This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is:

Books Set In a Place I’d Love to Visit

Iceland: Miss Iceland by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir, translated by Brian FitzGibbon 

I was looking for Icelandic fiction that wasn’t crime-related. This one is set in the 1960s and focuses on a female writer.

Türkiye (formerly known as Turkey): 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World – Elif Shafak

Türkiye’s most famous writer is probably Orhan Pamuk. I loved his portrait of Istanbul in Istanbul: Memories and the City, but haven’t been too successful with his fiction.

Kyoto, Japan: The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu

I’ve been to Tokyo and Yokohama, but would love to one day see the rest of Japan! Apparently there’s even a Tale of Genji museum in Uji City, Kyoto.

Antarctica: The Birthday Boys by Beryl Bainbridge

I’ve read quite a few books set in Antarctica actually, as it’s a place that intrigues me. I’d recommend South Pole Station by Ashley Shelby, The Abominable by Dan Simmons, Terra Incognita: Travels in Antarctica by Sara Wheeler. But The Birthday Boys is on my TBR list.

Egypt: Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi

Ah, Egypt. I would one day love to go see the pyramids and temples for myself!

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is:

Book Covers That Feel Like Summer

What makes a cover feel like summer? Bright pops of vibrant colour. Covers that are related to the sea. And sadly, wildfire season. I live in California, and summer is wildfire season. Even more so in recent years.

These are all on my TBR list. Have you read any?

Remarkably Bright Creatures – Shelby Van Pelt

Homicide and Halo-Halo – Mia P. Manansala

The Swimmers – Julie Otsuka

A Burning – Megha Majumdar

Little Gods – Meng Jin

The End of the Ocean – Maja Lunde

Olga Dies Dreaming – Xochitl Gonzalez

Honor – Thrity Umrigar

Hello Sunshine – Laura Dave

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is:

Books with Character Names In the Titles

I’ve picked books that are on my TBR list. So if you recommend any of these, let me know!

The Revolution of Birdie Randolph – Brandy Colbert

Act Your Age, Eve Brown – Talia Hibbert

Betty – Tiffany McDaniel

Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop – Roselle Lim

The Death of Vivek Oji – Akwaeke Emezi

Norma – Sofi Oksanen

Stand Up, Yumi Chung! – Jessica Kim

Mimi Lee Gets a Clue – Jennifer J. Chow

The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida – Clarissa Goenawan

The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali – Sabina Khan

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is:

New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2021

I read so many new-to-me authors last year. Here are some favourites.

Maaza Mengiste. She wrote The Shadow King (my review).

Bae Suah. Untold Night and Day. She seems to have written quite a few short stories and novels but not many of them have been translated yet?

Michelle Zauner. The memoir Crying in H Mart. She’s also a musician (Japanese Breakfast).

Alice Oseman. The graphic novel series Heartstopper.

Magda Szabo. The classic Iza’s Ballad. A Hungarian novelist, Szabo died in 2007.

Charlotte McConaghy. The beautiful Once There Were Wolves.

Nalini Singh. I read Silver Silence and Quiet in Her Bones.

Xiran Jay Zhao. Iron Widow (my review)

Cherie Dimaline. The Marrow Thieves

Mizuki Tsujimura. Lonely Castle in the Mirror.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is:

It’s a Halloween freebie this week, so I’ve decided to talk about some of my latest reads, which have mostly been creepy/spooky type reads.

The Lost Village – Camilla Sten

I listened to this one, and this was a really creepy audiobook. I’m often distracted when listening to audiobooks, but with this one, I hung onto every word. This story features a documentary crew venturing out to this old mining village in which the villagers all disappeared. The only remaining people were a newborn abandoned in the school and a woman stoned to death.

The Girl in Red – Christina Henry

A kind of post-apocalyptic take on Little Red Riding Hood, about a young woman trying to find her way to her grandmother while everyone around here is dying of, wait for it, The Cough. I had to go check the publication date and this was published in June 2019. So reading it in October 2021, I was a bit

We Are Satellites – Sarah Pinsker

Maybe not much of a creepy read, but this one is disturbing. People have been getting brain implants (called Pilots) to help them with school and work. It’s either get a Pilot or fall behind. I really like Pinsker’s books. This exploration of new technology, something that’s completely plausible in the future, kept me thinking even after I finished the book.

The Summoning – Kelley Armstrong

This is the first book in the Darkest Powers series. The main character Chloe is a teenager who can see ghosts. She gets sent to a boarding house for teens. The other residents all have secrets of their own. Slow-moving at first, it picks up at the end and leaves the reader hanging on until you move on to the next book.

