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 of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
Books I Read On Vacation (bonus points if you tell us where you were!) (Submitted by Dedra @ A Book Wanderer)
I haven’t taken a lot of vacations over the last few years but every summer we spend a week on the lake in Minnesota and these are all books that I have read over the last few years while there.
The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman – 4 Stars
The Layover by Lacie Waldon – 4 Stars
The Bookish Life Of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman – 4 Stars
Hello Friends! Im here with my first round up for October! All 4 books I read were enjoyable in their own way but the stand out for was Spells For Forgetting, which could be one of my top faves for the year! I am also loving that all the covers matched for this round up!
Praise by Sara Cate – 3 Stars I picked this one up from KU because I had seen some youtubers talking about it. This is an age gap romance that also deals with more adult themes. This follows Charlotte who starts working for her ex-boyfriend’s father and ends up with him at his adult club and the two end up starting a relationship. Overall I liked this one I didn’t think it was really good or bad it was just ok. Check trigger warnings for this series.
Chaos Reigning by Jessie Mihalik – 4 Stars This is the third book in this trilogy that follows three sisters of a high house as they try and stop political machinations as well as falling in love. This series has the perfect mix of romance, action and adventure for me. If you are looking for a fun space opera series than I would start with the first in the series Polaris Rising.
Spells For Forgetting by Adrienne Young – 5 Stars My new favorite thing is when a book is a mix of genres and you don’t really know hot to categorize it. This book is part mystery and fantasy with a romance thrown in. We follow Emery who lives on Saiorse Island and when she was about to graduate high school her boyfriend, August is accused of killing her best friend. Years later August returns to the island and this sets in motion a chain of events that will once again change Emery’s life. Emery and August team up to try and find out what really happened all those years ago when her best friend died. I loved everything about this book, the story, characters, writing and relationships. I highly, highly recommend this one!
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna – 4 Stars This book was such a cozy and cute read! It follows an adult witch who has basically been alone her entire life and is tasked with teaching three young witches how to control their magic. If you are looking for a cute atmospheric fall read then this book really delivers on that. I will also say that I feel this book focuses more on the journey of our main witch then it does the romance but like I already said everything in this book worked for me.
Hi Friends! Here is my last round up for the month of September.
Only Bad Options by Jennifer Estep – 4 Stars I have been really enjoying Jennifer Esteps new fantasy series so when I saw she was putting out a space opera I knew I had to read it. This book was a lot of fun and I can’t wait for the next one to come out. This book follows Vesper who after finding out a secret that her company doesn’t want to come she goes on the run. Saved by Kyrion who is the head of the elite Arrow squad the two must work together to keep Vesper alive. There is a lot going on in this book and it’s hard to give a synopsis with out giving a lot away. If you like space operas or a slow burn romance then I would recommend this one!
Killers of A Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn – 3 Stars After loving the Veronica Speedwell series I knew I wanted to read this book as soon as it came out. This book follows 4 woman assassins that work for secret agency who are forced into retirement. While on a vacation paid for by their old employer the four woman find that there is a hit out on them and now must try and stay alive long enough to find out who took out the hit. This book was a lot of fun and I love the way the author writes these characters and the dialogue! My problem was more pf a pacing issue where at times I just found myself a little bored. I still really enjoyed this one and would recommend it, it just wasn’t a new favorite.
Facets of Revolution by T.A. White – 5 Stars This is book 4 in a series I started last month and it was so good! It left us on a cliff hanger and now I am sad that I have to wait so long for the next book. This is another space opera series that has great writing and family dynamics as well as action and romance.
Aurora Rising by Jessie Mihalik – 4 Stars This is the second book in a series that follows three sisters, each one can be read as a stand alone but I found it helped to read them in order. The first is Polaris Rising and I read it sometime last year and really enjoyed it. This is a space opera series that follows three sisters from one of the high families as they deal with political machinations and try not to fall in love. I enjoyed all three books in this series!
Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Reading Reality and is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. You can include any books you acquire throughout the week no matter how you receive them or what format they come in! Gifts, library, netgalley or whatever!
Hello Friends! I brought in 14 books this month but 11 were gifts or from the library so thats not too bad!
Physical Books
Just Like Magic by Sarah Hogle – Bought myself
Malice House by Megan Shepherd – Thank you @bibliolifestyle @disneybooks for my #gifted copy
How Sweet It Is by Dylan Newton – Early birthday gift from a friend
Sign Here by Claudia Lux – BOTM
The Family Game by Catherine Steadman – BOTM
The Summer Sisters by Sara Richardson – Thank you Forever Pub for my #gifted copy
Second Chance Cowboy by A.J. Pine – Thank you Forever Pub for my #gifted copy
An Heiress’s Guide to Deception and Desire by Manda Collins – Thank you Forever Pub for my #gifted copy
Audio Books
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – from the library
E-books or e-galleys this week.
Off The Map by Trish Doller – E-ARC from St. Martins Press
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo – Free e-book from Tor.com
Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manasala – Library e-book
Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet – Library e-book
A Deadly Inside Scoop by Abby Collette – Library e-book
What makes you DNF a book? The most common reason I dnf is because I am just not enjoying the book. This can be because of the characters, the writing or maybe the setting. Every once in awhile I will dnf because something in the books turns me off.
How often do you DNF books? If you follow my blog at all them I’m pretty sure you already know that I dnf all the time! I don’t waste time on reading books that I am not enjoying because there are too many waiting for me to read them!
What’s the silliest or pettiest reason why you DNF’d a book? I’m pretty sure I have dnf’d a book because I didn’t like some of the phrases they used. Not that they were bad phrases but they just really bugged me.
Do you review books that you DNF? If the book is an advanced reading copy then I will write a review for it otherwise I will just give one or two sentences on why I decided not to finish the book.
Do you DNF books? Let me know in the comments below!
Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived by Sam on Taking on a World of Words. All you have to do is answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!
The three Ws are: What are currently reading? What have you finished reading? What will you read next?
What are you currently reading?
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna – Started this one last night and not very far yet.
Beard In Mind by Penny Reid – Reread and doing the audio this time, about halfway through.
What did you recently finish reading?
Facets of Revolution by T.A. White – 5 Stars
Aurora Blazing by Jessie Mihalik – 4 Stars
Praise by Sara Cate – 3 Stars
Chaos Reigning by Jessie Mihalik – 4 Stars
Spells For Forgetting by Adrienne Young– 4-5 Stars still thinking on it.
What do you think you’ll read next?
The Vicious Circle by Katherine St. John
Partners In Crime by Alisha Rai – ARC I have that comes out in October
What are you currently reading? Let me know in the comments below!
I have 6 books for this one but two are by the same author so it’s really like one!
A Hard Day For A Hangover by Darynda Jones – I already read this book as an arc but it was one of my most anticipated releases of 2022! Out 12/6/22
Flight Risk by Cherie Priest – This is book 2 in a series about a psychic who helps out a PI. Out 11/15/22
Two Wrongs Make A Right by Chloe Liese – This is Chloe’s first traditionally published book and I am super excited for it! Out 11/22/22
A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross – Book 2 in an adult fantasy series that comes out 12/6/22
Folk Around and Find Out by Penny Reid – Here’s hoping it is out this month!!! 10/20/22. I am so excited for this one!!
Drama King by Penny Reid – This one is supposed to be out in December however due to her health it might be pushed back. But no matter when it comes out I will read it because as I say all the time on my blog Penny is the best and I will read anything she writes!
What are some of your most anticipated releases for the rest of the year?
Hello Friends! I am a little behind on my round ups for September but I should hopefully have them all done soon!
Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match – 4 Stars This book was a lot of fun and very different from the other books I have read by this author, but I have loved those books too! This story follows Dr. Frankenstein’s sister Angelika as she helps her brother with his projects. After being rejected by men too many times Angelika decides to create her own husband from men she finds in the morgue and with her brother’s help she makes Will. What follows is a fun adventure to find out who Will was in his passed life and to find a missing creation that Dr. Frankenstein lost. This book is out there and if you don’t like books that are not believable then you might want to skip this one. However, if you enjoy cooky stories with romance and adventure then I would check this one out.
A Hard Day For A Hangover by Darynda Jones – 5 Stars This is the third book in the Sunshine Vicram series which follows Sunshine who is the sheriff of in a small county in New Mexico. This series is a lot of fun, it has everything I love in my books, great characters, a fun family, a romance and plenty of action. Each book has a stand alone mystery that Sunshine is trying to solve but at the same time we have an over arcing storyline that has been going on since book 1. One of my favorite things about this series is the writing! Darynda Jones writes the best characters with great dialogue and the perfect amount sarcasm! If you love small town mysteries then I would highly recommend this series, while it’s not quite a cozy it is pretty close. These books do have some heavier topics with the types of violence that is in them so if you need trigger warnings then I would look into those. If you would like to see my thoughts on the first in the series you can find that here and book two here. Thank you St. Martin’s Press for my gifted copy for review! All thoughts and opinions are my own. This book is out 12/6/22.
The Key To My Heart by Lia Louis – 4 Stars Lia Louis is known for her sweet and heartwarming romances that also deal with some heavier topics and The Key To My Heart is no exception. In this we are following a young widow named Natalie who two years after the death of her husband she struggles with moving on. While all her friends are telling her she needs to move on Natalie is isn’t sure she is ready or wants too. I really loved the writing in this story and it made me very emotional at times, not only with her loss but also with how Natalie dealt with her family and friends. Grief is such a unique experience for every individual and I really liked how Lia talks about that in this book. Sadness was not the only emotion that I felt while reading this, their was a lot of happiness as well as anger towards some of the characters and how they constantly pushed Natalie but the ending was great. If you are looking for a romance that will make you feel something then I would recommend checking this one out! If you need content warnings then you might want to look into that for this one as it does deal with heavier topics. Thank you Atria for my gifted copy for review! All thoughts and opinions are my own. This book is out 12/06/22.
Book of Night by Holly Black – DNF I got about 20% into this book and was so confused with what was going on. I was trying to decide if I wanted to start the book over to figure out what was going on but then I realized I just didn’t care and dnf’d.
Hello Friends and happy Sunday! I hope everyone had a great weekend and that your October is off to a good start. If you live anywhere the hurricane has been I hope you and yours are safe. I had somewhat of a slumpy month in September, I den’d 5 books and overall really struggled with that I wanted to read. I did get some good reading in though as I read 5 arc’s and 5 of the books that I brought in this month! My favorite of the month had to be Facets of Revolution by T.A. White! This book was so good and I was crying at the end of it and it left us on a huge cliffhanger!!!
What was your favorite book this month?
Books I readin October
Total Books – 17
Physical Books – 6 Books
E-Books – 10 Books
Audio – 1 Books
ARC’s – 5 Books
Library – 1 Book
Backlist – 1 Book
DNF’s – 5 Books
Re-Reads – 1 Book
Pages Read – 6,979
Genres
Contemporary Romance – 7 Books
Mystery/Thriller – 2 Books
Sci-fi – 3 Books
Historical Romance – 3 Books
Historical Fiction – 1 Book
Fantasy – 1 Book
( I am only putting each book in what I think is the most prominent category )
Year Book Was Published
2013 – 2019 – 2 Books
2020 – 1 Book
2022 – 14 Books
Star Ratings
2 Stars – 2 Books
3 Stars – 3 Books
4 Stars – 10 Books
5 Stars – 2 Books
2 Stars
3 Stars
4 Stars
5 Stars
ReCap on my May Challenges
For Kayla’s Buzzword – This month’s word was associated with light and dark – I chose Daisy Darker which ended up being one of my DNF’s.
BeckyBookstore 