Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’d Title Differently

/ Kristi / 11 Comments

It’s time for another Top Ten list from That Artsy Reader Girl. The topic this week was “Books I’d Give Different Titles To.” For this list, I definitely had to stick with books that I had read or that were on my TBR, because otherwise, I can imagine being sucked into a black hole of book titles and blurbs. I was only able to come up with 7, with 5 that I’ve read and 2 that I plan to read someday. There was an additional suggestion to give alternative titles, but that’s one of my weakest areas in my own writing, so I am going to skip that suggestion. Without further ado:

1. Stealthy Steps by Vikki Kestell
I get the book’s name–the main character is invisible during half of it. But I think it’s very weak and otherwise makes little sense. The series is titled Nanostealth, and all of the books have the word “Stealth” in their titles. I don’t know about the rest of the series titles yet, but this one I think could have been better. (See my review for this book.)

2. The Inquisition by Taran Matharu
This is the middle book in the Summoner trilogy, and the other two are aptly named. This one, however, is not. The Inquisition it mentions is such a small part of the entire book, we get past it to much more exciting things early on. I would have liked to see the title reflect more of the full story. (See my review for this book.)

3. Lost and Found by Orson Scott Card
To be honest, I have a more difficult time explaining my issue with this title. I think it might be because of the way the main character’s micro power of finding things is so analyzed to death, it’s almost like they talk their way out of the title making sense. (See my review for this book.)

4. Smoke Screen by Terri Blackstock
I know this title was meant to at least partially reference one of the main characters’ profession as a smoke jumper. I assume it had a double meaning, referring to the secrets and mystery there to be uncovered. However, since that mystery angle didn’t really fill as much of the book as I expected, the title falls flat for me. (See my review for this book.)

5. On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson
I haven’t read this yet, though it’s on my short list, so I can only go by the blurb. But no matter what the book is about, the title has a silly redundancy to it. It is a book for a younger audience, but it has enough seriousness to it that the title seems weird. I am open to the possibility that reading the book will shed light on the title though.

6. Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys
I know that my reasoning for including this book is not fair to it, but the first few times I saw this book, I assumed it was related to Fifty Shades of Grey. It’s not, not even remotely, and is actually about a Soviet work camp in the 1940s. As far as I can tell, this book came out a couple months before Fifty Shades, and I wonder how many other people over the years have thought it was related. I’m glad I discovered it wasn’t, and hope to have a chance to read it someday.

7. The Yellow Lantern by Angie Dicken
The book is part of a series called True Colors, and all of the books (written by different authors) have a color in the title. In the case of this book, though, it was a pretty good stretch to be able to get that color in the title. The book involves a band of grave robbers, and the titular lantern provides light for these nocturnal activities. However, the grave robbing was such a minor (and muddled) aspect of the book, the lantern really had a tiny role, and the title just doesn’t work for me. I actually have the ARC for another book in this series on my list to read soon (The Gray Chamber by Grace Hitchcock), and I’ll be very interested to see if the colorful title holds up for that one.  (See my review for this book.)

Have you read any of these? What would you add to the list?

Top Ten Tuesday: Extraordinary Book Titles

/ Kristi / 11 Comments

It’s time for another Top Ten list from That Artsy Reader Girl. The topic this week was “Extraordinary Book Titles.” This topic is broad and undefined, so I went through my TBR and Read lists on Goodreads and picked 10 books with titles that stood out to me in some way. Whether they were comical, unique, or just perfect for the story, here is my list, in no particular order:

1. The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters
This title is ominous, and I have a feeling the actual book won’t quite live up to that. But it is initially what led me to check into the book request it on Netgalley. I’ll be reading it soon.

2. The Escape Room by Megan Goldin
It’s easy to explain why this title stuck out to me–I am an escape room enthusiast and worked at an escape room company for over 3 years. I know the actual escape room content in the book will be light, based on reviews, but I’ve still decided to give it a try at some point.

3. I Want to Punch You in the Face But I Love Jesus by Sherri Lynn
I love this book title, and I love the person who wrote it! The title kept her from being able to get it published traditionally, but it’s about dealing with PMS with humor, from a Christian perspective, so the title is perfect. I am looking forward to reading this when I have a chance to locate a copy.

4. How We Became Wicked by Alexander Yates
The title caught my interest quickly; otherwise, I likely wouldn’t have put much thought into this one. I am not really a zombie person in any medium, but I read the first few pages of this, and I’m planning to give it a go.

