Top Ten Tuesday: Spring Freebie

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Fall-Themed Freebie (or Spring if you live in the Southern Hemisphere)

Recently it was time to get my nails redone, and I wanted to get something a bit fun to celebrate the end of winter. In the end I chose to get my nails done in spring colours - think five different pastel colours. I have a different colour on each nail - yellow, pink, purple, green and blue - so here are 10 books with covers that feature those colours.

Matcha on Monday by Michiko Aoyama- see how well my nails match this cover. Totally a coincidence! (mini review)

A Song in Daylight by Paullina Simons - This book was one that jumped out at me from my bookshelves with the yellow vibes. Now that I look it at though, it doesn't really go with the others as the others are all cartoon-y style.

Piglettes by Clementine Beauvais - This cover bring the pink vibes. (review)

In the Paris Fashion by Sophie Beaumont  - I could have chosen any of the covers from this author. The other covers are pink and green. (review)

And Now, Back to You by B K Borison - This book made me feel anything but blue!

How to Fake it in Society by K J Charles  - This book was such a fun read and totally bring the green vibes

First Time Caller by B K Borison - I know, I know. Two books by B K Borison and from the same series is possibly cheating but it had both pink and yellow so I couldn't resist. 

Before I knew I Loved You by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - Purple is my favourite colour so this cover caught my attention straight away when it was revealed. And it is the book I had just finished listening to when I started putting this post together

The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisash Kashiwai - I am just about to reread this book so it was a book I thought of when I was looking for my last green cover (review)

We'll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida - The second half of this list has taken a decidedly Japanese turn!

Top Ten Tuesday: Big Books!

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books with a High Page Count (Share those doorstop books!)

Once upon a time if I saw a big, thick book on a bookstore shelf then there was every chance I would buy it. The bigger, the better! I even used to participate in a Chunkster Challenge. These days, I don't read that many chunksters. Also, if I am going to buy big books, it would most likely be an ebook that I can read on my Kindle.

Originally I was planning to refer to my spreadsheets and do this topic by looking for the books with the most number of pages. However, I decided to go with a simpler approach. Instead I scanned my overflowing bookshelves and looked for the thickest books I could find! The only rule/guideline I had was that I could only use one book per author. Of course, when I was putting them back on the shelves I found several other books that I should have used for this prompt too!

I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb -(863 pages) I swear that I got this book not long after it came out, but I still have never read it!

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy - (1270 pages) I am currently doing a chapter a day readalong so after talking about reading it for 15 years I am finally doing it!

The Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes - (614 pages) This is another one I haven't read yet. It almost feels like a pattern forming here right?

A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon - (980 pages) Most of Gabaldon's books could fit this theme. I have read this one. (My review)

The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley - (672 pages)I am not even sure why I have a paper copy of this book because I listened to all 8 books in this series. That's a lot of listening time.

Bettany's Book by Tom Keneally - (599 pages) It looks like I got this off of a remainders table. I haven't read it yet and I am not really sure if I will or not. It survived the last cull of my bookshelves. It might not survive the next one whenever that happens!

A Song in the Daylight by Paullina Simons - (767 pages) I loved many of Paullina Simons's books, but this wasn't my favourite. I did see that she has just announced that she has a new book coming out. It sounds great, but I am not sure if I will rush out and read it or not.

Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor - (860 pages) Gosh I loved this epic book! Someone I know is reading this at the moment and called it a great romp, and that is the perfect description of the book! I used the words bawdy romp in my review.

When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman - (909 pages) SKP is another author who wrote big epic books! 

Dawn on a Distant Shore by Sara Donati - (647 pages) This is a favourite series. I noticed when I took it off the shelf that there is a bookmark in it. I must have been intending to reread it at some point.

By looking at the variation in pages numbers on all the page numbers you can really see what a difference the way the book is produced from the thickness of the paper to the size of the font!

Do you love big books!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with Autumny Covers

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books with Springy Covers (Pastel colors, flowers, baby animals, sunshine, etc.)Books with Springy Covers (Pastel colors, flowers, baby animals, sunshine, etc.) Given that we are now in autumn in Australia I am doing books with Autumny Covers instead. 

Red Leaves by Paullina Simons - This was the first book I thought of when I saw the theme. When went to search for it on my blog, I realised that I read it in my pre-blogging days. It wasn't even on my spreadsheet where I keep my list of reads going back to mid 2004! I read this book a very long time ago!


Red Leaves by Thomas H Cook - When I was filtering on my spreadsheet for the title Red Leaves, I came across this book, which I don't remember a thing about. I read this back in 2007. 


Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore - When I think of American Fall, then one word that comes up a lot is pumpkin. I just read this book while I was away so it is a very, very recent read. 

Full Moon Coffee shop by Mai Mochizuki - This book doesn't have anything to do with autumn really, but the colours feel autumny to me.

In Italy for Love by Leonie Mack - By contrast, this book is all about living in Northern Italy during autumn!

The Yellow Wood by Minnie Darke - When you go for a drive to check out the autumn colours in nature then yellow and reds dominate, so a yellow wood fits the theme for me!


The Family Tree by Susan Wiggs - Look at that tree! Doesn't it scream autumn in the colour of it.

Song of the Sun God by Shankari Chandran - The next three books don't have anything in the subject to do with autumn, but the colours on the covers feel like they fit in this post. This book is set in Sri Lanka which is very tropical and doesn't really have autumn as a season as far as I know.


Fire Study by Maria V Snyder - The colours of fire and the colours of autumn feel very similar to me!


