It's Tuesday again.  I think.  I don't know about you, but these days, my Tuesdays don't look much different from my Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays!  Nothing much has changed here except I've read a few more books, cross-stitched for a few (okay, a lot more than a few) more hours, and watched more episodes of The Middle.  I did have a Zoom meeting for my church "job" this morning, so that added some excitement to my day.  Other than that, it's the same ole, same ole around here.  I'm not complaining—we're all healthy and staying (more or less) sane at my house.  An extended member of our family died last week of COVID-19 after several weeks in the hospital, so that was a sobering reminder of why we're all sheltering in place.  Please keep yourself and your loved ones safe and healthy!

On a lighter note, it's time for Top Ten Tuesday.  If you're not familiar with this fun meme, you really should be.  Head on over to That Artsy Reader Girl for all the info.  Today's topic is Top Ten Book Titles That Would Make Great Band Names.  I love music as much as the next person, but I'm just not feeling this one today.  Instead, I'm going to give you a glimpse into my obsession with organizing my main Goodreads TBR list.  Because I reached the limit of how many books you can have in a bookshelf (5000, if you're curious), I had to make separate lists for non-fiction and children's books.  EDIT:  I'm so sorry if I freaked anyone out with my unintentional lie about Goodreads bookshelf limits!  What I meant to say was that if you go over 5000 on a single bookshelf, Goodreads will no longer let you put those books in want-to-read order (at least I can't figure out how).  Since ordering my books is my favorite part of GR list-making, I keep my lists under 5000.  Does that make more sense? So, today I'm focusing on the books on my adult fiction "bookshelf," listing the entries in want-to-read order.  I'm going to briefly mention the titles I've talked about recently or repeatedly and spend more time on those I haven't highlighted yet.

Here we go with Top Ten Books on My Goodreads Adult Fiction TBR List:



1.  The Sea of Lost Girls by Carol Goodman—I already talked about this book here.  I've also lamented the fact that a copy of it is being held hostage at my county library, gathering dust on the "Holds" shelf.  Well, good news!  I just learned that the library will start curbside checkout tomorrow.  I'm stoked.  I've been wanting to read this book ever since I heard about it, so yay!  I will liberate my on-hold book as soon as I can tomorrow morning.


2.  The Girl From Widow Hills by Megan Miranda (available June 20, 2020)—I enjoy Miranda's thrillers and this one sounds as intriguing as her others.  It involves a woman who achieved celebrity status as a child when she miraculously survived a near-drowning.  As the 20th anniversary of the event approaches, the girl—now a woman living under a different name—starts experiencing strange symptoms that link her disturbing past to her threatened present.  Can't wait!


3.  All the Ways We Said Goodbye by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White—I highlighted this title here.


4.  In Five Years by Rebecca Serle—talked about it here


5.  The Cutting Place by Jane Casey—Maeve Kerrigan is one of my favorite fictional police detectives.  In Casey's newest, the 9th installment in the series, Maeve is sent to investigate the death of a young female journalist who was killed while working on a story about an elite gentleman's club.  I'm in for anything Maeve!


6.  The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate—I've talked about this one before.  I'm in the middle of the novel right now and I'm really enjoying it.


7.  The Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan—I'm not sure what's going on with the U.S. publication of this book.  It came out in Australia in February but is not available for a reasonable price anywhere else as far as I can tell (there is a $40.87 copy listed on Amazon and a $30.36 one on BookDepository).  Presumably, the hang-ups are because of COVID-19.  Hopefully, The Good Turn will be more widely available soon. 

This is the third installment in the DI Cormac Reilly series, which I enjoy.  The story begins with the suspected kidnapping of a young girl.  Short-staffed and hindered by red tape, Cormac and his partner make a horrible mistake in the case, which leaves the former suspended and the latter banished to a small town where he discovers some odd findings in a murder case that has supposedly been solved ...


8.  Please See Us by Caitlin Mullen—An Atlantic City boardwalk psychic starts having strange visions that she thinks are related to two recent murders.  When she launches her own investigation into the killings, she puts herself right in a killer's path ...


9.  Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters by Emily Carpenter (available October 20, 2020)—I enjoy Carpenter's immersive thrillers and her newest sounds just as intriguing as her other books.  This one revolves around Eve Candler, a woman who has kept her grandmother's secrets for years.  No one else knows that the revered evangelist and faith healer was a complete fraud and a con artist to boot.  When an even bigger secret about her grandmother surfaces, Eve risks everything to find out the truth.


10.  Before Familiar Woods by Ian Pisarcik—I love the big lies in small towns trope, so naturally, I find the premise of this book appealing.  It has to do with the murders of two boys and the subsequent disappearances of their fathers.  It's left to one mother to figure out what is happening in her not-so-quaint little town.

There you go, the top ten books on my adult fiction Goodreads TBR shelf.  Have you read any of them?  What are the most tantalizing titles on your TBR list?  I'd truly love to know.  Leave me a comment on this post and I'll return the favor on yours.

Happy TTT!

Ahhh, Tuesday!  My favorite day of the week in the book blogging world. I've been a little bit MIA from BBB lately thanks to my attendance at RootsTech—a big, multi-day genealogy conference.  Since I was in Salt Lake City for the event, I took the opportunity to do some on-site research on some of my Mormon pioneer ancestors.  The Church History Library held an absolute gem—a series of letters written to my great-great-great grandfather from his mother in England while he was eking out a life in Ogden, Utah, in the 1860s and '70s.  Since they hadn't been indexed or transcribed, I spent a few hours sending the letters from microfilm to my email address, page by page.  Once I got home, I couldn't wait to transcribe them, a painstaking but very fulfilling process.  Reading the letters made me laugh, cry, and shake my head.  Let's just say that moms haven't changed much in 150 years!

