Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Wish I Could Read Again For the First Time

 

This week's theme for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl,is "Books I Wish I Could Read Again For the First Time." I seem to recall doing this one before but I'm going to resist the urge to look for a previous post. I want to see what I come up with today. Several are books I would not read now. I was in such a true crime phase in my 20's and don't like it at all now! But I tried to include all my years of reading in this list.

In no particular order here they are. If you read my blog at all, many on the list probably won't surprise you, lol.  Click on the title to link to Goodreads.

Happy Reading ya'll!

1. Voyager by Diana Gabaldon (Book 3 of the Outlander series

2. The Land Beyond the Sea by Sharon Kay Penman

3. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

4. North and South by John Jakes

5. The Courts of Love by Jean Plaidy (Eleanor of Aquitaine)

6. Queens of England by Norah Lofts

7. Susannah by Candice F. Ransom

8. The Shattered Crowns series by Christina Crofts

9. Alexandra: The Last Tsarina by Carolly Erickson

10. Everything She Ever Wanted by Ann Rule 

Top Ten Tuesday: Satisfying Book Series

 

This week's theme for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is Satisfying Book Series.  I love series and have way too many of them going at once. I'll probably never read them all but I like to read book one and decide if I want to continue. It has to really be good for me to keep going past the first 2-3 books and I'm becoming more selective as there are just so many!  

The ones I've listed below are my absolute favorites (yes I repeat them often in these types of posts) and ones I either have read many or most of in the series or intend to. So enjoy, hopefully you find one you like from my list, and I can't wait to see other bloggers' lists. Might give me some new ideas! 

Happy reading ya'll!

Click on the link for GoodReads

Lady Eleanor Swift by Verity Bright

Cadfael Chronicles by Ellis Peters

The Kent Family Chronicles by John Jakes

William Monk by Anne Perry

Charlotte and Thomas Pitt by Anne Perry

The Inspector de Silva Mysteries by Harriet Steel

Lord Edgington Investigates by Benedict Brown

Fiona Figg Mysteries by Kelly Oliver

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen

The Medieval Saga Series by David Field

Have you read any books from these series? If yes, which ones were your favorites? Did you finish the series or not?

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Books On My Fall 2025 TBR List

 

 

This week's theme for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is to list the books on my TBR list for fall. I love posts like this but I usually end up with many unread by the next season. Still, it's fun to look ahead with the best intentions and I truly love going to other blogs to see what they have posted. So in no particular order, here are ten books I'd like to finish before the end of December. Happy reading ya'll!

Click on the book title to link to GoodReads:

1. Murder in an Irish Castle by Verity Bright

2. The Enemy and Miss Innes by Martha Keyes

3. Hammer of the Scots by Jean Plaidy

4. A Fatal Encounter in Tuscany by Vivian Conroy

5. Murder at Everham Hall by Benedict Brown

6. Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie

7. Tudor Dawn by David Field

8. Secrets of a Scottish Isle by Erica Ruth Neubauer

9. The Case of the Christie Conspiracy by Kelly Oliver

10.Stephen and Matilda's Civil War by Matthew Lewis

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite Cozy Series Mysteries Set in the 1920's

 

This week's theme for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is to pick books set in a certain time, place, etc. of my choosing. I thought it would be fun to choose books set in a one hundred year period and since I also love so many cozy mysteries I chose my favorite ones set in the 1920's. There are so many series here that I wanted to narrow down my favorites. Here is my list. I can't wait to see others' ideas!

Cozies Set in the 1920's: (Click on the title link to go to Good Reads)

1. Lady Caroline  by Isabella Bassett 

2. Lady Eleanor Swift by Verity Bright

3. Camille Devine Mysteries by Andrea Hicks

4. Lottie Sprigg Mysteries by Martha Bond

5. Jane Wunderly Mysteries by Erica Ruth Neubauer

6. Lord Edgington Investigates by Benedict Brown

7. Tommy and Evelyn Christie Mysteries by Catherine Coles

8. Lady Felicity Quick Mysteries by Rosie Hunt

9. Kitty Worthington Mysteries by Magda Alexander 

10. Her Royal Spyness Series by Rhys Bowen

Have you read any of these series? What other cozies are your favorites?

