Books I Read/Avoided Because of the Hype | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday | 10/1/24

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Please check out her website for more TTT topics!

This week’s topic is:

Books I Read/Avoided Because of the Hype

Hype books are something I usually steer clear of until a few months or a year later. But there are moments where I cave in. Here are some of the hyped books that I’ve read or avoided.

Powerful (The Powerless Trilogy, #1.5) by. Lauren Roberts – I thought Powerless was okay and I don’t usually read novellas in a series, but I figure I read this one while I wait for my library copy of Reckless and I actually enjoyed this one.
The Women by. Kristin Hannah – for us who love this author, I think every book she puts out is hyped and I read them ASAP or as soon as I can. So far I’ve loved all her books!
The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1) by. R.F. Kuang – I only heard of this series when I became a book blogger and the hype for this in the book blogging world was worth it.

Just For the Summer (Part of Your World, #3) by. Abby Jimenez – this was actually the first book I read from this author and there was so much hype for this because it’s a summer read. But I thought it was just okay.
Butcher & Blackbird (The Ruinous Love Trilogy) by. Brynne Weaver – this one was very hyped and I finally read it but the gore was too much for me.
The Familiar by. Leigh Bardugo – I know her books are hyped but I still haven’t read this one. I feel like I eventually will but I don’t know when.

Funny Story by. Emily Henry – another author who’s books are super hyped. I didn’t love the last book but this one, I loved!
The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by. Megan Bannen – everyone kept telling me to read this one and I FINALLY read it this year and I can see why so many people raved about it.
Bride by. Ali Hazelwood – this one was a hyped book this year and I waited because I got a library copy but it was a fun read!

House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City, #3) by. Sarah J. Maas – all her books are hyped and this one was entertaining but Crescent City is not my favorite series. Still I read her books as soon as they publish!

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Top Ten Tuesday Topics:

SEPTEMBER~~
September 3: Books Involving Food (That are Not Cookbooks) (Submitted by Cathy @ WhatCathyReadNext and Hopewell’s Public Library of Life)
September 10: Books That Provide a Much-Needed Escape (bonus points if you tell us why!)
September 17: Ten Characters Authors Surprisingly Redeemed (which characters did you not like at first, but grew to love by the end of the book?) (submitted by Deanna @ A Novel Glimpse)
September 24: Books on My Fall 2024 To-Read List

OCTOBER~~
October 1: Books I Read/Avoided Because of the Hype (and did you make the right choice?)
October 8: Bookish Brags (or Confessions!) (what are you proud of or… not-so proud of in your bookish life?) (submitted by Lydia @ https://lydiaschoch.com)
October 15: Books I Was Assigned to Read in School (These can be books you loved or hated. Or just tolerated. Bonus points if you give us a tiny review of your thoughts!)
October 22: How My Reading Habits Have Changed Over Time (submitted by Lydia @ https://lydiaschoch.com)
October 29: Halloween Freebie

Books on My Fall 2024 To-Read List | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday | 9/24/24

This week’s topic is:

Books on My Fall 2024 To-Read List

I’m so grateful I got an arc to most of the Fall books I wanted to read. But here are some of the ones I would like to read this Fall…

Vilest Things (Flesh and False Gods, #2) by. Chloe Gong – book 2 in the series
To Shatter the Night (Mistlands, #2) by. Katherine Quinn – this one releases in the beginning of December so it might have to be pushed to my Winter reads list.
Where the Library Hides (Secrets of the Nile, #2) by. Isabel Ibañez – excited for this one!

The Whispering Night (Luminaries, #3) by. Susan Dennard – it’ll be interesting to see how this series ends.
The Ancient’s Game by. Loni Crittenden – I love this cover and the synopsis sounds interesting!
Reckless (The Powerless Trilogy, #2) by. Lauren Roberts – curious to see what happens next.

