Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books You'd Be a Fool Not to Read

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.    

Happy Tuesday! Welcome to April! Will you play pranks on people today? I don't get into April Fool's Day much, but this week's topic sounds like a fun one. We are sharing our...

Top Ten Books You'd Be a Fool Not to Read

The Lost Hours is one of Karen White's earliest books, and I found it to be one of the most stirring. It tells the story of a six-year-old girl who goes to live with her grandparents after her parents die. She and her grandfather bury a box in the backyard one day, which after her grandparents' deaths, the now adult woman will go back to find, uncovering family secrets in her quest for the truth. 

Saffron Dreams tells the story of a pregnant Muslim artist and writer living in New York City with her husband. On the morning of September 11, 2001, he leaves for work and never returns. Discovering his unfinished manuscript, she is on a mission to finish his book while living in a city that suddenly sees her as the enemy. This is one of the most powerful stories I've ever read.

This is one of my favorite novels by Kathi Macias. My Son, John tells the story of the brutal murder of a beloved grandmother and the upheaval of a family when a treasured son is accused of causing his grandmother's death. This book is an emotional roller coaster. 

Beyond the Code of Conduct by K. M. Daughters is the second book in Sullivan Boys series. It brings two characters with a history back together, forcing them to work undercover, which is bound to bring up old feelings. This romantic suspense novel had such an amazing ending that I read the last chapter three times. 

The funny and talented Alison Arngrim played nasty Nellie Oleson on Little House on the Prairie. In this hilarious, irreverent, and courageous memoir, Arngrim talks about everything, including how playing Nellie and being on the hit show helped her survive childhood physical and sexual abuse. Confessions of a Prairie Bitch remains one of my favorite cast memoirs. 

Though I have enjoyed many books by Jerome Charyn, by far my favorite is the fictional story of Massachusetts writer and poet Emily Dickinson. The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson portrays her as a passionate, witty woman who lived an amazing life despite the confines of society. 

The Portrait by late author Hazel Staham is such a moving story. Both main characters end their engagement for different reasons. When fate is determined to bring them back together because of a family incident, they struggle to deny their feelings for each other. The author takes a good deal of time exploring the many facets of these characters, which makes their reunion that much more satisfying. 

I had already read books by Heather Haven before she sent me Death of A Clown. This remains one of my favorites. It is a murder mystery with a surprise ending. The author's parents were part of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, which I feel makes this book and its characters so real for the reader. 

This has to be one of the most fascinating stories that ties into Laura Ingalls Wilder lore. Pioneer Girl by Bich Minh Nguyen is a masterfully told heartrending and inspiring story of one woman's journey to find her place within her family and to boldly embrace the future. A brooch the main character believes was left in Saigon by an American reporter is what spurs her search. This was an unexpectedly pleasant surprise. Loved everything about this book.

I hadn't read a Gothic novel in a while before embarking upon The Vanishing at Castle Moreau by Jaime Jo Wright. This is a dual-time novel featuring two women connected by a mysterious castle. This novel offers Christian suspense, superb writing, strong female characters, and an unexpected ending that will knock your socks off. 

What are your thoughts on this list? Have you read any of them? What is a book you could recommend?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? & Mailbox Monday - Mar 31

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are, and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever-growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.   

Happy Monday! Welcome to the end of March. Hope it was a great month for you. My month flew by. Real estate was busier than expected. Looks like I might be hiring a part-time administrative assistant. I finished my second paid editing project of the year. I'm also pleased to announce the launch of my brand-new author website. 

Would love your feedback if you visit https://ccmalandrinos.com. 

Might start an author newsletter this year. Do you read those when they arrive in your Inbox?

Added to my Laura Ingalls Wilder DVD collection thanks to the Little House on the Prairie: Fifty for 50 Anniversary Podcast, which I am still listening to regularly. 

Gifts and a letter from my Modern Prairie pen pal arrived this week. 

Theo thought he might try snuggling up to Travis. The cat only let that last a little while before he jumped away. 

In my reading world, I am almost done with this amazing book. 

Need to start these soon. 

These two are next in line. 

