Today's TTT prompt is a fun one: The First Ten Books I Randomly Grabbed From My Shelf. We were instructed to close our eyes and point to ten books at random. Easy cheesy! If you want to join the TTT party, click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl for all the deets.

Since I have two different bookcases, I thought I'd give you a little peek into my library and explain how I chose my random ten. Here are my two main bookshelves, both of which are in my living room:

This one is huge, about 9 feet tall and 12 feet wide. The top two tiers hold review books that I've yet to read, alphabetized by author. All the rest of the books are volumes I have purchased, been gifted, or are review copies I enjoyed enough to keep. The lower shelves are organized by genre. I'd say I've read about half of them.

This large bookshelf tops my desk. The three rows of shelving are about 8 feet wide and 3 1/2 feet tall. It holds only review books that I haven't read yet, alphabetized by author. 

Other than the scriptures on my nightstand and the book cart next to my desk which holds my library finds plus a dozen or so paper books that need to be reviewed, these shelves house all of the books I own. (My husband's books are another story...) Even though I have fewer books than I did before I moved last July (by a couple thousand), the first comment most people make upon entering my home is, "Wow! That's A LOT of books." They're not wrong. 

At any rate, I decided to choose my ten randos from my shelves of review books since those volumes can use some highlighting while they await their turns to be read and reviewed. Also, note that I can't reach the higher shelves on these bookcases without a stepladder. Since I was too lazy to go grab one, for some of these I had to stand on my tiptoes, point in the general direction of a book, and go from there. Here's what I came up with:

First Ten Books I Randomly Grabbed From My Shelf(ves)  

- Parentheses indicate the publisher/publicist/author, etc. who sent the book to me and in what year they did so (as embarrassing as it may be). -  

1. The Lost Ones by Sheena Kamal (HarperCollins, 2018)—This series opener revolves around Nora Watts, an intuitive investigator who works for a P.I. When she receives a call that the daughter she placed for adoption as a baby—now a teenager—is missing, she can't help but get involved, even if it means dredging up the past she's worked so desperately to put behind her. 

2. Something About Sophie by Mary Kay McComas (HarperCollins, 2013)—When Sophie Shepard is summoned to the deathbed of a stranger but arrives too late to hear what he wanted to tell her, her curiosity is piqued. As she starts digging into her own mysterious past, she uncovers secrets that make her question everything she knows about herself, her birth mother, and the community in which—in another life—she might have been raised. 

3. The Beloved Girls by Harriet Evans (Hachette Book Group, 2022)—A successful barrister vanishes without a trace from a train station. Her disappearance leads back to a fateful summer in a mysterious old country house where her life was not the only one that was changed forever...

4. No Way Down: Life and Death on K2 by Graham Bowley (HarperCollins, 2010)—This non-fiction account tells the story of the worst mountain climbing disaster ever to happen on K2, the second-highest mountain on Earth.

5. Alone in the Woods by Rebecca Behrens (Sourcebooks, 2020)—This middle grade wilderness survival tale is about two girls who find themselves lost in the woods when a rafting trip in an isolated forest goes horribly wrong.

6. The Tumbling Girl by Bridget Walsh (Meryl Zegarek PR, 2023)—This is the first book in a Victorian mystery series starring private eye Albert Easterbrook. When a music hall scriptwriter's best friend is murdered, she enlists Easterbrook to find her killer.

7. The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane by Julia Nobel (Sourcebooks, 2018)—Another series opener, this middle-grade mystery stars Emmy, a young girl who's shipped off to a prestigious boarding school after her father's mysterious disappearance. Just before she leaves, an anonymous caller leaves her a box containing items they claim belonged to her missing dad. When Emmy sees symbols around her new school that match those she's seen in the box, she follows clues and discovers the existence of a secret society. Does the society have something to do with her father's disappearance? 

8. Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen (HarperCollins, 2022)—Ava Wong, a straight-laced Chinese American lawyer, gets caught up in her friend's lucrative counterfeit scheme. When the friend vanishes, Ava's left to deal with the consequences. 

9. Greenglass House by Kate Milford (HarperCollins, 2014)—The first book in a popular middle-grade series, this novel introduces readers to Milo, who helps his parents run an inn. Business is never brisk in winter, so Milo is anticipating a relaxing holiday when several unexpected guests come knocking. Suddenly, the inn is full of strange people and odd occurrences. What is going on? It's up to Milo and Meddy, the cook's daughter, to figure it out.

