It doesn't seem to matter how many hundreds of unread books are loading down my bookshelves, my head still swivels when I see a shiny, new release! I haunt NetGalley and Edelweiss, always on the lookout for my next great read. If you are like me, then today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is one you've been looking forward to as well: Top Ten Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the Second Half of 2026. (As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl.) Thanks to the websites mentioned above and generous publicists sending me physical ARCs, I've actually already read a lot of my most anticipated new releases for July-December, including:

Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox (July 7) - ***1/2

Our Marriage is Murder by Carol Goodman (July 21) - ****

How to Kill a Crime Writer by Sarah Lotz (July 21) - ****

The Women in White by Sarah Pekkanen (August 4) - ***

Time Travel for Beginners by Jaclyn Moriarty (August 4) - ***1/2

The Secret Bookstore Sleuth Society by Lindsay Currie (September 15) - ***1/2

A Map to Murder by Michelle Chouinard (September 22) - ****

The Velvet Knife by Maureen Johnson (September 29) - *** 1/2

Dive Bar at the End of the Road by Kelley Armstrong (October 6) - ****

The ones I have not been able to get my hot little hands on yet are on my list today. And because I really can't resist them, I have thirteen new releases instead of ten. #TheStruggleIsReal

1. Everything She Didn't Say by Jane Casey (July 16)—In this standalone mystery/thriller, two friends are enjoying a month-long holiday on the Irish coast. One morning, Ruth wakes up, covered in someone else's blood. Maura is nowhere to be seen. Ruth becomes the number one suspect in her friend's murder, but she's also the only witness. What happened to Maura? Does Ruth know more than she's telling?

2. The Unknown by Riley Sager (August 4)—Actress Marin Keane is stunned when she secures a role in what promises to be a blockbuster movie. The gig requires a month of research on location at New Avalon, Vermont, where five women mysteriously disappeared 100 years ago. As Marin and her castmates settle in on the island, they notice weird noises and strange symbols that seem to confirm rumors that something supernatural took the missing women. When the island's occupants are stranded there, things get even more sinister. What is happening on New Avalon? Is someone trying to sabotage the movie or is something even more nefarious at work?

3. A Thousand Little Goodbyes by Lucy Gilmore (August 11)—Gilmore's newest is receiving mixed reviews, but I'll still give it a go. It's about two lifelong friends who decide to finally take the road trip they've been planning for forever. As the journey goes on, it becomes apparent that it's about more than having fun—it's about saying goodbye.

4. My Killer Family Reunion by Dinesh Thiru (August 11)—Jayshree Devi's family reunions are never without drama. She's still shocked, though, when her wealthy Grand Mom has an accident that looks suspiciously like something much more sinister. With the help of her irritating cousins and their hot friend, Jay launches an investigation, one that will unearth long-buried family secrets on the way to finding out who was behind her grandmother's "accident."

5. My Sister is Going to Kill Me by Nina Simon (August 18)—For this year's sisters trip, Liv and Mandy Chisolm have booked a rafting excursion through the Grand Canyon. Although they will be traveling with a group of strangers, they're looking forward to bonding with each other while enjoying an incredible adventure. The two get more than they bargained for when one of their number is found dead and another body is discovered in the water. Trapped on a raging river with a killer and a bunch of people they don't know, all of whom seem to be hiding dangerous secrets, Liv and Mandy have to unmask a murderer before it's too late for all of them.

6. Big Little Truths by Liane Moriarty (August 25)—The much-anticipated sequel to Moriarty's well-loved Big Little Lies, this novel is set ten years after the events of the previous book. The moms are back and all of them are dealing with their own challenges and troubles. When the principal of the high school their children attend receives a severed human finger in the mail and a strange man is spotted lurking around campus, the parents are up-in-arms. Confronting this new problem will mean facing secrets from the past, secrets they hoped their children would never have to know. But now? The stakes are too high to keep hiding...  

