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2026 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)

My Progress:


27 / 30 books. 90% done!

2026 Cover Lovers Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)

2026 Cover Lovers Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)

My Progress:


39 / 50 books. 78% done!

2026 Literary Escapes Challenge

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My Progress:


35 / 51 states. 69% done!

2026 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

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24 / 25 books. 96% done!

2026 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

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29 / 50 books. 58% done!

Booklist Queen's 2026 Reading Challenge

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38 / 52 books. 73% done!

2026 52 Club Reading Challenge

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34 / 52 books. 65% done!

2026 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

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22 / 40 books. 55% done!

2026 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

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24 / 51 books. 47% done!

2026 Medical Examiner Mystery Reading Challenge

2026 Mount TBR Reading Challenge

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19 / 25 books. 76% done!

2026 Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge

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44 / 52 books. 85% done!

Shelf Reflection Candy Reading Challenge for Kids (and Adults)

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54 / 65 books. 83% done!

2026 Countdown Reading Challenge

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55 / 55 books. 100% done!

2026 Series Reading Challenge


23 / 36 books. 64% done!

Dragon Rambles' Law of Fives Bingo

Dragon Rambles' Law of Fives Bingo

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71 / 125 books. 57% done!

2026 Southern Literary Reading Challenge

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9 / 9 books. 100% done!

2026 Reading Challenge (by Linz the Bookworm)

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36 / 60 books. 60% done!

2026 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge

2026 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge

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10 / 40 books. 25% done!

European Reading Challenge 2026

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7 / 50 books. 14% done!

2017 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge (retired challenge - doing old boards for fun)

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67 / 125 books. 54% done!

2026 Reading Challenge Addict Reading Challenge

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4 / 5 challenges. 80% done!

The 100 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. Reading Challenge

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98 / 100 names. 98% done!

The Life Skills Reading Challenge

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76 / 80 skills. 95% done!
Showing posts with label Martha Hall Kelly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Martha Hall Kelly. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 07, 2024

Top Ten Tuesday: A Garden of "Flowery" TBR Books

 


I spent the weekend before last visiting family in the Columbia River Gorge, where rain showers and cool breezes reminded me of what Spring is supposed to be like. Guess what greeted me when I came home to the Arizona desert? Bright sunshine and blazing heat. The temperatures have been a little milder this week, but even still, our pool has been a popular place for family and friends lately!  *Sigh* While Spring in Arizona is nothing like the Pacific Northwest's version, it does bring the promised blossoms to add much-needed color to our parched, dry landscape. I know very little about flowers, but I am grateful for the cheery pops of pretty they bring. 

Today's Top Ten Tuesday prompt is appropriate for the season here in the U.S.: May Flowers. It's a choose-your-own adventure topic to celebrate Spring. I'm going to stay pretty basic and highlight ten books on my TBR list that have a type of flower in the title. I think I'll even be able to make it without repeating any of them. We'll see. I also just realized that they're all historical fiction. Does that genre lend itself more readily to flower-y titles? Interesting...

As always, this fun weekly meme is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Click on over to her blog to join in the party!

Top Ten Books On My TBR List With Flower Titles


1. The Elusive Truth of Lily Temple by Joanna Davidson Politano—Private investigator Peter Driscoll has been hired to locate a priceless, legendary sapphire which is allegedly in the possession of silent film star Lily Temple. In an effort to get close to her, Peter enlists Lily's help with a case. As the two grow closer, their partnership becomes increasingly dangerous, not just for their physical well-beings but also for the state of their hearts.


2. White Rose by Kip Wilson—This historical YA novel revolves around Sophie Scholl, a real German woman who created a resistance group while she was in college called The White Rose to fight against the Nazis in non-violent ways. When their clandestine activities are discovered, Sophie and her fellow collaborators find themselves at the mercy of the very group they're trying to destroy.  


3. Under the Tulip Tree by Michelle Shocklee—At 16, Lorena Leland dreams of achieving fame and fortune by becoming a writer. The crash of the stock market in 1929 dashes her hopes as well as those of Americans all over the country, causing widespread unemployment, poverty, and depression. Desperate to help her family financially, Lorena takes a job interviewing the formerly enslaved for the Federal Writers' Project. As she grows close to one of her subjects, her eyes are opened and her heart expanded in ways she never could have predicted.


4. The Lost Girls of Willowbrook by Ellen Marie Wiseman—Sage Winters has been grieving the death of her twin sister for six years. When her resentful stepfather reveals the truth—Rosemary, who was always a little different, didn't die but was actually committed to the Willowbrook State School (a real institution that was eventually closed down because of the horrendous abuses that were committed there), from which she has just disappeared. Furious and determined to find out what happened to her sister, Sage gets herself committed to the school in order to find answers.


5. The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis—This dual-timeline novel centers around the Frick mansion, a real Gilded Age home in New York City that was turned into an art museum in the 1930s. In 1919, a down-on-her-luck artists' model is thrilled to land a position as the secretary for Helen Frick, the daughter of Henry Clay Frick, a wealthy robber baron. The longer Lillian is in the family's employ, the more she learns about them and their secrets, putting her very life at risk. Fifty years later, an English model arrives at the Frick mansion, now an impressive art museum. When she stumbles upon a series of messages hidden within the museum, she is led on a hunt for not just a concealed treasure, but also possibly the solution to a decades-old murder.


6. Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly—Three women are at the heart of this World War II novel. Caroline Ferriday is a New York socialite who works at the French consulate. Kasia Kuzmerick is a Polish teen whose position as a courier for the resistance puts her in danger every day. Herta Oberheuser is a doctor who takes a job with the German government in order to escape her desolate life, only to find herself trapped in a position she's not sure she wants to be in. The three women's lives intersect when Kasia is sent to a concentration camp. 

