Top Ten Tuesday: Friendships in Books

November 27, 2018 By 37 Comments

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Not all of the characters in this post are human, but all of them are excellent examples of how meaningful friendships can be throughout someone’s life.

I asked a few of the other bloggers here for help coming up with ideas this week since the topic was a bit of a tricky one. Thank you to Cholla and Marianne for your assistance. It was greatly appreciated.

1. JD Robb’s “In Death” series.

Dallas has a few really amazing friends (Mavis, Peabody, etc) who really serve to balance and support her and the stories.  One of the reasons I follow the series is for the interpersonal relationships the author has created.  – Marianne

2. James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club series

There are also a lot of police procedurals with that kind of relationship as well.  Lindsay Boxer the ME, Claire, from James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club series – Cholla

3. Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie

The friendship between Morrie and Mitch was a beautiful thing. They only had a few short months together to reconnect after losing touch for many years, but in that time they made a lifetime’s worth of memories. I also like the idea of learning from the wisdom of older generations. Some senior citizens have a lot of fantastic advice to pass down to younger people.

4. Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty

This is one of those stories that has somehow only grown better over time, and it’s not something that will only appeal to kids. Anyone who cares about animal welfare or horses should read it. Black Beauty went through a lot of difficult experiences as a young horse, but his relationships with the kind humans he met made a permanent difference in his life.

5. Judy Blume’s Summer Sisters

I’m in awe of people who still maintain close relationships with their childhood friends long into adulthood. Two people might have a lot in common when they’re six or ten, but it sure seems to be rare for them to share the same interests and values decades later.

Vix and Caitlin were two of those best friends who grew apart as adults. The story of how they attempted to become closer again kept me reading until the final scene.

6. W. Bruce Cameron’s A Dog’s Purpose

Fair warning: this one’s a tearjerker. The main character was a smart, if also a little goofy, dog who was attempting to understand human culture and protect the man he loved. There were so many scenes that made me laugh until I cried, and even more than simply brought a tear to my eye for sentimental reasons.

7. Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers

What better way is there to spend time with friends than to run around having adventures? If such a thing exists, I can’t imagine what it would be.

8. N.H. Kleinbaum’s Dead Poets Society

When I was first exposed to this story, I was envious of people who came from very wealthy families. I was young enough then that I couldn’t imagine how growing up with all of that wealth and prestige could possible have a negative side, so it came as a surprise to me to meet characters whose parents were so busy making money that they didn’t bother to get to know their children at all.

Honestly, some of these characters had no one in the world to rely on other than the friends they made at boarding school. That was eye-opening, and it made for a compelling plot once one of the friends became dangerously depressed.

9. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

Oh, how I wish we knew the names of the people who came up with this legend !  It’s a story I’ve loved since the very first time I heard it. The friendships between King Arthur and all of the knights who served him were filled with so many different emotions: loyalty, betrayal, joy, and pain. Their relationships felt so real to me that I like to imagine something similar to the original plot really did happen at various times and places in history.

10. Bill Watterson’s The Complete Calvin and Hobbes

Raise your hand if you loved reading this comic strip! I was so disappointed when it ended. The relationship between Calvin and his stuff tiger was complex, sometimes hysterically funny, and always touching.

I still hope that we’ll get an update on these characters’ lives someday. It would be nice to think that Calvin and Hobbes still go on adventures sometimes.

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Top Ten Tuesday: Thanksgiving Cookbooks

November 20, 2018 By 42 Comments

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Lately I’ve been thinking about all of the work that goes into creating a delicious Thanksgiving feast. Cooking is a skill, especially when it comes to making multiple dishes using ingredients that might not be so commonly used the rest of the year by the average person.

I was lucky enough to grow up in a family that taught basic cooking skills, but not everyone has this advantage in life. Thank goodness for cookbooks and recipes written by more experienced cooks that can fill in the gaps there for anyone who wants to make the perfect Thanksgiving meal.

Today I’m sharing ten such cookbooks. If you know of any others that are also a good resource, let us know in the common section below.

1. The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen by Sean Sherman and Beth Dooley.

Look at just a few of the recipes included in this collection: cedar braised bison, griddled wild rice cakes, amaranth crackers with smoked white bean paste, three sisters salad, deviled duck eggs, smoked turkey soup, dried meats, roasted corn sorbet, and hazelnut–maple bites.

My mouth is watering already. They all sound amazing.

