Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic is an indie freebie, which was submitted through my topic request form by @dark.shelf.of.wonders and Books Are The New Black! I love supporting authors who self-publish or who publish through small, independent presses so I’ll be sharing some of those hidden gems that not as many people talk about regularly! And these aren’t just my favorite indies, they are some of my very favorite books ever! All ten of them got 5 stars from me. I might be the most excited to jump around the Linky and see everyone’s lists because I’m hoping to find some recs for amazing books that I haven’t stumbled across on my own!

First to Fall by Jenny B. Jones
My Lucky Charm by Courtney Walsh
Acting Merry by Martha Keyes
Desert Island Duke by Kate Bateman
Another Fish in the Sea by Amy Kelly
Love, Loss, and Pasta Sauce by Stephanie Taylor
When She Was Naughty by Tessa Dare
Faking Christmas by Cindy Steel
Miracle on Ladies’ Mile by Joanna Shupe
Kissing for Keeps by Martha Keyes

Have you read any of these?
Do you like finding lesser-known indie titles as much as I do?

Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic was submitted by Cathy @ WhatCathyReadNext and is: Books With Nationalities In the Title (e.g. The French Lieutenant’s Woman, Mexican Gothic, An American Marriage, etc.). Here’s a great list of nationalities if you need a little help thinking of titles! I love a good hunt for titles that fit these weekly prompts, so this sounded like fun to me! And it was! I have read the first and last books and the others are from my to-read list!

My American Duchess by Eloisa James
The Swedish Prince by Karina Halle
Wild Scottish Knight by Tricia O’Malley
Christmas Wishes & Irish Kisses by Debbie Johnson
A Greek Affair by Linn B. Halton
The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday
The Little Swiss Ski Chalet by Julie Caplin
My Very Italian Holiday by Sue Roberts
Your French Kisses by Lauren Blakely

Have you read any of these?

Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic is Bookish Places I’ve Visited, and was submitted by Susan @Bloggin’ ’bout Books! Share all the cool places you’ve been that are bookish or tied to books! This includes neat libraries, book stores, places featured in books, places inspired by books, author homes/places they’ve stayed, etc. You can also share your bucket list of the bookish places you’d like to visit someday. I’ve decided to share places I’ve been that are tied to books, whether through authors or the actual settings of books I’ve read.

Shakespeare & Company Bookstore in Paris, France
I bought a lovely copy of Shakespeare’s love sonnets.

Hotel Metropole in Bellagio, Italy on the shores of Lake Como
Mark Twain stayed here!

Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, France 
The setting of Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City
The setting of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg.

The Grand Canal in Venice, Italy
Lord Byron swam across the Grand Canal!

St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Midtown New York City
F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, was married here.

John’s of Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village New York City
I’m stretching this because it’s just too cool. Frank Sinatra loved this pizza place!! And he did technically co-author a book on how to sing with a voice teacher of his, so I’m counting it.

Cannery Row in Monterey, California
John Steinbeck made this place famous with his novel, Cannery Row. Side note, I used to live in Monterey!

Key West, Florida
Ernest Hemingway lived here while writing many of his most famous works. Robert Frost, one of my favorite poets, also spent his winters here.

Pisa, Italy
From Dante’s Inferno.

Other cool places I’ve been to that are tied to books/authors: Rome (Nathaniel Hawthorne), Central Park in NYC (Catcher in the Rye, Stuart Little), Sagrada Familia in Barcelona (George Orwell famously claimed this to be “one of the most hideous buildings in the world”), and Annapolis, MD (I used to live here and it’s heavily featured in the Ghosted series by B.K. Borison).

What literary locations or bookish places have you visited?

Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic is: Top Ten Book Series I Want to Catch Up On. You can also choose to do series you’d like to start. I’ve decided to do five of each! I love a good series, but I love it more when all the books have been released already. lol. Back when I read YA exclusively, almost every book I read was part of a series and reading all of them in the correct order was essential or you’d be lost. Luckily it’s not that way as much with adult romance, which is what I predominately read now. If books are part of a series, it’s frequently a series of interconnected standalones or books set in the same world with nothing else tying the books together. I like that kind of series. lol. Less re-reading is required. Anyway, here we go!

Five Series I’d Like to Catch Up On (or Finish)

Holidays with Hart by Courtney Walsh 
(I have been saving My Merry Mistake this holiday season)

The Four Winds by Alexandria Warwick
(I’ve only read The North Wind)

Sheppards in Love by Martha Keyes
(I’ve read the first two.)

The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen
(I’ve read the first four.)

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
(I need to read A Court of Silver Flames in time for #6 and #7 coming out in the next several months!)

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Five Series I’d Like to Start

Dangerous Damsels by India Holton

The Floating Shop by Annabel French

The Crinoline Academy by Mimi Matthews

The Charmed Leaf Legacy by Rachel Morgan

Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood

Have you read any of these series? Did you like them?
Any I should prioritize?
Any you need to catch up on as well?
What series is at the top of your list to either start or catch up on?

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Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic was stolen from Anne @ HeadFullofBooks! I thought it sounded like a lot of fun because I know my reading tastes have changed a lot over the last ten years. Now, this might be tricky if you don’t use a reading tracker like Goodreads, but the idea is to share what you were reading on August 11th of 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016. If you have no idea, pick a book you loved that you read at any time during each of the last ten years. And if you still have no idea, pick a book you loved that was published during each of the last ten years. Make this topic work for you! I’m currently reading The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst! I’m not a YA reader anymore, but I was craving the sweet, cozy stories that only she can bring. And now I’m going to go backwards, starting with last year.

2025

The Phantom of Drury Lane by Kate Bateman

2024

The Christmas You Found Me by Sarah Morgenthaler

2023

Mixed Signals by B.K. Borison

2022

Seduce Me at Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas

2021

Winter’s Redemption by Mary Stone

2020

The Dating Proposal by Lauren Blakely

2019

Final Girls by Riley Sager

2018

Reign of Shadows by Sophie Jordan

2017

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

2016

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

Do you keep track of what you read on what day? If so, what do you use? A website, app, reading journal, etc.?
How have your reading tastes changed over the last ten years?
What are you reading right now? Are you enjoying it?