Top Books of 2023

I talked about these over on the channel (click here) but for the blog readers, I will list them here also!

I read and loved so much nonfiction this year that I've made two categories. So here's my list:

Six Fiction

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh

Still Mine by Elizabeth Vernon Taylor

Shining a Light by Veeda Bybee

Six Non Fiction

Talking As Fast As I Can by Lauren Graham

Becoming by Michelle Obama

Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang

Spare by Prince Harry

Honorable Mentions

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu

The House on the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollen

What books did you love this past year??

Ten Alien Books I've Read and Five I Want to Read

Did you see the video where I talked about aliens? LOL. You've heard they are real, right? Yes. And so we better read up on them!

Here are the ten books I listed in the video that I've read and enjoyed/loved:


The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancy

Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu

The Host by Stephanie Meyer

I am Number Four by Pitticus Lore

These Broken Stars by Aimee Kaufmann and Meagan Spooner

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

And these five I've added to my list to read. Hopefully sooner than later!

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolinli

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews

Contact by Carl Sagan

What alien books have you read and loved?

Reading Recap April 2023

 April was a much better reading month for me! Hoping May will be the same!

Here's what I read this past month:

Fast, Feast, Repeat by Gin Stephens: I actually listened to this one (I know, the world is changing!) and learned a ton. She has for sure convinced me to try this fasting thing, though I still feel like some of the theories are very fad-like and a bit overrated. We'll see I guess. I'm curious at the very least, and so far I'm doing the "easy" one (eating between noon and 8 pm for the most part) and it's been not very hard to adjust to. I'm down about 2 kg (sorry I seem to be using a Japanese scale that somehow ended up at my house) so I guess it's going in the correct direction at least. I rated this one 3 stars on Goodreads!

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller: Well, I guess it's about time I finally read this one, which has been on my kindle for more than ten years. It was awesome. The story of Achilles as narrated by his lover, Patrocolus, and includes all their experiences at the Trojan War. It's beautifully written and a sweet sweet love story. I gave this one five stars on Goodreads! Woot!

Seventeen Wishes by Erica Alexander: This one I did not particularly enjoy. It's a quick novella read about a guy who has a heart condition so he risks his life to have sex with his girlfriend. Yeah. I would have liked a little more depth to it, but maybe there wasn't time in the 100 pages that it had. I gave it 2 stars on Goodreads.

The Girls I've Been by Tess Sharpe: This was our book club book of the month. It's a bit gritty and dark, but I enjoyed the craziness and intensity for the most part. It's about a girl who grew up with a con-artist mom, and when she finds herself taken as a hostage in a bank robbery, she uses some of those skills to get herself out of it. There's lots of flashbacks to her growing up life, and all the girls she had to pretend to be for her mom's hits. And after all that, she needs to figure out who she really is. I quite enjoyed it. I gave it four stars on Goodreads.

The Summer of Broken Rules by K.L. Walther: I needed something fun and light, so I decided to squeeze this one into the mix this month. And it was really fun! Our girl has been sad since her sister died almost two years before, but she is finally joining her family on their summer retreat to Martha's Vineyard. It's going to be a week of fun and games as they prepare for her cousin's wedding. And the tradition is to have a game of Assassin with water guns. She totally gets into it and even starts to fall for the stepbrother of the groom. Fun, cute, romantic and heart-warming family connections. I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads. 

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan: This was a book recommended by the author of the above Fast, Feast and Repeat. And it sounded like something I'd enjoy, so I found it at the library and quickly read it. (It's a short fast one.) And sure enough, it was a lot of the things I think myself... the frustration with the scientific thought on what food is good, and what food is bad... and how it changes every other year. And how marketing by certain companies has fueled our belief in what is good and bad (breakfast is good for you, you HAVE to eat it... according to a study done by Kelloggs, and etc) Anyway, bottom line he says "Eat food, not too much, and mostly plants." Definitely lots to think about in this one. I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads.

I also read half of Spare, but then had to return it to the library. We'll finish that later and report on it then. I didn't read ONE THING in my Oathbringer quest! AHHH!

Here are my plans for May:

• participate in the Asian Readathon (see previous post for what I plan to read for that)
• read The Last Thing He Told Me for book club (wah I'm already done!)
• maybe read one of my new books I just bought, probably All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir
• read some chapters in Oathbringer.... it has to happen
• hopefully get my hands on Spare and finish that. It might not be till next month though

That should hold me over for a bit! Happy reading everyone!

