Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books on My Spring 2025 to-Read List

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! We are talking about the books on our spring reading lists. Always a fun topic. I will be sharing what I need to read, and what I want to read. So, here are the...

Top Ten Books on 

My Spring 2025 to-Read List

Reading now

These two I ordered to add to my Laura Ingalls Wilder collection 

NetGalley read

Have had this on my list since before Christmas

Steven sent this to me right before it came out

The last book in the Left Behind series that I didn't know existed until recently

Didn't win the giveaway, but I still want to read it

Love this series

This came from Thriftbooks with a bunch of others

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

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! Hope you had a great week. The sun has been shining here, but Sunday was more like tornado weather--warm, drizzly, and windy. My seedlings are growing. Took the Lil' Diva to the first fitting for her wedding dress. And I have been running around selling and showing houses. Not a bad week at all. Also positive news on the literary front, but too early to share yet.  Saw a local production of On Golden Pond this weekend. Just bought tickets for The Wizard of Oz at a different theatre for July. 

Here are a few photos:

Added to the alphabet soup after my name with my ABR designation

Made this yummy butternut squash salad

Theo is enjoying the warmer weather

The only reading I managed was the First Chapter Review of the following romance novel and a short audio book. You can read it here if you missed it. This will be another productive week, but I plan to get some reading done anyway. 

This is a 20 minute short essay. Not sure how I stumbled upon it. 

Started this two weeks ago, so should be continuing with it this week. 

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. 

Found this Kindle freebie thanks to Bookbub.  

October 1870 - Cincinnati born Angelique DeWitt, widowed and caring for her five-year-old daughter, Zina, finds herself scrambling for a place for her and her little girl. About to become homeless and in desperation, Angelique makes a quick decision to become a mail order bride for a man named Thaddeus Billings, a hotel owner in Kansas. But...once they get on their way, Angelique wonders if she has done the right thing, especially when disaster strikes! Terry Cramer has had it rough most of his life. Now divorced and raising his six-year-old son, he has a prosperous farm and steamboat landing on the banks of the Ohio River—thirteen miles south of Louisville. He has everything he needs... except a good woman to love him and help raise his boy. Always too busy to go out looking for a female to court, Terry says one would have to drop onto his lap. Sometimes circumstances work out in strange ways, even because of a broken down old steamboat. You just never know what’s around that next bend in life, do you? If you enjoy a good, clean, old-fashioned romance with lots of history and endearing characters, written like the classic movies of old, then Sweet Love at Honey Landing is for you!

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)

At Christmas Year Round you will find March Madness and Christmas connections here. 

I will be posting a writing and goals update before the end of the month at The Children's and Teens' Book Connection. Will likely be shifting some things around. 

That's it from my neck of the woods. Looking forward to checking in with you. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? & Mailbox Monday - Mar 10

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! Well, it's actually still Sunday, but I have a busy morning. Hope you had a nice week. Mine went by in a flash. The Lil' Princess is now safely back in North Carolina. We had a lovely visit filled with shopping, eating, and at home adventures. The week started off with a closing and ended with me nursing a cold. I still sound off, but I feel fine. Here are a few photos from the week:

Giggles waiting for me to feed the furry crew.

Goats at Tables at the Farm. 

Breakfast at Tables at the Farm. 

Seedlings are sprouting. 

Travis being curious, little Travis. Open drawers are not safe around here. 

In my reading world, I finished this one. Check out my review here. 

I read and reviewed this new release at my children's book blog. You can find my review here.

I started this historical novel. 

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. 

No new physical books, but I was approved on NetGalley for this book last week. 

Upcoming Events

• Sunset Bay by Karen Stewart - Mar 11 (First Chapter Review)
• Gitel's Freedom by Iris Mitlin Lav - Date TBD (Review) 
• 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)
• Surviving the United Nations by Robert Bruce Adolph - May 9 (First Chapter Review)

At Christmas Year Round I posted Three Things to Do in March to Prepare for Next Christmas. Check it out here. 

At The Children's and Teens' Book Connection I reviewed The Crocodile in the Nile. Cute book that tells the story of Moses being found on the river by a kind crocodile. Read the review here. 

