With so much tragedy in the news right now, I really look forward to things that are light and fun like Top Ten Tuesday. Before we get to that, though, I want to mention another enjoyable bookish event: Summer's One Must Read Book 2025. Hosted by the wonderful Carol at Reading Ladies Book Club, it's a yearly collab where experienced book bloggers from around the world recommend their pick for the ONE book you MUST read this summer. I love participating each year. It's always a joy to see what everyone is recommending, even though it adds more books to my already-overwhelming TBR pile mountain mountain chain. Be sure to check it out. Okay, back to TTT...today's prompt is: Top Ten Books I'd Like to Re-read (submitted by Becky @Becky's Book Blog). I'm not a huge re-reader, but I *think* I can come up with ten. We'll see.

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

2. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling—Although I was a 20-something wife and mother when Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone came out in 1998, I devoured this children's book, eagerly grabbing up each subsequent installment as they were published. Other than the first book, which I've re-read a couple of times, I haven't re-read the series. I need to get on that since I loved all the books.

3. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins—I've been told that I don't need to re-read this series in order to understand what's happening in Sunrise on the Reaping, but—like the Harry Potter novels—I read the HG books as they came out and haven't re-read them. Yet.

4. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens—I re-read this classic novella every December to get me in the holiday spirit. I especially enjoy listening to it on audio with the incomparable Tim Curry narrating.

5. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak—I always list this YA novel as one of my all-time favorites, but I've only read it once and that was back when it first came out. I'm definitely due for a re-read.

6. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett—Honestly, I'm not sure if I've ever read this children's classic. I've read voraciously ever since I learned how as a kindergartner, so I probably have, but I don't remember it very well. I'm hoping to get to it before the year ends.

7. A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd—A number of years ago, I read and enjoyed the first couple books in Todd's Bess Crawford series. Bess is a WW1 nurse who finds herself embroiled in intrigue and mysteries of all sorts. That's about all I remember about the series. I'd love to re-read the initial installments and then pick up where I left off. I love a good historical mystery series!

8. Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani—I was reminded the other day about this series, which I read back in the early 2000s. Other than the fact that I loved it, I don't remember much about it, hence the need for a re-reading.

9. Atomic Habits by James Clear—This is another book I re-read every year. It helps motivate me to work on the goals/resolutions I set each January. I've read other books about habits, but this one resounds most with me.

10. A Lantern in Her Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich—I feel like I read this 1928 YA classic when I was a kid, but I'm not sure. Either way, I'm planning to read it this year since I love pioneer stories and I need a book set in Nebraska for the Literary Escapes Reading Challenge.

Phew, I did it! Ten books/series I want to re-read. Have you read any of them? Are you a re-reader? What are you planning to re-read this year? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

What are you like when it comes to hype surrounding new books? Do you give into it for fear of missing out on a title "everyone" seems to be loving? Or are you leery about following the crowd, maybe because you've been burned before? Today's TTT prompt is all about that: Top Ten Books You Read/Avoided Because of the Hype (and did you make the right choice?). I'm more likely to do the latter, but occasionally, I do get caught up in the hype. I can think of a few books I've read or bought because of it, just not enough for much of a list. However, I have no trouble at all coming up with more books that are on my Fall TBR list, so I decided to make an addendum to last week's list. 

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

While I love finding beautiful, inspiring, meaningful passages while I'm reading or coming across a clever quote about books/reading, I'm rubbish at actually writing them down or remembering them. That makes today's TTT prompt—Top Ten Favorite Book Quotes—a tad difficult. Thank goodness for Google! With a little help from my favorite search engine, I'm going to highlight ten of my most-loved quotes from my ten favorite novels of all time. 

By the by, this fun weekly event is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl.

"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing."

"I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning how to sail my ship."

"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet."

"Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs."

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach."

"There are all kinds of courage. It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends."

"She just smiled, said that she loved books more than anything, and started telling him excitedly what each of the ones in her lap was about. And Ove realised that he wanted to hear her talking about the things she loved for the rest of his life."

"Someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again."

"I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library."

"Men tell stories. Women get on with it. For us it was a shadow war. There were no parades for us when it was over, no medals or mentions in history books. We did what we had to during the war, and when it was over, we picked up the pieces and started our lives over."

There you are, ten of my favorite quotes from my ten favorite novels. Which are your favorites? Which quotes did you choose for your list this week? I'd love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! Are you ready for the big day? Other than a couple of gift cards that still need to be purchased, I've finished shopping for presents. Thanks to my 15-year-old, everything is wrapped and waiting under the Christmas tree. I've still got grocery shopping to do, but that's about it. Phew! I'm tired from watching my 2-month-old granddaughter overnight on Sunday so her mom could get a good night's rest before having open heart surgery on Monday and I've got a sore throat and cough that are driving me crazy. The baby's got a cold, too (I'm pretty sure it was her daddy that infected both of us!), but we're tough. We'll all get through this. (My daughter-in-law's surgery went better than expected. She should be released from the hospital before Christmas. Yay!) At any rate, I'm looking forward to a fun week filled with family, friends, good food, and holiday traditions. 

