Top Ten Tuesday: Books Set in Another Time

Hello everyone, and Happy Tuesday! It’s been a couple of weeks.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. This week’s topic is Books Set in Another Time. It can be any book that’s historical, futuristic, is an alternate universe, or even in a world where you’re not sure when it takes place you just know it’s not right now.

This one was interesting. I think I kind of ended up going the alternate universe route, because the books I chose ended up being fantasy or sci-fi with magic or advanced technology, whether they take place in the past or future. Anyway, without further ado, on with the post!

  1. All Systems Red (Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells
  2. A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab
  3. The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking #1) by Patrick Ness
  4. Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer
  5. Winterspell (Winterspell #1) by Claire Legrand
  6. Sheets by Brenna Thummler
  7. The Ghostkeeper by Johanna Taylor
  8. The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennett, Witch by Melinda Taub
  9. Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro
  10. This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee

What books do you like that take place in a different time period? Do you prefer stories set in the past or the future?

As always, thanks so much for reading, and I hope that you have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Top Ten Tuesday: Love Freebie

Happy Tuesday everybody!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. This week’s topic is Love Freebie. So for this one I’ve decided to do the ten most recent books I’ve loved (so given four stars or higher) that have romance in them.

On with the post!

  1. This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone (Red x Blue)
  2. Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (Lan Wangji x Wei Wuxian)
  3. The Glass Scientists by S.H. Cotugno (Henry Jekyll x Robert Lanyon)
  4. The Ghostkeeper by Johanna Taylor (Dorian x Brody)
  5. The Dragonwatch series by Brandon Mull (Kendra Sorenson x Bracken)
  6. The Magisterium by Holly Black & Cassandra Clare (Callum x Tamara)
  7. Otherworldly by F.T. Lukens (Ellery x Knox)
  8. So This is Ever After by F.T. Lukens (Arek x Matt)
  9. The Emily Wilde series by Heather Fawcett (Emily Wilde x Wendell Brambleby)
  10. White Trash Warlock by David R. Slayton (Adam x Vic)

What are your favorite new books that feature romance in them? How good is the romance? Is it one of the highlights of the book or is it one of the weaker aspects?

As always, thanks so much for reading, and I hope that you have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Top Ten Tuesday: New to Me Authors I Discovered in 2024

Hey everyone! Happy Tuesday! Here’s another Top Ten Tuesday.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. This week’s topic is New to Me Authors I Discovered in 2024. I don’t think I have to elaborate further on the topic – I think it’s pretty self explanatory.

Anyway, on with the post! Here are the authors new to me from last year, in order of reading from the beginning of 2024 to the end of 2024!

  1. Kerri Maniacalco via Kingdom of the Wicked
  2. Laura R. Samotin via The Sins on Their Bones
  3. Becky Chambers via the Monk & Robot series of novellas
  4. Meg Shaffer via The Lost Story
  5. Susanna Clarke via Piranesi
  6. Ann Leckie via Lake of Souls: The Collected Short Fiction
  7. June CL Tan via Darker by Four
  8. Cecy Robson via Bloodguard
  9. Mo Xiang Tong Xiu via Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (Mo Dao Zu Shi)
  10. Jennifer D. Lyle via Snow Drowned

What authors were new to you last year? What did you think of their books? Are you planning on reading other novels by them in the future?

As always, thanks so much for reading, and I hope that you have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Most Recent Additions to my Book Collection

Happy Tuesday peeps!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. This week’s topic is Ten Most Recent Additions to My Book Collection or TBR List. I’m doing a mixture of these two prompts, but I want to note that there’s quite a bit of correlation with the new books and the stuff I’ve recently added to my To Be Read stuff.

It’s been awhile since I’ve participated in this post. I don’t have a particular reason why I stopped; I guess I just wasn’t feeling it for a while. Anyway, on with the post!

