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.

Happy New Year! I hope everyone has had a safe, enjoyable start to 2024. I'm in the middle of getting all my Christmas decorations down as well as organizing my desk, my calendar, and my life for the new year. Phew. It's definitely time to take a little break for TTT. Today's prompt is, not surprisingly, Top Ten Favorite Books of 2023. Of the 223 books I read last year, I marked 32 of them as favorites. In order to winnow my list down to just 10, I'm going to skip the re-reads and most of the sequels I enjoyed and focus on my most favorite favorites. 

As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Head on over to her blog to give her some love. While you're there, join in the TTT fun. I'd love to know which ten books you read in 2023 were the most enjoyable for you.

1. The Rockton/Haven's Rock series by Kelley Armstrong—This is a bit of a cheat, but I read six books in this series in 2023 and they were all favorites. These crime novels are on the grittier side (at least for me), but I just can't get enough of them. Armstrong knows exactly how to pull me into her stories and keep me coming back for more!

2. The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim DeFede—Although this nonfiction account deals with a horrific event in U.S. history, it's a hopeful, uplifting book about how people can come together in perilous times to make a difference in each others' lives. Very inspiring.

3. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman—When books get too much buzz, I tend to shy away from them, shunning what everyone is reading out of principle. That's what I did with this one, until A Man Called Otto came out. Everyone was raving about the movie and I can't resist Tom Hanks, so I broke one of my cardinal rules and watched a film based on a book without first reading the book. Scandalous! After loving the movie, my book club decided to read the novel, and guess what? I adored it too. I guess sometimes when everyone loves something, it really is something worth loving!

4. The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White—It's possible that I read this children's classic as a kid, but I don't remember doing so. Bummer because it's such a sweet, wholesome read. I liked it more than Charlotte's Web, which I've read several times. 

5. Calamity Jane by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows—This delightful YA romp is the third installment in the Lady Janies series, a collection of alternate history novels starring famous women. Calamity Jane is the only one I've read so far, but oh my goodness, what fun it is! I listened to the book on audio and enjoyed every minute of the experience. It's funny, engrossing, voice-y, and just all kinds of entertaining.

6. The Wild Journey of Juniper Berry by Chad Morris and Shelly Brown—One of my favorite middle-grade reads of the year, this novel is about a girl who was raised far off-the-grid and has never experienced life in "civilization." When her brother gets sick, her family is forced into the "real" world so that he can get prolonged medical treatment. As Juniper tries to make sense of her new normal, she questions which life is the right one for her and her family.

7. Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr.—I can't stop thinking about this nonfiction book which concerns the vast fortune of American industrialist W.A. Clark. It talks about how Clark made his money, how he spent it, and what happened to it when it passed on to his last heir, Huguette. It's an absolutely fascinating story that asks big questions about wealth—how it should/should not be spent, how much is enough, the responsibility of the mega rich toward society, etc. I suggested Empty Mansions as a book club read because I want to discuss it so badly with other people who have read it.

8. Exiles by Jane Harper—I've read all of Harper's novels and Exiles is my favorite. The third book in the Aaron Falk series, the story is about Falk—a federal investigator—returning to his small hometown in Southern Australia to attend the christening of a friend's child. The town's annual fair is taking place, prompting Falk to look into the disappearance of a young mother during the same event one year earlier. 

9. The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt—Another middle-grade novel I love, this one is about an unassuming, recently orphaned boy who's tasked with recreating the labors of his namesake for a quirky school assignment. As he tackles his grief while also trying to figure out how to be heroic, he learns that he's more like the famous Hercules than he ever could have imagined. 

10. A Girl Called Samson by Amy Harmon—Based on a true story, this historical novel recounts the life of Deborah Samson, a young woman who longs for freedom and adventure. Disguising herself as a boy named Samson, she enlists in the Revolutionary War in order to do her bit. Is she up to the task? Can she hide her real identity long enough to make a difference? What will happen if she's found out?

