Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday!
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. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
The Topic This Week Is:
My Half-Year Best Reads
2020 has been a good year for me in books. My reading challenge this year is double what I read last year and I am already more than half way through it. I am excited about that and hope by the end of the year I would have exceeded my targeted number of books to read. I have read quite a number of interesting books but a few of them have stood out for me (The 5 Stars Reads). You can check out the full list here 2020 Top Reads. However, this are the top 10 on my list.
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‘A Broken People’s Playlist’ by Chimeka Garricks
Synopsis: A Broken People’s Playlist is a collection of short stories with underlying themes so beautifully woven that each story flows into the other seamlessly. From its poignant beginning in “Lost Stars” a story about love and it’s fleeting, transient nature to the gritty, raw musical prose encapsulated in “In The City”, a tale of survival set in the alleyways of the waterside. A Broken People’s Playlist is a mosaic of stories about living, loving and hurting through very familiar sounds, in very familiar ways and finding healing in the most unlikely places.
The stories are also part-homage and part-love letter to Port Harcourt (the city which most of them are set in). The prose is distinctive as it is concise and unapologetically Nigerian. And because the collection is infused with the magic of evocative storytelling, everyone is promised a story, a character, to move or haunt them.
Book Review: A Broken People’s Playlist by Chimeka Garricks
2. ‘Dirty Letters’ by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward
Synopsis: Griffin Quinn was my childhood pen pal, the British boy who couldn’t have been more different from me. Over the years, through hundreds of letters, we became best friends, sharing our deepest, darkest secrets and forming a connection I never thought could break.
Until one day it did.
Then, out of the blue, a new letter arrived. A scathing one—one with eight years of pent-up anger. I had no choice but to finally come clean as to why I stopped writing.
Griffin forgave me, and somehow we were able to rekindle our childhood connection. Only now we were adults, and that connection had grown to a spark. Our letters quickly went from fun to flirty to downright dirty, revealing our wildest fantasies. So it only made sense that we would take our relationship to the next level and see each other in person.
Only Griff didn’t want to meet. He asked that I trust him and said it was for the best. But I wanted more—more Griff, in the flesh—so I took a big chance and went looking for him. People have done crazier things for love.
But what I found could change everything.
Book Review: Dirty Letters by Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward
3. All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover
Synopsis: Quinn and Graham’s perfect love is threatened by their imperfect marriage. The memories, mistakes, and secrets that they have built up over the years are now tearing them apart. The one thing that could save them might also be the very thing that pushes their marriage beyond the point of repair.
All Your Perfects is a profound novel about a damaged couple whose potential future hinges on promises made in the past. This is a heartbreaking page-turner that asks: Can a resounding love with a perfect beginning survive a lifetime between two imperfect people?
Book Review: All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover
4. The Familiars by Stacy Halls
Synopsis: Young Fleetwood Shuttleworth, a noblewoman, is with child again. None of her previous pregnancies have borne fruit, and her husband, Richard, is anxious for an heir. Then Fleetwood discovers a hidden doctor’s letter that carries a dire prediction: she will not survive another birth. By chance she meets a midwife named Alice Grey, who promises to help her deliver a healthy baby. But Alice soon stands accused of witchcraft.
Is there more to Alice than meets the eye? Fleetwood must risk everything to prove her innocence. As the two women’s lives become intertwined, the Witch Trials of 1612 loom. Time is running out; both their lives are at stake. Only they know the truth. Only they can save each other.
Rich and compelling, set against the frenzy of the real Pendle Hill Witch Trials, this novel explores the rights of 17th-century women and raises the question: Was witch-hunting really women-hunting? Fleetwood Shuttleworth, Alice Grey and the other characters are actual historical figures. King James I was obsessed with asserting power over the lawless countryside (even woodland creatures, or “familiars,” were suspected of dark magic) by capturing “witches”—in reality mostly poor and illiterate women.
Book Review: The Familiars By Stacey Halls
5. The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams
Synopsis: Nashville Legends second baseman Gavin Scott’s marriage is in major league trouble. He’s recently discovered a humiliating secret: his wife Thea has always faked the Big O. When he loses his cool at the revelation, it’s the final straw on their already strained relationship. Thea asks for a divorce, and Gavin realizes he’s let his pride and fear get the better of him.
Welcome to the Bromance Book Club.
Distraught and desperate, Gavin finds help from an unlikely source: a secret romance book club made up of Nashville’s top alpha men. With the help of their current read, a steamy Regency titled Courting the Countess, the guys coach Gavin on saving his marriage. But it’ll take a lot more than flowery words and grand gestures for this hapless Romeo to find his inner hero and win back the trust of his wife.
Book Review: The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams
6. The Little Bookshop of Love Stories by Jaimie Admans
Synopsis: Today is the Mondayest Monday ever. Hallie Winstone has been fired – and it wasn’t even her fault!
Having lost her job and humiliated herself in front of a whole restaurant full of diners, this is absolutely, one hundred percent, the worst day of her life.
That is until she receives an email announcing that she is the lucky winner of the Once Upon a Page Bookshop!
