Tag Archive for: top ten tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday – Books I’m Worried I Might Not Love as Much the Second Time Around

 

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’m Worried I Might Not Love as Much the Second Time Around.  This topic feels very timely to me because although I’m not a big re-reader, the past couple of years I have attempted to go back and re-read a few old favorites.  I have mostly abandoned this goal though because almost all of the books I chose to re-read ended up being DNFs the second time around, not because I didn’t still love the book but because since I already knew what was coming, they just didn’t really hit the same and I didn’t want to taint my initial experience with the book.  Today I’m sharing some of those as well as a few that I would never even consider re-reading because they were so perfect the first time around.

 

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Books I’m Worried I Might Not Love as Much the Second Time Around

 

 

1. THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morganstern

2. THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin Hannah

3. A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC by V.E. Schwab

4. THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA by TJ Klune

5. CINDER by Marissa Meyer

6. THE SNOW CHILD by Eowyn Ivey

7. VERITY by Colleen Hoover

8. WUTHERING HEIGHTS by Emily Bronte

9. THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA by C.S. Lewis

10. THE DA VINCI CODE by Dan Brown

 

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Have you read any of these?

Top Ten Tuesday – Spring is in the Air & Flowers are on My Book 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 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 Covers/Titles with Things Found in Nature (covers/titles with things like trees, flowers, animals, forests, bodies of water, etc. on/in them).  I love flowers on covers so I decided to share some floral covers that I have coming up on my TBR.

 

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Books on My TBR with Flowers on the Covers

 

1. THIS COULD BE US by Kennedy Ryan

2. THE PARADISE PROBLEM by Christina Lauren

3. BUSINESS CASUAL by B.K. Borison

4. AN ENCHANTING CASE OF SPIRITS by Melissa Holtz

5. FIRST COMES MARRIAGE by Laila Rafi

6. HEDGING YOUR BETS by Jayne Denker

7. LATE BLOOMER by Mazey Eddings

8. OLD FLAMES AND NEW FORTUNES by Sarah Hogle

9. ONLY AND FOREVER by Chloe Liese

10. THE TAKEDOWN by Lily Chu

 

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Are any of these on your TBR?

Top Ten Tuesday – Valentine’s Freebie – Books with Heart in the Title

 

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 Valentine’s Day Freebie so I decided to share some of my favorite book with “Heart” in the title.  I don’t know if my brain just wasn’t working or what, but it was surprisingly hard to find ten even though I primarily read romance.

 

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Books with Heart in the Title

 

 

1. ONCE UPON A BROKEN HEART by Stephanie Garber

2. THE HEART PRINCIPLE by Helen Hoang

3. WILD AT HEART by K.A. Tucker

4. HEARTLESS by Elsie Silver

5. HEARTSTOPPER by Alice Oseman

6. THE KEY TO MY HEART by Lia Louis

7. HEART BONES by Colleen Hoover

8. OUR MISSING HEARTS by Celeste Ng

9. THE TRAIL OF LOST HEARTS by Tracey Garvis Graves

10. JAR OF HEARTS by Jennifer Hillier

 

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Have you read any of these?

Top Ten Tuesday: New-to-Me Authors I Read for the First Time in 2023

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.

This week’s TTT topic is Top 10 New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2023. I read a lot of great new-to-me authors last year, and today I’m sharing my favorites from the bunch.  I’m definitely looking forward to reading more from all of them.

 

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Top 10 New-to-Me Authors in 2023

(in no particular order)

 

 

1. LUCY SCORE

 

2. ELSIE SILVER

 

3. CATHERINE COWLES

 

4. ANASTASIA RYAN

 

5. KATEE ROBERT

 

6. KENNEDY RYAN

 

7. KAREN ROSE

 

8. LAUREN ASHER

 

9. FREIDA MCFADDEN

 

10. MARIANA ZAPATA

 

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Who were some authors that were new to you in 2023?  Do we share any?

Top Ten Tuesday – Books I Meant to Read in 2023 but Didn’t Get To

 

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 Meant to Read In 2023 but Didn’t Get To.  This topic actually made me chuckle when I saw it because I actually have a list of 50-60 books I meant to read last year but couldn’t fit in.  The ones I’m sharing today are books that I’m most hoping to get to sometime in the next few months.