At Laura's Little Houses, I compared The Long Winter and Little Town on the Prairie to Season 6 of the Little House on the Prairie show. You can read that here.  

Heading out this morning for breakfast with one of my sisters before going to a medical appointment. I will check out your blogs this afternoon. Can't wait to see what you've been reading. 

First Chapter Review: Alchemy by Mike Woods

 

I grabbed this coming of age novel in 2014 as a Kindle freebie.

Alchemy by Mike Wood is a coming of age novel that I grabbed as a Kindle freebie in 2014.

BLURB: The summer of 1984 was a golden time in America. From California, where gymnast Mary Lou Retton was winning Olympic gold, to Cape Cod, where explorer Barry Clifford was discovering pirate gold, the nation seemed obsessed with the precious metal. But for 15-year old Al, that obsession hits a little too close to home when he finds a code-filled notebook belonging to his missing father that may contain the ancient formula for turning lead to gold. Convinced that his father's sudden disappearance is connected to his secret experiments in alchemy, Al sets out to find the truth. He enlists the help of Cammie, a beautiful girl staying for the summer while her marine biologist father tracks a wayward manatee, and together they begin unraveling the mystery. But the closer they get to an answer, the closer they grow to each other, and as the end of summer draws nearer, Al wonders if they can break the code without breaking his heart.

COVER: I live a little over two hours away from Cape Cod. This is the perfect cover to draw the reader into the setting where Al lives. I also love how the author works the year the story takes place into the road sign.

FIRST CHAPTER: Told by Al as if he is speaking directly to the reader, he explains the challenge of his name, a bit about his family and his life, and the day he made the mistake of taking a neighbor's magazine.

KEEP READING: A resounding yes! I remember when I downloaded this book, because it reminded me of my high school years and was set in a place I knew. Even though Wood has Al give the reader a ton of information in the first chapter, I feel it reads like a teenager would speak and is a cohesive sequence of events. Al is funny and engaging, which makes the reader want to keep turning the pages... especially considering how the first chapter ends.

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0038M2HC6
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Booksurge (January 12, 2010)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 12, 2010
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 1331 KB
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 368 pages

This First Chapter Review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

New Release: Eastbound from Flagstaff by Annette Valentine

A love story based on Annette Valentine’s father, Eastbound From Flagstaff portrays an individual who comes to recognize the significance of family, loyalty, and the richness of his heritage.

Simon Hagan is running from a lie, intent on believing his own efforts and perseverance can overcome anything. He abandons roots that are his foundational strength and hides behind his charm, living every moment as if life’s daring him to fail―again. He’s reckoning with his father’s God who could have delivered better outcomes but didn’t.

This first installment in an epic trilogy that begins in the 1920’s, unique in its purposeful illumination of the human condition and its ideological indifference to God, asks the question: “Why was God silent when I needed him?” Simon’s return to the notion of forgiveness is the catalyst for a new beginning as it reunites Simon to the place he once thought was the impossible dream. The answer for Simon isn’t blowing in the backwinds of his dream chase; rather, it unfolds in the outstretched hand of a villain.

“A wonderful read, a well-fought redemption story.”
– Darrell Waltrip, author, American motorsports analyst, and former racing driver


Paperback: 334 pages
Publisher: Morgan James Fiction (September 17, 2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1642793345
ISBN-13: 978-1642793345

Available at:

AMAZON
BARNES & NOBLE
INDIEBOUND.ORG

Annette is an inspirational storyteller with a flair for the unexpected. By age eleven, she knew that writing was an integral part of her creative nature. Annette graduated with distinction from Purdue and founded an interior design firm which spanned a 34-year career in Lafayette, Indiana and Brentwood, Tennessee. Annette has used her 18-year affiliation with Toastmasters International to prepare her for her position with the Speakers’ Bureau for End Slavery Tennessee and is an advocate for victims and survivors of human trafficking and is the volunteer group leader for Brentwood, Tennessee. Annette writes through the varied lens of colorful personal experience and the absorbing reality of humanity’s search for meaning. Mother to one son and daughter, and a grandparent of six amazing kids, Annette now lives in Brentwood, a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband and their 5-year-old Boxer. To learn more about Annette’s life and work, please visit https://annettehvalentine.com