Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
This week’s theme is a genre freebie. I originally was going to post this for Valentine’s Day but didn’t have time. Romance is not my favorite genre, but I chose my top five tragic romances, books that I really liked. One of them is not a romance but is based on a real-life tragic romance. I didn’t pick ten books because that’s just too much tragedy. And I don’t have Romeo and Juliet on the list because I never liked it (Sorry Shakespeare).
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
Being a book blogger, I have recommended lots of books, so ten is a pretty low number. I settled on either books I’ve recommended over the last few years or books I have loved for a long time. There are so many others I could have added so I will revisit this topic again.
My favorite genre is historical fiction, but science fiction (especially time travel) is right up there with it, and a mashup of the two creates my favorite series, The Chronicles of St. Mary’s by Jodi Taylor. The cover I posted is the first book in that series, Just One Damned Thing After Another.
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus is a smash hit novel that blends chemistry with television cooking, child-rearing, and crew rowing. It is such a fun read.
Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary is so fascinating to me because here is an author that puts math and physics into a fictional work, and makes me enjoy it!
Gail Meath’s Agustina de Aragonis a wonderful saga about the “Spanish Joan of Arc” that should not be missed. Her Jax Diamond Mysteries series (first book Songbird) is a fun series about a private detective and his German Shepherd set in the 1920s.
Robert Heinlein’s The Door Into Summeris my favorite book of all time. It is about a man who uses time travel to change his circumstances. And it has a very important cat, Petronius the Arbiter (Pete).
A Peculiar Combinationby Ashley Weaver is book one of the Electra McDonnell series, about a family of criminal safecrackers who become spies for their country during World War II.
In The Middle of Hickory Laneis a small-town fiction/mystery that just draws you in and makes you want to be a part of this community.
The Girl Who Feared Trains is about a young girl who loses her mother during the 1918 pandemic and has to board a train, along with her sister, to go live with her grandmother.
In The Ingenue, a former piano prodigy comes home after her mother’s death to discover that her mother has left the family mansion not to her, but to the most improbable person she could have imagined. I loved this because of the unexpected turns it takes.
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
Theme for the Week: My Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2023.
This is the third book in the Hanni Winter series by Katherine Hokin. Hanni is trying to rebuild her life in Germany after growing up with a father who ran a concentration camp. He has escaped justice so far, but she wants desperately to turn him in. The first two books were wonderful. This will be released Jan 27th.
Founded by the mysterious genius known as the Designer, the archipelago of Prospera lies hidden from the horrors of a deteriorating outside world. In this island paradise, Prospera’s lucky citizens enjoy long, fulfilling lives until the monitors embedded in their forearms, meant to measure their physical health and psychological well-being, fall below 10 percent. Then they retire themselves, embarking on a ferry ride to the island known as the Nursery, where their failing bodies are renewed, their memories are wiped clean, and they are readied to restart life afresh.
Proctor Bennett, of the Department of Social Contracts, has a satisfying career as a ferryman, gently shepherding people through the retirement process—and, when necessary, enforcing it. But all is not well with Proctor. For one thing, he’s been dreaming—which is supposed to be impossible in Prospera. For another, his monitor percentage has begun to drop alarmingly fast. And then comes the day he is summoned to retire his own father, who gives him a disturbing and cryptic message before being wrestled onto the ferry.
s Paris rediscovers its joie de vivre, Tabitha Knight, recently arrived from Detroit for an extended stay with her French grandfather, is on her own journey of discovery. Paris isn’t just the City of Light; it’s the city of history, romance, stunning architecture . . . and food. Thanks to her neighbor and friend Julia Child, another ex-pat who’s fallen head over heels for Paris, Tabitha is learning how to cook for her Grandpère and Oncle Rafe.
Between tutoring Americans in French, visiting the market, and eagerly sampling the results of Julia’s studies at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school, Tabitha’s sojourn is proving thoroughly delightful. That is, until the cold December day they return to Julia’s building and learn that a body has been found in the cellar. Tabitha recognizes the victim as a woman she’d met only the night before, at a party given by Julia’s sister, Dort. The murder weapon found nearby is recognizable too—a knife from Julia’s kitchen. This will be released in April 2023.
