Top Ten Tuesday - The First 10 Books I Randomly Grabbed from My Shelf

 

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. Top Ten Tuesday was originally 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.

1. Queenie by Michael Korda - Wow, this is a blast from the past! I read the paperback edition of this novel during my sophomore year in high school. I had an English teacher that loved reading books and promoted reading books to her students. As an assignment, we had to read a 500+ page book and write a review of the book we read for her class. The book could be from any genre as long it was 500+ pages!! I selected Queenie based on the paperback's cover and book summary on the back cover. I remember really liking this novel at the time, but much of the plot details escape me now many decades later.

By the way, I gave away the paperback edition of Queenie to another high school classmate. I ended up purchasing a remaindered hardback copy of Queenie hoping to reread it again. I still haven't made time for a reread of Queenie.... Maybe some day I'll reread it.

2. Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones - I haven't read this novel yet, but I have read two other novels written by Tayari Jones. I attended the Bay Area Book Festival in 2019, where I heard Tayari Jones speak at this wonderful annual book festival. I was able to have her sign my used hardback edition of Leaving Atlanta.

3. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli - This paperback novel was given to me in 2010 by one of college professors who I am still in contact with decades later after college. Stargirl was my 1st experience with anything written by Jerry Spinelli and I've become hooked by his writing ever since. I loved reading Stargirl. I even read the follow up novel, Love, Stargirl, which I also enjoyed reading as well. My college professor and I still discuss books to this day.

4. The Scent of God by Beryl Singleton Bissell - I read this memoir prior to 2012 and really loved it a lot at the time. Reading about other people's lives can be very interesting.

5. In My Own Key by Liona Boyd - Quite frankly, I'd never heard of classical guitarist, Liona Boyd, before 1999. It wasn't until I attended Book Expo America (a book trade show) at the LA Convention Center in May 1999 for work (I worked at a college bookstore at the time). Liona Boyd had recently written and published her memoir, In My Own Key, and was signing hardback copies of her memoir at Book Expo America... So, I decided to grab a copy of her memoir and have her sign a copy for me. I read Liona Boyd's memoir, but wasn't impressed with her writing... Boyd's excessively flowery language used in describing her life, along with her flare for the dramatics were very off putting. Liona Boyd's writing style was just too darn distracting and if she simply used less flowery language and stuck to the facts regarding her life, it would have been an interesting and fascinating read.

6. Furry Logic by Matin Durrani - This is a science book about the physics of animal life and is sitting on my book shelf waiting to be read. I received it from a Bookcrosser, who was kind enough to send this book my way.

7. Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford - I bought this novel at The Dollar Tree for a dollar before the pandemic hit. I've yet to read it. It sounds like a great read, so hopefully I'll read it soon.

8. The Mothers by Brit Bennett - This novel is still sitting in my 'to be read' pile. I bought this book based on its summary and great reviews I've read about it. Hopefully, I will read The Mothers sooner rather than later.

9. Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice by Mark J. Plotkin Ph.D. - Back in my college days, I enrolled in an upper division biology course and took the easiest upper division science course I could find to satisfy my upper division science requirement. I completed a medicinal plant course that ended up being rather interesting when all was said and done. 

The professor for this course had mentioned we would receive extra credit by attending an in person author event/book signing at a Barnes & Noble book store for ethnobotanist, Mark J. Plotkin Ph.D. and his new book titled, Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice. I decided to attend the event because the Barnes & Noble bookstore was close enough to where I lived, so why not receive extra credit points for attending this author event? 

I'd never heard of Mark J. Plotkin Ph.D. before. I found him to be an engaging and passionate speaker about his time spent in the Amazon rainforest doing research as an ethnobotanist. I bought and read his book and loved it! Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice is one of my all time favorite books ever written. I also think that attending this event back in late 1993 or early 1994 may have been the 1st author event/book signing event I ever attended.

10. Godshot by Chelsea Bieker - This novel is still sitting in my 'to be read' pile. I bought this book based on its summary. Hopefully, I will read it sooner rather than later.