Top 10 Tuesday 7 May

Hi everyone and welcome to another edition of Top 10 Tuesday! Hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl, it features a different bookish related theme each week. To be honest, I’m not really feeling this week’s theme! Living where I do, the weather themes never fit and there are definitely not any flowers blooming here atm. Winter is really steaming towards us, you can feel it. The mornings have all been single digits. I also used a few examples in a nature-cover theme recently so I’m going to try & find some different books to feature here.

Books With Flowers

On The Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Also known as just Jellicoe Road in the US. This is one of my favourite books of all time. Melina Marchetta is one of my favourite authors, of all time. If you haven’t read this, there’s no point really telling you anything about it, the more blind you go in, the better it all is. Just know it’s set at a boarding school and there’s a kind of….war games. But it’s not really about that at all. And have tissues.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

I have read two phenomenal books by Lisa See: The Island of Sea Women and Lady Tan’s Circle of Women. I haven’t read this one but I definitely intend to.

The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle

Not his most famous book – actually I have never read this one. But the art style is unmistakable.

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

I went through such a SAA stage about……12 years ago? She writes a lot of beautiful stories where the characters tend to be really connected to nature and earth magic. This is my favourite cover.

Throne Of The Fallen by Kerri Maniscalco

I have this one on my TBR shelf. I liked the Kingdom Of The Wicked trilogy but it did really change in tone after book 1! I feel like this one will probably have the same tone as books 2&3 in that trilogy.

Emily Wilde’s Map Of The Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

Either of the Emily books would work but I picked this one because I felt it more fits the autumn vibe we have going on where I live – the mushrooms and the little bits and pieces. We don’t have a lot of autumn changing trees here (what we do have are imports that have been brought over from the northern hemisphere) but what we do have are currently changing.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center

I read The Bodyguard and really loved it at the beginning of this year so this one is on my Wishlist to see if I like all of her books. I’m also interested in the one she has coming out later this year as well.

With The Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo

I love this book! Elizabeth Acevedo’s writing is just so spectacular. I also feel like this one gives more autumn vibes with the colour scheme.

The Stationery Shop Of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

This book is a massive favourite across the board, from what I’ve seen. I liked it but I didn’t fall in love with it like so many did.

Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams

The main female character in this is a florist, so flowers feature quite prominently. I thought this was a really sweet and fun romance.

And there you go – 10 books with flowers on the covers. Have you read any of these? Or if not are there any that catch your eye?

Top 10 Tuesday April 30

Hello and welcome back everyone to another edition of Top 10 Tuesday! Hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl, it features a different bookish related theme each week. This week is a fun one! Not sure I’ve ever done a topic like this before.

Petty Reasons I’ve DNF’d A Book

I don’t DNF a lot. But sometimes, for your own sanity, you just have to. These are some of the reasons I’ve DNF’d a book in the past few years.

