Top Ten Tuesday – Top 10 Books I Plan to Read This Summer

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 to Read By the Pool/At the Beach (This can also serve as your summer TBR).  My plans for summer reading are a combination of cleaning out the old and getting a jump on the new.  I have several ARCs that I would like to get to this summer, but I also have several older releases that I’ve been wanting to read for months and in some cases, even a year or more.  (I think one or two of these books were probably on last year’s summer TBR too, but shhhhhh.)  I’m sure I’ll read more than these 10, but as of this moment (subject to change based on my mood), these are my ten priority reads for this summer.

 

Top 10 Books I Plan to Read This Summer

 

* * * * *

1. RUIN AND RISING by Leigh Bardugo

(I flew through the first two books in the Grishaverse trilogy but then got distracted by others books.  I need to get moving again and wrap up this fabulous series.)

 

* * * * *

 

2. VICIOUS by V.E. Schwab

(The second book in this series comes out soon, so I really need to get this one read before then. I’ve adored every book of Schwab’s that I’ve read so I don’t even know what I’m waiting for.)

 

* * * * *

 

3. IN A DARK, DARK WOOD by Ruth Ware

(This book has been sitting on my shelf for a couple of years now. I read and loved my first Ruth Ware book last month, so this is now a priority.)

 

* * * * *

 

4. LETTING GO OF GRAVITY by Meg Leder

(A summer 2018 release that I’m looking forward to starting soon.)

 

* * * * *

 

5. THE MERMAID by Christina Henry

(Another Summer 2018 release that I was just approved for and can’t wait to start.)

 

* * * * *

 

6. CHARLOTTE WALSH LIKES TO WIN by Jo Piazza

(And one more Summer 2018 release that I can’t wait to get to.)

 

* * * * *

 

7. DAUGHTER OF THE PIRATE KING by Tricia Levenseller

(This has been on my TBR for well over a year now and I just keep putting it off.  I’m determined to get it off my backlist this summer.)

 

* * * * *

 

8. TO KILL A KINGDOM by Alexandra Christo

(One of my most anticipated releases of 2018 and yet somehow I still haven’t read it 3 months after it was published.  Time to do something about that.)

 

* * * * *

 

9. CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE by Tomi Adeyemi

(Another of my most anticipated 2018 reads that has been sitting on my shelf for 3 months now.)

 

* * * * *

 

10. LETTERS TO THE LOST by Brigid Kemmerer

(After falling in love with More Than We Can Tell, I really want to backtrack and read Letters to the Lost, which has been on my TBR for over a year now.)

 

* * * * *

Question:  What are your priority reads for this summer?

Can’t Wait Wednesday – Spotlight on THE POINT by John Dixon

 

“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 for over a year now, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll just be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.

* * * * *

My selection for this week is THE POINT by John Dixon.  I was a big fan of Dixon’s novels, Phoenix Island and Devil’s Pocket, so I was thrilled to learn that he has a new book coming out.  I love that this is a sci-fi thriller that takes place at West Point and Scarlett sounds like my kind of protagonist.  I was recently approved for an ARC of this book and am really looking forward to starting it soon.

 

THE POINT by John Dixon

Publication Date:  August 7, 2018

 

From Goodreads:

What if you had a power you had to hide from everyone–until now? In this bold sci-fi action thriller, a secret training program at West Point is turning misfits into a new generation of heroes. 

Welcome to The Point, future leaders of the Posthuman Age.

New Cadets, society is not ready for you. The oldest, fiercest fear is ignorance. The general population would burn you at the metaphorical stake.  Here, you will train alongside other posthumans. You will learn to control and maximize your powers and to use them for the greater good. You will discover camaraderie and purpose.  You will become a part of something bigger than yourselves: the Long Gray Line. 

Scarlett Winter has always been an outsider, and not only because she’s a hardcore daredevil and born troublemaker–she has been hiding superhuman powers she doesn’t yet understand. Now she’s been recruited by a secret West Point unit for cadets with extraordinary abilities. Scarlett and her fellow students are learning to hone their skills, from telekinetic combat to running recon missions through strangers’ dreamscapes. At The Point, Scarlett discovers that she may be the most powerful cadet of all. With the power to control pure energy, she’s a human nuclear bomb–and she’s not sure she can control her powers much longer.

Even in this army of outsiders, Scarlett feels like a misfit all over again, but when a threat that endangers her fellow students arises from the school’s dark past, duty calls and Scarlett must make a choice between being herself and becoming something even greater: a hero.

