Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Summer 2019 TBR

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

As I mentioned in last week’s Top Ten Tuesday post, my TBR list depends a lot on when I reach the top of the request list for the various library books I’m in queue for.

Based on the ratio of requests to library copies of these books, I believe they will all become available for me over the next two to three months. There is a lot of nonfiction coming my way this summer if all goes as planned. I’m excited about that.

You’ll notice that a few of these titles won’t be available until September. I decided to count anything that I expect to have my hands on before the official end of summer at the autumn equinox since southern Ontario typically remains quite hot, humid, and summer-like until late September or early October.

Title: They Were Her Property: White Women and the Economy of American Slavery by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers

I hope to have it: Any day now.

Why I want to read it: I don’t know much about the role wealthy white women played in slavery in the American south. I’m incredibly curious to learn more about that.

 

Title: 13 Things Mentally Strong Women Don’t Do by Amy Morin

I hope to have it: In the first week of July

Why I want to read it: I’m intrigued by the feminist spin to this self-help book and would like to see what connection she makes between the #MeToo movement and taking charge of your own destiny. Those aren’t topics that I’d necessarily ever think to join together.

 

Title: On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

I hope to have it: In the second week of July.

Why I want to read it: I loved her first book, The Hate U Give, and after mentioning this one on several Top Ten Tuesday posts I’m quite excited to finally see if On the Come Up will be as thought-provoking. It’s been such a long wait that I can hardly believe I’m finally almost at the top of the library queue for it.

 

TitleOnce a Wolf: The Science Behind Our Dogs’ Astonishing Genetic Evolution by Bryan Sykes

I hope to have it: In the second week of July

Why I want to read it: Sometimes when I see someone walking around with a tiny little dog here in Toronto I like to imagine how a wolf would react to being stuffed into a purse or dressed in a tutu.  On a more serious note, I love dogs and have often wondered how humans took something as gigantic and fearsome as a wolf and gradually bred that gene pool into toy poodles and chihuahuas. Learning more about this is going to be a great way to spend part of my summer.

 

Title: Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find—and Keep—Love by Amir Levine and Rachel Heller

I hope to have it: In the first week of August.

Why I want to read it: Psychology fascinates me in general. I studied attachment theory in a few of my college courses, and I’m curious to see if there’s any new research on the various types of attachment and how they affect you in adulthood.

 

TitleInvisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez

I hope to have it: In the second week of August

Why I want to read it: As a short and petite woman, I’ve had some struggles adjusting to stuff that is designed for “average” people that are much taller and bigger than me. For example, some chairs are too big and high off the ground for me to sit in while also touching my feet to the floor. I’ve had issues with seatbelts not quite fitting me properly, too, which could be really dangerous in a crash. It’s going to be super interesting to find out why so many designers make cisgender men the standard instead of taking a wider variety of body sizes and shapes into account.

 

 

TitleWhy We Elect Narcissists and Sociopaths—And How We Can Stop! by Bill Eddy

I hope to have it: In the third week of August.

Why I want to read it: With a federal election coming up here in Canada this autumn and another federal election coming up the United States, my birth country, next year, I’m quite interested in why voters in many different countries can become so enamoured with Narcissistic politicians.

 

TitleCharlotte: A Novel by David Foenkinos and Sam Taylor

I hope to have it: In the first week of September

Why I want to read it: World War II was such a horrific war. This book of poetry was written about one of the many innocent people who died in a concentration camp during the course of it. I’d never heard of this painter before, and I’d like to know who she was before her life ended far too soon.

 

TitleThe Ghost Garden: Inside the Lives of Schizophrenia’s Feared and Forgotten by Susan Doherty

I hope to have it: In the second week of September

Why I want to read it: While they don’t have this specific diagnosis, there are a few people in my life who live with serious mental illnesses that have very negative impacts on their daily lives. I’m always on the lookout for books that talk about this topic, especially if they explore the lives of people who are not high functioning.

