Top Ten Tuesday: The Best of 2018 so Far…

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  Click on the link for more info and to find out about future topics.

This weeks theme is:   Best Books I’ve Read In 2018 (So Far)

---

I couldn’t miss out on Top Ten Tuesday this week as I’ve been pondering on writing a post dedicated to a few of my favourite reads of the year so far for a while now.
I’ve come across some amazing books and authors over the last few months, so here are just a few of the reading experiences that have stuck with me.
All titles link to my reviews if anything catches your eye and you‘d like to find out more.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles – My most recent finish and a book that I adored. It’s historical fiction, the story of Count Rostov living under house arrest in a grand hotel.

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton – This one was so good I didn’t want to take the book back to the library. A murder mystery, a country house, an Agatha Christie vibe with added body-swapping, time-bending elements. It was fantastic.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie – My very first experience of reading Poirot. Even though I’d seen the recent movie and knew the solution I really enjoyed reading this.

Wrath of Empire by Brian McClellan – Book 2 in the Gods of Blood and Powder series, and a welcome addition to the Powder Mage world. It was a treat to get back to the adventures of some of my favourite characters. These books are really good.

The Bitter Twins by Jen Williams – Book 2 of the Winnowing Flame series. Talking dragons, war beasts, an enemy invasion, this book had a lot going on, and I cannot wait to find out what’s going to happen next.

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant – Killer mermaids! Need I say more?

The Wicked Cometh by Laura Carlin – Great characters and a great setting, and top marks for a gorgeous cover too.

I didn’t make ten for this weeks list, but I have high hopes for a few books still on my TBR pile, so perhaps I’ll write another Best Of… post when I’ve conquered a few of those.

---

Have you read any of these books, and if so what did you think? Which reads have you enjoyed so far during this year?
See you next time for another Top Ten Tuesday!

Advertisements

Top Ten Tuesday: Poolside Reads AKA My Summer TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  Click on the link for more info and to find out about future topics.

This weeks theme is:   Books to Read By the Pool/At the Beach (This can also serve as your summer TBR)

---

Time for some summer reading, so here are a few of the titles I may pick up as I head outdoors on a nice afternoon…

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie – I’m on such an Agatha Christie roll at the moment that I can’t imagine not having at least one of her Poirot novels make this list, and what better for summer than a Nile cruise with a murder mystery and my new favourite detective on hand to bring the world to rights again?

The Outsider by Stephen King – There’s very little chance a new Stephen King book wouldn’t make it onto my TBR list.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik – I enjoyed Uprooted by the same author, so can’t wait to get my hands on this latest novel.

The Mitford Murders by Jessica Fellowes – Initially the pretty cover of this book caught my eye but billed as the first in a new series of Golden Age murder mysteries it sounds like something I’m in the reading mood for at the moment.

Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton – I’ll let this one speak for itself. It sounds very different, and the cover is lovely, which is why it caught my attention. “Louise has nothing. Lavinia has everything. After a chance encounter, the two spiral into an intimate, intense, and possibly toxic friendship. A Talented Mr. Ripley for the digital age, this seductive story takes a classic tale of obsession and makes it irresistibly new.”

While You Sleep by Stephanie Merritt – A psychological thriller with a possible haunted house? This sounds interesting.

Bitter Sun by Beth Lewis – Four kids set out to solve a murder during a summer heatwave in 1971.

A Talent for Murder by Andrew Wilson – Agatha Christie disappeared for a time in 1926 and this novel offers up a fictional idea of where she went. It’s the first book, and I know a new one came out just recently, so I’ll start at the beginning.

If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio – I’ve had my eye on this book for a while now and the last time I called in to the library I found an almost new paperback copy with black-edged pages and somehow I actually managed to resist taking it out there and then because I already have so many books, but I’ll definitely be going back for it soon!

Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie – Poirot at the beginning and another Poirot story at the end. I think I may be becoming a bit of a fan. This sounds quite an exotic title, so what better choice for some summer reading?

And that’s a glance at a few titles I hope to conquer over the coming weeks of summer. There are so many more I could have added to this list, but I’ll limit myself to ten.

---

What are you hoping to read this summer, and have you read any of my choices?
What did you think of them?
See you next time for another Top Ten Tuesday!

Top Ten Tuesday: A Sea of Blue Covers

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  Click on the link for more info and to find out about future topics.

