Top Ten Tuesday: Quotes That I Really Liked From Ten Books That I Love

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 Quotes From/About Books. So you can share book quotes that you love, quotes about books themselves, quotes about being a reader, etc. I decided to highlight Quotes That I Really Like From Ten Books That I Love. I went with the last ten books I gave five star for this one, because I’ve just read so many books.

Without further ado, let’s get into it! From most recently read and rated to least recently read and rated – to keep them straight in my head (but mostly because I’m having trouble choosing which books I like better than others).

#1

Perhaps that is what it is like with other people. Perhaps even people you like and admire immensely can make you see the World in ways you would rather not.
Susanna Clarke – Piranesi

#2

“You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don’t know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live. That is all most animals do.”
Becky Chambers – A Psalm for the Wild-Built

#3

One doesn’t need magic if one knows enough stories.
Heather Fawsett – Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries

#4

Art doesn’t need to be good to be valuable. I’ve heard it said that art is the one truly useless creation-intended for no mechanical purpose. Valued only because of the perception of the people who view it. The thing is, everything is useless, intrinsically. Nothing has value unless we grant it that value. Any object can be worth whatever we decide it to be worth.
Brandon Sanderson – Yumi and the Nightmare Painter

#5

There is no such thing as a single truth. There are just the stories we tell others, and the ones we tell ourselves.
Chelsea Abdullah – The Stardust Thief

#6

Humanity is awful, angry, and violent. But we are also magical and musical. We dance. We sing. We create. We live and laugh and rage and cry and despair and hope. We are a bundle of contradictions without rhyme or reason. And there is no one like us in all the universe.
TJ Klune – In the Lives of Puppets

#7

Real hearts are nothing but trouble.
They break and bleed and bring their owners torment. But without them existence is hollow, only breath following breath.
Frances Hardinge – Unraveller

#8

You are the Ship of Theseus. We all are. There is not a single living cell in my body that was alive and a part of me ten years ago, and the same is true for you. We’re constantly being rebuilt, one board at a time.
Edward Ashton – Mickey7

#9

“Not every story is willing to reveal itself right away. Some of them are bashful.”
Marissa Meyer – Gilded

#10

“I’d rather die on an adventure than live standing still.”
V.E. Schwab – A Darker Shade of Magic

What are your favorite quotes? Are they from your favorite books? Do you have any quotes you really like that are just about books and reading in general?

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

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 2/16 – 2/22

Happy New Week! It’s slightly later than I usually aim for, but I’m here with last week’s Weekly Wrap-Up!

This past week was pretty prolific for me, particularly on the blog. My reading wasn’t too shabby either though – I started a new book! Either way, I’m pretty happy with last week’s stuff.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the Weekly Wrap-Up!

Tuesday 2/17: January Reading 2026 / Top Ten Tuesday

Last Tuesday, I posted my Monthly Reading Wrap-Up for January 2026. Unfortunately, I posted it rather late in the month again. Ugh – I gotta stop that. For those who don’t know, monthly wrap-ups are when I go over the books I read over the past month, as well as my stats over on The StoryGraph.

Monthly Wrap-Up: January Reading 2026

I also participated in Top Ten Tuesday for the first time in 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. The prompt for last week was Books for Armchair Travelers, but I wasn’t feeling it, so I went with one from a TTT a couple of weeks ago that I missed – Book Covers Featuring Cool/Pretty/Unique/etc. Typography.

Top Ten Tuesday: Book Covers Featuring Pretty and/or Unique Typography

Wednesday 2/18: Can’t-Wait Wednesday

On Wednesday, I participated in Can’t-Wait Wednesday again – two weeks in a row. Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme currently hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings. It focuses on books you’re looking forward to reading, usually new releases.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: The Legend of the Nine-Tailed Fox

Friday 2/20: First Line Friday

This past Friday, I participated in First Line Friday for the first time in a few weeks. First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words. It’s where you guess what book the post is highlighting based on the book’s first words.

