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Tuesday, July 14, 2015

TTT: Where Did All These Books Come From, Anyway?


New books come into my house every day, it seems.  Sometimes I look around and wonder where in the world they all came from.  My husband's cousin once said, "I've never seen this many books in one house before."  Which made me laugh, because she didn't even know about the boxes of review copies that are stuffed into my guest room closet.  Book nerd problems, I tell ya!

Considering my *little* book acquisition addiction (you can never have too much of a good thing, right?), today's Top Ten Tuesday topic du jour seemed especially appropriate.  But before we get to that, I want to make sure you know how you, too, can join the TTT fun.  All you have to do is go on over to The Broke and the Bookish, read the instructions for posting, write up your own TTT list, and share it with the rest of us.  So easy.  And fun!  You want to get in on this, trust me ...

Okay, here we go with the Last Ten Books That Came Into My Possession:



1.  Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton—After watching Jurassic World, which I didn't love (it was exciting/entertaining, but seriously lacking in plot and character development), I realized I'd never actually read the Jurassic Park books.  I tried reserving the first one at my library, but they only had a couple of copies of the novel and both had looonnnggg waiting lists.  So, I bought it.  Read it.  And ... yeah.  Bottom line:  I liked Jurassic Park the movie a lot better.


2.  Still Life by Louise Penny—Lately, I've been really enjoying traditional murder mystery series set in small towns around the globe.  I like the local color just as much (maybe more) than the twisty plots.  I've been hearing about Penny's popular series featuring Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and finally decided to give it a try.  Verdict:  I'm loving it.


3.  I Am David by Anne Holm and L.W. Kingsland (translator)—This is an older book, but I just barely heard about it.  It's a survival story starring a 12-year-old boy who's been trapped in a brutal Eastern European prison camp his whole life.  When a chance to escape arises, he takes it.


4.  Open Season by C.J. Box—Like I said (see #2), murder mysteries set in quirky little places have been finding their way into my home a lot these days.  This is another popular series that I've been meaning to read for awhile now.  Open Season is waiting for me at the library—I just need to go pick it up.


5.  Bones on Ice by Kathy Reichs—I love the novella trend.  These short books help tide me over while I wait for the next installments in my favorite series.  This one has my girl Temperance Brennan examining a mummified corpse from atop Mt. Everest.  Sounds intriguing, no?


6.  The Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler—This YA contemporary caught my attention because of the brown-skinned, black-haired girl on the cover.  I always love it when books feature characters who look like my beautiful bi-racial daughter.  The fact that the novel is a modern version of The Little Mermaid makes it even more enticing.


7.  Earthquake by Aprilynne Pike—Even though it's a little predictable (at least in some ways), I enjoyed EarthBound.  Thus, I had to comb the library shelves for its sequel.  Voilá!


8.  Summer of the Dead by Julia Keller—This is the third book in the Bell Elkins mystery series and the best, in my opinion.  Set in small-town West Virginia (see #2 and #4), all these books offer didn't-see-that-coming plot twists as well as fascinating ruminations on Appalachian culture.  Can't wait for the next book in the series, Last Ragged Breath, which comes out in August.


9.  A Thousand Miles to Freedom: My Escape From North Korea by Eunsun Kim—I just got a review copy of this book from the publisher.  True survival stories always intrigue and inspire me, so I'm excited to delve into this one.


10.  Weightless by Sarah Bannan—A copy of this contemporary YA about a good girl who gets shunned because of a scandalous video gone viral just landed in my mailbox.  Sounds timely and interesting.

There you go.  So, what do you think of my recent acquisitions?  Have you read any of them?  More importantly, if you have any suggestions for good mystery series set in a small town anywhere in the world, let me know.  Also, I'd love to see your TTT list.  Leave me a comment and I'll gladly return the favor.

Happy TTT!

(All book images from Barnes & Noble)

18 comments:

  1. I haven't heard of most of this books. The Summer of Chasing Mermaids sounds like fun though. I've also read a couple of Aprilynne Pike books but I found them kind of meh, hopefully Earthquake is better.
    Happy reading :)

    Kar @ Pause Time

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    Replies
    1. I felt that way about WINGS. Haven't read anything by her since, but I did enjoy EARTHBOUND. Not the greatest book ever written, but it kept me entertained.

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  2. Looks like you got some interesting books. I love how eclectic your reading is. I need to branch out more. Too much YA.

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  3. Weightless looks like a pretty good read! I love contemporaries like that one.

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  4. OK, first of all, Susan, I do my best to fill your house up with books and book suggestions. LOL LOL

    And I'm so excited that you enjoyed Still Life. Me too!! Ha! Agree on the new Jurassic movie. I did love Michael Crichton's book, but I think part of my love had to do with the uniqueness of the premise at that time. I was blown away. I want to read Julia Keller's series. And I've been watching Weightless and hoping someone would review it. I've read one C.J. Box book and I suspect it is Open Season. Not sure why I didn't continue. Cannot remember.

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    Replies
    1. You do a great job, Kay! I can always count on you for great recommendations :)

      I really like the Keller series. OPEN SEASON is the first book in the Joe Pickett series. He's a family man and game warden in Wyoming (I believe). I've heard a lot of good things about the series.

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  5. I'm sad you didn't like Jurassic Park (book) very much. It was one of the first "hard" books I read back when I didn't read. I think for me is nostalgia, lol.

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  6. Some of these sound really amazing! I never heard of Weightless or A Thousand Miles to Freedom, but they sound intriguing.

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  7. Still Life is on my list to read as well. It's a book club pick in November. I read the new Sarah Ockler and it's definitely cute.

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  8. Weightless and The Summer of Chasing Mermaids are two I would like to get to read at some point. I'll have to check out some of the others you listed though. Enjoy them all!

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  9. I've never read Jurassic Park, I might get to it someday though because I've seen mostly positive reviews... but probably not, lol. I agree about Jurassic World, it was a lot of fun but ultimately pretty shallow.

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  10. Louise Penny, CJ Box and Kathy Reichs are all high up on my list of authors that I really want to get to soon. We're not going to talk about how big that list is! I'm glad I'm not the only one wondering where all these books are coming from. I swear it's not my fault!

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  11. I love mysteries set in quirky little places as well and get in moods where that is all I want to read so I get your current obsession! Sorry you didn't love Jurassic Park (the book). I remember liking both movie and book but its been a while since I experienced either! JP is still my favorite amongst the few Crichton books I've read...

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  12. I liked Jurassic Park a lot, but I can see how it isn't for everybody, especially as the tone is quite different from the movies.

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  13. Great books! A Thousand Miles to Freedom sounds great! I can't wait to hear your thoughts about it.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have seen The Summer of Chasing Mermaids everywhere. But, I never add it to my TBR. I am officially doing so right now. I had no idea it was a modern day retelling of The Little Mermaid. And, YES to diverse books! Great list:)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Kathy Reich is an awesome author. I've read some of her YA novels, I believe they were her Virals books and loved them. After seeing Jurassic World, I'm actually really curious about the books too. Maybe it's time to comb my library shelves and hope they have a copy hidden away somewhere.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Fun list :) Sorry to hear you didn't like Jurassic Park (the book) as much. I just read it for the first time after seeing Jurassic World and I loved it. I thought the movie followed it pretty well, with the exception of the ending. - Maggie @ macarons & paperbacks

    ReplyDelete

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