 

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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, the Wanderlust edition: Top 10 Books That Make Me Want to Pack a Bag & Grab My Passport

Created at canva.com

 

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 Top 10 Books that Give Me Wanderlust.  Books always make me want to travel so this was a pretty easy topic for me.  To make this week’s list a little different from travel lists I’ve done in the past, I’ve selected the books that have specifically added new destinations to my Travel Bucket List.  In a couple of cases, I wasn’t even necessarily the biggest fan of the book itself, other than the fact that it inspires me to travel, lol  I’ve visited a couple of these places already but would go back in a heartbeat and most of them I’m still dying to visit for the first time.   

 

* * * * *

Top 10 Books That Make Me Want to Pack a Bag & Grab My Passport

 

SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS by Ann Brashares

(GREECE)

 

THE JOY LUCK CLUB by Amy Tan

(CHINA & also SAN FRANCISCO)

 

HEIDI by Johanna Spyri

(SWITZERLAND)

 

HUNTING PRINCE DRACULA by Kerri Maniscalco

(ROMANIA)

 

84, CHARING CROSS ROAD by Helene Hanff

(LONDON, ENGLAND)

 

THE ALCHEMIST by Paulo Coelho

(SPAIN & also EGYPT)

 

WARCROSS by Marie Lu

(JAPAN, especially TOKYO)

 

TENDER IS THE NIGHT by F. Scott Fitzgerald

(FRANCE & the FRENCH RIVIERA)

 

BIG LITTLE LIES by Liane Moriarty

(AUSTRALIA)

 

ORIGIN by Dan Brown

(BARCELONA, SPAIN)

 

* * * * *

Question:  What books have you read that contributed to your travel bucket list?

Can’t Wait Wednesday – Spotlight on THE RAGING ONES by Krista & Becca Ritchie

 

“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 for over a year now, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll just be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.

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My selection for this week is THE RAGING ONES by Krista and Becca Ritchie.  I’m always on the lookout for new science fiction series and this one recently caught my eye, especially the idea that everyone knows the exact day they will die and that the three characters in this book somehow manage to dodge their deathdays.  I was recently approved for an ARC of this book and am quite excited to start it.

 

THE RAGING ONES by Krista & Becca Ritchie

Publication Date:  August 14, 2018

 

From Goodreads:

In a freezing world, where everyone knows the day they will die, three teens break all odds.

Franny Bluecastle, a tough city teen, dreams of dying in opulence, to see wealth she’s never known. Like the entire world, she believes it’s impossible to dodge a deathday.

Until the day she does.

Court Icecastle knows wealth. He also knows pain. Spending five years in Vorkter Prison, a fortress of ice and suffering, he dreams of life beyond the people that haunt him and the world that imprisoned him.

Mykal Kickfall fights for those he loves. The rugged Hinterlander shares a frustrating yet unbreakable connection with Court—which only grows more lawless and chaotic as their senses and emotions connect with Franny.

With the threat of people learning they’ve dodged their deathdays, they must flee their planet to survive. But to do so, all three will have to hide their shared bond as they vie for a highly sought after spot in the newest mission to space. Against thousands of people far smarter, who’ll live longer, and never fear death the way that they do.

 

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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. 🙂

DNF Regrets – Top 10 Books I Wish I Had Quit Reading

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 I Decided to DNF (did not finish) too Quickly (are you questioning your DNF choices on any books? If you have a policy to not DNF, put a spin on the topic to make it fit you.)  

I had to tweak this topic a bit since up until very recently, I was always very hesitant to DNF a book.  Even if I was clearly not enjoying a read, I always had that little nagging voice in the back of my mind telling me to keep going, that surely it would get better, etc.  I don’t even want to think about how many hours I’ve wasted reading books that weren’t for me just because I couldn’t make myself give up on them.

I think since I have started blogging, I’ve finally just become more comfortable with the idea that not every book is for every reader and if I’m not enjoying something and have given it a fair shot, it’s okay to move on and try another book instead.   It has still taken me until about six months ago to really start DNFing books though so my top ten list is a list of books I wish I had made myself quit reading.  There was something about each one of them that didn’t appeal to me at all – a main character I didn’t like, a writing style that didn’t work for me, too much description and not enough action, or maybe I just flat out got bored with the series, etc.  Whatever the reason, I was not enjoying these reads very much but couldn’t make myself quit.  If I had it to do all over again, these would all be DNFs.