This is a sensitive and difficult issue, but I think there needs to be much more awareness of the many different ways mental illness can impact someone’s life. Some people absolutely can and do cope well with their illnesses. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for everyone.

140 Responses to Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Summer 2019 TBR

  1. Great list, I want to read On The Come Up too! I’m not a big NF reader, though I try to read more every year, but many of these sound really interesting! Especially The Ghost Garden. Hope you enjoy all these reads 🙂

    My TTT post

  2. Some interesting books here. I want to read On the Come Up once some of the hype dies down. I did enjoy The Hate U Give but actually liked Dear Martin, which came out around the same time, much better. I have some non-fiction titles I’d like to read soon.

  3. I love reading these even when I’m not participating (I just published another author interview on my blog instead). You might want to take a look – Jane Davis is an amazing author!

  4. The Invisible Woman and They Were Her Property sound really interesting. You’re right, though – that’s a lot of non-fiction! 🙂

  5. I really liked On the Come Up. It was great on Audiobook.

    Requesting a lot of books from the library is always such a gamble. You never know when 10 will come in at once. Right now I only have 2 audiobooks on hold, and I don’t expect them to come in at any time near each other.

  6. I’m eager to hear what you think of On The Come Up! It’s different from THUG but just as powerful and thought provoking. Rap is out of my comfort zone so this was a stretch for me….but I gained a lot on insight and understanding. I hope it’s a good read for you and you get it soon!!!

  7. Oooh, The Ghost Garden sounds fascinating! I was a psychology major until real life and low funds caused me to drop out of college.

    • I didn’t know that about you! How interesting. Do you think you’ll ever be able to go back? How did you get into your current line of work?

      • Thanks! Probably not. At almost 45, I’m not sure I want to spend 6 years in college. 😀

        That’s an amusing story. My sister-in-law was working for a general contractor and she had a friend who was looking for a receptionist. My SIL sent me here and Jeff, one of the brothers says, “Hi, I’m Jeff, this is my dad, and this is your desk.” That was September 1997. LOL Still here. <3

  8. What a thoroughly intriguing list. I’ll be honest, I don’t read a lot of non-fiction – well, practically none, but some of these really interest me, particularly the dog evolution book and the one about schizophrenia. I hope they prove to be as interesting as they appear to be and I hope to catch your reviews/thoughts.
    Lynn 😀

  9. Great list, I haven’t heard of many of these books. I’m definitely adding Invisible Women to my TBR list. That might even be one I suggest to my book club. We’re not only all women, but most of us are also short women.

  10. All of these are pretty cool, and I especially think On the Come Up sounds really interesting. Thanks for checking out my TTT 🙂

  11. I’m sort of ashamed to admit that I haven’t actually read THUG yet! I’ve heard really good things about that and On The Come Up, though. I hope the latter lives up to the former!

    Why We Elect Narcissists and Sociopaths sounds like a fascinating read! I’ll have to keep an eye out to see what you think of it when you do get to it. Personally, I just don’t understand it or see the appeal. My mother’s a narcissist and I married a sociopath, and I have to say, I wouldn’t vote for either one. xD As one would expect, my mother’s disappointed by that and my husband couldn’t care less because he insists he doesn’t actually need a vote to take over the country, so that’s fine by him. 😛

    • I hope you find the time to read THUG and On the Come Up soon.

      Sorry to hear that you had those experiences with your mom and spouse. I have a couple of relatives who fits those sort of diagnoses, too.

  12. I’m not usually a big non-fiction reader but some of these sound really interesting expecially The Ghost Garden, so i’m definitely gonna add it to my TBR. I’m planning on reading The Hate U Give in July, hopefully I enjoy it enough to pick up On The Come Up as well!

  13. What a powerful list. I’m a nonfiction fan, too. Will be telling a friend about that last one.

    Thanks for sharing and for visiting my blog.

  14. I haven’t read any of these, but I’ve had The Hate U Give on my TBR forever, and I and I want to read On the Come Up afterwards. Also, that book about narcissists and sociopaths sounds fascinating!

