Search This Blog

2025 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)

My Progress:


23 / 30 bookish books. 77% done!

2025 Cover Lovers Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)

2025 Cover Lovers Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)

My Progress:


41 / 50 books. 82% done!

2025 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas
- California (5)
- Colorado (3)
- Connecticut
- Delaware (1)
- Florida (1)
- Georgia (1)
- Hawaii (1)
- Idaho
- Illinois (1)
- Indiana (1)
- Iowa (3)
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine (2)
- Maryland
- Massachusetts (1)
- Michigan (2)
- Minnesota (2)
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri
- Montana (1)
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey (1)
- New Mexico
- New York (7)
- North Carolina (3)
- North Dakota (1)
- Ohio (1)
- Oklahoma (2)
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania (1)
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (1)
- Utah (1)
- Vermont (3)
- Virginia (2)
- Washington (3)
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin (1)
- Wyoming (1)
- Washington, D.C.* (1)

International:
- Australia (3)
- Canada (3)
- England (14)
- France (2)
- Italy (1)
- Japan (1)
- Norway (1)
- Puerto Rico (1)
- Scotland (1)

My Progress:


35 / 51 states. 69% done!

2025 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


21 / 50 books. 42% done!

2025 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

2025 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

My Progress:


32 / 50 books. 64% done!

Booklist Queen's 2025 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


33 / 52 books. 63% done!

2025 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


35 / 52 books. 67% done!

2025 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


25 / 40 books. 63% done!

2025 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


29 / 51 cozies. 57% done!

2025 Medical Examiner Mystery Reading Challenge

2025 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge

My Progress


26 / 26.2 miles. 99% done!

2025 Mount TBR Reading Challenge

My Progress


22 / 100 books. 22% done!

2025 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

My Progress:


59 / 109 books. 54% done!

2025 Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge

My Progress


54 / 62 books. 87% done!

Phase Out Your Seriesathon - My Progress


19 / 55 books. 35% done!

The 100 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. Reading Challenge

My Progress:


95 / 100 names. 95% done!

The Life Skills Reading Challenge

My Progress:


70 / 80 skills. 88% done!
Tuesday, July 01, 2025

Top Ten Tuesday: A Bookish Books Combo Platter



Happy Tuesday, book people! Can you believe it's the first of July already? It's hotter than the dickens here in the Arizona desert. It's 110 degrees outside and, after running errands out in the heat (not my idea), my brain is officially fried. Today's Top Ten Tuesday prompt is a freebie and since I do a post for the Bookish Books Reading Challenge on the first day of each month, I'm going to make things easy on myself and combine them. 

As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top Ten Seven Bookish Books I Read in June and Three I Want to Read in July

I went crazy with bookish books in June. Here are the seven I read in the order I finished them (title links lead to my reviews on Goodreads or here at BBB):


1. The Burning Library by Gilly Macmillan (available November 18, 2025)—Macmillan is one of my go-to mystery/thriller authors because her novels are usually engrossing page turners. Her newest is different than her previous books, more cerebral and less edge-of-your-seat exciting. It concerns an ancient piece of fabric that is said to contain a clue to the whereabouts of a rare manuscript that two warring female secret societies would kill (and have killed) to possess. When a grad student receives international attention for her translation of an important folio, she unwittingly lands herself in the middle of the societies' deadly feud. What exactly is she dealing with and how can she protect herself and those she loves from some very dangerous women?


2. Same Page by Elly Swartz—This middle-grade novel centers around a timely topic: book banning. Bess Stein, who has just been elected 6th grade class president, is dismayed when the book vending machine she installs at her school comes under fire for containing "inappropriate" literature. How can she convince the powers that be that banning books is wrong?


3. Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library by Amanda Chapman (available August 26, 2025)—Tory Van Dyne is a book conservator who lives and works at her family's private library. When a knowing British woman appears after hours in the Christie Room claiming to be the Queen of Crime's ghost, Tory reluctantly humors the eccentric stranger. "Mrs. Christie" informs the conservator that she's come to help Tory solve a murder that is about to be committed. Tory dismisses the woman's loony talk—until a murder occurs and the "ghost" offers observations so spot on that Tory can't help believing that "Mrs. Christie" may just be telling the truth about her otherworldly identity. 


4. A Death At Seascape House by Emma Jameson—The first book in a cozy mystery series set on an idyllic British island, complete with white sand beaches (Yes, they really exist in England. Who knew?), this opener introduces us to Jemima Jago. The librarian is sent to St. Morwenna to catalog a private collection of historical documents about Cornish history. Before she can get started, she discovers the dead body of a crotchety old busybody. Thanks to the reputation Jemima earned as a teenager on St. Morwenna, she quickly becomes the prime suspect in the victim's murder. In order to clear her name, she'll have to find the real killer before she's next.


5. The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict—In order to prove their worth to their male colleagues, five female crime writers come together to solve the real-life mystery of a young English nurse who was murdered while on a quick holiday in France. As Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie, Baroness Emma Orczy, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham put their heads together to track down a killer, they also find friendship, empathy, and support.


6. Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery—Written almost 20 years after Anne of Green Gables, this children's novel is the first in a series starring a newly-orphaned girl who is sent to live with her estranged family in an unfamiliar town. As she tries to get used to her new life, the imaginative child experiences many ups and downs.


7. Murder Past Due by Miranda James—This book is the first installment in a cozy mystery series that revolves around Charlie Harris, a Mississippi librarian, and his Maine coon, Diesel. When an old classmate of Charlie's, now a famous author, is killed, the librarian finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation. Although the detective on the case demands that he leave the sleuthing to the professionals, Charlie can't seem to stop himself from playing Hercules Poirot. Whodunit?

For July, I'm planning to read:


8. Rabbit Rabbit by Dori Hillestad Butler and Sunshine Bacon—I just started this middle-grade book about two 12-year-old cousins who are communicating in secret in order to find out what happened between their mothers to tear their family apart. Bee is a voracious reader, while Alice is such a reluctant one that her parents pay her for each book she reads. Books are one of the things that the girls, who come from very different backgrounds, bond over.


9. The Book of Lost Hours by Hayley Gelfuso (available August 26, 2025)—The time space is a library of books filled with the memories of the dead, one that can be accessed only by special timepieces that were passed down from father-to-son, although they're now mostly possessed by the government. Lisavet Levy is an 11-year-old girl who was hidden in the time space in 1938 by her watchmaker father, who never returned to collect her. When she discovers that government agents are destroying books in the time space, she sets out to save the precious volumes. 


10. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Volume 2 by Beth Brower—It seems like everyone I know IRL loves this series. The first book was a quick, fun read, so I'm up for continuing on. In this second installment, Emma continues to get used to her new life living under the thumb of her insufferable uncle, who has squandered away her inheritance. Although she can't afford to buy even one beloved book to keep her company, Emma finds amusement in the eccentric people around her.

There you go, seven bookish books I read in June and three I hope to read in July. Have you read any of them? What did you think? What's your favorite bookish book? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

Happy TTT!

If you are participating in the 2025 Bookish Books Reading Challenge, please use the widget below to link-up your July reviews. If you're not signed up for the challenge yet, what are you waiting for? Click here to join the party.


19 comments:

  1. Someday I should read Emily of New Moon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My ladyfriend is an Anne of Avonelea obsessive, but I haven't heard of this new one!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I’ve read the Benedict book but keeping an eye out for three others.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ooh nice! Those are new to me ones! I love a bookish book though! Even just having a character being a bibliophile always gets me smiling! Lol.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love bookish books! I should join this challenge.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love bookish books, but haven't read any of these. The Book of Lost Hours sounds really intriguing. It reminds me of The Book Jumper by Mechthild Gläser, although that book is YA.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nice! These all look great -- Same Page especially! I love the Emily of New Moon books -- always fun to see them getting some love and attention!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm gradually getting thru LMM's books. Emily is yet to come--enjoy! All of these sound interesting. Rabbit, Rabbit just might get purchased for my step-g-d

    ReplyDelete
  9. I don't think I ever read Emily of New Moon, now I want to! I loved the second book of Emma Lions, and bought the series, and HOPE to get them read in July :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ouch, stay cool in the scorching Arizona weather!! Nice picks for this weeks TTT post.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great post! I haven't read any of these though.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love bookish books, but I have not read any of these. Have to note a few.

    ReplyDelete
  13. These look good. I've just finished reading a book with Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie!

    Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I so love the Miranda James series. I hope you enjoy your books.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Love the bookish theme here--these all look great! I love the Emily of New Moon trilogy, which is the only one I've already read. Also, sorry, I accidentally added my name to the book challenge link when I was trying to comment!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Same Page looks like a really important book for younger readers. Love it.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I hope you love the ones you haven't read! It's really hot here too. I don't have air conditioning, so it's currently 87 inside the house. I hate it.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Ooooh, I hadn't heard of The Book of Lost Hours before, but it sounds really good! Thanks for alerting me to it!

    ReplyDelete

Comments make me feel special, so go crazy! Just keep it clean and civil. Feel free to speak your mind (I always do), but be aware that I will delete any offensive comments.

P.S.: Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away. I have to approve each one before it posts to prevent spam. It's annoying, but it works!

Blog Widget by LinkWithin


Reading

<i>Reading</i>
Rabbit Rabbit by Dori Hillestad Butler and Sunshine Bacon

Listening

<i>Listening</i>
The Morning House by Maureen Johnson



Followin' with Bloglovin'

Follow

Followin' with Feedly

follow us in feedly



Grab my Button!


Blog Design by:


Blog Archive



2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge

2025 Reading Challenge

2025 Reading Challenge
Susan has read 0 books toward her goal of 215 books.
hide

2024 - Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction

2024 - Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction

2023 - Middle Grade Fiction

2023 - Middle Grade Fiction

2022 - Middle Grade Fiction

2022 - Middle Grade Fiction

2021 - Middle Grade Fiction

2021 - Middle Grade Fiction

2020 - Middle Grade Fiction

2020 - Middle Grade Fiction