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Showing posts with label Laura Taylor Namey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Laura Taylor Namey. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 29, 2022
Top Ten Tuesday: Let's Get Cozy!
7:45 AM
Even though we don't really get winter weather here in the Phoenix area, it has been fairly nippy lately. Most mornings you'll find me sitting at my computer wrapped up in a fuzzy blanket to stay warm. The chill in the air (or at least in my house) definitely makes me want to cozy up with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book. This week's TTT prompt—Top Ten Cozy Reads—is appropos, but since I couldn't think of specific "cozy" books I want to read, I'm just going to go a *little* bit rogue today and hit you with the next ten I'm planning to "cozy" up with. That works, right? Hopefully so, because I'm too tired to get more creative than this. Ha!
If you want to join in the TTT fun, hop on over to That Artsy Reader Girl for all the details.
Top Ten Books I Plan to "Cozy" Up With Next
1. Snow Struck by Nick Courage—I just started this middle-grade Cybils Awards nominee about a girl who can't wait to spend Christmas in New York City with her cousin. Elizabeth, who is from Florida, is keeping her fingers crossed for a white holiday. Weather in the U.S. has been unusually wonky, but everyone's shocked when a weirdly warm NYC winter suddenly turns arctic. As a deadly snow covers the city, grinding everything to a halt, Elizabeth's cousin's small dog gets out. Can the cousins find Fang before she becomes a victim of the vicious storm? Will any of them make it home alive? I love me a good disaster/survival story, so I'm enjoying this one.
2. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot—I'm actually almost done with this book, which I've been listening to on audio. It tells the fascinating story of a poor, uneducated Black woman who was dying from cervical cancer when doctors at Johns Hopkins took a sample of her cells without her knowledge. Although Henrietta Lacks died without ever knowing it, her cells—known as HeLa—are "immortal." Since they were taken in the 1950s, they have been cloned over and over and have been used to test all kinds of drugs, develop vaccines, and have even been launched into space to test cell behavior there. While HeLa cells became famous around the world, Henrietta's descendants—most of whom couldn't even afford health insurance—were kept almost wholly in the dark about the whole thing. It's a super interesting read/listen.
3. Air by Monica Roe—Another MG book for the Cybils, this one stars 12-year-old Emmie who dreams of competing as a wheelchair motorcross racer. When an accident on a wheelchair ramp at school turns Emmie into the star of an unexpected media circus, her big dream feels like it's no longer her own. Wanting to prove herself perfectly able, she launches her own plan to get what she wants and show her little town everything she has to offer. Sounds like a fun, empowering read!
4. The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal—I still need to read a Hugo Award winner for the PopSugar reading challenge and this one sounds good. The book takes place in 1952, when a huge meteorite crashes to the earth, destroying most of the East Coast of the U.S. A climate catastrophe results, making space colonization suddenly imperative. Elma York, a female pilot and mathematician, must fight sexism and societal assumptions in her desperate bid to become the first female astronaut ever.
5. The Gods of Green County by Mary Elizabeth Pope—Every year, I struggle to find books set in Arkansas for the Literary Escapes Challenge. I just discovered this historical novel, which sounds intriguing. It concerns Coralee Harper, a woman whose life is shattered when her brother is murdered by a local sheriff. Poor and unimportant, she doesn't stand a chance of getting justice against the powerful policeman. When Coralee starts seeing her brother around town, she begins to doubt her own sanity. What is happening to Coralee? Can she stand up to the town and avenge her brother's death?
6. At the Quiet Edge by Victoria Helen Stone—Kansas is another state I have trouble checking off my Literary Escapes Challenge list, so I was happy to find this mystery/thriller. It stars Lily Brown, a single mom who's trying to rebuild her life in the wake of the havoc caused by her ex-husband's crimes. When Lily's son finds clues about a string of disappearances of local women, the two of them become entangled in investigating the crime, which makes them a target for a dangerous killer.
7. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens—This novella is one of my all-time favorite books. I try to re-read it every December to get me in the Christmas spirit.
8. A Duet for Home by Karina Yan Glaser—Yet another Cybils read, this middle-grade novel is about two kids living in a homeless shelter who bond over their shared love of classical music. Sounds sweet.
9. How to Fake An Irish Wake by Eliza Watson—I'm reviewing this cozy mystery for a genealogical magazine, so I need to read it soon. This first installment in a series introduces readers to 24-year-old Mags Murphy. Her beloved genealogist grandmother has just died and Mags is in charge of not just her wake but also selling her cottage. When Mags is approached by a man desperate to discover his father's identity, she wants to help. Soon, she finds herself wrapped up in an intriguing—and increasingly dangerous—genealogical investigation.