7. Find Me by Holly Craig (August 25)—Two years ago, Pete went missing in the Tasmanian wilderness after visiting a mysterious commune whose members enact rituals to appease a malevolent presence they say dwells in the mountains. From her deathbed, Pete's mother begged his estranged sisters to work together to find their brother. This is easier said than done as they navigate the mountain, the issues between them, and another perplexing disappearance.

8. The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon (September 8)—Inspired by a real Irish sea captain, this historical novel tells the story of Grace O'Malley, the proper daughter of an Irish clan chief who defied all the odds and became a famous pirate.

9. Hollow Bones by Jodi Picoult (September 15)—After her mother died in the 9/11 tragedy, Molly Fitzgerald developed a fear of disasters. Now the director of the Rhode Island Department for Emergency Preparedness, she channels her anxiety into saving others in crisis situations. When an unexpected crisis descends on Molly and her husband, their lives turn upside down. Can she save herself from disintegrating under the pressure of her own disaster?

10. We Chase Shadows by Richard Osman (September 15)—This book is actually #1 in terms of 2026 releases I've been looking forward to. I adored We Solve Murders, so I'm stoked for this sequel. This time, Amy, Rose, and Steve team up to solve the case of a suspicious death at a private villa in the Italian hills. Everybody is hiding something. Whodunit?

11. The Undercover Bookshop by Katherine Reay (October 6)—Book lover Gemma Brown has just moved to a sleepy village in the Cotswolds, where she runs the town's first-ever bookstore. Finding it difficult to fit in, Gemma is thrilled to make friends with the enigmatic local baker. It's not long, though, before she begins to suspect that her new pal is a spy. It's 1950; anything is possible. Or is Gemma's fiction-fueled imagination running amok? Soon, she finds herself embroiled in an international intrigue the likes of which she's never seen outside of a book.

12. It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder by Ally Carter (October 13)—The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year was a super fun read. This companion novel (as far as I can tell, it's not a sequel) sounds equally as entertaining. The story revolves around a billionaire's son and the housekeeper's daughter, who have been rivals since childhood. When the former goes missing, leaving only a pool of blood behind, it's up to the latter to prove he's alive—and find the person who desperately wants him dead. Sounds confusing, but entertaining.

13. A Reunion to Die For by K.J. Whittle (October 26)—When a group of classmates gather for a reunion, talk turns to the school bully who tortured all of them with his cruel taunting. As the drinks flow, the victims joke about ways they could get revenge on the guy who made them all so miserable. The next day, the bully is found dead, killed in a way that is suspiciously similar to the hypothetical plans made by the classmates. When a recording of that conversation is given to the police, the group members become suspects. Desperate to clear their names, they scramble to solve the murder they unknowingly planned.

There you go, thirteen books releasing in the second half of 2026 that I want to read. Have you read any of them? What did you think? Which up-and-comers are you most excited about? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

I'm late to the party this week. Yesterday was a DAY, and I just wasn't up to crafting a TTT list. I was up all night with an upset stomach, so I finally just got out of bed in spite of the early hour. It's quiet and peaceful in my house, so it's the perfect time to make my belated list. This week's prompt is May Flowers, a follow-up to the April Showers one from a few weeks ago. Even though we haven't had much rain at all this year in the Phoenix area, we do have flowers blooming. The lantana in our backyard has been growing like crazy. I'm not sure how long it will last considering the crazy hot temps we've had this week. Our high yesterday was 105! Anyway, as much as I like flowers, I'm going to go rogue this week. Since I will be cruising the Yucatan on May 26, I'm going to jump ahead and do the theme for that week: My Favorite Books By My Favorite Authors (submitted by Cathy @What Cathy Read Next). Sounds like fun!

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

The following authors aren't my ten absolute favorites. However, they are all writers I love and read often. More importantly, I can identify the one book of theirs that I love most. I can't necessarily do that with all of my favorite authors, you know? Or am I just weird? (I might just be weird. That's okay!) Here we go in alphabetical order:

1. A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong—I yap about Armstrong a lot because I enjoy her crime fiction so much. Her urban fantasy novels don't interest me at all, and I haven't loved her horror novels either. As much as I enjoy her Rockton/Haven's Rock series, the Rip Through Time series is my favorite. The books are less graphic than the Rockton/Haven's Rock ones and funnier. All of the installments are worth reading, the but the first one is the one I like best so far.