Storm of Ink and Blood (The Nightfire Quartet, #3) by. Nisha J. Tuli – such a pretty cover and I hope this one is good.
The Grandest Game (The Grandest Game, #1) by. Jennifer Lynn Barnes – I’ve been wanting to read this one – I just need to get a copy.
Throne of Secrets (Prince of Sin, #2) by. Kerri Maniscalco – this is a fun series, looking forward to see what happens next with the Prince of Gluttony!

Poison in Their Hearts (Castles in Their Bones, #3) by. Laura Sebastian – I need to read this one to finish the series.

What’s on your TTT?

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Top Ten Tuesday Topics:

Books That Take Place In A School | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday 9/17/24

This week’s topic is: ~~Ten Characters Authors Surprisingly Redeemed~~

Books That Take Place In A School

The original topic for this week took up too much brain power for me so I’m going to do a very easy one and since school is back in session – here are some books that take place in school.

Didn’t See That Coming by. Jesse Q. Sutanto

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Books That Provide a Much-Needed Escape | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday 9/10/24

This week’s topic is:

Books That Provide a Much-Needed Escape

The House at Watch Hill by. Karen Marie Moning – for some paranormal, creepy house, Fall read escape
The Paradise Problem by. Christina Lauren – a rich people wedding getaway on a private island
Birding with Benefits by. Sarah T. Dubb – escaped into the world of birding which I knew nothing about!

A Monsoon Rising by. Thea Guanzon – I definitely escaped into the romance!
The Thirteenth Child by. Erin A. Craig – I escaped into a dark and magical world.
The Ever King by. L.J. Andrews – I escaped on a pirating adventure.

Check & Mate by. Ali Hazelwood – I found myself totally escaping into the high stakes Chess matches!
Not Another Love Song by. Julie Soto – I definitely escaped in the music and romance the characters were lost in.
Dungeons and Drama by. Kristy Boyce – escaped into the cute high school romance in this story!

A Novel Love Story by. Ashley Poston – this is a whole escape into a fictional town! Getting lost in a book – literally!

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Top Ten Tuesday Topics:

Books Involving Food (That are Not Cookbooks) | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday 9/3/24

This week’s topic is:

Books Involving Food (That are Not Cookbooks)

Guava and Grudges by. Alexis Castellanos – Cuban bakeries
The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by. Megan Bannen – pastries
All Roads Lead to Rome by. Sabrina Fedel – Italian food

The Break-Up Pact by. Emma Lord – scones
Butcher & Blackbird by. Brynne Weaver – a serial killer is a chef also 😬
That Prince is Mine by. Jayci Lee – Korean food

Tweet Cute by. Emma Lord – sweets
One Italian Summer by. Rebecca Serle – Italian food
Salt and Sugar by. Rebecca Carvalho – rival Brazilian bakeries

With or Without You by. Eric Smith – food trucks in Philadelphia

What’s on your TTT?

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Top Ten Tuesday Topics:

Posts I’ve Written That Give You the Best Glimpse of Me | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday 8/27/24

This week’s topic is:

Posts I’ve Written That Give You the Best Glimpse of Me

WWW Wednesday | 7/31/24 – my WWW posts usually gives a midweek update in my life.
Weekly Wrap Up | 7/28/24 – also my weekly wrap-ups shows what I’ve been watching and listening to!
New-To-Me Authors | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday 7/23/24 – I love finding new authors to read!
Birding with Benefits by. Sarah T. Dubb | Book Review – I love learning new things in books I read, like with this one – I learned about birding.
Stacking the Shelves | 7/18/24 – I am ALWAYS trying to catch up with my reading list, but also keep adding more books. 😬 I know I’m not alone in this!

I’m going to keep it at 5 on this list since usually you can get the best glimpse of my from my weekly posts!