2. Vegetarian Times Complete Thanksgiving Cookbook by the Editors of Vegetarian Times .

I enjoy the challenge of creating a delicious and filling holiday meal that can be eaten by a group of people who sometimes have wildly different dietary needs. This includes friends and relatives who don’t eat meat. With a few tweaks, anyone can eat their fill at my dinner table. I’m proud of that fact.

3. Betty Crocker Complete Thanksgiving Cookbook: All You Need to Cook a Foolproof Dinner by the Editors of Betty Crocker . 

This would be an excellent place to start for anyone who has never cooked Thanksgiving dinner before.

4. Taste of Autumn Cookbook by Gooseberry Patch.

There is a recipe in this book for herb roasted turkey that I can’t wait to try. This is also something I’d use to test out recipes ahead of time to see if I liked them enough to include them in the official Thanksgiving lineup.

5. Where People Feast: An Indigenous People’s Cookbook by Dolly Watts and Annie Watts.

Seafood isn’t something I’ve had at any holiday dinner, but the recipes for it in this cookbook sound incredible. I might have to replace the traditional turkey with fish or mussels one day.

6. Southern Holiday Feast: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Easter & More! by S.L. Watson.

Southern food is delicious at any time of the year, so of course I’d want to see what they come up with on special occasions, too.

7. Diabetic Holiday Recipes by Publications International.

Once again, I love the idea of making small changes to the traditional spread in order to make sure that everyone will be able to enjoy it.

8. Make It Ahead: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten.

My kitchen has a limited amount of counter space, no dishwasher, and a small oven, so I make as much food ahead of time as possible during special occassions. It is so much easier to spread the cooking out over a couple of days as opposed to finding the room to make everything at once and washing a small mountain of dishes afterwards.

9. Pies and Tarts: for All Seasons by Annie Rigg and Nassima Rothacker.

There is never such a thing as too much pie. The nice thing about this dessert is that it generally keeps well if you’re too full to have a slice immediately after the main meal. Of course, my stomach always thinks it has enough room left for pie no matter what else I’ve eaten.

10. Edible Wild Plants: A Naturalist’s Look at the Wild Food Plants of North America by Oliver Perry Medsger. 

As you might have already guessed, I enjoy eating locally grown food when possible. I don’t know enough about safely identifying wild plants to eat them on other than rare occasions, but I am fascinated by the idea of wandering into the woods to gather one’s dinner.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our American readers from everyone here at Long and Short Reviews!

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Top Ten Tuesday: Backlist Books I Would Like to Read

November 6, 2018 By 39 Comments

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Welcome to another edition of Top Ten Tuesday!  This week is all about Backlist books.  Let’s get right to my list!

The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo-I recently read Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom.  I thoroughly enjoyed both and can’t wait to explore that world some more.

Fey by C. S. Feldman-Her Heroes for Hire series is absolutely wonderful, and I’d love to read more of her work.

Alpha and Omega series by Patricia Briggs-I have raved about her Mercy Thompson series many times, but I’ve never read any of Patricia Brigg’s other series.  I need to change that!

Sianim series by Patricia Briggs-This is some of her earliest work.  While some have criticized it for not being as well written as her most recent novels, I think it would be worth checking out, and I it would be interesting to see how much she’s grown as an author.

book, book pages, books

Unearthly series by Cynthia Hand-I had so much fun reading My Lady Jane!  Since Cynthia Hand is one of the co-authors of My Lady Jane, I’d like to check out some of her other books.

The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand-I think this book sounds intriguing and a good fit for the holiday season.

Fallen Isles series by Jodi Meadows-Another co-author of My Lady Jane.  This series promises magic and dragons!

Everneath series by Brodi Ashton-It sounds like people either love or hate this series, but I admit to being a bit curious.

Have you read any of these books?  If so, what did you think?  If not, are you interested in any of them?

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Top Ten Tuesday: Halloween in Nonfiction

October 30, 2018 By 53 Comments

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

I adore Halloween. It’s by far my favorite holiday of the year for reasons ranging from my love of dressing up in costumes to the fact that candy corn finally becomes available again as we move closer to the end of October.

Today I wanted to share some books about the non-fiction side of this holiday and some of the things that have become so closely associated with it. I find the history and sociology of this stuff just as interesting as reading about spooky monsters, and I hope you will as well.

1. Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween by Lisa Morton. 

I live in a wonderfully diverse community that includes many people who have no cultural understanding of Halloween at all. It’s fascinating to see how they react to this holiday the first time they come across it. Things I think of as perfectly ordinary continue to surprise them for years to come. For example, the thought of knocking on a neighbour’s door and asking them for food is a common source of bewilderment for them.