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books they added to their shelves the previous week. This weekly meme is now hosted by Vicki at I'd Rather Be At The Beach. 

Nothing new this week, but I am working on catching up anyway.

Upcoming Events

• Gitel's Freedom by Iris Mitlin Lav - Date TBD (Review) 
• The Silver Falcon by David Tindell - Apr 9 (Author Interview)
• Pineapple Easter Egg by Amy Vansant - Apr 10 (Showcase)
• The Whispering Witch and Nobody Important by Lee J. Martin - Apr 16 & 17 (Review at TC&TBC)
• Only in September by Cynthia Flowers - Apr 23 (Book Blast)
• Stone of Doubt by Margaret Izard - Apr 28 (Interview)
• Surviving the United Nations by Robert Bruce Adolph - May 9 (First Chapter Review)
• Freedom Drop & Calypso Blue by Brian Silverman - June 18 (Showcase)
• Freedom Drop by Brian Silverman - Date TBD (First Chapter Review)
• Calypso Blue by Brian Silverman - Date TBD (First Chapter Review)

At Christmas Year Round I shared more Christmas in the News this week. Check it out here. 

At the Children's and Teens' Book Connection, I posted my productive 2025 Writing Goals First Quarter Update. I'm very pleased. Check it out here. 

My latest post at Laura's Little Houses compares The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder to Seasons 7 - 9 of Little House on the Prairie. You can read it here. 

I think that's all for me. Can't wait to see what you've been up to lately. 

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Favorite Comfort Foods & Why (+ Recipes)

 

The Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge is hosted by Long and Short Reviews. They offer this blog hop as a weekly prompt to help you gain new friends and visitors. You don't have to participate every week, but if you decide to post and join the blog hop for a week, Long and Short Reviews asks that you share your link on their weekly post on their website (it will be the top post on the home page each Wednesday morning). The link list remains open for new links for 48 hours. Then visit the other bloggers participating to see what they are talking about that week. Comments are appreciated. 

What a yummy topic for a Wednesday! Today we are talking about comfort foods. We all have them: those foods that makes us feel good and bring about positive memories. So, let's dish about them.

Shepherd's Pie

This delicious comfort food originated from the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is ground meat in gravy with mashed potatoes and vegetables. We grew up only having corn in it, so that is often how I make it. However, this recipe from Simply Recipes gives you a more traditional version of the dish. 

Chicken and Rice Soup

I grew up on Campbell's Chicken Noodle soup, but my husband has always preferred rice. So, this is what has been made in my house for the last 25 years. I usually make my own chicken broth, because store bought ones are too high in sodium. He likes a hearty soup, so though I don't actually add chicken to this soup, I fill it with onions, celery, carrots, and rice. This recipe from Diner at the Zoo is as close to mine as I could find. However, I don't usually cook my rice ahead of time. I might try to do that in the future.  

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

This is a dish I discovered in adulthood. The only mac and cheese I had as a kid came in a skinny blue box with powdered cheese. Honestly, the girls still eat this from time to time. However, if you are looking for a delicious baked macaroni and cheese, this classic recipe from Mueller's fits the bill. Sometimes, I cut up slices of bread and use that as a topping. 

What are some of your favorite comfort foods? 

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Did Not Finish (DNF)

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.    

Welcome back to Tuesday. This might be a tough one for me. Though I have improved over the years, I still don't like not finishing a book. Mostly, I stop listening to audiobooks that don't capture my attention, but rarely a printed book.

Top Ten Books I Did Not Finish (DNF)

This first one is cheating, because I grabbed the book listed on a site as a Kindle freebie, but I returned it the same day when it wasn't. 

This is just a book I started but then had to break off to continue with my reviewing schedule. I hope to get back to it this year. 

What I read of this book, I enjoyed. Simply don't like the genre enough to read such a big novel. 

These next two are simply because I am horrible about reading books about writing and the writing business. 

I think this was a NetGalley download when it first came out. This book explores Laura and Rose's complicated relationship and their writing partnership. Tried a few times to read it, but couldn't. 

I think this one is simply a great book at the wrong time. I read another book by these authors, but I never seemed to read much more than a few pages of this. Ultimately ended up giving it to the library book sale. 