First Line Friday: 2/20

Sunday 2/22: Birthstone Book Covers

On Sunday, I participated in Birthstone Book Covers. Birthstone Book Covers is a fun little post created and hosted by Leslie @ Books Are the New Black.

Each month, for the post, you feature book covers that are either the same color of the month’s birthstone or include the color in the title. This month was February, and its birthstone is amethyst. So the colors to pick from are shades of purple.

Birthstone Book Covers: February 2026

Books I Read Last Week

Wrapping It All Up

So yeah, last week was much better the week before. And two weeks ago as well, honestly. I hope to not only keep up the pace with what I managed to do this past week, but to hopefully surpass it. Just a little. As always, however, we’ll find out what happens.

In regards to my blogging for this week, I’m planning on at least one book review, participating in at least a couple of the usual posts I engage in, and possibly doing a Bewitching Book Covers post. I’m wanting to do at least three or four additional posts this week, aside from this one.

Concerning books and reading, I actually just finished up Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson, so I’ll be starting another book soon. And I’ve already decided which one – Stolen Midnights by Katherine Quinn. I’m pretty excited about it. And I’m also pretty certain I know what book I’m going to read after that one – Don’t Let the Forest In by CG Drews. I’m also quite eager to read that one, too. After that, I’m not as sure, but I’m also reading Brighter Than Nine by June CL Tan (the sequel to Darker By Four) when it comes out. So that’s on the horizon.

Outside of books and blogging, not much else went on last week. Just my spouse and I trying to be healthier, but that’s pretty much it. As usual on weeks like that.

Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Top Ten Tuesday: Book Covers Featuring Pretty and/or Unique Typography

It’s been a few weeks, but I’m here again (sort of) participating in 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 Books for Armchair Travelers, but I wasn’t really feeling the prompt, so I went rogue and decided to do one from a couple of weeks ago that I was interested in, but didn’t have time: Book Covers Featuring Pretty or Unique Typography.

Anyway, without further ado, on with the post! I couldn’t narrow it down to just ten, by the way, so here’s twelve.

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Jaysea Lynn – Both pretty and unique
Girls of Dark Divine by E.V. Woods – Unique
How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps by Andrew Rowe – Unique
A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnson – Pretty
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers – Unique
Prince of Fortune by Lisa Tirreno – Pretty
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawsett – Pretty and unique
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle – Both pretty and unique
Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco – Both pretty and unique
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir – Unique
Tigers Trek by Colleen Houck – Both pretty and unique
Of Owls and Oolong by Shari L. Tapscott – Both pretty and unique

What are some books with covers with your favorite typography? Do you prefer books with a pretty or a unique title font? Or do you like both equally?

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

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 1/26 – 2/1

Another week has gone by, so it’s time for another Weekly Wrap-Up! This is kind of a quick start to the year, huh?

Last week was pretty good. I’m generally satisfied with both my reading and blogging. I didn’t get a book review out, but oh well – it’s not that big of a deal.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the Weekly Wrap-Up!

Tuesday 1/27: Top Ten Tuesday

Last Tuesday, I participated in Top Ten Tuesday for the first time in 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. The prompt for last week was Bookish Discoveries I Made in 2025.

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Discoveries I Made in 2025

Wednesday 1/28: Can’t-Wait Wednesday

On Wednesday, I participated in Can’t-Wait Wednesday for the first time in a couple of weeks. Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme currently hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings. It focuses on books you’re looking forward to reading, usually new releases.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Queen of Faces

Friday 1/30: First Line Friday

Last Friday, I participated in First Line Friday again. Two weeks in a row! First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words. It’s where you guess what book the post is highlighting based on the book’s first words.

First Line Friday: 1/30

Books I Read Last Week

Wrapping It All Up

So yeah, last week wasn’t bad at all. I want this coming week to be just as good or better. I hope that ends up happening.

Concerning blogging and blogging adjacent stuff for this week, I want to do a couple of things. First, I want to participate in at least one of the usual posts that I jump into most weeks. I’d also want to post a book review. Most importantly, though, I want to do my Most Interesting Looking Books of February 2026 post, as well as my monthly reading wrap-up for January 2026. Gotta get those posts out. And for what book I’m reading next, I’m honestly not sure. I have a few ideas, though.