  1. The Wren in the Holly Library by K.A. Linde: Recent acquisition, but not so recently added to my TBR.
  2. A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand: A recent addition to my book collection, as well as recently officially added to my To Be Read pile.
  3. A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallero: Recently collected, but it’s been on my TBR for a bit.
  4. Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson & Kevin Hearne: A book I recently obtained, and it was on my immediate TBR for a bit, but now I’m not as sure. So it’s technically on the back burner.
  5. Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky: I saw this and got it ’cause it looked interesting. Not quite in my immediate To Be Read stuff, though.
  6. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke: Recently acquired, but also already read. I just loved the book so much I wanted to own it.
  7. This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone: A book I finally obtained, but has been on my TBR for some time.
  8. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab: Once again, a book I’ve already read, but one that I loved and wanted to own.
  9. The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie: Recent acquisition, and somewhat more recently added to my TBR as well.
  10. House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas: A book I finally recently collected. It’s in a weird position on my TBR, because I still need to read the first book in this series before this one.

What books have you recently added to your collection? Have they been on your TBR for a while, or are they new to that, too? What books are you looking to add to both in the future?

As always, thanks so much for reading, and I hope that you have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Top Ten Tuesday: Halloween Freebie 🎃👻

Happy Tuesday everybody! We’re finally in the throes of fall and on the cusp of Halloween! I’m so excited!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. This week’s topic is Halloween Freebie, so I’ve decided to do a bit of a monster mashup. A Creature Feature if you will – of an assortment of different Halloween and horror monsters.

All right, here we go!

👻 Ghosts 👻

I liked this book, and I liked its take on ghosts. Sheets is probably one of the cutest ghost stories I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. (I was actually gonna have The Ghostkeeper here for this one, but then I remembered that I’d just read Sheets, so I went with it ’cause I just used the former on a list yesterday.)

🐺 Werewolves 🐺

What’s a creature feature without werewolves? Now, shiver isn’t my favorite werewolf story (I don’t even know if I really have one), nor is it Maggie Stiefvater’s best, but it’s the first one I thought of.

🦇 Vampires 🦇

Speaking of stuff that isn’t my favorite in the genre – yeah, I don’t think that Twilight is a good vampire story. I also don’t think it’s a good story in general, but whatever. It is, unfortunately, likely the most popular modern vampire story, and as the ones that I prefer are either more obscure and from the ’00s, I picked this one.

🧹 Witches 🧹

I think that there are probably better witch books too (aren’t I on a roll here, lol), but I definitely think that this is one of the better ones that I’ve read that isn’t middle grade. I also think I gave it four stars when I originally read it, so there’s that.

🔥 Demons 🔥

I’ve been trying to pick books I’ve read more recently for this list if I can, and unfortunately, this is the most recent book featuring demons that I’ve read.

🧟 Zombies 🧟

I was originally thinking of putting What Moves the Dead here, but I used it on my Fall Recs yesterday. So I picked the only other zombie book I’ve read.

✨ Faeries ✨

I like books with faeries. But I especially like books that portray them properly. Not the world of hot guys and ridiculously sized… Eggplants… That Sarah J. Maas has popularized.

🐙 Deep Sea Eldritch Horror 🐙

I don’t know what to say here, honestly. This has giant horrific sea monsters and disturbing transformations. Very eldritch horror stuff going on.

🐎 Kelpies 🐎

And Stiefvater makes the list a second time! But then, she did write a book featuring a more obscure monster that I’d love to see more of. (And it’s a much better book than Shiver.) I love The Scorpio Races.

💀 Skeletons 💀

Gotta get that Spooky Scary Skeleton rep in here! I think living skeletons/walking-talking skeletons are underrated. I’d see them in a few things growing up, but they just weren’t nearly as popular as all the other monsters. And I haven’t read the Skullduggery Pleasant books, so I was having trouble figuring out a way to get them on this list. But then I remembered that I’ve been reading One Piece and one of the protagonists is a skeleton, and he’s absolutely fantastic (I love Brook), so I went with One Piece.

What books have you been reading lately? Have any of them been spooky or Halloween themed? What monsters or creatures have they featured? What are your favorite types of books with supernatural creatures?