  15. So many books on this list that I want to read! Definitely would love to understand why we elect Narcissists *cough*.

    I loved On The Come Up! I read and reviewed that this month and it was so good, imo. And I hope you enjoy Attachment! I thought it was a really good summary of attachment styles and how they affect us in our adult lives, plus some great strategies for people struggling.

    Have a great reading Summer!

    • Ha! I hear you there.

      So glad you enjoyed On the Come Up and Attachment. That’s wonderful.

      I hope you have a great reading summer as well.

  16. This is such an interesting list of books! The only one I’m familiar with is On the Come Up (which I also need to read), but I hope you enjoy your summer reading (or fall, whenever you get the books from the library)!

  17. LOL, I totally get basing your reading off of when your library requests come in.
    And wow, I didn’t expect it, but all these nonfiction books on your list actually sound super interesting!
    I hope you enjoy all of these books and get them on time, if not early!

  18. Loving your nonfiction picks. I’m trying to get more nonfiction reading in, as I’m sure you noticed on my TTT list. I think you have a great variety I’m especially interested in They Were Here Property and The Ghost Garden.

    • Yes, I did notice that. Good luck with your attempt to read more nonfiction. I think The Ghost Garden and/or They Were Her Property would be wonderful places to start.

  19. Hallo, Hallo Lydia,

    Firstly, I want to thank you for dropping by my blog and commenting on my TTT post where I shared my love + affection for #MyYASummer! Despite focusing mainly on my backlogue of reviews, I, too, am eagerly awaiting my line in the queue at my local libraries – either for print and/or audio copies of the stories I desire to be reading. I love finding others who love their library as much as I do!

    I was going to go more in-depth about my selections at the bottom of the post – however, with the chaos of getting my flat turnt round from a massive flood incident (the tweet s/o about it was on the bottom of my post) I decided to cut that paragraph out as I was never going to get my TTT posted if I kept trying to round that off. However, I love that you included your reasons on yours and I hope to re-continue to the do the same for my own in the future. As generally, I like talking about ‘why’ I want to read stories and not just post general lists. Today was the exception.

    Most of these feel like heavier reads.. I do read Non-Fic myself but mostly exploring scientific worlds/thoughts/theories and/or select memoir or other topics of interest. Some of yours felt interesting but I know their a bit more intense than I could handle at the moment.

    I hope your queue lines reduce quickly and that you can get into these before September!! Happy adventures and I’ll be responding shortly to your lovely comment! Thanks for visiting with me. It was quite the lovely surprise – esp on a day where I’m so dearly fatigued and exhausted. I did this week’s TTT as a pick me up and lift of spirits… to find comments on it was an added bonus tonight!!

    • You’re quite welcome. I responded to your comment over on your site as well.

      I hope you have a lot of luck finding lighter non-fiction books this summer.

    • Thank you. I hope you’ll be able to read it soon. Are you on a library waitlist for it? If so, may the lines grow shorter for you. 🙂

  20. This is a great list!! I’ve been meaning to read THUG, I’ve heard so many great things about it.
    The Ghost Garden sounds like a good read. I totally agree that there should be more books that highlight mental illnesses and the effects they have on peoples’ lives.

    I hope you enjoy these titles and that they come to you soon! *waves magic wand in the libraries direction to make the queues shorter*
    Happy Reading! <3

  21. Ashamedly I haven’t read The Hate U Give yet, but I’m hoping too soon because I’ve heard really great thing about it. I hope you find enjoy the sequel as much as the first one!

  22. These all look great! They Were Her Property sounds especially interesting and I might have to give it a read! 😊

  23. Why We Elect Narcissists and Sociopaths sounds like an insightful and very relevant read for everything that’s going on in the world nowadays. I’m not much of a nonfiction reader, but I’ve ended up reading quite a few nonfiction titles this year, lol.

  24. Oh nice list! I will also (hopefully) be getting to more non-fiction this summer as my holds become available, and I’m really excited. I’m going to check out some of your picks on goodreads and see if the library has them. I’m particularly interested in the first two, I think.

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