Top Ten Tuesday: Spring TBR Books

Top Ten by The Broke and the Bookish

Top 10 Spring TBR Books:

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It’s officially Spring, though Spain has not gotten the memo, since it’s FREEZING outside!  Oh well, that’s just better weather to curl up with a book, and perfect timing because today’s Top Ten is all about the books on my to-be-read list for this Spring!  Enjoy!  :)

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Soldier Dogs by Maria Goodavage - I will start with this one since it was featured in my Link of the Day today.  I’m very excited to read this book.  Soldiers willingly put themselves in danger when they go to war.  Human soldiers know what they are getting themselves into, while dog soldiers do not.  So it is so nice that their story, which they are unable to tell for themselves, is being told.

Tell Me Where It Hurts by Nick Trout - My first dream profession was to be a veterinarian.  Now, it is to be a wildlife journalist, and while I will be helping animals by telling their stories, I won’t be helping them like vets do.  I am still very interested in the lives of veterinarians and all they go through, so I am extremely ready to read this book from the acclaimed vet and author, Dr. Nick Trout.

The Great Animal Orchestra by Bernie Krause - I have just finished When Elephants Weep (review coming soon), and one of the topics covered was about animals enjoying their own noises – birds enjoying their songs, elephants their trumpets, lions their roars, etc. – and I was truly intrigued by the idea.  Needless to say I was extremely intrigued by this book of how important each animal’s sound is vital to their existence.

Wildlife Heroes by Julie Scardina - This book was also featured in another of my Links of the Day, and I instantly added it to my TBR list.  I admire people like Jane Goodall, Louis Leaky, and Dian Fossey, and hope to some day do my own part to help animals, so I’m very interested in learning about other people who help out the animal kingdom!

Not So Funny When It Happened by Tim Cahill - After reading No Touch Monkey, I just needed more travel misadventure.  So when I found out about this book, I just had to add it to my TBR list!

Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin - I wanted to read this book since I first heard about it when I was in high school.  I think I’ll finally get to it this Spring and am excited to start it!

Farm Sanctuary by Gene Baur - When I was 16 I became a vegetarian.  That lasted for 3 years until I craved meat too much (sad, I know) and quit, going back to being a carnivore.  Lately, I have been going through some inner-changes, and have decided to become a vegetarian again, and this time stick with it for the long run.  This book looks crucial to my success at being a lifelong vegetarian, and is definitely going to be read very soon.

Rickie and Henri by Jane Goodall - Written by my hero, Jane Goodall, this is a story about the love and friendship between a dog and a rescued chimp.  It look like such a heartwarming story, and I would love to read it this Spring!

Love, Life, and Elephants by Daphne Sheldrick - I first heard about Daphne Sheldrick’s orphan elephant sanctuary in an issue of National Geographic.  I became so obsessed with following her site and newsletters of how the orphaned elephants were doing, that my dad and step-mom gifted me with becoming a foster parent to two of the elephants at Daphne’s sanctuary.  So I am extremely excited to read her book, and learn more about the amazing work she has done to save and help some of the most beautiful and interesting creatures in the world.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - OK, OK, I’ll add a fiction novel to my list!  I’ve actually been wanting to read The Night Circus since it came out, and after continuing to read great reviews on it, I thought I would buckle down and read it this Spring.

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I know there are TONS of animal books on my list, and only one fiction.  But animals are my passion, and non-fiction is my reading preference, so hopefully, even if you are more of a fiction reader, you still enjoy my list!

Hope all of you have a Happy Tuesday!

What are your Top 10 TBR books for Spring?

Top Ten Tuesday: Book Covers

Top Ten by The Broke and the Bookish

Top 10 Favorite Book Covers:

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I know the list is supposed to contain 2012 covers, but I’m going to include my favorite covers from all years.  These are in no particular order, but here they are.  Enjoy!  :)

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No Touch Monkey by Ayun Halliday – Come on, how could you not love this cover?!  I mean just look at it!  The main reason why I bought this book was because of the cover, and I’m so glad I did because the book exceeded my expectations.  Check out my review of this book here.

