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 First 10 Books I Randomly
Grabbed from My Book Shelves
For this week's Top Ten Tuesday, I closed my eyes and randomly picked 10 books from my shelves in my office. This was a fun prompt for this week that got me talking about some books that I never do. Here are those ten books.
1. In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune
- read March 2023
- This is one of the most interesting retellings of a classic story I have ever read. It is a science fiction reimagining of Pinocchio with a human living among androids.
2. Crossings by Alex Landragin
- read September 2020
- Crossings can be read in two different ways, you can either read straight through or through the Baroness sequence (which is an alternative chapter sequence). I chose to read the book through the Baroness sequence. I love when a book has a different way of reading it and Alex Landragin did an incredible job interweaving this story.
3. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
- read July 2025
- The most recent of any of the books I read on the list and it is definitely one of my favorites. Jane is one of my favorite characters in literature. I love her spirit, wit, and strong personality. Even from a young age she's always speaking her mind. She and Mr. Rochester made this book for me. It is one of the best classics I have ever read.
4. Scattered Showers by Rainbow Rowell
- read December 2022
- Rainbow Rowell was one of my favorite authors in my late teens and twenties. She wrote many of my favorite books from that time period including Fangirl, Carry On, Landline and Attachments. This is a collection of many of her short stories over the years, quite a few of them are set in the worlds of her books. Most of the stories are very good and brought me so much joy to be back in the worlds that I always loved. Also, most her standalone ones were just as great.
5. Honesty by Seth King
- read April 2020
- A beautifully heartbreaking new adult m/m romance. Seth King's writing is absolutely stunning to read and perfectly encapsulates first love and heartbreak. I have yet to read the sequel to this book, but plan on doing so someday.
"There's nothing wrong with chandeliers."
6. The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang
- read January 2024
- This book will not be for everyone especially since it is very explicit. I adored this interwoven Asian-based story. It follows three different timelines of two men whose lives have been intertwined for centuries. We follow them through 4 BCE, 1740, and present-day Los Angeles. Slowly, along with the characters, we learn how they are connected to each other. Their romance was both beautiful and heartbreaking. It was quite hard to read at times because their love is quite destructive and painful. I’m a sucker for a tragic love affair, especially ones that make me cry. Add stunning writing and fantastical aspects to make a book I couldn’t get enough of.
Reincarnation stories have always drawn me in, and I knew I had to read this beauty as soon as I found it. It was intriguing trying to figure out who was who in the different time periods. I’m glad we kept going back and forth between each of them, and loved seeing how all the pieces fit together to tell their story. It felt like a puzzle, and I enjoyed how their identities were not always obvious.
7. Darius the Great Deserves Better (Darius the Great #2) by Adib Khorram
- read September 2020
- Darius the Great is Not Okay is one of my favorite young adult books that I have ever read. I had connected with Darius's journey in ways I never would have expected going into it as a twenty-six year old woman. The sequel was just as great. Darius's family is one of my favorite aspects of this series, especially this book. If Adib Khorram ever decides to return to this world, I would definitely read it.
8. Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales by Soman Chainani and illustrated by Julia Iredale
- read March 2023
- One of the best short story collections I have ever read. Most of the tales in this book are retellings of fairy tales, but it also includes a Peter Pan retelling. Julia Iredale's illustrations were stunning and fit so well with the darkness of each of the tales. Soman Chainani took these well-known tales in such interesting ways, along with the diverse casts of characters. My favorites of the collection were based on "Beauty and the Beast," "Hansel & Gretel," and Peter Pan.
9. Gris Grimly's Tales from the Brothers Grimm written by Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm and illustrated by Gris Grimly
- I have read the Grimm fairy tales many times over the years. Most recently in November 2022.
- Gris Grimly's editions of the classics are some of my absolute favorites because I adore his illustrations. They add a creepy vibe to these stories that fits so well. I also have his editions of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Hocus Pocus by A.W. Jantha, and A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle.
10. That Way Madness Lies edited by Dahlia Adler
- read March 2023
- Another one of the best short story collections I have ever read. This is a collection of stories from many different genres including: fantasy, contemporary, science fiction, horror, etc. They are all based on Shakespeare's plays and one of his sonnets. My favorite from the entire collection is called "Elsinore" by Patrice Caldwell, which is a take on Hamlet and Dracula. I have read the story twice, within the collection and by itself. It is one of the best short stories I have ever read and I have read ton of them over the years.
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