May 2, 2023
top ten books proximate to me
posted by soe 1:58 am
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday from That Artsy Reader Girl invites us to share the first ten books we pull from our shelves.
Here are the first ten I grabbed from piles/bags near our couch (which admittedly include a good number of my library books):
- In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune
- Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li
- The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley
- An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten
- Check, Please!: Sticks and Scones by Ngozi Uzaku
- Not Your Villain by C.B. Lee
- The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
- I Came All This Way to Meet You by Jami Attenberg
- Lark and Kasim Start a Revolution by Kacen Callender
- She-Hulk: Jen, Again by Rainbow Rowell, with illustrations by Rogê Antônio & Luca Maresca
The Wind in the Willows, which I’m behind on a readalong for, is the only one of these I’ve finished. Have you read any of them and do you recommend them?
April 25, 2023
top ten favorite audiobook narrators
posted by soe 1:20 am
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday from That Artsy Reader Girl asks us to share our audiobook narrator recommendations. Here are ten I’ve enjoyed (in addition to the celebrities who’ve read their memoirs:
- Kate Reading (The Lady Sherlock series)
- Neil Gaiman (Norse Mythology)
- Kirsten Potter (Fortune Favors the Dead)
- Adjoah Andoh (Get a Life, Chloe Brown)
- Lauren Fortgang (Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts)
- Claire Corbett (The Lido)
- Eunice Wong (The Verifiers)
- Kevin R. Free (All Systems Red)
- David Thorpe (A Marvellous Light)
- Julia Whelan (The Vivian Apple series, Thank You for Listening)
How about you? Do you have any audiobook readers you particularly recommend?
April 11, 2023
top ten books on my tbr with animals in the title
posted by soe 12:23 am
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday from That Artsy Reader Girl invites us to share books with animals on the cover or in the title. Here are ten from my to-be-read list:
- Reynard the Fox by Anne-Louise Avery
- The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde
- Kelly Barnhill’s The Crane Husband
- Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
- The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
- Natalie Lloyd’s Hummingbird
- How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior
- The Swallows by Lisa Lutz
- Strange Birds: A Guide to Ruffling Feathers by Celia C. Pérez
- Roshani Chokshi’s The Gilded Wolves
Do you have any favorite books with animals in the title I should add to my list?
March 14, 2023
top ten titles on my spring 2023 tbr list
posted by soe 1:33 am

I always enjoy the seasonal Top Ten Tuesday weeks at
That Artsy Reader Girl, even if I’m not always great at getting the books read. (I’m at two for the
winter list.) Here are ten books I’m really hoping to get to this spring:
- The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
- Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
- A Sinister Revenge by Deanna Raybourn
- In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune
- Nic Blake and the Remarkables by Angie Thomas
- Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
- Maggie Smith’s You Could Make This Place Beautiful
- Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley
- Hoops by Matt Taveres
- Colleen Oakley’s The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise
How about you? What are you looking forward to reading this spring?
February 28, 2023
top ten works of speculative fiction on my tbr list
posted by soe 1:10 am

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday from That Artsy Reader Girl offers a topic of our choosing relating to genre of our choosing. Here are ten works of speculative fiction (the catch-all for fantasy, science fiction, dystopian, and other novels of “not the real world”) that are on my to-be-read list:
- A Restless Truth by Freya Marske
- In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune
- Kelly Barnhill’s When Women Were Dragons
- The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal
- Dhonielle Clayton’s The Marvellers
- Angie Thomas’ Nic Blake and the Remarkables
- Aurora’s End by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
- The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
- A.J. Sherwood’s How I Stole the Princess’s White Knight and Turned Him to Villainy
- Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde
How about you? Are there other works of speculative fiction you think I should add?
February 21, 2023
top ten favorite book heroines
posted by soe 2:03 am

In this week’s Top Ten Tuesday from
That Artsy Reader Girl, we’re invited to share ten of our favorite literary heroines. Here are some of mine, all of whom could be described as prickly, quirky, loyal, and independent:
- Meg Murray from Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time and subsequent related novels
- Thursday Next from Jasper Fforde’s The Eyre Affair and subsequent books
- Elizabeth Darcy from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- Petrova Fossil from Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
- Jo March from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
- Xan from The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
- Charlotte Holmes from A Scarlet Woman and the other Lady Sherlock novels by Sherry Thomas
- Phryne Fisher from Cocaine Blues and the rest of the series by Kerry Greenwood
- Anne Shirley from L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables and the other books in the series
- Felicity Pickle from A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd
How about you? Who are some of your favorite literary heroines, those characters you’d love to have as IRL friends?