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Memes To Be Read Books

Bookish Goals for Year ‘25

Ten Bookish Goals? Hmm, that’s a lot. I cannot think of a list of 10 bookish goals for Year ’25, for this week’s Top 10 Tuesday prompt. At most, here are 6 goals and I’d be very surprised if I can manage 2 or more of these:

1) Read at least 12 books, one for each month.

The challenge, of course, remains in shortlisting 12 out of the TBR Pile…

2) Read more diversely across genres.

That means, not just sticking to SFF or historicals – but to also try out more horror (incl. the new “cozy horror” niche), more philosophy, more humor, perhaps a thriller here and there.

3) Complete the backlist books from at least 1 favorite author.

The aim is to see how the author has grown over the years, and of course, enjoy the books and the process along the way. Perhaps: Lois McMaster Bujold or Patricia A. McKillip. Any other suggestions (in any genre) are welcome 🙂

4) Continue to read the classics, slow though it may be.

I signed up for the Classics Club challenge last year and sometimes, when you are overwhelmed by the busy pace of things, an old classic seems the right solution.

5) Be more active on the blog.

There was a reason I set it up in 2020 (to create! to stay connected!), and I do need to water the bookish garden now and then.

6) … Speaking of which, perhaps just move to a free plan of WordPress for the blog?

In which case, I need to figure out how to move content from Bluehost to the new unpaid version. If anyone has solutions for this, please share!

How about you? Did you manage to work up a plan for reading and blogging this year? What are your top bookish goals for Year ‘25? Do any of our goals align?

Categories
Best of List Books Index Memes Starred Recommendations

Top 10 Reads of 2024

It’s time to list our top 10 reads of 2024 (and download massive TBR reclists, of course). Not much of reading this year, but I would not have missed this Top 10 Tuesday theme for the world!

1 / The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

I have not been a great fan or follower of the Grishaverse, so was hesitant in picking this up. But what a marvelous story this turned out to be. We peer into the ages of 16th century when anti-semitism was rife. Luzia is desperately trying to escape her confined pitiful life with her displays of magical craft… but soon ends up getting embroiled in a larger political net. Everything in this book was so impressive – the Spanish Golden Age/ Renaissance feel, the worldbuilding, the writing, the prose, the characterizations. Aaaaand, it is a standalone. If you’ve liked Mistress of the Art of Death, you’ll love this one too.

Categories
Best of List Index Memes

Ten Changes in Reading Habits

This week’s Top 10 Tuesday has an interesting theme – how our reading habits have changed over time. This actually proved to be a fun walk down memory lane. Let me count the ways, then!

Categories
Books Recommendations

Scenes of Clerical Life by George Eliot

I count George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss as one of my all-time favorites, so I was eager to start Scenes of Clerical Life as my Spin #38 pick for Classics Club Challenge. I was also fortunate to find the Librivox Recording by Bruce Pirie (available in Podcast formats too) and it was so good — highly recommended!

Scenes of Clerical Life has 3 stories, each one progressively longer and more impactful.

Categories
Books Memes

Ten Lesser Known Books

This week’s Top 10 Tuesday is about listing books that you have picked up – or avoided – because of the hype around them. I fall in neither group — I’m a little wary of Hyped Books, so while I add them to my TBR, but save them for a later day. Instead, it’s the lesser known books which catch my eye… hoping to find some hidden gem perhaps?

So — here’s a list of some obscure books that I really think deserve a lot more love! Er, you may have seen these recommended around these parts before…

Categories
Memes To Be Read Books

Classics Club Challenge: CC Spin #38

Several months ago, I had decided to participate in the Classics Club Challenge and signed up with a bucket list of 100 classic literature books that I wanted to read. Occasionally, a random number is also generated by by the hosts at The Classics Club, and you can play along by reading that entry number from your chosen list. Rules are here.

This is my first CC Spin, and the Lucky Spin Number this time around is …

…. Number 17

On my list, entry #17 is Scenes of Clerical Life by George Eliot (1857). If I remember correctly, I chose this book because Eliot seems to have had a difficult relationship with her father and she has reflected some of that tension in this book. Plus, Eliot is one of my favorite all-time authors.

Not a very promising book cover, that. But let’s see…

Are you participating in CC Spin #38, or generally in the Classics Club Challenge this year?

Categories
Best of List Books Watchlist

Mid-Year Check In: Best of 2024 So Far

I am ready to write bad angsty poetry on my never-ending reading/ blogging slump! Still, somehow, pushing myself to do this mid-year 2024 blogpost on stuff I have liked till now.

Let’s all pledge to move out of Slump Valley! And just in case these recs reach you, hope you’ll like some of these.

1 / The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

    I have not been a great fan or follower of the Grishaverse, so was hesitant in picking this up. But what a marvelous story this turned out to be. We peer into the ages of 16th century when anti-semitism was rife. Luzia is desperately trying to escape her confined pitiful life with her displays of magical craft… but soon ends up getting embroiled in a larger political net. Everything in this book was so impressive – the Spanish Golden Age/ Renaissance feel, the worldbuilding, the writing, the prose, the characterizations. Aaaaand, it is a standalone. If you’ve liked Mistress of the Art of Death, you’ll love this one too.

    Categories
    Memes To Be Read Books

    Spring ’24 TBR

    This week’s Top 10 Tuesday has us looking at our Spring ’24 TBR. I don’t know about you, but I’d be lucky to finish these off for the whole year! Still – subject to change and all that – here’s my set:

    Folks, how have you been? Anybody else feeling the reading blues lately? Or, er, since last year? What are your solutions — and of course, your own Spring ’24 TBR lists?

    Categories
    Index Memes To Be Read Books

    Classics Club Challenge

    I have decided to sign up for The Classics Club reading challenge this year. Based on this sign-up post and this FAQs post, we can choose our own criteria for what maketh a “classic” and then we have to make a list of 100 classics that we want to read – not immediately – but over the next 5 years.

    For my own “classics” criteria, I’m going with a mixed bag of books famous in a specific genre* OR any books published before 1974 (i.e. more than 50 years ago). Here follows the list!

    Categories
    Best of List Memes

    Top 10 Zippy Reads

    Top 10 zippy reads? I am all for it these days – and that’s the theme for this week’s Top 10 Tuesday. Here are my recs, with equally zippy blurbs!

    The Throme of the Erril of Sherill by Patricia A. McKillip
    Tropes: Knight quests, Riddles, Puns, Folktales

    The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
    Tropes: Snarky, Retelling, The Odyssey, Ulysses hero-not-hero

    Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne Valente
    Tropes: Native American, Retelling, Snow White, Wild West

     Once and Forever: The Tales of Kenji Miyazawa
    Tropes: Anthology, Japanese folklore, Dark, Compassionate

    Jagannath by Karin Tidbeck
    Tropes: Anthology, Science-Fiction, Bizarre, Quirky Horror

    Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema by Lindy West 
    Tropes: Essays, ROFL Funny, Old blockbuster movies, Punchlines

    Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Terror 
    Tropes: Surreal, Otherwordly, Lurid, Anthology, Poetic

    How the World Became Quiet by Rachel Swirsky
    Tropes: Anthology, Science-Fiction, AI & Identity Crisis, Evolution

    The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy
    Tropes: Graphic Novel, Poetic, Feel-Good, Found Families

    Princess Floralinda & the Forty-Flight Tower by Tamsyn Muir
    Tropes: Snarky, 40-floor fall, Coming of Age, Unexpected friends

    So, do any of our choices match? Do you have any zippy read recs? Let’s chat!