As joyous as the holidays can be, they can also be indescribably tough. I have a particular heartbreak in my life that's making me feel sorrowful and a little Grinch-y, so to those who are having a hard time feeling comfort and joy right now, I see you. I'm a person of faith, even in the hard times (maybe especially then). I have felt the power of God's healing embrace throughout my life as well as the hope that Jesus Christ brought into the world with his miraculous birth and atonement. Whether you're happily making merry or suffering through a season made difficult by struggle or sorrow (or both), I pray that you can feel the peace of Their love this Christmas.

I decided to push this week's TTT prompt—Top Ten Books I Hope Santa Brings/Bookish Wishes—off until next week when the topic is Top Ten Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf. Instead, I'm going to get more personal today and talk about my favorite Christmas traditions. These are the activities I participate in, the decorations I put up, the foods I eat, the songs I listen to, etc. every year in order to saturate my heart and soul with the enchanting spirit of Christmas.

As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Hop on over there and give her some love, won't you? 

My birthday is a few days before Christmas. One year, when I was probably 8 or 9, my mom decided to take me to a professional performance of The Nutcracker ballet as a birthday present. Afterward, she presented me with my first nutcracker. I've always been charmed by the whimsical figurines and have continued to collect them. As you can see from the photo at the top of this post, I like to line them up on the windowsills throughout my home at Christmastime. 

I mean, He is the reason for the season! I've collected nativities for some time now, but recently my son started a new Jesus collection for me. Three Christmases ago, he was stumped on what to get me for a present. He literally Googled "What do middle-aged white women want for Christmas?" The bendable, poseable Jesus figurine in the photo above was the result. It was such an unexpected gift from my teenaged son that I couldn't stop laughing. He was delighted by my reaction, so the next year he got me a Jesus bobblehead. Last year, it was the life-sized stuffie in the photo at left (which has been a great conversation piece, by the way, as well as a total hug magnet). I'm not sure how he's going to top that this year! I'll keep you posted.

Every year, we make hundreds of homemade raised doughnuts to give away to neighbors, friends, and even strangers. This tradition comes from my husband's side of the family and it's one that I both love and hate. The love is because it's a tradition that has been going on for decades, ever since my mother-in-law was a child. It's meaningful to the hubs, who has lots of great memories of making doughnuts with his family. Also, homemade doughnuts are delicious! They're also a lot of work, which is where the hate part comes in. Everyone pitches in to make them, but guess who always does the lion's share of the prep work and clean up? Yep. Me. And let me tell you, scraping dough and hardened glaze off every surface in my kitchen is not exactly a good time. Still, people look forward to receiving our doughnuts all year, so I *guess* it's worth it.

Since my husband's family already had the fryers out to make doughnuts, they created a tradition of making chimichangas for Christmas Eve dinner. We continue this yummy tradition with members of his extended family (who do most of the work, to be honest) as part of our night-before-Christmas festivities In addition to eating chimis, we have a musical puppet nativity, play games, and surprise our hostess (my husband's great aunt) by hiding gifts under her tree and hanging silly ornaments on its branches for her to find on Christmas morning.

We don't go crazy with our outside lights, but some people in our neighborhood and wider area do. It's always fun to walk or drive around and enjoy the different displays. One of the biggest and most popular places to check out lights in our area is at the Mesa Temple. The grounds are always beautifully lit up for the holiday.

I blame my mother-in-law for this one. She bought me my first piece from Department 56's quaint Snow Village collection for my birthday one year and has gifted me many more over the years. I saw a display of the company's Harry Potter village last week; I may just have to start collecting those as well!

My mom has always been faithful about sending Christmas cards accompanied by a newsy family letter to friends and family every year. I have kept this tradition alive since I enjoy giving and receiving Christmas cards so much. I've skipped a few years here and there (including this one), but it's still a tradition I adore. 

I have to admit, though, that this episode of Everybody Loves Raymond has made me rethink the annual Christmas letter a bit, LOL:

There you go, ten Christmas traditions I love to keep. What are some of the traditions that make your holiday festivities special? How do you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, etc? What books are you hoping to find under your tree on Monday? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on yours. I also reply to your comments here, although I am a week behind at the moment.

I've been participating in Top Ten Tuesday on a fairly regularly basis for the last ten years. I don't know how many prompts I've engaged since then, but it's been a lot, which makes it tough to find new ones for freebie topics like today's: Top Ten Tuesday Rewind. The idea is to go back and choose a past TTT prompt that you haven't done yet, want to revisit, etc. I scanned through the lists of old prompts and none really jumped out to me, so I'm going to do something different today instead. 

I was curious about my first ever TTT post, so I searched it out. It was on February 26, 2013, and the topic was My Top Ten Auto-Buy Authors. It's interesting to see who I loved to read back then and how my tastes have/have not changed. 

If you want to join in for TTT Rewind, click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl to get all the details. While you're at it, give our wonderful hostess, Jana, some love.