2. Things in the Basement: A History of Halloween Horrors by John Lloyd Retzer.

Wow, this book covered a lot of ground. It’s something I’d recommend to anyone who is totally unfamiliar with this holiday and wants a basic overview of what it’s all about.

3. The Haunting of America: From Salem Witch Trials to Harry Houdini by Joel Martin. 

Believing in the paranormal sometimes can have unintended negative consequences for a community or nation. I liked the way this book framed this topic. It was full of compassion for everyone from the citizens of Salem to contemporary people whose beliefs in various supernatural things pushed them to do stuff they probably wouldn’t have otherwise considered.

4. Medusa’s Gaze and Vampire’s Bite: The Science of Monsters by Matt Kaplan.

What a cool idea for a book! I’ve often wondered how certain legends were invented in the first place, especially when it comes to vampires. Knowing possible scientific explanations for what was really happening back then helps me understand why and how people misinterpreted what was going on with them so terribly.

5. The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present by Ronald Hutton.

This was such an eye-opening read. I’d known that there were women (and a few men) who died violent deaths in the past after being accused of being witches, but I had no idea how widespread this practice actually was or why it began.

6. The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror David J. Skal. 

If you’ve ever wondered by certain types of horror movies were wildly popular in certain eras, go read this book.

7. Ghosts: A Natural History: 500 Years of Searching for Proof by Roger Clarke.

With everything that’s changed for humans over the last century, it’s nice to see that this is one thing has remained constant for generations. Just about everyone enjoys a good ghost story now and again.

8. It Lives Again! : Horror Movies in the New Millennium by Axelle Carolyn. 

This book reminded me of just how far behind I am in watching modern horror films. I have a lot of catching up to do.

9. Monsters in America: Our Historical Obsession with the Hideous and Haunting by W. Scott Poole. 

I hope this author writes sequels about how monsters are viewed in other cultures. Every culture on Earth seems to have developed their own stories about various frightening creatures that are often based on the social mores at the time those tales were first created.

10. Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night by Nicholas Rogers.

Finally, I’ll leave you with a history of Halloween that begins with its pagan origins and ends with how it is currently celebrated. This makes me wonder how the people who first came up with it would react to the ways it is observed today.

Happy Halloween from everyone at Long and Short Reviews!

 

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Top Ten Tuesday: Villains I Can’t Help But to Root For

October 23, 2018 By 45 Comments

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Every so often I come across a villain who is so sympathetic, personable, or just plain interesting that I can’t help but to hope they’ll win whatever conflict they’re having with the main character or characters.

1. Dracula from Bram Stoker’s Dracula. 

Vampires are supposed to be alluring creatures who don’t show you their terrifyingly dark side until it’s too late to escape their clutches. In my opinion, this monster work best when both of these parts of their personalties are played up as much as possible for the audience. The beautiful thing about this book is just how well it did exactly that. I simultaneously wanted to run screaming from Dracula while at the same time feeling irresistibly drawn to him.

2. Carrie from Steven King’s Carrie. 

Carrie’s backstory was so detailed and heartbreaking that I understood why she became so dangerous later on in the plot. Growing up in an abusive home and being relentlessly bullied at school made her feel completely out of control, and that can lead someone to do pretty extreme things to change that.

Honestly, I kept hoping that a friendly adult who had similar powers would notice how badly she was struggling and offer some kind of help for her.

3. Johnny from S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders.

I never would have thought I’d have so much empathy for a gang member who killed someone, but this story changed my mind about that. There are reasons why some people make the decisions they do. Johnny’s childhood had made it very difficult for him to handle conflict or strong emotions in a healthy way.

No, I obviously didn’t want him to kill anyone, but I did keep hoping that he’d find a way to escape his rival gang long enough to get some help and make better choices in the future. Given the way the plot was written, the only way for this to happen would be if he got away with murder.

4. Kingpin (aka Wilson Fisk) from the Daredevil graphic novels (various authors).

If you haven’t already noticed a certain pattern in today’s post, you will now.

Just like with Carrie and Johnny, Kingpin’s childhood was anything but a happy one. He grew up watching his father physically and emotionally abuse his mother. It only grew more severe over time since this character was raised in a community that looked the other way when it came to these sorts of things.

