I'm a little late to the party, but I'm here. Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!

I don't know about you, but I have a bad habit of getting excited about a book, acquiring said book, and then totally forgetting the book exists in the world, let alone right there on my bookshelf or Kindle. Sound familiar at all? Today's TTT topic is all about this weird, inexplicable phenomenon: Top Ten Books I Couldn't Wait to Get My Hands On and Still Haven't Read. This is another one of those prompts that could have been a Top One Hundred list, but ain't nobody wanna read that, so I'll restrain myself and stick to the assignment. While I definitely have older examples, the volumes on my list are the first ten that caught my eye while I was perusing my bookshelves. 

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

1. Homecoming by Kate Morton—This is the first book that came to mind for this topic. I adore Morton and get excited every time she publishes. Extra so this go around because I didn't love her last novel. (There's a first time for everything, I guess.) Homecoming has gotten great reviews. I just need to read it already. The story is about a journalist living in England who returns to her native Australia to care for her elderly grandmother. While poking about in the older woman's attic, she discovers intriguing clues that propel her to investigate a 60-year-old unsolved murder that, shockingly, seems to have ties to her family.

2. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder by David Grann—Like all buzzy books, this one had a long waitlist at my library, so I bought myself a copy...which has been gathering dust on my bookshelf ever since! It's the nonfiction account of a British ship that wrecked in 1742. Two groups of survivors arrived home at different times and in separate cobbled-together vessels. With wildly different stories about what happened to them, the question became: What really happened aboard the Wager?

3. Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng—I'm always up for a unique dystopian novel and this one caught my attention as soon as I heard about it. I even bought a copy to enjoy at my leisure, although I planned to get to it sooner rather than later. Hasn't happened yet. It's about a young Asian American boy living in a tumultuous new world that is trying to regroup following years of economic chaos and angry violence. The government says that anything "unpatriotic" (including the poems his mother wrote before she abandoned him) should be eradicated. When he gets a mysterious letter with only a drawing on it, it sends him on a daring journey to find the mother he hasn't seen in three years.

4. Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese—This historical novel tells the reimagined story of the woman who inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne's most famous character, Hester Prynne. I really should pick it up one of these days!

5. Fly Away by Kristin Hannah—After loving Hannah's most recent novels, I wanted to read some of her backlist ones. I purchased this one only to later realize it was the second book in a duology. Oops! Once I read Firefly Lane, I'll get to this sequel, which continues the story of the great friendship between Tully Hart and Kate Ryan.

6. How to Keep House While Drowning by K.C. Davis—While my housekeeping skills can always use refining, I hear this slim self-help book really isn't about cleaning at all. Lots of my busy mom friends have recommended this to me as a guide that helped them feel better about all they're doing and get rid of the shame and guilt they feel over not being able to accomplish as much as they want to in their long, crazy days filled with constant cleaning, cooking, childcare, etc.

7. The Silo trilogy by Hugh Howey—Dystopian novels have always been my jam. I loved Wool when I read it, so much so that I bought a boxed set of the three-volume series. Have I read Shift or Dust? No, no I have not. The story is about apocalypse survivors who have been living through the fallout underground. Tired of the confinement, some of them want to bust out and take their chances on the outside. They get their wish, for good or ill...

8. Daughter of Moloka'i by Alan Brennert—Moloka'i is an impactful historical novel that I still think about even though it's been years since I read it. Since I liked it so much, I purchased the sequel. I feel like I need to re-read the first book to remember who's who and what's what before I move on with the story, but I've yet to actually do it because as much as I may have enjoyed a book, I'm not much for re-reading.

9. What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon—Of the three books I've read by Harmon, I adored two of them (Where the Lost Wander and A Girl Called Samson). This time-slip novel is one of her most well-loved. It's about a woman grieving the death of her beloved grandfather, who always regaled her with stories of his childhood in Ireland. Sucked back to that time period, she finds herself the unwitting guardian of a young boy. Even if she could return to her time, could she bear to leave the child she is coming to love as her own?

10. The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn—I feel like the last hist-fic lover on the planet that hasn't read anything by Quinn. This is the book of hers I most want to read. Based on a true story, it's about a bookish student who is forced to take up a gun and defend her native Ukraine from Hitler's oncoming invasion. She soon becomes a proficient killer, a national hero, and a friend of Eleanor Roosevelt. Then an old enemy comes calling...

There you go, ten books I was really excited to read and still haven't gotten to. What's on your shelf of shame? I'd love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on yours.

