Today's Top Ten Tuesday prompt is a little clunky, which maybe explains why it threw me at first.  Here's Jana's explanation of Books I Loved That Made Me Want More Like Them: The wording is weird here, so if you have a better way to say this please let me know!  What I’m thinking is… you read a book and immediately wanted more just like it, perhaps in the same genre, about the same topic or theme, by the same author, etc. For example, I once read a medical romance and then went to find more because it was so good. The same thing happened to me with pirate historical romances and romantic suspense.  I've done at least one list about subjects I'm always interested in reading more about, but it's been a hot minute and I don't know if I've ever focused on specific books and authors.  So, I guess I'll be playing it straight this week, no going rogue for me!

Sometimes I have real trouble coming up with books to fit the Top Ten Tuesday topic du jour.  Then, a freebie comes along and I blank on that too! Yikes.  Since I don't want to tax my summer brain too much, I'm going to highlight more upcoming releases I'm eager to read.  I did a two-part TTT list on this topic back in March (here's Part One, here's Part Two) that focused on up-and-comers for the first part of the year.  Today's list will feature releases for the second half, although most of these titles come out this summer.    

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

(in order of release date)

1.  The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman (coming June 8, 2021)—I enjoyed Steadman's two previous thrillers, so I'm excited for her newest effort.  It concerns Mia Eliot, a British actress who comes to Hollywood for pilot season, hoping to land a lucrative, career-making job.  When a fellow actress, whom Mia met only briefly, disappears, Mia is questioned as the last person to see her.  Then, the missing woman reappears, but Mia's almost positive the two women are not the same.  Sounds intriguing!

2.  Eat Your Heart Out by Kelly deVos (coming June 29, 2021)—deVos is another author whose books I enjoy and the plot summary of her newest just makes me laugh.  It's a body-positive YA novel about a group of teens who are forced under mysterious circumstances to attend a weight-loss camp in Flagstaff, Arizona.  Nothing about the situation makes sense, especially not the other campers who seem...not quite alive.  As the teens try to uncover the camp's secrets, they find themselves in a surprising and desperate fight against rabid zombies. 

 

3.  A Woman of Intelligence by Karin Tanabe (coming July 20, 2021)—It's 1954 and Katharina Edgeworth is a wealthy, bored New York City housewife.  When she's recruited by the FBI to be an informant with the job of infiltrating the private world of a man from her past who has become a Soviet spy, it presents a tantalizing chance for Katharina to break free from her gilded cage and do something both exciting and important.

4.  Three Words for Goodbye by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb (coming July 27, 2021)—Two estranged sisters set out on a trip across Europe to fulfill their grandmother's dying wish of delivering goodbye letters to people she once knew.  The duo must deal with their own strained relationship, confront family secrets, and travel in a time and place that feels increasingly dangerous.

5.  The Light of Luna Park by Addison Armstrong (coming August 10, 2021)—This historical novel revolves around a nurse who helps treat premature infants in 1937.  When she hears about Martin Couney's exhibit of the tiny babies at Coney Island, it changes her perspective, putting her in conflict with the doctors for whom she works.  As the mother of two babies born at 29 weeks gestation, I'm definitely interested in reading this dual-timeline novel, which sounds super interesting. 

6.  The Family Plot by Megan Collins (coming August 17, 2021)—Dahlia Lighthouse was raised on an isolated island under the strict guard of her true crime-obsessed parents.  Still haunted by the disappearance of her twin brother ten years ago, Dahlia returns to her childhood home where a gruesome discovery has been made: her brother's body has been buried in her father's plot.  How did his body end up there?  What really happened to Dahlia's brother?  Was he murdered by a serial killer or someone a lot closer to home?

7.  A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins (coming August 31, 2021)—When a man is found dead on a houseboat, three women who were close to him are investigated for murder.  There's not much of a plot summary for this one, but I like Hawkins so I'm in.

8.  Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty (coming September 14, 2021)—Not gonna lie, I haven't been impressed with Moriarty's last couple novels.  I'm hoping her newest is as compelling as the older titles that I have loved by her.  Her latest is another family drama about a complicated family with some very intriguing secrets.

9.  Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan (coming October 19, 2021)—This historical novel is about a young woman who is grief-stricken over the impending death of her beloved younger brother.  George, who is captivated by a newly-published book called The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, is desperate to know from whence Narnia came.  Despite her timidity about approaching C.S. Lewis, George's sister does it anyway.  The answer to George's question will change her life, even if it won't save her brother's. 