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I'd Like To Re-Read

 

This week's theme for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is "Books I'd LIke To Re-Read." This is a great topic and I already have a few that are in a folder in my Kindle titled TBR: Re-Reads. 

When I first saw this topic posted for the week I thought I'd have a hard time whittling my list down to ten. It has been really enlightening to see the exact opposite happened! I struggled to find more than 8-9 books I'd waste time re-reading all the way through. As I thought about different books I realized there were few worth my time to read again. It also showed me just how much I must love certain ones if I've not only read them more than once but would read them again a second, third, or even fourth time! 

If they are books like cozy mysteries in a super long series or history facts type of books I'd probably never re-read them. But epics or those books that lingered in my mind I often want to go back years later and read again. I'm going to list out to the side of the titles how many times I've already read the book so far. Just to remind myself how amazing it must have been. 

I am excited to see what my fellow bloggers posted and whether or not we share certain books worth re-reading. 

Happy reading ya'll!

Click on the title to link to Goodreads if you are interested in one of these! I have also added a link if I've reviewed it and you want to see my take on why I love it so much.

1. The Sunne in Splendour   by Sharon Kay Penman (1)

2. Gone With the Wind   by Margaret Mitchell (4)-  My Review

3. And Then There Were None   by Agatha Christie (1)- My Review

4. Drums of Autumn   by Diana Gabaldon (2)

5. Lord John and the Private Matter   by Diana Gabaldon (1)

6. Celia Garth   by Gwen Bristow (1)

7. Fall of Giants   by Ken Follett (1)

8. Devil's Brood   by Sharon Kay Penman (1)- My Review

9. Victoria Victorious   by Jean Plaidy (1)

10. Susannah   by Candice F. Ransom (Lost Count!)- My Review

Susannah is a book I read in 5th grade (I don't usually read kids or YA books now) and it sparked my love of reading so much. It also sparked my love of history (at the time of the Civil War) and I was so excited to find a copy on Amazon to buy used. I even reached out to the author and she responded thanking me for telling her how much her book meant to me as a kid. It was wonderful! Have to re-read this one soon :) 

c

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Books On My Summer 2025 To Be Read List

 

This week's theme for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is "Books On My Summer 2025 to be read list." I love this topic! Since I've already joined a summer reading challenge it's easy to list them. I've made a few slight changes to the last list I posted elsewhere as I've really cleaned up my Kindle of samples I'll never read and books I know I have absolutely no interest in. Also, I tend to love epics and long books and sequels but reading them in one summer isn't realistic. So I've tweaked things a bit. I hope you have a great list for me to check out too. Happy reading ya'll!

Link goes to Goodreads

1. The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

2. Murder at Everham Hall by Benedict Brown

3. Stormbird by Conn Iggulden

4. The Enemy and Miss Innes by Martha Keyes

5. The Iron King by Maurice Druon

6. Blood Roses by Kathryn Warner

7. Bethlehem Road by Anne Perry 

8. The Falcon of Palermo by Maria R. Bordihim

9. Murder Under the Mistletoe by Erica Ruth Neubauer

10. Winter of the World by Ken Follett 

Have you read any of these? What did you think? 

Top Ten Tuesday: How My Blogging Style Has Changed Over Time

 

This week's theme for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is "ways in which my blogging style has changed over time." I love this topic and like reflecting on it, seeing what I do differently now and what I'd like to change in the future. With it only being my fourth year at this I don't feel like the expert some of my fellow bloggers of twenty years are but I certainly now have a good feel for what it entails. 

So this is fun and gets me motivated to work harder to improve and drop the things that just don't work for me. I want to have fun at this and also have a quality blog so you have to modify sometimes! Here are the ten ways I've changed at blogging since I began in 2022. 

1. I don't write opinion posts anymore. I started to in the beginning but found I just didn't enjoy focusing my time on it. Maybe in the future I will again, I'm not against them, but I like focusing on books and authors and podcasts more. 

2. My willingness to review books I really disliked is not there. I don't mean I say every book is fabulous but if I really don't like a book I am hesitant to review it and say only negative things. Authors work very hard and it is discouraging to hear how awful your book was I'm sure. I'd rather review books I love or give an honest, but not harsh, completely negative review.