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Top Ten Tuesday Topics:

AUGUST~~

August 6: Ten Favorite Books from Ten Series (We all have a favorite book in our favorite series, right?) (submitted by A Hot Cup of Pleasure)
August 13: Planes, Trains & Automobiles/Books Featuring Travel (books whose plots involve travel or feature modes of transportation on the cover/title) (submitted by Cathy @ What Cathy Read Next)
August 20: Relationship Freebie (Pick a relationship type and choose characters who fit that relationship as it relates to you. So, characters you’d like to date, be friends with, be enemies with, etc. Bookish families you’d like to be a part of, characters you’d want as your siblings, pets you’d like to take for yourself, etc.)
August 27: Posts I’ve Written That Give You the Best Glimpse of Me (Share the blog/Insta/Twitter posts or YouTube/TikTok videos you’ve made that showcase your personality the most and offer the clearest window into your personality. These are the posts you wish everyone would read!)

Ten Green Book Covers | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday 8/20/24

This week’s topic is: ~~relationship freebie~~

Ten Green Book Covers

Since this is a freebie, I’m doing something completely other than the relationship freebie topic and going with something super simple. I already did a birthstone book tag but since peridot is the color for August, lets do more green book covers!

Fear the Flames by. Olivia Rose Darling

Happy Medium by. Sarah Adler

Valley by. Stacey McEwan

Ami: Guardians of Dawn by. S. Jae-Jones

Black Ride Son by. H.M. Long

Poison in Their Hearts by. Laura Sebastian

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by. Suzanne Collins

Beautiful Villain by. Rebecca Kenney

The Heiress by. Rachel Hawkins

Fate & Furies by. Helen Scheuerer

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Top Ten Tuesday Topics:

AUGUST~~

Ten Planes, Trains & Automobiles/Books Featuring Travel | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday 8/13/24

This week’s topic is:

Planes, Trains & Automobiles/Books Featuring Travel

I’m adding boats and bikes because I can’t find many books with planes or trains in my collection! Also some of these books do not feature travel at all because I was going for book covers with this theme.

All Roads Lead to Rome by Sabrina Fedel

Nothing Like the Movies by. Lynn Painter

The Guncle Abroad by. Steven Rowley

Places We’ve Never Been by. Kasie West

The Getaway List by. Emma Lord

Ciao For Now by. Kate Bromley

The Women by. Kristin Hannah

Tangled Up in You by. Christina Lauren

Along For the Ride by. Sarah Dessen

The Do-Over by. Lynn Painter

What’s on your TTT?

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Top Ten Tuesday Topics:

AUGUST~~

Ten Favorite Books from Ten Series | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday 8/6/24

This week’s topic is:

Ten Favorite Books from Ten Series

The Bridge Kingdom (#1) by. Danielle L. Jensen – The first book of The Bridge Kingdom series is probably my favorite because of just how everything begins!

A Court of Mist and Fury (ACOTAR, #2) by. Sarah J. Maas – I honestly love book one a LOT, but then I think about Tamlin and then think about how I dislike so much in the rest of the series so I’m going to stick with book two as my favorite. Also A Court of Silver Flames is one of my favorites too but I figure book two was where everything for Feyra really changes.

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (#1) by. Jenny Han – just everything about how they have history to fake dating is so good. I love the whole letter writing – because who does that nowadays?

The Sweetest Betrayal (The Kinder Poison, #3) by. Natalie Mae – book three in The Kinder Poison series is my favorite and just thinking about it makes me want to read the whole series again!

The Empress of Time (The Keeper of Night, #2) by. Kylie Lee Baker – I thought the second book in this duology was better than book one. It’s so dark and full of action.

The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1) by. R.F. Kuang – This book blew me away! I love the whole series but I think book one was amazing.

The Prison Healer (The Prison Healer, #1) by. Lynette Noni – I enjoyed this series and really like the first and third book but for this list I’ll pick book one.

Greythorne (Bloodleaf, #2) by. Crystal Smith – I rarely enjoy the second book in a series but I loved this one!

Legendary (Caraval, #2) by. Stephanie Garber – I loved Caraval but I loved Legendary more!

