What's the April weather like in your neck of the woods? In my corner of the Sonoran Desert, it's HOT, like in the 90s and above. We've had some overcast skies in the last week, but no rain, sadly. None is predicted in the forseeable future either. Boo hoo. Maybe this week's Top Ten Tuesday topic—April Showers—will act as a rain dance to bring our parched desert some much needed moisture. A girl can dream! 

For my list today, I'm going to keep things simple and highlight ten books on my TBR list that feature rain in some way or another. I've had a long day, so I'm not going to include plot summaries, but I will link the book titles to Goodreads. How's that?

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

1. Shouting at the Rain by Lynda Mullaly Hunt 

2. Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon

3. The Colors of the Rain by R.L. Toalson

4. Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie

5. Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson

6. In the Days of Rain: A Daughter, a Father, a Cult by Rebecca Stott

7. Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff

8. In Times of Rain and War by Camron Wright

9. The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan

10. Rainy Day Sisters by Kate Hewitt

There you go, ten books on my TBR list that feature rain in some way or another. Have you read any of them? What are your favorite "rain" books? I'd love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

I'm bummed I missed last week's Top Ten Tuesday topic and, honestly, if I hadn't come up with this week's prompt myself, I would probably be doing that one instead! When I thought up this one—Top Ten Book Titles That Describe Me/My Life—I just thought it would be something different that could help us all get to know each other a little better. I didn't realize how tough it would be. Sorry. Hopefully, I'm not the only one doing the topic this week. Ha ha.

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

I was born and raised in a lovely little burgh in Washington State, making me a:

I went off to college in Utah, where:

Actually, I met the man who would become my husband when I walked into his apartment during our freshman year of college. It all started because his roommate, who was team teaching a church class with me, brought a plate of homemade cookies over to my apartment. He claimed he had made the delicious treats, even though it was clearly a regifting situation! Upon hearing what had happened, my soon-to-be husband—the person who had actually made the cookies—was affronted. To prove that guys could cook, he invited all of the girls in my apartment over for dinner. A few of us went. We were all impressed by the boys' efforts and we ended up becoming good friends with the guys in their apartment. Of course, two of us became a *little* bit more than friends...

My boyfriend and I were both members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Young men and women in our church often serve full-time missions for the Church. At 19 (the minimum age for male missionaries at that time), he went to Chile, dedicating the next two years of his life to serving the Lord while I continued my studies. It was the early 1990s and since phone calls weren't allowed and email wasn't really a thing yet, we wrote letters back and forth. Lots of letters. 

Two years later, we stopped being

and became

Soon after that, life was all about:

We had four kids and they kept us very busy, especially in the early days when I had to:

to feed and cuddle my babies. I got pretty good at holding a bottle in one hand and a book in the other!

Now, those babies have grown up, and with them going off to college, serving in the Army, working adult jobs, and so forth, it feels like:

 

I totally slacked on writing a March post for the Bookish Books Reading Challenge—oops!—so this one will be a March/April combo. How are you doing on the challenge so far? I've read eight bookish books in 2026, three of which are from the same bookish cozy mystery series. I'm trying to finish up a cross-stitch birth sampler for my granddaughter, who's 2 1/2 (!), and binge-listening to the series has been keeping me entertained while my hands are busy.

Set in a Victorian mansion that has been remodeled into a charming Agatha Christie-themed bookstore, the Secret Bookcase Mystery series by Ellie Alexander is warm, fun, and bookish. It stars Annie Murray, a bookseller and budding private investigator who solves mysteries in her quaint town of Redwood Grove, California. I started listening to it last year. This year, I've listened to these three (installments 3-5):

Right now, I'm listening to The Body at the Book Fair, which is the final book in the series. Luckily, Alexander is in the process of penning a spin-off series about Annie's adventures as the co-owner of a private investigation agency. I'll definitely keep listening/reading because the books are light, clean, and entertaining, the exact vibe I'm digging right now.

I won't talk about the five other bookish books I've read in the past couple months, but I do want to mention the one I'm reading now. Carol Goodman is one of my go-to mystery/thriller authors, and her forthcoming novel is very bookish. Our Marriage is Murder (available July 21, 2026) stars a husband and wife who have been co-writing a popular, bestselling mystery series for the entire two decades of their marriage. As they travel to Italy for a book conference, they're contemplating ending both their working relationship and their personal one, which has become a sham anyway. These issues are hanging in the air between them when the first murder at the conference occurs. As more follow, they begin to wonder if they are the actual targets. 

Our Marriage is Murder is moving a little slower than some of Goodman's other books, but I'm enjoying it nonetheless. I'm about halfway through, and I have no idea whodunit. We'll see if I can figure out what's happening before the writer couple does!

I'm not sure exactly what I'll be reading in April after I finish The Body at the Book Fair and Our Marriage is Murder, but hopefully, it will include some bookish books.

I'm late to the party once again, so it's a good thing this week's prompt is an easy one: Top Ten Buzzwords or Phrases That Make Me Want to Read (or Avoid) a Book. I think I'm going to do five of each, just for funsies. As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl.

I'll give at least a second glance to any title or plot summary that includes these five words/phrases:

1. Gothic—I love me a moody, atmospheric read!

2. Cozy/Quaint—More and more, this is the vibe I'm craving.

3. Haunted/Ghost—These are pretty much the same thing, so I'm combining them. I'm too wimpy to read much actual horror these days, but I still like a shivery tale as long as it's not TOO creepy.

4. Books/Bookish—I mean, obviously, right?

5. Twisty/Clever/"Knives Out"—What mystery/thriller reader doesn't want to be entertained by a smart, surprising plot? Calling a book "clever" or "twisty" or comparing it to "Knives Out" is an excellent way to turn my head.

Any of these words on a book cover or in a plot summary will have me running for the hills:

1. Spicy/Sexy/Erotic—I'm a prude; what can I say?

2. Spare—Too many details and I get bored, but I'd always rather have too many words in a book than too few. I also prefer clarity over creativity, so I generally find that "spare" books are too minimalistic for my tastes.

3. Zany/Screwball/Oddball—I'm boring. I prefer books that are straightforward and traditional. Unique premises are great, but I get irritated by anything too offbeat or different. (Quirky, I can handle, as long as it's not, you know, too quirky.)

4. Grisly—Mysteries and thrillers are my jam, but if they get too gory, I'm out.

5. Terrifying/Horrifying—Nope! I value my sleep and my sanity.

There you go, five buzzwords on a book that will always tempt me and five that never will. Do we share any? Which buzzwords/phrases attract you? Which do the opposite? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.