Category: Top Ten Tuesday

  I love autumn. I love everything about it. I love the cold bite in the air, I love the colours of the leaves, I love the satisfaction of a warm mug of tea and the unbeatable cosiness of anything warm and fuzzy. So it stands to reason that I enjoy books that give off READ MORE

  I can’t do horror. I can handle violence, but if there’s even a hint of creepy, I’m out. So there are definitely books I’d love to read if I had the constitution for them! There aren’t that many though, because since I can’t handle scary stories, I don’t tend to file them away in READ MORE

  This week’s prompt is a tricky one. I don’t really keep track of titles I don’t like, though I know there have been lots over the years. Here are a few I might have given a different title if it had been up to me, but I know there are ones I liked less READ MORE

  I think titles are so important. Not only do they tell you something about the book – its topic, tone and genre – but they also grab attention. I can’t count the number of times I’ve picked up a book just because I liked the sound of the title and ended up discovering something READ MORE

  I don’t think there will be anything that original in this list – I feel like most of us readers tend to gravitate towards similar character traits. But still, it is lovely to think back over some of my favourite characters and try to tease out just what, exactly, made me love them so READ MORE

  This week’s prompt is books that have a number in the title. I tried to include numbers 1-10 in particular, but I’ve also included a few other numbers just for the heck of it! Here they are:                                          READ MORE

  We’re finally heading into autumn, and I can’t tell you how relieved I am. I do not fare well in hot weather. I begin to wilt, and if it goes above 30°C I actually melt. It’s not pleasant. So autumn is always a hugely exciting season for me, even if it does bring a READ MORE

  There are definitely a fair few books on my shelves I look at on the regular and walk on by. Some I’ve tried, some I’ve re-tried, others I’m too scared to even attempt. And yet, they have been on my shelves, some for years, because despite my fears I think they deserve to be READ MORE

  I love it when a book pleasantly surprises me. I tend to feel like I have a good handle on what I’m going to like, but every once in a while I hear so much about a particular book that I decide to give it a try, even though on the surface it doesn’t READ MORE

  I’m very lucky because I’m at a point in my life where if I really want a book, I can just get it. There are exceptions to this, though. Some are out of print, others I can only find in damaged editions or at prices I’m not willing to pay. I don’t know if READ MORE

  I feel like, particularly among adult readers of YA books, the word “trope” tends to conjur negative associations. The word is usually applied to played-out plot devices and relationships that we are all so, so tired of reading. So to come up with a list of ten (seriously, ten??!!) that I like feels like READ MORE

  The best books are ones that feel real, like you’ve actually stepped into them and live, for a time, in their world. Because of this, the characters we find there often feel just as real to us as the people we bump into in real life. There are characters I have loved, hated, learned READ MORE

  I love learning from the books I read. Whether it’s about a set of experiences outside of what I can encounter first-hand, a place I’ve never been, an area of social or scientific research of particular interest to me or a culture that diverges from my own, I love finding ways to expand my READ MORE

  I love visiting other parts of the world in my books, but there are definitely places I love to read about, and that will make me want to pick up a book, and there are others that I find less appealing and will likely make me put it back down again. But this post READ MORE

  I have several of these, and there are more that I’m sure will become auto-buy authors once they have more books out to buy! These are the ones that most immediately came to mind when I read the prompt: Isabel Allende   I adore her mix of astute representation of the full range of READ MORE

  I adore it when I find a character (or person, if it’s non-fiction) in the pages of a book that I feel like I really get. One that could step off the page, fully formed, and sit down to have a cuppa with me. When this happens, the book will inevitably be counted amongst READ MORE

  There’s something magical about childhood memories of reading. The books I read as a child, particularly the ones I struggled to read to myself, have had a much greater impact on me than any of the books I’ve read as an adult. Here are some that stand out, and a few words about why. READ MORE

  As you all know, I am absolutely rubbish at sticking to any sort of TBR. But there are always some books on my TBR stack that shine brighter than the others, and these are them, in no particular order:       Your turn! Which books are you most drawn to for summer reading? READ MORE