Top Fifteen: Rainy-Day Reads

On April 16, 2019April 16, 2019 By Rachel @ thewasofshallIn top ten tuesday2 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme was rainy-day reads.

The term “rainy-day read” always makes me think of a gloomy, dull Sunday where I don’t have any plans and can spend all day on the couch engrossed in a good book. Whatever the genre, a good rainy-day read sucks me into the plot and makes me loathe to leave its world—sometimes not even for food or bathroom breaks.

What makes a good rainy-day read for you? Did any of these make your list?

♥ Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
♥ Blackout by Connie Willis
♥ A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
♥ A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
♥ A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

♥ A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
♥ Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
♥ The Luxe by Anna Godbersen
♥ Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl
♥ The Passage by Justin Cronin

♥ Renegades by Marissa Meyer
♥ Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
♥ The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee
♥ What Should Be Wild by Julia Fine
♥ The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox

Top Ten: Longest Books I’ve Read

On October 9, 2018February 27, 2019 By Rachel @ thewasofshallIn top ten tuesday2 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme was the longest books I’ve read. To keep from padding the list, I only included the longest book in any one series. The number of pages is included in parentheses.

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (1,069) // City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg (911) // A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin (1,016) // Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling // I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb (897)

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (849) The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (1,187) // The Passage by Justin Cronin (879) // The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray (819) // 2666 by Roberto Bolaño (898)

Five Favorite: Books Set in Libraries

On August 27, 2016April 24, 2019 By Rachel @ thewasofshallIn five favoriteLeave a comment

“Five Favorite” is a feature on thewasofshall where I lay out my five favorite “x”. Sometimes they’re relevant to a season or holiday, mostly they’re not. It’s an all-around fun excuse to give my 100% amazingly awesome opinion. To see previous topics, click here.

I’m pretty sure that all book lovers have a dream to one-day own ALL. OF. THE. BOOKS. (Whether that dream is practical is beyond the point here.) For me, it was (and is) to simply own a Library – like, a room in my house that JUST holds books on wall to wall, floor to ceiling shelves with a nice big window and a huge comfy chair. As such, I get a little flush of happiness when I read books that feature or are set in libraries because, well, you know… books. Here are my five favorite.

Home Libraries

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak // Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Public Libraries

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness // The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova // The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Have your own five favorite books set in libraries? Let me know!