Incidentally, this is the first book in a trilogy, all of which have flower titles.


7. The Wings of Poppy Pendleton by Melanie Dobson—On a night of celebration in her family's Thousand Islands castle, 4-year-old Poppy goes peacefully to bed. In the morning, she is nowhere to be found while her father's dead body lies in the smoking room. Eighty-five years later, Chloe Ridell lives on the island, where she is working to preserve the environment and breathe fresh life into her family's candy shop. When a young Pendleton relative shows up on her doorstep, Chloe is thrust into a search for answers about what happened to young Poppy so long ago.


8. Peony in Love by Lisa See—I can't find much in the way of a plot summary for this novel, but apparently, it's a ghost story set in 17th Century China.


9. The Lavender Garden by Lucinda Riley—As the last person in her family line, Emilie inherits a magnificent chateau and vineyard in the south of France. Along with the property comes a tower of debt and a mountain of secrets. Desperate to know what became of Constance Carruthers, a British woman who worked as an undercover agent in Paris during World War II, Emilie starts digging for answers in her new home.


10. the next book in the Myrtle Hardcastle mystery series by Elizabeth C. Bunce—I have to cheat a little in order to get ten different flowers on my list, so just go along with me here...Each of the installments in this entertaining middle-grade historical mystery series has a title that includes a play on the name Myrtle: Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity; Cold-Blooded Myrtle; In Myrtle Peril; etc. I'm not sure when the next one comes out, but I know it will have a "Myrtle" title when it does.

There you are, ten books on my TBR list with the names of flowers in their titles. Have you read any of them? What did you think? Can you think of any others I need to read? What spin did you take for your list today? 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! 

Tuesday, December 01, 2015

Top Ten Tuesday: 2016 Bookish Debuts? Yes, Please!

It's been a little while since I did a Top Ten Tuesday post, but this week's topic intrigued me.  I always love to discover great new writers and 2016 appears to be a good year for them.  So many awesome-looking debut books release next year that I had a really hard time limiting myself to a list of just ten.  I did, though, and I'm excited to share them with you.  I'm anxious to see what you came up with as well.  So, please, leave me a comment on this post—I'll happily return the favor on your blog!

If you want to join in the TTT fun, be sure to click on over to The Broke and the Bookish.  Everything you need to know about this fabulous weekly meme is on their wonderful site.

Ready for my Top Ten 2016 Debut Novels I'm Looking Forward To list?  Hold on tight, 'cause here we go ... (can you tell I spent Thanksgiving weekend on rides at Disneyland/California Adventure?)

1.  The Blood Rose Rebellion by Rosalyn N. Eves—I've loved Rosalyn ever since she told me she was "star-struck" by serving on a book awards judging panel with me :)  She writes excellent book reviews on her blog.  I'm sure her debut novel, a magical YA story set in an alternate Victorian England, will be amazing as well.  Coming Fall 2016 from Knopf.


2.  Paper Wishes by Lois Sepahban—I love me a well-written middle grade historical novel.  This one, about a Japanese-American girl whose family is relocated to an internment camp during WWII, sounds like a good one.  Coming January 5, 2016, from Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.


3.  This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp—Considering how many school shootings have occurred lately, this YA novel examines a frightening and timely trend.  It sounds like an intense, thought-provoking read.  Coming January 5, 2016, from Sourcebooks.

Coincidentally enough, I got an email from Sourcebooks yesterday about a fun pre-order promotion its running to celebrate the book's release.  Check out the Rafflecopter widget below if you're interested:

  a Rafflecopter giveaway


4.  Blackhearts by Nicole CastromanYo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!  This is a much-anticipated YA novel about a young Blackbeard.  Looks like a great read for any Pirates of the Caribbean fan.  Coming February 9, 2016, from Simon Pulse.


5.  The Mystery of Hollow Places by Rebecca Podos—This YA tale centers around the daughter of a forensic scientist who has to use the knowledge she's gleaned from her father to track him down when he goes missing.  Sounds compelling.  Coming January 26, 2016, from Balzer & Bray.


6.  Where Futures End by Parker Peevyhouse—This time-crossing YA adventure novel sounds fascinating to me.  Coming February 9, 2016, from Kathy Dawson Books.


7.  Shallow Graves by Kali Wallace—You've probably heard the buzz about this debut, a YA novel concerning a teenage girl who wakes up in a shallow grave one year after her death.  Somehow, she's alive again, but her world has definitely changed ... Coming January 26, 2016, from Katherine Tegen Books.

8.  In Another Life by Julie Christine Johnson—This adult novel about a recent widow who returns to France to rebuild her life and becomes entangled in an ancient mystery sounds like a good one.  Coming February 2, 2016, from Sourcebooks Landmark.


9.  Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly—This WWII novel about three women whose lives intersect at a notorious female-only concentration camp looks fascinating.  Coming April 5, 2016, from Ballantine Books.


10.  The Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock—Truth is, I would probably read this one based on the title alone!  Its premise also sounds interesting.  The story concerns three teenagers living in Alaska in 1970 and the ways in which they save each other.  Coming February 23, 2016, from Wendy Lamb Books.

So, there you go, ten debut novels of 2016 that I'm excited about reading.  What do you think of my list?  What's on yours?  Do we have any picks in common?  I can't wait to hop around the book blogosphere and see which titles you're stoked about.  Happy Top Ten Tuesday!

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