The Shadowglass (The Bone Witch, #3) by. Rin Chupeco – I almost DNF’ed the first book then gave it another chance and this became one of my favorite series. Book three gutted me and it’s my favorite!

What’s on your TTT?

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Top Ten Tuesday Topics:

AUGUST~~

Books I Wish Had More Romance In Them | TTT | Top Ten Tuesday 7/30/24

This week’s topic is: Books I Wish Had More/Less [Insert Your Concept Here] In Them

Books I Wish Had More Romance In Them

I live for romance in books! Here are some books I wish had MORE romance in them.

Check & Mate by. Ali Hazelwood – I LOVED this book but I wish there were more scenes between Mallory and Nolan.

The Break-Up Pact by. Emma Lord needed more romance and less miscommunication.

Heavenbreaker by. Sara Wolf needed lots more romance but I hope we get that in book two.

The Hemlock Queen by. Hannah Whitten – needs less of the love triangle unless it becomes a throuple 😅.

King of Sloth by. Ana Huang loses steam halfway through the book. It’s my least favorite book in this series and definitely needed more romance.

Fate of the Sun King by. Nisha J.Tuli did finally get the romance happening in this book but it would have been nice to get it earlier in the series!

This Summer Will be Different by. Carley Fortune – this one needed less of the drama conflict in the last part of the book. I think it had enough romance.

Just for the Summer by. Abby Jimenez – I felt needed more romance.

Destroy the Day by. Brigid Kemmerer – it had lots of couples but the main ones Corrick and Tessa were apart almost for the whole book! Needed more romance between them.

The Prisoner’s Throne by. Holly Black – I needed more romance between Oak and Wren.

What’s on your TTT?

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Top Ten Tuesday Topics:

May 7: May Flowers — Pick your own title for this one to reflect the direction you choose to go with this prompt (books with flowers on the cover, flower names in the title, characters whose names are flower names, stories involving flowers/gardeners)
May 14: Favorite Book Quotes (You can pick your favorite quotes from books, or about books! You can set a theme like quotes from books about love, friendship, hope, etc. or you can just share quotes you loved from your recent reads!)
May 21: Authors I’d Love a New Book From (These could be authors that have passed away, who have retired from writing, who have inexplicably gone quiet, or who might jut not be able to keep up with how quickly you read their books!)
May 28: Books I Was Super Excited to Get My Hands on but Still Haven’t Read

June~~
June 4: Books I Had VERY Strong Emotions About (Any emotion! Did a book make you super happy or sad? Angry? Terrified? Surprised?)
June 11: Bookish Wishes (List the top 10 books you’d love to own and include a link to your wishlist so that people can grant your wishes. Make sure you link your wishlist to your mailing address or include the email address associated with your e-reader in the list description so people know how to get the book to you. After you post, jump around the Linky and grant a wish or two if you’d like. Please don’t feel obligated to send anything to anyone!)
June 18: Books on My Summer 2024 To-Read List
June 25: Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2024

July~~
July 2: Books with My Favorite Color on the Cover
July 9: Throwback Freebie (Pick a TTT topic that has been previously done. Maybe you missed it, weren’t blogging then, or you’d like to update an old list you made. All previous topics are listed below.)
July 16: Ten Things I Loved About [Insert Book Title Here] (Pick any book and tell us ten things you loved about it!) (submitted by Cathy @ WhatCathyReadNext)
July 23: Debut Novels I Enjoyed (A debut novel is an author’s first published book. You could also choose to share genre or age group debuts if you’d prefer, such as an adult fiction author’s first YA book or a mystery writer’s first romance.) (submitted by Angela @ Reading Frenzy)
July 30: Books I Wish Had More/Less [Insert Your Concept Here] In Them (for example: more/less romance, more/less world building, less info dumping, more/fewer pages, more character development, fewer characters, fewer descriptions, more suspense, etc.)