5. His Name Was Zach by Peter Martuneac
So again, I’m really not a fan of zombie fiction (books, movies, TV or games). So the fact that I have 3 zombie apocalypse books on my TBR, and 2 just on this list, probably makes no sense. Still, I’m going to give this one a try, hopefully by the end of the year, in support of a fellow new author. The name isn’t what initially drew me to this book, but I do think it has a nice ring to it.

6. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
I read this for the first time in high school, and remember how interesting it was to learn that the title was a reference to the temperature at which paper burns. It’s perfect for the book, of course, and I’ve always really appreciated the title.

7. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard
This is another book I read in high school. My English class had read Hamlet that year, and then later read this play. Everyone knows the sacrificial heroes are going to die, whether because they know Hamlet, or because of the title…but they do make it entertaining along the way.

8. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
The title of this book is a clear indication of the mystery found within. It’s a little strange, though, that the question of whose murder the narrator is supposed to solve seems like a mystery, for at least the first quarter of the book, and then it’s a big reveal when it’s discovered…but the name is right there in the title. Other than that though, good title. (Note: the original title is The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, but had to be changed in the US.)

9. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Considering the subject matter of this book, and the extreme 80s & video game references, the title of this book is perfect. I don’t actually have more to say about this one.

10. Blessed Are the Misfits by Brant Hansen
This book for those who struggle with feeling like an outcast in the American church culture is perfect for introverts and socially awkward people like myself. And the title, borrowing from a section of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount is clever.

Have you read any of these? What would you add to the list?

Top Ten Tuesday: Titles with Numbers

/ Kristi / 9 Comments

It’s time for another Top Ten list from That Artsy Reader Girl. The topic this week was “Book Titles with Numbers in Them.” While of course, it would be easy to just randomly find 10 books with numbers, it makes more sense to me to choose books I’ve read or that I’m planning to read. And for a little added challenge, I tried to find titles with the numbers 1-10.

So without further ado:

1. One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

I have not read this YA thriller that has been on my TBR list for about a month and a half, but I’m looking forward to it.

 

 

2. Do You Dream of Terra-Two by Temi Oh

This sci-fi book is also on my TBR list, and is one of the first I added based on the recommendation of another book blogger.

 

 

3. Maus II: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman

I first read this book in high school, for my English class. It was on a list of books that were deemed “new classics,” and could be read in place of an older classic. I was especially fascinated by the Holocaust in high school, and hadn’t cared for most of the classics I’d read so far, so I jumped on it. Later, I read the first book as well. They contain not only a true account of the author’s father surviving Hitler’s Europe, but also show how he and his family cope in the aftermath, years later. It is depressing, but also enlightening and encouraging.

4. Thr3e by Ted Dekker

This Christian thriller has long been one of my favorite books, even after a recent re-read. Click here to see my review.

 

 

 

5. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury


This is one classic I read in high school that I did enjoy. I plan to read it again someday. (This book has both a 4 and a 5 in it, which is why I put 2 books related to the number 2 on the list.)

 


6. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

I don’t actually have this book on my TBR list, but it’s on a back-up list of books I want to revisit in the future. I’m not quite sold enough to start this fantasy series soon, but may choose to add it to my list in the future.

 

 

7. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

This was the second book I read when I started making reading a regular hobby again back in July. I enjoyed it, and recommend it to fans of mystery and thriller books. Click here to see my review.

 

 

8. Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott

I have Little Women on my TBR list, and if I enjoy that (which I suspect I will), I will likely end up adding this to read as well.

 

 


9. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

This fantasy novel first came onto my radar last Tuesday, when it was on the Top Ten Tuesday list of many people. I eventually decided to check it out, and then added it to my TBR list.

 

 

10. Ten by Gretchen McNeil

This YA mystery is on my TBR list only because of this week’s TTT. In figuring out what books I wanted to use, I searched for books with the word “ten” in the title, and found this one. Though some of the negative reviews give me pause, but I’m going to give it a try anyway.

 

Have you read any of these? What would you add to the list?

