#TopTenTuesday: First Books I Reviewed

Welcome back to another Top Ten Tuesday! This meme was created by The Broke and the Bookish and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in 2018. Today’s prompt was submitted by Rissi @ Finding Wonderland and asks us to list the (First Ten) Books I Reviewed.

Prior to setting this blog loose into the great big blogosphere two months ago, I was writing reviews on Goodreads. I wrote my first review in April 2018 (yep, I’m pretty much still a hatchling compared to many of you). When I first started I didn’t write one for every book I read; I don’t know why not or how I chose which books to review either, but looking through my list, I’m surprised there are plenty that I skipped. It makes me want to go back and write the ones I missed, although with my notoriously terrible memory, I doubt I’d be able to without a re-read and that’d be a helluva list! 😅


Ready, Player One by Ernest Cline – ★★★★.5☆

This book was amazing! If my inner geek was a dragon (maybe it is), reading this was like diving into a cavernous treasure trove. I loved the 80s nostalgia and the crazy amazing world Cline built!

This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz – ★★.5☆☆☆

I wasn’t particularly impressed with this one. Even though Diaz’s writing flowed like poetry, I couldn’t connect to the characters or what they were going through. It was a let down!

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann – ★★★★★

I don’t often read non-fiction and when I do it usually takes me ages to finish. I read this one in a night (#noregrets) and it’s still one of the best NF I’ve ever read!

A Reaper At the Gates (An Ember in the Ashes #3) by Sabaa Tahir – ★★★★☆

One of my favorite series! Love the complexity of the characters, the world building, the magic. It took a while to really sink into this again but it was worth it!

Carter & Lovecraft (Carter & Lovecraft #1) by Jonathan L. Howard – ★★★★☆

I’m not into horror and I know Lovecraft is one of the masters of horror, but this was more creeping weird-things horror rather than paranormal shocking-ghosty horror, and I surprisingly loved it!


We Were Liars by E. Lockhart – ★★★★☆﻿

Even though I managed to guess what happened (not how though!) this was still a deliciously shocking YA mystery! Also, I still cried buckets (of course).

Thunderhead (Arc of A Scythe #2) by Neal Shusterman – ★★★★★

I’m still crying waiting for the next installment to come out especially after THAT ENDING. Neal, mate, I hope you’re working hard kicking that sequel’s butt!

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas – ★★★★★

Is there really anything else to say except this book seriously blew my mind? Amazing doesn’t even begin to cover it! Still haven’t seen the movie — should I?

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows – ★★★★☆

Not my favorite storytelling style, but this was such a feel good story and by the end the characters felt like old friends I was sad to leave behind. I also haven’t seen this movie — should I?

The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon – ★★★★★

This had the hopeless romantic in me swooning left, right and center! Such a touching story and I am so taken with the idea of fate/destiny too, so this definitely ticked lots of my boxes! I think I’m excited for the movie 😅

Well, that was a nice stroll down memory lane! Do you remember your first review(s)? If you’ve also done a Top Ten Tuesday post, drop your link in the comments below!

26 thoughts on “#TopTenTuesday: First Books I Reviewed

  1. I urge you to go ahead and write down what you can about the books you have read now while you still remember a little about them. I wish I had started reviewing books or, at least, writing down the titles of the books I read, earlier in my life.

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    1. I’m glad that I started using Goodreads to at least keep track of my reads and what I rated them. Too bad I didn’t write the reviews — maybe I’ll write down what I remember of them if anything 🙂

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    1. Yes, before this blog I used to write on Goodreads only. Or I also sometimes made notes on my phone! 😅 Don’t know why I didn’t do it for all of the books when I started reviewing though! Silly me…

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  2. Well, happy one year blogging!!! Go you!! I loved READY PLAYER ONE & WE WERE LIARS. My inner geek and nostalgia-loving self got immersed in RPO from the get go. I also kind of saw where WE WERE LIARS was going, but I love everything E. Lockhart does, so I still liked it.

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    1. Thank you! If reviewing on GR counts as blogging then I can’t believe it’s been a year (time flies)! RPO hooked me in from the beginning too. We Were Liars was my first E. Lockhart book! Have you read any of her other books?

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  3. I love how you refer to yourself as a hatchling! 😂 I rarely review so even though our blog has been around for more than 8 months, I have less than 10 reviews posted. Even on Goodreads, I don’t have very many. I mostly review NetGalley books or other review copies because having a deadline helps me sit myself down to write!

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  4. I’m quite new to reviewing too– I don’t even think I’ve done 10 haha!! And I did think about going back to do reviews for books that I’ve previously read but memory was an issue like you said!!
    I’m glad you enjoyed ‘A Reaper at the Gates’– I’ve read the first two and enjoyed them so I am excited to see where the story goes. The paperback recently came out so I am hoping to get to it soon.
    We were liars is one of my friends favourite books– I’ve heard it is shocking– well done on predicting what happened. I really want to get to see if I can haha. And I want to read the Scythe books so I am glad to hear you enjoyed them– I hope you get to read the next instalment soon.
    Lovely post and I love your blog design by the way!! ❤

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  5. Its great when you can go back like that. Also i don’t think you have to review everything you read. You probably just had something to say about those that you did review on goodreads and not so much with the others and that is okay. 🙂

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  6. I don’t review every book I read. God,I don’t rate every book I read. When I’m in a reading binge, i read without stop. Then I get too lazy to just go rate every book, so I only do the ones i enjoyed more.
    As for your list, I’d like to read Ready Player. I’ve read A ripper at the gates and loved it. Didn’t read the rest, though i’ve heard about them.

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  7. These posts are really the most fun! 😀 (Also, don’t worry – my boyfriend and I only juuuuust started our blog last month, so we’re the real newbies 😉 ) I loved Ready Player One and The Hate U Give! I’m not as big a fan of Nicola Yoon as everyone else seems to be XD but I still enjoyed The Sun Is Also A Star 🙂

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  8. Thanks so much for visiting Finding Wonderland last week; so nice to meet you (also, I love your little panda bear accents).

    I loved ‘Guernsey,’ but it was a bit of an adjustment when it came to the writing style. I’ve also heard SO many things about “Ready Player One” but never did feel a draw to read that one. Maybe someday I will! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you so much for stopping by too! Sometimes I don’t mind the writing style in Guernsey, especially when looking for something light. RPO is great but it is also quite heavy on gaming details and other details from the 80s (which I absolutely loved)! Lol 😍 Hope you enjoy it if/when you do!

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  9. Oooh, I’ve seen the movie for Potato Peel Society–it was pretty good! Haven’t read the book but I’ve heard they’re a lot different. And ahh, I love books where you really get to know the characters! I should check to see if I already have the book on my TBR…

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Oh no, I think that’s probably one of the reasons I haven’t watched the movie yet. I didn’t realize it’d be so different! Would definitely recommend the book–love the characters and their community 🥰

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