Top Ten Tuesday – Forgotten Backlist Titles That Deserve More Love

/19 Comments/by

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 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!

This week’s TTT topic is  Forgotten Backlist Titles (Spread love for books that people don’t talk about much anymore!).  I decided to approach this topic by looking back through the earliest days of my blog and see what books I used to write about all the time.  The ten I chose to feature today are ten that I absolutely loved but just rarely ever think about or talk about anymore.  They’re definitely worth a read if you have them sitting on your TBR. 🙂 You’ll also see a lot of YA books featured since YA was a huge part of my reading and blogging experience when I first started out and honestly up until the last year or two when I migrated almost exclusively to romance and adult books.

 

 

Ten Forgotten Backlist Titles That Deserve More Love

 

THE LUNAR CHRONICLES by Marissa Meyer

WORDS IN DEEP BLUE by Cath Crowley

SHADES OF MAGIC TRILOGY by V.E. Schwab

FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell

STALKING JACK THE RIPPER by Kerri Maniscalco

WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI by Sandhya Menon

JELLICOE ROAD by Melina Marchetta

HOMEGOING by Yaa Gyasi

THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE by Katherine Arden

LETTERS TO THE LOST by Brigid Kemmerer

 

* * * * *

 

Have you read any of these?

Can’t Wait Wednesday – THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah

/26 Comments/by

 

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about.  It is a meme that I have  loved participating in since I first started blogging, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.

* * * * *

My selection for this week is THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah. Kristin Hannah is one of my all time favorite authors and I will read absolutely everything she writes.  The 1960’s is also one of my favorite time periods to read about so I can’t wait to see her bring it to life.

THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah

Publication Date: February 6, 2024

by St. Martin’s Press

 

Goodreads:

The missing. The forgotten. The brave… The women.

From master storyteller Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds, comes the story of a turbulent, transformative era in America: the 1960s. The Women is that rarest of novels—at once an intimate portrait of a woman coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided by war and broken by politics, of a generation both fueled by dreams and lost on the battlefield.

“Women can be heroes, too.”

When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing, being a good girl. But in 1965 the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different choice for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on the story of all women who put themselves in harm’s way to help others. Women whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has all too often been forgotten. A novel of searing insight and lyric beauty, The Women is a profoundly emotional, richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose extraordinary idealism and courage under fire define a generation.

 

* * * * *

I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂

Top Ten Tuesday – 10 Books I DNF’ed During the Pandemic but am Ready to Revisit

/32 Comments/by

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 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!

This week’s TTT topic is supposed to be the last 10 books I DNF’ed.  I don’t really like to talk about my DNFs so I’m going to do a little twist on the topic. I abandoned more books than ever before during the pandemic.  I don’t think it had anything whatsoever to do with the books not being good but more so that I just wasn’t in the right headspace to read them.  That was around the same time I made a sharp pivot in my reading tastes towards romance.  I wanted nothing to do with the darkness of a thriller or any kind of horror, and I just couldn’t concentrate on any intricate worldbuilding which made me set aside several fantasy novels.  So, what I’m sharing today are ten books I set aside during the pandemic that I feel like I want to revisit now that I’m in a better headspace.

 

   

10 Books I DNF’ed During the Pandemic but am Ready to Revisit

 

LEGENDBORN by Tracey Deonn

GHOST TREE by Christina Henry

GIDEON THE NINTH by Tamsyn Muir

THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME by Laura Dave

THE SHADOW OF THE GODS by John Gwynne

THE FINAL GIRL SUPPORT GROUP by Grady Hendrix

THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES by Suzanne Collins

THE TESTAMENTS by Margaret Atwood

TOMORROW, and TOMORROW, and TOMORROW by Gabrielle Zevin

A DEADLY EDUCATION by Naomi Novik

 

* * * * *

 

Have you read any of these?

Can’t Wait Wednesday – BRIDE by Ali Hazelwood

/26 Comments/by

 

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about.  It is a meme that I have  loved participating in since I first started blogging, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.

* * * * *

My selection for this week is BRIDE by Ali Hazelwood. I’ve grown so accustomed to Hazelwood writing her STEMinist romances that I did a double take when I saw the news about her latest book, which is a vampire-werewolf romance that features a marriage of convenience.  I’m excited to see what she does with this. It sounds like fun!

