Top Ten Tuesday: Fall TBR Pile

Fall is almost here! And while I’m indulging in a lot of football, I still have a healthy TBR pile. This week’s Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) asks us which books are on our list to read as the leaves change colors.

1. Fairy Tale by Stephen King
2. The Joe Pickett novels by C.J. Box
3. The Decomposition of Jack by Kristen O’Donnell Tubb
4. The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson
5. The Terminal List by Jack Carr
6. Flight Risk by Cherie Priest
7. Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks by John Peel (audiobook)
8. Desert Star by Michael Connelly
9. Battle Ground by Jim Butcher
10. Something to Hide by Elizabeth George

Anything I should add to the list? What’s on your list for reading this fall?

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Read In Elementary School That I Want to Share With My Daughter

Time again for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl). This week’s prompt is an open-ended question centering on school.

Part of my daughter’s homework this year is to read for at least 15 minutes each day. We’ve turned this into family reading time and I’ve been recalling the books I read and enjoyed growing up. I’ve started to assemble and track down some of these books and series for her to read and (hopefully) enjoy.

These are some of the books/series that come to mind.

1. The Ramona series by Beverly Cleary: I read and re-read these so much that I can still remember specific passages from the books, including Ramona thinking she will get a gift for staying in her seat instead of sitting in that seat for the time being. I picked up a box-set of all the big Beverly Cleary books for Shortcake.
2. The Fudge series by Judy Blume: Peter and his family were some of my favorites growing up, though I believe there were only two books with Fudge in them during my elementary school days. The series has expanded to four books now. I believe my mom bought SuperFudge for me to read on an airplane ride to see my grandparents.
3. Choose Your Own Adventure: These have come back into print and we checked out a couple from our local library. I forgot how much fun these could be. And all the crazy ways you could meet your demise.
4. The Great Brain series by John D. Fitzgerald: Skimming my local library shelves, I stumbled across the first entry in this series and am excited to revisit it. I recall a lot of scheming in these books, though many of the specifics are foggy.
5. Encyclopedia Brown series by Donald J. Sobol: The young detective who was smarter than his police chief dad and always solved the case. I recall loving these and even though I would read and re-read them, I’d often forget the vital clue to solving the case and how much fun it was to look it up in the back of the book.
6. Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingles Wilder: I read most of these growing up and I think my daughter will find them fun. Or at least maybe it will help her appreciate little things we take for granted these days.
7. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein: We’ve already read this one all the way through and my daughter loves Shel Silverstein’s poetry. We got a leather-bound copy of this one for her birthday.
8. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls: I’m pretty sure we’re not ready for this one yet, but I know she will be someday. I loved this book (even if the ending will put a lump in your throat). I listened to the audiobook a couple of years back and it held up for me.
9. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle: My daughter already shares my love of Star Trek and Doctor Who, so I want to see her embrace literary sci-fi and fantasy. I think this one is a good starting point and was an entry-level book for many.
10. The Amelia Bedelia series: The woman who took everything literally, with silly results. I think these will be fun to visit again.

Top Ten Tuesday: Looking Back a Decade

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) asks us to think about the books we love that have been on shelves for a decade or more. Here are my choices.

1. Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor
2. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
3. Playing for the Ashes by Elizabeth George
4. Star Trek: The Next Generation: Q-Squared by Peter David
5. Dune by Frank Herbert
6. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
7. Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
8. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
9. Front Porch Tales by Phillip Gulley
10. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Top Ten Tuesday: Summer Reading

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) asks about books with summery covers. However, my mind started whirring and got me thinking about books I’ve read during the summer — books I was assigned to read during the summer and books I read for the first time during the summer or because my dad was in the military, we’d move around so I might “miss” some of the standard classics because they were read before or after I left a school district. I would, sometimes, read them on my own during the summer for my own enjoyment/edification. So, I’m going to include a few of each:

Assigned/Required Reading for School:

1. The Power Game by Hendrick Smith
2. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
3. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Summer Reading For Books I “Missed”:

1. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
3. 1984 by George Orwell

Summer Reading “Because I Wanted To”

1. Gerald’s Game by Stephen King
2. Star Trek: The Next Generation: Q-Squared by Peter David
3. Playing for the Ashes by Elizabeth George
4. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

Top Ten Tuesday: Summer TBR List

It’s time again for the Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl).

Summer is one of my favorite times for reading. There are few things I enjoy more than swimming some laps and then relaxing by the pool with a book. And don’t get me started on the fun of the summer reading program (you read and get cool stuff?!? Win, win to this reader!).