Sallie Kincaid is the daughter of the biggest man in a small town, the charismatic Duke Kincaid. Born at the turn of the 20th century into a life of comfort and privilege, Sallie remembers little about her mother who died in a violent argument with the Duke. By the time she is just eight years old, the Duke has remarried and had a son, Eddie. While Sallie is her father’s daughter, sharp-witted and resourceful, Eddie is his mother’s son, timid and cerebral. When Sallie tries to teach young Eddie to be more like their father, her daredevil coaching leads to an accident, and Sallie is cast out.
Nine years later, she returns, determined to reclaim her place in the family. That’s a lot more complicated than Sallie expected, and she enters a world of conflict and lawlessness. Sallie confronts the secrets and scandals that hide in the shadows of the Big House, navigates the factions in the family and town, and finally comes into her own as a bold, sometimes reckless bootlegger.
You will fall in love with Sallie Kincaid, a feisty and fearless, terrified and damaged young woman who refuses to be corralled.
This will be released on 28 March 2023.
For years her explorer father promised Dr. Lauren Westlake she’d accompany him on one of his Egyptian expeditions. But as the empty promises mounted, Lauren determined to earn her own way. Now the assistant curator of Egyptology for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lauren receives two unexpected invitations.
The first is her repentant father’s offer to finally bring her to Egypt as his colleague on a new expedition. The second is a chance to enter the world of New York’s wealthiest patrons who have been victims of art fraud.
With Egyptomania sweeping the city after the discovery of King Tut’s tomb, Detective Joe Caravello is on the hunt for a notorious forger preying on the open wallets of New York’s high society. Dr. Westlake is just the expert he needs to help him track the criminal. Together they search for the truth, and the closer Lauren and Joe get to discovering the forger’s identity, the more entangled they become in a web of deception and crime.
Adelaide Hills, Christmas Eve, 1959: At the end of a scorching hot day, beside a creek in the grounds of the grand and mysterious house, a local delivery man makes a terrible discovery. A police investigation is called and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most shocking and perplexing murder cases in the history of South Australia.
Many years later and thousands of miles away, Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for almost twenty years, she now finds herself laid off from her full-time job and struggling to make ends meet. A phone call out of nowhere summons her back to Sydney, where her beloved grandmother, Nora, who raised Jess when her mother could not, has suffered a fall and been raced to the hospital.
At Nora’s house, Jess discovers a book that chronicles the police investigation into a long-buried crime: the Turner Family Tragedy of Christmas Eve, 1959. It is only when Jess skims through the pages that she finds a shocking connection between her own family and this once-infamous event – a murder mystery that has never been resolved satisfactorily.
An epic novel that spans generations, Homecoming asks what we would do for those we love, and how we protect the lies we tell. It explores the power of motherhood, the corrosive effects of tightly held secrets, and the healing nature of truth. Above all, it is a beguiling and immensely satisfying novel from one of the finest writers working today.
This is the sequel to The Murder of Mr. Wickham, which reunited several Jane Austen characters and introduced some of their children. I have requested it and I’m hopeful.
Catherine and Henry Tilney of Northanger Abbey are not entirely pleased to be sending their eligible young daughter Juliet out into the world again: the last house party she attended, at the home of the Knightleys, involved a murder—which Juliet helped solve. Particularly concerning is that she intends to visit her new friend Marianne Brandon, who’s returned home to Devonshire shrouded in fresh scandal—made more potent by the news that her former suitor, the rakish Mr. Willoughby, intends to take up residence at his local estate with his new bride.
Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley are thrilled that their eldest son, Jonathan—who, like his father, has not always been the most socially adept—has been invited to stay with his former schoolmate, John Willoughby. Jonathan himself is decidedly less taken with the notion of having to spend extended time under the roof of his old bully, but that all changes when he finds himself reunited with his fellow amateur sleuth, the radiant Miss Tilney. And when shortly thereafter, Willoughby’s new wife—whom he married for her fortune—dies horribly at the party meant to welcome her to town.
With rumors flying and Marianne—known to be both unstable and previously jilted by the dead woman’s newly made widower—under increased suspicion, Jonathan and Juliet must team up once more to uncover the murderer. But as they collect clues and close in on suspects, eerie incidents suggest that the killer may strike again, and that the pair are in far graver danger than they or their families could imagine.
