Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic is Books I Wish Had More/Less [Insert Your Concept Here] In Them. You could do more/less romance, more/less world building, less info dumping, more/fewer pages, more character development, fewer characters, fewer descriptions, more suspense, etc. In honor of Christmas In July, I’ve decided to go with books I wish had more Christmas in them! The books I’m listing below are all Christmas novels that are marketed as such, but they weren’t festive enough for me and I was left feeling disappointed that I didn’t get what the cover/title/synopsis promised me. When I read a Christmas book, I want to smell the cookies baking and hear the carols playing. Some of these books were DNFs for me and some I really enjoyed but not as Christmas books.

1. Love in the Scottish Winter Highlands by Beatrice Bradshaw
I loved this book, but the synopsis makes it sound like Christmas would be a larger theme than it is. This book kind of breezes right through, placing a larger focus on the fall months. I enjoyed the Christmas parts I got, but for such a short book it spans quite a few months and December is right in the middle. I was disappointed when December ended and we moved in to January and February.

2. An Alaskan Christmas by Jennifer Snow
This book was actually a lot deeper and more heavy than I was expecting when I looked and the beautiful cover. I was picturing steamy Hallmark, but this was more of a drama than a romance for me. Everyone is working through a lot of stuff. I honestly can’t remember much Christmas at all.

3. The Boyfriend Swap by Meredith Schorr

4. Christmas Every Day by Beth Moran
Considering the title, you’d think this would be very Christmassy, but there had been no mention of Christmas yet by the time I DNFed!

5. A Match Made in Venice by Leonie Mack
Despite what the cover would indicate, this is not a Christmas book. It’s a winter read, which is fine, but it would have been nice to know! I feel tricked and a little annoyed I spent my limited holiday reading time on this. There were a few passages that described Venetian traditions surrounding Christmas and New Year’s, and the flooding of the city, which I loved, but I wish there had been more!

6. Nick and Noel’s Christmas Playlist by Codi Hall
All drama, very little Christmas.

7. The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
All the magic from Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares was gone. This wasn’t festive or happy, and I ended up DNFing because it was making me sad!

I’ve spent way too much time on this list when I’d rather be watching the Olympics, so I’m cutting this short today!
I can’t wait to see what topic you chose to do this week, and will be doing my best to run around the Linky and see what everyone is talking about!

I’d love recs for Christmas books you loved!

Are you watching the Olympics at all?

Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic was submitted by Angela @ Reading Frenzy, and is “Debut Novels I Enjoyed”. A debut novel is an author’s first published book. You could also choose to share genre or age group debuts if you’d prefer, such as an adult fiction author’s first YA book or a mystery writer’s first romance. I’ve decided to go with the former myself. I’m excited to see what books you pick!

1. Four Weekends and a Funeral by Ellie Palmer
2. One Last Shot by Betty Cayouette
3. Never Blow a Kiss by Lindsay Lovise
4. Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison
5. The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
6. You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle
7. The Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morgenthaler
8. The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss
9. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
10. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

(I read Cinder and Shadow and Bone right when they came out, and I met both of these authors in their debut years! It’s so fun to see how their careers took off and shot into space.)

What are some of your favorite debut novels?

Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic is Ten Things I Love About [insert book title here]. I decided to go with Fourth Wing because I’ve been obsessed ever since I read it last year, and cannot wait for Onyx Storm! Did you see the cover reveal dropped recently? I’m excited to see what book you chose to gush about this week!

1. Dragons (Tairn is my love.)
2. The special bonds between humans and dragons (they communicate telepathically!).
3. Friendships/found family. I love Violet’s friends and squadmates.
4. It’s not just about the spicy times, like so many romantasy novels are. There’s a major fantasy backdrop and developed world to immerse yourself in.
5. Strong heroine. Violet is no shrinking violet (lol pun not intended, but such a happy accident!).
6. Xaden. Yum. I haven’t felt this way about a bad boy character since Rhys.
7. Disability representation. I have ehlers-danlos too, and I loved seeing Violet be supported and respected. Yes, she needed some accommodations but she was never treated as less than anyone else. She was portrayed as strong and capable, and I felt seen.
8. The romance is not the kind of enemies to lovers that makes you hate both characters for how they treat each other. It was just the right mix of animosity and feelings.
9. It broke my heart, but also made me feel like I’d be ok. So. Many. Emotions.
10. There’s so many twists and turns, and I am so grateful book 2 was so close to being released when I finished this one because I NEEDED IT. And I need the next one!!

Have you read Fourth Wing?
What book did you pick for this week’s topic?

 

Welcome to another TTT! This wee’s topic is a throwback freebie, which means you get to pick from any one of the 700+ topics that have been done before. These can be topics you missed or ones you’ve done before but would like to update or re-do with your current reading tastes in mind! Even though TTT didn’t start out on my blog, I’ve been with it since the beginning as one of the team members at The Broke & the Bookish… so I’ve either done or contributed to nearly all of the topics this meme has ever seen! That can make freebie topics hard for me, but I finally settled on Top Ten Hilarious Book Titles. This was our third topic ever (over 14 years ago now), and it was so much fun seeing what other meme participants found! Most of these books I’ve never heard of and will never read, but just look at those titles! lol.

1. Knitting with Dog Hair: Better a Sweater from a Dog You Know and Love Than from a Sheep You’ll Never Meet by Kendall Crolius

2. How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You by Matthew Inman

3. How to Run with a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper

4. I Still Miss My Man But My Aim Is Getting Better by Sarah Shankman

5. Who Peed on My Yoga Mat? by Lela Davidson

6. The Quiche of Death by M.C. Beaton

7. Italian Without Words by Don Cangelosi and Joseph Delli Carpini

8. Don’t Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It’s Raining by Judy Sheindlin (Judge Judy has a few funny titles!)

9. How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming by Mike Brown

10. You Don’t Have to Be Evil to Work Here, But it Helps by Tom Holt

What topic did you pick for this week’s throwback?
Can you think of any funny book titles you’ve come across?

Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic is Books with My Favorite Color on the Cover. I made a list of purple book covers the last time I ran this topic, so I’ve chosen pink this time! I love pink, even though I don’t wear it much. I own lots of pink things! These are all books I’ve either read and enjoyed or are on my to-read list. I hope this post brightens your day like it has mine! It’s so much fun seeing all this bright pink!

1. The Kiss Countdown by Etta Easton
2. The Most Eligible Bride in London by Ella Quinn
3. Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune
4. The Partner Plot by Kristina Forest
5. You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle
6. Snowflakes at the Little Christmas Tree Farm by Jaimie Admans
7. Hello Stranger by Lisa Kleypas
8. Your Place or Mine? by Portia MacIntosh
9. Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren
10. Hit or Miss by Everly Ashton

What color did you pick for this week’s topic?
Tell me in the comments and I’ll try to come see
(especially if you’ve picked one of my favorite colors… and I have many. lol.)