Tag: top10tuesday

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Best of List Books Memes

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.

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Books Memes

In Praise of the Plot Twist

It’s time for Top 10 Tuesday again! This week we are looking at books that caught us by surprise – for better or for worse – and I’m sticking to the “plot twist”. Here are 10 books that went to a totally unexpected place for me.

Plot Twist!

1 | Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

All that obsession with the first Mrs. Maxim de Winter was bound to end some time.

2 | The Queen of Attolia/ The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner

A thief ends up marrying the lady who cut off his hand.

3 | One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus

A brainiac, an athlete, a princess, a criminal and a “basket case” walk into detention.

4 | Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

No, Jane – Rochester is not the hero you thought him to be…

5 | Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

There are worlds within worlds, and nothing is as simple as it seems.

6 | Game of Thrones/ A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin

Anyone remember the infamous Red Wedding scene (from the show)? Phew!

7 | The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Epic and sensational – not a Biblical premise anyone could’ve guessed.

8 | In the Woods by Tana French

The reveal of the culprit was slow and right at the end – made me rant full time.

9 | The Inugami Curse by Seishi Yokomizo

Not the whodunnit, but the how-dunnit was the real plot twist here.

10 | We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

Heart-wrenching tale full of strange experiments and the repercussions.

So, what’s your list looking like? Any jaw-dropping plot twists, unexpected endings, other things that caught you by surprise?

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Memes To Be Read Books

Ten Hidden Gems: Because you said so

It’s time for Top 10 Tuesday again! I love picking up book recs from fellow bloggers — the lesser known, the better! There’s some extra happiness in locating those hidden gems, you know. So, here are 10 that I’ve picked up in recent months.

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Memes To Be Read Books

Top 10 TBR for the rest of the year

It’s a freebie for this Top 10 Tuesday, which means I have no clever idea for making yet another list. So, I’m just going with the top 10 TBR books that I still want to read this year. We are already past the halfway mark, folks! But I still have high hopes…

Any of these on your list? Any of these that you recommend starting first?

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Best of List Books Memes

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?

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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.

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Books Memes To Be Read Books

10 Random Books from the Shelf

This week’s Top 10 Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) has an interesting theme and finally had me dropping the laziness and getting back to blog. We pick 10 random books from the shelf (whether from the read or TBR pile) — well actually: The First 10 Books I Randomly Grabbed from My Shelf.

Here are my picks. Most of these are still unread or only halfway through, so if you’ve read these before, share your reviews please!

~

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Best of List Books Memes Recommendations

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.

1 / The Chalion Series / World of the Five Gods series by Lois McMaster Bujold

2 / Inheritance Trilogy by N. K. Jemisin

3 / Paternus Trilogy by Dyrk Ashton

4 / Malazan Book of the Fallen Series by Steven Erikson

5 / Edda of Burdens trilogy by Elizabeth Bear

6 / The Queen’s Thief Series by Megan Whalen Turner

7 / Tales of the Magatama Series by Noriko Ogiwara

8 / Indulgence Series by Erin Kellison

9 / The Wicked + The Divine saga by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie

10 / The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

Have you read or are you interested any of these mythological fantasy books? Please feel free to leave as many recs as possible too!

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Best of List Books Memes

… And the Book OTP Prizes Go to …

For this week’s Top 10 Tuesday meme, we have a Valentine’s Day freebie, so let’s showcase some of those OTP (One True Pairings) that deserve extra attention today. Disclaimer: All of this is intended in good fun only!

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Best of List Memes Starred Recommendations

Favorite Books of 2022

How did 2022 fly by so quickly? I barely got any reading done (especially in the second half) and DNF’ed more books than ever (my watchlist fared way better!). For better or for worse, here they are, the few books that stood out as my “favorite books of 2022”.

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