There you go, my ten favorite reads of the year. Have you read any of these? What did you think? What were the best books you read in 2023? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog. I also reply to comments left here.

This week's TTT prompt is a twice-yearly one that I just find...odd. I always skip it. For those who want to participate, it's Top Ten Bookish Wishes. Jana explains it thus: I host this topic twice a year (around Christmas and again in June), and people love it! List the top 10 books you’d love to own and include a link to your wishlist so that people can grant your wish. Make sure you link your wishlist to your mailing address [here’s how to do it on Amazon] or include the email address associated with your ereader in the list description so people know how to get the book to you. After you post, jump around the Linky and grant a wish or two if you’d like. Please don’t feel obligated to send anything to anyone! Since we'll be talking about our Summer TBRs next week anyway, I decided to jump the gun and do my list in two parts because why not? I never stick to my lists anyway. Ha ha.

Although I have a ton of favorite authors whose books are auto-reads for me, I also try a fair number of new writers every year. In fact, of the 200 books I read in 2022, 117 (59%) were by authors I hadn't tried before. So far in 2023, I've read 17 books, 10 of which were written by new-to-me writers. Some of these have been duds, naturally, but others introduced me to some great new authors whom I very much want to read more from. I found more than 10 last year, so I had to narrow it down to the ones who stood out most for me.

Before we get to that, though, be sure to click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl and give our lovely TTT host, Jana, some love. If you want to join in with your own list, all the details about this fun weekly event are on her blog.

1. Jason Reynolds—This iconic children's author was my best find of 2022. He writes contemporary middle-grade and YA books starring Black characters living in urban situations and dealing with everything from ADHD to bullying to gang violence to wrongful arrests. His books are compelling, funny, poignant, and approachable (even to a 47-year-old white woman). I listened to his whole Track series last year. The audiobooks are especially entertaining because of Guy Lockard, Reynolds' long-time friend and a talented actor and narrator. 

2. Tamara Berry—Buried in a Good Book, the first installment in Berry's By the Book cozy mystery series, had me smiling and laughing so much that I knew I needed to read more from her. So far, I've read the second book in the series and the first in her Eleanor Wilde cozy series. Her books are just fun! She also writes romances under the names Lucy Gilmore and Tamara Morgan.

3. Fredrik Backman—Backman's been a popular author ever since A Man Called Ove came out in 2014. His books didn't really seem like my kind of thing, so I avoided them until someone in my book club suggested we read Anxious People. I wasn't looking forward to it, honestly, but once I got started, I couldn't stop. What a delightful read! I loved it and now I want to read more by this beloved Swedish writer.

4. Stacy Willingham—I just finished Willingham's second novel, which I liked even more than her debut, A Flicker in the Dark, which I read last year. Her books are engrossing, twisty, and compelling.

5. Sulari Gentill—Although this Australian author has published a number of books, I didn't hear about her until 2022 when The Woman in the Library came out. It's a fun, clever novel that made me want to read more of Gentill's mysteries.

6. Eleanor Brown—Any Other Family was one of my favorite reads of last year. Brown has penned a couple other novels, plus some non-fiction. I'm not really interested in the latter, but the former? Definintely!

7. Lisa Yee—I read a lot of middle-grade novels last year for a few different book awards. Lee's Maizy Chen's Last Chance was considered for the Cybils Awards and while it didn't ultimately make the cut to be a finalist (although it was a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature), I very much enjoyed it. I'll for sure be checking out Yee's backlist for more gems.

9. Serena Burdick—The Girls With No Names broke my heart and made me a Burdick fan. I'm planning to read more of her hist-fic this year.

10. Kimi Cunningham Grant—I've read two of Grant's books, one a non-fiction account of her grandparents' experience in a Japanese internment camp during World War II, the other a contemporary novel about an isolated father and daughter whose secretive lives are interrupted by an unexpected visitor to their remote cabin. She's only published one other book, which I will hopefully be able to read in 2023. 

There you are, ten new-to-me authors I found in 2022. Have you read any of them? What did you think? Which writers did you discover in 2023? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.