10. All the Stars in the Heavens by Adriana Trigiani (HarperCollins, 2015)—Set in the glittering world of 1935 Hollywood, this novel tells the tale of a former nun who becomes an assistant to starlet Loretta Young. Their friendship becomes fierce and binding as they experience the ups and downs of life together. 

There you go, ten random books off my shelves. Have you read any of them? Do any of them sound particularly compelling to you? Which titles 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. I also reply to your comments here.

Happy May Day! I don't know how April went for you, but for me it was a busy month and it rushed by in a bit of a blur. My third child graduates from high school in a few weeks, which will make May busy as well. Also hot. We haven't hit 100 degrees yet, thank goodness; we've come close, though. Ugh. It's already way too warm to read by the pool. Ours doesn't have much shade so I'll be enjoying my books inside my air conditioned house, under a whirling fan, until further notice (probably around December). 

I did manage to read one bookish book in April. Book Lovers by Emily Henry has been getting all kinds of buzz ever since it came out. Contemporary romance really isn't my genre, but I wanted to see what all the hype was about. Book Lovers is a fun, enemies-to-lovers story with lots of playful banter, humorous scenes, and an entertaining plot (although it did seem overly long at times). I listened to the book on audio, with Julia Whelan narrating. She did a great job bringing the characters to life. Overall, it was an enjoyable listen. I just wish it would have been more of a closed-door, PG-13 kind of romance. 

I've yet to read the majority of the books I've listed in these monthly posts as potential reads for The Bookish Books Reading Challenge. Still, here are a few that have caught my eye recently that I could, potentially, get to this month. We'll see how it goes.

I mentioned these two in my recent book haul posts:

Shaun Bythell is the owner of the largest second-hand bookshop in Scotland and his books are supposed to be insightful and hilarious. I can't wait to dig in.

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson is my book club's pick for May. I've already read it, but it's been a few years, so I'm going to re-read it and then move on to The Book Woman's Daughter. I've heard the sequel is just as good as the first book, which is always reassuring.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can score an e-ARC of Last Word to the Wise by Ann Claire. It's the second installment in a fun cozy mystery series set in a mystery-themed bookstore that is accessible only by (or, at least, most conveniently by) gondola. I enjoyed the first book in the series and am excited to see what happens in the second. Hopefully, the Edelweiss gods will grant my pending request...

I felt a little bad about going on my last book shopping spree at a chain store instead of my local indie, so I decided to even out the score. Plus, it's Independent Bookstore Day on Saturday, April 29th. Not that I ever need an excuse to visit a bookstore...Changing Hands really is a fabulous place to buy books. The Tempe location has a fun, quirky vibe. It's packed with new and used tomes as well as bookish extras and specialty items like fancy soaps, kitchen accessories, notebooks/journals, jewelry, etc. Other perks include a trade desk, where you can trade in books you no longer need for store credit. They also have a frequent buyer program that gives you one stamp for every $10 you spend; when you reach 10 stamps, you get a $10 off credit. During your birthday month, you also get $10 off your purchases. All of these things make it an enjoyable place to spend my book money! It's actually a good thing that's it a 20-minute drive away. If it were closer, I'd definitely be there more often.

Today, I traded in a stack of books and earned about $56 in credit. I also had a full punch card, which gave me $10. Five of the eight books in the stack above are new and three are hardcovers, so the actual retail price of all eight (at least at Changing Hands) was $133.10. I paid $76.60 (including tax). Not too shabby. My husband actually spent more and he only bought three used books and one (very expensive) chocolate candy bar. Both of our purchases earned me more stamps, so now I have another full card to use next time I'm in the store. Yay!

Here's what I got:

Confessions of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell—I've never heard of Bythell, but apparently, he's the owner of the second largest secondhand bookstore in Scotland. He's written several books about his experiences as a bookseller and they're supposed to be hilarious. I believe this one is his first book, which was published in 2017.

The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine by Janice P. Nimura—This non-fiction book has been on my TBR list since it came out a few years ago. It's about Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell, two American women who received M.D.s in the 1800s. Elizabeth was the first ever to do so. Sounds fascinating!

The Book Woman's Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson—I'm not even a little bit alone in my love for The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. This is the sequel, which stars the daughter of the titular book woman.