As for queens, they are either hated or forgotten. She already knows which option suits her best…
You were born to a king, but you marry a tyrant. You stand by helplessly as he sacrifices your child to placate the gods. You watch him wage war on a foreign shore, and you comfort yourself with violent thoughts of your own. Because this was not the first offence against you. This was not the life you ever deserved. And this will not be your undoing. Slowly, you plot.
But when your husband returns in triumph, you become a woman with a choice.
Acceptance or vengeance, infamy follows both. So, you bide your time and force the gods’ hands in the game of retribution. For you understood something long ago that the others never did.
If power isn’t given to you, you have to take it for yourself.
A blazing novel set in the world of Ancient Greece for fans of Jennifer Saint and Natalie Haynes, this is a thrilling tale of power and prophecies, of hatred, love, and of an unforgettable Queen who fiercely dealt out death to those who wronged her.
The Great War has come to Brussels, the Germans have occupied the city, and Edith Cavell, Head Nurse at Berkendael Medical Institute, faces an impossible situation. As matron of a designated Red Cross hospital, Edith has sworn an oath to help any who are wounded, under whatever flag they are found. But Governor von Lüttwitz, the ranking German officer, has additional orders for her. She and her nurses must also stand guard over the wounded Allied prisoners of war and prevent them from escaping.
Edith feels that God called her to be a healer, not a jailer. How can she heal these broken boys, only to allow them to be returned to the hands of their oppressors to be beaten again?
So when members of the Belgian resistance, desperate for help, bring two wounded British soldiers to her hospital in secret, she makes a decision that will change everything: she will heal the soldiers, and then attempt to smuggle them out of the hospital to freedom.
With her loyal friend and fellow nurse, Elizabeth, by her side, Edith establishes her hospital as a safe house for the resistance, laboring tirelessly to save as many soldiers as she can. Working under the watchful eyes of the German army, Edith faces challenging odds and charges of treason—which carries the death penalty if she is caught—as she fights alongside the resistance to bring—and keep—hope to her small corner of a war-torn world.
Based on a true story, Under the Cover of Mercy is the remarkable account of one woman who defied an entire nation in order to heal those who needed her help the most. This will be released in April 2023.
Since her mother’s death, Kit Crockett has lived with her grief-stricken father, spending lonely days far out in the country tending the garden, fishing in a local stream, and reading Nancy Drew mysteries from the library bookmobile. One day when Kit discovers a mysterious and beautiful woman has moved in just down the road, she is intrigued.
Kit and her new neighbor Bella become fast friends. Both outsiders, they take comfort in each other’s company. But malice lurks near their quiet bayou and Kit suddenly finds herself at the center of tragic, fatal crime. Soon, Kit is ripped from her home and Cherokee family and sent to Ashley Lordard, a religious boarding school. Along with the other Native students, Kit is stripped of her heritage, force-fed Christian indoctrination, and is sexually abused by the director. But Kit, as strong-willed and shrewd as ever, secretly keeps a journal recounting what she remembers—and revealing just what she has forgotten. Over the course of Stealing, she slowly unravels the truth of how she ended up at the school—and plots a way out.
In swift, sharp, and stunning prose, Margaret Verble spins a powerful coming-of age tale and reaffirms her place as an indelible storyteller and chronicler of history.
This looks absolutely amazing. It will be released Feb 7, 2023.
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
This week’s top ten Tuesday is top ten cozy reads, changed to Top Five Cozy Reads for me because I ran out of time. Cozy books are books that have a comforting vibe. Even the cozy murder mysteries are not too dark and there are lots of fun moments. Cozies are often set in small towns with a quirky cast of characters, but sometimes they are set in certain niches of big cities. Most are part of a series. The bottom line for cozies is comfort. Here’s my list of top ten cozy reads.
1. The Jax Diamond Mystery Series by Gail Meath.
This cozy mystery series is not set in a small town. It is based in 1920s New York City. But the main character, Jax Diamond, is a former police officer turned detective and his girlfriend Laura is a Broadway actress/singer. Broadway can be a niche of its own where everyone knows each other and quirky characters abound. Jax also has an acquaintance who dabbles in organized crime, a definite niche. The comfort comes from Jax’s relationship with his German Shepherd sidekick, Ace, who often steals the show.
