Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I Picked Up On A Whim

Top Ten Tuesday is sponsored by The Broke and The Bookish.   I haven't done one of these in a long time, but when I saw this week's topic, it went perfectly with my current favorite series.  Which you'll see below as my #1 pick.  Other than that, there is not necessarily any particular order.

1.  

After by Anna Todd - I picked this up because I'd seen it at the bookstore where I worked, and it just sounded interesting.  Plus, I noticed we had the second book on our bargain tables, so I went ahead and listened to the first one on audiobook, and fell in love!  Which led to my getting a tattoo back in March.  






2.

Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins is one that I was trying to find my next audiobook to listen to, and this one sounded good, so I downloaded it, and loved it and the whole series actually!







3.

November 9 by Colleen  Hoover - I saw this one sitting on one of our displays at the bookstore, and when I picked it up to read the synopsis, it just sounded really good. So it was one that I then downloaded the audiobook from my library to listen to, and it led to my current love of the author.






4.

Switched by Amanda Hocking - This one was a free ebook at the time I first saw it.  I downloaded it several years ago, and then when I finished the book I had brought while I was sitting in line for the very last Harry Potter movie, I started reading this one on my phone. And loved it!  I am now a huge Amanda Hocking fan!





5.

Waterfall by Lisa Tawn Bergren - This was another free ebook.  It took me a while to get around to it as well, but when I did, I fell in love, and have now purchased the 2nd book. Which I need to get on to!







6.

Beautiful You by Chuck Palahniuk - I'd never read this author yet, although I had seen the movie for .  Fight Club.  The storyline on this just sounded interesting.  So I checked it out and read it.  I'm not sure if I will read the author again, but this was definitely a very interesting, eye-opening story.  Not sure if I quite agree with some of the way the author took the story, but again, it was a good read. 




7.

Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith - This is one that I'd read the synopsis on, and it just sounded good. So two years ago when I had surgery, I had made sure to get it checked out from the library in time to have it to read while I was home not able to do much.  And again, I loved it!  Devoured it in about a day.





8.

Ruined by Paula Morris - This is a book I picked up at a Scholastic book fair at the school where I worked, or else I ordered it from a book order.  Anyway, it just sounded right up my alley.  Again, I found another author that I am a fan of.






9.

The Tale of the Body Thief by Anne Rice - This was my first book by this author, and I picked it up one weekend back when I was in college.  I had nothing to read I guess, and this was at the campus bookstore.  I didn't realize that it was the third in a series, so I picked it up and read it.  I did really enjoy it, and it sent me back on the path to read and love the whole series.





10.   

The Pride of the Peacock by Victoria Holt - Back when I was younger, probably middle school age, I had been with my aunt for the day, and we went to her grand-mother-in-law's house.  I was sitting there, kind of bored, and I saw this book sitting on a table I think.  I was a big reader, and so I picked it up while the adults were doing whatever they were doing, and started reading.  When the grandmother saw me reading it, she said I could keep it and finish it when we were leaving.  I had always loved peacocks, so that drew me first. But then it was about opals, my birthstone, again something I loved reading about.  I fell in love with this story, and it was one that I read over and over.  In fact, talking about it now makes me want to pick it up and read it again!


There are so many others I could name, but I went with a bunch of recent ones, followed by some oldie but goodie picks!  Have you read any of these?  Can you think of a book that you picked up on a whim and fell in love with?

A to Z April: P Reviews - Past Midnight by Mara Purnhagen/The Pride of the Peacock by Victoria Holt

For the last post this week I've got an old romance novel and a YA paranormal story.  Both are books I really enjoyed, and remember well.

The first book I want to talk about is one that I did actually review on my blog. But it is a series that I don't think gets enough attention.  So I want to bring it back by linking you to my reviews of the first two books in the Past Midnight series by Mara Purnhagen HERE.  And then I'll share the blurb from Goodreads below.  I just loved the ghost story, the characters, the mystery, such a great story!
Let me set the record straight. My name is Charlotte Silver and I'm not one of those paranormal-obsessed freaks you see on TV…no, those would be my parents, who have their own ghost-hunting reality show. And while I'm usually roped into the behind-the-scenes work, it turns out that I haven't gone unnoticed. Something happened on my parents' research trip in Charleston—and now I'm being stalked by some truly frightening other beings. Trying to fit into a new school and keeping my parents' creepy occupation a secret from my friends—and potential boyfriends—is hard enough without having angry spirits whispering in my ear.

All I ever wanted was to be normal, but with ghosts of my past and present colliding, now I just want to make it out of high school alive….