(For the video version of this post, here's a link!)

Asian Readathon... Let's Do This

 

Hey everyone, long time no blog. Alas, my struggle to keep up with things on this end of my passion continues.

ANYWAY,

so I'm going to participate in the Asian Readathon. This is hosted by WithCindy over on YouTube. I'll link to her video announcing it right here. She's been doing it for several years I think, but I'm just now discovering the event. 

SO, 

of course I'm in! So many lovely Asian connected books I want to read! Here's the stack I've made to choose from (along with The Red Palace by June Hur, which is on the Kindle.) I'm so excited to jump in!

If you want to see the video I made about joining this readathon, you can click here. If you think this would be fun too, let me know and we can discuss all the books!

Books for Book Club 2023-2024!

As you know by now, every year we vote on a pile of books that the book club wants to read and then come up with a schedule for a whole year ahead of time. (Our book club year goes from June- May, and we vote every year in March. How this happened, I don't really know, but it works for us!)

And this past week, we finalized that list yet again! 

Are you curious about what we'll be reading? Here's the list!

June:  Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

July: Memoir Month

August: My Contrary Mary by Brodie Ashton, Cynthia Hand and Jodi Meadows

September: Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher

October: Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

November: Spare by Prince Harry

December: The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict

January: Remarkedly Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

February: Book Lovers by Emily Henry

March: Beartown by Fredrik Backman

April: Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

May: A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

And then we'll be having a bonus meeting to discuss Trish Milburn's Sing Me a Love Song, the first book in her kpop romance series. 

I'm excited about them all! And I want to read all the ones that didn't make it too!

If you are interested, I talked about all the books on our list and these ones that won over on the Booktube channel:

Top Ten Tuesday: New-to-me Authors I Discovered in 2022

Happy Tuesday everyone! Today the prompt for Top Ten Tuesday (check out all the posts here) is ten new authors that are new to you this year. So let me just look at my list and see who those are:

Axie Oh (XOXO)

Clare Vanderpool (Navigating Early)

Christina Lauren (In a Holidaze)

Emily Henry (People We Meet on Vacation)

Sally Hepworth (The Good Sister)

Matt Haig (The Midnight Library)

Justina Ireland (Dread Nation)

Mira Grant (Feed)

Nita Prose (The Maid)

Priscilla Oliveras (Island Affair)

There you go! I really enjoyed them all and here's hoping a read some more of their books this year! (I have Emily Henry's on hold...so she might be the first one up!)

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books of the Year

 

It's time reveal my top ten favorite books of 2022 according to the Top Ten Tuesday prompt! Be sure to check out everyone's posts at this link!

I didn't have very many books the BLEW me away this past year. Hopefully that will change this upcoming year. I have no idea what I'm looking for, but we'll see if I find it!

But here's the list of what I did love from this past year with links to my review and thoughts:

The Storied Life of A.J Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

Will by Will Smith

Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth

Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon

Hopefully I can get around to some of your posts and see what I need to catch up on! Looking forward to a great reading year in 2023!

Top Ten Tuesday: Series I’d Like to Start/Catch up on/Finish and the #ReadWhatYouOwnChallenge

 

Well this prompt is timely since I just declared my participation in Booktuber challenge that's kind of right along these lines! 

That challenge is to read (insert your choice of amount of books here) books from your own shelves before you BUY ANY MORE BOOKS! It's called #ReadWhatYouOwnChallenge. You know we've all done this kind of challenge before, but it's something I've been particularly thinking I need to do anyway. Like TRULY concentrate on doing it and see if I can feel just slightly less guilty about all the unread books around this house.

So I've been reorganizing my hoard of books and as part of that I pared down my TBR to the books I REALLY want to read next... here's that view now:

And so there are books on this shelf that are first or seconds (maybe even thirds and fourths?)  in series... and so it's THOSE that I want to catch up on first. Do you see them? Firefight, Goliath, Son, The Young Elites, Shadow Scale, The Gray Wolf Throne, Magic Study and Fire Study, Oathbringer (ha!), just to name a few. 

If you are interested in my video declaring my participation in the other challenge, here you go. Of course anyone can do this, so join in if you want!!

I'll also be reading Atomic Habits for Nonfiction November as part of this challenge. WAH! I have too many goals, I hope I can accomplish at least some of them!