 

DNF Regrets – Top 10 Books I Wish I Had Quit Reading

 

* * * * *

1. ALLEGIANT by Victoria Roth

(I enjoyed the first book in the series but was just bored with it by book 3.)

 

* * * * *

 

2. THE BONE WITCH by Ria Chupeco

(I wanted to love this but got bored with too much elaborate description of fashion and classes, but not enough action.)

 

* * * * *

 

3. GLASS SWORD by Victoria Aveyard

(I could kick my own butt for even starting this book, considering how much I wanted to throttle Mare in the first one.  To my credit though, I have NOT continued with the series.)

 

* * * * *

 

4. THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN by Paula Hawkins

(I found the main character to be so annoying.  Everything she did just drove me bonkers.)

 

* * * * *

 

5. FROSTBLOOD by Elly Blake

(I got bored with this story because it just didn’t feel very original.  I ended up liking it by the very end but it took too long to get to that point.)

 

* * * * *

 

6. GILDED CAGE by Vic James

(Like Frostblood, I pushed through even though I was a little bored and was okay with it by the end.  That said, however, I did end up DNFing the next book in the series.)

 

* * * * *

 

7. THE IMMORTALISTS by Chloe Benjamin

(The premise of the book was so interesting but I was bored almost the entire time I was reading and didn’t feel a connection to any of the characters.)

 

* * * * *

 

8. ROSEBLOOD

(The premise was interesting but the pacing was so slow that I kept losing interest and falling asleep.)

 

* * * * *

 

9. SWEETBITTER by Stephanie Danler

(I kept waiting to love this book because it was the must-read book of the summer when I read it.  There’s even a TV show or movie based on it now, but I was just so bored.  It made me hungry but that was about it. And yet I still didn’t DNF it.  *shakes head*)

 

* * * * *

 

10. EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE by Jonathan Safran Foer

(I will say that by the end, I found the journey somewhat worthwhile, but I felt like I had to work too hard to really connect with this book.  It was meaningful yet felt somewhat pretentious.)


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Question:  What about you and your DNF regrets?  Do you have any books that you wish you had given up on?

Can’t Wait Wednesday – Spotlight on WARRIOR OF THE WILD by Tricia Levenseller

 

“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 for over a year now, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll just be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.

* * * * *

My selection for this week is WARRIOR OF THE WILD by Tricia Levenseller.  After reading and loving Adrienne Young’s Sky in the Deep, I’ve been on the hunt for more Viking inspired stories.  I was thrilled to come across this one, which just sounds fabulous!

 

WARRIOR OF THE WILD by Tricia Levenseller

Publication Date:  February 26, 2019

 

From Goodreads:

An eighteen-year-old chieftain’s daughter must find a way to kill her village’s oppressive deity if she ever wants to return home in this Viking-inspired YA standalone fantasy from Tricia Levenseller, author of Daughter of the Pirate King.

How do you kill a god?

As her father’s chosen heir, eighteen-year-old Rasmira has trained her whole life to become a warrior and lead her village. But when her coming-of-age trial is sabotaged and she fails the test, her father banishes her to the monster-filled wilderness with an impossible quest: To win back her honor, she must kill the oppressive god who claims tribute from the villages each year or die trying.

 

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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: Top 10 Bookish Settings I NEVER Want to Visit

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 Bookish Worlds I’d Want to/Never Want to Live In.  The last time we had a similar topic I chose to go with bookish settings I’d love to visit so I figured I should do the reverse this time.  This was a hard topic, mainly because – just like with character names – as soon as there’s a question about bookish worlds, I forget the setting of every book I’ve ever read.  Why, self, why?!  Anyway, here are ten bookish settings I finally dredged up from the depths of my brain that it’s safe to say I would never want to visit.

I think most of these are self-explanatory so I’m being a little lazy here while blogging over the holiday weekend.  Generally speaking, it’s safe to say I have no interest in fire and brimstone, rocky red space settings, graveyards, any place a scary ass White Walker may turn up, prisons, dystopian societies, creepy infinite multiverses where people try to kill me and steal my life, spaceships that are actually alive and resemble enormous whales, etc.  Nope, not really my cup of tea…at all.

