Although I have my favorite tried-and-true authors like any other reader, I actually explore quite a few new-to-me writers every year. No matter how many of these I try, though, there are still a ton of popular authors I have just not gotten around to yet. Sure, there are some that I'm unlikely to read, no matter how many people rave about them, simply because they don't write the kinds of books I'm interested in reading. On the other hand, there are a bunch who write in the genres I love that I've been meaning to test drive; I just haven't gotten around to them yet. Today's prompt explores that very concept: Top Ten Mainstream Popular Authors That I Still Have Not Read. I'm going to focus my list today on popular authors who write in my favorite genres whose books I want to read at some point. 

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

1. Beatriz Williams—Although I have read a couple of historical novels that Williams co-wrote with Karen White and Lauren Willig, I've never read any that she penned solo. 

2. Catherine Coulter—Coulter has written regency romances, historical novels, and mystery/thriller books. It's that last genre that interests me. Her long-running FBI thriller series looks especially good.

3. Josephine Tey (1896-1952)—I always see references to Tey's classic mysteries. I need to read them already!

4. Fiona Barton—Barton's mystery/thriller novels sound like ones I would enjoy.

5. Rhys Bowen—I'm a historical mystery fan and Bowen has written a ton of them. I'm past due for checking her books out. 

6. Lucinda Riley—Riley's historical fiction has been recommended to me multiple times. I'm especially interested in her Seven Sisters series. 

7. Val McDermid—I really need to give this prolific Scottish mystery/thriller writer a go soon!

8. Chanel Cleeton—Cleeton's historical novels look like they're right up my reading alley.

9. Tess Gerritsen—This popular mystery/thriller writer is another one I've been meaning to read for a long time now.

10. Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine (1930-2015)—Another prolific mystery/thriller author, Rendell has been on my list of TBR authors for too long. 

There you go, ten popular mainstream authors I can't believe I haven't read yet. I'll get to them one of these days, hopefully! Which have you read? Which of their books should I start with? Which authors are on 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.

When I saw today's prompt—Top Ten Books Set in Places I'd Love to Visit (Real or Fictional)—it sounded familiar. I was sure I'd done this topic before sometime in the past and yet, no matter how hard I searched my blog, I couldn't find a list with that theme. Although a few settings came immediately to mind (Hogwarts, Avonlea, Narnia, etc.), I struggled to come up with a bigger list than that, even though there are many settings that come alive so vividly in books that I long to step foot inside them. Nevertheless, I decided to focus on just one of those places: Scotland. You may remember that I traveled to the U.K. last year for sightseeing and family history exploration and that I did, indeed, visit the country. It enchanted me so much that I've been planning a return trip ever since I got home (in fact, we've been putting a lot of our new home purchased on a British Airways credit card to rack up travel points). So, today, I'm going to cheat a little and share with you ten books on my TBR that are set in a place I would love to revisit. 

If you want to join in the TTT fun, head on over to That Artsy Reader Girl for all the details.

1.  Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin—As much as I love his homeland and mysteries, I've never read anything by this Scottish author. Knots and Crosses is the first installment in his well-known Inspector Rebus series and I think it's high time I read it!

2. Women of the Dunes by Sarah Maine—Libby Snow's third great-grandmother was obsessed with the legend of Ulla, a Viking maiden who washed up on shore with the almost lifeless body of her husband, inspiring fantastical tales and epic poems. When Libby, an archaeologist, receives permission to dig in the place Ulla allegedly appeared on Scotland's western coast, she discovers the bones of a much newer corpse. The stories of Ulla and Libby entwine with that of the dead woman as Libby searches for answers to explain the murder that caused her death.

3. Loch Down Abbey by Beth Cowan-Erskine—Another murder mystery, this one revolves around the Inverkillen Family, residents of the titular home. With a mysterious illness running rampant through Scotland, the whole country is in a panic. The Inverkillens are already dealing with an alarming toilet paper shortage and Nanny's inconvenient death when Lord Inverkillen is found dead. Because of the lockdown keeping everyone at home, the only suspects in his murder are members of his family and staff. It's up to the head housekeeper to figure out who did him in.

4. 500 Miles From You by Jenny Colgan—Colgan is a Scottish author who writes fun, upbeat rom-coms. This one is the third entry in her Scottish Bookshop series. I enjoyed the first two and am looking forward to this newest installment. 

5. Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon—Written in the 1930s, this if the first book in a trilogy about a woman whose quiet pastoral life in Scotland is changed forever by World War I.

6. Lockdown by Peter May—Speaking of lockdowns, I'm intrigued by the premise of this novel by one of my favorite Scottish mystery writers. I thought it was set in Scotland, but it's actually set in London. Oops! Oh well, it still sounds compelling, especially since it was written over 15 years ago but so closely mirrors what we've all experienced recently with the global pandemic.

7. The Cracked Spine by Paige Shelton—This is the first installment in a cozy mystery series set in an Edinburgh bookshop. It features an American armchair traveler who makes an impulsive decision to accept a position at a bookstore in Scotland. Things get off to a cracking start when a valuable artifact goes missing and her boss's sister gets herself murdered. 

8. The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley—Another series opener, this one revolves around a woman who retreats to Scotland to write a novel based on a 1708 Jacobite effort to return an exiled James Stewart to his homeland in order to reclaim his crown. Writing from the perspective of one of her own ancestors, the writer soon realizes her strange obsession with the story may be a case of ancestral memory, making her the only person who knows what really happened that fateful day...

9. The Distant Echo by Val McDermid—McDermid is another Scottish mystery writer that I somehow have not read yet. This novel is the first in her Inspector Kate Pirie series and centers around a cold case homicide that opens old wounds and exposes long-buried secrets. 

10. Bone Deep by Sandra Ireland—Mac is working on a compilation of local folktales and legends when her only child, Arthur, insists she needs an assistant to help her. Lucie, who moves into a cottage on Mac's property, seems a little too interested in the secrets Mac's working hard to protect. Unbeknownst to Mac, Lucie has secrets of her own.

There you go, ten (okay, nine) books on my TBR list that are set in beautiful Scotland. Have you read any of them? What did you think? Are there any others I should add to my list? Which books did you highlight 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!