This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is “Books I Was Reading On This Day Over the Last Ten Years”. I stopped using Goodreads and didn’t have a replacement for a couple of years in the middle, so this will be easier to do with the books I was reviewing on this day (or as near as possible) in previous years, so I’m going to go with that!
So without further ado…
- 11th August 2016: Brother Jacob, by George Eliot (1/5 stars). No memory of this one, really, but I don’t think I ever did read any more George Eliot!
- 11th August 2017: Incognito, by David Eagleman (3/5 stars). I sort of remember the discussion of what to do about criminal behaviour, but not enough to have an opinion now
- 11th August 2018: Witchmark, by C.L. Polk (3/5 stars). I wasn’t an enormous fan of this at first, just kind of liked it, but IIRC I liked it more on a reread, and liked the second book!
- 11th August 2019: The Pandemic Century, by Mark Honigsbaum (3/5 stars). Hmm! I do actually remember this one, and that I was kind of irked that it wanted to have things both ways: you shouldn’t panic about a pandemic but you should contain it effectively. I’d have recently graduated from my BSc, so I was in a good position to critique the book (having studied infectious diseases for part of it and chosen that for my dissertation topic). I’m kinda curious if there’s been a version updated to discuss SARS-CoV-2.
- 10th August 2020: The Green Mill Murder, by Kerry Greenwood (4/5 stars). This was from a point where I was still writing fresh reviews for every reread of a book. It’s one that always sticks in my mind from this series, though I can never remember the way the two halves fit together. (The 11th that year was a Tuesday, so my post on that day was a Top Ten Tuesday post, Books My Bookclub Have Read!)
- 11th August 2021: Magic Strikes, by Ilona Andrews (4/5 stars). Another reread review! I do love the Kate Daniels series still, and this book is a fun one since it features the arena.
- 1st July 2022: The Grief of Stones, by Katherine Addison (4/5 stars). I don’t understand why there are no posts between this and the end of 2022; I have no memory of such a massive blog hiatus. But my next post seems to be a post at the start of 2023, where I apologise for a long absence… so I guess it must be so. Anyway, I loved The Grief of Stones, and have reread it a couple of times since. Shame I didn’t like the third book in the series much.
- 11th August 2023: The Bookshop and the Barbarian, by Morgan Stang (1/5 stars). I definitely remember this one! I was infuriated by it.
- 11th August 2024: A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel, by KJ Charles (4/5 stars). I really enjoyed this one; it’s not my favourite of Charles’ work, but I had a lot of fun, as usual.
- 11th August 2025: Paladin’s Grace, by T. Kingfisher (4/5 stars). My goodness, this was over a year ago already? I read this one while we were in the process of moving and I was staying with my parents, and I frankly devoured it.
As a reminder, ten years is a long time! Who knows what I’d think of these books now.
I loved this prompt 🙂 It’s so cool to see what we were reading, and thinking back on if our views would change now! Also, oooof to 2023. I love that title and cover, but I guess I will not be adding it to my TBR from that review haha
I was not a fan, ahaha. It actually stuck in my head surprisingly well, too.
haha those are the worst! At least if it’s a 1 star and you forget about it, it can’t keep ruining your day
I love how much random variety this prompt gives in the books we end up sharing!
Keira @Keira’s Bookmark recently posted…August 11th: What I Was Reading for the Last Ten Years
It was definitely an interesting one to look into!
Completely agree on the two opposites: The Bookshop and the Barbarian and Paladin’s Grace.
Glad I’m not alone, ha.
I forget books sometimes, too.
I especially forget ones from a specific period of my life, when I was on a medication that affected my memory a bit! But also just some books don’t seem worth remembering.
Do you mind if I ask why you didn’t care for Tomb of Dragons as much? I’ve found that it’s definitely the most controversial book in the trilogy, with people either really vibing with it or feeling like it was a letdown, while the first two books seem to have more consensus
Cosmic recently posted…What Was I Reading on August 11? A Retrospective
I felt that the natural arc of the characters was for a romantic relationship to form between Celehar and Iäna Pel-Thenhior, and I felt like the way that was shut down in The Tomb of Dragons felt very much like the author going “oh hell no, what were you people thinking? Let’s break that off right now.” The way Iäna was swiftly faded out of his previously high importance troubled me a lot. I suggest reading my review for more detail.
8 need to catch up on Andrews, Charles, and Kingfisher asap!
Gotta love their work!
I literally just bought the whole Saint of Steel series last night!! I’m so excited to finally read them! Soon! I have to finish up a series I’m in the middle of first!
Haze @ The Book Haze recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday | Books I Was Reading On This Day Over the Last Ten Years
They’re so lovely! I can’t wait for the next book.
I love T. Kingfisher. How is the Phryne Fisher series? I loved the show but haven’t read the books.
I love them! The series is a great adaptation — a few details are different, but for good reasons. Phryne is cast perfectly.
Yes, our reading tastes do evolve.
I could see that with my list: https://wordsandpeace.com/2026/08/11/top-ten-books-i-was-reading-on-this-day-over-the-last-ten-years/
It’s pretty natural, since we’re not static over time, after all.
Well your timing was spot on with reading The Pandemic Century!
Thanks for sharing your #TTT
Shelleyrae @ Book’d Out recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Was Reading On This Day Over the Last Ten Years
I thought that was funny, yeah!
I had great fun with the prompt, too. Found it went from “How is this one that far back?” to a sudden jump to “I read that? Really?” lol.
calypte recently posted…Murder’s the Word – Sue Minix
Yeah, somehow ten years is a long time ago but five years is yesterday…
I was so mad at The Bookshop and the Barbarian. I figured it was just me…
Nicole @ BookWyrm Knits recently posted…FO Wednesday: Vanilla Chocolate Socks
For my part, I’m glad it’s not just me! I’ve seen other people reviewing it positively, and what?!
That looks like a lot of great books! I really need to read more by Katherine Addison, I’ve only read Angel of the Crows so far but I really liked it.
Oh I really liked that one! Very different to the world of The Goblin Emperor, but I really raced through it as well.
Ten years is a long time!!! I have some books on my list that I loved when I read them the first time and then very much did not love them when I re-read them years later!
Brittany @ Perfectly Tolerable recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday – Books I Was Reading On This Day Over the Last Ten Years
Sadly, sometimes the suck fairy comes to visit!