs Drove Neanderthals to Extinction by Pat Shipman

Why I recommended it: I can’t say for sure if Ms. Shipman’s theory is correct, but I liked hearing all of her evidence for a much earlier domestication of dogs and how that may have affected both Homo sapiens and Neanderthals.

The Story of Tutankhamun: An intimate Life of the Boy Who Became King by Garry J. Shaw

Why I recommended it: I wasn’t aware of how many new details about King Tut’s life have recently been uncovered. The writing style was plain-spoken and engaging, too, so I felt comfortable recommending this to the people in my life who would have run screaming from anything that even remotely resembled a textbook or other scholarly work.

62 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops

62 Responses to Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’ve Recently Recommended to Others

  1. The Mysteries looks like quite the departure from Calvin & Hobbes!

  2. The Invaders looks promising, but the e-book price tag is a little steep.

  3. I definitely plan to recommend Small Things Like These and Foster to others. Such beautiful books!

  4. Thanks for the heads-up about The Mysteries, can’t wait!

  5. The King Tut book sounds so interesting!

  6. I liked The Invaders well enough, but I didn’t think the author developed the dog-ally argument as much as the book’s cover and title hinted he would. How are you liking your new format?

    • That’s true. It could have been developed better.

      I’m liking my new format a lot so far. Thanks for asking. Just trying to decide how to tweak it.

  7. I haven’t heard of any of these, I’ll have to look them up! The Story of Tutankhamun looks interesting, and I’ve been wanting to work some nonfiction into my reading. This sounds like a good starting place.

  8. I like your hedgehogs!! My book group will be reading Small Things Like These later in the year — really looking forward to it. And now I need to look into The Mysteries!

  9. These sound like great recommendations!

  10. Small Things Like These sounds like a novella to keep in my back pocket! Great list!

  11. I don’t tend to recommend books either. At leas not personally. I don’t have people IRL who read like I did (and want to again) and I guess I don’t often see a review as a recommendation because it feels more general in that it’s “this is why I loved this book” kind of ramble. Still, I guess it kind of is. 🙂 Thanks so much for visiting my website! Appreciate this.

  12. I didn’t know there were new details about King Tut either! I’ll have to look that book up. Thanks for the rec!

    My TTT: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2023/05/09/top-ten-tuesday-books-i-recommend-to-others-the-most/

  13. Wow wonderful recommendations Lydia!💜

  14. I’ve seen Small things like these around and I think it’s just the kind of book I will probably like a lot. Thanks for the recommendation!

    Elza Reads

  15. Invaders sounds suer interesting and just the kind of book to catch my interest! I didn’t know about Watterson either…..

  16. Wow, I’m bemused that cartoonist Bill Watterson has written a book. I’m sure his fans will check that one out.

  17. Great list! The Mysteries looks so different from Calvin and Hobbes – I wonder how it is!

  18. I read Small Things Like These recently and it was SO good. Rarely do I find such a complete story in so few pages

  19. I always know I will find something amazing on your lists. This week it is Small Things Like These and my local online library carries it.

    Thank you for all your postings

  20. It’s hard to know what books to recommend, isn’t it? So many genres, then the mood you are in affects your reading/enjoyment as well. Have a great week and thanks for stopping by my blog earlier 🙂

  21. I too loved “Small Things Like These” by Claire Keegan.

  22. I LOVE small Things Like These. Beautiful and memorable.

  23. Interesting list! I haven’t heard of any of these, but they definitely sound like compelling reads. THE MYSTERIES sounds super intriguing. I love Calvin and Hobbes and had no idea its creator was doing something new. Thanks for the heads-up!

    Happy TTT!

    Susan
    http://www.blogginboutbooks.com

  24. These are all new to me, so thank you for sharing them! It’s hard to recommend books. Too much pressure and too many books. 🙂

  25. Oh, I love Calvin & Hobbes so I need to check into The Mysteries, thank you for that. Also the book about Tut has peaked my interest as well.

  26. Thank you for informing us of the new Watterson book coming out. My husband loves Calvin & Hobbes and may enjoy this book as well. Thank you for stopping by my blog earlier.

    Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!

  27. I’ve seen Claire Keegan recommended quite a bit, so I’m definitely interested in reading her. Thanks for the recommendations!

  28. Jo

    The Tutankhamun book sounds really interesting!

  29. Meezan

    I don’t recommend books often either, and it’s usually only in the cozy mystery genre. That’s the genre I’m most familiar with. 🙂

  30. King Tut’s books sounds amazing, i love a good biography and his life in pop culture is full of myths

  31. Lovely roundup Lydia! Small Things Like These sound like an incredibly important book, the stigma against single mothers seems to be an issue not just in Ireland, but in every part of the world, even today. Added it to my TBR, thanks for these great recommendations! <3

    • You’re welcome. I hope you like that one!

      It’s sad that there’s still a stigma against single mothers, but I’m glad that it seems to be lessening slowly over time.

Leave a Reply to Cindy's Book Corner Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *