Note: I'm late to the TTT party this week. I got sidetracked from finishing my post by a bookish event. My husband was supposed to go see Rainn Wilson talk about his new book, Soul Boom, with a buddy. His friend wasn't able to make it, so I went instead. Wilson was funny and charming as he discussed how a mental health crisis in his 20s led him on a spiritual journey that eventually brought him back to the Baha'i faith in which he had been raised. After the chat, we stood in line for an hour to meet the actor/author and get our books signed. It was a fun evening out.

This photo is a tad blurry and it's definitely not a very flattering angle for me, but alas, it's proof that I met Dwight Schrute (I mean, Rainn Wilson) :)

Anyway...

You know the drill: you're SO excited to buy or receive a new book that you can't wait to read, you stick it on your shelf "just for now," and then, ten years later, there it still sits. The poor baby is dusty, forgotten, neglected, alone, and still unread. Why do bad things happen to good books? It's a downright travesty, one that plays out constantly (in my home at least). Once I acquire a volume, it seems to lose its immediate allure, dooming it to out-of-sight-out-of-mind territory. Does this happen to you or is it just me? I suspect my bookshelves are not the only ones where lonely tomes sit year after year, just waiting to be remembered...

Good news for those sad, abandoned books! Today's TTT (hosted, as always, by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl) is all about these sad, forgotten titles. We're being asked for the Top Ten Unread Books On My Shelves I Want to Read Soon. I'm going to tweak the prompt just a tad to feature some of the physical review books that have been lingering on my shelves for—wait for it—10+ years! Yikes. When I downsized homes back in 2022, I culled my massive book collection by donating over 1000 books. The titles in my list today made the cut and yet, I still haven't managed to read them. I want to, make no mistake; I just haven't gotten around to it. One of these days weeks years decades I'll actually do it.

1. Anne Frank: The Book, the Life, the Afterlife by Francine Prose (acquired September 2009 from HarperCollins)—This volume of literary criticism examines the history and significance of the famous diary as an important, enduring piece of art.

2. The Lies We Told by Diane Chamberlain (acquired May 2010 from Meryl Moss Media)—Maya and Rebecca Ward are sisters who witnessed the brutal murder of their parents when they were teenagers. Always the more dynamic of the siblings, Rebecca persuades her timid sister and her husband, Adam, to join her in providing medical relief to victims of a North Carolina hurricane. When Maya is involved in a helicopter crash, she is presumed dead. In their grief, Rebecca and Adam find comfort in each other's arms, not realizing that Maya is alive, but struggling to survive in a remote wilderness...Will Maya make it home? What will happen then?

3. Scout, Atticus, and Boo: A Celebration of 50 Years of To Kill a Mockingbird by Mary McDonagh Murphy (acquired June 2010 from HarperCollins)—In this commemorative book, Murphy, a filmmaker, interviews a number of prominent people, including Oprah Winfrey, Tom Brokaw, and Anna Quindlen, about the impact To Kill a Mockingbird has had on their lives. 

4. Hidden Things (later changed to A Hidden Affair) by Pam Jenoff (acquired July 2010 from Atria)—The second book in a duology, this novel features Jordan Weiss, an intelligence officer with the U.S. State Department. A decade ago, she was a coxswain at Cambridge when her crewmate and boyfriend, Jared Short, drowned the night before the team was to compete in their final race of the year. When a former classmate asserts that Jared's death was no accident, Jordan launches her own investigation into the incident. In this second book, she is still looking for answers. This time, she reluctantly pairs up with a handsome stranger whom she's not entirely sure she can trust...

5. Don't Sing at the Table: Life Lessons From My Grandmothers by Adriana Trigiani (acquired December 2010 from HarperCollins)—I've enjoyed a number of Trigiani's novels as well as her family cookbook, so I'm not sure why I haven't read this one yet. In it, the writer pays tribute to both of her grandmothers, who lived their remarkable lives with humor, wisdom, and grace.

6. No Way Down: Life and Death on K2 by Graham Bowley (acquired August 2010 from HarperCollins)—On August 1, 2008, eleven climbers died on K2, the second highest mountain on Earth. It was the deadliest day on the mountain to date. Bowley, an investigative journalist, recounts the disaster in this detailed account.

7. South of Superior by Ellen Airgood (acquired May 2011 from TLC Book Tours)—This heartwarming debut novel revolves around a woman who leaves the bustle of Chicago behind for a quiet life in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. She is charged with caring for two elderly sisters, one of whom is sweet, the other sour. As she navigates her new job and life in a small town, she finds healing, friendship, and love.

8. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson (acquired June 2011 from HarperCollins)—Prophecy says that each century, a great one is chosen. Elisa is supposed to be the chosen one, but she feels more like the princess of failure, with nothing special about her. With everyone counting on her to save them, she has to find the greatness within herself in order to save not just her people, but also her heart.

9. The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott (acquired March 2012 from Penguin Random House)—An aspiring seamstress, Tess is ecstatic when she secures a job as a personal maid for the wealthy, well-known Lady Duff Gordon. Not only is she working for an influential woman, but she will be traveling with her on the elegant H.M.S. Titanic. When the ship goes down, Tess witnesses some questionable actions taken by her employer. As Lady Duff Gordon becomes subject to suspicious questioning, Tess is caught in the media whirlwind as she comes to terms with her own feelings about what she experienced on the ship. 

10. The Cottage at Glass Beach by Heather Barbieri (acquired April 2012 from HarperCollins)—When Nora Cunningham's well-known husband is caught in a scandalous affair, she runs from the spotlight with her two young children in tow. They retreat to a remote seaside town on the coast of Maine, a place the locals say is touched with Irish magic. After Nora spends a lonely evening on the shore sobbing bitter tears into the ocean, she discovers a handsome, mysterious fisherman shipwrecked nearby. Is he really a selkie, summoned by her sadness, like her superstitious friends believe? Or is he simply a heartbroken soul like Nora, someone who could help her heal?

There you are, ten review books that have been sitting on my review shelf for a very long time that I still haven't read. Have you read any of them? Which forgotten titles on your shelf do you still want to read? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

2010—Both architects, Kayla Carter and her husband designed their dream house together, excitedly anticipating the day they and their young daughter could move in. After a freak accident during the building, Jackson is dead. Now a grieving widow, Kayla can hardly face the idea of living in the home, beautiful as it is. All of her misgivings come to the fore when a strange woman visits her at work, warning her away from the property. It doesn't help when Kayla's new home is vandalized and her own father fills her head with stories about the haunted woods in her backyard. Although she's completely unnerved, Kayla decides no one is going to scare her off her own property. It's time to face her future head on by making the house she and her husband built together into a place of refuge and healing for herself and their beloved daughter. 

1965—Raised in a proper Southern household, 20-year-old Ellie Hockley's future has already been written. She'll marry her banker boyfriend, raise a passel of children, and grow old hosting meaningless tea parties and society galas. Longing to do something significant, Ellie decides to join a campaign to help Black people register to vote. Her family and friends react with disbelief, shock, and anger. Defying them all, Ellie goes to work, where she experiences—for the first time—harsh realities like poverty, racism, hate, and violence. As they work together, she finds herself falling for a fellow campaigner, a young Black man named Winston. The forbidden romance will lead to consequences far beyond anything either one of them could imagine... 

When Kayla meets Ellie, who has moved in next door temporarily to take care of her elderly mother and terminally ill brother, she learns the real story about what happened during the fateful summer of 1965. Devastating secrets, kept for decades by her father and others, will finally come to light, revealing shocking truths about Round Hill and its residents.

I've enjoyed all of the hard-hitting past/present novels I've read by Diane Chamberlain. Her newest, The Last House on the Street, is no exception. While it's not my favorite of the author's books, it's still a compelling, well-written story that is thought-provoking, moving, and engrossing. The plot is engaging, even if it doesn't contain any real surprises. Kayla, Ellie, and Win are all sympathetic characters, who are easy to root for. None of them is really unique or memorable, but they're all warm, compassionate story people. Although the novel ends on a hopeful note, overall it's pretty sad and depressing. This surprised me as I wanted happier endings for this cast. On the whole, then, I didn't absolutely love this book. I liked it and I will always read more by Diane Chamberlain. The Last House on the Street just isn't my favorite of hers.

(Readalikes: Reminds me of other books by Diane Chamberlain as well as those by Susan Meissner)

To the FTC, with love: I received an e-ARC of The Last House on the Street from the generous folks at St. Martin's Press via those at NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

Even though there's nary a nip in the arid desert air here in Arizona, I'm more than ready for some cozy Fall reading.  So ready, in fact, that I already posted part one of this list last week.  Naturally, I always have more books in the queue, so I'm going to share ten more today that I'm hoping to read before 2021 comes to an end.

If you want to share your Fall TBR list (please do—I'm always looking for recs!), click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl to find out how to join in the TTT fun.

1.  Willodeen by Katherine Applegate—I'm a big Applegate fan, so I've been excited about this one, her newest.  It's about a lonely girl who's more comfortable with animals than humans.  When a handmade gift brings unexpected magic into her life, it changes everything for her and the precarious world in which she lives.  I'm about halfway through this short novel and I'm very much enjoying it.  No surprise there.  

2.  The Haunting Season by various authors—I just got a copy of this collection of spooky short stories by a variety of popular YA writers from the good folks at Pegasus Books.  This ghostly volume is going to make for great Halloween reading!  

3.  God Spare the Girls by Kelsey McKinney—This coming-of-age novel is about two sisters raised in a strict religious community headed up by their father.  When they discover that he's been lying to them, it breaks their world apart.  The sisters flee, but they will soon have to make a choice between family loyalty and forging their own paths.

4.  Across the Desert by Dusti Bowling (available October 12, 2021)—Bowling is a local author whose MG books I've been enjoying lately.  I just got approved for an e-ARC of this one, a survival story in which one girl sets out across the treacherous desert to rescue another, whose ultralight airplane has crashed.

5.  A View Most Glorious by Regina Scott (available October 5, 2021)—I discovered Scott's American Wonders series this year and am really loving it.  This third installment concerns a young woman who longs to do something more with her life than just marry well.  When her suffragette group suggests she climb Mt. Rainier to bring attention to their cause, she agrees to the difficult task despite having no mountaineering experience.  Will she succeed?  What will she gain in the process?  With a handsome mountain guide by her side, it's pretty much a given that she'll lose her heart...

6.  The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain (available January 11, 2022)—I've got an e-ARC of this novel, the newest from an author I've liked in the past.  It's a dual-timeline story about a white woman in 1965 who defies her family's wishes by volunteering to help register Black voters and another woman, in 2010, who learns surprising secrets about the history her new neighborhood, which rumor says is haunted.

7.  The Saint of Lost Things by Christopher Castellani—Delaware is one of the last two states I need to complete the 2021 Literary Escapes Challenge.  This novel takes place in the state in 1953.  It's about the triumphs and sorrows of a vibrant Italian-American community.

8.  The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark—I chose this Alex Award-winning novel to fulfill the "Afrofuturist Book" prompt for the 2021 PopSugar Reading Challenge.  It takes place in an alternate New Orleans and stars a young woman who earns a coveted place on an airship by giving the captain sensitive information.  She soon finds herself on a dangerous mission, where her secret magic might just help her save the world as she knows it.

9.  Unmissing by Minka Kent (available February 15, 2022)— This thriller revolves around a couple who is creating a lovely life together.  When a late-night knock on their door reveals the husband's first wife, who has been missing and presumed dead for ten years, they're both shocked.  The couple takes in the woman, but something about her story just doesn't add up.  What really happened to her?

10.  The Warsaw Orphan by Kelly Rimmer—I haven't read a lot of World War II stories this year, but this is one I do want to get to soon.  It tells the inspired-by-a-true-story tale of a Polish woman who risks everything to help smuggle Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto.

There you go, ten more books I'm hoping to read before the year is out.  What do you think of my selections?  Have you read any of them?  What are your most anticipated reads for Fall?  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!   

As much as I love reading books by my favorite authors, I also enjoy discovering new writers, so I always try to mix it up.  Case in point:  in 2020, just over half of the 191 books I read were by authors whose work I had never tried before.  Although not all of them turned out to be winners for me, I did find a number of new authors that I liked and definitely want to read more from.  Since today's Top Ten Tuesday is all about those discoveries, I'll share ten of mine in just a sec.

Edit:  After crafting this whole post, I realized I made a similar TTT list back in July that included several of these authors.  Oops.  I'm too lazy to change out the duplicates.  Sorry!

First, though, I want to encourage you to join in the TTT fun.  All you have to do is buzz on over to That Artsy Reader Girl, read some quick instruction, make your own list, then spend some happy hours clicking around the book blogosphere.  It's a great way to spread the love around our fabulous community while getting great reading recommendations at the same time.   

1.  Riley Sager—creepy adult mysteries/thrillers

Book(s) read in 2020:  The Last Time I Lied; Lock Every Door 

2.  Nic Stone—YA and middle-grade contemporary, featuring Black characters

Book(s) read in 2020:  Clean Getaway

3.  Julie Lee—middle-grade historical, featuring Korean characters

Book(s) read in 2020:  Brother's Keeper (debut)

4.  Alyssa Maxwell—adult historical mysteries

Book(s) read in 2020:  Murder at the Breakers

Book(s) read since:  Murder at Marble House

5.  Janae Marks—middle-grade contemporary, featuring Black characters

Book(s) read in 2020:  From the Desk of Zoe Washington (debut)

6.  Aida Salazar—middle-grade contemporary and historical, featuring Latinx characters

Book(s) read in 2020:  Land of the Cranes 

7.  Dusti Bowling—middle-grade contemporary and mystery

Book(s) read in 2020:  The Canyon's Edge

Book(s) read since:  Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

8.  Diane Chamberlain—adult historical and contemporary 

Book(s) read in 2020:  Big Lies in a Small Town; Necessary Lies; and The Stolen Marriage

9.  Tea Cooper—adult historical and historical romance, set in Australia

Book(s) read in 2020:  The Woman in the Green Dress

10.  Ben Oliver—YA sci-fi and dystopian

Book(s) read in 2020:  The Loop (debut)

