Top Ten Tuesday: Rainy Day Reads

Hello! It’s Tuesday and you know what time it is…Top Ten. Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl, Jana every week, they post a new topic/top ten list and invite everyone to share their own answers. Rainy day reads to me are books that draw you in fast. They are books that feel like an old friend, they are books that make me wonder. So here are 10 books that did that for me:

The Winter Sea (Slains #1)

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley 

Love this author. Her books pull me in and take me away. I love that she incorporates historical facts into each of her stories. This one is sure to be a fantastic rainy day read for anyone.

 

 

 

 

Dread Nation (Dread Nation, #1)

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Who said zombies aren’t cool? This book captures your interest from the start and the structure of the story with a letter from the main character and her daughter starting each chapter keeps you coming back for more.

 

 

 

The Invisible Library (The Invisible Library, #1)

 

 

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

Books, libraries, magic, strong female with a sexy sidekick/secondary character is the answer to rainy day woes. This is the start to a really fun series. I have been taking my time with this series. I have only read two so far but really enjoy them.

 

 

The Sun Is Also a Star

 

 

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

A love story that takes the course of a day sounds crazy right but it really works with this story that also glimpses into the world of immigrants and deportation. A fast ride for a gray rainy day!

 

 

Sleeping Giants (Themis Files, #1)

 

 

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel

Good science fiction and fantasy always pulls me in with a sense of wonder. This first book in a trilogy is really easy to immerse into. The characters are interesting and the possibilities keep you guessing.

 

 

Land of Shadows (Detective Elouise Norton #1)

 

Land of Shadows by Rachel Howzell Hall

Just read this last month and wow, loved it. It’s a crime fiction but with a kick-ass black female detective. Something you rarely see in books or film. Eloise “Lou” is so smart and the story is so compelling. It is a fantastic start to a series. I have already bought the next book so I can go hang out with her and her partner to solve another case.

 

Rainy Day Sisters (Hartley-by-the-Sea #1)

 

Rainy Day Sisters by Kate Hewitt

I read this so long ago. But it is one of those stories where the main character has to put distance between her life to find herself and a hottie in the process. Couldn’t put it down.

 

 

 

The Wedding Date

 

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

Read this a few months ago and I don’t read much romance but this one pulled me in and never let go. I could not look away from this crazy romance. It was a debut book and I already bought another book by this author because she writes this stuff that good. Nothing like a little “steam” to chase away the gloom of a rainy day!!

 

The Salaryman's Wife (Rei Shimura #1)

 

The Salaryman’s Wife (Rei Shimura #1) by Sujata Massey

This is an auto-buy author and this began with this debut novel when it came out in 2000. I can’t believe it is almost 20 years ago I read this book. This was the start to an amazing series that brings you into the life of a Japanese American Rei who teaches English in Japan while also dealing in antiques. You learn so much in each book about different aspects of Japanese culture and the characters are fantastic. Many who re-appear in future books in the series. Once pulled into this series, you will forget it’s raining.

Kindred

 

Kindred by Octavia Butler

This was my introduction to this incredibly talented writer who went on to become one of the greatest science fiction writers. Unfortunately her life was cut short and we are left with her amazing books. This book was her debut novel and it pulls you in in a different way. It’s main character travels back and forth in time. It hits you with hard realities of slavery and keeps you coming back to find out what happens next. Don’t let the slavery deter you from such a rich experience. You won’t know it’s raining once you open the pages of this gem.

Happy reading!

Belinda

 

Top Ten Tuesday – Books On My Spring 2019 TBR

Hello! It’s Tuesday and you know what time it is…Top Ten. Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl, Jana every week, they post a new topic/top ten list and invite everyone to share their own answers. I looked at this week’s challenge and definitely knew I could do this one since I have so many books I own and haven’t read!

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Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

 

I love her books and once again she has created a historical fiction that has excited me to learn something new to me – the Haenyeo (female divers) of the Korean province of Jeju. It sounds like a fascinating history and I know once I read the book I will be all over the internet to learn more about this important part of history. I pre-ordered this book once I found out about it and I have already received it so it will be read this spring for sure.

 

 

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The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden

I can not remember I heard about this author but she has popped on my radar and I look forward to reading a sci-fi, fantasy novel set in South Africa with a band of unlikely characters trying to save the world.

 

 

 

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Mayhem & Mass (A Sister Lou Mystery) by Olivia Matthews

I love sneaking cozy mysteries into my reading time. Especially between heavier books. But I am so excited to read this because it is a cozy written by an african-american author. She has already written several books in the series so I have a wonderful list to continue once I read this one.

 

 

 

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Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney Cooper

I bought this book to go add to my social justice library that I am collecting for myself. I look forward to reading this book to learn more and I am particularly interested as a black woman to read a book that presents multiple ways race, gender, and class affect the oppression of black women, and how they subsequently navigate in this world. I am sure I will find it quite affirming.

 

 

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The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory

I absolutely loved reading The Wedding Date which was Guillory’s debut novel. It was a really fun contemporary which is a genre I haven’t read in a long time. It was so enjoyable that I picked up this second book. It’s not the a series but if she writes the way she did in the first, I will gobble it up fast!!

 

 

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Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

I am late to game with this author. I first heard about her over 4 years ago and still have read any of her novels. My husband bought this one for me on my last birthday and I can’t wait to jump in to it. It’s one of my favorite genres, historical fiction so I got to get to it. This one is set in the French Quarter in New Orleans, a place I have had the pleasure of visiting so it will be fun to revisit.

 

 

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Tumbling by Diane McKinney-Whetstone

Bought this book a couple years ago. I absolutely love the cover. I own two books by this author but haven’t cracked one open. This year would be a great year to do that.  A family drama set in Philly in the 1940s and 50s, that focuses on a couple on the brink of splitting when something unexpected arrives to change the tides. Sounds like I need to read it for sure.

 

 

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The Martian by Andy Weir

Oooo, don’t let my husband see this post. I know I have a good man because I told him to read this book when it came out and when this book first came out and he did. Then the movie came out and he said he would wait for me to read the book and then watch it with me. Well hello!! I still haven’t read it! So I need to step up and get on it.

 

 

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A Blade so Black by L.L. McKinney

A young adult fantasy inspired by Alice in Wonderland with a black female protagonist sounds like fun. Sign me up!

 

 

 

 

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The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton

Bought this end of last year, sounded like an interesting historical fiction mystery set in 1862 and the present. I hope this author can deliver a ride like Susanna Kearsley does in her books. If so, it will be a win!

 

 

Happy reading!

Belinda

Belinda’s Book Nook: Top Ten Most Recent Additions to my TBR

Hello! It’s Tuesday and you know what time it is…Top Ten. Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl, Jana every week, they post a new topic/top ten list and invite everyone to share their own answers. I looked at this week’s challenge and definitely knew I could do this one.

Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight

 

In this remarkable biography, David Blight has drawn on new information held in a private collection that few other historian have consulted, as well as recently discovered issues of Douglass’s newspapers. Blight tells the fascinating story of Douglass’s two marriages and his complex extended family. Douglass was not only an astonishing man of words, but a thinker steeped in Biblical story and theology. There has not been a major biography of Douglass in a quarter century. David Blight’s Frederick Douglass affords this important American the distinguished biography he deserves.

I have never read any books on Frederick Douglass and this one sounds like a nice place to start.

 

Black Fortunes: The Story of The First Six African Americans Who Survived Slavery and Became Millionaires by Shomari Wills

 

 

 

 

Between the years of 1830 and 1927, as the last generation of blacks born into slavery was reaching maturity, a small group of industrious, tenacious, and daring men and women broke new ground to attain the highest levels of financial success.

Black wealth in the early 1900s is rarely talked about. So I look forward to reading this journey from slavery to wealth. It would be great to read for Black History Month.

