Top Ten Tuesday used to be a weekly post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, but was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. “It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.” This is definitely something I can understand and want to participate in.
This week’s prompt comes from Lydia @ Lydia Schoch, and I’m completely unsurprised that she would submit a challenging prompt — bookish brags (or confessions). I’m going to just kind of free associate and see what comes up. Lydia’s blog always challenges me to read books that I might not normally have heard of, and I strongly recommend that you check out her blog!
Luckily, this wasn’t too difficult. I was able to come up with ten solid admissions, and I love how much it made me think creatively about my reading and bookish preferences. Here’s what I’m admitting (on the internet, at least):
- Brag/Confession: For much of my life, I was proud of how quickly I could read, tuning out distractions and becoming completely focused on the story. But lately, brain fog has me struggling in a way that I never have before.
- Confession: I started blogging as a way to connect with other readers during the pandemic, and it worked really well. There are some amazing bloggers around.
- Brag: Within the last few years, I’ve finally learned to quiet my mind enough to be able to listen to an audiobook.
- Confession: I have, regrettably, spilled food on my book while eating and reading.
- Brag: My book choice has improved, and I can usually spot books I’m going to love and rate highly as opposed to reading books I don’t enjoy.
- Confession: Traveling can be expensive, and reading books set in or about far-off places are my own way to travel vicariously for little to no cost!
- Brag: I wrote a book of my own, but it is a very rough first draft. It is a Chanukah-themed romance. I’m still trying to brainstorm ways to improve it.
- Confession: I’m quick to offload books I didn’t love. I have an account on Pango where I resell them, and I donate ARCs I don’t want to my local little free library.
- Brag: During my best reading year ever, I read 504 books.
- Confession: I am simply not interested in reading classics anymore. I’ve never even read a book by any of the Brontes.
What are some of your bookish brags, confessions, and rogue prompts? Share your link below!
Categories: Top Ten Tuesday
Leah's Books 
WOW. Your best year of reading number is IMPRESSIVE. I don’t see myself ever reading anywhere close to that many in a year. Good for you!
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That was a particularly motivated year for escapism, but thank you!
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I relate to the classics and chosing your books.
But… Eating while reading? Ouch…
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I too have written a book, when I was in high school. I was so proud of it I gave it to my English teacher. She apologized when she gave it back, because she couldn’t help going teacher mode and correcting errors. I went so far as reading out to various publishers and agencies and never heard back or got many rejection letters. It’s funny, last summer I was at my mom’s helping her clear stuff out and found the rejection letters but not my original manuscript.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/goals-for-2024-3rd-quarter-check-in/
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What a small world! I love discovering cool stuff about others like this, although I’m sorry you lost the original manuscript.
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I would love to be able to quiet my mind enough for audiobooks. That is the best brag! If you have any tips, I’d love to hear them. Actually, I almost made a confession about never reading audiobooks but I wound up skipping that for my post.
That is a lot of books in one year! I doubt I could even get to 100.
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Thank you! I’ve always been a fast reader, but I can’t consistently read that many books a year.
When I read audiobooks, I have to be doing something that takes some focus but not a lot of thought. Usually cooking and cleaning are great times for me to pop on an audiobook, as well as driving or when playing a mindless game.
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Thank you for your kind words. You made my day!
Congratulations on writing a book! If you have it published, do let us know. I’d love to hear more. 🙂 (But no pressure if that’s not something you want to pursue).
Reading 504 books in a year is incredible. My record is a little over 100, I think.
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I’m so glad to have given you a little dose of sunshine, and thank you so much! It needs a lot of work and some polishing before I’ll be ready to even think about publishing. And while that was my one-time high, other years haven’t come close.
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It is always great when you get to know your reading taste so well that the books you choose fit so well. 🙂
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It is absolutely a blessing!
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A great list! So many things to be proud of! My favourite Classic is Jane Eyre…
Have a great week!
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
My post:
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The only classic literature I’ve found that I enjoy is Russian classics. They’re amazing!
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🤣 maybe I need to broaden my classical reading!
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Couldn’t hurt! I suggest Crime and Punishment to start, that was my first read and I loved it.
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I have heard of that one 🤣
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What stood out most to me about your list is the book you wrote. I host a 12 books of Christmas reading challenge about every other year (all winter holiday books count), but I’ve never personally read any that weren’t Christmas based. I’d love to read a Chanukah romance. I hope you have a great week.
Here’s my TTT if you wish to visit – https://justanothergirlandherbooks.blogspot.com/2024/10/top-ten-tuesday-bookish-brags-and.html
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Yes! I wrote it because I wasn’t seeing any Chanukah romances, but since then, Jean Meltzer has The Matzah Ball, which is a fantastic Chanukah romance. She writes all of her books from a Jewish perspective, and I highly recommend any of them.
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Hmm Pango is new to me – I’ll have to look into it!
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My friend turned me onto it – I love it!
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The same thing happens to me with concentration. When i was a child, I could read even at parties. Now, I get distracted by anything, even when I’m alone in silence.
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Yes! I’m having so much more trouble focusing now than I ever did as a kid.
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Great list! I’m envious of your ability to quiet your mind so you can “read” an audiobook. I don’t think I’ll ever get there. It’s almost instant that my brain drifts off and I have no idea what I’m listening to.
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That does happen to me sometimes and I’ll have to wait until I can read it in another format – I can’t read an audiobook for just any book.
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FIVE HUNDRED FOUR books? That’s incredible! I’m bragging today about reading over 200 a year. Ha ha.
I’m usually at home alone when I eat breakfast and lunch, so I always read while I eat. I’ve spilled food and beverages on my books more times than I care to admit!
How fun that you wrote a Chanukkah-themed romance. I feel like those are really “in” right now. Perfect timing for publication (if that’s your aim).
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
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Thank you so much for the nice words! That was a one-time high, I usually don’t get anywhere close to that number. I learned the hard way not to read physical books while having spaghetti because I got the sauce on one too many books. Chanukah themed romance is really becoming a thing and I AM HERE FOR IT!
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Choosing books that you know you’ll enjoy is an important skill!
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It definitely is!
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FIVE HUNDRED AND FOUR?? I need you to know I am the actual embodiment of that astonished-blinking-man gif right now reading that. That’s amazing, best brag.
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That’s such a great gif, and picturing someone making that face while reading cracked me up, so thank you for that!
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Wow, 504 books? My TBR would love me if I could do that. I think I’ll struggle to hit 50 books this year.
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My TBR would love me for it if I could do that every year, but I haven’t gotten it anywhere close after that. I think all that really matters is that we enjoy or learn from the books that we consume, rather than the number.
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