As much as I love talking about books, I often blank when someone in my real life asks for reading recommendations. I usually just refer them to my blog, which is much better organized and oodles more reliable than my aging brain! I'm having the same reaction to today's TTT prompt—Top Ten Books I Would Hand to Someone Who Claims to Not Like Reading. Nothing's coming readily to mind, so I'm going to go rogue once again. 

Since 99.9% of my reading attention will be focused on Cybils Awards nominees until the end of the year, I've been thinking ahead to which books I want to enjoy next year. While updating the spreadsheet I keep of book series I'm reading, my mind turned to which series I want to start in 2022. It goes without saying that I really should not be beginning any new ones when I'm already in the middle of so many, but I've never been much for limiting myself when it comes to books...hence, the following list.

Want to join in the TTT fun? Of course you do! Head on over to That Artsy Reader Girl for all the info.

1. Lady Sherlock series by Sherry Thomas—This popular series stars Charlotte, an inquisitive Victorian woman, who solves crimes under the assumed name of Sherlock Holmes.

2. Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson—I've actually read the first book in this YA mystery series, but it's been so long that I can't remember who's who or what's what. I'm planning to re-read the series opener, then move on from there.

3. Donut Shop Mystery series by Jessica Beck—Cozy mysteries can be super fun, especially when they star my favorite pastry! This series features a coffee/donut shop owner turned amateur sleuth.

4. Cuba Saga by Chanel Cleeton—This dual-timeline novel features a woman who travels to Havana, her grandmother's birthplace, to spread the dead woman's ashes. As she learns more about her grandmother's past, she learns more about herself and her own history.

5. Gilded Age Mystery series by Rosemary Simpson—It's 1888 when this series opens and a New York City society woman is faced with finding the truth behind her fiancé's suspicious death during a treacherous snowstorm.  

6. Highland Bookshop Mystery series by Molly MacRae—Another cozy series, this one revolves around four joint owners of a bookshop in the Scottish Highlands who play detective in their spare time.

7. Loyal League by Alyssa Cole—This historical series set during the American Civil War sounds intriguing.

8. Sweeney St. George series by Sarah Stewart Taylor—I'm enjoying Taylor's Maggy D'Arcy mysteries, so I'm interested in this series about a Boston art historian who investigates curious deaths.

9. Connie Childs series by Sarah Ward—This police procedural series set in England looks promising.

10. Charlotte Holmes by Brittany Cavallaro—Another Sherlock Holmes-inspired series, this one features two modern-day descendants of Holmes and Watson who solve mysteries at their boarding school in Connecticut. 

There you have it, ten series I'm hoping to start in 2022. Have you read any of them? What series are you reading? Which are your favorite? Do you have any series recs for me in the cozy mystery, historical mystery, crime (not too graphic/gory), family saga, or history genres? I'd love to hear them. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

Traveling west on an orphan train is supposed to give impoverished kids from dirty, crowded New York City a chance at a better life. But hope is not exactly what Charles, Patrick, and Opal are feeling as they're paraded in front of prospective "parents" and prodded like animals. Eighteen-year-old Charles' bulk makes him attractive as a farmhand, but his bruised face brands him as a troublemaker. Patrick, a 14-year-old Irish immigrant, is passed over because of his foreign accent. Tiny, silent Opal is in obvious need of a loving home, but the 8-year-old is so haunted by her past that others are put off by her skittishness. By the time they near their last stop, the trio of misfits has had enough. Deciding that they're enough for each other, they hop the train in Montana, determined to survive on their own. 

A desperate act brings the children to the attention of Nara Stewart, a hard-working spinster who runs a cattle ranch with her father. Although she's loathe to admit it, Nara could use help working her land. She's got enough problems on her hands what with trying to prove herself to her father while trying to keep her growing, forbidden feelings for a Native American man under control. The last thing she needs is three scraggly orphans causing her more stress. Reluctantly, she puts Charles, Patrick, and Opal to work, expecting they'll run off rather than buckle down. Life on the ranch and in a rough frontier town is not easy for any of them, but as the days pass, the kids and the Stewarts are forming something that almost resembles...a family. With crises pummeling them on every front, will the makeshift group solidify into the thing all of them most need? Or will the tentative bond dissolve when trouble arrives on their doorstep?