 

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Books I Meant to Read In 2023 but Didn’t Get To

 

 

 

1. DIVINE RIVALS by Rebecca Ross

2. THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES by Suzanne Collins

3. INDIGO RIDGE by Devney Perry

4. POWERLESS by Elsie Silver

5. HOME FRONT by Kristin Hannah

6. THE HOUSEMAID’S SECRET by Freida McFadden

7. THE WISHING GAME by Meg Shaffer

8. MILE HIGH by Liz Tomforde

9. ROCK BOTTOM GIRL by Lucy Score

10. THE CONNELLYS OF COUNTY DOWN by Tracey Lange

 

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What books are you hoping to read soon that you didn’t get to in 2023?

Top Ten Tuesday – My Reading and Blogging Goals for 2024

 

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June 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 Goals for 2024.  I think most of these are repeats of goals I had for 2023, either because I failed at them last year or because I did well and really want to continue to work on that same goal in the coming year.

 

via GIPHY

My Reading and Blogging Goals for 2024

 

1)  My number one goal this year is pretty much a forever goal at this point and that’s to read more of the books I own.  ARCs will always have my heart so I’m not even going to say I’m cutting down on how many I read because we know that’s not true, but I’m determined to keep putting a dent in the unread books I own either by finally reading them or else purging them if I’m no longer interested in reading them.  I’m setting a personal goal for myself of reading and/or unhauling 70 books I already own, starting with the 24 in 2024 list I posted on Bookstagram last week.  I’ve already read 3 of those books, DNF’ed 1 other, and unhauled 6 others I was no longer interested in reading so hopefully that bodes well for a good year.

 

2)  This is also a repeat goal for the past 3 years.  I really want to continue to only participate in blog tours where I have already requested a review book.  I’ve done really well with that the past two years, mainly sticking with Berkley Romance tours, but it’s always so tempting when someone reaches out with a tour opportunity.

 

3)  This is also an ongoing goal since my struggle to finish series continues.  I did actually complete several from my list last year, but there are always more. For this year, I have 6 series on my shelf that I want to finish and 7 sitting on my shelf that I want to start.

Series I Want to Finish or Get Caught Up On: 

  • Bridgerton (5 books left)
  • Outlander (4 books left)
  • The Bergman Brothers (4 books left)
  • Chestnut Springs (3 books left)
  • Dreamland Billionaires (1 book left)
  • Legendborn (1 book left to get caught up)

Series I Want to Start:

  • Windy City
  • The Off Campus Series
  • Heartstopper
  • Slammed
  • Twisted
  • The Edens
  • Hoops

 

4)  This is also a repeat goal from the past two years.  I really want to continue to grow my Bookstagram account.  When I started having so many tech issues and glitches on my blog in 2023, I really started pushing hard to grow my bookstagram account and post almost everyday since I knew I needed a reliable way to still get my reviews, etc. out there if my blog went down.  I also discovered I really like taking bookish photos and having a word limit that I can’t go beyond since I can be long-winded in my reviews. In my mind, I have an unofficial goal of reaching 20,000 followers this year, but all of the tech issues seem to be on that platform this year so we’ll see how it goes.   If you have a bookstagram account and are not already following me, you can give me a follow at https://instagram.com/thebookishlibra

 

5)  Re-reading more.  This is also a repeat goal and one I mostly failed at in 2023, aside from re-reading Fourth Wing and Crescent City 1 to get back into the swing of things before their next books came out.  I have a few old favorites that I’d like to try to read this year, but we’ll see how it goes.

  • To Kill a Mockingbird
  • Pride and Prejudice
  • ACOTAR series
  • The Handmaid’s Tale
  • The Invisible Life of Addie Larue
  • Throne of Glass
  • Jane Eyre
  • The Winternight Trilogy

 

6) I am aiming to keep my Netgalley percentage at 90% or above in 2024.  I did very well with this goal in 2023, finishing the year at 93%.  I know I can’t keep it that high, but if I could maintain 90, I’d consider that a success.

 

7)  I say this every year, but in 2024, I want to read more Nonfiction.  Last year I failed miserably and only read one nonfiction book, but this is the list of books I’d like to read.

  • What Unites Us by Dan Rather
  • Oath of Honor by Liz Cheney
  • We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  • Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers Who Helped Win WWII by Liza Mundy
  • D-Day Girls: The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, and Helped Win WWII by Sarah Rose
  • Spare by Prince Harry
  • Untamed by Glennon Doyle
  • Where the Light Enters, Building a Family, Discovering Myself by Jill Biden

 

8)  This is also a forever goal, haha.  In 2024, I really want to work on being better organized, particularly when it comes to blogging ahead and with scheduling my instagram posts.  I’m usually frantically writing posts the night before I want to post them and I would love to be able to get most, if not all, of my posts for the week done the weekend before.