2. The Murder of Mr. Wickham
Set in an 1820s British country estate, this is an Agatha-Christie-inspired, closed-house cozy mystery with a Jane Austen twist! The cast is comprised of all Jane Austen characters and their children, which is a definite niche. The comfort also comes from having all of your favorite Austen characters in one book!
3. Death of a Showman by Mariah Fredricks
This is another cozy mystery set in New York City, this time in 1914. Jane Prescott is a lady’s maid to Louise Tyler, and the niche comes in the upstairs/downstairs culture that existed back then. Jane and Louise also spend some time on Broadway in this one. The comfort comes from the humor that is scattered throughout the book.
4. The Baked Bean Supper Murders by Virginia Rich.
Virginia Rich wrote three food-related cozy mysteries in the 1980s before she died. They are centered around a retired widow, Eugenia Potter, who splits time between her ranch in Arizona and her cottage in Maine. The niche is definitely in the settings, and the comfort comes from the food and the recipes! Rich’s books are the first food-centered murder mysteries I ever read.
5. On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle
Cleo Coyle’s popular coffee house cozy mysteries have reached 19 books! The niche is in the coffeehouse setting, their customers, and their neighbors. The comfort comes from the coffee of course!
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
This week’s topic is: Top Ten Favorite “Awwe” Moments In Books (Share those sweet/cute moments in books that give you warm fuzzies.) I’m changing it up a bit to just reflect some of my favorite moments in books.Not all of them are happy moments, but they are all memorable.
There will be spoilers, but all these books are over six months old, so I’m including them.
Book 1 of the Chronicles of St. Mary’s series has a moment when Max, having been sacked and thrown out of St. Mary’s by Isabella Barclay for trying to save her coworkers, who Barclay swore were dead, marches back in, rescued coworkers in tow, to throw Barclay out.
Book 8 of The Chronicles of St. Mary’s has many painful moments. In fact, many call it “The Book That Should Not Be Named.” My favorite character was killed off, for one thing. But a very memorable moment came for me when Max was reunited with Matthew. It is not a sweet moment, but one to remember.
My favorite moment is when Harry finds out he is a wizard and can get some escape from the awful Dursleys.
One of my favorite moments in this book is when Hermione tells Ron that if he doesn’t like her going with Krum to the ball, then next time he should ask her before someone else does. I just thought it was a cute reaction by Ron, who still didn’t get it.
Two moments from this book stood out for me: The first is when Aravis gets clawed by a lion, and Aslan tells her it was stripe for stripe the wounds that were received by the servant girl she left behind when she escaped, and who faced a lashing because of it. She asked if the girl was going to be okay, and Aslan said that was not her story to know. I always found that pretty powerful.
My second favorite moment was when Shasta found out who he truly was.
There are so many great moments in this book it’s hard to pick a favorite, but one that really made me laugh is this one: After Elner Shimfissle falls out of her fig tree and has a near-death experience, she meets her dead sister Ida. Ida apparently is still quite miffed that Elner let Tot Wooten do her hair after she died. The whole scene is hilarious.
I’ve mentioned this before, but this is my “snowstorm” read when I’m snowed in or on a snow day. My favorite moments are when Pa finds Alamanzo’s secret wheat storage spot, and all the ways Caroline finds to keep them fed and alive when food is scarce. When the trains finally get through, Pa’s very short prayer before eating a late Christmas dinner (in the Spring) is sweet too.
Andy Weir is a genius because he managed to use math and physics in a work of fiction and still keep me not just interested, but riveted. My favorite moments are in the beginning when Ryland Grace slowly figures out who he is, where he is, and why he’s on a spaceship millions of miles from home. Weir slowly peels the onion to bring Ryland back to awareness, and it is brilliant.
My favorite moment is when Neville stands up to Voldemort, breaks free of his curse, and kills Nagini. I like the scene in the book much better than the one in the movie.
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
This week’s Top 10 Tuesday is Top 10 Unlikable Characters You Grow To Love. I don’t think I’ve grown to LOVE any of them, but I would say there are some I’ve grown to understand, like, or maybe hate less. Click on the cover to find each book on Amazon. So here they are:
Severus Snape. (Harry Potter) Snape detests Harry, but there is more to the story.