Owning a bookshop has always been Hallie’s dream, and when she starts to find secret love letters on the first pages of every book, she knows she’s stumbled across something special.
Things get even better when she meets gorgeous, bookish Dimitri and between them, they post a few of the hidden messages online, reuniting people who thought they were lost forever.
But maybe it’s time for Hallie to find her own happy-ever-after, too?
Book Review: The Little Bookshop Of love Stories by Jaimie Admans
7. Inspired Mama by Sez Kristiansen
Synopsis: Inspired Mama is the ultimate mind, body, and lifestyle guide for women seeking to live their best life in motherhood.
As mothers, women tend to give up on their personal dreams and emotional self-care in order to take care of their families. Too often, we end up giving in to social pressures and external expectations rather than living the life we dream about, a life of freedom and inspiration.
The truth is freedom is the highest vibrational element that every woman must embody to live an extraordinary life, but it’s harder than ever to embody freedom as a mother. Inspired Mama empowers women to align with their best life through self-reflection, intentional manifestation, and wanderlust, so you can heal yourself and your family through your own spiritual self-care.
In this book, you’ll discover how to free your mind, body, and spirit so you can live an authentic lifestyle customized for the amazing woman you are.
You’ll discover:
How to replace old habits with nourishing new ones
Simple and practical actions that free you emotionally, physically, and financially
High vibrational living that gets you into alignment with your highest self
How to dive deep into adventures that break you out of your restricted comfort zone
You will be supported in making incremental, potent changes to your life that awaken you to the unbridled joy of inspired, intentional, and conscious living.
After reading this book, you will re-discover yourself as a woman in motherhood and learn how to align with the infinite abundance of the Universe. You will also learn how to live by your own unique energetic blueprint, and start intentionally manifesting the life of your dreams. Motherhood is the ultimate balancing act, and freeing the woman within is essential to finding fulfillment and purpose with your family and beyond.
Book Review: Inspired Mama by Sez Kristiansen
8. The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez
Synopsis: Two years after losing her fiancé, Sloan Monroe still can’t seem to get her life back on track. But one trouble-making pup with a “take me home” look in his eyes is about to change everything. With her new pet by her side, Sloan finally starts to feel more like herself. Then, after weeks of unanswered texts, Tucker’s owner reaches out. He’s a musician on tour in Australia. And bottom line: He wants Tucker back.
Well, Sloan’s not about to give up her dog without a fight. But what if this Jason guy really loves Tucker? As their flirty texts turn into long calls, Sloan can’t deny a connection. Jason is hot and nice and funny. There’s no telling what could happen when they meet in person. The question is: With his music career on the rise, how long will Jason really stick around? And is it possible for Sloan to survive another heartbreak?
Book Review: The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez
9. Identity Crisis by Ben Elton
Synopsis: Why are we all so hostile? So quick to take offence? Truly we are living in the age of outrage.
A series of apparently random murders draws amiable, old-school Detective Mick Matlock into a world of sex, politics, reality TV and a bewildering kaleidoscope of opposing identity groups. Lost in a blizzard of hashtags, his already complex investigation is further impeded by the fact that he simply doesn’t ‘get’ a single thing about anything anymore.
Meanwhile, each day another public figure confesses to having ‘misspoken’ and prostrates themselves before the judgement of Twitter. Begging for forgiveness, assuring the public “that is not who I am”.
But if nobody is who they are anymore – then who the f##k are we?
Book Review: Identity Crisis by Ben Elton
10. Can I Give My Husband Back? by Kristen Bailey
Synopsis: My sisters call my ex-husband Satan. That tells you everything you need to know about him.
I thought I was sorted on the life front. I was a heart surgeon with a loving partner and two gorgeous little girls. Except my husband’s version of ‘loving’ is lying, cheating and sleeping his way around London. Which means I definitely deserve a refund.
Unfortunately, moving on isn’t that simple. Just because I know how to operate on a heart doesn’t mean I know how to fix my broken one. Plus, I lost the receipt for him years ago so I’m definitely getting short changed.
But now I’m single, am I ready to mingle? There are a few minor issues:
1) The last time I went on a date double denim was in fashion and my eyebrows were horrendously overplucked.
2) Men wear stupidly skinny jeans now.
3) I don’t know how to use dating apps but at least I don’t have to get changed out of my pyjamas.
4) Sometimes the most promising thing you have in common with a guy is a shared love of prawns.
5) I don’t know whether to open a date with ‘hi’ or ‘hello’ or ‘hey’ and once I ended up saying ‘howdy’.
Everything happens for a reason, they say. There’s plenty more fish in the sea. But what happens when everything falls apart and you haven’t got a clue how to go fishing?
Book Review: Can I Give My Husband Back? by Kristen Bailey
So here they are. Did you find anyone you think you may be interested to read?
Click on the “Book Review” link for any of the books to read my reviews on each of them. That may help to bring some more perspective on the books.
Want to know more?
Hit me in the comment box and I will give you a response asap.
Thank you you stopping by.
Copyright © Biyai Garricks
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