 

9)  Blogging More Consistently.  I used to be pretty good at this, but 2023 proved super challenging with all of those tech issues. I got so frustrated and would just abandon my blog for days at a time. I wondered for a while there if it was time to dump the blog, but I still love it so much and the fact that I was mad that I couldn’t blog and interact with this community I’ve grown to love, told me I just needed to resolve the issues once and for all.  With the exception of this week, which started off a little crazy (as you can tell since I’m posting my TTT post on Wednesday, haha), I’ve been trying to blog a little more consistently to make sure things are working properly. They seem to be so fingers crossed that I’ll be back on track for my weekly 3-4 blog posts.

 

10) I am doing the Goodreads Challenge and have set my goal at 175 books again this year.  I read 210 books in 2023 and could probably replicate that this year since we have cancelled our cable TV.  I stream a few shows here and there, but for the most part, I spend almost all of my downtime reading.  But to keep it from being too stressful, although still challenging, I’m aiming for 175.

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Do we share any bookish goals this year?

Top Ten Tuesday – My Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the First Half of 2024

 

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 Most Anticipated Releases of the First Half of 2024.  This is always an easy topic just because, of course, there are always so many books that I’m excited to get my hands on.  I have ARCs for several of these so I’m glad I don’t have to wait too long to dive into them. As always, it’s mostly romance with just a hint of historical fiction and fantasy.

My Most Anticipated Releases of the First Half of 2024

 

1. BRIDE by Ali Hazelwood  –  “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 #1 New York Times bestselling author of Love, Theoretically and The Love Hypothesis.”

2.  THE CATCH by AMY LEA – “A grumpy lobster fisherman tosses a fashion influencer’s impeccably curated life overboard in the next romantic comedy from international bestselling author Amy Lea.”

3.  FUNNY STORY by Emily Henry  – “A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.”

4.  JUST FOR THE SUMMER by Abby Jimenez – “A sharp and scintillating summer novel that will make readers laugh out loud and cry happy tears from the New York Times bestselling author of Yours Truly.”

5. THE PARADISE PROBLEM by Christina Lauren – “Christina Lauren, returns with a delicious new romance between the buttoned-up heir of a grocery chain and his free-spirited artist ex as they fake their relationship in order to receive a massive inheritance.”

6. THE ROM-COMMERS by Katherine Center – “She’s rewriting his love story. But can she rewrite her own?  Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. She’s spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comedies—good ones! That win contests! But she’s also been the sole caretaker for her kind-hearted dad, who needs full-time care. Now, when she gets a chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates—The Charlie Yates! Her personal writing god!—it’s a break too big to pass up…But what is it they say? Don’t meet your heroes? Charlie Yates doesn’t want to write with anyone—much less “a failed, nobody screenwriter.”

But Emma’s not going down without a fight. She will stand up for herself, and for rom-coms, and for love itself. She will convince him that love stories matter—even if she has to kiss him senseless to do it. But . . . what if that kiss is accidentally amazing? What if real life turns out to be so much . . . more real than fiction? What if the love story they’re writing breaks all Emma’s rules—and comes true?”

7.  THIS COULD BE US by Kennedy Ryan – “Soledad Barnes has her life all planned out. Because, of course, she does. She plans everything. She designs everything. She fixes everything. She’s a domestic goddess who’s never met a party she couldn’t host or a charge she couldn’t lead. The one with all the answers and the perfect vinaigrette for that summer salad. But none of her varied talents can save her when catastrophe strikes, and the life she built with the man who was supposed to be her forever, goes poof in a cloud of betrayal and disillusion.

But there is no time to pout or sulk, or even grieve the life she lost. She’s too busy keeping a roof over her daughters’ heads and food on the table. And in the process of saving them all, Soledad rediscovers herself. From the ashes of a life burned to the ground, something bold and new can rise. But then an unlikely man enters the picture—the forbidden one, the one she shouldn’t want but can’t seem to resist. She’s lost it all before and refuses to repeat her mistakes. Can she trust him? Can she trust herself?  After all she’s lost . . .and found . . .can she be brave enough to make room for what could be?”

8.  THE WARM HANDS OF GHOSTS by Katherine Arden – “During the Great War, a combat nurse searches for her brother, believed dead in the trenches despite eerie signs that suggest otherwise, in this hauntingly beautiful historical novel with a speculative twist from the New York Times bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale

9. THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah – “From the celebrated author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds comes Kristin Hannah’s The Women—at once an intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.”

