Top Ten Tuesdays #90: On a Whim

Posted May 17, 2016 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 14 Comments

TTTimageTen Books on a Whim: TBR Adds & Super Early Reads

Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review.

This weeks topic is: Ten Books I Picked Up On A Whim (however you decide to interpret that (bought or read or something else) — I know most people read based on recommendation but we want to know those books you picked up without really hearing about or knowing much about!) – I do generally pick up books because they’ve been rec’d by other people or widely enjoyed. There are some books I add to my TBR without hearing anything about them first, just because they appear on a Goodreads sidebar or in a store. There are lots of books that I borrow from an ARC tour and read super early before the pub date and there are no other reviews yet. These are interesting because there is ZERO outside noise before shaping my opinion. I am able to read the book and digest it as if I weren’t a book blogger for once 😉  Because I like both interpretations here, I’m going to split off my TTT because we all love to do that.

read early headerBecause of the timing of ARC tours, I tend to get a lot of books way before their pub date. I read books in November that don’t come out until the following summer. I’m fortunate that I have the opportunity, but it’s even better knowing that my blog calendar “allows” me to read so many books early. I have a lot of backlogged reviews so I never am like “oh shit, I don’t have a review for next week!” when I read something too far in advance.read early whim

Winning by Lara Deloza • Read in November • Out in June

This was a tougher read in general because the main character is soooo terrible. It took me a while to realize that was sort of the point of the book! If there had been some other reviews, I probably would have sniffed it out earlier and my reading experience would have started off better. Overall, this book ended up being a hit for me!

The Marked Girl by Lindsey Klingele • Read in January • Out in June

I’m not super experienced with fantasy books but I ended up really enjoying this one! Sometimes I wonder if my analysis or enjoyment of fantasy books is too basic though… Is this not as unique of a concept as I thought it was? Does it borrow from other stories and I just don’t know it? I’ll have to wait and see!

True Letters From a Fictional Life by Kenneth Logan • Read in November • Out in June

I haven’t read a lot of QUILTBAG-oriented books lately but I think this one could be easily recommended to Simon fans! It was a bit heavier at times and involved not nearly enough Oreos, but it was really fantastic for me! I think it’s an important coming out story, but am not sure how it stacks up to others people have read.

Meet Me Here by Bryan Bliss • Read in November • Out in May

I enjoyed all of the books above but this one was more meh for me. It didn’t leave really any kind of impression but it was a quick read in general. I didn’t need other reviews to confirm my feelings on this one because I couldn’t help but feeling unimpressed in general. Still though, it counts as a book I read early without any expectations!

The Lost & Found by Katrina Leno • Read in December • Out in July

Ahhh this book was so, so sweet. I loved the first cover it had a lot more than this one, but oh well. The book was definitely represented well by that design. The story itself is so cute, the characters are wonderful – I could go on forever. This one needs to be on your radar everyone!

TBR headerI’m now noticing how many of these are adult fiction books instead of YA! This makes a lot of sense in hindsight, because I constantly have YA books thrown around my Goodreads. I’m more likely to try a random “women’s fiction” book from the library because not as many of my friends read them too often, compared to YA. In any case, here are some of the books I’ve come across in various places that I added to my TBR without seeing any reviews for them anywhere.TBR whim

Driving with the Top Down by Beth Harbison • Spotted while shopping at Target

This one intrigued me for some reason. I just liked the idea of people road tripping, because most road trip books on my radar are YA ones. What’s it like to get some grown women traveling the country? The synopsis is a little cheesy but whatever, I’m down to check it out at some point!

The Week Before the Wedding by Beth Kendrick • Read a previous book, saw it at the library

I enjoyed the previous book I read by Beth Kendrick, which I also saw completely randomly somewhere. I almost checked this one out from the library the other day but resisted. I have sooo many books out right now! In any case, it made its way onto my TBR along with a bunch of her other stories.

Everything’s Relative by Jenna McCarthy • Recommended on the Goodreads sidebar

I have been feeling the whole rom-com style of women’s fiction lately and want more of them in my life. This one came up on the side and I had to add it to my TBR once I saw the synopsis. The cover is a bit cheesy but it sounds like it could be a really fun, family-oriented book!

Dirty Rush by Taylor Bell • Spotted while shopping at Target

There’s something about the mean girl/sorority books that just draw me right in. My interest was piqued when I saw the cover, so I thought about it for a few weeks.. I ended up going to Books of Wonder and seeing it on sale, so I picked it up! We’ll see when I eventually read it…

A Thousand Salt Kisses by Josie Demuth • Saw and requested on Netgalley

This is about a girl becoming a mermaid so I just decided I needed it immediately. It was definitely a random, impulse request. I’m usually much better about that than others! We’ll see how I fare with this one. The cover is super cute too so I couldn’t resist. #YOLO

What books have you picked up on a whim?

14 responses to “Top Ten Tuesdays #90: On a Whim

  1. Great list. I got so many ARCs at BEA. I am excited to read them without the influence of other reviews. I do have a lot of comments from the authors from panels, so that will impact my thoughts somewhat.

    I love that all of your whimsical adult books you haven’t read yet. I’m curious to see how they work out when you do get to them.

    • Thank you! It’s so great to read early books without hearing ANYTHING about them first!

      I have a lot of adult books I add more on a whim! I’ll keep you posted on how they work out 🙂

  2. Ooh I’m glad you enjoyed The Marked Girl because that’s on my radar and it sounds really fun! And different. A Thousand Salt Kisses is such a pretty cover, haven’t heard of that before. I love the other adult covers you have on here! Rom Coms are my faaave so I’ll have to check them out 🙂

  3. Ok I’m SUPER interested in Dirty Rush because I was heavily active in Greek life as an undergrad. I’m wondering if it’s going to take the unflattering, stereotypical route of portraying Greek life (which the cover seems to indicate) or if it will be more fair and introspective…

  4. I’ve never heard about Winning but it sounds really interesting that I add it to my tbr instantly! I’m also really interested in A Thousand Salt Kisses, but the reviews are kind of bad?? I guess I should let you read it first and tell us what you think about it! 😀 Great list!

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