Top10of2K21 Post #7 | Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2022

  

Here we go, my final post for Top10of2K21! If you want to participate, or see what others are saying, click the banner to go to Kimberly's blog.

There are only three at the moment that I am aware of that I HAVE to buy. I own every book by each of the three authors on the list so far and don't see that trend stopping any time soon. There are a few others coming out that I will definitely read, but these are the ones I must have for myself.

First up, I Am Margaret Moore (link goes to my review). I read a digital galley a few months ago and absolutely fell in love with it. I have to have it for my Capin collection.

Next up, the one book standing in the way of the final installment of her OOUI series but I'll take it because, duh, it's McManus.

Last, but certainly not least, my BFF Dan Jones. Not sure anything else needs to be said about that.

What books are you most looking forward to in 2022? Let me know!

Happy Reading!
Sarah

Top10of2K21 Post #6 | Best of the Best

 

Here we go, post #6 for Top10of2K21! If you want to participate, or see what others are saying, click the banner to go to Kimberly's blog.

I've read SO many amazing books that there is no way I can narrow it down to just ten, so I am not even going to try. Instead, I am going to show off Dan Jones in his own post, because I have not talked about him or his work yet, and this whole meme works a lot better for fiction than non.

If you are unfamiliar with my adoration of Dan Jones, you can catch up HERE, and read about how I got to meet him in 2017 and I died because I got to sit down with my FAVORITE HISTORIAN AND TALK ABOUT MY MOST FAVORITE HISTORICAL FIGURE, ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE. Now and then I harass him on Twitter and Facebook when I've got a question about something and he's quite patient with me, so obviously it's okay.

There's truly no topping this one. After reading it, I deleted nearly every other book on the Middle Ages from my TBR, because what's the point? This volume surpasses all others that attempt to give a comprehensive overview of 1,000 years of history. This I believe will be the defining work of Jones' career, the absolute fucking jewel in the crown. I will always be most partial to The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England because that's where I met my girl Eleanor of Aquitaine (and I also happened to blurt out when meeting Dan that he pretty much named my baby, as I'd read this one in my final months of pregnancy. He laughed) but Powers and Thrones is the new Bible of the Middle Ages. You will find nothing better on the subject and I don't even dare you to try because it is not possible.

Have you read this one yet? If not, what are you waiting for?!

Happy Reading!
Sarah

Top10of2K21 Post #5 | Favorite Couples

Here we go, post #5 for Top10of2K21! If you want to participate, or see what others are saying, click the banner to go to Kimberly's blog.

I don't read a whole lot of fiction, especially in the form of a series. As a result, there are not really any couples I have read about in the last year who I love. There's only two, really.

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OBVIOUSLY numero uno is Nate and Bronwyn. I did read One of Us is Lying this year (AGAIN), and One of Us is Next. And normally I hate movie/tv covers, but I am making an exception for this one because I love the show SO MUCH. You can read about THAT obsession HERE. Bronwyn and Nate are perfect for each other, and I 1oo% support them being together forever in book 3, One of Us is Back, and if McManus breaks my heart I will scream.

Secondly we have a far more age-appropriate couple, Mercy and Chuck from the Mercy Watts series (link goes to Goodreads). I stumbled upon this series back in 2016 when I was short on time to finish my reading challenge. I started plowing through free cozies that I was finding through BookBub and this series was one of them. I absolutely hated the first book because of the inaccuracies about the college town Mercy visited during the case she was working on. It happened to be my college town and I was not having it. However, I continued reading and totally fell in love with Chuck, her cousin.

I KNOW. Right now you're thinking, "WTF, SARAH?! You just said they were a COUPLE you LOVED?!"

Chuck and Mercy are not actually cousins. Mercy's uncle adopted Chuck when he married Chuck's mom, then they divorced a year or two later. Chuck stuck around because he idolized Mercy's dad, a detective, and followed in his footsteps to join the police force. So, they've known each other for years, are not blood related, and Chuck has basically been in love with Mercy for years. Mercy has also been in love with Chuck, it just takes her a while to realize it.

It's not gross, I promise. And Mercy constantly says it is and that Chuck is gross for flirting with her, but everyone else is always telling her they're not related so it's not. The books are also funny and dramatic and a fun way to pass a couple hours.

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What's your take on these? Which couples would you have on your list? Let me know!

Happy Reading,
Sarah

Top10of2K21 Post #4 | Cover Love

Here we go, post #4 for Top10of2K21! If you want to participate, or see what others are saying, click the banner to go to Kimberly's blog.

I am unapologetically a cover snob. If the cover is a hot mess, the likelihood of me reading the book decreases, unless the author is a known quantity to me. Sorry, not sorry.

Here are just a few beauties I loved this year, for a variety of reasons. It could be the color scheme, a powerful image, or pretty much whatever catches my fancy. Keep in mind, that does not mean they were five-star reads, or that I even ended up liking the book when all was said and done. Sometimes these tricky authors lure me in with a beautiful cover, and I end up absolutely hating the book.

What do you think of these? Agree, disagree? Let me know!