Today's TTT prompt is nice and simple: Top Ten Books With One-Word Titles. Judging from most of the titles on my TBR list, I prefer mine longer, but there just happen to be exactly ten novels the list that fit the prompt. Huzzah! 

As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Click on over there and give her some love.

1. Above by Isla Morley—Like Emma Donoghue's Room, Above concerns a woman who must raise a baby in captivity. How does a mother protect and nurture her child in a world that is isolated and dangerous?

2. Artifice by Sharon Cameron—This YA novel is about a young Dutch woman who watches with horror as the Nazis buy up and steal her country's artistic treasures. Desperate for money to help the Resistance smuggle Jewish babies out of Amsterdam, she begins selling forgeries to the Nazis. It's a dangerous game, one that could end in her death.

3. Dust by Dusti Bowling—Plagued by asthma, Avalyn has been breathing easier since her family moved to a town with clean air. Then, a new boy moves in. Dirty and withdrawn, he's an instant target for bullies. Avalyn wants to befriend him, but she has trouble breathing around him, especially as his emotions seem to trigger swirling dust storms. Who is this boy, really? How can Avalyn help him? If she can't, will she ever be able to breathe freely again? 

4. Goldilocks by Laura Lam—With the Earth dying around them, humans must head for space if they have any chance of surviving. An all-female spaceship crew is ready and willing to colonize a planet in the Goldilocks Zone. If only they were the officially sanctioned team. When push comes to shove, they do what they have to and steal the ship. Almost immediately, things start to go wrong. How can the team save the world when they can't even trust each other?

5. Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese—This buzzy novel reimagines the life of the woman who inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne's famous heroine, Hester Prynne. When Isobel Gamble's husband leaves her in America with little hope of returning, the seamstress finds herself stranded and penniless in a strange new land. Nathaniel Hawthorne befriends her and the two grow close...and that's about all the plot summary offers in the way of story hints!

6. Homecoming by Kate Morton—An Australian journalist living in London returns to her homeland to be at the bedside of her ailing grandmother. While the elderly woman is in the the hospital, her granddaughter examines her attic, finding shocking information on an old unsolved murder. It's clear her family was involved in some way, but how? And why? The journalist is determined to find out.

7. Killingly by Katharine Beutner—Based on a real-life missing persons case that has never been solved, this historical mystery concerns a strange, quiet student who goes missing from Mount Holyoke College in the late 1800s. Her tight-lipped best friend might know more than she's saying. What secrets is she keeping? What really happened to Bertha Mellish?

8. Remembrance by Rita Woods—Juggling multiple timelines, this historical novel explores themes of slavery, racism, freedom, and hope.

9. Sheerwater by Leah Swann—As Ava drives toward her new home with her two young sons in the backseat, she's shocked to witness the crash of a small plane. She runs to help. When she returns to her vehicle, her children have vanished. Where are Ava's sons? How will she get them back?

10. Unmissing by Minka Kent—Merritt Coletto's idyllic life with her husband shatters forever one night when his ex-wife comes knocking on their door. She's been missing, presumed dead, for a decade. Shocked by her tale of abduction and terror, they bring her into their home. The longer she stays, though, the more suspicious Merritt becomes. Is Lydia telling the truth about where she's been for the last ten years? And what does she really want from her ex-husband and his new wife? 

There you go, ten books with one-word titles that are on my TBR list. Have you read any of them? What did you think? What are your favorite books with one-word titles? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

Christmas is on Sunday? What?? It still feels surreal, just like every year. I'm feeling much more prepared today than I was last Tuesday, so I'm hoping I'll be able to enjoy a nice, calm, peaceful weekend holiday celebration with family and friends. I wish the same for you and yours!

I mentioned last week that my reading goal for 2022 is 200 books. How am I doing? Not TOO badly. I'm at 188 read and I should finish both my paper read and my audiobook today. That gives me ten days to read ten more books. Can I do it? Like Bob the Builder says, "YES, I can!" Well, we'll see about that, Bob, but like the Little Red Engine chants, "I THINK I can." 

If you want to share your bookish holiday wishes, join in the TTT fun. All the details are at That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top Ten Bookish Gifts Santa Is Going to Bring Me (if he gets "his" act together, of course)

Edited to add: I'm having trouble commenting on some of your WordPress-hosted blogs. When I try to leave a comment, I get a "Not Acceptable!An appropriate representation of the requested resource could not be found on this server. This error was generated by Mod_Security" error. I'm not sure what this means or how to fix it. So, just know if you have a WP blog and you don't see a comment from me, I got this error when I tried. I'm commenting on everyone's blogs this week; bummer that some of you will never see them. Boo hoo.