A few weeks ago, Cindy over at Cindy's Book Corner tagged me for The Bookworm Tag. It looked like a fun one and I've been meaning to post my answers ever since. Since there are ten questions, it's perfect for a TTT "list." I'm not sure where the tag orginated, but Cindy was tagged by Sarita at More to Discover. I'm not going to tag anyone. If you want to join in, though, please consider yourself tagged! Leave me a link to your post so I can see your answers.

I really can't believe it, but there are only 25 days left in 2022! Where has the time gone? Interestingly enough, I have exactly 25 more books to go until I meet my goal of reading 200 books this year. Will I make it? I don't know. I could read a book a day until January 1st, but I've also got a lot of other things that need to be done. I'd like to at least meet my goal, if not surpass it. We'll see how things go. Since today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is a freebie and next week's is Top Ten Books On My Winter 2022-2023 TBR List, I'm going to combine them and do two posts about the 25 books I plan to read before the year ends. 

Before I get to that, though, two things: (1) If you're not aware, TTT is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Click on over for all the deets on this fun meme and to give her some love. (2) If you're a reading challenge fiend like me, please check out my other blog, Ready for a Reading Challenge? It's a database of current reading challenges being hosted all over the Internet. If you're hosting a reading challenge this year, let me know. I'm happy to add it to my database to help spread the word. 

This list is a combination of books I still need to read for reading challenges, a couple book awards I'm helping to judge, a review I'm writing for a genealogical magazine next year, and just fun reads that I've been meaning to get to. I've mentioned most of them before, so bear with me.

1. Roll for Initiative by Jaime Formato—This Cybils nominee has a strong Dungeons and Dragons theme, which made it a little hard to get into for me with my total lack of D&D knowledge or interest. Once you get past that, though, it becomes an engaging story about finding your tribe. I've only got about 100 pages left in the book. Overall, I've enjoyed it.

2. Oh My Stars by Lorna Landvik—I'm listening to this lively story on audio. It's set in small-town North Dakota (a very difficult state to find if you, like me, are doing a read-a-book-set-in-every-state challenge), where a suicidal Southern woman lands unexpectedly after a bus breakdown. Violet has never belonged anywhere, so she's shocked when tiny Pearl starts to feel like home. 

3. The Kind to Kill by Tessa Wegert—This mystery, the fourth in the Shana Merchant series, just came out today. When a tourist goes missing during a Thousand Islands community festival, our fearless detective takes the case amidst outcries that she attracts trouble to the otherwise peaceful community. Shana can't help her familial connection to a serial killer, but will his dirty deeds lead to the end of her career?

4. Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly—I need an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winner for the POPSUGAR reading challenge and I've been meaning to read this one anyway. If you're not familiar with it, it tells the true story of five Black female mathematicians who worked for NASA starting in the early 1940s. Although their work was essential to the success of the American space program, they had to fight against blatant racism and sexism in the workplace just to perform their jobs.

5. The Hope of Elephants by Amanda Rawson Hill—Who doesn't love elephants? This middle-grade verse novel is about a young girl who's coping with her dad's cancer diagnosis as well as the terrifying possibility that she may have inherited his genetic mutation. I'm interested to see how pachiderms come into play...

6. The Blackout Book Club by Amy Lynn Green—I really enjoyed Green's last historical novel, so I'm looking forward to this one, her newest. It's about a woman who becomes the unlikely head of a small library in Maine during World War II. When the library's future is threatened, she invents a book club to save it from closure, a move that just might save herself as well.

7. Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson—I love the Truly Devious YA mystery series so I'm excited to read this newest installment, the fifth. This time around, Stevie Bell is studying abroad in England when she's introduced to a notorious cold case in which two Cambridge students were murdered after a game of hide-and-seek got out of hand. Can the intrepid amateur sleuth figure out whodunit?

8. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones by James Clear—With New Year's resolution-making time right around the corner, this will be a good, motivational book to re-read. It's a quick read, but one that has some great ideas to impart.

9. Flip Turns by Catherine Arguelles—Another Cybils contender, this novel features a girl whose family owns a town swimming pool. When a series of pranks is launched at the pool, she must channel her inner Nancy Drew to figure out who's pulling the tricks and why.

10. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens—I mentioned in my last list that I re-read this classic every year. I'm feeling super Grinch-y this year, so it should be just the thing to reset my frame of mind.

11. Doing Life With Your Adult Children: Keep Your Mouth Shut and the Welcome Mat Out by Jim Burns—On a related note ("Adult" children, man, they're rough!), this book is about how to successfully navigate those tricky and changing relationships between parents and their growing-up children. I feel like I'm completely failing at this, so hopefully this book will be helpful.

12. Death On the Nile by Agatha Christie—I need something for a "Book Turned Into a Movie in 2022" reading challenge prompt, so I chose this classic mystery, which I've never read before. Normally, I don't watch a movie before I read the book it's based on, but I did already watch (and enjoy) the film.

There you go, 12 (of 25) books I'm planning to read before 2022 disappears forever. Have you read any of them? What did you think? What did you do for your Freebie today? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.