Book Club Reading List 2022-2023

The IRL book club has come up with our schedule for the next year's reading! (Yes I know we do this at a weird time of year, but that's just how it's been for years!) We vote on books in March and come up with a list for our reading year which for book club goes from June to June.  

Here's what we'll be reading this coming year. We decided to shake it up a bit and do a "read your own memoir" month in July. We'll see how that turns out. And then we are keeping our August Utah Book Month tradition alive after all these years. I think we started this in what, 2010 or so? I don't even know! 

Anyway, for those interested, here's what our list looks like. Let me know what books you've read and what we have to look forward to:

June: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
July (memoir month:) Choose your own memoir
August (Utah Author month): Lines of Courage by Jennifer A. Nielsen
September: The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth
October (Halloween read): Feed by Mira Grant
November: The Maid by Nita Prose
December (Christmas read): In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren
January: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman
February: The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty
March: The Silence of Bones by June Hur
April: The Girl’s I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe
May: The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

As always, I'm looking forward to them all!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books With My Favorite Trope/Theme

 

Time for another TOP TEN TUESDAY!  The prompt for this one is:

Books With My Favorite Trope/Theme

(be sure to head over to That Artsy Reader Girl's blog to participate!)

Here's the one I thought of... can you guess what the trope is from my list???

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters by Sydney Salter

On the Fence by Kasie West

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

If you guessed "friends to lovers" trope or "the boy next door" theme... then you are right! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

I know there's a ton more, so....which ones would you have listed? What books do you suggest I should read... that I HAVE to read if I love this trope? Please... I GOTTA KNOW!

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books With Character Names in the Title

 

I missed the fact that is was Tuesday yesterday. Seriously, my days are SO MIXED UP! It was a crazy weekend (maybe I'll post on that later) so real life is hard to get back to. But anyway, I figured I could do it a day late, right? 

This week's prompt over at That Artsy Reader Girl for Top Ten Tuesday is:

Top Ten Books With Character Names in the Title

So I went through my big archive list and nabbed these gems. Links to my reviews from yesteryear! (I shudder to think what you might find should you click on them. Be warned!) But dang these are some good books!

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Agnes Grey by Ann Bronte

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Katherine by Anya Seton

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

Zorro by Isabel Allende

Top Ten Books of 2021

 

I rated 3 books a 5 star this past year... and many many books with 4 stars. I picked my favorites from those and have come up with this list of  my top ten books from this past year, listed here with a blurb from my review.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

I really loved the rich detail and beautifully story telling. I really needed romance though... I really thought I was going to get romance! AHHH!!! So other than that, everything else was fabulous! 

96 Miles by J.L. Esplin

Wow, but I haven't read a book that gripped me like this one for quite
awhile. It's a survival story that really had me on the edge of my reading seat the whole time, and I devoured it. (Ha devoured... because yet again, this book will make you HUNGRY and THIRSTY both, like... literally!)

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

It's all quite fascinating. And sad. Also inspirational for celebrating the human spirit. I really ended up enjoying it and it was quite eye opening to learn about. 

The Black Witch by Laurie Forest

It's a beautifully written fantasy with a fabulous world that's been created to show us how great diversity is. I really quite enjoyed it and plan to continue the series. 

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

I don't even know how to describe this little book. It's fascinating and trippy and weird. And I totally enjoyed it!

What I Like About You by Marisa Kanter

Anyway, it's all cute and fun and crazy and I loved it. Not that I'm famous online or anything, but I related to so much in this book. Her desire to go to the big book convention (BEA anyone?) and be on a panel of bloggers... the lingo she uses to describe this life. The stress of coming up with posts and waiting for replies and responses. Just simply the love of books and the love of being creative and sharing that with the world. It's awesome. 

My Life as  Potato by Arianne Costner

I fell in love with this character from the very first page and I love it when that happens. Rooting for him all the way! He's an adorable kid, I know this! LOL. A truly funny story with lots of heart. Awesome.

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

What a great premise for a story that really looks deep into stuff we all have to deal with in life. It was great. This author's writing is fantastic, as most of you know.

A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow

SO MUCH FOOD in this book! I need all the recipes!

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

I've watched a kdrama with a similar premise so I was interested to see how this book would handle this funny situation! And it was just as delightful as expected. It's very fun and full of lots of British-isms which I loved. We flipped between the POVs of both of these characters and it was fun to see the differences between and yet how they worked so well together. 