This weeks theme is:   Books With my Favourite Colour on the Cover (or in the title)

---

Looking back through my Goodreads shelves I’ve noticed a fair few blue themed book covers. Then I started looking at the titles and realised that actually, most of these books had been pretty good reads, and so my colour for this weeks Top Ten Tuesday presented itself.

So, without further ado may I present my sea of blue book covers…

           

The Bitter Twins by Jen Williams
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

            

Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and Owen King
The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley
The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams

            

The Diviners by Libba Bray
The Muse by Jessie Burton
Fellside by M. R. Carey

All the Light we Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

---

What colour did you choose for the theme this week?
Have you read of the books that made my list and if so, what did you think.

See you again next time for another Top Ten Tuesday.

Top Ten Tuesday: Freebie AKA All The Library Books I was Reluctant to Return

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  Click on the link for more info and to find out about future topics.

This weeks theme is:   Freebie.

---

It’s Freebie week on Top Ten Tuesday, and recently I was thinking about just how many books I have on loan from the library at any one time.
It’s a LOT.
I love libraries. All those wonderful brand new books, all for free. Also, there’s the added bonus of not having to store all these great books, because I ran out of bookshelf space a long time ago.

So, having books on loan forces me to eventually take them back and saves on space. Great. Until you come across one of those books that you really love…
It’s a beautiful book to look at, the story has been amazing, you’ve lived that tale with those characters and you can’t imagine not having that book in your possession any more.

So, here’s a post devoted to a few of the library books that I’ve been very reluctant to part with…

            

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
The Wicked Cometh by Laura Carlin
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

            

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell
The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley
Sins of Empire by Brian McClellan

           

The Autumn Republic by Brian McClellan
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
The Diviners by Libba Bray

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

---

Have you read of the books that made my list this week? Let me know what you thought of them, and what topic you chose for this weeks Top Ten Tuesday freebie!

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Resolutions/Goals

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  Click on the link for more info and to find out about future topics.

This weeks theme is:   Bookish Resolutions/Goals

---

A new year saw me writing my customary Reading Resolutions post.
I decided a couple of years back I’d make some general goals for my reading year rather than joining a large number of challenges. That decided, I wrote my goals and only signed up for Goodreads and Beat the Backlist.
Here is a selection of my reading hopes/goals for the year…

Goodreads challenge – I do this one most years. I haven’t set a massive target as I want to keep it low pressure. 20 books will do I think, especially since I can’t seem to keep away from massive tomes and they take ages to read. I joined this challenge mostly because I use Goodreads to keep track of what I’ve read so I guess having a small target to aim for adds something extra.

Beat the Backlist – The only other challenge I’ve signed up for this year. It’s my second time taking part. Last year I cleared around 15 books from my backlist, so it was a good challenge for me and I can’t wait to see how many I can read this year.

To participate in read-a-thon events often – I have a terrible habit of finding out about reading events either just as they’re about to happen or when they’re already in progress. That’s not good if there’s a particular theme going on, so I want to try and find out about things in advance so that I can join in, because I do love a good read-a-thon.

To read outside my usual choices – Over the new year I saw various articles featuring ‘must read’ books for the coming year, aimed at people who resolved to start reading this year. I’m a long-time reader, but I did find the idea of taking on some of the suggested books an interesting idea, to broaden my reading genres and so I requested some of the titles from the library.

To keep on top of my reviews – I try to write reviews as soon as I can, while the story is still fresh in my mind and I can gush about all the reasons that I loved the book. I want to stay on top of things this year.

Top Ten Tuesday – Take part whenever the topic appeals to me.

Non-Fiction – I don’t usually read much in the way of non-fiction and I wonder what I’m missing, so I’ll try to check out at least one book sometime this year.

To read a classic – It’s years since I read anything you’d call a classic, so I’d like to read at least one over the coming months.

Audio books – The first time I tried an audio book it wasn’t for me. I found my attention wandering and kept having to go back because I didn’t feel I’d taken the story in. It became really time consuming and put me off for a while.
Last year I had another attempt, and I had a much better experience and enjoyed the story, which has left me thinking I wouldn’t be completely against trying another audio book this year.

I didn’t think I’d make ten items this week, and as it turns out I have ended up one short. So, is there anything I’ve missed? What resolutions or goals have you decided on this year?

---

See you again for another Top Ten Tuesday.