Happy Reading!
Sarah

Top10of2K21 Post #3 | Captivating Characters

  

Here we go, post #3 for Top10of2K21! If you want to participate, or see what others are saying, click the banner to go to Kimberly's blog.

This one is a lot harder for me than the first two because, despite the amount of fiction I consumed this year, I still read way more non-fiction - which will always be my first love.

Even though I love certain books and authors, typically I forget the characters and plots once they're out of sight and I've finished my review (again, there are exceptions: McManus, Jackson, Summers, Capin). For the authors I just mentioned though, their characters tend to stick with me, long after I have closed the book.

Margaret Moore, the title character from Capin's absolutely beautiful third book. I wanted to keep holding on to Margaret and her girls, long after the book ended.

Lo and Bea Dunham from The Project. Courtney Summers has a way of just twisting the knife, and still manages to keep me coming back for more. I'd put Sadie on this list too, but I read that book in the summer of 2020. Sadie is STILL with me, a year and a half later.

I kind of feel bad saying none of the characters truly captivated me from You'll Be the Death of Me, though I liked the book just fine. However, I think there are a couple reasons for that:

1) I finally gave in and was watching One of Us is Lying on Peacock, falling in love with Nate all over again. You can read all about THAT adventure HERE.

2) I don't know that McManus can top the chemistry of the characters from OOUI - both Lying and Next. She still writes fantastically plotted thrillers, but those two are IT for me - though Two Can Keep a Secret is a very close second. And I did like The Cousins. But none of them hold a candle to the book that started it all.

The Liars. Yep, all of them, but especially Cadence. This damn book, good Lord it left me wondering what I was going to do with my life after reading it. I tried really hard to not think about what the twist could be, because I have a bad habit of guessing and I did not want to ruin the book by guessing. So I just went on my merry way, following the Liars all over the island.

What say you about any of these, agree or disagree? Let me know!

Happy Reading!
Sarah

Top10of2K21 Post #2 | New or New-to-Me Authors

 

Here we go, post #2 for Top10of2K21! If you want to participate, or see what others are saying, click the banner to go to Kimberly's blog.

I tend to lag far behind when it comes to popular fiction, thrillers, etc. I am usually stuck way back in Anglo-Saxon England and don't pay attention until one of my blogger buddies throws a rec my way because they know I have very specific tastes when it comes to the fiction I make time for.

So thanks mostly to Ethan, and only like, once to Prime First Reads, here are some authors I discovered this year who I enjoyed (links go to Goodreads).

Shari Lapena
(All kinds of twisty turns. Some are obvious, some are wtf-inducing, most are fun.)

Dot Hutchison
(Technically I actually read my first book by her in 2020, but this was the year I plowed through the rest of her work after reading The Butterfly Garden because, holy shit.)

Nancy Springer
(Eleanor and I LOVE the Enola Holmes series and it is such fun to watch Enola outsmart her big brother, Sherlock.)

Kate Messner
(Another series Eleanor and I are really enjoying is History Smashers, where the author dispels all kinds of myth about big events in history. I love this kind of non-fiction for Eleanor.)

Sara Gran
(I plowed through Come Closer in like an hour, and will definitely be reading more of her work in 2022!)

Daniel James Brown
(Another author I technically discovered in 2020, but did not realize it at first when I read two more of his books this year. Fantastic non-fiction, gripping and wonderfully researched.)

Vera Kurian
(LOVED Never Saw Me Coming, because who doesn't love a sociopath as a narrator?! Will definitely be reading more of her work in the future!)

E. Lockhart
I know I am suuuuuuuuper late to the party on this one but, holy shit. I loved We Were Liars, despite spending a lot of time NOT thinking about what the twist could be as I was reading because I did not want to spoil it for myself.

Kathryn Harkup
(Such fun non-fiction! She takes on the science of Frankenstein and vampires, the poisons of Agatha Christie, and Shakespeare and death. I can't wait to see what classic she does next!)

Grady Hendrix
(I LOVED most of The Final Girl Support Group. I used to really love horror movies, so it was a nice trip down memory lane and lovely homage to the slasher flicks of the 80s. I haven't read any of his other work yet, but it is a possibility in 2022.)

Have you read any of these authors? What do you think? Let me know!

Happy Reading,
Sarah

Top10of2K21 Post #1 | Books I Wish I'd Made Time to Read in 2021

 

Here we go, my first post for Top10of2K21! If you want to participate, or see what others are saying, click the banner to go to Kimberly's blog.

I am a mood reader, bigtime, so there are not really any books I am frustrated with myself for not getting to yet. I pretty much just add books  to my TBR as I discover new ones and when I get to them, I get to them. (NOTE: Unless the authors are Dan Jones, Karen McManus, Courtney Summers, Tiffany D. Jackson, or Hannah Capin. Their stuff gets read immediately.)

Here are ten books that I added to my TBR this year that I will be reading...at some point. But I am still excited about!

There you have it. Are there any reads you meant to get to this year, but didn't? Let me know!

Happy Reading,
Sarah