As always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Top Ten Tuesday: How My Reading Habits Have Changed

Hey everyone. Happy Tuesday!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. This week’s topic is How My Reading Habits Have Changed. Which I guess is pretty self-explanatory.

Without further ado, let’s get started!

  1. I read more ebooks than physical copies of novels now: I used to read basically 100% either paperback or hardcover books, but now I’m more inclined to download a book on my Kindle. It’s just so much faster – you can even download copies from libraries nowadays! I’m also impatient, and I got tired of waiting a couple of days to get a new book(s) if I ordered any online. Aldo, digital copies tend to be cheaper, so I like saving the cash.
  2. I read more novellas than I used to: Before I got an e-reader – heck, even after I got one – I’m not sure if I’ve ever truly read a novella. But in the last couple of years, I’ve definitely read a few.
  3. I had a big ghost story phase: This was a long, long time ago, but I feel it’s worth mentioning. For a year and a half in grade school, I read almost exclusively books with hauntings or ghosts. I think Mary Downing Hahn is one of my most read authors ever because of this phase of my life.
  4. I tend to seek out shorter books more often  (like >400 pages type of shorter): I used to seek out the longest books that I could – and I still like them. It’s just, ever since I’ve started the blog, I’ve kind of felt more pressure to get reviews out relatively consistently and often (like at least once a week is the goal). Maybe I should stop worrying about it though.
  5. I read more adult fiction when I was younger, I think: I went through a phase in late middle and early high school where I read mostly adult fiction. It stems from my dad telling me to stop reading YA – I think he thought I was too old or too mature for it? It was after he saw me reading Breaking Dawn though, so I dunno know.
  6. Fall is my favorite reading season now: At the very least, it tends to be the season I read the most books during. (I’m pretty sure it’s my favorite, however, too.) When I was a kid, I did the most reading during the summer, I think. So I guess those summer reading challenges were a good thing?
  7. I used to read multiple books at a time: For a lot of my life, even through college, it wouldn’t be strange to find out I’d been reading like, three books at once. Now, I prefer to only read one book at a time, generally. I’m not really sure why this has changed. Maybe I’ll go back to reading multiple books at once again sometime?
  8. I read more graphic novels and manga than I used to: Graphic novels and manga are things I didn’t read at all growing up, and something I refused to read once I got to be a teenager. As an adult, I’m far less self-conscious about what I read, so I’ve read a lot more of these. Heck, I’m currently working through reading One Piece with my spouse!
  9. I read more middle grade books than I used to: In late middle school and during high school, I was extremely self-conscious about what I read (as mentioned above). So I stopped reading middle grade stuff around the time I was in seventh grade, and completely steered clear of the reading demographic… until just a few years ago. Which is funny, because at the time that I stopped, I was still a part of the middle grade demographic.
  10. When I was very little, I didn’t enjoy reading: It took until sometime in second grade for me to get into reading books and liking it. Thanks, Magic Treehouse! Before this, I’d tend to try to get out of reading relatively often. I know, I can’t believe it either!

How have your reading habits changed over the years? Are they very different than they used to be? What are your favorite types of books to read?

As always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Was Assigned to Read in School

Happy Tuesday everybody! It’s been a few weeks since I’ve participated in this post. Whoops?

Anyway, Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. This week’s topic is Books I Was Assigned to Read in School. These can be books you loved or hated. Or just tolerated. Bonus points if a tiny review is given!

So here are ten of the books I had to read for school! In order from when I read them!

Dear Levi by Elvira Woodruff: This is an oldie, both the book and when I read it. This was the first required reading I did for school – way back in fourth grade! I remember enjoying it well enough, and it was I think the first epistolary style novel I read?

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens: This is the next earliest book I remember reading for school. (I’m pretty sure, at least. Can’t think of any others right now at least.) I loved it then, and I still do.

The Giver by Lois Lowry: I remember reading and enjoying this in middle school. So much so that I read the two sequels that existed at the time – Gathering Blue and Messenger. I don’t think it really holds up as an adult, though I don’t hate it as much as some people I’ve seen.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: I remember having to read this in eighth (and again in ninth) grade. I enjoyed it so much at the time that I read ahead, before rereading it again with the rest of the class. It was one of my favorite books as a teenager.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou: This is one of the only things I remember reading in high school. I remember liking it, though parts of it made me sad.

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins: I remember reading this for college. I enjoyed it well enough whilst reading, and I’ve remained miffed to this day that we finished up the book in class and never had a final discussion about it! The instructor had one for every fifty pages or so and then just didn’t for the last bit of the book! It was infuriating! We just went on to the next required reading, unceremoniously!

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson: I loved this when I read it in college, and I still love it today. (I also enjoy retellings of it, as we’ve seen.)

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen: I remember enjoying this novel eventually. It took me some time while reading it, though. It was sooo slow.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte: The main thing about this book I remember is that it was boring. (To me.) I didn’t even care for the modern retelling of it – The Wife Upstairs – that I read a few years later. I ended up DNF-ing the retelling.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: I remember being bored by this one too, though not nearly as bored as I was when I read Jane Eyre. I guess I kind of felt more neutral towards this one.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Fall TBR

Woohoo! Double post! I haven’t double posted on the same day in a while!

Anyway, Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. This week’s topic is Books on Your Fall To-Be-Read. I haven’t really ever posted about my TBR on the blog (beyond what I might be reading next whenever I participate in WWW Wednesday), so I’m looking forward to this!

Here are ten of the books on my TBR – what I consider my more immediate TBR, at least – in no particular order. Without further ado, let’s be off!

Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan: I haven’t started reading this yet, so I can technically put it on this list, lol. Gonna start reading it tomorrow, though, definitely.

How to Help a Hungry Werewolf by Charlotte Stein: I just discovered this one and it looks interesting. It also seems to have some chill October and Halloween-y vibes, and I love that when I read novels during spooky season.

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (aka: MDZS) by MXTX: This has been on my TBR for around two years now, and I honestly don’t know why I’ve been putting it off. I’ve already seen the animation and read tons of fanfiction for it and love the story… so yeah, don’t know why I haven’t read it yet.

Skyshade by Alex Aster: I’ve been enjoying hate-reading this series, and I’m gonna continue it with this next installment.

Snow Drowned by Jennifer D. Lyle: Saw it when looking at new books coming out in November 2024. It looked interesting and I haven’t read much horror/thriller in a while.

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas: I’ve been planning on reading this series for like a year now, but still just haven’t gotten around to it. The books are just so long, and I wasn’t really in the mood earlier this year, I guess.

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers: I’ve had my eye on this since I read the first novella earlier this year. Still planning on it, I’ve just been distracted by new books and reading One Piece.

Dead Man’s Hand by James J. Butcher: This has been on my radar for a couple of years, since around the time it came out. I got the book a couple of months ago, and I guess I’ve just been waiting for the right time to read it? (I’ve also gotten distracted by other books, new or otherwise.)

One Piece by Eiichiro Oda: Of course I’m still continuing reading One Piece with my husband. We’re almost to the time skip! Planning on continuing on with all the little arcs up to said time skip next month!

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell: I tried reading this a couple years ago but couldn’t get into it and DNF-ed it. I’m thinking about trying again. We’ll see.

Top Ten Tuesday: Posts I’ve Written That Give You a Glimpse of Me

Hey everyone! Happy Tuesday! How’s your September going so far?

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. This week’s topic is Posts I’ve Written That Give You a Glimpse of Me. For this one, share the blog posts (or social media stuff) that showcase your personality the most and offer the clearest window into your personality. These are the posts you wish everyone would read! I wasn’t feeling this prompt a few weeks ago, when it was originally for, but I’m feeling it now.

I could only think of eight posts this time, unfortunately. Which kind of sucks, ’cause this is the first time I’ve had trouble thinking of ten things for this list. (This might be why I originally passed on this prompt a few weeks ago, haha.)