1. Because I Realised I Hoped The Main Character Would Be Murdered. Okay so a while ago, I read this mafia “romance” where the main female character was kidnapped by some leader of the Irish mafia. She was so obnoxious and so annoying that I started to actually fantasise about what might happen if someone actually behaved like this in real life, with the boss of a criminal conglomerate. They’d probably end up executed and dumped somewhere and when I realised that I actually wanted this to be her fate, I was like okay, time to exit this book now.
2. Because I Was Rooting Against Them. Recently I DNF’d a book where both main characters are serial killers (but it’s okay, they only kill bad people. Both of them). The banter made me cringe inside so much and both of them sounded like how teens think adults talk in their interactions and I was like okay, this is a sad indictment on law enforcement (FBI, especially) that neither of these idiots have been caught yet. I wish they’d get caught. And so I set that one aside.
3. Because It Gave Me A Literal Headache. There was one book I tried to read last year I think, and every time I tried, I got a violent headache. I’m not sure if it was coincidence (I do get a lot of headaches) or if it was something with the print size or the type or whatever? Either way I didn’t get more than 50p into it and I had to just return it to my library.
4. Because It Gave Me A Figurative Headache. Stream of consciousness, no speech marks, etc. I lasted 30 pages before throwing in the towel. And it was a Man Booker Prize winner.
5. Because The Love Interest Feels Abusive. There have been books I’ve read where the male love interest is such a douche early on in the book that it really feels like it crosses the line for me into behaviour that is actually abusive and no amount of grovelling could ever excuse. This is more common in historical romance but I’ve come across it in contemporary as well. There’s a fine line between being a redeemable asshole and someone who feels like they are beyond that.
6. Shaming Of Other Female Characters. This was really popular back in the day in romance/women’s fiction. Other women were always sluts or liked to wear too much make up or tight clothing and just lived to steal the main character’s man etc. I don’t bother with anything like that today.
7. Cheating. Is this petty? I’m not sure. Sometimes people like to read about the nuances of real life relationships but I can’t with cheating. If I don’t realise a book has cheating then it hits me, I’ll often just set it aside immediately. This also included a book where the MC’s best friend tried to bully her into cheating on her (admittedly awful) fiancé. Just break up with him you coward.
8. Surprise Cancer. This isn’t petty as such but it’s very much a knee-jerk reaction thing. There was a time when if a book hit me with surprise cancer plot, I’d have to DNF it immediately. It was deeply triggering. If I knew it was going to have cancer, I could make a decision either way on how I felt about reading it but hitting me with it unexpectedly gave me a lot of problems. I had a friend that actually took to warning me about books that we both had, if this happened and she read it before I did.
9. Female Main Characters Who Are ‘Quirky’. Nope. Cannot. If any MC self-describes as quirky, I’m out.
10. Because I Preferred The Male MC As A Cat. This was a book where the male love interest was a demon or something? And was cursed to be a cat. I honestly preferred when he was a cat. As soon as they broke the spell and he became a man again, I found him incredibly tedious. DNF’d not long after.
11. ‘Good Girl’ + Love Interests Who Need To Be ‘In Control’. There’s a trend at the moment, for men calling women ‘good girl’ in love scenes and it makes my skin crawl. I also really hate it when I’m reading a book and we get to those scenes and the man is like “I need to be in control, I need you to do what I say, I need you to not move, not do this or that”. Dude just get a blow up doll. I know people love this (books with this are very popular on a certain social media app) but I will DNF that immediately now. (this one is a bonus after I was writing my monthly wrap up and it came to me). If you love this stuff, that’s awesome, I’m glad you’re able to find that sort of thing. But for me it’s a big no thank you. Also a Venn diagram of books with these two things is practically a circle.

And there you go. 10 reasons of varying pettiness of why I’ve DNF’d books in the past. Would you DNF a book for any of these reasons? Do you DNF books? Or do you push through. Let me know!

Top 10 Tuesday April 23

Hello and welcome back to another edition of Top 10 Tuesday! Hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl, it features a different, bookish related topic each week. I took a break last week as I wasn’t really feeling the topic but this one…well. Let’s just say I have a lot of candidates!

10 Unread Books On My Shelf I Want To Read Soon

Okay I have a lot of unread books – probably around 300 physical books. Some I’ve had a really long time. Actually, most I’ve had quite a long time. Some others are newer but I have to admit, most of the ones that have been hanging around for years are books I was sent for review and never had the time for. When I buy a book myself, it tends to be one I read pretty quickly although I do definitely have some books I’ve bought that have been lingering on the TBR shelves for a while. Basically every book on my TBR shelf is a book I want to read (soonish) so I decided I’m just going to pick some at random, maybe the ones that stand out to me today, as I stand and look at the shelves.

Come And Get It by Kiley Reid

I actually didn’t end up reading Such A Fun Age but a family member gave me a copy of this one and I’m curious.

A Fate Inked In Blood by Danielle L. Jensen

This is actually borrowed, so I don’t own it but it is sitting on my TBR shelf so I’m counting it! I’m seeing this everywhere at the moment! Everyone seems to be reading it so I’m very excited to find out what all the fuss is about.

Throne Of The Fallen by Kerri Maniscalco

I enjoyed the Kingdom Of The Wicked series. And I was definitely keen for more of this world, especially one of the Princes in particular. It’s not the Prince of this book (I suspect the book I want is probably going to be last?) but I am definitely keen for this one.

Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray by Anita Heiss

I’ve had this on the TBR for a couple of years now and I’ve been meaning to get to it. Anita Heiss is an Indigenous Australian author (the title is River of Dreams in the local Indigenous dialect from where it is set) and I believe this was the first novel to be released in Australia with a title in that Wiradyuri language. I’m going to a retreat where Anita Heiss will be one of the guest authors so I definitely want to read this before that happens in June.