 

Top 10 Bookish Settings I NEVER Want to Visit

 

* * * * *

1. MORDOR from the Lord of the Rings trilogy

 

* * * * *

 

2. AZKABAN from the Harry Potter series

 

* * * * *

 

3.  BLACK LONDON from the Shades of Magic series

 

* * * * *

 

4. WESTEROS (especially the Far North) from A Song of Ice and Fire series (i.e. Game of Thrones)

 

* * * * *

 

5. THE MULTIVERSE in Dark Matter

 

* * * * *

 

6. MARS (especially not by myself) in The Martian

 

* * * * *

 

7. THE GRAVEYARD from A Christmas Carol

 

* * * * *

 

8. ANY OF THE DISTRICTS in THE HUNGER GAMES

 

* * * * *

 

9. INSIDE ANY OF THE LEVIATHAN in Honor Among Thieves

 

* * * * *

 

10. THE DOMED MOON COLONY in Artemis


* * * * *

Question:  What are some bookish worlds that you would never want to visit?

Can’t Wait Wednesday – Spotlight on THE LANTERN’S EMBER by Colleen Houck

 

“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 for over a year now, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll just be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.

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My selection for this week is THE LANTERN’S EMBER by Colleen Houck.  I will freely admit that what first drew me to this book was that stunning cover, but it’s the synopsis that has me so excited for this book.  It just sounds like the perfect read for fall, especially right around Halloween!

 

THE LANTERN’S EMBER by Colleen Houck

Publication Date:  September 11, 2018

 

From Goodreads:

Welcome to a world where nightmarish creatures reign supreme.

Five hundred years ago, Jack made a deal with the devil. It’s difficult for him to remember much about his mortal days. So, he focuses on fulfilling his sentence as a Lantern—one of the watchmen who guard the portals to the Otherworld, a realm crawling with every nightmarish creature imaginable. Jack has spent centuries jumping from town to town, ensuring that nary a mortal—or not-so-mortal—soul slips past him. That is, until he meets beautiful Ember O’Dare.

Seventeen, stubborn, and a natural-born witch, Ember feels a strong pull to the Otherworld. Undeterred by Jack’s warnings, she crosses into the forbidden plane with the help of a mysterious and debonair vampire—and the chase through a dazzling, dangerous world is on. Jack must do everything in his power to get Ember back where she belongs before both the earthly and unearthly worlds descend into chaos.

 

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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 Cool Bookish Names to Give Your Pets

Designed at canva.com

 

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 Best Character Names (make this as narrow/broad as you’d like).  I struggled with this topic a bit because I have a bad tendency to forget all of the names of characters in most of the books I read.  There are a few that stick with me though and those are the ones I file away in my brain for the next time I get a new pet and need to come up with a name.  And no, sadly, the pets pictured are not mine. They’re just stock photos from Canva.

I’ve broken my list out into dog names and cat names, but there are several, like Luna and Atticus, that I would consider naming either.

 

* * * * *

Top 10 Bookish Names I Would Give My Pets

 

DOG NAMES:

KAZ (from Six of Crows)

SIMON (from Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda)

GANDALF (from The Lord of the Rings)

DODGER (from Oliver Twist)

SIRIUS (from Harry Potter)

 

CAT NAMES:

MINERVA (from Harry Potter)

LUNA (from Harry Potter)

MATILDA (from Matilda by Roald Dahl)

KATNISS (from The Hunger Games)

ATTICUS (from To Kill a Mockingbird)

 

* * * * *

Question:  Would you ever consider naming your pets after bookish characters?  If so, do you have any favorite names?

Can’t Wait Wednesday – Spotlight on WILDCARD by Marie Lu

 

“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 for over a year now, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll just be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.

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My selection for this week is WILDCARD by Marie Lu  Entertainment Weekly revealed the cover for the sequel to Warcross this week and it reminded me all over again how much I loved Warcross when I read it last year.  It was one of my favorite reads of 2017 and it ended with a huge cliffhanger so I need Wildcard in my hands ASAP so I can find out what happens next with Emika and the Phoenix Riders!

 

WILDCARD by Marie Lu

Publication Date:  September 18, 2018

 

From Goodreads:

Emika Chen barely made it out of the Warcross Championships alive. Now that she knows the truth behind Hideo’s new NeuroLink algorithm, she can no longer trust the one person she’s always looked up to, who she once thought was on her side.

Determined to put a stop to Hideo’s grim plans, Emika and the Phoenix Riders band together, only to find a new threat lurking on the neon-lit streets of Tokyo. Someone’s put a bounty on Emika’s head, and her sole chance for survival lies with Zero and the Blackcoats, his ruthless crew. But Emika soon learns that Zero isn’t all that he seems–and his protection comes at a price.

Caught in a web of betrayal, with the future of free will at risk, just how far will Emika go to take down the man she loves?

 

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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. 🙂