10. The Library of Lost Things by Laura Taylor Namey—I've been meaning to read this bookish romance ever since it came out. It just sounds sweet and fun.
There you go, ten books I want to "cozy" up with soon. Have you read any of them? What did you think? Which cozy books are you planning to read this winter? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.
Happy TTT!
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
TTT: Spring Has Sprung on Mt. TBR, Part Two
1:00 AM
I don't know about your Spring, but mine isn't going quite the way I thought it would! I had no idea my kids' Spring Break would be extended by a month or that I would be standing in line at the grocery store this morning with half the city just to buy laundry detergent or that all my local libraries would be closed for the duration. Wow, what a time we're living in! Despite the fact that I'm a Type 1 diabetic, I'm really not all that worried about the coronavirus—I have a year's supply of food in my house (my church's leadership has been preaching emergency preparedness for decades), plenty of toilet paper (I'm a Costco regular), a cabinet full of Bath & Body Works hand soap (I can't resist a sale), a couple month's worth of insulin (T1D strong!), and a *few* books on my shelves to keep me entertained. I'll be fine. I'm a bit of a hermit anyway, so I got this. I hope you are healthy and calm amid all this chaos. If you need a distraction from reality, there's nothing like a book to take you away from it all!
If you're not familiar with Top Ten Tuesday, you really should be. It's my favorite weekly bookish meme. Playing along is super easy and it's a great way to get acquainted in our fabulous book blogging community. All you have to do is head on over to That Artsy Reader Girl, read a few quick instructions, create your own list, then spend some happy hours checking out everyone else's posts. It's a good time, I promise.
Today's topic is Top Ten Books on My Spring 2020 TBR. You may recall that I got a jump on this topic last week, listing ten of the books I want to read this Spring. I even read three of them last week. Go, me! Today, I'm giving you the second half of the list, in no particular order.
Spring Has Sprung On Mt. TBR, Part Two:
1. Dry by Neal and Jarrod Shusterman—This is a bit of a cheat since I actually just finished this book. It may seem weird to read a dystopian novel while we're sorta living in one, but I enjoyed this novel about a drought in California reaching epically awful proportions. The story is fast-paced, engrossing, and thought-provoking. It's an interesting time to be asking yourself the kinds of questions that come up in this book: How will I act/react when faced with a devastating crisis? Am I in it for myself or do I care more about helping others? How far would I go to protect my family? How prepared am I for a natural disaster/pandemic/local or global crisis?
2. The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray—I was supposed to read this novel last week for a blog tour, but I'm a *little* behind. The story concerns a family whose matriarch and patriarch are arrested, plunging them from a respected couple into a reviled one. As the rest of the family grapples with the shocking development, they have to ask themselves what really happened. Is the revered couple guilty or innocent?
3. The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison—I'm not sure why dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels are so appealing to me right now, but this one sounds super intriguing. It's about a midwife who has to find her place in a world that has changed irrevocably as the result of a pandemic that has decimated the world's population. Maybe a little too real?
4. Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn—On a lighter note, this warm-hearted romance featuring a calligrapher with an uncanny ability to read signs others can't see sounds like fun.
5. All the Ways We Said Goodbye by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White—I enjoyed The Glass Ocean, which was penned by this trio, so I'm excited to check out their newest joint venture. This triple-timeline historical looks intriguing.
6. The Library of Lost Things by Laura Taylor Namey—A YA romance set in a bookstore? Yes, please!
7. When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman—I couldn't find a detailed plot summary for this book, but it gets good reviews and I've heard high praise, so I'm going to check it out.
8. Big in Japan: Accidental Sumo by Jennifer Griffith—I was looking for a book set in Japan to read for the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge, and this contemporary YA sounds fun. It's about an overweight teenager who finds the kind of fame and popularity overseas that he's never had in Texas. Naturally, all the attention is not all it's cracked up to be ...
9. The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix (available April 7, 2020)—I'm really not into bloodsuckers, but when a novel is described as "Steel Magnolias meets Dracula," I don't know how anyone can resist! Looks like a super fun read.
10. The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate (available April 7, 2020)—I enjoyed Wingate's Before We Were Yours, so I'm excited to read another novel by her. Her newest concerns a trio of young women who journey across a tumultuous country in 1875 and the modern-day teacher who discovers their unforgettable story. I'm in, for sure!
There you go, ten books I'd like to read this Spring. What are you reading? Have you read any of my picks? What did you think? I'd truly love to know. Leave a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on yours.
Happy TTT!
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