Top Ten Tuesday Archives - Novel Visits

Oh, Mom! The Best & Worst in Books | More

Susie — Thu, 07 May 2020 12:30:55 +0000

“A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.” Tenneva Jordan
OR
She eats all four pieces!

I’m at it again, re-sharing a post from a few years ago. With Mother’s Day on Sunday, the timing is perfect! This features books where moms (the good, the bad, and the ugly) play a prominent role. We all know that moms in literature are as varied as books themselves. Some make you want to pack your bags and move into their warm, loving homes. Others are moms from your worst nightmares: selfish, abusive, or just plain inept. Most often, moms are a mixture of both, falling somewhere near the middle on a good versus evil scale. Whether I thought the mom was awesome or awful, I enjoyed each of these books, and my three heart system shows you where I think each mom falls on that good vs. evil scale. As a bonus since all these great books are a few years old, they’re probably easily available on Libby or your local library’s electronic/audiobook app. …

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Brilliant Older Books You May Have Missed | More

Susie — Tue, 14 Apr 2020 12:51:18 +0000

In the midst of our strange new world, reading has been something many of us can take comfort in. For me, the first couple of weeks were really hard and my concentration was awful, but happily that has improved. Writing, on the other hand, I’m still struggling with, so once again I’m going to re-share a past post. This one is perfect for right now since libraries are closed and so many of us are relying on apps like Libby or OverDrive to get books electronically. The ten books here are all older and so much easier to quickly pick up. I hope you find a brilliant older book (7+ years) or two that you may have missed and can now enjoy!

…

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Books to Read in a Day! | Review

Susie — Thu, 02 Apr 2020 12:02:47 +0000

Last week I re-shared an older post about LONG BOOKS thinking about all the extra time many of us have right now. For some this might be the perfect time to take on one of those chunkers, bur I know for me it would be difficult. My mind is all over the place, and from what I hear, a lot of you are experiencing that sort of “quarantine restlessness,” too. But, we still want to read, right? The solution? Shorter books! It can be difficult to find slim books with great stories, but there are many out there. Included here are ten shorter books that I highly recommended back in 2017 when I originally shared this list and that I still stand behind today. Each could be read in a single day, and even better because they’re all a little older you can likely get them on Libby, OverDrive or your local library’s electronic system.

When considering books that might be read in a single day I set 250 pages in the hardback edition as my max (and was almost successful). I found a little something for everyone and have divided my books into three genres. I hope readers short on time, but high on interest, will find something to love among these quick reads!…

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Looking Back: The First 12 Books I Ever Reviewed

Susie — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 10:00:10 +0000

What a fun topic for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, “The First 10 Books I Ever Reviewed.” For me this is a perfect opportunity to share a little bit about how I got into book blogging in the first place. I’d always been a voracious reader, and kept detailed journals about the books I’d read. I’d often recommend books to others, including my sister, Lori. Lori also happens to be known as Recipe Girl and has a big following in the world of food blogs. Occasionally. she does posts on other topics like travel, home design, and books. She began asking me to do some multi-book reviews for her site and people really liked them. After doing a few, I got the itch to start my own book review blog and eventually Novel Visits was born.

That first set of reviews, the first 12 reviews I ever did, appeared on Recipe Girl in June of 2015, titled 12 Books Recommended for Summer Reading. I’ve recreated that original post below. Looking back I’m amazed at how many great books I was reading that year!

(As an added bonus on this Top Ten Tuesday topic, I’ll be getting in mini-reviews of 12 backlist books I often talk about!)…

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Goodreads Under 2000 – My Favorite Books with Few Reviews

Susie — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 11:00:57 +0000

Sometimes you read a really great book, but it feels like no one else is reading that book. You want to talk about it, but there’s no one to talk to. It can be frustrating as a reader, but think about for the authors. They’ve written a wonderful book that for whatever reason just isn’t getting much coverage. For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl), the challenge was to share books you liked, but that hadn’t had much attention on Goodreads (based on the number of ratings). A perfect challenge for me, because I love sharing those deserving gems that I wish I could personally place in other readers’ hands!