In A Rip Through Time, a modern-day homicide detective travels to Edinburgh, Scotland, to visit her dying grandmother. While taking a mind-clearing jog, she is assaulted in the same spot where a chambermaid was attacked exactly 150 years earlier. When Detective Atkinson wakes up, she's in Victorian Scotland inhabiting the body of the maid, who works for a physician who moonlights as a coroner. As a confused Mallory tries to figure out what is happening and how to get home, she realizes that her professional skills can be of great use to her boss, who helps the police catch killers. How can she help him without revealing that she's not actually an uneducated maid? And how in the world is she going to get home?

2. Bluebird by Sharon Cameron—This YA author pens historical novels centered around World War II as well as sci-fi/fantasy books. Bluebird is the former. It's about a young German woman who travels to the U.S. after the war in order to unmask the Nazi who spearheaded a series of psychological experiments performed on concentration camp prisoners. Absorbing and memorable, Bluebird is a stunner of a novel.

3. Exiles by Jane Harper—I've enjoyed every book I've read by Harper, but those starring federal investigator Aaron Falk are my favorite. Of those, I like Exiles best. It tells a quieter, more intimate story than the other installments in the series do, but it's still a compelling mystery/thriller in its own right. The mystery revolves around a young mother who goes missing at a town festival, leaving her infant behind.

4. The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth—Another Australian author, Hepworth writes domestic fiction with lots of warmth and wit. This novel, my favorite of hers, is my book club's selection for May, so I'll be happily rereading it before next Tuesday. As is indicated by the title, the story concerns sisters, twins Fern and Rose. Fern lives a carefully structured life, sticking religiously to her routines in order to keep her fragile psyche intact. Rose is one of her few friends, someone for whom she is profoundly grateful, so when Rose learns she can't have children, Fern offers to carry a baby for her. She just needs to find a father. That search begins a journey that will profoundly affect both sisters as old secrets surface and new tensions emerge between them. 

5. The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee—Lee writes YA novels, most of which are historical fiction, featuring characters of Chinese descent. This one tells the story of 17-year-old Jo Kuan, a Chinese American who works as a maid for a wealthy, powerful family in Atlanta. Secretly, she also writes an advice column, doling out wisdom for genteel Southern ladies. As Jo's writing gains in popularity, she decides to use it to protest against the injustices she sees every day in her community. She's not prepared for the backlash those articles receive or the danger it will put her in if anyone discovers her secret identity. In the meantime, she's also grappling to understand her own mysterious past.

6. The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner—I've read almost all of Meissner's books and this one, about the San Francisco earthquake in 1906, is the one that has lingered most in my mind. It stars Sophie Walen, an Irish woman who is so desperate to escape poverty in her homeland that she travels across the sea to become the mail-order bride of an American man she's never met before. She's confused by her silent stranger of a husband, although she quickly becomes enamored of his young, mute daughter. Although she doesn't know it yet, Sophie's life is about to be rocked to its core, not just by a deadly earthquake that will literally shake up her world but also by the unknown woman who will appear at her door, revealing shocking secrets that will change the course of both of their lives. 

7. The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton—Morton's rich family sagas always sweep me away. Although I haven't loved her more recent books nearly as much as I do her older ones, I still consider her one of my favorite authors. Published in 2012, The Secret Keeper is about a woman who secretly witnesses a disturbing crime when she is 16 years old, an event that puts into question everything she knows about her mother. Fifty years later, Laurel is back home to celebrate her mom's 90th birthday. Realizing that time is running out to discover the truth about her mother, she determines to uncover all of the woman's many secrets.