Dial a for Aunties – Jesse Q Sutanto

Ok so it doesn’t scream “creepy” with its bright yellow cover. And it’s not really, but hey it’s got a dead body in it so I’m just going to count it. It was kinda funny despite its “hide the dead body” story. With a Chinese-Indonesian family at its heart, this book’s four aunties amuse with their banter and competitiveness.

Halloween’s not over yet so I’ve got more creepy books to go!

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is:

Favorite Book Settings

A bookstore

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

Mr Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

A library

The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

A restaurant

Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala

Sous Chef: 24 Hours on the Line by Michael Gibney

Singapore

Some of you may know that I’m from Singapore, so I’m always interested in books set there. And please don’t say Crazy Rich Asians.

Ministry of Moral Panic by Amanda Lee Koe

The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye by Sonny Liew

Southeast Asia

Since Singapore is part of Southeast Asia, books set in Southeast Asia also catch my eye. It’s not so easy to find books set in Southeast Asia, but recently, there have been more.

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho (set in Malaysia)

In the Country by Mia Alvar (set in the Philippines)

Invented worlds

Some of my favourite books are those set in worlds unlike (or sometimes a bit similar to) ours

His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman

The Broken Earth series by N.K. Jemisin

Boarding school

As a kid, I was fascinated with boarding schools. Probably because I loved reading Mallory Towers by Endid Blyton.

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is:

It’s actually a freebie. So this week, inspired by a recent read, Wicked Plants by Briony Morrow-Cribbs, I’m going to go with Books with Plants on the Cover (but no plant-related titles).

These are books that I haven’t read yet. Let me know what you’d recommend!

Clock Dance – Anne Tyler

Unsheltered – Barbara Kingsolver

Hamnet – Maggie O’Farrell

The Book of Koli – M.R. Carey

The Ensemble – Aja Gabel

Descendant of the Crane – Joan He

Burnt Sugar – Avni Doshi

These Violent Delights – Chloe Gong

The Bass Rock – Evie Wyld

Tyler Johnson Was Here – Jay Coles

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is:

Books on My Fall 2021 To-read List

Fall takes a while to sink in. September and October tend to still be warm weather days here. So it doesn’t quite feel autumnal yet.

But once September comes around, I pivot to the spooky reads. It’s largely because of Readers Imbibing in Peril, which runs from September to end October, and encourages the reading of all things spooky. I’ve joined this challenge for many years now, and here are some books on my tbr list:

Let The Right One In – John Ajvide Linqvist

I don’t know why I haven’t read this one. Haven’t seen the movie either. But I keep hearing about it. Have you read this/seen the movie?

How We Fall Apart – Katie Zhao

A YA thriller set at a prep school where one of the students (an ex-best friend) turns up dead.

The Book of Accidents – Chuck Wendig

Something about returning to a rural hometown where creepy things happen.

Ring Shout – P. Djèli Clark

Another new-to-me writer. This is described as a dark fantasy historical novella.

Faithless – Kjell Ola Dahl

A Norwegian police detective. Might not be the best book to start with, as this is book 7 but oh well, maybe it doesn’t matter where I begin?

Clark and Division – Naomi Hirahara

A mystery set in 1944 Chicago, where a Japanese-American family has been released from internment camp.

Black Water Sister – Zen Cho

I love Cho’s writing, a lot of which is set in Malaysia or revolves around Malaysian culture.

The Dark Vault – Victoria Schwab

This combines Schwab’s books The Archived and The Unbound. And perhaps also a novella?

Quiet in Her Bones – Nalini Singh

I read my first book from Singh last month and loved it. This one is a standalone so I’m curious to see how it goes.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is:

Books With Numbers In the Title

This One Summer – Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki

The Two Towers – J.R.R. Tolkien

The Book of Three – Lloyd Alexander

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing – Judy Blume

The Fifth Season – N.K. Jemisin

Daisy Jones and the Six – Taylor Jenkins Reid

Seven Days in the Art World – Sarah Thornton

Fox 8 – George Saunders

Nine Stories – J.D. Salinger

Tales of Ten Worlds – Arthur C. Clarke

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is:

Favorite Places to Read

I usually read in bed or on my sofa. So those aren’t exactly the most exciting places to read…

Instead, here’s a collection of great places I’ve read at. Or at least have picked up books at.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018.