Kingpin grew up to be a powerful crime boss who regularly had run-ins with Daredevil and the law in general. His personality was so friendly, at least to those who didn’t cross him, that it was easy to forget how many laws he’d broken. He also used his ill-gotten wealth and power to take care of people in his community who had no one else to turn to.

Despite all of my misgivings, I can’t help but to keep rooting for Kingpin.

5. The monster from Patrick Ness’ A Monster Calls.

The first time I read this story, I was quite annoyed with the monster for refusing to help Conor the first time he asked. Conor’s mom was severely ill, and all the boy wanted was for her to be well again. He had completely unselfish, pure motives for wanting a magical fix to her health problems.

It took me some time to see the world from the monster’s point of view. Without giving away spoilers, I couldn’t help but to change my mind about him once I figured out why he was acting like an antagonist.

6. Dexter from Jeff Lindsay’s Darkly Dreaming Dexter. 

A small percentage of people are born with the desire to harm and even kill others. What I liked the most about Dexter was how he harnessed his uncontrollable urge to be a serial killer to oddly do a lot of good in the world. (Now that is a sentence I never thought I’d write!)

7. Elphaba from Gregory Maguire’s Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. 

This retelling of The Wizard of Oz explained why Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, did all of the things she did to Dorothy and other characters. I loved this universe even more after getting to know its biggest villain so well.

8. Lucifer from Glen Duncan’s I, Lucifer.

After stealing a human body and living among us, the devil learned a few things about humanity that truly surprised him. This was such an unusual premise that I really didn’t know what to think of it at first, but I did love seeing ordinary human customs through the eyes of someone who was bewildered by some of them. There were so many funny moments that I couldn’t help but to hope this character would have a happy ending.

9. V from Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta.

I struggled a little bit with whether or not to include V today because of the truly terrible things he did. In no way am I trying to excuse him or anyone else in this list, but I did love the way he reframed what the relationship between an individual and their government should be like and how people should respond when their rights begin to be stripped away.

10. Guy Montag from Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. 

Imagine being paid to hunt down books and burn them! I wanted to hate Guy for all of the knowledge and stories he’d purposefully destroyed, but I only grew to like him the more I got to know him.

Based on his limited and twisted knowledge of how books were used, it made perfect sense for him to want to destroy all of them. If the only thing I ever heard about this topic was all of the destructive things that have happened as a result of people being exposed to knowledge, I’d feel the same way.

The plot made it seem as though the only way for this character to survive in such an oppressive society was for him to keep destroying books. Therefore, I had to root for him. There was really no other option that I could see.

Which villains have you rooted for in the past?

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Top Ten Tuesday: Great Bookstores

October 16, 2018 By 43 Comments

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Welcome to another edition of Top Ten Tuesday!  This week is all about bookstores.  What makes a bookstore great?  The selection and variety of books?  The atmosphere?  The feel and smell of old books?  For me, it is a combination of all these factors.  I have a small list this week.  I’ve listed four bookstores I have had the pleasure of visiting and one I would like to visit someday.

The Book Loft in Columbus, Ohio-This is such a fun bookstore!  All 32 rooms are filled to the brim with books on almost every topic.  I could spend hours wandering around in this place.

Village Lights Bookstore in Madison, Indiana-This is a wonderful small-town bookstore.  It is so cozy and inviting!  Village Lights has a good selection of new books, but part of the fun in visiting this place is browsing the ever changing selection of used books.  They also have several “furry” staff members with very literary names.

Low Light Photography of Books

Nevermore Books in Beaufort, South Carolina-The website doesn’t do this store justice.  Their shelves are filled with beautiful hard cover editions of classics in a variety of genres.  The books here smell amazing!

Brilliant Books in Traverse City, Michigan-I found this delightful bookstore while on vacation.  It was definitely a highlight of my trip!

The Montague Bookmill in Montague, Massachusetts-The pictures of this store look beautiful, and I think it sounds like a lot of fun.  They certainly seem to have a sense of humor as their website is peppered with phrases like “Books you don’t need in a place you can’t find” and “Don’t look for our catalogue on line; we’re not that bookstore. But if we can’t find the book you’re looking for, we’ll find you a better one you didn’t know you wanted.”  I might have to place a trip to Massachusetts soon!

What do you look for in a bookstore?  Would you like to visit any of the places I’ve mentioned?

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Top Ten Tuesday: Longest Books I’ve Ever Read

October 9, 2018 By 72 Comments

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

 

It’s that time again – time for another Top Ten Tuesday!  This week’s theme is Longest Books I’ve Ever Read.  Being a fan of epic fantasy, I figured I’d have plenty to choose from.