2. Draco Malfoy. (Harry Potter) Malfoy was a jerk but most of that was the fault of his parents. He never truly turned evil when he had the opportunity.
3. Rosalie (Twilight) Rosalie wasn’t very nice to Bella most of the time, but it really was because she never wanted to be a vampire and was bitter about losing her chance to become a Mom.
4. Edmund Pevensie (The Chronicles of Narnia). Edmund starts off with a bad attitude and an act of betrayal, but he eventually turns it around, with the help of Aslan.
5. Eustace (The Chronicles of Narnia): Eustace has to turn into a dragon to finally figure things out, but he eventually gets it.
6. Orin Marino: (Framed) by Gail Meath. In Framed, Marino is a criminal and suspected murderer, but he still found his way into my heart. I’m hoping to see him in future books. Click on the cover and check out Framed to see if you agree with me about Orin.
7. Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice): From standoffish and insulting to hopelessly in love. What’s not to like?
8. The Grinch: We all know the story. He was a mean one, Mr. Grinch. Until he wasn’t.
9. Haymitch Abernathy (The Hunger Games). He’s rude and drunk all the time when he’s supposed to be helping the Tributes. But he has a reason.
10. Ebenezer Scrooge. (A Christmas Carol) A horrible man in the beginning, but he saw his future and decided to make a change. I can respect that.
How about you? What characters did you dislike at first, but slowly learn to like or love?
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a Halloween freebie. Since I don’t read horror or anything too bloody or scary, I decided to post covers of books that include ghosts, witches, or vampires, but are not scary or too violent. Check out my list below. Some of these are books I’ve read and some are books I’m interested in. Some of them are available on Kindle Unlimited.
A grieving widow buys a New England mansion with plans to open up a bed and breakfast. Her first night there, she meets a former resident of the house. He explains to her that he was murdered and wants her help in catching his killer. This is Book 1 of the Salem B&B Mysteries, which has a total of 6 books so far.Mrs. McClure is managing a mystery book shop in Rhode Island, but soon discovers the store has another resident, a private investigator who was murdered in the store 50 years ago. This is book one of nine in the Haunted Bookshop Mysteries.
The Harry Potter series needs no introduction, and it’s full of ghosts, witches, and other magical beings.
Although Twilight does have some violence, it’s not too much for me to handle. I love the fact that the Cullens do not hunt humans and I love the Native American werewolf shapeshifters protecting the town of Forks. I’m Team Jacob. lol.Jane Garbo has tried to live a normal life, but given that she’s a witch, that just isn’t possible. Her family runs a world-famous haunted house in an old mansion in Maine, and when Jane runs out of options she moves back home. What her family has neglected to tell her is that there are serious problems at the mansion, and no one knows what’s at the root of the trouble. If Jane can’t solve the mystery, more lives could be lost. Including her own.This is Book 1 in the All Souls Trilogy. In this tale of passion and obsession, Diana Bishop, a young scholar and a descendant of witches, discovers a long-lost and enchanted alchemical manuscript, Ashmole 782, deep in Oxford’s Bodleian Library. Its reappearance summons a fantastical underworld, which she navigates with her leading man, vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont.This is Book 1 of 4 in the Harper Connelly Series. This is not one of Charlaine Harris’s more popular series, but it’s my favorite. Harper Connelly has what you might call a strange job: she finds dead people. She can sense the final location of a person who’s passed, and share their very last moment. Harper and her stepbrother Tolliver are experts at getting in, getting paid, and then getting out of town fast—because the people who hire Harper have a funny habit of not really wanting to know what she has to tell them.This is Book 3 in the Paige Papillon Mystery Series about a paranormal investigator. I’ve not read this yet but it is available on Kindle Unlimited, so I’m going to check it out.Ophelia Harrison used to live in a small house in the Georgia countryside. But that was before the night in November 1922, and the cruel act that took her home and her father from her. Which was the same night that Ophie learned she can see ghosts. Now Ophie and her mother are living in Pittsburgh with relatives they barely know. In the hopes of earning enough money to get their own place, Mama has