My favorite under-reviewed books are in descending order based on the number of Goodreads ratings. (And, yes, I took a bit of liberty with the first couple because I loved them so much!)…

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Books I Meant to Read in 2018 | More

Susie — Tue, 22 Jan 2019 11:00:49 +0000

I don’t know about you, but my annual “to be read” list is always MUCH, MUCH longer than I could ever possibly read. In the last couple of years I’ve gotten better at deleting books along the way when I feel confident I no longer want to read them, but still others remain. A year ago I shared Books I Meant to Read in 2017, But Just Never Did, and am pleased to report that I did go back and read three of them. That’s not a huge number, but I’m not a big backlist reader. Fingers crossed I’ll get to a few of these 2018 books I missed.

Bachelor Nation by Amy Kaufman – I’ve been a fan of The Bachelor since season one and for many years I felt like it was sort of a dirty little secret. Why was a woman my age engrossed in the hijinks of such an over-the-top reality T.V. show? Then I started blogging, and found a whole world of other Bachelor lovers! I’ve had mixed feelings about reading Bachelor Nation. I want to know more of the behind the scenes dirt, and I don’t. Still, I plan to eventually get to this one on audio….

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New-to-Me Authors 2018 | More

Susie — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 11:00:27 +0000

Thank goodness for authors! Where would we readers be without their tireless efforts and stunning creativity? Every time I read an amazing book, I wish I could personally thank the author and fangirl all over him or her. Instead, today I’m joining this week’s Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) in celebrating new-to-me authors from 2018. Back in December, I shared ten new-to-everyone authors in my DEBUTS – My Favorites of 2018, so today I’m focusing on established writers that I had the pleasure of reading for the first time last year.

When looking at new-to-me authors I wanted to highlight, they fell into three categories: those I liked so much I read more than one of their books, writers I’m eager to read more from, but have not yet done, and (for a little added fun) a couple of wildly popular authors who completely turned me off!…

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Favorite Authors: Books I’ve Loved & Others I’ve Missed

Susie — Tue, 25 Sep 2018 10:00:14 +0000

You know how it is with favorite authors. You read a book you’re completely wowed by and you immediately plan to go back and read everything that author EVER wrote. Well, maybe you’re more disciplined than I am. Maybe you actually follow through with that vow. I, however, am rather hit or miss on reading all of a favorite author’s books and the reasons (or perhaps excuses?) are as varied as the authors themselves.

Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Kate Atkinson

I was a huge fan of Life After Life and like its sequel A God in Ruins almost as much. Since then, I’ve heard so many people rave about Kate Atkinson’s earlier detective novel, Case Histories, but still I’ve not picked it up. My excuse? I’m not a fan of most detective novels and the fact that Case Histories is also the first in a series makes me even more skeptical that I’d like it….

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Hidden Gems from the Last Five Years | More

Susie — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 10:00:13 +0000

You know those books that absolutely spoke to you, but that just didn’t seem to get the attention they deserved? We probably can all think of many of these hidden gems. Today I’m sharing ten of my favorites, two from each of the last five years. I hope you’ll find a book of two to add to your own cache of backlist books.

Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

From 2014

The Beautiful American by Jeanne Mackin – Everything about this historical fiction spoke to me. It combined the real life of famed model/photographer Lee Miller with that of its main fictional character, Nora Tours. Much of the book took place in one of my very favorite, locales, Paris and it spanned a favorite era, the 1920’s through WWII. Plus, the story itself was excellent!…

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Americana: 12 Books Celebrating the Essence of American Culture

Susie — Tue, 03 Jul 2018 10:00:04 +0000

Tomorrow, as we celebrate the 4th of July here in the U.S. it’s a trying time for our country. Politically, people are as divided as I’ve ever experienced, but today I’d like to remind everyone that culturally we have much in common. Nothing shines a brighter light on that then books. I’m sharing 12 books that beautifully highlight all that is the essence of American culture….

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