Have you read The Heirloom Garden?  What did you think?

Thanks to the generous folks at Harlequin (a division of HarperCollins) for sending me an e-ARC of The Heirloom Garden!

It's Tuesday again, time for my favorite bookish meme.  I always look forward to this weekly event, especially now when there are so few ways to distinguish one day from all the rest!  How's everyone doing this week?  Are you surviving the quarantine in good spirits or starting to go stark raving mad?  Are you whipping through a book a day or finding it difficult to concentrate on reading when the outside world is still in chaos?  We're doing okay over here.  All of us have cabin fever, but we're being as cautious as we can by staying home, social distancing, washing our hands, etc.  We've had excessive heat warnings here in the Phoenix area—it's supposed to be in the upper 90s and low 100s all week.  Oh, joy!  I'm not a fan of hot weather, but at least I have air conditioning and a backyard swimming pool.  I really can't complain (I mean, I can, but I shouldn't).  For now, I'll just continue reading, cross-stitching, blogging, and attempting to keep my house from becoming a complete shambles.  I hope you all are doing well and keeping you and yours safe and healthy.

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is a nostalgic one—Top Ten Books I Wish I Had Read As a Child.  I don't know about you, but I have been a voracious reader for my entire life.  As a kid, there was nothing I loved more than visiting our town's teensy tiny library.  When I couldn't convince my mom to drive me into town, I made the two-mile round trip on my own two feet.  The walk down wasn't so bad since it was all downhill, but the hike back up was a killer, especially in the summer heat with my arms full of all the books I could carry!  Needless to say, I was thrilled when I got my driver's license.  Not only could I drive myself to town whenever I wanted, but I could also cross the bridge into Oregon and check out books from a nearby town that had a much larger library.  I inhaled so many books in those days that, besides the Harry Potter series (which didn't come out until I was in my late 20's), I couldn't think of any that I wished I had read as a child.  I could, however, think of many that I loved back then, so I'm going to twist the topic du jour and list the Top Ten Authors/Books/Series I Loved As a Child.

Before we get to that, though, I have to give a shout out to Jana, our Top Ten Tuesday host.  If you want to join in the TTT fun, head on over to her blog, That Artsy Reader Girl.  You can find all the info you need on her lovely site.

It's Tuesday again.  I think.  I don't know about you, but these days, my Tuesdays don't look much different from my Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays!  Nothing much has changed here except I've read a few more books, cross-stitched for a few (okay, a lot more than a few) more hours, and watched more episodes of The Middle.  I did have a Zoom meeting for my church "job" this morning, so that added some excitement to my day.  Other than that, it's the same ole, same ole around here.  I'm not complaining—we're all healthy and staying (more or less) sane at my house.  An extended member of our family died last week of COVID-19 after several weeks in the hospital, so that was a sobering reminder of why we're all sheltering in place.  Please keep yourself and your loved ones safe and healthy!

On a lighter note, it's time for Top Ten Tuesday.  If you're not familiar with this fun meme, you really should be.  Head on over to That Artsy Reader Girl for all the info.  Today's topic is Top Ten Book Titles That Would Make Great Band Names.  I love music as much as the next person, but I'm just not feeling this one today.  Instead, I'm going to give you a glimpse into my obsession with organizing my main Goodreads TBR list.  Because I reached the limit of how many books you can have in a bookshelf (5000, if you're curious), I had to make separate lists for non-fiction and children's books.  EDIT:  I'm so sorry if I freaked anyone out with my unintentional lie about Goodreads bookshelf limits!  What I meant to say was that if you go over 5000 on a single bookshelf, Goodreads will no longer let you put those books in want-to-read order (at least I can't figure out how).  Since ordering my books is my favorite part of GR list-making, I keep my lists under 5000.  Does that make more sense? So, today I'm focusing on the books on my adult fiction "bookshelf," listing the entries in want-to-read order.  I'm going to briefly mention the titles I've talked about recently or repeatedly and spend more time on those I haven't highlighted yet.

Here we go with Top Ten Books on My Goodreads Adult Fiction TBR List:



1.  The Sea of Lost Girls by Carol Goodman—I already talked about this book here.  I've also lamented the fact that a copy of it is being held hostage at my county library, gathering dust on the "Holds" shelf.  Well, good news!  I just learned that the library will start curbside checkout tomorrow.  I'm stoked.  I've been wanting to read this book ever since I heard about it, so yay!  I will liberate my on-hold book as soon as I can tomorrow morning.


2.  The Girl From Widow Hills by Megan Miranda (available June 20, 2020)—I enjoy Miranda's thrillers and this one sounds as intriguing as her others.  It involves a woman who achieved celebrity status as a child when she miraculously survived a near-drowning.  As the 20th anniversary of the event approaches, the girl—now a woman living under a different name—starts experiencing strange symptoms that link her disturbing past to her threatened present.  Can't wait!


3.  All the Ways We Said Goodbye by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White—I highlighted this title here.


4.  In Five Years by Rebecca Serle—talked about it here


5.  The Cutting Place by Jane Casey—Maeve Kerrigan is one of my favorite fictional police detectives.  In Casey's newest, the 9th installment in the series, Maeve is sent to investigate the death of a young female journalist who was killed while working on a story about an elite gentleman's club.  I'm in for anything Maeve!


6.  The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate—I've talked about this one before.  I'm in the middle of the novel right now and I'm really enjoying it.


7.  The Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan—I'm not sure what's going on with the U.S. publication of this book.  It came out in Australia in February but is not available for a reasonable price anywhere else as far as I can tell (there is a $40.87 copy listed on Amazon and a $30.36 one on BookDepository).  Presumably, the hang-ups are because of COVID-19.  Hopefully, The Good Turn will be more widely available soon. 

This is the third installment in the DI Cormac Reilly series, which I enjoy.  The story begins with the suspected kidnapping of a young girl.  Short-staffed and hindered by red tape, Cormac and his partner make a horrible mistake in the case, which leaves the former suspended and the latter banished to a small town where he discovers some odd findings in a murder case that has supposedly been solved ...


8.  Please See Us by Caitlin Mullen—An Atlantic City boardwalk psychic starts having strange visions that she thinks are related to two recent murders.  When she launches her own investigation into the killings, she puts herself right in a killer's path ...


9.  Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters by Emily Carpenter (available October 20, 2020)—I enjoy Carpenter's immersive thrillers and her newest sounds just as intriguing as her other books.  This one revolves around Eve Candler, a woman who has kept her grandmother's secrets for years.  No one else knows that the revered evangelist and faith healer was a complete fraud and a con artist to boot.  When an even bigger secret about her grandmother surfaces, Eve risks everything to find out the truth.


10.  Before Familiar Woods by Ian Pisarcik—I love the big lies in small towns trope, so naturally, I find the premise of this book appealing.  It has to do with the murders of two boys and the subsequent disappearances of their fathers.  It's left to one mother to figure out what is happening in her not-so-quaint little town.

There you go, the top ten books on my adult fiction Goodreads TBR shelf.  Have you read any of them?  What are the most tantalizing titles on your TBR list?  I'd truly love to know.  Leave me a comment on this post and I'll return the favor on yours.

Happy TTT!