Top Ten Tuesday: Books On My Fall 2019 TBR

/ Kristi / 10 Comments

It’s time for another Top Ten list from That Artsy Reader Girl. This one was easy for me because I had the next 9 books I’m going to read planned, and was easily able to add a 10th. I recently went a little crazy requesting ARCs from Netgalley, so I’m trying to get caught up (I don’t know how others do it without letting the pile of ARCs awaiting reviews drive them mad). But I wanted to space out the ARCs with other books from my TBR, so in the below list, every other book is an ARC. This list should take me through most of the fall (I’ll probably slow down in November because of NaNoWriMo), and I suppose they’re not necessarily fall-oriented…I don’t usually think in those terms when it comes to reading (except I probably will at Christmas time).

So without further ado…the ones near the end of the list may change as I get closer to them, but I think the order will be mostly this:

1. Priceless by Joel & Luke Smallbone
2. Smoke Screen by Terry Blackstock
3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
4. The Passengers by John Marrs
5. The Battlemage by Taran Matharu
6. Mother Knows Best by Kira Peikoff
7. The Martian by Andy Weir
8. Claiming T-Mo by Eugen Bacon
(Not technically an ARC, I won it in a Goodreads giveaway, and have gotten a couple of emails requesting that I review it soon.)
9. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
10. On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson
(This book was released in 2008, but was re-released in hardcover with new illustrations, so is still an ARC.)

Have you read any of these? What do you plan to read over the next few months?

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My TBR I’m Avoiding & Why

/ Kristi / 10 Comments

I’ve read several of these Top Ten Tuesday posts, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, in the past, and decided to join in this week. Some of the topics don’t work that well for me; for example, my TBR list is only 2 months old, so it’s really hard to say I’ve been avoiding anything on it. But I was able to come up with 10 books on my list that I’m avoiding for some reason or another. These are books that I expect to get pushed down my TBR several times before I read them, or I’m just really not looking forward to reading them, or there’s some reason I can’t read them right now.

1. Claiming T-Mo by Eugen Bacon
I won this in a Goodreads giveaway. After I won it and re-read the synopsis, it seemed a lot less interesting than when I’d entered the giveaway. I’ll still read it, and in the spirit of the giveaway, I’ll try to get it to soon. But I’m not looking forward to it, and I feel pretty bad about that.

2. Landry Park by Bethany Hagen
When I first started to get back into reading seriously, before I built my TBR list up to even what it is now, I found this book at a bargain store and decided to buy it, with no knowledge of it whatsoever. After reading reviews, I’ve soured on it a bit. I know I’ll still read it, but my TBR list is so long (and that’s considering it’s shorter than that of everyone else I know), I just know it’s going to keep sliding down it.

3. The Dandelion Killer by Wanda Luttrell
This one is probably a little silly, but it still deserves a spot on the list. I have read this book before, at least twice, back in my younger reading days, and I remember enjoying it (enough to read it again at least once). My TBR currently includes some books I haven’t read for years and want to re-read now that I’m older, and this is one…but I made the mistake of checking its rating on Goodreads. It’s not great, so of course I keep passing it over. But since most of the ratings don’t come with reviews (and I do remember liking it), I think it’s a good idea to give it another chance myself…eventually.

4. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
5. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
6. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
I lumped all 3 of these together for the explanation because it’s basically the same explanation. Well-known, mostly much-loved books intimidate me. Especially when they’ve been around for a long time and I haven’t read word one of them (yes, I know Ender’s Game is new compared to the other two though). I’ve broken into this a bit with Harry Potter, but I quickly discovered how difficult it was to write a review for something when I realize most people who read the review will already know the subject material much better than I do.

Also, I’m one of those people with the ridiculous complex in which the more someone tells me I should read/watch/do something, the less I want to do it. So the more popular a book or series is, the more I tend to shy away from it. So I’ll get there…eventually…just stop pressuring me!

7. An Illusion of Thieves by Cate Glass
8. The Escape Room by Megan Goldin
Both of these have been pushed down my TBR because they’re in the New Fiction section at my library, which means I can only check them out for 1 week. I need to wait until I’m sure I’m ready to read one right away before I check it out, so I can make sure I finish it in the time I have. And the timing hasn’t worked out so far.

9. Unoffendable by Brant Hansen
10. I Want to Punch You in the Face But I Love Jesus by Sherri Lynn
Both of these are already low on my TBR because they are not available at my local library. I will have to wait until I have the funds to purchase them, so they’ll have to stay low. But I am looking forward to reading both of them when I can.

Have you read any of these? Should I move any up to the top of my TBR list?