I've been a little MIA here on the blog. I'm still reading (I never stop), but other things have been taking up my reviewing/posting/commenting time. A month ago, my husband surprised me by listing our house for sale about four weeks earlier than planned. Even though it had me stressing out *just* a tad, the timing worked perfectly. The second family to walk through our house fell madly in love and made us an offer almost immediately. They're super nice people and they gave us what we asked for (a smokin' deal, it must be said), with no fuss over some minor repairs that need to be done. Yay! We close on June 1 and have to be out by July 15. Shouldn't be a problem, although my old/new house currently looks like this throughout (actually worse since these photos are from a couple weeks ago—the kitchen tile is gone and there are more holes in the walls):

Our contractor's actually making lots of progress and I'm confident the place will be livable come mid-July, even if everything's not quite done. We're remodeling every room in the house to some degree, so, yeah...it's a lot. The process of choosing cabinets, flooring, lighting, paint, etc. is fun, but it's also becoming tedious and time-consuming. I'm excited, though, for how spiffy it will look when it all comes together. Our "old" house—it was built in 1994, we bought it in 2004 and lived in it from then until 2008—will feel like a new house, for sure.

In addition to packing up our current house and remodeling the new one, I'm also frantically studying for my upcoming genealogy accreditation test. It's only a few weeks away, so I'm freaking out a *wee* bit! The best way for me to study is by tackling real-life family history research questions, so if you have one that's based in the American Southwest (Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, California, and Colorado, as defined by the accreditation board), I'd love to look into it for you. The question can be something simple like: My grandparents emigrated to California in the 1880s, but I don't know where they emigrated from or who their parents were. Can you find them for me? Or, my great-grandmother lived in Arizona all her life. I only know her married name. Can you find her maiden name? Who were her parents and siblings? That kind of thing. If you get it to me in the next couple weeks, I'll research it for free as practice. If you wait until I'm accredited, it will cost you :)

Real life, ugh. Let's get back to the books, shall we?

This week's Top Ten Tuesday prompt is all about those volumes we were so, so, so excited to have in our hot little hands and yet...there they sit, unread, unloved, gathering dust on our shelves. I seem to have an out of sight, out of mind mentality in this regard. As soon as I buy a book, ensuring that I can read it any ole time I want, I promptly forget I want to read it! Thus, it was easy to come up with this list. All I had to do was cast an eye on my bookshelves to find a plethora of choices (not as many as it would have been last month, though, as I've sorted through the majority of my books and donated several thousand to charitable causes). Since I'm better about getting to library books and ARCs, I'm going to focus my list on titles I actually purchased. These are just the first ten books/boxed series my eyes fell upon when I looked at the shelves closest to my desk.

If you want to ruminate on your shelves of shame, why not join in the TTT fun? You'll be in good company, I swear. Just pop on over to That Artsy Reader Girl to get all the details on this always enjoyable weekly event.

1. The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes—The hype made me by this one and yet, there it sits...

2. Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker—Except for a short while when I was but an ignorant wee one, I've always loved to sleep. I've also long been fascinated by dreams, so this book is definitely up my alley. I did start reading it when I first bought it, but then I got distracted.  

3. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens—Another the-hype-made-me-do-it buy. 

4. Tomorrow, When the War Began series by John Marsden (boxed set)—I really wanted to read this series five years ago or so, but I was having trouble finding all the books in my local libraries. I ordered the whole set from BookDepository, waited weeks for it to arrive, then devoured the first couple books. I took a break after that and...haven't returned to the story. I'm not sure I remember who's who or what's what now, so I may have to re-read the initial books before I continue on with the series.

5. Daughter of Moloka'i by Alan Brennert—I loved Moloka'i, so I was stoked for this sequel. I still am, even though I've yet to crack it open.

6. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune—Everyone loves this book, so of course, I had to buy it! Have I read it yet? Nope.

7. Stars Above by Marissa Meyer—The Lunar Chronicles is a great series. I really enjoyed it. For some reason, though, I still haven't read this collection of TLC short stories.

8. Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder (boxed set)—I've mentioned before that I was a raving Little House fan as a kid. The books, the t.v. show, everything. Since my copies of the books somehow didn't survive my childhood, I bought a new set some years ago. I was SO excited to read the first book and...it just wasn't the same! The disappointment was a real downer, so I haven't moved on with my re-read of the series.

9. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith—Another nostalgia buy, I've been meaning to re-read this one for ages and just...haven't yet. No excuses, except that I know I don't have to hurry because the book's in my personal library and it's not going anywhere.

10. Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie—This is another book that has gotten rave reviews from my bookish friends, online and off. I'm going to read it one of these days, I swear!

There you go, ten books/series I was super excited to get, but still haven't read. Have you read any of these? What did you think? Which do I need to pick up first? What's on your shelf of shame? I'd truly love to know (really, it will make me feel better about my own neglected reads). Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

As much as I love re-exploring my favorite authors every time they come out with a new book, I also really enjoy discovering new writers. I don't know what percent of my reading every year comes from new-to-me authors, but it's high—maybe 70% or more? Even still, there are a bunch of authors I have been meaning to try and just haven't gotten around to yet, so today's TTT prompt is perfect: Top Ten Authors I Haven't Read, But Want To. The idea came from the lovely Deanna over at A Novel Glimpse. If you're a big romance reader, you're definitely going to want to visit her blog. 

Don't forget to give Jana, our TTT hostest with the mostest, some love as well. While you're at That Artsy Reader Girl, why don't you join in the TTT fun? It's a good time, I promise!

For this list, I'm going to focus on authors who've written more than one book. I included covers for the book of theirs I'm most excited to read. 

1. Kate Quinn—Quinn has written a number of historical novels, the most recent of which focus on World War II. Her books have gotten lots of buzz and praise, so I'm interested to see what I think. I picked up The Diamond Eye at my local indie last week. Hopefully, I'll get to it soon.

2. Beatriz Williams—Williams writes historicals on her own and as part of a collaborative author trio. I've read a couple of the latter, but none of the former.  

3. Sulari Gentill—Gentill is an Australian author who pens contemporary and historical mysteries. I'm especially interested in her Rowland Sinclair series as well as The Woman in the Library, which comes out on June 7.

4. Elizabeth Haynes—This English author writes crime fiction and mysteries. Her books sound right up my alley!

5. Alice Feeney—I love me a tense, atmospheric thriller. Feeney's novels sound like just the ticket.

6. T.I. Lowe—I have no roots in the Southern United States, but I still love to read stories set there. Something about the sumptuous settings, slow drawls, and easy vibes really appeals to me. I'm always looking for new Southern authors to love and Lowe is one I've got my eye on.

7. Donna Everhart—Ditto for Everhart, whose Southern novels are supposed to be full of "authenticity and grit." I'm down.

8. T.J. Klune—I'm pretty sure everyone has read Klune's magical children's books by now but me. I'm going to remedy that soon, I hope!

9. Graham Norton—Thanks to clips that show up on my Facebook feed apropos of nothing, I know that Norton is an Irish actor who hosts a U.K. television show where he interviews celebrity guests. Until Cath mentioned it, I had no idea he also wrote books. He's penned memoirs, mysteries and family sagas. I'm not interested in his non-fiction, but his novels sound appealing.

10. Mary Roach—I've been meaning to read Roach's informative books for years. As we speak, Stiff is sitting on my bookshelf casting meaningful glances my way...

