Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Top 10 Tuesday: AmberBug's Summer TBR

Top Ten Tuesday from "The Broke and the Bookish"

This will be my second contribution to "Top Ten Tuesday" from The Broke and Bookish. The topic this week revolves around "to be read" lists and particularly, what we'll be reading this summer. At first I thought this would be hard for me since I usually pick the next book I read when the time comes (never really ahead of time). Don't get me wrong, I DO have a HUGE "to be read" pile but I don't like to plan things out too much. I find myself in moods, there have been some books I've loved (but when read in the wrong mood... my adoration of the book might not have been as strong). I like to play to the book strengths, if the book is light and breezy... it helps if I've read a darker and deeper book before. I like to swing my reading moods around, like a trick yo-yo. 

So you can see why I had trouble selecting 10 books for this... You'll see below, I decided to pick 10 books I really WANT to read this summer. Hopefully, that might happen but you never know. I still hope you like my list. I can at least guarantee the first one will be read RIGHT after I receive it in the mail. That particular book needs a little background with why I've selected it. You've probably heard of the Hachette/Amazon dispute (unless you live in a cave), but you may not have heard that Stephen Colbert decided to make a stand against Amazon and demanded that his viewers buy the book "California" through independent bookstores such as Powells. Check out the background behind this here. Little did Powell's and/or the Author of "California", Edan Lepucki, that this book would rise above J.K. Rowlings, "Silkworm" as the #1 selling book on Powells (and continues to stand there). After looking up the premise of the book, I decided it sounded interesting enough to buy and decided to put myself into this mad mix of chaos. I haven't received the book yet but when I do... It'll be bumped to my very next book to read. I can't wait. I feel like this will be a little "Colbert" book club and it makes me excited to see what kinds of people join me in reading this at the same time.  


California by Edan Lepucki (Click to go to Powell's site to buy.)


California by Edan Lepucki
A gripping and provocative debut novel by a stunning new talent, California imagines a frighteningly realistic near future, in which clashes between mankind's dark nature and irrepressible resilience force us to question how far we will go to protect the ones we love.


Hard Choices by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Hard Choices by Hillary Rodham Clinton
This next selection is another definite. I have already purchased and downloaded it from Audible. I'm really looking forward to it, she even narrates it herself. This book is a little self explanatory. ;p

The Martian by Andy Weir

The Martian by Andy Weir

Since I plan out my audible selections more than my books, I'll let you in on another audio-book I have sitting in my "to listen"... (One I've been hearing only amazing things about). Book Blurp: Apollo 13 meets Cast Away in this grippingly detailed, brilliantly ingenious man-vs-nature survival thriller, set on the surface of Mars. 


The Bees by Laline Paull

The Bees by Laline Paull


I've been DYING to read "The Bees" ever since it came out. I would like to purchase this one, since I have a feeling that I'll really like it. Take the very popular "Dystopia" and add "Literary Fiction" with some "Fantasy" and "Science Fiction" and you have something closely describing the genre of this... I mean what?!? Yeah, it looks awesome. Here is the SUPER lame blurb they came up with: 

The Handmaid's Tale meets The Hunger Games in this brilliantly imagined debut set in an ancient culture where only the queen may breed and deformity means death.

I mean really? Can you name drop anymore? I think the idea that this book envelops so many genres is in itself SO cool, you don't need a blurb like that. Hopefully the book itself isn't as terrible as that name-dropping one liner. 



The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin


Blurb: On the faded Island Books sign hanging over the porch of the Victorian cottage is the motto "No Man Is an Island; Every Book Is a World." A. J. Fikry, the irascible owner, is about to discover just what that truly means. 

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry has gotten quite the audience, especially within the book loving communities. This is a "must read" for me, just a matter of when. Maybe this summer? 


Garlic, An Edible Biography by Robin Cherry

Garlic, An Edible Biography by Robin Cherry


So have we told you our plans for the future of Shelf Notes? No? Super awesome and intelligent Arianna came up with the idea of doing cookbook reviews. If you didn't know this, we are super close in the real world (as well as on our blog) and we decided to get our significant others together and cook for them. With their opinions of the food and our opinions regarding the ease of directions (among other things), we shall give you a comprehensive review of the book, the food and the night itself. Fun right? Yep, see... Arianna is pure genius. We picked up Garlic, an Edible Biography at BookExpo and even met the Author. My hope is to make a garlicky dinner sometime this summer. So be on the watch for our upcoming reviews.


The Palace of Illusions by Kim Addonizio

The Palace of Illusions by Kim Addonizio


This is another book I picked up at BookExpo this year. The publication date is early September, so I'm hoping to read this late summer. I'm not a huge short story fan but I have a feeling that these might be wacky enough to keep my interest (not to mention the Author was tattooed up the wazoo!) Blurb: Distracted parents, first love, the twin forces of alienation and isolation: the characters in The Palace of Illusions all must contend with these challenges, trafficking in the fault lines between the real and the imaginary, often in a world not of their making. 


The Furies by Natalie Haynes

The Furies by Natalie Haynes


Another BookExpo book. Not much about this has me jumping up and down BUT it looks like a solid pick for summer. Young adult mystery, I did just read "We Were Liars" and maybe this one will be hoping to ride on the coat-tails of that book, but I might give it a go.


The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison

The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison


This is a book I've been hearing Rebecca S. from BookRiot rave about for a while now. I listen to the podcast and she has relentlessly promoted this book to the point where I need to read it, RIGHT NOW. The only thing is... I usually save non-fiction for audio booking and apparently, this title is not available on Audible. Why? No idea... but I'm hoping it pops up sometime this summer. If not, I might have to mosey on down to the local bookstore and see if they can order one for me.


Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes

Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes


I'm REALLY looking forward to this one. I haven't had the chance to read Shining Girls yet but I've heard great things about it. I think that's why I want to be on the ground running with this book. I have the ARC (advance reading copy), it looks like the kind of book I'd love... so nothing to fear! You'll definitely see me reading this before the release date (but the review probably won't be published until September). 

Blurb: Broken Monsters lays bare the decaying corpse of the American Dream, and asks what we'd be prepared to do for fifteen minutes of fame, especially in an online world.


So, that's my list. What about you? Which books have you yearning for a beach day? 

 

8 comments:

  1. I'm in the queue for The Empathy Exams at the library. It sounds like a really fascinating book.


    I loved The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. It is a perfect summer read!

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  2. Looks like I'll have to travel down to the local bookstore to pick up A.J. Fikry! Thanks!

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  3. So many of these are great picks. AJ Fikry is good, The Martian is good... I really want to read California too and The Bees have been staring at me from my bedside table for awhile. :)

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  4. Haha, The Bees have been calling out to me as well. Just got a surprise "Martian" in the mail today from Random House, so they'll have to wait. Have you ordered "California"? I want it to be a giant book club once it comes out haha. I figured so many people will have obeyed Colbert. Can't wait, and the Author is coming to our local bookstore next month which will be fun.

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  5. I haven't ordered California, yet... :)

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  6. Awwww, you! I finally, finally got around to reading this post, and I didn't realize you were such a sweetheart in it!! <3


    I'm just about to pick up AJ at the library because my hold finally came through, BUT goodness knows when I'll get around to it...especially since I am ALREADY reading another library book about books! Haha.

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  7. P.S. YOU are actually, in reality, the super duper awesomesauce one of us. :)

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  8. Nope, that title is yours! :) Can't wait for our first cookbook dinner next Friday though! <3

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