 

 

The Island of Sea Women By Lisa See

 

 

 

 

 

The Island of Sea Women introduces readers to the fierce and unforgettable female divers of Jeju Island and the dramatic history that shaped their lives.

 

I love her books. They are always well researched and have strong female characters. I know nothing about these female Japanese divers and can’t wait for this book to be released so I can dive in!! ha ha dive in!!

 

The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict

 

Her beauty almost certainly saved her from the rising Nazi party and led to marriage with an Austrian arms dealer. Underestimated in everything else, she overheard the Third Reich’s plans while at her husband’s side, understanding more than anyone would guess. She devised a plan to flee in disguise from their castle, and the whirlwind escape landed her in Hollywood. She became Hedy Lamarr, screen star.

 

I heard the author interviewed in a podcast talking about this book and I remember the name Hedy Lamarr so I am fascinated to read this book. This is another author that really does her research. I expect to learn a lot while enjoying a great story. Hence the beauty of historical fiction.

 

 

Internment by Samira Ahmed

 

 

 

 

 

 

Set in a horrifying near-future United States, seventeen-year-old Layla Amin and her parents are forced into an internment camp for Muslim American citizens.

I pre-ordered this book because I am trying to learn more about Muslim Americans even via fiction.

 

Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America Edited by Ibi Zoboi

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by National Book Award finalist Ibi Zoboi, and featuring some of the most acclaimed bestselling Black authors writing for teens today—Black Enough is an essential collection of captivating stories about what it’s like to be young and Black in America.

I currently own this book and haven’t read many short story collections but this one sounds good.

 

The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory

 

 

 

The New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Date serves up a novel about what happens when a public proposal doesn’t turn into a happy ending, thanks to a woman who knows exactly how to make one on her own…

 

 

Ok, I blushed my way through Jasmine Guillory’s first book “The Wedding Date” but totally loved it. I haven’t read a contemporary in a while so it was refreshing. So I figured I will pick this up to drop between any heavy reads to lighten the mood.

 

A Spark of Life by Jodi Picoult

 

 

 

The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center—a women’s reproductive health services clinic—its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage.

An yet another author that does her research. I have really enjoyed the few books of hers that I have read and this one sounds like it will draw me in like her other books.

 

My Sister The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

 

 

 

 

 

A short, darkly funny, hand grenade of a novel about a Nigerian woman whose younger sister has a very inconvenient habit of killing her boyfriends.

 

Lot’s of hype about this book last year. I think it’s finally dying down so I can pick it up and experience it for myself.

The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell

 

 

 

The Diary of a Bookseller is Shaun Bythell’s funny and fascinating memoir of a year in the life at the helm of The Bookshop, in the small village of Wigtown, Scotland—and of the delightfully odd locals, unusual staff, eccentric customers, and surreal buying trips that make up his life there as he struggles to build his business . . . and be polite . . .

A book about a bookstore bookseller…need I say more?

 

Can’t wait to see what you all are adding to your TBR. Happy reading!

Belinda

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten of the Longest Books I’ve Read

Hello! It’s Tuesday and you know what time it is…Top Ten. Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl, Jana every week, they post a new topic/top ten list and invite everyone to share their own answers. I looked at this week’s challenge and went to GoodReads to see if I could identify the longest books I’ve read over the years (at least since I have been using Goodreads).

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Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi 525 pages

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A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir 452 pages

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Winter by Marissa Meyer 827 pages

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The Time in Between by Maria Duenas 615 pages

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The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley 527 pages

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The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith 455 pages

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The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah 440 pages

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Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson 436 pages

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Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand 473 pages

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The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani 475 pages

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The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach 512 pages

Since I really loved this book, I had to add one more big book and that is The Orphan Keeper. This book was long but it was so good, I barely noticed the length.

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The Orphan Keeper by Camron Wright 432 pages

Happy reading!

Belinda

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