8. How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny—Although I've only read 13 of the 20 books in the Armand Gamache series (the 21st comes out in October), it's one of my very favorite crime series. How the Light Gets In, #9, is set at Christmastime. Our hero, Inspector Armand Gamache, is at a low point in both his professional and personal life. When a friend in Three Pines invites him to come back to the quaint village to investigate a disappearance, he leaps at the chance to return to the place that always feels like home. Turns out, the missing woman is a celebrity who was once famous all over the world. What has happened to her? Because I hate to see my beloved Gamache suffer, How the Light Gets In was a bit of a painful read for me, but it's also a tender and heartening one.

9. The Spies of Shilling Lane by Jennifer Ryan—Ryan's latest two novels (one of which comes out next month) are set in the 1950s, but the rest of her books are all set during World War II. The Spies of Shilling Lane is my favorite of hers because although it has its poignant moments, it's mostly a fun, lively, madcap adventure. It stars the indomitable Mrs. Braithwaite, a hilarious queen bee who's knocked off her throne by her scandalous divorce. Indignant, she hies off to London to lick her wounds with her daughter, Betty, who has been in the city helping with war work. When Betty's timid landlord informs her mother that Betty is missing, Mrs. Braithwaite strong arms the reluctant landord into helping her locate her daughter. Turns out, her child has a much more complicated complicated life than Mrs. Braithwaite ever could have imagined, a life that will put all of them in grave danger.

10. Middle of the Night by Riley Sager—Final Girls is the only one of Sager's novels that I haven't read. I've enjoyed all of them, some more than others naturally, but Middle of the Night is my favorite. It's different from his other books, more gentle and moving. Never fear, though, it's just as riveting as his other thrillers. The story revolves around Ethan Marsh, a man who returns to the picture-perfect neighborhood he lived in as a child. It was there that, many years ago, his 10-year-old best friend disappeared during an overnight campout in Ethan's backyard. Already suffering from insomnia and disturbing nightmares, Ethan is plagued by strange things happening in the middle of the night. Signs of his missing friend keep appearing. Is someone playing a terrible joke on Ethan? Or has his long missing pal returned? What really happened the night of the campout? Ethan is determined to find out.

11. The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James—I love St. James' eerie thrillers. This one is set in a rundown motel in a dying town where strange things are known to happen. Viv Delaney reluctantly takes a job at the dumpy place with the goal of saving enough money to escape to New York City. It doesn't take long for her to realize that something is very wrong at her place of employment. There's a reason for the bad juju that emanates from the Sun Down Motel and she's going to uncover all its many secrets.

There you go, eleven of my favorite books by eleven of my favorite authors. Have you read any of them? Which are your favorite books by your favorite authors? I'd love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

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

1. Middle of the Night by Riley Sager—I've read all of Sager's thrillers except Final Girls and this 2024 novel is my favorite. Although it's just as atmospheric and engrossing as his others, Middle of the Night has a sweet poignancy to it that sets it apart from its predecessors. The story is about Ethan Marsh, a man who is still traumatized by the disappearance of his best friend thirty years ago while the 10-year-olds were having a sleepover in Ethan's backyard. When he returns to his childhood home, he begins to experience strange things happening in the night, things that point to Billy's vanishing. Is someone playing a cruel prank on Ethan? Has Billy, believed to have died three decades ago, coming back to haunt him? What really happened to Ethan's best friend on that fateful night? Ethan is determined to find out, once and for all.

2. Daughter of Moloka'i by Alan Brennert—I loved Moloka'i, a historical novel about the titular island's role as a leper colony. By the time this sequel came out, I had forgotten who was who in the story, so I put off reading it until I could reread Moloka'i, which I still haven't done. 

Daughter of Moloka'i tells the story of the child whom Rachel Kalama (the protagonist in Moloka'i), who was quarantined for most of her life because of leprosy, was forced to give up. Ruth is taken to an orphanage in Honolulu, from whence she is adopted by a Japanese couple. Brought up in California, Ruth is unfairly interred at Manzanar Relocation Camp during World War II. Her life is upended again when she receives a letter from Rachel, her birth mother, and learns more about her own story.