There you have it, ten new authors I found in 2020.  Have you read any of them?  Which new authors did you discover in 2020?  I'd truly love to know.  Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

Photo cred: Brenna Lee Photo

It's the last Top Ten Tuesday of the year!  Can you believe it?  I'm having trouble grasping the fact that 2020 is over as well as the idea that my oldest will be getting married on Saturday.  So surreal!  It makes sense that the final TTT of 2020 is a list of our top reads of the year.  Although I'm still hoping to sneak in another finish before January 1, as of now I've read 191 books this year.  Of those, I marked 25 with asterisks, indicating they were favorites.  Not including re-reads of past faves like A Christmas Carol, I narrowed my list down to the best of the best—my ten most loved reads of the year.  Although you can't tell from this list (which features mostly fiction by women, the majority of whom are white), I actually read a fair amount of non-fiction as well as lots of books written by men and women of various ethnicities, nationalities, and backgrounds.  These are just the books I happened to like most.  

I'd love to know what your favorite reads of 2020 are.  You should definitely make your own list and join in the TTT fun.  Hop on over to That Artsy Reader Girl for all the details.

My Top Ten Reads of 2020 (in no particular order):

1.  Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley—This is a devastating, but important and impactful MG novel about domestic violence.  My review.

2.  Land of the Cranes by Aida Salazar—Vivid and searing, this MG novel-in-verse about a family torn apart by controversial U.S. immigration policies is heart-breaking and eye-opening.  Another gutting but essential read.  My review.

3.  The Imperfects by Amy Meyerson—Part mystery, part family drama, this is an engrossing read about a (real) famous jewel and how its (fictional) discovery impacts an ordinary family.  My review.

4.  The Woman in the Green Dress by Tea Cooper—This is an atmospheric historical novel set in Australia that also features a mysterious jewel.  My review.

5.  Beyond the Horizon by Lois Lowry—A moving memoir-in-verse, this slim book recounts the author's experiences as a young girl in Hawaii during the bombing of Pearl Harbor and in post World War II Japan.  My review. 

6.  Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain—Set in North Carolina in 1960, this heart-wrenching novel focuses on poverty and the routine, forced sterilization of the poor and mentally challenged that took place at that time.  My review.

7.  The Last Blue by Isla Morley—If you loved The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, give this historical novel a try.  It also features the Blue people of Kentucky and is an immersive, intriguing, and tender novel.  My review.

8.  The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson—Speaking of ... I'm not alone in loving this popular book.  It deserves all the accolades it has received.  My review.

9.  The Split by Sharon Bolton—Bolton's newest is a bit of a departure from her usual crime fiction and I loved it.  It's part mystery/suspense, part survival story.  My review.

10.  Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon—I love a good pioneer novel and this is exactly that.  It concerns a group of people traveling along the Overland Trail.  My review.

There you go, my ten favorite books of the year.  What were your most-loved reads of 2020?  Have you read any of mine?  I'd truly love to know.  Leave me a comment on this post and I'll gladly return the favor on your blog.

Happy TTT!    

Even though there's a terrible war raging in Europe, 25-year-old Tess DeMello is safe in her tight-knit Little Italy neighborhood living a happy, contented life.  She's engaged to her childhood sweetheart, pursuing a career as a nurse, and looking forward to a future full of love, adventure, and joy.  In a moment of weakness, however, her life is changed forever.  She finds herself pregnant with a stranger's baby.  Kicked out of her home by her mother, Tess is alone and terrified.  With no other choice, she breaks off her engagement, leaves school, and flees to North Carolina, where she'll beg her baby's father for enough money to start a new life in some far-flung city.  

To Tess' surprise, 27-year-old Henry Kraft suggests they marry and raise their baby together in his tiny hometown of Hickory.  While this seems like the perfect solution, Tess soon finds that an opinionated Italian woman from Baltimore is not exactly what Henry's family and friends had in mind for him.  While she does finally find some purpose and acceptance by volunteering at a polio hospital, her strained relationship with Henry brings only distress and worry.  Not only is he definitely concealing something from her, but he treats Tess with politeness rather than affection.  What is he hiding?  What will it take for a regretful Tess to find happiness in her strange new life?

The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain is a compelling novel set in an interesting time period and populated with complex, well-drawn characters.  None of them are perfect—all are authentically flawed.  While not all of them are likable, their individual conflicts and dramas keep the story engrossing, even when the plot gets a bit predictable.  The tale did throw me at least one curveball, though, which led to a surprise ending that I loved.  While I didn't end up absolutely adoring The Stolen Marriage, overall, I found it heartfelt, intriguing, and, ultimately, hopeful. 

(Readalikes:  Reminds me a lot of Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain and a little of At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen)

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find