The Place on Dalhousie by Melina Marchetta - It might be time for me to relisten to some Melina Marchetta books! It's been a while.

Top Ten Tuesday - Horses

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Covers with [Item] on the Cover (You choose the item! It can be anything at all.)

Today is a public holiday here in Melbourne for the Melbourne Cup. Yes, we have a public holiday for a horse race. Therefore, my post this week is all about horses! I actually started this post a few years ago and then came up with other posts on the dates closest to Melbourne Cup day, but this year everything aligned and it was time to roll it out.

The Horse and His Boy by CS Lewis - I read this in my pre-blogging days, which is a very long time ago indeed!

The Water Horse by Julia Gregson - This book tells the story of Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War

Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson - I read this in pre-blogging days as well and don't remember much about it!

The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley - Having recently visited a Roman archeological site, I feel like Ishould maybe revisit this book, which is all about the lost Roman Legion. (My review)

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons - This book is actually named for a statue of horse in St Peterburg but it still counts for this topic

The Horse Dancer by Jojo Moyes - I haven't read this book but I have read others by her..

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy - I have owned this book for 18 months or so, but I still haven't read it.

Horse by Geraldine Brooks - I haven't read this one either, but I have seen her speak and read a few of her books.

The Valley of the Horses by Jean Auel - Another pre blogging read. 

Foals Bread by Gillian Mears - I really didn't like this book but it definitely fits the theme.

So there are ten books that feature horses in the title, or 9 books with a picture of a horse on the cover

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with One Word Titles

 

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week is the theme is books with one word titles!

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett - I have reread this book at Christmas time for the last couple of years. Chances are I will reread it again at the end of this year.

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell - My first and, so far, only Maggie O'Farrell. I do need to read more!

Sweetheart by Sarah Mayberry - I love Sarah Mayberry's books and this was a fun read.

Jilted by Rachael Johns - Another favourite Aussie author!

Circe by Madeleine Miller - Second week in a row that I have had Circe in my TTT

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi - I will always remember reading this while I was in South Africa.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld - Feels like a long time since I read this book.

Eyrie by Tim Winton - I haven't read that many Tim Winton books. I feel like I should read more but I haven't loved the ones that I have read.

Bellagrand by Paullina Simons - I loved The Bronze Horseman. This book is the second prequel. Unfortunately, I didn't love it anywhere near as much.

Floodtide by Judy Nunn - Another Aussie author, and another one I have only read one book by.

Have you read any of these books with one word titles?

Six Degrees of Separation: Time Shelter to The Girl in Times Square

 

 

Welcome to this month's edition of Six Degrees of Separation, which is a monthly meme hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best.  The idea is to start with a specific book and make a series of links from one book to the next using whatever link you can find and see where you end up after six links.  I am also linking this post up with The Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz. 

 

This month the starting point is

Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov and translated by Angela Rodel.

I am pretty sure that you are going to be able to pick my theme for the month pretty easily! My first choice is The Time of Singing by Elizabeth Chadwick which is medieval historical fiction

Another medieval historical fiction title with the word time in is Time and Chance by Sharon Kay Penman

A few years ago I used to spend time with fans of Sharon Kay Penman, and I am sure that I was recommended this book- The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century by Ian Mortimer.

If Iook at the words time traveller, I instantly thought of The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

The time traveller's wife is somebody's daughter which leads me to Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey.

She would have also been a girl at some point, so my final link in the chain is The Girl in Times Square by Paullina Simons.

The starting point for next month is Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld. Will you be joining us?

Top Ten Tuesday: Passing time

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the topic is Books With a Unit of Time In the Title (seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, eternity, etc.) (Submitted by RS @ The Idealistic Daydream)

My plan is to work through the units, starting with a year and working down to seconds.

Year One by Nora Roberts - Starting with a year. 

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks - It's only as I was putting this post together that I realise that both of these books are about plague or sickness.

Just One Year and Just One Day by Gayle Forman - I couldn't resist using both of these titles for this theme.

Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber - After day comes night. Or does day come after night?

The Gilded Hour by Sara Donati - The next unit of time is hours.

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton - and hours

Eleven Hours by Paullina Simons - and more hours

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak - moving down through the next two units!

Time and Chance by Sharon Penman - And time is what this theme was all about!

What books did you share for this week's prompt.

Top Ten Tuesday: The Red Dress edition

 

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the topic is a book quote freebie. I don't really do quotes, or at least not short quotes. When I save quotes they are usually quite long so not really suitable for a TTT post!

I do, however have this one from The Christmas Party by Karen Swan

So inspired by this quote - I bring you red dress covers!

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons - Now, I know I am cheating with this one because there is no sign of a red dress on the cover. However, in the scene where the two main characters meet, Tatiana is wearing a white dress with red roses on the cover.

The Jewel of St Peterburg by Kate Furnivall - Now this is a red dress!

A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley - I never miss an opportunity to include a Kearsley book in one of these lists.

Poison Study by Maria V Snyder - I loved this book!

To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick - I really need to read another Chadwick novel. They are always so good! Luckily I have more than one here to choose from.

The Pearlers Wife by Roxanne Dhand - I haven't read this yet but the premise sounds so interesting.

Seduce Me At Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas - I am pretty sure I could have found ten red dress covers just in the historical romance genre!

Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare - Another historical romance!!

Shalador's Lady by Anne Bishop - Moving on from historical romance this time to fantasy.

The Christmas Party by Karen Swan - I can't not have this book on the list seeing as it inspired this whole list!