gotten Ophie a job as a maid in the same old manor house where she works. Daffodil Manor, like the wealthy Caruthers family who owns it, is haunted by memories and prejudices of the past—and, as Ophie discovers, ghosts as well. Ghosts who have their own loves and hatreds and desires, ghosts who have wronged others and ghosts who have themselves been wronged. And as Ophie forms a friendship with one spirit whose life ended suddenly and unjustly, she wonders if she might be able to help—even as she comes to realize that Daffodil Manor may hold more secrets than she bargained for.I didn’t believe in ghosts…until I became one. Okay, let me back up a bit to the time when I wasn’t dead. I’d been promoted to manager of special events and concessions at Colby Pointe’s much-loved cinema and drafthouse. I was having a ball with my pug, Cleopatra. And to top it off, I’d started dating a gorgeous cop named Scott. Then five days ago, I was strangled at the cinema, and it was all taken away from me. It wasn’t until I met Celeste, my Orientation Specialist and Guide to the Beyond, that I quickly learned that not only was I dead, but there was a good reason for my lingering: to help solve my own murder and put a killer behind bars… Oh, and interesting twist: Scott is the only living person who can see and hear me in my ghostly form. One problem: he’s a skeptic. Will I convince this no-nonsense cop that he’s not going crazy and I am indeed real? And if so, will we be able to catch my killer before they claim their next victim? I guess I’ll find out soon enough. Join Hannah Jenkins in the Hannah the Ghost P.I. series, a paranormal cozy mystery featuring a ghost sleuth, clairvoyant pets, and a murder to solve.
What about you? What spooky but not too scary books do you like?
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
Today’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt was simply “Favorite Words.” I added phrases to that as well, and my words/phrases all come from the South. My list is below.
Y’all: Y’all is a southern word meaning “you all.” It is meant to be used to address a group of people. It annoys me to no end when I’m watching tv and some actor says “y’all” to one person. No. Proper use: “Y’all come in and get some cornbread,” as long as “y’all means at least three people.
“Fixin to”: “Fixin to” is a phrase that means you’re about to do something. Proper use: “I’m fixin to go make some cornbread.” Speaking of cornbread, since I’ve mentioned it twice now, true Southern cornbread does not have sugar in it. If there is sugar in it, it’s cake. It also must be made in a cast iron skillet to get the crunchy sides and bottom.
“Holler: Holler has two meanings. It can mean to yell at someone, but in Appalachia it is also a dip in the mountains where one might reside. For example, Loretta Lynn was born in Butcher Holler, i.e. Butcher Hollow.
“Bless Your Heart”: “Bless Your Heart” as a phrase can be either a sincere sentiment or a slight dig. In the South, it often means, “well that was a slightly stupid thing you just said or did!”
“Hissy Fit,”: A grownup temper tantrum. Proper use: “Granny’s done had a hissy fit.” “Done” in that sentence can be described as “already had” or “just had.”
“All Get Out”: All Get Out is the top of the top. ” He was as mad as all get out.” As far as reactions, it’s hard to get higher than “all get out.” I was shocked as “all get out.”
“A Month of Sundays” This means a very long time. “I haven’t seen you in a month of Sundays!”
“Mess” Mess could mean untidy or disorderly, but in the South it also refers to a large quantity. “I’m fixing a mess of collard greens.” “I’ve got a mess of beans on the stove.”
“Sam Hill.” This is a substitution for a curse word. “What in Sam Hill are you doing?” I tried to find the origin of this, and there may have been a man named Sam Hill who was such a notorious swearer that others just substituted his name for a curse word. A dubious honor in my opinion. There was also a Kentucky general named Samuel Ewing Hill, who was sent to investigate the feud between the Hatfields and McCoys, and then the expression “What in the Sam Hill is going on up there? was born. There are also several other origin stories, and in other parts of the country. EDIT: I would put my money on “What in Sam Hill” being a safe substitute for “What in the hell,” and there is probably not really a person named Sam Hill associated.
“Son of a Biscuit”: This is another popular substitution for a curse word. “He’s a real son of a biscuit!”
American Biscuits.
So that’s my list of Southern Words and phrases. I hope y’all liked it. 😉 Can you think of any words or phrases from your part of the country or world that you especially like?