This is the TWENTIETH year I've kept track of my top ten favorite books of the year! Interested in seeing those lists? Click here and scroll to the bottom....

Book Club Picks 2021-2022

Here's our schedule for book club this next year! We are doing DOUBLE THE BOOKS during the summer! This cracks me up given that the whole book club is experiencing a slump. Maybe this will help? I guess we'll see!

Anyway, over the years our book club lists have been popular, so I wouldn't want to neglect you all of seeing what we've chosen yet again. 

Have you read any and do you have thoughts about what we have coming up?

The Giver of Stars AND The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek: June

Born a Crime/ They Called Us Enemy: July

Seven Deadly Shadows/My Plain Jane: August

Anxious People: September

The Picture of Dorian Gray: October

I am the Messenger: November

Emily of New Moon: December

Keep Moving: January

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before: February

Nine Perfect Strangers: March

Dread Nation: April

Carve the Mark: May

Wish us luck!!

Top Ten Books from 2020

 I've been doing these top ten of the year lists now for nearly 20 years. What the heck!? I wonder if I can keep it up for at least that much longer!

Anyway, I wasn't blown away by anything much this past year, but I did have a few five starred books...so here they are with a few others that made the cut for top ten....posted here along with a blurb from my review.

TOP TEN BOOKS I READ IN 2020

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

As with all magic realism books, sometimes I have a hard time wrapping my head around what's going on, because it can all be very confusing. This book is no exception to this, but the thing is.. I didn't care! Because everything is just so beautiful and poetic and romantic and... just... cool. Pretty sure I'm not going to be able to find words to describe this one!

The Body by Bill Bryson

Anyway, I feel just a touch smarter for having read this one, and a lot more appreciative of  my body, this thing I have that is quite a miracle even when I hate it and curse it all the time! We need to take better care of ourselves and our body will give back if we do.

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

So yeah...there's lots of underlying craziness and interesting twists to go along with this basic story. And I loved it. The banter, the social media aspects, the food... everything. So much fun.

Resistance by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Another awesome book by a favorite author! This one is about resistance fighters during WWII. We follow the story of one girl who gets kicked out of her Jewish ghetto in Poland and ends up joining a resistance gang. They spent a lot of time sneaking food and news in the ghettos, and, in one instance anyway, sneaking out babies. And also sabotaging the supplies of the Nazis who were occupying their cities.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Great story. Great life lessons. Great thoughts on what it means to be a family. I really enjoyed it.

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

It's all actually quite fascinating and crazy and confusing and messes with your brain in a crazy time travelling sort of way. And makes you think what you would do if you had endless lives. And could actually remember everything from all the previously lives.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

It sounds so simple doesn't it. But it's really quite a complicated story. And so very engaging. I loved the writing style and would love to read more by this author.

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

This one is CRAZY! It takes place in a not so distant future, where everything bad about the world has been eliminated. Even death. All people are immortal. However, even this ends up causing a  problem, which is... over population. It is realized that people still need to die. And so certain people who are called Scythes, are appointed (after a rigorous testing period) to be the ones who decide who dies and who lives.

Love and First Sight by Josh Sundquist

So as you might guess, it's a great lesson on what makes a person beautiful, and also what we base our relationships on. But it does so in a really great non-preachy way, lots of humor mixed in with lots of deep moments.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

I'm really glad to have decided to read it! It feels like part of the story that we need to know now. Do it if you are still on the fence about it. Do it!

What were your favorite books this year? Do we share any?

Book Club Picks 2020-2021

Here's what the book club has voted to read for our upcoming schedule staring in June and going through May of next year.

Let us know if what Liane Moriarty book you think we should add to the line up! We've already read What Alice Forgot, and Big Little Lies. Which one do we need to read next???

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson

Biased by Jennifer L. Eberhardt

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Spinning Silver by Noami Novik

The Wonder by Emma Donoghue

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal

Resistance by Jennifer A. Nielsen

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

a book by Liane Moriarty yet to be determined

It's quite the list of different things, don't you think? I love it when that happens!

Top Ten Books from 2019

I think this might be the last sum up list for awhile! Have I remembered everything??? You do still want to know my favorite books from this past year, right?

Top Ten Books I Read in 2019

(no order, blurbs from reviews included)

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate: I was gripped and totally immersed in this story. Great writing moved it right along and had me at every page. I loved it. Even though it was a painful story, it was told in a hopeful way and so it wasn't necessarily a downer. I appreciated that too. Perfect. So glad to have finally read this one!