3. Lovely War by Julie Berry—It's tough to describe this uniquely-told YA novel about love and war. Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, narrates the story as she tells Hephaestus and Ares about two human couples whose relationships are irrevocably changed by what they experience during World War I.

4. The Pioneers by David McCullough—I own a few of McCullough's books because I love learning about history, but I've never actually read any of them. The author is extremely knowledgeable, but his writing is a bit...dry. My husband got bored quickly with The Pioneers and ended up setting it aside. I'm afraid I might have the same problem, but I still want to give it a try. As indicated by the title, the book discusses the settling of the United States' Northwest Territory by intrepid pioneers who overcame incredible obstacles in pursuit of the American Dream.

5. The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins—I don't read a lot of self-help books, but this one has gotten so much buzz that I decided to see what it's all about (although I haven't yet). Apparently, it teaches how to free yourself from the constant anxiety of trying to control other people by letting go and focusing on the only person you can change: yourself.

6. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid—I've never read anything by Reid, but this novel sounds intriguing to me. It concerns a Hollywood actress who lived a long and scandalous life before becoming a recluse. When she finally decides to spill all her secrets, she shocks everyone by choosing an obscure, struggling journalist to write her biography. The chosen writer is dumbfounded by this turn of events and is even more astounded by what the Hollywood icon tells her.

7. A Soft Place to Land by Susan Rebecca White—When their parents die in a plane crash, sisters Ruthie and Julia are shocked and grief-stricken. They're even more so when they learn that their parents' will stipulates that the two be raised separately. The novel tells the stories of both women as they grow apart from each other, then come back together again.

8. The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe—This YA novel is the first in a dystopian series about a small island community whose population is depleted by a deadly virus. With the island under quarantine, the survivors fight over dwindling supplies while trying to figure out how to save themselves and those they love in the midst of the resulting violence and chaos.

9. The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris—As indicated by its title, this historical novel is a fictionalized version of the story of Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau during World War II. Because he could speak several languages, he was assigned to tattoo numbers on the arms of new arrivals at the concentration camp. He secretly used his privileged position to procure food to help other prisoners survive. When Lale met a young woman named Gita, he vowed to marry her after the war was over—and did.

10. The Book Woman's Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson—I've enjoyed The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek twice now, but I've yet to read this sequel for some reason. The novel features Honey Mary Angeline Lovett, who takes on her mother's packhorse librarian route after both of her parents are imprisoned. As she brings literature and hope to the people in the hollers of Appalachia, she finds independence, freedom, and purpose for herself.

I just clicked over to Richardson's website and saw that a new novel starring Cussy Lovett is coming in April 2026. Looks like I'll be reading The Book Woman's Daughter next year, followed by The Mountains We Call Home. Woo hoo!

There you have it, ten random books I picked from my bookshelves. Have you read any of them? What did you think? Which random titles did you choose from your shelves today? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

I love today's prompt—Top Ten Books On My Fall 2025 TBR List—so much that I started it two weeks ago! Scroll down on my blog to see Part One and Part Two of my list of 30 Books I Want to Read Before 2025 Ends. I'm proud to say that I've already read four of the twenty books mentioned in those previous lists. Go, me! With 156 books read so far this year, I'm on track to reach my goal of 200 by December 31, but it's very unlikely that I'll beat last year's record of 230. We'll see how the rest of the year goes.

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

Top Ten Books On My Fall 2025 TBR List

or Top 30 Books I Want to Read Before 2025 Ends (Part Three)

1. Open and Shut by David Rosenfelt—The kind folks over at St. Martin's Press have been generously sending me all the books in the Andy Carpenter mystery series for years, and I have yet to even begin reading them. I'm determined to do so this year! Open and Shut, the first installment, introduces our hero, a New Jersey defense attorney who prefers the company of his beloved golden retriever over that of most people. When Andy's father—a well-known ex-D.A.—drops dead at Yankee stadium, Andy finds himself the recipient of a surprise $22 million inheritance as well as a cold case with explosive possibilities to solve. As the shocks keep coming, Andy works to get justice for the wronged party as he figures out what to do next with all the possibilities millions of dollars has just opened up for him.

2. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson—I need to read a "travel" book to cross-off prompts in two different reading challenges, so this seems like a good time to finally give Bryson's books a go. Everyone seems to love this one. It's supposed to be very entertaining.

3. The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand—A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is one of my favorite books of all time and one I reread every year. This YA novel, a contemporary reimagining of the classic tale, sounds like a fun read for the holidays. Our titular heroine was warned in life to change her selfish ways, but she didn't listen. Now, Holly's dead and experiencing an epically sucky afterlife. Stuck working as Christmas Past for the top-secret Project Scrooge, she doesn't expect her lot will be improving anytime soon. Until she meets the newest Scrooge, a Scrooge who just might change everything...

4. Last Gate of the Emperor by Kwame Mbalia and Prince Joel Makonnen—This middle-grade novel is outside of my usual reading interests, but it works for several reading challenge prompts I need to fulfill. Plus, it sounds like an exciting read. Billed as an Afrofuturist adventure, the novel takes place in Addis Prime, a dingy city with outdated tech, rigid rules, and nothing to do. Thrill-seeker Yared Heywat has become a star in an underground augmented reality game. When his real name is leaked in the game, his game life rockets into his actual life, leading to the disappearance of his uncle. Suddenly, Yared finds himself in the center of shocking events that seem to be coming straight out of his uncle's fantastical stories. It's up to him to find his uncle, beat an army of monsters, and save the world. What could possibly go wrong? 

5. Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar—It's 1979 and Olivia Murray is determined to capture a money shot, the kind that will catapult her from her newspaper secretary's desk to the front lines of photojournalism. When her Kurdish boyfriend invites Olivia to accompany him to his hometown in northern Iraq, she jumps at the chance. Not only will she be able to gain more insight into her enigmatic partner, but the exotic locale should provide the perfect background for dramatic photography. When leaving Iraq proves more difficult than she thought, Olivia gets her money shot, but it's a capture that will upend the lives of her boyfriend's family and her own in ways she never could have imagined.

6. West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge—This historical novel has been a big-time hit with a lot of my IRL friends. It does sound excellent. Based on a true story, the tale is about a pair of giraffes who inspire hope in Depression-era America when they miraculously survive a hurricane at sea. As they travel across the country to their new home at the San Diego Zoo, they touch the lives of everyone they encounter.

7. Sandwich by Catherine Newman—Since I'm in my "sandwich" era like this novel's protagonist, I think I'm going to find this story very relatable! It revolves around Rocky and her family's annual summer trip to Cape Cod. With all the changes she's experiencing in her body (thanks a bunch, menopause!), her family, and life in general, it's inevitable that this year's trip makes her wax nostalgic. It also forces the secrets she's been hiding out into the open...

8. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson—I need to read a book with an angel on the cover for a reading challenge, so I thought it would be fun to reread this hilarious children's classic. This novel, which tells the story of a church's nativity play gone horribly wrong—and right—is funny, tender, and a perfect read for the holiday season.

9. Dead Tired by Kat Ailes—This is the second book in Ailes' comedic The Expectant Detectives mystery series. A year after Alice and her prenatal group accidentally become amateur sleuths and solve a murder, Alice is deep in the sleep-deprived mire that is new motherhood. Desperate for a vacation, she agrees to accompany her friends to an eco-protest. It's all healthy entertainment (for a good cause) until one of their fellow protestors ends up dead. With a new case to solve, Alice and the other moms get right to work.

10. Final Girls by Riley Sager—I love Sager's unsettling books, and this one—his first—is the only one I haven't read. I've been hesitating on it because I've seen such mixed reviews, but it's Sager, so I want to read it. The story revolves around Quincy Carpenter, who becomes a "final girl" when she is the only survivor of a horrific massacre in which five of her friends were killed. After some time, she's finally doing okay. Then, one of Quincy's fellow final girls is found dead, after which another one appears on her doorstep. As Sam pushes Quincy to relive the terrors of her past, she begins to feel exceedingly unnerved. The answers to finding peace in her present seem to be hiding in memories of the worst event in her life, memories she does not want to revisit. Ever. 

