I am kind of wary of setting up reading plans because I never manage to live up to them. But what’s January without a good dose of (over) ambitious and visionary thinking, eh? Let’s see, let’s see .…
Favorite Books of 2021
Here we are, my favorite entry from the Top Ten Tuesday meme hosted by Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl — favorite books of 2021. This was one post I wasn’t going to miss. I swear I turned my back for a minute to fix up my new house, and lo the whole year has gone by. My 2021 had serious reading blues in the second half, but I still managed to identify top 10 (or more) reads. All to add to your TBR, of course!
Top 10 TBR SciFi Books
November seems to be SciFi Reading Month. So for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday meme hosted by Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl, I’m sharing a list of top 10 scifi books from my TBR pile (not book quotes). I’d planned to work on my science fiction reading muscle this year, and who knows? Still have 2 more months for end of 2021, you know.
I’m taking inspiration from the prompts for SciFiMonth 2021 challenge hosted by Imyril and Dear Geek Place, particularly the Book Bingo.
In the last week of October, I probably read more books than in the past 3 months. So I’m really hoping that my reading/ blogging blues are finally over. There’s a lot to record and catch-up with, all those blogposts that I missed — still need to get up to speed there! In the meantime, here’s a bunch a mini-reviews / reading wrap-up for October 2021.
Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge
I once read that the cuckoo leaves its eggs in other birds’ nests to avoid the effort of raising its own young. Imagine the duped bird’s shock to find that the egg hatched into some other species!
And so in Cuckoo Song, young Triss wonders if she is a cuckoo among the crows. She’s just had an accident that no one wants to talk about, but she knows she’s changed. For one thing, her memories are hazy and detached. For another, she is so hungry all the time…
Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Every Tuesday, you pick ten books on that week’s topic. This week, we have a Halloween Freebie. Well, it’s a freebie, so I’ve put together some random (mostly) book-related videos and articles that I really liked recently. Hope you’ll enjoy these too!
The Witness for the Dead
Series: The Goblin Emperor Series (but can be read as standalone)
Published: June 2021
Book Themes / Tropes: I can speak to the Dead, Judicial power politics, Court intrigue, A Good Person
Recommended if you like: Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin, Chalion series by Lois McMaster Bujold, or generally any mythological fantasy work
Rating: 9 of 10
How many times do we come across truly good, kind people in fiction? People who do the right thing even if that doesn’t help them much politically, simply because it is the right thing to do? In Witness for the Dead, Addison has created a good person in the form of Celehar who works as a witness for the dead.
Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Every Tuesday, you pick ten books on that week’s topic. This week, we are looking at favorite book settings.
About The Forgotten Garden
Published: 2008
Book Tropes: Foundlings, Time Hops, Family Secrets, Mysterious Houses, Australia
Recommended for fans of: Susanna Kearsley, Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen, Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman, Possession by A. S. Byatt, The Thirteenth Tale by by Diane Setterfield
Forgotten Garden was the first book that I decided to read from my Fall 2021 Reading List — since that was the book most people recommended! It turned out to be a very engrossing read, and managed to get me out of my reader’s block.
Fall 2021 Reading List
September is nearly gone and I’m still struggling with the reading/ blogging blues that first showed up for me in July. Still, a reading list for Fall 2021 for this week’s Top 10 Tuesday seemed doable — even if I (probably) won’t end up reading through. 🙁
The reading list is tailored for:
► The R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril (RIP) XVI Reading Challenge 2021 hosted @perilreaders on Twitter and Instagram, where you get to try out spooky stuff, at least once a year (in my case), and
► The Treason & Plot #WitchWeek2021 Challenge hosted by Calmgrove and LizzieRoss Writer, where you get to try out books involving gothic mayhem and dark magic.
If these reading challenges interest you, here are a few suggestions!