Category: Best of List

All recommendation lists get tagged thus.

Favorite Books of 2023

Happy New Year ’24, everyone! And at last, my favorite topic for the yearly wrap-up to Top 10 Tuesday: favorite books of 2023. We save the best for the end, and it is so much fun adding those best to Mount TBR. Here’s my list too.

Tags 10-rated, listmania, top10tuesday

Best of List Books Memes

Ten Deliciously Dark Reads

Post author By Lexlingua
Post date October 31, 2023
20 Comments on Ten Deliciously Dark Reads

Happy Halloween! And right on cue, we have Top 10 Tuesday giving out a Halloween freebie treat. I’m by no means a horror fan, but I will try to wrap up the month with top 10 spooktastic and deliciously dark reads.

1 / The Shepherd King series by Rachel Gillig

Phenomenally gothic and creepy. This duology took me completely by surprise and got me out of my reader’s block. Absolutely mindblowing world-building, plot AND writing.

2 / The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe

In Udolpho, young Emily St. Aubere finds herself orphaned and in the clutches of her wicked uncle-in-law, Montoni. Montoni is up to no good, and more than one skeleton hides in his closet. This is Gothic suspense at its finest, and is highly recommended.

3 / Cry Baby Hollow by Aimee Love

I found this on Goodreads for lesser known Urban Fantasy reads. One of the reviewers said that the “Hollow” was for “holler” — and this is not about your friendly neighborhood wolf. It was such a change from the usual Urban Fantasy, recommended.

Tags #PERILREADERS, Gothic, horror, listmania, mysteries, top10tuesday

Best of List Books Memes

Bookish Wishes: Careful What You Wish For!

Post author By Lexlingua
Post date June 13, 2023
16 Comments on Bookish Wishes: Careful What You Wish For!

For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, we are looking at bookish wishes. I am taking it rather literally, about bad bargains, perilous wishes and the hazards of ambition. Here’s a quick list:

1 | Shakespeare’s Macbeth – Prophecies, anyone?

2 | Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine – This heroine has been given the gift of obedience!

3 | Half Magic by Edward Eager – Only half of what these kids wish for comes true

4 | Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit – These kids’ wishes will expire promptly at sunset.

5 | Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll – Tall or short, please can she make up her mind?

6 | The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde – He wished all of his aging on a portrait.

7 | Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba – Writing down criminals’ names in a magical death book is not so heroic.

8 | The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien – You get a ring of invisibility but just makes Sauron see you more clearly.

9 | Faust by Goethe – This guy though success on earth is worth selling his soul away.

10 | The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill by Rowenna Miller – Experimenting with fairy contracts? Oops!

What do you think? Do you have any books to add to this dangerous booklist on worst bookish wishes ever?

Tags book-tropes, listmania, top10tuesday

Best of List Memes

Eye of Newt: Fictional Food for Thought

Post author By Lexlingua
Post date May 28, 2023
4 Comments on Eye of Newt: Fictional Food for Thought

A very intriguing prompt for this week’s Wyrd & Wonder: Eye of Newt! Magical ingredients, spell components or fantasy cooking… or any story tropes or character ingredients that make the perfect brew for the reader in us. This got me thinking of some of the interesting fictional cuisine items that I have come across in fantasy books!

Butterbeer | Harry Potter series

Lembas Bread | The Lord of the Rings

Wonka Chocolate Bars | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Queen of Hearts’ Tarts | Alice in Wonderland

Goblin Fruit | The Goblin Market

Death of Marat | Sunshine

Nobby’s Mum’s Distressed Pudding | Discworld series

Pop Biscuits | The Folk of the Faraway Tree

Groosling Soup | The Hunger Games

Just… some Honey | Winnie-the-Pooh

Any of these be your “eye of newt”? Did you recall any of these dishes? Did you ever try to give them some mundane world recipes? Did this post bring on some hunger pangs? Spill the beans! 😉

Tags #WyrdAndWonder, book-tropes, favorites, food for thought, listmania

Best of List Memes

Predicted by the Stars (or what have you)

Post author By Lexlingua
Post date May 24, 2023
3 Comments on Predicted by the Stars (or what have you)

*(Credits: Portal by Tithi Luadthong)*
Hosts: A Dance With Books, The Book Nook, Jorie Loves A Story, Dear Geek Place, There’s Always Room For One More

Wyrd & Wonder has super interesting prompt(s) on the art of reading past, present and future by magical means. So, let me pick your brain on how to make some predictions. I could come up with 7 ways, none too dire, I hope!

Tags #WyrdAndWonder, book-tropes, listmania

Best of List Memes Music & Poetry

Magic Mayhem Music

The wonderful Wyrd & Wonder reading/ blogging marathon is being hosted by Annemieke (A Dance With Books), Ariane (The Book Nook), Jorie (Jorie Loves A Story), Lisa (Dear Geek Place) and Imyril (There’s Always Room For One More).

This Sunday, the prompt is our favorite songs that we associate with the Magical. Some great food for thought – and obviously my chance to conjure up some music for magic and mayhem.

Scenario 1: You are a dark witch, brewing something strong

Yaima – Magician

Tags #WyrdAndWonder, book-tropes, favorites, listmania

Best of List Books Memes Starred Recommendations

Top 10 Underrated Books

This week’s Top 10 Tuesday has us looking at top 10 books that we recommend often to fellow bloggers and friends. Since May is also the month for Wyrd & Wonder, I’m going to stick to some underrated books from fantasy fiction that I do like to clobber people with.

Tags #WyrdAndWonder, 10-rated, fantasy-fiction, favorites, top10tuesday

Best of List Books Memes Starred Recommendations

Wyrd & Wonder: Favorite Magical Systems

Post author By Lexlingua
Post date May 7, 2023
7 Comments on Wyrd & Wonder: Favorite Magical Systems

The wonderful Wyrd & Wonder has started off again, hosted by Annemieke (A Dance With Books), Ariane (The Book Nook), Jorie (Jorie Loves A Story), Lisa (Dear Geek Place) and Imyril (There’s Always Room For One More). Thanks so much to them for all the effort that goes into this!

This Sunday, the prompt is top 5 magical systems (or spells) that we have come across in books. Obviously, world-building plays a huge role, but my picks are based on certain really striking book scenes.

Tags #WyrdAndWonder, 10-rated, book-tropes, fantasy-fiction, listmania, magical objects

Best of List Books Memes Recommendations

If you like… Mythological Fantasy

Post author By Lexlingua
Post date February 28, 2023
18 Comments on If you like… Mythological Fantasy

This week we have a genre freebie for Top 10 Tuesday, and I am going with Top 10 Mythological Fantasy Books. I really do like a plot where the gods get interested in mortal affairs, leading to much chaos — and great world-building.