Monday, December 25, 2017

Top Ten Tuesday!


In case you missed the news, starting with January 16th's post, Top Ten Tuesday will now be featured on Jana's blog, That Artsy Reader Girl. This also means that The Broke and the Bookish is shutting down, at least for now. It is a bummer, but inevitable. I am forever grateful to The Broke and the Bookish for introducing me to some great new blogger friends and for allowing me to show that non-fiction really is not as boring as some people thing.

This week's topic is the Top Ten Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2018. For my own personal spin on the topic, these will not be upcoming releases, but books I am either just excited to read in general, or books that I totally should have gotten to last year (Hey, US Presidents, I see you!). Here they are, in no particular order.

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1. I must Must MUST get my hands on this book ASAP. I really like Lewis's work and am interested to see his ideas. I will say that if it walks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it probably had its nephews murdered in the Tower. Buuuuuut I am always open to exploring the possibility of one or both princes surviving Richard III's reign and living on through Henry VII's.

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2. Even though I pretty much hate living in Nebraska because it is not my home and all my family is in Minnesota, I have recently become interested in the history of Omaha. Apparently Omaha was pretty rowdy back in the day and I am going to read this one in 2018 to find out what kind of hi-jinx people were up to.

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3. I can't even fathom such an election where all candidates would go on to be, or already had been, president.

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4. I have to admit, I kind of like the fact that the Founding Fathers did not get along nearly as well as middle and high school history classes would have us believe.

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5. So, "looking forward to" is a bit of a stretch. But Imma try real hard with this one because I want to accomplish the president goal in 2018. There was a time from January of 2001 to January of 2009 where I thought surely we had seen one of the worst presidents in modern history. No one could be worse, right? RIGHT? Except, fast-forward to January of 2016 and, oh wait, yes, someone actually CAN be. It was at that event in January of 2016 that I began to look at W a smidge differently. While we will never be on the same side politically (except when we are both opposing the giant Cheeto with tiny hands who can't string together a coherent sentence), you can't help but feel a connection to someone who battles a rain poncho and loses.


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6. There are actually THREE McCullough books I want to read in 2018...

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7. ...and...

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8. While this one is not exclusively presidential, it has been on my TBR for ages and ages and ages. 2018 is the year I get it done.

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9. Another that I must get to. I am determined to conquer this president goal once and for all.

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 10. I love Erik Larson's books and can not for the life of me figure out why it has taken me so long to read this one - or Thuderstruck. I will be remedying this in 2018 by reading both.

BONUS!

11. The Colour of Time



My almost-BFF Dan Jones will be writing the text and Marina Amaral will be colorizing historical black and white photos and it will be beautiful. If you have not seen Amaral's work you MUST GO LOOK RIGHT NOW. She is amazing. Dan's not too bad either. I may have mentioned him once or twice.

Let me know what you think of my list and leave me a link so I can take a look at your 2018 must-reads.

Happy Reading!

Sarah

26 comments:

  1. Wow! Good stuff here.That "Dirty Wicked Town" sounds most interesting. ;)

    I haven't read the Truman book, but my patrons at the library say it's good.

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    1. Yeah, basically everyone was really drunk and prone to brawling a lot is my understanding.

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    2. Hah! Reminds me of Herbert Ashbury's line of work...he wrote histories of late 19th century New York, Chicago, San Francisco, etc. All of his books are on crime, gambling, that kind of thing. He's the man who wrote "The Gangs of New York".

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    3. Yep, I picked up a copy of Gangs of New York a few months ago at HPB. It's such a slim volume, I really should have it done by now...but I haven't even started it yet.

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    4. Slim, but dense if memory serves. I may try another Ashbury in 2018...probably his book on San Francisco's "Barbary Coast", or perhaps on New Orleans.

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    5. I have them all on my TBR, I love that kind of history.

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  2. Founding Rivals is one I'd like to read. Would be fascinating I'm sure. And George W's memoir- that made me laugh. So true!

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    1. Founding Rivas is not too long of a book and I found it in the bargain section at Barnes and Noble for something like $7.99? It was hardcover, too. A few months ago, but they might still have it out. Some of those books stick around a long time.

      As for W...I only WISH he was the worst. What we have now is berserk!

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  3. Wow. These books will certainly keep you busy in 2018. Founding Rivals looks intriguing! I hope that you enjoy these books when you get around to them!

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    1. Thank you Chrissi - my Goodreads Challenge goal will be a little more realistic this year. Some of those tomes will take a while!

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  4. Haha George W and the poncho. I'm not American but I didn't think you'd have anyone worse than him either....

    I'm intrigued by The Survival of the Princes in the Tower

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    1. Wasn't it just the most adorable thing?! I never thought I would use "Awww!" and "W" in the same sentence!

      Matthew Lewis is a great historian, he did a fantastic biography of Henry III last year.

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  5. None of these made it to my list but all of these look interesting :)

    I hope you get to read all these books soon :)
    My TTT: http://flippingthruthepages.com/2017/12/top-ten-books-im-looking-forward-2018/

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    1. Thank you, I hope so too! I have all of them in my possession except The Princes in the Tower, so they are my focus in the start of 2018.

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  6. I haven't heard any of these! Not my usual types of reads. I hope you have a great reading year in 2018! (Also, I LOVE your blog name! I burst out laughing when I read it.)


    My TTT:https://thewordyhabitat.wordpress.com/2017/12/26/10-2018-books-i-want-in-my-hands-now/

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    1. I love non-fiction and will always have tons of recommendations if you are ever interested!

      Glad you like the blog name. It came about when I was setting up my blog a few years ago. Every fun, witty combo I tried was taken and I literally said out loud in frustration, "UGH! All the book blog names are taken!" And thus, my blog was born :)

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  7. Your commentary on Decision Points has me snorting with laughter over here, just sayin'. It's funny because I've been reading similar comments a lot lately - about how Dubya doesn't seem nearly so bad these days.

    Um, anywyay, I love this selection of nonfiction. It's something I need to read more of, I think.

    Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!

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    1. Glad it amused you too! I still think he is a war criminal and all, but while he was in office, I did not wake up every morning surprised to still be alive and that no nuclear bombs had been dropped. So, that's something.

      I love non-fiction, so if you ever want recommendations let me know!

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    2. I both agree and understand where you're coming from there. The things we learn to adapt to!

      Awesome, thanks! I do enjoy it as well, but haven't ready any in so long. :)

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    3. Isn't that kind of scary and sad? Like, it is an accomplishment when he only runs his mouth on Twitter, and doesn't start a war in doing so.

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    4. Very much so. I talk with a friend sometimes and wonder what our history books will look like when my grandkids are in school.

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    5. Right??!! This is certainly not the world I imagined or want for my daughter (she is four and a half). Hopefully three more years (or less, preferably) and it's done and then it will be just a paragraph in the books!

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  8. I love 'old politics' too. I've actually twice listened to Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick. Fascinating look at that time period.

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    1. Yes, that one is on my TBR list too - maybe it is another one I wi'l have to commit to in 2018!

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  9. I read a lot of memoirs by the Bush government people and I enjoyed the. I read Decision Points years ago and I liked it at the time, though I don't remember much about it now! I'm walways interested in the Princes in the Tower too!

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    1. I am not sure how much I will enjoy it but I definitely want to read it.

      The princes are one of those mysteries that I think people will be obsessed with forever. I can't wait to get that book. Then you can read it too, and we can compare notes!

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