Kafka On the Shore by Haruki Murakami: There is a big emphasis on books, music and art. I loved that. There was also many profound things that were said where I was like... yeah man. So anyway, in the end, I would say I enjoyed reading this one, but I truly have no idea what it's trying to say! If you've read it and have a theory, do share! Enlighten my small brain! And if you've read others by this author and enjoyed them, let me know which one should be next on my list!

The Girl With Seven Names by Hyeonseo Lee: There are a ton books of  North Koreans telling their stories. And I'm sure they will all be different and yet the same. I really hope that some day the situation changes and that the dreams of all these people will come true and that the two Koreas can be united and families can all be together without fear.

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee: So it's a great family saga, the type of which I love and haven't read for a long time. So I loved it. Became very attached to all the characters and either rejoiced or yelled at their choices. One of them I had to shut the book for  minute and go... ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME??? WHY WHY WHY???

It's about family (and found family), and relationships and identity, Korean culture and Japanese culture, and hard work and love and struggles and life and death. So yeah, it's good! I'm so glad to have sort of randomly added this to my books read this year!

Educated by Tara Westover: So, like I keep saying... it's very fascinating and there's so much to think about and talk about, but it's also quite depressing. It's hard to read about the rift between a daughter and her family... even if that family is crazy!

Among all the crazy things, it's a bottom line tribute to learning and how we have an innate desire to learn. And how if we don't go to school, at some point, we crave it. And how some people will do anything to get the education they want so bad.

I'm kinda sad our book club decided not read it because I've been so compelled to talk about it and everyone here is getting sick of me now!! LOL! I'm sure our book club discussion would have been quite interesting.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab: Sounds simple in its summary, yeah? But the magic system is crazy awesome. The writing is beautiful and so perfectly descriptive. The characters are amazingly real. There's another traveler who I really felt for... and became so sympathetic for, even though he is a very very bad boy. But the author is able to easily make us care about him. I love that. 

It's a very violent and dark book. As I said on Instagram, the title does not lie. There is very dark stuff going on here. It's creepy and scary and disturbing.

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi: Anyway. All that deep stuff aside, the romance is AWESOME! Perfectly swoony. I loved it. I loved the writing (as I've come to expect from this author) and the way she handled this subject. It hit me just right instead in preachy or self-pity-ish... which I very much appreciated. Thank you!

Dry by Neal Shusterman: And wow, but by the end of it I knew it would be awhile before I took my casual drinks of water for granted. And still, nearly a month after reading it, whenever I guzzle a huge tall glass of water I think... wow... this water is AMAZING! I was even having dreams about being thirsty! 

So, I loved it even if there were harsh moments in this story. It was very page turning and nonstop "action" ie. things that happened from second to second to keep you on the edge of your seat. It was fabulous. 

Geekerella by Ashley Poston: Anyway. If you are into retellings. Or cons. Or cosplay. Or Star Trek-like shows. Or cute YA romances. You will enjoy this one.

Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett: I loved the setting, the lazy warm breezy California beach town. I think I need to live in a place like this. Seriously. I loved the banter. Banter is the best! I loved this girl (for the most part. She made some questionable choices a couple of times, but yeah.) and her insecurities and her tendency to be an Artful Dodger all of the time. I loved the dude, who appears to be one way, but is really another. I loved the families in this book. Good families are a such an amazing thing in books these days! And of course I loved the classic movie references! So many!

Yeah. I loved it for a fun YA romance. Pretty sure I need to read more by this author.

Favorite Books of the Decade 2010-2019

So I thought it would be fun to look back over my favorites lists from the past ten years and pick out my most absolute favorites from those lists and create an all time favorite list from this past decade. Impossible? Probably, but I didn't really stress and just went with my gut feeling when I looked at lists and here's what I've come up with!

(These are not in any particular order, because that WOULD be impossible!)

Adult Books
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
The Passage by Justin Cronin
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

YA Books
The Queen of Atolia by Megan Whalen Turner
The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Every Falling Star by Sungju Lee
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
All the Truth That's in Me by Julie Berry
The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Winter by Marissa Meyer
Deacon Locke Went to Prom by Brian Katcher
Eliza and her Monsters by Francesca Zappia



Well? Do we share any favorites? What would be on your decade favorites list?

