You’ve Got to Be Seen Green … and Purple … and Gold: Ten Book Covers for Mardi Gras

It’s a colorful Top Ten Tuesday. This week, the theme is all about the Carnival celebration Mardi Gras and one of its most identifiable features—and no, I’m not talking about the beads or King Cakes. Rather, it’s those big, bright colors. While their exact history and meaning are often disputed, there’s no doubt that green,

Childhood Favorites: Thirteen Children’s Books from 1992

I walked into this week’s Top Ten Tuesday with a clear plan to follow this week’s theme: showcase ten books written before I was born. Simple enough. But I thought that was a little broad, so I scaled things back to only children’s books written before 1992. Easy, right? Well, an hour and approximately sixty

Starting Anew: Ten Debut Books in 2021

For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, the theme is supposed to be about me looking back at some of the books I read in 2020. But frankly, I’m a little tired of exploring last year. Sure, the reading was great and I’m very thankful for all the amazing books to me. However, beyond a few

So Many Books, So Little Time: Ten Books Still Waiting on My To-Be-Read Pile

Longtime visitors to the Stacks know that I’m not a fan of overly restrictive to-be-read piles—I rail against them often enough. For first time readers, though, let me reiterate: books are more fun for me when I grab one without considering publication dates and what I should be reading. Often that means my shelves are

Stuffed Shelves: Ten Books Plucked from My Overflowing To-Be-Read Stacks

I’ve never been one for setting New Years resolutions, reading or otherwise. While I like the idea of forming a loose reading goal—maybe I’ll get through 100 books this year, maybe I won’t—I usually find stress far outweighs any benefits when it comes to formulating a specific set of books to read in a certain

It Was a Dark and Stormy Year: Ten Cozy Mysteries for 2021

It’s too early to tell if 2021 is on track to be a better year than 2020—after all, the pessimist that occasionally roams through my brain like it’s Grand Central Station suggests things can always get worse. However, there’s maybe one arena where this year will have a hard besting 2020: great new books. Last

Old Friends, New Faces, and Old Friends With New Faces: Ten of My Favorite 2020 Reads

I’m hesitant to make a list decreeing my favorite books of the year because, really, I like most everything I read. Ignoring the unfortunate amount of political nonfiction that I regularly torture myself, who has time to spend hours with a book they don’t like? Even with my usual easy-to-please reading habits, I would argue

Christmas Comes But Once a Year: Ten Books I’d Like to See Under My Tree

Santa doesn’t usually leave many books under my tree. To be fair, in the time it takes him to check his list twice, I’ve probably already read another one. It’s a lot for even me to keep track of—I have to admit, more than once, I’ve purchased a book thinking it sounded interesting only to

What Comes Next: Ten Books I’m Looking Forward to Reading This Winter

We’ve officially had our first snowfall on my little patch of green, and it seems winter will follow shortly. Temperatures are dropping by the day and I’m ready to drop onto a comfortable chair and curl up with a stack of good books. Sure, I do that no matter the weather, but at least now

Reading, to Begin With: Ten Christmas Books to Charm Even the Biggest Scrooge

Last week, it pained me to admit that I was being a bit of a grinch when it comes to this Christmas season. There has been a recent turn of events, however. Maybe my eyes caught the twinkling lights on the tree just right. Maybe the wrapping paper I was using folded at just the