There you have it, ten authors I haven't read yet that I really want to try out. Have you read any of them? What do you think of their work? Who are the new-to-you writers you plan to take a look at soon(ish)? 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 a little late to the TTT party today, but never fear—I have a good, bookish reason for my tardiness. I mentioned that I'm going to be downsizing from my 5,000-square foot home into one that is half the size in the next few months (after our renters move out and we do some remodeling). Since I will no longer have the room to store all my many, many books, I need to get rid of about 75% of my collection. I was planning to organize a book sale with the proceeds going to charity since the majority of the volumes I need to unload are ones I got for free from authors and publishers. Then, I received an email announcing that a local high school would be holding a book sale this week to benefit their English Department. Huzzah! I contacted the ladies in charge, who generously came to my house and hauled away this mountain of books for their sale:

Although this represents only about 1/3 of the books I need to unload, it feels good to send even this many on their way to new homes. They will definitely get more love out in the world than they will gathering dust in my guest room closet. Bonus: guests can now open the closet door without risking death by book avalanche! Win-win.

Now that that's out of the way we can get down to business. The TTT topic du jour is: Top Ten Books on My Spring TBR List. I love these seasonal TBR lists because it's always fun to see what everyone is looking forward to reading and to get ideas of what I might want to check out. Since I'm a mood reader, I never really stick to these, but I still enjoy thinking about what I might read. I'm also going to *try* to feature books I haven't talked about yet. We'll see how that goes...

As always, be sure to click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl and give our hostess, Jana, some love. While you're there, why don't you join in the fun? TTT really is a good ole time.

1. Ancestor Trouble: A Reckoning and a Reconciliation by Maud Newton (available March 29, 2022)—You all know by now that I'm a genealogy buff who lives for combing through census records, DNA matches, and old newspapers in search of forgotten family stories. It shouldn't surprise you, then, that I love books like this one, which is about the author's search for the truth behind her ancestors' colorful, controversial lives. Sounds like a great read!

2. Séances are for Suckers by Tamara Berry—Speaking of dead people...I'm all in for this cozy mystery series featuring a woman who pretends to hunt ghosts in order to pay the bills. I enjoyed Buried in a Good Book (available May 24, 2022), Berry's newest, so much that I want to read more from her. 

3. The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan—As I was clearing off my bookshelves for the upcoming sale, I found my copy of this National Book Award winner that I've been meaning to read for years. Ever since I read The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, I've been eager to read more about the Dust Bowl and the brave souls who lived through it. This promises to be a fascinating read.

4. Morning Sun in Wuhan by Ying Chang Compestine (available November 8, 2022)—This MG novel doesn't come out until Fall, but I'm hoping to get an early copy from NetGalley. Written by a woman who grew up in Wuhan, the story is about a 13-year-old girl whose life changes when COVID breaks out in her hometown. 

5. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune—How have I not read this book yet? I've had a copy ever since it came out. I think it's about time I actually read it!

6. Circus of Wonders by Elizabeth Macneal—Covered in birthmarks, young Nell is sold to the circus where she becomes a headlining act. As she deals with the narcissistic circus owner, falls in love with his kind brother, and learns to stand on her own two feet, she transforms from a shy, unloved child into a woman who knows her own worth and power.

7. A Lullaby For Witches by Hester Fox—I enjoy Fox's spooky books and this one, her newest, sounds like a compelling read. It's about a woman who starts working at the old Harlowe House and becomes obsessed with knowing more about the "witch" who once lived there.

8. Research Like a Pro With DNA by Diana Elder and Nicole Dyer—Diana and Nicole have been friends and mentors as I continue my journey down the road to becoming an accredited genealogist (COVID has turned it into a much longer process than expected). I'm eager to dip into their newest book since I have lots to learn about DNA and how to use it effectively in my family history research.

9. The Secret, Book, & Scone Society by Ellery Adams—I'm listening to this book, the first installment in a well-loved cozy mystery series set in a town full of healing magic. It's entertaining.

10. The Spanish Daughter by Lorena Hughes—Remember last TTT when I talked about one of my favorite tropes, the surprise inheritance? This one fits that bill. It concerns a woman who learns that she has inherited her father's chocolate estate in Ecuador. Through a series of unfortunate events, she is forced to don men's clothing and impersonate her dead husband while trying to solve a mystery, get to the bottom of family secrets, and navigate a new romance. 

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