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom—Grissom was kind enough to send me a review copy of her new novel, Crow Mary, and I can't wait to read it. In the meantime, I want to re-read The Kitchen House, which I loved, and then read its sequel, Glory Over Everything. The Kitchen House is about a young white girl who is orphaned while sailing from Ireland to America. She becomes an indentured servant at a Southern plantation, where she becomes part of the servants' family, despite their differing skin colors. When she upsets the order of things, however, life as she knows it changes forever.

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen—This memoir was on clearance and I've been wanting to read it, so I grabbed it. It's the story of Rhoda's journey back home to the insular Mennonite family and culture she left behind. The book's supposed to be both hilarious and touching. I'm in!

Lone Women by Victor LaVelle—I probably don't need to tell you what this one's about since it's been getting all kinds of buzz in the book blogosphere. It sounds unique and compelling. The novel concerns a Black woman who leaves California to homestead in Montana in 1915. Not only does she have to eke out a life on the brutal prairie, but she also has a dark secret. One that makes the people around her disappear. How will she fare in her attempt at a new life?

The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine by Lindsey Fitzharris—When my husband saw this book, he added it to my to-buy stack, saying, "This sounds like your kind of book!" Ha ha. He knows me so well.

Ashton Hall by Lauren Belfer—Ashton Hall is my favorite kind of novel, one in which a modern-day woman enters a mysterious old house and becomes obsessed with unearthing all its secrets. I'm always up for this kind of story.

What do you think of my haul? Have you read any of these? Which should I read first? 

It's been a couple weeks since I did a Top Ten Tuesday. Since these are about the only posts I've been making this year, it's really good to be back! Today's topic—Top Ten Favorite Audiobook Narrators—is one that won't appeal to everyone. I, myself, wouldn't have had much to say about it just a few years ago. Now, though, I've gotten into the habit of having an audiobook going always so that I can listen while I drive and do housework. Not only does it make tedious chores more entertaining, but it multiplies the amount of time I get to spend reading. A win-win for sure.

As always, TTT is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Click on over to her blog to read all about this fun weekly event. 

Kellgren books I've enjoyed: The Bloody Jack series by L.A. Meyer

2. Jim Dale—Everybody loves this versatile narrator who's so entertaining with his immense skill at creating unique voices. Listening to him read the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling is an absolute delight.

Dale books I've enjoyed: The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

3. Guy Lockard—Jason Reynolds is one of my favorite middle grade authors. Lockard is a long-time friend of the author and comes from the same inner-city background as Reynolds. His voice rings with authenticity when he narrates his buddy's work. Plus, he does some super fun voices (Coach Brody from the Track series is my favorite).

Lockard books I've enjoyed: Track series by Jason Reynolds 

4. Julia Whelan—I've listened to several books read by Whelan, whose smooth voice makes characters seem so alive that you almost forget they're not real.

Whelan books I've enjoyed: Book Lovers by Emily Henry, The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation by Rosemary Sullivan

5. Karissa Vacker—Some of the first books I listened to on audio were read by Vacker. She does an excellent job.

Vacker books I've enjoyed: Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling, Momentuous Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling

6. Bethan Rose Young—Young brings Myrtle Hardcastle, one of my favorite MG sleuths, to life so well. I love listening to the series on audio.

Young books I've enjoyed: Myrtle Hardcastle series by Elizabeth C. Bunce

7. Sophie Roberts—Roberts has another voice that's so smooth it melts into the background and lets the story she's narrating really come alive.

Robert books I've enjoyed: The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle by Jennifer Ryan

8. Celebrities reading their own books—I'm not much into celebs, so I don't read many of these, but I've enjoyed the few that I've listened to.

Celebrity-read books I've enjoyed: The Answer Is... by Alex Trebek (co-narrated with Ken Jennings), Surrender by Bono (The husband and I are in the middle of this one right now. It's 20 hours long!)

9. Saskia Maarleveld—I've listened to one book read by Maarlevald and she narrates several more that I'd like to read. 

Maarleveld books I've enjoyed: The War Librarian by Addison Armstrong

Leigh books I've enjoyed: The Renegade Reporters by Elissa Brent Weissman

I'm still a bit of a newbie to the world of audiobooks. Which narrators should I be searching out? Who are your favorites? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog. I also reply to comments here, so check back.