Outside of books and blogging, nothing much is going on. We’ve finally moved from January to February, which I think I like, as I think I might prefer the second month of the year to the first. I’m not sure, though. But yeah, the only thing really going on right now is that my spouse and I are trying to be healthier, and are eating more home-cooked meals and stuff.

Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Discoveries I Made in 2025

Hey everyone, and Happy Tuesday! I’m here participating in 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 Bookish Discoveries I Made in 2025. There are a lot of options with this one: new-to-you authors, new genres, new bookish resources you found, new general bookish stuff, etc. I’m going with: New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2025.

Anyway, in order from earliest discovery in the year to latest, here we go!

Christine Calella (via Liar’s Kingdom)
Max Gladstone (via This is How You Lose the Time War)
Amal El-Mohtar (via This is How You Lose the Time War and The River Has Roots)
L.R. Lam (via Dragonfall)
Katherine Rundell (via Impossible Creatures)
M. Stevenson (via Behooved)
Nicole Jarvis (via A Spell for Change)
Andrew Rowe (via How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps)
Brittany Cavallaro (via A Study in Charlotte)
Lois McMaster Bujold (via Penric’s Demon and Penric and the Shaman)

What authors were new to you in 2025? How did you like their books? Will you be reading things written by them again, or was their work not for you?

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

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 1/12 – 1/18

Right on time this week! Whew! Last week went by pretty quickly! I can’t believe it!

The blog activity was not as strong last week, especially compared to the week prior. But because of how many posts I got in the week before last, (Six!) I’m actually okay with my more lackluster posting from last week. For once. My reading on the other hand was much better.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the Weekly Wrap-Up!

Tuesday 1/13: Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2026

Wednesday 1/14: Can’t-Wait Wednesday

On Wednesday, I participated in Can’t-Wait Wednesday for the second week in a row. Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme currently hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings. It focuses on books you’re looking forward to reading, usually new releases.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: The Elsewhere Express

Books I Read Last Week

Wrapping It All Up

So yeah, not the greatest week in terms of blogging, but my novel reading was good. I wish both could’ve been good, but alas. Hopefully both books and blogging end up being up to par this coming week. 🍀🤞

In regards to blog posts this week, I want to do a book review (or two), participate in a couple of my weekly posts, and also join in on my favorite monthly post. For reading, I just finished up with The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah finally (you’ll hear my thoughts about it soon when I do a review), and I’m pretty sure I want to read the first volume of Love Me to Death by Toonimated next. After that, I want to read Water Moon and The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao, though I might not get to those two until this weekend or early next week. We’ll see.

Outside of books and blogging, my spouse and I started the new season of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. It’s a high fantasy anime that focuses on an elf with a long lifespan who seeks to learn to understand humans and connect with others, decades after defeating the Demon King with the group she journeyed with at the time. It’s a great story so far, if a bit of a slow-burn, and season two just started releasing weekly this past Saturday.

We also started watching The Invisible Man and His Soon-to-Be Wife. It’s really cute and we’re really enjoying it. The world and characters are vibrant and interesting. It’s more episodic, but it’s still a lot of fun.

My spouse and I are also still trying to be healthier. I think it’s going okay so far, but I hope for us to improve even further with it.

Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2026

It’s almost no longer Tuesday, but I was determined to do this this week. (I have to get better about my time management in regards to blog posts.) Anyway, it’s time for Top Ten Tuesday.

There’s quite a few new releases coming up that I’ve got my eye on, but I’ve decided to pick two books from each month of the in the first half of 2026 to make it even. Anyway, let’s get into it!

Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson – Releasing February 10th

Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawsett – Releasing February 17th

Green & Deadly Things by Jenn Lyons – Releasing March 3rd

Brighter Than Nine (Darker By Four #2) by June CL Tan – Releasing March 10th

The Subtle Art of Folding Space by John Chu – Releasing April 7th

Deathly Fates by Tesia Tsai – Releasing April 14th

Platform Decay (Murderbot Diaries #8) by Martha Wells – Releasing May 5th

The Rainshadow Orphans by Naomi Ishiguro – Releasing May 26th

Nemesis Mine by Amy Archer – Releasing June 9th

Letters from the Last Apothecary by Bita Behzadi – Releasing June 9th

What books are you most excited about that are coming out the first half of 2026? Do we share any of the same ones?

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

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 12/29 – 1/4

Another week, another wrap-up. Here we are, enduring the first full week of 2026. I can’t believe another year is over.

Last week, my blog activity was okay. I did like three posts, which is never a bad amount, but it’s especially good on a holiday week where I’m not able to get a lot of stuff done. My reading was fine too – I managed to get a book in. Yay!

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the Weekly Wrap-Up!

Tuesday 12/30: Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf

Wednesday 12/31: New Year’s Eve / End of the Year Book Tag 2026

Wednesday was the last day of 2025. So here’s a late Happy New Year’s Eve!! 🎆🎇 I can’t believe that 2025 is actually over – what a crazy bad year it was. Hopefully 2026 is waayyy better!

I also did a Book Tag for the first time in… a year! The last time I did was was New Year’s Eve 2024. Wow! It was the same Book Tag too – the End of the Year Book Tag. It was created by Ariel Bissett over at YouTube. There are six questions, and the tag focuses on reflecting on the past year’s reading, as well as looking forward to future reading.

End of the Year Book Tag 2025

Thursday 1/1: New Year’s Day

Last Thursday was the first day of 2026. Happy New Year’s Day!! 🥂🍻🕛🎉 I hope that everyone has had a good start to the year so far! So far mine has been okay. I hope that it gets better and that the year ends up being better than last year was.

Sunday 1/4: To 2026 Post

On Sunday, I did my first post of 2026. It’s the same kind of puar that I usually do – in it, I reflect a little bit on the past year and I talk about my goals for the coming year. It was my To 2026 post.

To 2026: Happy New Year

Books I Read Last Week

Wrapping It All Up

So yeah, I was decently active last week. The end of 2025 was alright, though it could’ve been better. It wasn’t as bad as the last few months have been, though, so it could’ve been worse. My start of 2026 has been okay so far, but I’m hoping that it gets even better.

Once again, I’m not sure what book I’m gonna go for next – I’ve just got so many options that I’m interested in. We’ll see what happens, I guess.

Regarding my blogging for this week… I want to get out my list for the Most Interesting Looking Books of January 2026, a book review, my reading wrap-up for December 2025, and my yearly reading wrap-up for 2025 as a whole.

Concerning stuff outside of books and blogging, it was kind of another relaxing week. Which, I expected, because that’s what we usually do the week of New Year’s. We also watched the fifth and final season of Stranger Things. And it was… okay. The first half of the season was definitely stronger than the second half, and the finale was very meh. It wasn’t the worst season finale I’ve ever seen or heard about, but it was nowhere close to being one of the best finales. And as someone who followed the show for almost ten years – ever since season one came out in 2016 – I wish it was better. It’s also hard to believe it’s finally over.

This coming week we’re going to try to start being healthier. Eating better… being more active… the works. So hopefully it works out and we start the year off strong.

Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf

It’s barely Tuesday anymore, so I’m cutting it close, but I wanted to participate in Top Ten Tuesday one last time for the curtain closed on 2025. (Edit: Whoops, I crashed while finishing it up. Ugh, I have to back post again!)

These are in order from least to most recently acquired. Surprisingly, only like one of them is from Christmas. It’s because I got the rest of them so recently – I didn’t want to clutter up my bookshelf with even more books I haven’t read yet, haha – so I didn’t really ask for any for Christmas. Almost all of them are gifts, though. Anyway, without further ado, let’s be off!

What Stalks the Deep by T. Kingfisher
For Whom the Belle Tolls by Jaysea Lynn
Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon by Mizuki Tsujimura
Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao
How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps by Andrew Rowe
The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
Hollow by Karina Halle
The Glass Scientists: Volume Three by S.H. Cotugno
One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

What books have you recently added to your bookshelf? When and where did you get them? Which ones have you already read? Which ones are you looking forward to the most?