BRIDE by Ali Hazelwood

Publication Date: February 6, 2024

by Berkley

 

Goodreads:

A dangerous alliance between a Vampyre bride and an Alpha werewolf becomes a love deep enough to sink your teeth into in this new paranormal romance from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis.

Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest, is an outcast-again. Her days of living in anonymity among the Humans are she has been called upon to uphold an historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their mortal enemies, the Weres, and sees little choice but to surrender herself in the exchange. Again . . .

Weres are ruthless and unpredictable, and their Alpha, Lowe Moreland, is no exception. He rules his pack with absolute authority, but not without justice. And, unlike the Vampyre Council, not without feeling. It’s clear from the way he tracks Misery’s every movement that he doesn’t trust her. If only he knew how right he was . . .

Because Misery has her own reasons to agree to this marriage of convenience, reasons that have nothing to do with politics or alliances, and everything to do with the only thing she’s ever cared about. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to get back what’s hers, even if it means a life alone in Were territory . . . alone with the wolf.

 

* * * * *

I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂

Top Ten Tuesday – Books With One-Word Titles

/42 Comments/by

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 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!

This week’s TTT topic is Books With One-Word Titles.  One-word titles often impress me because it seems nearly impossible to perfectly capture the essence of the hundreds and hundreds of pages they’ve written with a single word and yet some of the most powerful book titles I can think of are just a single word.  I’ve already shared some of my favorite one-word titles in an earlier TTT post so today I thought I’d share some of the ones I found on my TBR.  I tried not to pick any that were just the main character’s name, but instead chose ones I thought conveyed the overall vibe of the book.

 

 

One-Word Book Titles That are on my TBR

 

CONFESS by Colleen Hoover

FLAWLESS by Elsie Silver

ICEBREAKER by Hannah Grace

LEGENDBORN by Tracey Deonn

SLAMMED by Colleen Hoover

BREATHLESS by Jennifer Niven

BRIDE by Ali Hazelwood

CACKLE by Rachel Harrison

HEARTSTOPPER by Alice Oseman

HOOKED by Emily McIntire

 

* * * * *

 

Do any of these titles stand out to you?

Can’t Wait Wednesday – THE CATCH by Amy Lea

/24 Comments/by

 

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about.  It is a meme that I have  loved participating in since I first started blogging, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.

* * * * *

My selection for this week is THE CATCH by Amy Lea.  I loved the first two books in this series so I can’t wait to get my hands on this new one.  I love that the setting is a small fishing village in Canada, and it sounds like the book features many of my favorite tropes like grumpy-sunshine and fake engagement.

THE CATCH by Amy Lea

Publication Date: February 13, 2024

by Berkley Romance

 

Goodreads:

A grumpy lobster fisherman tosses a fashion influencer’s impeccably curated life overboard in the next romantic comedy from international bestselling author Amy Lea.

In a last-ditch effort to rescue her brand from the brink of irrelevance, Boston fashion influencer Melanie Karlsen finds herself in a rural fishing village on the east coast of Canada. The only thing scarier than nature itself? The burly and bearded bed-and-breakfast owner and fisherman, Evan Whaler—who single-handedly disproves the theory that Canadians are “nice.”

After a boating accident lands Evan unconscious in the hospital, Mel is mistaken for his fiancée by his welcoming yet quirky family, who are embroiled in a long-standing feud over the B&B. In a bold attempt to mend family fences, Mel agrees to fake their engagement for one week in exchange for Evan’s help with her social media content.

Amid long hikes and campfire chats, reeling in their budding feelings for each other proves more difficult by the day. But is Mel willing to sacrifice her picture-perfect life in the city for a chance at a true, unfiltered love in the wild?

 

* * * * *

I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂

Top Ten Tuesday – My 10 Favorite Reads of the Year So Far

/52 Comments/by

 

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 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!

This week’s TTT topic is a Freebie, so I thought it would be fun to share my 10 Favorite Reads of the Year So Far. All of my favorite authors delivered big for me in the first half of the year, so these are all highly anticipated releases that met or exceeded my very high expectations.

 

* * * * *

My 10 Favorite Reads of the Year So Far

 

   

 

Have you read or are you planning to read any of these?