There you go, ten more books I want to read before the end of the year. Have you read any of them? What did you think? What titles are on your Fall TBR list? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

Happy Tuesday! It's actually still Monday, but I'm writing this post early since tomorrow, I get to TRAVEL down to the hospital for a colonoscopy. This is my first time getting one and the prep is already killing me. I've been on a liquid diet all day, so I'm starving and I've got a headache. I take my first dose of the prep drink in an hour. The next one will be at 3 a.m. since my procedure is at 9 tomorrow morning. Fun stuff. Since things are only going to get more unpleasant from here, I figured I should get my TTT post squared away now. Today's topic is a nice, easy one: Top Ten Books That Feature Travel. My head's feeling foggy, so I'm going to keep my list simple and go with books on my TBR list that feature a mode of transportation (even though I posted a similar list less than a year ago).

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

1. On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker by A'Lelia Bundles—I'm reading this biography right now and it's super interesting. Born to formerly enslaved parents, Madam C.J. Walker survived a hardscrabble upbringing to become a wealthy, well-known businesswoman who used her money and influence to help the poor and champion civil rights for Black people. 

2. The Women by Kristin Hannah—As much as I love Hannah, I've been hesitating a tad on this novel. My uncle was killed in action in Vietnam, so the war is an especially sensitive topic for me. I'll read The Women at some point because I'm curious about the roles women played in the war and I do enjoy Hannah's books.

3. With a Vengeance by Riley Sager (available June 10, 2025)—A new Sager thriller is always cause for celebration. I'm already on a waiting list at the library for this novel that sounds like a mash-up of And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express. Yes, please!

4. The Woman With No Name by Audrey Blake—It's 1942 and Yvonne Rudellat is in desperate need of a new life focus. She gets it when she's offered the chance to become Britain's first female sabotage agent. No one expects much of her, but she's determined to do everything she can to take down the Nazi's evil regime.

5. What Happened Then by Erin Soderberg Downing (available September 2, 2025)—This middle-grade novel is about a pair of cousins who travel to a mysterious island where family secrets are hiding around every corner, just waiting to be dug into...

6. Last Stop Union Station by Sarah James (available July 15, 2025)—Jacqueline Love's Hollywood career is drying up fast. The only gig she can manage to land is aboard the Hollywood Victory Caravan, a train full of celebrities that is criss-crossing the U.S. to raise money for World War II efforts. When a passenger dies aboard the locomotive in a suspicious manner, Jacqueline's convinced it's murder. Stuck at Union Station in Chicago, she convinces a female police officer to help her investigate. It quickly becomes apparent that the women are in way, way over their heads.

7. Katherine, the Wright Sister by Tracey Enerson Wood—You've heard of Orville and Wilbur Wright, but did you know they had a sister who was invaluable in helping them achieve their many victories? This novel tells the story of one of the most overlooked women in history.

8. Blueberry Blunder by Amanda Flower—I love Flower's Amish Candy Shop cozy mystery series. It's set in Amish country, so most (all?) of the covers feature at least one buggy. In this installment—the 8th in the series—Bailey is in the middle of building a candy factory when a surly contractor with plentiful enemies is murdered. Whodunit?

9. The Medicine Woman of Galveston by Amanda Skenandore—In this historical novel, a disgraced female doctor is desperate to make ends meet so that her disabled son can get the care he needs. With little choice, she joins a traveling medical show headlined by a charismatic con man. She's poised to sneak away from the whole thing when an incoming storm stops her. The hurricane is predicted to be devastating. People will get hurt and she's a doctor. Can she trust herself to treat people again? Or is she too damaged to be any good to anyone?

There you go, ten books on my TBR list that feature modes of transportation. Have you read any of them? What are your favorite books that feature transportation or travel? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

P.S. I'm in the middle of drinking my first dose of the colonoscopy prep liquid and...wow, it's foul! What have I gotten myself into here? Blech.