10.  The Pilot's Daughter by Meredith Jaeger (coming November 2, 2021)—Inspired by a real murder, this one revolves around a would-be reporter who is desperate to find her father, a pilot who goes missing during the waning days of World War II.  When she discovers love letters from a woman who is not her mother among her father's things, she's shocked—and even more desperate to find out where he is.  Can she figure out what happened to the father she loves, but apparently doesn't really know?   

There you go, ten upcoming releases I'm excited to read.  Do any catch your eye as well?  What new releases are you looking forward to bingeing on during the rest of 2021?  I'd truly love to know.  Leave a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

High in the Swiss Alps sits Le Sommet, a just-opened luxury hotel with a minimalist approach that showcases the jaw-dropping views to perfection.  The place should exude a peaceful vibe, but despite extensive remodeling, the building still holds an unsettling feeling left over from its days as a tuberculosis hospital.  Whispers of unease whistle through Le Sommet's newly-painted halls, hinting at its dark past...

The last place Detective Elin Warner wants to be is on a remote mountaintop with her estranged brother, but without a good excuse to skip his engagement party, she really doesn't have a choice.  As the assistant manager of Le Sommet, Elin's sister-in-law is eager to show off the new hotel.  Despite Laure's enthusiasm, Elin feels completely unsettled by Le Sommet, with its strange history and cut-off location.  The onset of a winter storm doesn't help her feelings of claustrophobia and disquiet.  On leave following a traumatizing case, Elin is supposed to be resting.  Le Sommet should offer the perfect refuge for her.  So, why does she feel so discombobulated?

When Laure disappears suddenly, Elin is immediately on alert.  The assistant manager is not answering her phone and the weather has made travel nearly impossible.  Where could Laure possibly be?  When Elin finds the gruesome answer, a startling truth becomes terrifyingly clear: someone in the hotel (or very nearby) is a cold-blooded killer.  While Elin collects clues, another woman disappears.  With no way off the mountain, all the hotel guests are in danger unless Elin can find a murderer—a murderer who just may be her own brother.  Racing against time, she must put all her rusty detecting skills to use before it's too late for her and everyone else. 

Locked-room mysteries set in isolated places are my jam.  Throw in inclement weather and a creepy old building and you've got my attention, 100 percent.  The Sanatorium, a debut novel by Sarah Pearse, combines all of these elements to create a compelling novel, the kind I usually devour and love.  Did it fulfill all my thriller-loving dreams?  Well...     

To the FTC, with love:  I bought a copy of The Sanatorium with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger.  Ha ha.

I don't know about you, but I love me a good quote.  Funny?  Inspiring?  Beautifully crafted?  Astute?  I'll take them all.  When I come across passages I love in a book I'm reading, I usually just sigh over their awesomeness rather than actually writing them down because I'm just lazy like that.  So, when it comes to TTT topics like today's—Top Ten Book Quotes That Fit X Theme—I have to rely a lot on Google.  The ones I do tend to write down have to do with books and reading, because, books.  What more do I need to say?  Naturally, then, I decided to feature those today.  Oh, and apparently, I really like book quotes because I posted a very similar TTT list to this one back in September.  

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

Top Ten Book Quotes About Books and Reading 

"After my bedroom, this [the library] was my favorite place in the world.  It was carpeted, and had heavy bookcases and ticking clocks and velvet chairs, just like someone's living room.  It smelled of unturned pages and unseen adventures, and on every shelf were people I had yet to meet, and places I had yet to visit.  Each time, I lost myself in the corridors of books and the polished, wooden rooms, deciding which journey to go on next."

---from The Trouble With Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon

"One of my strongest held beliefs is that no one should ever finish a book that they're not enjoying, no matter how popular or well reviewed the book is.  Believe me, nobody is going to get any points in heaven by slogging their way through a book they aren't enjoying but think they ought to read."

---from Book Lust by Nancy Pearl

"Storytelling was the most honored of all talents, for it benefitted everyone."

---from The Host by Stephenie Meyer

"When in doubt, go to the library."

---from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

"They had only ever discussed books but what, in this life, is more personal than books?"

---from The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

"...bookshops are magic, and books are the road maps by which misfits find each other."

---from The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap by Wendy Welch

"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read.  One does not love breathing."

---from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

"Take some books and read; that's an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort."

---from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

"The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid."

---from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

"Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."

---from Coraline by Neil Gaiman

There you go, ten quotes about books and reading that I happen to love.  Which is your favorite?  What other quotes do you adore that fit this topic?  I'd love to know.  Leave me a comment on this post and I will return the favor on your blog.