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein - I am extremely biased with this book because it’s one of my favorites.  But I do love the simple cover and if you read it, then you will understand how powerful this cover truly is.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel - I could literally stare at this cover for hours.  It provokes such wonderment and imagination, and trust me this is just not another “pretty cover” because the book is absolutely AMAZING.

Unlikely Friendships by Jennifer S. Holland - Awww…just Awww! Do I need to say more?!  Check out my review of this book here.

Modoc by Ralph Helfer - This cover brings tears to my eyes.  I remember staring at this cover after I finished the book and the words I had just finished reading came flooding back in my mind.  The cover isn’t even half as good as the book, but it’s definitely one of my favorite book art.

Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs - Such a great book, and such a great cover.  I just love it.  It really captures the words that are on the pages.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - Anyone who has read this book knows how amazing this cover is in person.  It’s such a great design that it instantly attracts you into reading the book.

Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman - I remember stroking this cover when I first picked this book up, waiting desperately to read it.  This cover is so cool.  Screw Eat, Pray, Love, this book deserved its own movie.

The Devil’s Teeth by Susan Casey - I asked my mom to get me this book for Christmas based on the cover alone.  It’s scary as hell, but also extremely intriguing.  The book was great, but I think the cover is just a tad bit better.  Check out my review of this here.

Moby-Duck by Donovan Hohn - I haven’t read this book yet, but it’s definitely on my TBR list.  And it’s on there for the most part because of the cover.  It’s so cool, isn’t it?!  Can’t wait to see if the book lives up to the cover.

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The cover art are sometimes my favorite part of the book, and it really is something that draws you into the book.

So this is my list, and hope all of you have a Happy Tuesday!

What are your Top 10 favorite book covers?

Friday Finds: Before There’s a Movie, There’s a Book

Friday Finds by Should Be Reading

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week?

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Man on Wire  by Philippe Petit

I’ve seen the documentary and get goosebumps just thinking about it.  Philippe Petit is extraordinary and I am so happy I discovered his book, and can’t wait to read it!

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The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby

Another beautiful and amazing movie, I just can’t wait to read the book from Monsieur Jean Dominique himself!

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A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

I have the poster from Mr. Stanley Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange movie hanging up in my living room.  Can’t believe I still haven’t read the book!

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These are the three books I have found this week, and I am looking forward to reading each of them!

What about you?  What great books have you discovered, bought, or are dying to read?  Let us know in the comment section below!

Have a Great Weekend All! 

Friday Finds: Adventure Memoirs

Friday Finds by Should Be Reading

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week?

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The Year We Were Famous  by Carole Estby Dagg

This book looks very interesting.  It’s a mother/daughter adventure story and it looks worth the read.  I have no idea how I found it, but I’m glad I did!

Grayson by Lynee Cox

This book looks like it has everything I usually want in a story: adventure, animals, and an unlikely friendship.  I can not wait to read this book!

Following Atticus by Tom Ryan

And another adventure memoir, this book looks so cute!  Obviously, we all know that I’m a sucker for animal stories, and just looking at that face on the cover gets me!  Plus, I had a stuffed animal dog named Atticus when I was younger!

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These are the three books I have found this week, and I am looking forward to reading each of them!

What about you?  What great books have you discovered, bought, or are dying to read?  Let us know in the comment section below!

Have a Great Weekend All! 

Friday Finds: A Mixture of Non-Fiction

Friday Finds by Should Be Reading

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week?

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The Lost City of Z by David Grann

Now, I know this book is a few years old.  I remember seeing it at Borders when it first came out and everyone was reading it.  I read the synopsis and wasn’t interested so I never picked it up again.  Then, this week, I stumbled upon it again and gave the synopsis a read.  It sparked my fancy this time and somehow it has ended up on my TBR list!  Has anyone else read this, and if so what did you think?

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The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby

Ever seen this movie?  If no, you MUST!  The movie is one of my favorites and when this book was recommended to me on Goodreads, I yelled out, “Duh!” and instantly added it to my TBR list!