Top Ten Books of 2018

So I was laying in bed one night worry about all the things there are to worry about, and suddenly it hit me that I'd never done a top ten BOOKS post for 2018. What the heck??? How did that slip by me? So, here I am in April remembering my favorite books from last year. I have top ten lists dating from 2002, I'm not about to start skipping this habit now!


Top Ten Books I Read in 2018
(in no particular order because ordering thing gives me ulcers. Blurb from my review attached.)


Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo: In the end... I loved it and am sad I waited so long to join the ranks of those who love these books!

Every Falling Star by Sungju Lee: Anyway, and so it goes from there... four years on the streets. He was even in the kids jail for awhile, a place no one survives. But he and his gang busted out. This lasted until he was 16 years old. And his parents never came back.
But then one day....
Okay see, I can't tell you exactly how it ends, because that would be a spoiler, even though you know the ending! I want you to read it!! But, let's just say, I couldn't put it down last night and read until the wee hours to see how it all ended... crying all the while.
You May Already Be a Winner by Ann Dee Ellis: It's kind of a sad "neglected" kid sort of story, but I loved the style and the quirkiness of everyone and the spunkiness of this main character. I flew through it without any slow moments. And loved it.

The End or Something Like That by Ann Dee Ellis: It sounds a little weird, yeah? But I loved it. So much. The writing style is totally up my alley and is a style I wish I could learn how to do. So simple, but power packed. Beautiful prose. I just love it. And in the process we bond instantly with these characters, especially Emmy and her dilemma. How she misses her friend so bad and wants to talk to her again so bad, and yet she needs to move on with her life. It's heartbreaking. And yet, told in such a cute and funny way. Did say I loved it? Because, I did!

The Orphan Keeper by Camron Wright: The book was beautifully written. Sometimes a touch too flowery in description for my taste, BUT I did devour it and could hardly put it down, so it's obviously engaging and paints a wonderful picture of what life must have been like in India... and afterwards... for this guy.

Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak: I feel like he writes nearly in verse, even though it's a narrative and not a verse book. The words and descriptions are so poetic it hurts sometimes. And the use of personification is as prevalent as ever. It makes scenes come alive like nothing I've ever read. I feel like this stuff just flows out of him, but I have sense learned that he truly agonizes over every word. Somehow that makes me appreciate it all the more.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles: I loved the writing in this one. So snarky and funny and witty. I loved it. I loved learning about history as we flew through the years, though as I said some of it went over my head. I loved this Count character from the very first page. He's great!

Please Look After Mom by Kyung Sook Shin: And so we are left with this overwhelming powerful feeling to love those that are with us WHILE they are with us. And to have no regrets about your relationships. To not leave things unsaid. And most especially, to not take your mom for granted! And to realize that she is a person just like you are with her desires and dreams. That she wasn't BORN a mom, but is a normal person like we all are.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman: In the end, I quite loved this book and its message. How people that at first seem so different can come together and be a sort of family. And how no matter how ornery this old guy is, he can still be loved and he still has a ton to contribute to the world and to those around him. Yes. It's a great story. Read it.

Exo by Fonda Lee: It's a great book that shows how there really is no black and white. You can see both sides of this issue. You end up rooting for everyone and you want everyone to win. It's frustrating and eye opening.

Book Club Choices 2019 -2020

We have made our marks and voted! Here's what the book club will be reading the rest of this year and into next! Wish us luck! We've been doing this for FIFTEEN YEARS now and hopefully aren't losing steam and have awhile to go still!

Let us know if you've read any of these and what we might have to look forward to.

2019
May: Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia
June: Ban This Book by Alan Gratz
July: A Room With a View by E.M. Forster
August: The Hollow City by Dan Wells
September: One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus
October: A Darker Shade of magic by V.E. Schwab
November: The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
December: The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

2020
January: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
February: Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
March: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
April: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
May: The First Fifteen Lives of Henry August by Claire North

Book Club Book Choices 2019

It's voting time for the book club.
We are celebrating our 15th year in existence this year! CRAZY!!!

We had a first round of voting and these books made the first cut:

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

The Hollow City by Dan Wells

A Room With a View by E.M. Forster

Ban This Book by Alan Gratz

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

Now we are voting on these books to see which ones will make
the cut to round our our schedule.

What comments and/or suggestions do you have to help us choose?

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro

Red China Blues by Jan Wong

Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio by Terry Ryan

The Year in Provence by Peter Mayle

My Story by Elizabeth Smart

Educated by Tara Westover

Bottom line: I just want to read them all!!