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
This week’s topic is Books I Read on Vacation. Here are ten books I read on vacation, plus a bonus book I’m about to read on vacation.
While driving to Cincinnati for a football game, I finished listening to an audiobook of The American Adventuress by C.W. Gortner. This is a novel about the mother of Winston Churchill. On the way back, I listened to an audiobook of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. While on that same vacation, I was reading an ebook of The Family Home.
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
For today’s Top Ten Tuesday, we were asked to name our favorite bookstores or bookstores we’d like to visit. The first shop is one I’ve visited often, and the rest are shops I’d like to visit. Most of them are on my list for a future road trip to visit bookstores in the South, except for one, which is in France.
The Friends of the Marianna Black Library group provides financial support to buy books and other materials for the library’s collection, purchase needed items of equipment or furniture, and help sponsor library programs. The Used Book Store, located at 32 Everett Street right down the street from the Library, is the Friends’ primary fundraiser and is staffed 100% by volunteers. Bookstore shelves are stocked with used books on a wide range of topics, best sellers, books by North Carolina authors, oldies and autographed books, children’s books, puzzles, videos, DVDs and magazines. All items have been donated. Donated materials and volunteers are always needed.
I love this bookstore because it’s staffed by volunteers whose main focus is to support the library in Bryson City, NC. I visit whenever I can and always find a great book. I currently have a bunch of ARCs to donate to them soon.
This is a famous bookstore I would love to visit! Shakespeare and Company is an English-language bookshop in the heart of Paris, on the banks of the Seine, opposite Notre-Dame. Since opening in 1951, it’s been a meeting place for ex-pat writers and readers, becoming a Left Bank literary institution. I learned about it in Darlene Foster’s book, Amanda in France.
I am planning a road trip to independent bookstores in the South over the next couple of years. Union Avenue Books will be on the list. They are downtown Knoxville’s locally-owned independent bookstore with a great selection of newly published titles. They host a variety of local, regional, and nationally known authors for readings and book signings.
As I was looking for local Independent bookstores in the South, I found one in Sylva! This mountain town is not far from my retirement home in Bryson City, NC. I will be going there soon.
City Lights Bookstore is in Sylva, North Carolina, a small Main Street town tucked in the heart of the southern Appalachian Mountains. Their goal is to share the literature of the region with the world, and the world of books with their community. Selling new and used books, cards, gifts, journals, maps, and more since 1985. They also have a lot of great events and signings.
Faulkner House Books is located in the heart of New Orleans’ beautiful and historic French Quarter, just off Jackson Square, behind the Cabildo and opposite St. Louis Cathedral’s rear garden. Founded in 1988 by attorney Joseph J. DeSalvo Jr. and his wife Rosemary James, Faulkner House Books is a sanctuary for fine literature and rare editions, including, of course, books by and about Mr. Faulkner. Frequently featured in the national news media, Faulkner House Books has been described by both collectors and writers as America’s most charming book store.
Chop Suey Books has been serving the Richmond community for two decades. Currently located in the heart of Richmond’s Carytown district and owned by Chris and Berkley McDaniel, the store is staffed by long-time patrons and is a hub for local authors and book lovers alike. The original Chop Suey Books opened in 2002 on West Cary Street near the Virginia Commonwealth University campus, in a building that used to house George’s Chop Suey restaurant, which inspired the name.
They’ve got new books on their lower level and five rooms of used books upstairs, with Wonny (their 16-year-old tuxedo cat) wandering in, out, and around his kingdom.
Parnassus Books is the independent bookstore for independent people located in Nashville, Tennessee. The shop has been co-owned by novelist Ann Patchett and her business partner, Karen Hayes, since it opened in 2011. (Read all about the start of the store in Ann’s own words here!) Parnassus stocks an extensive and exciting selection of books including fiction, non-fiction, children’s, local interests, and the arts. The store also boasts an extensive local author section.
Blue Bicycle Books is the hub of YALLFest, Charleston’s Young Adult Book Festival, which takes over Upper King Street on the second weekend of November every year. They offer lots of other events and signings as well.
This store has a unique stock–every book in the store is signed! Anyone who collects signed books needs to put this store on their “must visit” list. It’s on mine.
Bonnie Reads and Writes 
You must be logged in to post a comment.