Top Ten Tuesday: A Few Titles I Never Managed to Read in 2017

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  Each week they provide a prompt and other lovers of listmaking join in with their own top ten list.  Click on the link for more info and to find out about future topics.

This weeks theme is:   Ten Books I Meant to Read in 2017 (and will hopefully read this year!)

---

Ah, all those books I really meant to read, and which I want to read still, right now, all of them, straight away. You know that feeling, right? So many books, so little time?
This of course means I had no trouble writing my Top Ten Tuesday post this week; the only difficult thing was limiting my list to ten books!
Here’s hoping that I manage to read at least a few of these titles in the next few months:

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant – Killer mermaids. I’ve been reading reviews online which say this book is scary. How am I resisting picking this up right away? I have no idea, but as soon as I finish my current read this will be next on my list. I want to give it my whole attention.

I fancy trying a little more sci-fi in my reading, so the next two on the list will hopefully satisfy that:

Artemis by Andy Weir – A new-to-me author (I still haven’t read The Martian).

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman – A prequel to the next book on my list this week.

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman – I’ve seen the movie, so now it’s time to experience the book.

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier – Added this one to my TBR list after I watched the recent movie adaptation. It was really good, and kept me guessing right to the end. I want to see how the book compares.

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence – I saw this on a few ‘best of 2017’ lists, so I really need to find time to read it this year.

The Remnant by Charlie Fletcher – The last book in the Oversight trilogy, and it’s a great oversight on my part that I still haven’t managed to read this one yet.

Year One by Nora Roberts – This sounds like an end-of-the-world with a twist type story as humanity is wiped out by a virus but some of the survivors gain powers they never had before. Am really looking forward to starting this, but so far I’m still waiting for my library copy to arrive.

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood – I just finished watching the tv series based on this book and it left me really wanting to read the story as well.

---

Have you read any of the books that my list this week?  Which would you recommend?  And what are you hoping to find the time to read this year?

Top Ten Tuesday: My Winter TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  Each week they provide a prompt and other lovers of listmaking join in with their own top ten list.  Click on the link for more info and to find out about future topics.

This weeks theme is:   Top Ten Books on my Winter TBR List.

---

Are you a seasonal reader?
I can’t say I am particularly, but I have included at least one book in this list with Christmas in the title.
That aside, it’s a mix of classics, killer mermaids and the post-apocalypse. Business as usual around here then…

The Christmas Secret by Karen Swan – I usually pick up the latest offering by Karen Swan at this time of year. I read Christmas Under the Stars last year and it was really good, so hoping this one is just as good as that.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë – A classic. What more is there to say?

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden – I’ll admit it, it was the lovely cover on the paperback that attracted me to this in the bookshop, but that of course leads to a glance at the first page and I don’t know how I haven’t come across this book before. Tales of folklore, sorcery and the Winter King? Sounds perfect, especially now winter is almost here.

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman – I haven’t read Practical Magic, but I have seen the movie. I just couldn’t resist taking this out when I spotted it at the library.

Year One by Nora Roberts – It’s the end of the world as we know it, and that of course immediately gets my attention. I read the Inn Boonsboro trilogy by Nora Roberts which I enjoyed, although it was a very different setting and situation, so am looking forward to reading her again. I do love a post-apocalyptic scenario.

Artemis by Andy Weir – I still haven’t read The Martian, and I really will, some day, I’m certain, but I can’t resist a shiny new book, and so I’ll probably end up reading this one first!

The Remnant by Charlie Fletcher – The final book of the Oversight trilogy. I have to know how it all ends.

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant – Off for an under-sea exploration in search of mermaids? I don’t think it’s going to be like The Little Mermaid at all, and I can’t wait to find out what this book has in store.

Strange Weather by Joe Hill – Short stories aren’t my usual reading choice but I enjoyed The Fireman by Joe Hill and wanted to read his next book. This collection does sound pretty interesting.

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier – I watched the new movie version a little while back and decided I’d like to read the book too. Imagine my surprise then when having a move around of my bookcase I found a brand new, never-read copy of the very book I wanted to read. It’s a sign that you have too many books when you actually have no idea what is lurking on your shelves just waiting to be read.

---

What will you be reading over the winter?
Have you read any of the books on my TBR list, and what did you think of them?
See you next time for another Top Ten Tuesday!