Here are a few selections I’d like to read this summer.

1. Star Wars: Brotherhood by Michael Chien
2. Ordinary Monsters by J.T. Miro
3. The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager
4. Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey
5. Something to Hide by Elizabeth George
6. Alone Out Here by Riley Redgate
7. Doctor Who: The Eaters of Light by Rona Murno (audiobook)
8. Doctor Who: The Fires of Pompeii by James Horan (audiobook)
9. Doctor Who: The Reign of Terror by Ian Marter (audiobook)
10. Boom Town by Garrison Keillor (audiobook)

Top Ten Tuesday: Time in the Title

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) looks at books with units of time in the title. Here are a few that came to mind.

1. Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham
2. The Years of Salt and Rice by Kim Stanley Robinson
3. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
4. Doctor Who and the Day of the Daleks by Terrance Dicks
5. The Days Are Just Packed by Bill Waterson
6. The Boat of a Million Years by Poul Anderson
7. One Day by David Nicholls
8. The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly
9. The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
10. Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child

Top Ten Tuesday: (I Was) So Excited

I’ve always had a healthy TBR pile. I’ve considered it the secret to immortality.

My TBR pile has increased since I picked up an e-reader all those years ago. Now books can not only lurk on a shelf or table but also on my device waiting for me to get to them. It’s not that I don’t want to read them, but I get easily distracted by new arrivals or a whim or finishing something that is due at an earlier date at the library.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) asks which books were you once excited about but are still on your TBR pile.

1. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini
2. Something to HIde by Elizabeth George
3. Voyage of the Star Wolf by David Gerrold
4. Doctor Who: The Witchfinders by Joy Wilkinson
5. Normal People by Sally Rooney
6. The Last Emperox by John Scalzi
7. House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
8. Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovich
9. The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend by Gren Frankel
10. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
11. The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

Top Ten Tuesday: One Word Reviews

Time for a little literary meme-ing with Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl). This week’s prompt is to write a one-word review for the last ten books you’ve read. I’ve decided to do two lists this week: One for the books I’ve read and another for books I’ve read to/with my daughter.

Enjoy!

Books I’ve Read

1. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel — Compelling
2. Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie — Underrated
3. If You Tell By Gregg Olsen — Haunting
4. The Bright Side Running Club by Josie Lloyd — Moving
5. Doctor Who and the Revenge of the Cybermen by Terrance Dicks — OK
6. Daughter by Kate McLaughlin — Decent
7. The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward — Memorable
8. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie — Intriguing
9. The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi — Light
10. Seasonal Work by Laura Lippman — Great

Books I’ve Read To/With Shortcake

1. The Moose Who Loved Noodles by Rachel Dutton — Silly
2. A Frog Ate My Sandwich by Christine Durkin — Meh.
3. My Dog May Be A Genius by Jack Prelutksy — Great
4. It’s Not Easy Being a Bunny by Marilyn Sadler — Fun
5. We Are Growing by Laurie Keller — OK
6. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein — Classic
7. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell — Classic
8. Big Nate : In A Class by Himself by Lincoln Peirce — Funny
9. Baloney and Friends: Dream Big by Greg Pizzoli — Fun
10. The Biggest Snowman Contest by V. Moua — Silly

Top Ten Tuesday: Future Classics

Many moons ago, when I was taking high school AP English, my teacher pondered which of Stephen King’s prolific library would stand the test of time and be considered a classic of literature. That conversation comes to mind today as I ponder this week’s literary meme Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl). Today, we’re asked which books published since the turn of the century do we think will become classics.

Here’s my list in no particular order.

1. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
2. 11/22/63 by Stephen King
3. Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
4. The Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling
5. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
6. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins
7. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
8. Daytripper by Fabio Moon

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Enjoyed But Didn’t Mention Here (Until Now)

It’s been a few weeks since I celebrated the literary meme Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl).

This week’s prompt is the book you’ve read and enjoyed but didn’t mention. This got me thinking and here are a few that I have neglected to mention or review for whatever reason.

1. What’s Done in Darkness by Laura McHugh
2. How Lucky by Will Leitch
3. Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
4. Tiny Deaths by Rob Shearman
5. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara
6. If It Bleed by Stephen King
7. Playing for the Ashes by Elizabeth George
8. One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence
9. Star Trek: The Next Generation: Q-Squared by Peter David
10. Star Trek: The Wounded Sky by Diane Duane