This is a book I know I will read one day. Benjamin's work is amazing. It's the content that I struggle with. Knowing what this is about, I really need to work up to it. That's the same reason I have started the nonfiction account of the same title by David Laskin three times and have not gotten past the first chapter. 

I wanted to like this book, but I couldn't get into it even after three chapters. The author as narrator didn't help me enjoy it. Most of the reviews are good, so it might be me. 

Honestly, this is what I really work to do with my real estate business. Maybe not as hyperlocal as I could be, but relationship building is a skill of mine. Thought I might gain some new ideas. Some were outdated considering this was published in 2017. Hung in there for a while, but didn't mesh with me. 

Looking forward to visiting your blogs today. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? & Mailbox Monday - Mar 24

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.   

Happy Monday! Here we are near the end of March, and I have no clue how we got here. I've been so, so much busier than I expected. At least that's a good thing. In addition to my current pending transactions, I have more coming up soon. My meal plans are set for the next three weeks. I've got a short editing project to finalize for a client. I've also been managing our short-term rental in Wilmington, NC. I read today that Southern Living listed Wrightsville Beach (less than 10 mins from our place) as one of its Top 50 Beach Towns for 2025. How exciting! I am also working on opening up my calendar to finish writing the first draft of the novel I started in November. 

In my reading world, nothing much happened last week. I've been working on a Little House on the Prairie related project. 

Photos from the week:

Sunday was Travis' and Dwight's 6th birthday

Some of the REALTOR pins I've accumulated through the years

Stuffed sweet potatoes 

I listen to this book while I am driving. I'm also listening to the Little House on the Prairie: Fifty for 50 Anniversary Podcast. I just had to do it. Not sure how many I will binge on, but I'm enjoying it for now. 

Made a tiny bit of progress on this one. I've just been working late, so it is going slower than I hoped. Wonderful book, though. 

These are next. 

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books they added to their shelves the previous week. This weekly meme is now hosted by Vicki at I'd Rather Be At The Beach. 

These two came via email for next month's virtual book tour. 

Upcoming Events

• Boo's Blue Poo and Goo by Toni Nelson - Mar 27 (Book Blast at TC&TBC)
• Gitel's Freedom by Iris Mitlin Lav - Date TBD (Review) 
• The Silver Falcon by David Tindell - Apr 9 (Author Interview)
• Pineapple Easter Egg by Amy Vansant - Apr 10 (Showcase)
• The Whispering Witch and Nobody Important by Lee J. Martin - Apr 16 & 17 (Review at TC&TBC)
• Only in September by Cynthia Flowers - Apr 23 (Book Blast)
• Stone of Doubt by Margaret Izard - Apr 28 (Interview)
• Surviving the United Nations by Robert Bruce Adolph - May 9 (First Chapter Review)
• Freedom Drop & Calypso Blue by Brian Silverman - June 18 (Showcase)
• Freedom Drop by Brian Silverman - Date TBD (First Chapter Review)
• Calypso Blue by Brian Silverman - Date TBD (First Chapter Review)

At Christmas Year Round you might be surprised to hear that there was some Christmas in the news this week. What could it be? Check it out here. 

Nothing new here except announcing the two books I will be reviewing in April.

Laura's Little Houses has been busy. Like I mentioned above, I'm working on a Little House on the Prairie project where I am comparing the books to the television series. Even though Michael Landon didn't bring the books to life exactly the way they were written, he always captured the essence of Laura Ingalls Wilder's stories. And as I've made my way through the books again, it is surprising how much of the books inspired what was brought to life in the show in the earlier seasons. You can read the first three posts at:

Books versus the Pilot: https://lauralittlehouseontheprairie.blogspot.com/2025/02/books-versus-tv-show-little-house-in.html 

Books versus Season 6: https://lauralittlehouseontheprairie.blogspot.com/2025/03/books-versus-tv-show-long-winter-little.html

Laura and Almanzo's courtship in the books versus the show: https://lauralittlehouseontheprairie.blogspot.com/2025/03/books-versus-tv-show-laura-and-almanzos.html 

That's it for me. I have a busy morning, but should be visiting your blogs this afternoon.