Ten years ago, 33-year-old Milla Anderson was a pro snowboarder at the top of her game. Along with a crowd of other young athletes, she came to Le Rocher, a ski resort in the French Alps, to train while pitting herself against the best of the best. Amidst the tense, sometimes vicious, competition, friendships were formed, rivalries heightened, and enemies created. The season ended with Saskia Sparks—the most beautiful and conniving snowboarder among them—missing, presumed dead.

A decade later, Milla receives an invitation from a former Le Rocher friend to reunite at the resort. Although reluctant to return to the site and revisit the trauma she experienced there, she can't help but be intrigued. She hasn't seen or spoken to anyone from that fateful season on the mountain in the intervening years. Is it finally time to put the past behind her? Time to renew friendships, even rekindle a past flame? Despite her misgivings, Milla goes, only realizing too late that nothing about this mysterious reunion is quite what it seems. The resort is deserted, save for her and four others; their cell phones have disappeared; an innocent-seeming icebreaker game turns sinister; and everything is going bump in the night. With the threat of an oncoming snowstorm looming over the uneasy group, it's becoming quickly apparent that none of them is safe. Someone wants the truth about what happened ten years ago—and they'll stop at nothing to get it.

Shiver, a debut novel by Allie Reynolds, is my favorite kind of thriller. I mean, an atmospheric locked-room type mystery set in a remote location that features dangerous old secrets coming to the fore as nasty weather threatens to trap all the victims together in one place? Yes, please! Those kinds of stories always get my imagination whirling and my heart pumping. Although there are many things Shiver is not, it is a page turner. The story is a crazy, addicting thrill ride that kept me racing through the pages. Even though I figured out who was behind the reunion setup about halfway through the book, I still wanted to know what was going to happen next. While Shiver's plot kept me engaged, its characters are not a likable lot. They're admirable for their athleticism and determination, but not for their fickleness, petty jealousies, cruelty, and cold-hearted competitiveness. A good deal of the story, in fact, revolves around who slept with whom ten years ago, which I absolutely could have done without. Although we do see some growth in a couple of the characters, overall they're just a very messed up group. That, plus the fact that the story's a mite predictable, made Shiver less enjoyable for me. Still, for pure entertainment value, it's not a bad read as far as thrillers go. It definitely kept me engrossed.  

(Readalikes: Reminds me of One By One by Ruth Ware; In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware; The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse; The Guest List by Lucy Foley; And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, etc.)

Ellie Montgomery-Hofstein is used to people gawking at her—and not in a good way.  She's always been bigger than her peers, which has made her the recipient of relentless bullying.  Even her mother is constantly haranguing her for being fat.  Now that Ellie's best friend has moved away, she's facing sixth grade alone, making her even more of a target than usual.  The only place she finds peace is in her backyard swimming pool where she feels weightless and free.

When bubbly Catalina Rodriguez moves in next to Ellie and welcomes her into her boisterous Mexican-American family, Ellie discovers another safe place.  With the help of her new friend and a caring therapist, she starts learning to stand up for herself.  Will these new skills help her face the biggest bully in her life?  Can Ellie help her mother understand that Ellie deserves to be loved just as she is?  Can Ellie finally free herself from the Fat Girl Rules and embrace her big, beautiful self? 

Starfish—a debut novel by Lisa Fipps—is a quick read, but one that sticks with you.  Written in free verse, it's raw and honest.  Anyone who's struggled with their weight, or been bullied for any reason, will empathize with Ellie's pain.  Hopefully, those who bully will also be moved by her story.  Starfish really is impactful as it teaches lessons about the impact that words have, for both good and ill, on other people; how bullying, whether done by children or adults, affects people; the importance of kindness and acceptance; and the empowering magic of learning to stand up for one's self.  This is an important, touching read that I hope kids will take to heart.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of Wonder by R.J. Palacio)