Can’t Wait Wednesday – A DEMON’S GUIDE TO WOOING A WITCH by Sarah Hawley

/16 Comments/by

 

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about.  It is a meme that I have  loved participating in since I first started blogging, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.

* * * * *

My selection for this week is A DEMON’S GUIDE TO WOOING A WITCH by Sarah Hawley.  I thought the first book in this series was hilarious so I can’t wait to return to this world and see what these characters are up to.

A DEMON’S GUIDE TO WOOING A WITCH by Sarah Hawley

Publication Date: November 28, 2023

by Berkley Romance

 

Goodreads:

Calladia Cunnington curses the day she met Astaroth the demon, but when he shows up memoryless, why does she find him so helpless . . . and sort of hot?

Calladia Cunnington knows she’s rough around the edges, despite being the heir to one of small-town Glimmer Falls’ founding witch families. While her gym obsession is a great outlet for her anxieties and anger, her hot temper still gets the best of her and manifests in bar brawls. When Calladia saves someone from a demon attack one night, though, she’s happy to put her magic and rage to good use . . . until she realizes the man she saved is none other than Astaroth, the ruthless demon who orchestrated a soul bargain on her best friend.

Astaroth is a legendary soul bargainer and one of the nine members of the demon high council–except he can’t remember any of this. Suffering from amnesia after being banished to the mortal plane, Astaroth doesn’t know why a demon named Moloch is after him, nor why the muscular, angry, hot-in-a-terrifying-way witch who saved him hates him so much.

Unable to leave anyone in such a vulnerable state–even the most despicable demon–Calladia grudgingly decides to help him. (Besides, punching an amnesiac would be in poor taste.) The two set out on an uneasy road trip to find the witch who might be able to restore Astaroth’s memory so they can learn how to defeat Moloch. Calladia vows that once Astaroth is cured, she’ll kick his ass, but the more time she spends with the snarky yet utterly charming demon, the more she realizes she likes this new, improved Astaroth . . . and maybe she doesn’t want him to recover his memories, after all.

* * * * *

I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂

Top 10 Tuesday – My Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2023

/44 Comments/by

 

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 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!

This week’s TTT topic is My Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2023.  The hardest part about this topic is trying to narrow down to just ten books that I’m excited about. These were the ten that first popped into my head but there are so many others that I’m also very excited to read in the second half of the year.

 

* * * * *

My Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2023

 

 

  

 

Have you read or are you planning to read any of these?

Can’t Wait Wednesday – NOT BAD FOR A GIRL by Anastasia Ryan

/10 Comments/by

 

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about.  It is a meme that I have  loved participating in since I first started blogging, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.

* * * * *

My selection for this week is NOT BAD FOR A GIRL by Anastasia Ryan. I took part in the cover reveal for this book over on my Instagram account and it sounds like such a fun read that I just had to share it on my blog as well.

 

NOT BAD FOR A GIRL by Anastasia Ryan

Publication Date: January 30, 2024

by Sourcebooks Casablanca

 

Amazon Pre-Order Link

THE BEST MAN FOR THE JOB JUST MIGHT BE A WOMAN…

INDIANA “ANA” AARON is a talented coder and a natural leader, but her tendency to say what everyone else is thinking hasn’t made her many friends at work. After speaking up one too many times for her boss’s ego, she’s transferred to a remote team-and it’s clear this is her last chance to blend in and stop questioning authority.

So from now on, Indiana isn’t going to give her supervisors another opportunity to discredit her. She’ll keep her head down and her camera off. But the next time she can’t help but speak up via email, she’s shocked to be praised…as Mr. Aaron. Turns out her new team assumes she’s a he, and the way they treat her is completely different from what she’s come to expect. She knows she should come clean, because the more time that passes before Ana reveals the truth, the worse it could get for her and her coworkers-including handsome tech guy Shane, who’s smart enough to put the puzzle together.

From hilariously awkward lunch breaks to cringe-worthy Zoom calls, Ana is in over her head, especially with the well intentioned, but thoroughly misguided help from the only people who know that “he” is a “she”—her two work besties, Heidi and Patrick. But with Shane by her side, it’s not long before Ana realizes that she’ll only be happy when she takes her story into her own hands.

 

* * * * *

I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