So anyway, let’s get started!

#1: Some Scary Stories for Spooky Season (Book Recs for October 2022)

One of my first ever posts. I really like the books I ended up picking for this one, though I think that when I did this post again in 2023, it was better written.

#2: Monthly Reading Wrap-Ups

I really like doing monthly reading wrap-ups. From the beginning on this blog, I’ve discussed and analyzed my StoryGraph statistics every month on the Blog That Nobody Knows, and I’ve enjoyed it. I’m proud of how most of these turned out.

#3: The First “Pretty Good” Book Review I Wrote

My review for Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garner is where I felt like I was starting to hit my stride to some degree, regarding how I wrote my book reviews. The way I write and structure my reviews is very different than it was almost two years ago now, and is ever evolving, but this was the first book review I wrote wherein I felt genuine satisfaction with the way it turned out.

#4: Reading Retrospective Reviews, Particularly the ACOTAR One

I haven’t done a retrospective review in a while, but I’ve enjoyed making them nonetheless. I feel like my personality shines with some of these posts, because I love to talk about books I’ve read in the past, not just ones I’ve read more recently during my time with this blog. And going over a book again to see how it holds up with my present eyes is something I sometimes like to do.

#5: My Quarterly Anticipated New Release Lists

I like to do these lists because it encouraged me to look into new books coming out. But I’m also too lazy to do this every month, so instead I do it seasonally. And thus, I get kind of unique lists sometimes. Plus, these are all pretty much strictly science fiction and fantasy only, ’cause that’s what I like to read.

#6: Books I’ve Read With Legend of Zelda Vibes

This is a post I hold dear to my heart. The Legend of Zelda series is something that is very special to me, and is something that has impacted so many parts of my life. I did this post in celebration of the latest series installment – Tears of the Kingdom – releasing in May 2023. It’s one of my favorite posts that I’ve ever done.

#7: The First Book Tag I Did

I haven’t done a lot of them, but I’ve enjoyed every Book Tag I’ve taken part in. In each of the ones I’ve done, I put a lot of effort into the visuals and images (including doing and redoing the thumbnail/featured image multiple times). And I’m very proud of how it all turned out. I feel like the Taylor Swift book tags in particular give insight into me, because they show the kind of music I enjoy (to some degree), and they showcase a lot of the different novels that I’ve read or want to read in the future.

#8: Bewitching Book Covers / Tasteful Tuesdays / Majestic Mondays

This post was the first series post that I ever created. And, even though I haven’t been very consistent with it lately, I like to talk about, admire and analyze book cover art which is why I originally decided to start doing it. I still enjoy doing it and know I’ll eventually come back to it. Hopefully soon and more consistently. It’s gone through a few title changes since I first started it, which might not be a good thing, lol.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Involving Food (That Aren’t Cookbooks)

Hey everyone! Happy Tuesday!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. This week’s topic is Books Involving Food (That Aren’t Cookbooks). It was submitted by Cathy @ WhatCathyReadNext and Hopewell’s Public Library of Life.

This one was interesting! Here I go!

Legends & Lattes: I feel this one is obvious.

Mooncakes: I feel this one is also obvious.

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter: Painted and Yumi spend a significant amount of time at Design’s ramen place.

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking: Again, I feel this is another obvious choice.

Dreadful: Garlic Festival! 🧄🎉

Kingdom of the Wicked: Emilia’s family owns and manages their own restaurant. The food descriptions made me hungry, and were one of the few things I liked about this book.

Otherworldly: Ellery works at a diner. It’s also where they and Knox meet. Knox also has a goldfish cracker addiction.

The Lost Story: There’s so much discussion about Golden Apple Christmas Cake in this book. And there’s a recipe for it at the end of the novel.

The Ghostkeeper: Much like The Lost Story, there’s a bakery item featured here. Also like The Lost Story, there is a recipe for a bakery item – Fife’s Fantastical (Ghostly) Scones – featured here.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built: Dex is a tea monk.