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Honeymoon with My Brother: A Memoir by Franz Wisner

I love memoirs and haven’t read one in a while.  This particular memoir looks both touching and funny so I’m excited that I found it!

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These are the three books I have found this week.  Have you read any of these?  

Have a Great Weekend All! 

Friday Finds: Travel Week

Friday Finds by Should Be Reading

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week?

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From Baghdad, With Love by Jay Kopelman

Awww…I mean just look at the cover!  And the synopsis makes it look even better.  How would I not add this to my TBR list after finding it?!

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Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World by Michael Lewis

This is from the same author who wrote Moneyball.  This book looks both interesting and funny and I’m interested to see how it is.

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Pass the Butterworms: Remote Journeys Oddly Rendered by Tim Cahill

What’s better than a funny travelogue from an author who relates his interesting journeys?!  Nothing’s better for me!

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Here are my Friday Finds.  Now that NaNo is finally over (though I do miss it), I can actually indulge in my favorite thing which I have ignored for the past month: reading!  I’m extremely excited to get to these books on my TBR list!

 

Have a Great Weekend All! 

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my Winter TBR List

Top Ten by The Broke and the Bookish

Top 10 Books on My Winter TBR List:

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My TBR list has been overflowing since I started NaNo.  Now that I have finally reached the 50K, it’s time to get back into the reading game.  I bought some very good books before Borders (RIP) closed and before I left the States, so I am excited to dive into some of those, along with new ones I just HAVE to read.

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Born Free by Joy Adamson – I know of Joy Adamson because of the book: A Lion Called Christian, in which Joy and her husband, George, were the ones to rehabilitate Christian.  When I found Born Free during the closing sale of Borders, I just had to get it, and now I look forward to reading another one of Joy Adamson’s exciting adventures with lions.

In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall - Yes, Jane Goodall is a hero of mine, so when I found this book that talks about her early days when Louis Leaky discovered her and she began her adventures with chimps, I just had to get it!  Now, I just have to read it!

Hope for Animals and Their World by Jane Goodall - Yep, another Jane Goodall book, however, this one is about all animals.  Jane Goodall talks about the endangered species, the environment and how it’s affecting us all, and positive approaches to protecting animals and our world.  This is one I can not wait to read!

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson – Yes, I have heard that the author fabricated the story, much like another one of my favorite books: A Million Little Pieces, however, I have wanted to read this book for awhile.  And if it really isn’t true, then I’ll just read it like it’s an amazing fiction story!

Heat and Light by Mike Wallace - I bought this book because I plan on going into journalism, and Heat and Light is all about “advice for the next generation of journalists”.  It actually looks pretty good and informative so I’m excited to read it!

First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria by Eve Brown Waite - What’s better than a funny travelogue?!  I actually just recently found this book and it looks so good and hilarious that I may just bump it up on my TBR list!

Babylon’s Ark by Lawrence Anthony - I know this book is going to bring me to tears, but honestly, I don’t care.  This book looks so amazing that I just have to read it!  Plus, there are some other books by Lawrence Anthony that I have found which I want to read, so I think I’ll read this one first, and then read his others.

 

The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs - This book looks laugh out funny, but also very informative as the author tries to follow the Bible as literal as possible.  Maybe I’ll read this book after I read Babylon’s Ark so I can get some humor in!

The Devil’s Teeth by Susan Casey - This book looks downright scary yet intriguing as I read about the author’s obsession with Great White Sharks.  I myself, have a fear of sharks but I have always been intrigued by them and how people would want to be even in close proximity with them.  This book could either turn my fear into a positive, or make me even more afraid of those monster-looking-big-ass fish!

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie - OK, OK, I’ll indulge in a little fiction.  I have been wanting to read this books for a while now, but have not gotten around to it.  I’m hoping to end my winter TBR list with Ms. Christie,  one of my favorite, and only, mystery authors!

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Don’t worry, it’s not surprising to see only one fiction book on my reading list.  I’m a huge non-fiction fan and read fiction only when the book captivates me from the beginning.