1. Tad Williams’ Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy totaling 2,363 pages.

Book #1 The Dragonbone Chair weighs in at 672 pages, book #2 Stone of Farewell at 608 pages, and the last, To Green Angel Tower with 1083 pages.  The last was so large that, when released in paperback, they had to issue it in two volumes.

2. Jacqueline Carey’s Phedre’s Trilogy totaling 2,395 pages.

3. Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon.  884 pages.  I can only count the first in this series since I haven’t read any of the others.

A Game of Thrones  by George R. R. Martin.  819 pages. I haven’t managed to make it any farther into this series so far, but eventually I will finish it.

4. Tad Williams’ Shadowmarch series totaling 2,890 pages.

Book #1 Shadowmarch has 796 pages, book #2 Shadowplay has 656, book #3 Shadowrise has 672, and book #4 Shadowheart concludes with 766.  Still one of my favorite fantasy series.  Briony was my hero.

5. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown with a respectable 736 pages.  Also, the best of the series, hands down.  DaVinci Code who?

6. Dreamcatcher by Stephen King.  688 very odd pages in this one.  Love Stephen King but this book was just out there, even for him.

7. Belinda by Anne Rampling.  640 pages.  Almost ashamed to even mention I read this.  Thankfully I read it as a late teen.  Had I read this as an adult I’d have had even more serious issues.

8. Lady of the Forest by Jennifer Roberson, 608 pages.  One of the best Maid Marian-focused novels I’ve ever read.  Worth every single page.

9. Book #1 Kushiel’s Dart with 1,015 pages, book #2 Kushiel’s Chosen with 678 pages, and book #3 Kushiel’s Avatar with 702 pages.

I’m going to wrap this list up with one of the most creative, engaging, and LONG series I’ve ever read.  I still have every hardback copy in my bedroom at home.

10. Tad Williams’ Otherland series.  2,892 pages.

Book #1 City of Golden Shadow with 780 pages, book #2 River of Blue Fire with 675 pages, book #3 Mountain of Black Glass with 749 pages, and book #4 Sea of Silver Light wrapping it all up with 688 pages.  If you like virtual reality-themed novels, this is definitely the series for you.  Let me tell you, reading this in 1996 when it was originally published was wild.  It’s probably pretty tame by today’s standards of technology.

Books and series like the above make me grateful for e-books.  I never delved into Jacqueline Carey’s Imriel’s Trilogy, simply because my hands could not handle another series of books that large.  Maybe I need to look into them now?

What are the largest books you’ve ever read?  I recently picked up Helter Skelter on sale at Amazon, dreading starting that one already!

 

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Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I’d Love to Meet

October 2, 2018 By 42 Comments

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

There are so many talented writers out there that I found it difficult to narrow this list down to only ten of them.

I believe that one of the most important things anyone can do in life is to cultivate and maintain a good reputation. How you treat others, especially if they can’t defend themselves or do anything to repay you, says a lot about your character. Having strong ethics and a warm personality was the most important criteria I used to determine who should be included on this list.

Everyone I’m about to mention is known for being kind to and interactive with their fans. They do things like volunteer for charitable causes, support other authors on social media, and stand up against censorship. Yes, a well-written story is important, but I get excited when I see authors also go the extra mile to make the world a better place when they can. This sort of behavior is so inspiring.  Imagine what the world would be like if everyone behaved this way!

In some cases, the people on this list even been known to offer advice to folks who have questions about the publishing or writing processes. I especially like reading Stephen King’s tweets and seeing what Janny Wurst has to say on Reddit.

  1. Robert J. Sawyer
  2. Judy Blume

  3. John Green
  4. Stephen King
  5. Neil Gaiman
  6. George Orwell
  7. George RR Martin
  8. Janny Wurts
  9. N.K. Jemisin
  10. Chuck Wendig

While their writing talents were what first caught my attention,  their reputations were what ultimately would make me want to meet them. Which authors do you wish you could meet?

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Top Ten Tuesday: Books by My Favorite Authors I Still Haven’t Read

September 25, 2018 By 47 Comments

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Welcome to another edition of Top Ten Tuesday!  This week’s topic is Books by My Favorite Authors I Still Haven’t Read.  My list definitely exceeded ten this week.  I have multiple books for many of the authors on my list.  Clearly I need more time to read!

Silence Fallen (Mercy Thompson series) by Patricia Briggs-I love this series!