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

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 12/8 – 12/14

It’s a new week, and before we can move on to the next one, we gotta wrap up the last one! I’m a little later than I usually am, but… eh, it’s not that bad.

Last week wasn’t bad at all. My novel reading wasn’t the best, but my blogging was pretty good, even if it was constrained to a couple of days. I wish my posting could have been more spread out, but considering I did four posts and am nearly caught up to my book reviews, I can’t complain.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the Weekly Wrap-Up!

Tuesday 12/9: What Stalks the Deep Review / Top Ten Tuesday

Last Tuesday, I finally posted my review for What Stalks the Deep. It’s really been a long time coming, honestly. And with the posting of it, I’m officially caught up on my October book reviews! Yay!

Anyway, What Stalks the Deep is the third installment of T. Kingfisher’s Sworn Solider series of novellas. And I thought it was pretty good. I’m not sure if I liked What Stalks the Deep as much as the first book, but I definitely prefer it to book two. I gave it ★★★★☆.

What Stalks the Deep Review

I also did another post last Tuesday. It’s been quite a while since I double posted, but I also wanted to participate in Top Ten Tuesday this past week.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. The prompt for last week was Books Set in Snowy Places.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Set in Snowy Places

Sunday 12/14: Penric’s Demon & Penric and the Shaman Reviews / Bewitching Book Covers

On Sunday, I posted another book review. Well, I suppose I should say “reviews” instead as I actually evaluated two books. Or novellas, technically. Whatever, semantics.

So yeah, the two books I reviewed were the first two novellas in the Penric and Desdemona series by Lois McMaster Bujold: Penric’s Demon and Penric and the Shaman. I enjoyed both of them, though I preferred the first book over the second a little. I gave Penric’s Demon ★★★★☆ and Penric and the Shaman ★★★✯☆.

Penric’s Demon & Penric and the Shaman Reviews

I also double posted a second time last week on Sunday. It’s been a few since the last time I did a Bewitching Book Covers, so I thought another one was in order.

Bewitching Book Covers (formerly known as Majestic Mondays and Tasteful Tuesdays), is when I gush over a book cover that I like as well as analyze it (sometimes). I also typically give the book covers funny rating systems – not the usual blank out of five stars kind of thing.

Bewitching Book Covers: For Whom the Belle Tolls

Books I Read Last Week

Wrapping It All Up

So yeah, that was this past week, at least in regards to books and blogging. I would’ve liked to have read more, but I’m mostly satisfied with how everything ended up going. I hope that this coming week is a little better, though.

Concerning posts for next week, I definitely want to get out my reading wrap-up for November 2025. It’s halfway through the month now, and getting increasingly more ridiculous the longer I go without posting it. (I just wanted to get out my reviews for the books I read first, though, okay?) I also want to participate in a couple of my usual weekly posts, as well as my favorite monthly post. And last, but certainly not least, I’d like to do another book review. I’ve got one last one in the tank and it needs to go out!

For books, I want to read at least one new book, and I’d also like it to be from my To Be Read Stuff, as that’s been languishing for a while. Right now I’m thinking Water Moon by Samantha Sotti Yambao, but that could absolutely change. Then… I’m not sure. I’d like to start up the Dresden Files again and do Dresden December like I talked about last month, but I’m not sure if I’m feeling it anymore. Maybe the time has already passed? I dunno – I sure hope not!

The problem is I also recently acquired A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik, and now I’m kind of really interested in that and possibly it’s sequels, depending on how I like it. It’s also a much shorter series, both in book and page length per book. So yeah, what I’m basically saying is: Who knows what’s next for my reading?

Regarding stuff outside of books and blogging, I’m just kind of hanging out – mostly with my spouse. We’ve mostly been watching YouTube in our spare time lately, though sometimes other stuff around the house as well. We’ve also been eating more at home, which I’m happy about. Things in our lives are finally starting to go back to as close as normal as they can get.

Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar