Top Ten Tuesday

Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share the ten most recent additions to our book collections this week. My husband and I stay in our RV while we travel with his job so I try hard not to actually buy books due to space constraints. I decided to list ten recent additions to my TBR (to be read) list instead. I've been reading a lot of posts about favorite books of the year, so I also limited myself to one book recommendation per blogger. Some of you have been very bad for my TBR recently! I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site. The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, recommended by Nicole at BookWyrm Knits The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate--Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben, recommended by Lexlingua Another Year of Wonder: Classical Music for Every Day, first book recommended by Deb at Readerbuzz IQ by Joe Ide In the Valley: Stories and a Novella Based on Serena by Ron Rash The Book Collectors: A Band of Syrian Rebels and the Stories That Carried Them Through a War by Delphine Minoui, recommended by Canadian Bookworm Rider on the Rain by Sébastien Japrisot, recommended by Emma at Words and Peace The Wolf in the Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky Flight of the Puffin by Ann Braden Dark, Salt, Clear: Life in a Cornish Fishing Town by Lamorna Ash, recommended by Erin at Cracker Crumb Life That's my list! Have you read any of these? Which books have you added to either your literal or virtual shelves? Link up every Tuesday at That…

I read 180 books last year, beating my previous record by 51 books! I'm usually really stingy with my 4.5 & 5-star ratings but I actually have enough this year to fill out my list. I'm also surprised to find that I've chosen five nonfiction books. You'd never know that as recently as 2010, I didn't read nonfiction at all, would you? Links go to my review if I've written [...]

Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share our top ten book settings this week. I chose a mixture of fantasy and real-world locations. Let's go exploring! I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site. Prince Edward Island--I've loved Prince Edward Island ever since the first time I read Anne of Green Gables over 30 years ago. I was fortunate to visit in 2019 and it was everything I expected! I'll write a post about it someday. Narnia--Don't we all want to see the lamp post in the snow (but without the White Witch)? I'd also love to sail on the Dawn Treader. Newford--Charles de Lint was my favorite author for a long time in my teens and twenties, largely because of his Newford books. This fictional North American city has magic around every corner. I want to visit Katherine's Cafe, St. Paul's Cathedral, The Tombs, and more neighborhoods and haunts that I can't even think of right now. Hogwarts--I'd love to ride the train then explore every nook and cranny of Hogwarts Castle, the Forbidden Forest, and the other grounds. I think I might get lost on the moving stairways though! Appalachia--I was born and raised in the southern Appalachian mountains and I love to support local authors. We have an abundance of incredibly talented writers. The books they write feel like home. Serendipity--I've collected these children's books since I was five years old. I'd love to explore the shores of this mythical island, meet all the creatures, and learn gentle lessons alongside them. The Enchanted Forest--The name is hardly specific and I would probably be happy with any enchanted forest, honestly, but I…

Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share our top ten bookish pet peeves this week. I'm not clear if this is supposed to focus on tropes/stereotypes/plot errors or pet peeves about physical books but I'm going to list some of each. Most of these don't bother me as much as I make it sound like they do; it's just more fun to sound cranky when I write this kind of thing. 😉 I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site. The word hillbilly and books that perpetuate the stereotype. I was born and raised in the mountains of North Carolina and still call them home. That's prime "hillbilly" country. Think of all your associations with the word. Ignorant, uneducated, moonshiner, meth, trashy trailer parks, etc. Am I close? That is not the reality. It's out there, I won't lie. But most of us are just regular people who work hard and do the best we can, just like everyone else in this world. Hearing my accent or learning where I'm from and assuming that I'm any of the above does a disservice to us both. This stereotype is one that has got to go.1 Incorrect geography This kind of goes hand-in-hand with the above and it's pretty specific to one book (although I'm sure it happens more often). Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens is a fantastic book, period. But it did drive me crazy that characters living on the coast of North Carolina drove into Asheville to go shopping for the day. Folks, that is a 6-hour drive at the very least, and that's at today's speed limits. You would pass many…

Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share "Ten Books on My Fall 2021 TBR" (To Be Read list). I'm very much a mood reader but with Halloween just around the corner, Banned Books Week coming up in a few days, and several of my reading challenges having monthly prompts, I decided I could take a good guess at what might be on my reading horizon. I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in beautiful Asheville, NC. I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase merchandise through links on my site. Reading Challenges Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (Book set in Africa for the Book Voyage Challenge) Lost City Radio by Daniel Alarcón (Book set in South America for the Book Voyage Challenge) Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet (Physical/sensory/cognitive/intellectual/developmental disabilities for the Diversity Challenge) I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara (True crime novel for the Uncorked Reading Challenge) Drama by Raina Telgemeier (Banned book from the 21st century for the Uncorked Reading Challenge) The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole (Classics Club Dare Challenge) Just for Fun The Dead Zone by Stephen King--I didn't read either King or Joe Hill last year in October and the season just didn't feel complete without one of them. I think I've read all of Hill's published work so King it is. The Necromancer's House by Christopher Buehlman--One of my friends from high school raves about Buehlman's work and I have to say that I have enjoyed the other two books I've read by him. The Suicide Motor Club scared me in ways that vampires haven't in a long time. The Final…

Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share ten books with numbers in the title this week. That's straightforward enough so let's get started! One for the Money by Janet Evanovich (Tempting as it was, I did decide not to list [...]

Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share "Books I Wish I Could Read Again for the First Time" this week. At first glance the topic may sound weird but there is a difference between re-reading an old favorite and reading a new favorite for the very first time. There's so much excitement as you realize how much you love [...]

Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share our ten favorite places to read this week. I don't have pictures of all of these places but here goes! The beach. Well, now that I've traveled enough to really understand that not all beaches are warm, let me specify a warm, sunny beach. I love to hear the waves rushing in and out, have a cold drink by my side, and lose myself in a light-hearted book.My hammock. Since we're traveling and renting out our house, I haven't gotten to enjoy this spot in a while, but my big hammock in my shady backyard is a heavenly place to read. And nap, if I'm honest. (That's my hammock a few years ago.)My personal library. I had to put my library furniture and books in storage while we're traveling but my comfy couch, beautiful view of the mountains, favorite artwork, and overflowing bookshelves made a perfect place to read.My camp chair. Since we travel in our RV, I love setting up my camp chair in the shade of the awning and digging in to a good book. (The picture above shows our first travel trailer. We have a bigger, drivable RV now.)My kitchen table. When I'm home alone, I always read while eating a meal. (This is a picture of the table in the furnished apartment we're renting right now.)My car. I used to spend every lunch hour reading in the peace and quiet of my car before I quit my job for this travel life. Also, if my husband runs inside a store for a quick errand, I take the opportunity to wait in the car and read a few pages. (I've included a picture of the car we're borrowing while we're in Alaska. I call it The Matchbox…

Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share ten secondary characters who deserve more love. I have a shelf full of books featuring characters I love on GoodReads so this was pretty easy to compile. I used to host a meme called Character Connection on my first turn at book blogging so I'll link to some of those [...]