With Love From Wish & Co by Minnie Darke

I’ve had this a couple of years! Maybe since 2022? I’m not sure why I haven’t read it because I loved The Lost Love Song so much. It was one of my favourite books the year I read it and I was so excited for this. I remember buying it with a bunch of other books and pretty much all of them are still on my unread shelf! I really do need to get to this one.

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

This one is a pretty recent addition to the TBR shelf, I think I bought it in the Black Friday sales last year. I’ve heard some amazing things about this book but I’ve also seen a few people say that it wasn’t their thing and that it was overrated. So I’m interested to see how I feel about it…

Possession by A.S. Byatt

I have somehow never read this. I’ve seen it referenced in a couple of books and when I was at a charity second hand book sale last August, I spotted a copy and grabbed it for my stash. Then I spotted a copy in a better condition so swapped out the one I already had for that one. And it’s sat on my shelf ever since, even though I do really want to read it. One day!

The Empire Of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty

Hi, my name is Bree and my toxic trait is that I am really bad at finishing series’. Like, I just…do not do it. Is it a reluctance to have it all be over? Am I scared of what might happen and who might not survive? No one knows, but that is my unfortunate bookish bad habit. This is just one of quite a few final books in a trilogy or series sitting on my shelf that I have owned for ages (this one for years) and haven’t picked up yet. Often I leave it so long that it becomes hard to even remember what happened in the previous books. But I want to finish this! I really enjoyed the first 2 books.

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

I really want to read this! I can’t remember how long I’ve owned it, definitely quite a few years. I actually can’t even remember buying it. I think I will enjoy Colton Whitehead’s books and I keep hearing a lot about books he’s released apart from this one but I’ve told myself I’m not allowed to buy anymore until I’ve read this….. So. I have to read this!

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

I haven’t ever read Brandon Sanderson before and I feel like I need to give one a go. He has a huge backlist, so if I enjoy this, there’s a lot out there waiting for me. I bought this late last year and I put it on my 24 in 2024 to motivate me and I really do need to find the right time to pick it up. Maybe after I finish this semester at uni.

I am someone that is always getting distracted by the new shiny books and my library is so good that I’m always picking up new releases there too. But I do have a desire to get the number of unread books down and I’m trying to include those books more in my reading, rotating through new/review books, library books and books from my shelf. So these are 10 of the ones I hope to get to soon….here’s to this list holding me accountable as I keep track of my Top 10 Tuesday lists in my planner so that I can check back easily and see how I’m going.

Top 10 Tuesday April 9

Hello and welcome back to another edition of Top 10 Tuesday, hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. There’s a different topic each week, mostly all bookish/reading related but this one….it’s a freebie! So we can do whatever we want and I must be a glutton for punishment because I’m making an Autumn TBR Part #2. Do I usually complete my seasonal TBR’s? No. Is this probably unnecessary? Yes. Am I doing it anyway because I like constructing TBRs? Also, yes.

10 More Books I Want To Read In Autumn

The Life Of Birds by David Attenborough

I had 3 Audible credits and I preordered this – it will arrive on my device on April 11 and I’ll probably also read the print copy along with it, which is what I’ve done before with David Attenborough books because there’s always so much information. I love listening to David Attenborough and I love his documentaries but sometimes they’re a bit traumatic to watch haha.

A Feather So Black by Lyra Selene

My #TBRJar prompts for April included ‘pick a book off the display shelf at your local library’. When I went in to pick up a book I had on hold, I chose this from the “recently returned” display shelf based purely on the cover alone. I don’t know anything about it but technically I need to read it this month in order to fulfil my prompt.

The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson

Because I am who I am, this book was also on the display shelf at the library and I have been curious about it for a while. I couldn’t decide between it and the book above so I just ended up taking both of them.

The Chocolate Factory by Mary-Lou Stephens

This is my online bookclub choice for May and I had to pick it up from the library the other day. It’s set in Tasmania around the Cadbury’s factory there which sounds interesting! Cadbury chocolate is what we all grew up on, to be honest I find a lot of other chocolate inferior or terrible tasting (unless it’s like, Swiss fancy chocolates).

Counting The Cost by Jill Duggar

This is actually what I’m reading today so I threw it in here, because why not? If you can’t check something off your list immediately, did you even make a list? I watched 19 Kids and Counting for years with a sort of….fascination and looked on as it all imploded (twice). I think this will be interesting – much juicier than the other Duggar memoir I read, which wasn’t about the family as such.

