TOP TEN TUESDAY | THE ONE WHERE I IGNORE THE PROMPT COMPLETELY

This week’s topic for TTT was “Frequently Used Words In [Insert Genre/Age Group] Titles.” There’s nothing wrong with this prompt except that it works better for genre fiction or YA genred fiction, neither of which I’m really that into at the moment. My reading tastes are pretty varied, but the majority of what I’m reading these days is adult literary fiction – and that’s a pretty varied genre of books. I could definitely pick out some frequently used themes or plot points or types of characters, but words? Nah.

While I could have gone with a twist on the theme, I decided to completely depart from it this week and just do my own topic. So here’s mine:

Ten Books Most Recently Added to My Goodreads TBR

               

I saw Shelter In Place and As Good As True mentioned on my new favourite YouTube channel, Rene Pierre. He read a section of Shelter In Place in this video and I found it so moving that I immediately ordered the book. As Good As True interested me because it centres on some important themes – race, immigration, small-town ignorance and domestic violence. All coming together in the story of a Sryian woman who lives in a small town in Alabama in 1956. It has hints of The Trouble With Goats and Sheep, and I’m intrigued to see how the intersection of a Syrian refugee and a black man play out in that time and place.

The Ice and That Awkward Age were, largely, cover picks. I think they’re both just beautiful, but they also sounded intriguing. The Ice is the second book from Laline Paull, who wrote The Bees. This one is a bit of an adventure story and murder mystery with nods to one of the most important (if not the most important) issues facing humankind at the moment – climate change. I also find the wintery setting appealing, since we are now heading into summer and I’ll soon begin missing the snow! That Awkward Age is the newest book by Francesca Segal, an author and journalist whose first book, The Innocents, won several prizes including the Costa First Novel Award in 2012. It’s about a lot of themes I find interesting as they’re associated with my stage in life – raising children, blending families, starting over – and I’m hoping it will be one I can really connect with.

               

When I Hit You is one of the Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist I wasn’t too excited to read. Not because I didn’t think it would be good, but because it’s about a tough topic (domestic abuse) and sounded like it didn’t pull any punches or let the reader off easy. I wasn’t sure I could handle reading it, and thought it might be too well done for comfort. That’s all still true, but I’ve just been hearing so many wonderful things about it that I want to at least give it a try and see what everyone’s talking about. Plus, as of yesterday, we now know it made the shortlist, and I have this inkling it might be one of the favourites to win.

The next three are all medical themed non-fiction. The two Henry Marsh books are about his experiences as a brain surgeon. The first, Do No Harm, is an unflinchingly honest account of what goes on behind the scenes and what it really feels like to both have the power to help mend the body’s most personal and important organ, and to not always be able to mend it. Admissions is a follow up on Do No Harm in which Marsh has retired from his British practice, and has taken his skills to the Ukraine and Nepal to do important pro bono work in difficult conditions. Both books were bestsellers and listed for several prizes (winning a fair number of them).

The Unmapped Mind is a memoir of Christian Donlan’s diagnosis with multiple sclerosis and the juxtaposition of his worsening symptoms against his toddler daughter’s discovery of her ability to navigate the world around her with more confidence and skill. It’s a book that I expect to connect to on a lot of levels. I’m currently dealing with some medical issues while my daughter enters toddlerhood, and I’m also trying to come to terms with what my future might look like (and whether it will be long enough to see as much of her life as I want to). My issues are nowhere near as serious as his, but I do have a couple of chronic ones that have slowly removed bodily abilities I took for granted, severely limit my ability to take care of my child, and will impact the trajectory of my life.

     

I have heard so much about Donal Ryan’s book All We Shall Know, but I tried to read it and found the subject matter alienating. But I want to give his writing another try, and I like the sound of this one. It’s about three characters with different background at different stages of live, but whose stories intersect in unexpected ways.

And finally, Territory of Light. I feel like this has been popping up everywhere lately, having only just come out in English translation. Another book that I feel I will connect deeply with, it’s the story of a woman’s first year after separating from her husband, and her struggle to find balance and the strength to take care of her three-year-old daughter as her mental state deteriorates. Not a cheerful synopsis, but it is reputed to be beautifully written and thought provoking.

So that’s it for my weekly post! Not what was assigned, but what I wanted to write about. So hopefully no one minds.

Have you read or heard of any of these books? Which books are you most excited to read next?

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly link-up feature created by The Broke and the Bookish and hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Every week TTT has a different topic, and everyone who links up has to create a link of ten items that fit that topic. To see past and upcoming topics, go here.