10. A HAPPIER LIFE by Kristy Woodson Harvey – “With “her signature warmth and Southern charm” ( E! Online ), the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer of Songbirds and the Peachtree Bluff series presents a tender and touching novel about a young woman who discovers the family she has always longed for when she spends a life-changing summer in North Carolina.”

 

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Question:  Are you planning to read any of these?

Top Ten Tuesday – My Ten Favorite Books of 2023

 

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!

Happy New Year, everyone!  I want to start off by apologizing for my lack of blogging and blog hopping for the past few weeks. Time got away from me, and I was planning to use my vacation to get all caught up and that just didn’t happen. All plans went out the window when I ended last week by face-planting on my neighbor’s concrete sidewalk one night while taking a mis-delivered package to their house (Thanks USPS!).  I’m okay aside from a busted chin and sore jaw, but needless to say, I spent the rest of my vacation on the couch reading.  I don’t think I have it in me to backtrack and try to get caught up on comments, so I hope it’s okay if I just start fresh this week.

Okay, back on topic.  This week’s TTT topic is Favorite Books of 2023. The hardest part about this topic is narrowing down to just ten favorites.  I did it here to fit the topic’s criteria and the ten I selected are ones that just really resonated with me and have stuck with me in many cases for months after I read them.  I really do have so many more favorites though and if you want to see more, later this week I’ll be posting my top 23 reads for 2023 on my Bookstagram account.

 

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My Favorite Reads from 2023 (in no particular order):

 

   

     

1. YOURS TRULY by Abby Jimenez

2. FOURTH WING by Rebecca Yarros

3. THE SEVEN YEAR SLIP by Ashley Poston

4. THE PARIS DAUGHTER by Kristin Harmel

5. HEARTLESS by Elsie Silver

6.  NONE OF THIS IS TRUE by Lisa Jewell

7.  THE FRAGILE THREADS OF POWER by V.E. Schwab

8.  THE SUMMER OF SONGBIRDS by Kristy Woodson Harvey

9.  ALWAYS ONLY YOU by Chloe Liese

10. THE UNMAKING OF JUNE FARROW by Adrienne Young

 

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Question:  Did we share any favorite reads in 2023?

Top Ten Tuesday – Books I Really Hope Santa Brings Me This Year

 

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 Hope Santa Brings This Year.  This is probably the easiest topic of the year for me since books and preorders are the main things I ask for every year for Christmas.  Based on this list, I think it’s safe to say that I’m entering my sports romance era so if you have any recs in addition to the ones I’ve already listed here and on my Amazon Wish List, please feel free to drop them in the comments below. And I’m only sharing this for fun, so please, no one needs to actually buy me any of these.

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Books I Hope Santa Brings This Year

 

 

1. ABSOLUTELY NOT IN LOVE by Jenny Proctor

2. BUTCHER & BLACKBIRD by Brynne Weaver

3. ECHOES OF YOU by Catherine Cowles

4. FIRST DOWN by Grace Reilly

5. HOOK SHOT by Kennedy Ryan

6.  INTO THE TIDE by Laura Pavlov

7.  THE OFF LIMITS RULE by Sarah Adams

8.  REWRITE OUR STORY by Kat Singleton

9.  SAY YOU SWEAR by Meagan Brandy

10. PUCKING AROUND by Emily Rath

 

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Question:  What books are you hoping to get this holiday?  Did any of these make your list?

Top Ten Tuesday – Books On My Winter 2023-2024 To-Read 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 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 On My Winter 2023-2024 To-Read List.  I decided this week to just share ARCs that I am planning to read this winter but may share another post in the near future about books from my shelves that I also want to prioritize.  As always, it’s a mix of romance, thrillers, historical fiction, and whatever else has caught my eye.

Books On My Winter 2023-2024 To-Read List

1. BRIDE by Ali Hazelwood

2. THE CATCH by AMY LEA

3. EVER AFTER ALWAYS by CHLOE LIESE

4. THE GETAWAY LIST by Emma Lord

5. THE WARM HANDS OF GHOSTS by Katherine Arden

6. HAPPY MEDIUM by Sarah Adler

7. THE HEIRESS by Rachel Hawkins

8. LAST CALL AT THE LOCAL by Sarah Grunder Ruiz

9. ONLY IF YOU’RE LUCKY by Stacy Willingham

10. THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah

 

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Question:  Are you planning to read any of these?