3. I don't write a book review every single week. I used to schedule a review for every single Friday. But I found it really stressed me out. Sometimes I was just too busy to finish a book that week or maybe I just had a week I didn't want to write a review. When reading long, epic books, a week is not nearly enough time to read it well. So now I'm working on just going with the flow. I have a schedule for blogging and regular posts but......I don't put pressure on myself to write a review every week on a certain day. I'll get to it when I get to it. Or at least I tell my brain that and try to relax, lol.

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Bookish Questions For My Blogger Friends

 

This week's theme for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is about unpopular bookish opinions. I was struggling to come up with a full list of ten on that topic.  So I decided to do my own thing and it's a topic I am really excited about! I am in awe of so many of my fellow bloggers and their creativity, technology skills, etc. Also the amount and depth of books read are astonishing from some of them! So, here are ten questions for my fellow bloggers, book lovers, or anyone who has insight. I'd love feedback! 

Happy Top Ten Tuesday :) 

1. Do you finish all the books in a series? Meaning....do you continue with the books in order until done or start multiple series and read more if you feel like it's a good one? I sometimes feel compelled to read them all but there's only so much time!

2. Do you have a favorite genre and stick to it? On my blog I exclusively focus on history, historical fiction, and historical mysteries. No modern literature. I am just not interested in it myself but I still love reading blogs with all kinds of books represented. 

3.How do you organize your books? In Kindle or on your shelves? Mine are organized by author if I have books or samples of three or more by them. I also have a section for "one hit wonders", or authors who only have one book I'm interested in. 

4. Do you download and keep samples thinking eventually you will buy the book? I have waaaaayyyyy too many samples! But I will forget about the book or wish I could remember it later so if a book looks interesting and is too expensive to justify buying at the moment I keep the sample with the section it goes in. 

5. Word Press or Blogger? Or something else? Right now I just can't afford Word Press but feel Blogger sometimes limits me when being creative with posts. Those of you on Blogger or even the totally free Blogspot......have you found the desire to use another platform? Why or why not? Any tips or tricks for creativity that took you awhile to learn?

6. Do you have a reading schedule? And a blogging schedule? Sometimes I find my schedule I set for myself getting a bit stale. But if I don't plan it out and stick to it the week gets away from me and then things don't get done. Any tips from my long term bloggers out there?

7. Do you take notes when reading a book so you will remember things when you write a review? I have not wanted to do this so far. It spoils the enjoyment of my reading. But then I often find I get to the end of the book and am frustrated that my review isn't as thorough as it could be. 

8. What do you like to discuss on your blog that isn't review related? I am always looking for fresh content to post, not just reviews or the same old stuff. 

9. DNF books (Did Not Finish).....this is huge for me! What to do with books you don't like, quit after awhile or just know you will NEVER read?? I have a hard time deleting anything because there are books I've "grown" into later. It is so stressful, this question (I'm too obsessive, lol)....what do you do with these?

10. And finallly.....how did you get more followers? This is something I struggle with because I don't tell many people about my blog. What are some tips to grow your blog and its followers?

I could probably come up with ten more but these are the ones rattling around in my head all the time. All feedback welcome!!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Set in Another Time

 

This week's theme for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, is "Books Set in Another Time." Since that is practically all I read that is an easy topic for me! Here are my top ten favorites right now although I think with more time I'd probably change the list constantly. 

The link will take you to Goodreads if you are interested in the book. You won't be disappointed in any of these if they are in a genre you enjoy. Happy reading ya'll!

1. The Land Beyond the Sea by Sharon Kay Penman- Crusader period 1100's

2. Voyager by Diana Gabaldon- Scotland/Caribbean 1700's 

3. The Falcon of Palermo by Maria R. Bordihn- Sicily 1100's-1200's

4. The Iron King by Maurice Druon- France- 1300's

5. Gracelin O'Malley by Ann Moore- Ireland- 1800's

6. Death of a Stranger by Anne Perry- Victorian England- 1800's

7. Uneasy Lies the Crown by N. Gemini Sasson- Scotland- 13-1400's

8. Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie- England- 1900's

9. Highland Fling by Amanda Scott- Scotland- 1700's

10.Pirates and Patriots by David Field- Elizabethan England- 1500's

I could honestly have a list of 100 or more books here. I absolutely love historical fiction and most of the books I've listed also belong to a series in which all the books are great. This list was hard to whittle down!