#TopTenTuesday April Showers #TuesdayBookBlog

Top Ten TuesdayTop 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.

Untitled design (1)This week’s topic is April Showers. We’re invited to create a list of books that have anything to do with rain: in their title, on their cover or in their storyline. My list comprises book titles involving rain, the lack of it or weather conditions associated with rain.  

The Rain Never Came by Lachlan Walter
The Dry by Jane Harper
The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng
The Weather Woman by Sally Gardner
The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence
Umbrella by Will Self
Sheltering Rain by Jojo Moyes
The Storm by Amanda Jennings
Black Water Rising by Attica Locke
The Night of the Flood by Zoe Somerville

My Top 5 March 2024 Reads

My Top Five March 2024 ReadsWelcome to my wrap-up of the books I read in March. Mindful of how many ARCs I have that publish in April, I powered through the books in March in an effort to get ahead. I read some great books again this month including one – finally – that deserved five stars.

Links from each title will take you to my full review or the book description on Goodreads. Check out the list of all the books I’ve read so far in 2024. If we’re not already friends on Goodreads, send me a friend request or follow my reviews.

My thanks to Head of Zeus, Granta, Bloomsbury and Orion for the review copies.


Diva by Daisy Goodwin (Head of Zeus) – The absorbing (fictional) story of the highs and lows, the triumphs and tragedies of Maria Callas’s life.

Clear by Carys Davies (Granta) – A tender love story, and a hymn to a lost way of life and the raw beauty of the natural world, set on a remote Scottish island in 1843.

Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein (Bloomsbury) – Longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, a powerful story set in 1940s Trinidad about ‘violence, religion, family and class’.

The Book of Secrets by Anna Mazzola (Orion) – A compelling story set in 17th century Rome, and based on actual events, about a group of women accused of responsibility for the suspicious deaths of a number of men.

A Better Place by Stephen Daisley (Text Publishing) – Set in WW2 and focusing on two brothers from New Zealand, a visceral and moving exposition of the brutality of war. Longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.

What were the best books you read last month? Have you read any of my picks?