The second book is one that I happened upon by chance.  I had been hanging out with my aunt and cousins for the day because my parents were busy for something I can't remember now. We'd gone over to her grandmother-in-law's house.  I was bored, it was before I always remembered to bring a book with me.  So I saw a book sitting on a table and asked if I could read it.  Or maybe I picked it up and started reading, and the lady who it belonged to actually told me I could take it with me when we left. I'd always thought peacocks were cool, so that is one thing that got my attention. The other thing is that opals were my birthstone, and in this book I first learned about black opals, and probably became really obsessed with all types of opals.   Here is the blurb for it from Goodreads:
Victoria Holt demonstrates her mastery once again in her most exciting novel set in turn-of-the-century England where a young woman grows up in the shadow of the great estate - and privileged way of life - that was once her family's birthright. But a unique inheritance compels Jessica Clavering to marry the owner of a fabled opal mine and leads her to faraway Australia. There she will discover the mysteries - and evil - surrounding the greatest opal ever found. There she must confront the danger that lust for the stone has aroused even in her own husband - and there she must find love.

Actually both books I've chosen today have ghosts in them!  Or seem to maybe have ghosts.  And romance. Have you read either of these?  I am friends with the author of the first one, Mara Purnhagen, on Facebook.  And I've asked her what book is next. Nothing so far.  But I enjoy her writing so hope there will be more soon.  I've tried other books from the 2nd author, but haven't found any I loved as much as this one.

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A to Z April - M: Mysteries

Today I'm going to talk about another genre of books, mysteries.  They are not my top type of books, but I do enjoy a good one.  I'm finding more YA ones that I'm even starting to become more interested in mysteries.  I'll share my top 5 mystery books/series below.


1. 

This is probably my favorite series, although the latest one is still sitting on my TBR shelf.  Must get to that!  The main character Goldy Bear is a caterer, and of course seems to come across murders all the time by accident.  I just love the characters, they're pretty funny/realistic seeming to me.  What is really neat is all the recipes that are shared, and though they sound delicious, I'm too lazy to possibly ever make them. But if you're a chef, and you like mysteries, you should definitely give these books a try.

2. 

  

Now this is a brand new, hot off the presses title.  It actually comes out today!  It is my first book by this author, and I was extremely impressed with it.  It is a YA mystery title, but a great one!

3.  

  

This is another YA mystery that is newer.  It is what I'd call a medical mystery.  I really enjoyed it.  I know that the author writes adult medical mystery/thrillers as well.

4.  

 

 

Another author that does great YA mystery.  This one is supposed to be based on the classic story Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie.

5. 

 

Now this is one that could be considered maybe more of a romance, but it has a bit of a mystery to it so I'm going to list it.  While it is an older book, not YA really, it is one that is a favorite of mine.  As I said before, I'm not really a mystery fan, so I had a little trouble coming up with 5 top books for sure, and I didn't want to go through my whole list of all I've read on Goodreads, so I decided to list this last.

So, are you a big mystery fan?  And if you have time, I'd love for you to go back to my J post and help me think of some questions to ask some authors I'll be meeting next month.

The Pride of the Peacock by Victoria Holt

This isn't a new book. In fact, this is a book I've owned for a long time, and read over, and over, and over. I got it one time when my Aunt Nancy was watching me for the day, and we went over to her in-laws for some reason or another. Anyone who knew me as a kid, knows that I was always looking for something to read. I picked up this book off a table or bookshelf or something while my aunt was doing whatever it was we were there for. And I was sucked in immediately. When we went to leave, I think it was my aunt's grandmother in law told me I was welcome to take the book with me and keep it. So I did.

Not sure if this is when my fascination with peacocks began, but peacocks are a big part of the story. And opals. Opal is my birthstone, so of course I've liked it for a long time. But this book introduced me to black opals, and made me search to find them. The main character is Jessica Clavering, or Opal Jessica Clavering which is her full name, although she is never called by Opal. She lives with her family in England in the Dower House of her family's estate that her father lost long ago when gambling. No one will really talk much about the time before. One day Jessica notices what looks like an unmarked grave and finds that it has her name on it. But still, no one will tell her anything about this. Soon the new owner of the former family estate, Ben Henniker is back. And while Jessica is out at her place she likes to sit, his wheelchair comes racing down hill out of control. When Jessica goes to save him, they soon become friends. And she begins sneaking over to visit him. This is where she learns about opals. Ben made his fortune hunting opals in Australia. This may be where I also began my fascination with Australia as well.

I won't go on to spoil much more, just know that Jessica ends up going to Australia and getting to work with opals, and falling in love, all with a mysterious, magnificent opal that is thought to be cursed, called the Green Flash at Sunset, in the background of all the drama. I don't know if you can even find this book anymore. I've looked in the catalog at my bookstore, thinking that one day I'll need a new copy of this when I wear this one out, but haven't been able to find it. And I do love the cover of it that I have, so I wouldn't want one of the others I saw that is really dorky looking in my opinion. While this is probably considered a romance novel, it isn't a trashy one. There is no sex in it. It is quite a bit of a mystery at the end as well. But it is romance, and again, one reason I love it is because of how I also have the insecurities dealing with how no one could possibly like/love me just like Jessica does when we get into the last half of the book where she is with Joss in Australia.