So, this is my winter to-be-read list.  It’s actually much longer than this, and will probably last until next winter!

What books are on your TBR list?

Friday Finds: Animal Stories Galore

Friday Finds by Should Be Reading

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week?

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Babylon’s Ark: The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo by Lawrence Anthony

This book gave me goose bumps by just discovering it.  A story about Iraqis and Americans coming together during war and fighting, all for the sake of animals.  I know this book is going to be sad, I know this book is going to make me want to adopt every single animal I see, but I am so ready to read this book and so excited that I have found it.  Plus, I just found other books by Lawrence Anthony and they all deal with him helping animals. So yes, he may just become a new favorite author and person.

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In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall

If you didn’t know already, Jane Goodall is one of my heroes.  She’s a strong willed, caring, intelligent and lovely woman who was a woman pioneer in her field of research.  Hence, my excitement when I was going through her books and found this one.  This book documents her early days at Gombe Stream Reserve and the love she formed with the chimps.

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Gorillas in the Mist by Dian Fossey

Another one of my heroes, I came to admire Dian Fossey after reading her biography, Woman in the Mist.  I am very excited to finally read her account of everything that happened with the gorillas, and to meet her beloved Digit (a gorilla) through her eyes.

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Yes, I may be an animal story spaz, but I would rather read these kinds of books – books where I feel emotion and a certain closeness to the subjects – 10X more than I would want to read Twilight or books like that.  

So these are my Friday Finds and I’m very excited to embark on the adventures these books will take me on!

Have a Great Weekend All! 

Friday Finds: Some Love, Some Malaria, and Leakey’s Three ‘Angels’

Friday Finds by Should Be Reading

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week?

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First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria by Eve Brown-Waite

I love travel stories, and add a little love adventure and you’re looking at a good book.  This book not only caught my eye because of the cover, but Goodreads even recommended it to me because of my love of humor.  So if it’s as good as it looks, I will finish it in no time!

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Walking with the Great Apes by Sy Montgomery

I have already read the wonderful biography of Dain Fossey, Woman in the Mists, I have about five Jane Goodall books waiting to be read, and I know a little bit about Birute Gladikas.  So how in the world would I not like this book!  I am so excited to have found it and I know I will fall in love with it and my three woman heroes even more!

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Reflections of Eden by Birute Galdikas

And we round off my Friday Finds with a book by Birute Galdikas, one of the wonderful ladies featured in the book above, and about her adventures with the Borneo orangutans.  I know little about this one of “Leakey’s Angels”, as I have studied Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall.  Now, I will add Birute, the woman with the orangutans, to my list of heroes!

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These are the three books I have found this week.  I can not wait to read these wonderful finds once all my other TBR books are finished and once I am completed with NaNo.  Which, by the way, I have a word count of 35K!  So I’m very close to my 50K goal!  

Have a Great Weekend All! 

Friday Finds: Memoir Week

Friday Finds by Should Be Reading

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week?

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Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

I love “The Office” (however, much better when Steve Carrel was on it) and I know that Mindy Kaling writes some of the scripts for the funny show, so why not read one of her books?  Goodreads recommended this book to me because I like non-fiction humor so it is definitely on my TBR list and I am excited to read it!

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Here Comes Trouble by Michael Moore

I don’t care what anyone says, I love Michael Moore.  I can only wonder what kind of shenanigans he got into as a kid so this book is definitely one for me to read!

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Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship by Isabella Hatkoff

I actually had heard about this story a long time ago but never knew that it was a book.  This is definitely one I will be reading due to the fact that A) it’s about animals – a hippo and a tortoise to be exact, and B) it’s a story about a true friendship.  Nothing is better than that!

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These are the three books I have found this week.  Since I am not reading during NaNo, my TBR has greatly expanded.  These will end up on the bottom of my reading list (each book gets its turn) and I really look forward to diving into the world of Mindy Kaling, Michael Moore and Owen & Mzee! 

Have a Great Weekend All!