Category: Discussion posts

#TopTenTuesday Books I’ll Be Reading Soon

whatcathyreadnext18 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday newTop Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

The rules are simple:

Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post. Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists. Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.

20 Books of Summer 2019This week is a Freebie with participants asked to come up with their own topic. I’ve chosen to look ahead to the nine (yes, only nine!) books left on my 20 Books of Summer list, the annual challenge hosted by Cathy at 746Books . I’ve added one – The Wanderers – which is the previous book to The Redeemed in Tim Pears’ The West Country Trilogy.

  • The Truth Must Dazzle Gradually by Helen Cullen – described as ” a celebration of the complex, flawed and stubbornly optimistic human heart”
  • The Gap in the Curtain by John Buchan – five people are given a glimpse of the future but how will that knowledge affect them?
  • A Prince of the Captivity by John Buchan – the story of the courage of a man imprisoned for a crime he did not commit
  • The Wanderers by Tim Pears – continuing the story of Leo Sercombe begun in The Horseman
  • The Redeemed by Tim Pears – the final book in the trilogy, shortlisted for The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2020
  • A House of Ghosts by W. C. Ryan – described as “a gripping mystery with a classic feel…And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie meets The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell”
  • The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce – a novel about learning how to listen and how to feel, about second chances and choosing to be brave despite the odds
  • Liar by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen – how one mistake can have a thousand consequences
  • Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult – described as a book that tackles “race, privilege, prejudice, justice, and compassion – and doesn’t offer easy answers”
  • Those Who Are Loved by Victoria Hislop – historical novel set against the backdrop of the German occupation of Greece in WW2, the subsequent civil war and a military dictatorship

#TopTenTuesday Books That Make Me Smile

whatcathyreadnext19 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday newTop Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

The rules are simple:

Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post. Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists. Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.

This week’s topic is Books That Make Me Smile.  I don’t know about you but pretty much all books make me smile, especially when they’re heading in the direction of my bookshelves.  However, here are ten reasons a book is likely to provoke a happy reaction. Links from the book title will take you to my review.

  1. A book with a lovely cover, especially if it features flora and fauna, like The Familiars by Stacey Halls
  2. A book with an intriguing title such as On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
  3. If a book I loved is nominated for a literary prize, for example Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield (longlisted for The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2020)
  4. A book with a happy ending – spoiler alert – such as Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
  5. Reaching the end of the first book in a new series and knowing there are more to come, such as The Englishman (Raglan #1) by David Gilman
  6. The arrival of a follow-up to a book or series I’ve enjoyed, such as The Mathematical Bridge (Nighthawk #2) by Jim Kelly
  7. A book set in a place I’ve been to such as The Secret Life of Alfred Nightingale by Rebecca Stonehill (set on Crete)
  8. A book that evokes happy memories, like A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
  9. A book that was an unexpected gift like Take Courage: Anne Bronte and the Art of Life by Samantha Ellis (a present from my husband)
  10. A book bought by a reader based on one of my reviews. Too many to mention I hope!

What books have brought a smile to your face?