"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Monday, September 29, 2025

TTT: Favorite books of Sumer (a tweak)

Top Ten Tuesday: My favorite books of summer 2025

This week the prompt is for us to show books whose covers are very autumn-y. I looked through both my read books and my Tbr books and found only three or four covers that looked like autumn to me. So this week while others look forward to this new season, I will look back at my favorite summer 2025 reads.

Favorite books of summer, all 5-star reviews:

The Antidote by Russell. This is probably going to end up not only being my favorite book of summer but of all 2025. So many themes to explore.
Someone Builds the Dream by Wheeler. My favorite children's book I've read in 2025. It has a message which really landed with my eldest grandson.
How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida. My favorite middle grade book. We listened to this with our grandsons during our Grand-Adventure this summer. We all laughed and laughed. It makes me smile to think of it.
A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean. No wonder this book has made it to modern classic status. We were in Montana when we were listening to this audiobook.
Water, Water: Poems by Billy Collins. This guy! His poems just seem to stick. There is no other poet I've read who writes poems I MUST read aloud to whomever will listen, usually my husband. We have changed the way we tease each other because of one of these poems.
Three Days in June by Tyler. Sometimes I want a book which isn't high drama and is easy on one's nerves. This is that book.
A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Peterson. The best devotional/Bible study guide I've ever read.
Say Nothing: Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Keefe. Narrative nonfiction. So interesting: about The Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Banned Together: Our Fight for Reader's Rights edited by Perez. A timely and varied collection of essays by YA authors, all of them on the banned books list, an honor none of them wish they had.
The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Kimmerer. Gift economies of indigenous people. Another way of looking at solutions to our issues. So wise.

(Three adult fiction; two adult nonfiction; one poetry; one middle grade book; one children's, one essays; and one devotional. Talk about a variety of reading experiences!)

-Anne