Hunt the Moon, Tempt the Stars, Reap the Wind, and Ride the Storm (Cassandra Palmer series) by Karen Chance-I’m ashamed I’m so far behind on this series!  It has been a long time since I read the previous books, so I’m going to have to go back and re-read them before reading these.

Fury’s Kiss and Shadow’s Bane (Dorina Basarab series) by Karen Chance-Another series by Karen Chance I need to catch up on.

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien-I’ve had this book for years and have never managed to read it!

Lady Susan by Jane Austen-This sounds quite different from her other novels, but I think it sounds interesting.

bench, blur, books

Tales of Elemental Spirits series by Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson-Robin McKinley has written some of my favorite books.  I’ve read most of her work but have yet to check out this series.

The Earthsea Cycle series by Ursual K. Le Guin-I love A Wizard of Earthsea and have read it several times, but have never managed to read the rest of the series.

Villette, Shirley, and The Professor by Charlotte Bronte-Jane Eyre is wonderful, and I really need to read more of Charlotte Bronte’s work.

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte-I really enjoyed The Tenant of Wildfell Hall so I’d like to read this novel as well

Have you read any of these books or other works by these authors?  If so, what did you think?  If not, would you like to?

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Top Ten Tuesday: YA Books on My Fall 2018 TBR

September 18, 2018 By 81 Comments

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

How do you all feel about anticipation? It’s one of my favorite feelings in the entire world. There is nothing like daydreaming about when you’ll finally get to read that book, eat that special meal, or go on that exciting trip. Sometimes I honestly enjoy looking forward to something than I do experiencing it.

With these titles, however, I do think I’ll like reading them as much as I relish the thought of reading them. I’ve included their release dates in this post so you’ll know when to look for them as well.

1. Pride by Ibi Zoboi.

Release date: September 18 (today!)

This is a modern-day retelling of Pride and Prejudice. I’m looking forward to seeing how that story has been updated for life in 2018. There are so many parts of the original version that would no longer apply to our society. For example, our inheritance laws don’t care what gender someone’s children or other heirs are. Anyone can inherit anything.

2. The Last Wish of Sasha Cade by Cheyanne Young.

Release date: October 2.

The death of a friend is always hard, but it’s especially difficult the first time it happens. I’m intrigued by the thought of Raquel being able to communicate with her dead friend.

3. What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli.

Release date: October 9.

It feels like I’ve been waiting for this book to be released for five years. I don’t read a ton of romance novels in general, but I do like the ones that show characters who aren’t immediately sure that the person they’ve just met is the right one for them.

4. Odd One Out by Nic Stone.

Release date: October 9.

I can’t decide which two of these characters I want to see end up together the most. Since any combination of them is a possibility, the tension is going to keep me guessing until I finally get a chance to read this next month.

5. Quiver by Julia Watts.

Release date October 16.

Imagine a girl who was raised by a conservative, religious family who believed in allowing God to decide how many kids a couple has. Now picture that girl befriending a gender-fluid vegetarian who grew up in an egalitarian household. As soon as I read the blurb of this story, I knew I’d want to check out the whole thing.

6. A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

Release date: October 16.

I’m intrigued by the idea of a character dealing with as much prejudice and hatred as Shirin will have to at the same time she’s deciding whether to open her heart to someone new in her life. Mixing a lighthearted storyline with a much more serious one seems like it could make for more memorable scenes.

7. Home and Away by Candice Montgomery.

Release date: October 16.

The only thing more attention-grabbing than a girl who plays football on an otherwise all-male team is the mysterious box that Tasia will catch a glimpse of early on in this storyline. I want to know more about both of these parts of her life.

8. The Brilliant Death by Amy Rose Capetta.

Release date: October 30.

Seriously, how cool would it be to change your gender at will? While I’m happy being a woman in general, I’d change that for a few hours if I could just to see what it would be like.

Figuring out who is poisoning the leaders of the five most powerful families in Italy is also going to be fun, but it was honestly the idea of swapping out one’s gender that made me sure I wanted to read this.

9. Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean

Release date: November 6.

The thought of women and girls competing in order to see who will become the next empress makes me smile. I can’t wait to see how this contest plays out.

10. Any Second by Kevin Emerson

Release Date: November 20.

This really goes without saying, but kidnappings and bombs are both pretty frightening. Mixing them together only makes me more nervous about what will happen to these characters. I might need to read their tale hours before bedtime to avoid having bad dreams about it, but I still want to find out what their fates will be.

What are you looking forward to reading this autumn? Are any of these books also on your TBR list?

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