Trail Of The Lost: The Relentless Search To Bring Home The Missing Hikers Of The Pacific Crest Trail by Andrea Lankford

I have been wanting to read this for so long! I’ve had it requested through my library and it’s listed as “new copies arriving soon” and I’m like…..please? I’m actually watching a YouTube series about someone who filmed their South Bound hike of the PCT at the moment and it’s super interesting. Not something I could ever do, not just because I am super unfit and scared of everything that moves. This is apparently about three men who vanished doing a PCT hike and no one has been able to find them. Sounds incredibly interesting.

Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver

Curiosity. Will I like a romance where I think both main characters are serial killers? Let’s see haha.

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

I have this one requested through my library so I’ll have to wait until it’s my turn but hopefully I get to this one in autumn! Although it also might be a good winter read.

The Women by Kristin Hannah

Do I still have Kristin Hannah’s previous book on my TBR? Yes. However I’ll probably end up reading this one first. I’m hearing a lot of amazing things about it.

The Wrath And The Dawn by Renée Adieh

I’ve actually read this before – in 2017 but I never got around to reading the second book. So this year I put this on my 24 in 2024 list so I could re-read it and then finish the duology. That’s the plan anyway.

Wish me luck getting all of these read!

Top 10 Tuesday 2nd April

Hello and welcome to another edition of Top 10 Tuesday, hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. It features a different bookish themed topic each week. I know that “April showers bring May flowers” is a northern hemisphere saying but April is autumn here and it’s definitely not generating any May flowers. I don’t think October showers bring November flowers quite has the same ring to it…..but it is raining today, so that fits the vibe I guess?

10 Books Featuring Rain/Showers/Etc

Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon

An obvious choice! The title is literally Weather Girl because the main character is a meteorologist and TV weather presenter. There’s also rain on the cover as well. I’ve read this one and thought it was cute.

The Art Of Racing In The Rain by Garth Stein

I love this book. I read it in August of 2010 and it has stuck with me.

The Upside Of Falling Down by Rebekah Crane

I have read this one (in 2018) but I don’t really remember it. Having read my review trying to refresh my memory, I think the cover is probably the best thing about it.

The Colors Of The Rain by R.L. Toalson

I haven’t read this one but I liked the cover! It’s actually kind of similar to the cover of the book I posted before this one. This is a middle grade novel and I don’t really read any middle grade but it sounds really good actually.

Fifty Words For Rain by Asha Lemmie

This is another one I haven’t read but also sounds really interesting – set in Kyoto in 1948, the story of a girl born to a Japanese aristocrat and an African American GI who is taken in by her grandparents so they can basically hide the shame of her existence.

Scattered Showers by Rainbow Rowell

I have read this one. It’s a selection of short stories that I read mostly because it contains one featuring Simon Snow and Baz Pitch from the Carry On series. But there were some other really good ones in here too, like the one about two teens who meet at a NYE party and the one where a boy makes a girl a mixtape in college so she’ll stop playing the same song over and over after a break up.

Spring Flowers and April Showers by Beth Rain

I haven’t read this and hadn’t ever heard of it before until I was searching for a few more books to include. I figured I had to put this one in as not only does it reference the season, and rain and the resulting flowers but the author is also named….Beth Rain.

The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves

Book 3 in the Two Rivers series, weather is a large feature in all of these books as they’re set on the moody Devon coast in England. But this one – it basically does nothing but rain throughout the entire book.

Sunshine Through The Rain by Penelope Janu

This one is an Australian book but definitely fits the vibe! After rain, you need the sun.

Apple And Rain by Sarah Crossan

I have read 3 or 4 Sarah Crossan ones but not this one. However I thought I’d include it because I like the cover.

There you are – 10 books featuring rain either in the title, on the cover, in the story and in one case, even the authors name! Have you read any of these?

Top 10 Tuesday 19th March

Hello and welcome back to another Top 10 Tuesday! Hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl, it features a different bookish themed topic each week. This week it’s time for another seasonal TBR, one of my favourite TTT topics. I do love creating seasonal TBRs even though they’re not particularly themed to the season, nor do I ever seem to successfully complete one! Technically it’s autumn/fall here in Australia but the vibes are in still summer mode. We’ve been having a lot of days well into the 90s even a few 100s. But it’ll start to cool off soon I guess. And probably I’ll be complaining about the onset of winter!

My summer TBR was a rare success – I read 8 of the 10 and I have 1 here to read so I expect to have read 9 by the end of this month which is a definite win!

Ok onto…

Books On My Spring Autumn TBR

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

YA fantasy romance that I’ve heard pretty good things about so far.

Heartless by Elsie Silver

I have read 1 and 3 in this series (tbh reading out of order really doesn’t matter) and I have this one out from the library. The two I’ve read were fine, I don’t think her way of writing the male love interest is my fave though.

The Tyranny Of Faith by Richard Swan

The second in the Empire of the Wolf series (I also have bk 3 as well). I loved the first book and am really looking forward to continuing and seeing where this goes.

Empire Of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

I have been meaning to read this for so long – I’ve read a couple other books on the opioid crisis in the US and I’ve watched a documentary too but this one focuses on the Sackler family behind Purdue Pharma and its role in creating the crisis.

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

One of my 24 in 2024 books….need to make sure I keep ticking over on those and this one a few people I know have read lately and really enjoyed so I’m feeling like picking it up.

The Catch by Amy Lea

I really loved Exes And O’s by Amy Lea. I DNF’d Set On You but I’m hoping this one has more the vibes of the one I loved. It looks fun.

How To Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair

I’ve heard two hosts on a podcast I listen to every week talk about how much they love this a lot. One day when I was picking up holds from my library, I walked past it on the ‘recently returned’ display shelf and grabbed it on a whim.

The Last Devil To Die by Richard Osman

I have been steadily working my way through this series….the 3rd book was on my summer TBR so just this one to go now and I’m all caught up!

The City Of Stardust by Georgia Summers

I saw a few people mention this book and my library had it in the system so I thought why not?

Before Your Memory Fades by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (translated by Geoffrey Trousselot)

The third book in a series….is it the Tales from the Cafe series? I’m not sure what the series is actually called now. But I’ve read the first 2 and enjoyed them a lot and there’s 2 others that I need to catch up on so going to add this one in as I know it’s short.

10 of the books I hope to read over the next three months. Have you read any of these? Do you want to read any of these? If so, tell me which ones!

Top 10 Tuesday February 27

Hello and welcome back to another edition of Top 10 Tuesday! Hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl it features a different bookish theme each week. This week’s topic was suggested by Jessica @ a GREAT read and is about……..

Covers/Titles With Things Found In Nature

Well for this one, the good news is, being Australian, a lot of our covers focus on the natural landscape. And for about 10 years, rural fiction has been big here. So a lot of the covers for those sorts of books feature deserts and forests or coastal landscapes. Let’s see what I can find having a wander around, both Australian and otherwise….

Maralinga by Judy Nunn

Pretty standard Australian desert scene! This is a novel about the nuclear testing site of Maralinga, in the desert of South Australia, which was a British testing site in the 1950s.

Gone by Glenna Thomson

I just received a copy of this one from the publisher. This is definitely what I’d call a pretty standard rural Aussie scene – forests in the background, grasslands and some native trees.

The Lost Flowers Of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland

This is a really lovely cover of so many Australian native flowers. It’s also really important to the contents of the book, which talks a lot about native flowers so if you’re not the sort that can picture them, the cover can help you out a bit. We do have a lot of really beautiful flowers that tend to get forgotten sometimes. People tend to think of our natives as eucalypts and casuarinas, stuff like that. But we have some gorgeous flowers, many of which thrive in the most unexpected places.

All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton

This is also a bunch of native flowers although it’s a much busier, colourful photo and I think it’s a few species repeated many times. There’s a lot of bottlebrush and grevillea and banksia and stuff like that. It’s very eye catching but also in a way, a little anxiety inducing? There’s a lot going on.

Homecoming by Kate Morton

In contrast – simplicity! This is just a gum (eucalyptus) branch (you can see the little gumnuts, that become flowers) with a superb fairy wren. Fairy wrens are beautiful little birds, common in south east Australia with a wonderful array of incredible colouring.

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

One of my favourite books ever and one of my favourite covers. Actually I’ve seen a few covers of this and the ones I’ve seen are all amazing ice floes and glaciers. How much longer will stuff like this occur in nature?

The Winners by Fredrik Backman

Is it even a Top 10 list if this book isn’t on it somewhere? This of course features the Aurora Borealis/Northern Lights on the cover. Something I’ve never seen way down here in Australia (I haven’t seen Aurora Australis/Southern Lights either although it is occasionally possible to see them from places in my state that have low light pollution).

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

This is also a cover with a lot going on. I haven’t read this but it says it’s set in renaissance Italy. That doesn’t give me renaissance Italy vibes so I guess I have to read it to find out what’s going on precisely with this cover.

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

I have this on my TBR shelf – seems to be more about when things don’t occur in nature (or in nature with people’s intervention) as it involves a drought in the 1930s and failing crops. Drought is something we deal with here a lot too and a majority of crops grown here are of course, introduced. They are things that occur in nature but not necessarily this nature without intervention. As humans we are always susceptible to the whims of weather patterns!

Weyward by Emilia Hart

Fun fact: I have borrowed this book from my library both in print and electronically, at least 3 times. And never gotten around to reading it, despite the fact that I have heard incredibly good things from so many people!

Ten covers with things occurring in nature! I really enjoyed mostly “shopping my shelves” for this topic – only Weyward is a book that I don’t own! Looking forward to seeing what everyone else chooses this week.

Top 10 Tuesday February 13

Hello and welcome back to another Top 10 Tuesday, hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl! This week it is of course, Valentines’s Day and so our topic is a love freebie. So I thought I’d do a post of some romances that are on my TBR still.

Ten Romances I Want To Read

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston

I read and enjoyed The Dead Romantics by this author and I’m not sure why I haven’t picked this one up yet.

The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren

I liked The Soulmate Equation and this is loosely connected, featuring the best friend of that book’s main character. Christina Lauren is hit and miss for me and I’ve heard some mixed things about this one but I still want to give it a go.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center

Once again, I recently read a book by this author (The Bodyguard) and loved it so this one immediately went on my TBR.

Love Redesigned by Lauren Asher

I’m curious about this one. I’m not sure her other series is for me or why I feel that this one might be different, despite also being a billionaire romance. Sometimes we make irrational reading choices.

The Devil In Winter by Lisa Kleypas

This book gets recommended more than pretty much any other in a romance group I’m in. I want to read this whole series but this on in particular seems to have a lot of fans. It gets tossed in as a recommendation for literally hundreds of different types of requests.

Codename Charming by Lucy Parker

I love Lucy Parker but somehow I missed this one when it came out last year? Not sure how that happened but I’ll be fixing that very soon!

A Lady’s Formula For Love by Elizabeth Everett

My toxic trait is adding books to my Goodreads wishlist and then completely forgetting about them! I’m rediscovering all these books I wanted to read and this is one of them! A historical romance about a noblewoman and her protection officer…..YES! Why have I not read this already

The Getaway List by Emma Lord

I really liked Begin Again by Emma Lord, which I read recently. I’m also really looking forward to her second 2024 release. Of the titles of hers that I haven’t read, this one looks like I’d enjoy it the most so I think it’s next on my list.

Heartstopper Vol 4 by Alice Oseman

I adored Heartstopper Vol 1-3 but somehow I haven’t read either 4 or 5 yet. So I guess that’s on my list of things to do – how are there so many books that I want to read and yet haven’t read?! I need more hours in my day.

Fall Of Ruin And Wrath by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I wasn’t sure to put this one in or not, but I am curious. I didn’t get into JLA’s other current popular series so although I’ve heard good things about this one, it’s possible I won’t find it for me either. But I do want to try it and see if I like it because I feel like her stories have potential, I just tend not to like the characters so far. Maybe I’ll like this one more?

I could probably write this post 50x over as I feel like the list of romance books I want to read is never ending! But I had to narrow it down and choose just 10 that are high on my priority list for this year. As always, I’ll be keeping a note of this list somewhere and seeing just how many I manage to check off.

Top 10 Tuesday 6th February

Hello and welcome back to another instalment of Top 10 Tuesday, hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl and featuring a different bookish related theme each week. This week our topic is:

Books To Read When Your Time Is Short

This theme was suggested by Jennifer @ FunkNFiction.com & Angela @ Reading Frenzy

The Exception To The Rule by Christina Lauren

Recently a bunch of 6 authors dropped a little (barely) linked series of short stories. The shortest is about 40p and the longest (this one) is about 100 or so pages. This one was my favourite but there were a couple of other good ones in the series too – perfect for when you have a small amount of time and just want something really quick.

Mysteries Of Thorn Manor by Margaret Rogerson

Authors often put out extra content concerning some of their worlds….this one is a bit of an example of that. Readers wanted a little bit more from these two after the first book and so this is an epilogue of sorts (under 200p) that gives you a glimpse of what came next and what the future looks like.

The Tales From The Cafe Series by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Not only are these books quite short, they’re also made up of about 6 I think, short stories in each volume, all concerning people who visit a particular cafe in Tokyo for the fact that if you sit in a particular chair, you can travel to a point in time. So you can dip in and out of these and still read a complete story in a small amount of time. There are also some threads that run throughout all the stories as well. There are currently….4? I think? volumes in this series.

Loathe To Love You: The STEMinist Novellas by Ali Hazelwood

You can buy these 3 romance novellas separately or in this bind up. If you like Ali Hazelwood then you’ll probably like these – the first one was by far my favourite. They’re easy fun and don’t require much investment.

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

This is a scifi series centered around a security android that hacked its own system and now has a level of autonomy and self-awareness not common to its kind. It refers to itself as “Murderbot”. The first few are definitely novellas however some of the later instalments are full length novels. They’re all very good.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

Claire Keegan is a recent discovery of mine and I really enjoyed this one – it’s only 128p. I’ve also read another one of hers and although I liked that one, I didn’t like it as much as this one. This was short-listed for the Booker Prize and I’d recommend it.

The Monk & Robot Series by Becky Chambers

I finished the first in this series, A Psalm For The Wild-Built just on Sunday actually and I really enjoyed it. There’s also A Prayer For The Crown Shy as well. I think if you like this there’s also Becky Chambers’ other books as well (and vice versa, if you’ve read those you’ll probably enjoy these also). They’re quick and very quiet reads, introspective. Zero angst (other than existential), low stakes, cosy, charming.

The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupéry

I’m ashamed to say I haven’t actually read this but I know it is quite universally beloved. It’s under 100p and has stood the test of time.

A Room Of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf

If you fancy some non-fiction, this is a good place to start. Only just over 100p, it contains a sharp feminist essay and even though this was written almost 100 years ago you will find yourself nodding along to a lot of what Virginia Woolf is saying here. Also the audiobook is excellent – narrated perfectly by Natalie Dormer.

This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

Look to be honest, this wasn’t for me. I read it recently and found it just eh. But it’s 200p and there are a lot of people out there who would die for this book. I’ve seen so many people absolutely sing its praises and I figured I might as well include it because it did enjoy a big surge in popularity mid-to-late 2023 and it’s an interesting concept.

I really enjoy having an option of something quick, because I like to read consistently but sometimes I don’t have the brain capacity to start a long book. I could read a portion of something but sometimes I want to accomplish something, so a short story or novella is perfect for those times. Have you read any of these ones?

Top 10 Tuesday January 30

Hello and welcome back to another instalment of Top 10 Tuesday! Hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl, it features a different bookish-related theme each week. This week our topic is….

Top 10 New To Me Authors From 2023

Rebecca Yarros

I hadn’t heard of Rebecca Yarros before a little book named Fourth Wing got released. Maybe you heard about it? But I loved this and the sequel and although I haven’t read anything else by her yet, I do intend to.

R.F./Rebecca Kuang

I finally got around to reading an R.F. Kuang novel in 2023. Actually, I read 2, this one and Yellowface. I have owned The Poppy War for years but haven’t picked it up yet. I loved Babel and liked Yellowface as well so R.F. Kuang was definitely a new favourite discovery.

Sarah Adams

I read a few Sarah Adams’ books last year and she writes just very cute, wholesome romances that are a lot of fun and very comforting types of reads.

Alexandra Rowland

Really enjoyed this – gave it a sold 4.5 stars, will read the next book.

Olivia Atwater

This was also a surprising read for me! I loved this.

Richard Osman

This series was definitely a favourite discovery of 2023, I absolutely love it.

Megan Bannen

One of my favourite books of 2023, can’t wait for the next one set in this world.

James Islington

This was so clever and intricate. It will be a bit of a wait for the next book but James Islington has a trilogy I plan to try in the meantime.

Heather Fawcett

This lived up to all the hype that surrounded it as being super cute and cosy. 

Rebecca Ross

I read 2 books by Rebecca Ross last year and really, really enjoyed them both and I will most likely read 2 books this year, finishing both duologies that I started.

Just 10 of the authors I discovered in 2023. I’m sure there were more, these are just the ones that spring to mind first.

Who was your favourite new discovery last year? Let me know!