Hoping to strike gold again, I visited the Salt Lake City Cemetery in search of a more recent ancestor who died in a coal mine cave-in near Helper, Utah, in 1925.  Find a Grave did not have any photos, so I went headstone-hunting hoping to take one for myself.  Imagine my dismay when I found this:


Considering the age of some of the headstones in this cemetery, it's amazing more haven't toppled, but nope—the stone I sought was the only one laying face forward on the ground!  Try as they might, my husband and aunt couldn't lift the heavy stone so we could read its inscription.  Such is the life of the genealogist, I guess.  You win some, you lose some.  Ironically, a quick visit to Billion Graves (which I somehow hadn't thought to check) revealed a perfectly clear photo of the headstone taken while it was still upright, proving I'm not quite the thorough genealogist I thought I was!  Good thing I attended RootsTech to hone my skills.   

Anyway, all this is to say that I'm home, recovered from my vacation, and ready to get the blog updated.  Participating in TTT seems like the best way to get back into the swing of things!

If you're not familiar with Top Ten Tuesday, it's a super fun weekly meme.  You should definitely join in. It's simple.  Just head on over to That Artsy Reader Girl, read some quick instructions, make your own list, and then spend a few happy hours hopping around the book blogosphere checking out other people's lists.  If you're looking for an easy way to feel more connected here while spreading the love to some awesome blogs and adding to your TBR pile at the same time—well, you've found it.  Jump on in, the water's fine :)

This week's topic is Top Ten Authors Who Have a Fun Social Media Presence.  I don't follow many authors, so I'm going to fast forward to next week's topic: Top Ten Books on My Spring 2020 TBR.  Since there are at least 20 books on my Spring TBR, I'll share ten this week and ten next week.  Here goes:

Top Ten Books on My Spring 2020 TBR (Part One):



1.  The Wish and the Peacock by Wendy S. Swore—Swore's debut, A Monster Like Me, was one of my favorite novels of 2019.  I was super excited to get an ARC of her newest, which I'm reading now.  It's a poignant story about a 12-year-old girl who's desperate to hold on to the family farm she loves, which is being sold in the wake of her father's death.  She'll do whatever it takes to sabotage the sale, even tame a wild peacock!  So far, the book is sweet and funny.  I'm enjoying it.


2.  The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron—I'm a big fan of Cameron's books, which are unique and thought-provoking.  Her newest tells a more traditional story than her others.  It's a WWII novel about a real Polish teenager who hid 13 Jews in her tiny apartment, even with Nazis living next door, throughout the war.  Sounds fascinating!


3.  When We Were Lost by Kevin Wignall—Lark recommended this YA novel about a high school field trip to Costa Rica gone horribly wrong.  It sounds like a tense, exciting adventure/survival story.  I just grabbed it from the library and I can't wait to dig in.


4.  My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira—This is an older historical that I somehow missed reading.  It's about a 17-year-old midwife who dreams of becoming a surgeon.  The Civil War is raging and she offers her services as a nurse, which leads to an adventure that is full of excitement, danger, heartbreak, romance, and sorrow.


5.  Rebel Spy by Veronica Rossi (available June 23, 2020)—This one is kind of a cheat since it doesn't come out until the end of June, but I'm hoping to get an early copy of it, so ... I really enjoyed Rossi's Never Sky series, but her latest is a completely different kind of novel.  It's a historical featuring a young woman who snatches a surprise opportunity to assume a different identity.  Eventually, she becomes a Revolutionary War spy for George Washington.  Based on a real person, this one sounds super intriguing!


6.  The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers by Amy Hollingsworth—Not gonna lie, even as a kid, I found Mister Rogers' Neighborhood a little too trippy!  I was never a fan of the Land of Make Believe (so weird!), but I enjoyed the rest of Mister Rogers' show as well as the calm, accepting, positive vibe he put off.  It's been fun getting to know this wonderful man better through recent movies.  My book club chose this book for our March meeting and I can't wait to read it.


7.  The Last Blue by Isla Morley (available May 5, 2020)—I loved The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson, which features a "Blue" from the unique Kentucky clan.  I've been interested in reading more about these people, so when Morley offered me a copy of her newest, I gladly accepted.  Her novel is about a pair of journalists who travel to the wilds of Appalachia to study the Blue People of Kentucky for a government WPA project.  The experience opens their eyes and changes their lives forever.


8.  The Supremes at Earl's All You Can Eat by Edward Kelsey Moore—This one came up in a Google search I did for "happy novels."  It's about a trio of friends who have been by each other's sides through thick and thin.  This year, however, will be their most challenging yet.  Sounds a little intense, but I'm hoping happy wins out in the end!


9.  A Good Neighborhood by Therese Ann Fowler—This one's gotten some excited buzz lately, and it does sound interesting, especially considering I have a bi-racial daughter.  The novel concerns a family with a bi-racial son whose ordered lives are challenged when their uppity new neighbors start causing tension, which causes everyone in the neighborhood to ask important questions about race, class, and interracial romance.


10.  In Five Years by Rebecca Serle—This novel, which comes out today, sounds like a thought-provoking one!  It concerns a woman who knows exactly where she will be in five years.  Until one night when she has a very real-feeling dream in which she's shown an entirely different future.  What does it all mean, if anything?  Oooh, the possibilities with this premise ... I'm excited to see what happens.

There ya go, ten books I'm hoping to read this Spring.  Have you read any of these?  What did you think?  What's on your TBR list this season?  I'd truly love to know.  Leave a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on yours.

Happy TTT!