It's been a rough week already and it's barely Wednesday, but I didn't want to miss Top Ten Tuesday even if I'm late to the party. TTT makes me happy—I need happy this week! I'm stumped on the prompt, though. My brain and memory aren't up for much right now, so I'm going to forgo the official topic—Top Ten Unlikable Characters You Can't Help But Love—and do a simpler one. 

As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Click on over there and give her some love! And if you want to join in the TTT fun, please do, even though it's not Tuesday.

Now that it's November, I'm really starting to think about the books I still want to read before 2022 is gone forever. My goal is to read 200 books this year; I'm at 153 now, so I've got some work to do. At the moment, I'm concentrating on reading for two book awards programs I'm helping to judge, but—of course—there are other titles I want to get to as well. So here are ten that I want to read before 2022 ends.

1. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir—Okay, this is one I need to read, not necessarily want to read, but still...Sci-fi has never been my favorite genre, but Weir's books are so popular that I couldn't not give them a chance. I started The Martian and gave up after a chapter or two. All that detail about every little thing put me right to sleep! My husband adored both The Martian and Project Hail Mary. My book club is reading the latter this month, so I'm finally going to brave it. Wish me luck!

2. A Song Called Home by Sara Zarr—I've enjoyed several of Zarr's YA books. This is her first novel for middle-graders. It concerns a girl named Lou who's satisfied with her life in the city, even if her dad drinks too much and her family has little in the way of material comforts. When her mom decides to move in with her boyfriend, leaving the city and her dad behind, Lou feels adrift. On her last night in her old home, she finds a guitar on her front porch. Although the giver has remained anonymous, she assumes it's from her dad and that learning how to play it will, somehow, keep him close to her despite the distance between them. Sounds like a sweet read.

3. Madwoman by Louisa Treger—I've talked about this historical novel before. It's based on the true story of Nellie Bly's terrifying but illuminating undercover infiltration of the famous mental asylum on New York's Blackwell's Island in 1887.

4. Ashton Hall by Lauren Belfer—This Gothic mystery is about a woman who is happy to escape her unraveling life in New York City to stay with an ill relative at a manor house in England. When her young, neurodivergent son discovers human remains in a forgotten wing, she becomes consumed with learning about the woman whose skeleton was hidden in mysterious Ashton Hall.

5. Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese—I'm #3 on the library waiting list for this buzzy novel. You probably already know that the story is a reimagining of the life of the woman who inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. It sounds intriguing.

6. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens—This classic novella actually fits this week's real TTT prompt about unlikable characters. It's one of my favorite books of all time. I re-read it every December to get me in the Christmas spirit.

7. Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family by Erika Hayasaki—I'm an adoptive mom, so I'm always interested in books like this one. It recounts the true story of a pair of identical twins who were born in Vietnam in 1998. The girls' biological mother could not take care of them. One was adopted and raised in a poor, rural village in Vietnam by her biological aunt. The other was adopted by a wealthy white family and raised in a prosperous Chicago household. When the American adoptive mother learned her daughter had a twin back in Vietnam, she reunited the sisters, who were teens at the time. Sounds like an incredible story.

8. No Strangers Here by Carlene O'Connor—I just heard about this series opener (probably from one of your blogs) and it sounds excellent. When the dead body of a bloke known as "The Dancing Man" is found murdered on a beach in southwest Ireland, Detective Inspector Cormac O'Brien gets the case. His investigation in the small town of Dingle leads him to the dead man's rumored lover. When Dimpna Wilde's mother comes under suspicion of murdering "The Dancing Man," Dimpna returns to the hometown she gladly left behind to clear her mother's name. 

9. Embers On the Wind by Lisa Williamson Rosenberg—This dual-timeline novel revolves around Whittaker House, an old Massachusetts home that was once a stop on the Underground Railroad. Inhabited by the ghosts of two women who died there while trying to escape slavery, it's now a posh vacation rental. The ghosts observe the modern-day holiday-makers, many of whom are Black women who are not as free as they appear. 

10. A Murder at Balmoral by Chris McGeorge—I'm not a person who cares for real-life drama, royal or otherwise, but this holiday murder mystery sounds like a fun caper. The royal family is gathered in Scotland for Christmas when the king dies from poisoning. Everyone in the dysfunctional clan is a suspect, but who actually did the dirty deed?

There you are, ten books I want to read before 2022 disappears. Which titles are you itching to read before the new year? Do you have any villains you love to hate? I'd truly love to know.