Top Ten | 
Top ten reads in the first half or 2021. What are yours?
And here we are! I really wish I had gotten to Addie LaRue (and many others), but here are the ones that I did read that stuck with me. This year was really difficult to rank, especially because a lot of my reading was done before March. But after 1-3 is at least a general top 10. #1 snuck in at the end! I have a very ambitious TBR for next year; I like to just choose books in the moment vs planning, and I hope I get through most of them 📚😬🥳
Congratulations on your blog turning 10 years @GatheringBooks 🎉🎉🎉
My top ten is a list of ten places I would love to visit once it is safe to do so again:
1. Japan
2. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
3. Portugal
4. Grand Canyon
5. Switzerland
6. Barcelona, Spain
7. Venice, Italy
8. Sri Lanka
9. Isle of Skye, Scotland
10. Bergen, Norway (where my grandmother is from)
#GB101020
Have you made a list yet @ephemeralwaltz ? ☺️
Some liquid ☀️on a cloudy day.
🥤Homemade mint lemonade & unsweet tea
( fun fact: I struggle to pronounce Arnold Palmer...and Pinot noir) 🤷♀️
It's definitely a process...
Today on the blog we're sharing our biggest bookish discoveries of 2019.
It actually worked out to be Top 9 instead of Top 10 but they are interesting and we hope you enjoy them.
Be share to stop by and share you own discoveries!
https://stuckinthestacks.com/2020/01/14/top-ten-tuesday-our-biggest-bookish-disc...
#toptentuesday #readinglife #bookbloggerhub #bookblog #bookblogs #bookbloggerhub
Genre: Romance, Young Adult
Date started: December 5, 2019
Date finished: December 19, 2019
Why I chose this book: I chose this book because it was about friendship.
Summary: Ryan is a popular hockey player in their high school team, and Gabby is the type of person who likes taking pictures. gabby and Ryan are different from each other, but they still maintain to keep their friendship.
Well, at this very moment these are my #top10ofthedecade. If I had to pick a favorite, I would say A Little Life, but I loved each of these for different reasons. And other that barely missed the list is Devil in the White City, which was wonderful!
I tried-really hard-but I just couldn‘t keep it to 10. The above listed books are the nonfiction reads that have stood out for me over the last decade. Please ask me about any that interest you-I want everyone to read them if they sound interesting to you. #Top10oftheDecade #NonFictionEdition @Cinfhen
pickSince I was in the mood for the cute and quick reads for the last two weeks, I decided that this would be one of the books on my TBR. This books did not disappoint. I liked it because the ending is a little different. Yes, they both loved each other but, at the end, their friendship was what really mattered to them. I like stories that, not only concentrate on love, but friendships as well.
pickAre Gabby and Ryan just friends? Can they ever be more?
Although this book is the top ten moments throughout their best-friendship -- it dives deeper than that.
Gabby is an anxiety-ridden teen. Her anxiety stops her from attending parties and being social.
Ryan is a jock with one too many concussions from hockey.
How do these two people from different social worlds become friends? How does their friendship play out? Read & find out 😉
I want to give a shout-out to Katie Cotugno for her detailed attention to the “romantic rival” character. In her books, we often get a flawed (but likable) female protagonist, & a love triangle. The love interest often already has a girlfriend. A lot of authors make that girlfriend vapid or of questionable integrity, such that we feel okay about the inevitable, eventual break-up. Not Katie. (Cont‘d in comments👇🏻):
pickI just love Katie Cotugno. She‘s so good at what she does (namely, writing realistic YA lit).
Everything about this book felt very natural; the dialogue, the portrayal of diverse relationships & sexuality. The way Cotugno describes anxiety & panic attacks feels real & sympathetic. The only (tiny) gripe I have is that Ryan, who‘s supposed to come from a poor household, ALWAYS pays! Gabby‘s got dough! Why doesn‘t she ever offer to grab the check?!
I just read a book about two high-schoolers, a guy & a girl, who are best friends. Although their relationship is very different, I couldn‘t help thinking about my own high school best friend. Like Ryan is for Gabby, he was my security blanket in social situations: everyone loved him; he was the life of every party. Although people liked me just fine, I wasn‘t as good at faking confidence & stuck with my own close-knit friend hroup. (Cont‘d 👇🏻)
Katie Cotugno‘s books never end the way I want them to. I always end up a tear-stained mess, hiding in my turtleneck or wrapped up in my hammock like a comforting cocoon of sadness (depending on the season). It‘s never a simple happily ever after. It‘s always more realistic. Ultimately, I always begrudgingly admit that I guess the ending fit the story, & that open-ended “endings” are better than neat little bows. But I wanted Gabby & Ryan to work!
“It seemed immediately clear to Ryan that this was a house where people ate their sandwiches on whole wheat bread.”
I 💛 the pretty insta-collage style of the endpapers in Katie Cotugno's new novel. btw, if you're on Twitter, follow Katie! love her #5goodthings hashtag, and she's also a sporadic BOTM judge. #bookmail #endpapers #ya
