This week’s Top Ten Tuesday option from That Artsy Reader Girl invites us to share ten random books from our shelves. I am feeling sleepy and lazy (and eventually put the computer down and went to sleep), so instead opted to share ten of the books I have out from the three libraries I have cards at. (Many libraries have reciprocity with nearby communities, and I highly recommend this as a tactic if you spend a lot of time on holds lists.)

1. The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong (I started this from one library and had to return it unfinished. It’s now overdue to a second library system, and I’m hoping to check it out from the first library again before the end of the year.)
2. The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C.M. Waggoner (currently reading)
3. Mrs. Claus and the Trouble with Turkeys by Liz Ireland (There are surprisingly few Thanksgiving reads. I’m hoping this one isn’t terrible — or, at least, that it’s good terrible. TBR)
4. The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown (audiobook; currently listening, but parts are highly stressful)
5. How to Have a Killer Time in D.C. by Sam Lunley (audiobook; started but haven’t gotten back to it)
6. The Nightmare before Kissmas by Sara Raasch (finished last week — solid read for Halloween or Christmas, and the sequel has to do with Christmas and St. Patrick’s Day)
7. No Less Strange or Wonderful by A. Kendra Greene (halfway through, but haven’t picked it up in weeks)
8. Falling like Leaves by Misty Wilson (started)
9. Cinder House by Freya Marske (TBR)
10. When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley (TBR)

How about you? What do you have out from the library right now? Are you reading those books or ones from your personal collection instead?

This week, That Artsy Reader Girl invites us to contribute a Halloween list of our own choosing for Top Ten Tuesday. I’m going to give you ten books that would be a fun, seasonal read during the next week or so that might not appear on more conventional lists:

1. Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia (ghosts, Halloween setting)
2. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna (witches)
3. Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott (“haunted” house)
4. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Death narrates)
5. Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor (African witches)
6. Greenglass House by Kate Milford (Christmassy ghosts)
7. The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling (Southern and Scottish witch romances)
8. The Afterlife of Mal Caldera by Nadi Reed Perez (a whole dead community)
9. Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune (ghosts, sorta)
10. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (vampires and witches)

I’m currently reading a seasonal romance and a literary thriller and hope to fit in one more witchy book before next week.

How about you? Do you have anything seasonal in your TBR pile, or do you eschew books of that ilk?

As today was the first day of fall, it’s time to share ten of the books I’m hoping to read this autumn as part of That Artsy Reader Girl’s Top Ten Tuesday:

1. Sherry Thomas’ The Librarians
2. Falling Like Leaves by Misty Wilson
3. Hannah Nicole Maehrer’s Accomplice to the Villain
4. The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennett, Witch by Melina Taub
5. The People’s Project, curated by Saeed Jones and Maggie Smith
6. The Nightmare before Kissmas by Sara Raasch
7. Haikyu!, Vol. 1 by Haruichi Furudate
8. Jolloff Rice and Other Revolutions by Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi
9. Sonali Dev’s There’s Something about Mira
10. The World’s Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant by Liza Tully

I’m averaging about three finished titles out of the ten for this year’s earlier lists, so I’ll be interested to see if I do better this fall or not.

How about you? What do you hope to read this autumn?

I slacked on sharing my summer reads, but it’s time to get back on track. Back in June, I finished four books — three on paper and one in audio:

A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrell

This is a double epistolary work of speculative fiction, which I started in audiobook format last year before remembering I hate listening to letter and email headers. (more…)

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic from That Artsy Reader Girl focuses on doorstoppers, the type of book that you can use to weigh down a beach blanket on a breezy day. I decided to share the ten longest books on my Goodreads want-to-read list:

1. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (1276 pages)
2. Collected Poems: 1950-2012 by Adrienne Rich (1164 pages)
3. Divine Days by Leon Forrest (1135 pages)
4. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin (916 pages)
5. The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (848 pages)
6. A Dictionary of Modern English Usage by Henry Watson Fowler (825 pages)
7. The Saga of Icelanders edited by Jane Smiley (782 pages)
8. The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope (776 pages)
9. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch (752 pages)
10. Decca: The Letters of Jessica Mitford by Jessica Mitford (744 pages)

How about you? Do you have any lengthy tomes you’d recommend I pick up?

I’m still a little behind in reviewing books, but let’s be honest: none of us thought I was going to be this up-to-date, given I usually make it a month or so before giving up on posting reviews.

Anyway.

I finished five books in May:

Kills Well with Others by Deanna Raybourn

In this follow-up to Killers of a Certain Age, the quartet of retired women assassins return. In this story, there is a mole in the secret agency they worked for, which leads to a former colleague being murdered and a clue being left that points to one of their old assignments. Their contact, not knowing which current agents she can trust, turns to them, asking them to go undercover on a cruise and take out the person responsible, while she works the internal angles. Only it turns out that even after his death, there may still be ripple effects that continue to be in play, bringing danger once again to their loved ones.

Solid fun. Honestly, if this book series hasn’t been optioned to a studio yet, it’s a shame.

Paper. Library. (more…)