Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Books I Loved During My First Year of Blogging

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic from The Broke and the Bookish is a throwback freebie so I'm doing one of their suggested topics - 10 Books I Loved During My First Year of Blogging.  Now I officially started this blog in August of 2013 but I didn't put much effort into it until 2014 so I'm looking at some of my favorites from that year.

1.  The Tastemakers: Why We're Crazy for Cupcakes and Fed Up with Fondue by David Sax - I loved this book!  There's a lot of talk about how food trends start - some organically and some structured - and how they grow as well as a look at why some things catch on and some fizzle out.  It was also incredibly readable and entertaining.

2.  The Tyrant's Daughter by J.C. Carleson - This was an interesting Young Adult title where the main character is the 15 year old daughter of a deposed leader.  The family has fled the country and is essentially in hiding.  Suddenly Laila finds herself going from living in a very privileged but very controlled life to an American public school as the family struggles to adapt.

3.  When the Rogue Returns by Sabrina Jeffries - This book pretty much cemented Jeffries' status as one of my very favorite historical romance authors.  While one of my most hated plot devices in a romance is "the Secret" and secrets are the primary conflict in this book it was done so perfectly that I was instantly hooked.  This may be the one version of "the Secret" done right!

4.  Home to Seaview Key by Sherryl Woods - I loved this one!  It's a slow burn romance that focuses around older than usual romance novel characters (both MCs are in their mid to late 40s) and was just really wonderful.  I loved the world that Woods created and that the main focus of the story was the heroine finding her home again.

5.  The Birds and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier - So I've seen bits and pieces of Hitchcock's movie The Birds and was always a little underwhelmed.  I mean how scary can birds really be?  Than I read the short story that Hitchcock had based the movie off of and got my answer - really freaking scary.  The rest of the short stories in this collection are good too but The Birds is a must read.  I've never felt quit comfortable around birds ever since.

6.  Guidebook to Murder by Lynn Cahoon - This is the first book in a series that would come to be one of my favorite cozy mysteries series.  It was a great introduction with a great mystery though I spent a lot of time screaming at the MC to just ask this guy if he was actually married.  She did eventually but these book characters are not great listeners!

7.  City of Jasmine by Deanna Raybourn - I forgot all about this one but it was so amazing!  The setting is 1920s Damascus and the heroine is a famed aviatrix who happens to get a photograph in the mail of a man who looks just like her deceased husband.  It's quite the adventure!

8.  Murder on the Home Front: A True Story of Morgues, Murderers, and Mysteries During the London Blitz by Molly Lefebure - This is the memoir of a woman who ended up being the secretary for the medical examiner in London during World War II.  She followed him around to all the crime scenes and everything.  It was absolutely fascinating.

9.  Delancey: A Man, A Woman, A Restaurant, A Marriage by Molly Wizenberg - I loved Wizenberg's earlier book and was so excited for this one.  It was totally different but did not disappoint.  I loved seeing just how much work it takes to get a restaurant off the ground and how it affects marriage, cooking and just general life.  On a side note I will never ever ever open a restaurant.

10. The Forgotten Seamstress by Liz Trenow - I love a good historical fiction and this one was marvelous.  I can't sew but this book made me want to learn and all the talk about the sewing workshops in the castle were just fascinating.

What are some of your favorite throwback reads?

30 comments:

  1. These are all new to me!! I see some I need to check out though. Great list!

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  2. I've never read any of these, but they sound interesting! One of my favorite "throwback" reads is Going Bovine by Libba Bray - I read it a while ago but I remember how great and interesting it was!!

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  3. Quite a few of these look familiar. The movie Birds was really creepy, and for a while I was looking at them a little differently after I saw it. (lol)

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  4. I don't think I knew that DuMaurier wrote the Birds! I love her book Rebecca so much, and the movie is great. I need to go look into that one. I still have never read Sabrina Jeffries but she's on my list! :)

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  5. I love the topic today. I love Jeffries too, but a recent book had a sex scene while being trapped in a basement that was on fire..and I haven't quite gotten over that..LOL

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  6. There are some lovely books here, Katherine - what a lovely Top Ten list.

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  7. What a great list...and a nice way to look back on your early blogging days!

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  8. Maybe it's because of Halloween, but I've been seeing The Birds mentioned a lot of places. I need to check it out - it must be a sign.

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  9. Hmmm we began book blogging around the same time, it took me awhile to get going and find other bloggers though. Not familiar with any of the books and only recognise Sherryl Woods name. It was a great idea for the Top Ten post.

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  10. Oh! I never knew that Hitchcock's "The Birds" was based on a book! Shouldn't surprise me, but alas. Now added to my TBR. Thanks :)

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  11. Great TTT list! I really want to read Murder on the Homefront, and I can't believe I still haven't read The Birds, or any other du Maurier short story for that matter!

    My TTT: https://dwellinpossibilityblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/12/top-ten-tuesday-throwback-freebie/

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  12. I so need to read The Birds- and maybe give the movie another watch too!

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  13. I need to read the Jeffries. I've enjoyed a few of hers.

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  14. I'm not familiar with any of your books this week. I'll have to check some out.

    Happy reading,
    eli @ the (book) supplier
    My TTT

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  15. I don't think I could remember books from my first year blogging as it was a long time ago...lol. I didn't keep good records then and it could be scary going back and looking at those reviews...lol.

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  16. Fun topic! I haven't read any of these.

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  17. You started blogging just a little bit before I did. I started in December 2013 but am not really sure when I got really series about things. I have read any of the books you listed.

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  18. I really need to get to a Jeffries and a Woods sometime soon! And I've only read one Raybourn and City of Jasmine sounds really interesting and different. Of course I've seen The Birds countless times over past years but never read it. Good idea. Enjoy your week!

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  19. Thanks for this excellent list!! The only book I've actually read is Gudebook to Murder, and I agree it was very good. I think I have Home to Seaview Key, so I'm glad you mentioned that one. I've never read Jeffries, but I enjoy a good historical. I don't like really steamy books though.

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  20. I really enjoyed Home to Seaview Key, too. And Guidebook to Murder. One of my favorite things about blogging is that I've been introduced to new authors and stretched my genre preferences a bit. Good list! I've read one Jeffries and liked it but for some reason haven't picked up any more. Looks like I should check out some of her other titles!

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  21. I'm going to read 'The Birds' for my R.I.P. challenge! Thanks for making me aware of it. I didn't know it was by Daphne Du Maurier.

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  22. I remember really enjoyed The Forgotten Seamstress when I read it. I haven't read any of the others you mention but several of them are ones I hope to read someday. It was fun looking back on old favorites, wasn't it? Have a great rest of the week, Katherine!

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  23. Great list! I've only read Guidebook to Murder. It was good, but I do remember being super frustrated with the MC, too!

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  24. It's always interesting to look back on books we loved during our first year of blogging. I find it interesting to note how our tastes have changes and not changes.

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  25. Ee! The Jeffries was actually on my list from year one, too! It only got left off because I made my graphic and forgot to add the pic to it and then was too lazy to fix it. lol

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  26. I definitely want to try The Birds! That movie scared the crap out of me as a little kid, especially the gas station explosion...! :)

    Lauren @ Always Me

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  27. Just like you, I haven't read any of your books. The 3 nonfiction look especially good.

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  28. I never have read The Birds despite enjoying the movie and loving duMaurier!

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  29. Love Sabrina Jeffries but haven't read that one! Guess I need to add it to the tbr :)

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  30. I want to read,The Birds and Other Stories. Do you find that what you were reading then is much different than what you are reading now?

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