Top Ten Tuesday is a listicle created by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was created from a love of lists, books and creating bookish friends. Each Tuesday she assigns a new topic for others to join in with. Here is where you can learn more information about Top Ten Tuesday. Ad/Affiliate – Some of these books have affiliate links; you can read my disclaimer here.
In a classic Caroline sense, I am almost a week behind on this Top Ten Tuesday prompt! I tried writing for the next one, but found I have only a few books. So this week’s TTT is books that live in my head rent-free. There are lots of ways to interpret this, but I’m going to interpret it as books I’m still thinking about after reading them.
1. The Good Part by Sophie Cousens
StoryGraph synopsis:
At twenty-six, Lucy Young is tired. Tired of fetching coffees for senior TV producers, tired of going on disastrous dates, and definitely tired of living in a damp flat share with flatmates who never buy toilet paper. She could quit her job for a better living, but she’s not ready to give up on her dreams. Not just yet. After another diabolical date lands her in a sudden storm with no money for bus fare, Lucy finds herself seeking shelter in a tiny shop, where she stumbles upon a curious wishing machine. Pushing her last coin into the slot, Lucy closes her eyes and wishes with everything she’s got: Please, let me skip to the good part of my life.
When she wakes the next morning to a handsome man, a ring on her finger, a high-powered job, and a storybook-perfect little boy and baby girl, Lucy can’t believe this is real—especially when she looks in the mirror, and staring back is her own forty-something face. Has she really skipped ahead to the future she’s always wanted, or has she simply forgotten a huge chunk of her life? And as Lucy begins to embrace this new life and new relationships, she’ll have to ask herself: Can she go back, and if so, does she want to?
The Good Part was my favourite book in 2024. I’ve not read anything like this before, but I am constantly thinking about it! I’m currently in my 20s, and I have wanted to skip to ‘the good part’, but after reading this book, I am trying to enjoy the uncertainties of my 20s. It is a tricky time; different people are at different times in their lives, even though we are the same age. But it is an adventure at the same time!
2. Love By The Book by Jessica George
StoryGraph synopsis:
Remy is lucky. Her three best friends have always been there for her – until the day that they’re not. One of them is moving to New York. One of them is pregnant. And one is busy with her (awful) boyfriend. Suddenly, their foursome is splitting – and it feels like a break-up.
When Simone and Remy meet in a bookshop, it doesn’t go well. But they might just have bumped into exactly what they need…
Simone doesn’t need friends. The only people she needs are her family – but when they cut her off, she realises how alone she is.
This isn’t a romance. But it is about love.
This book only came out in February of this year, but I enjoyed it so much. I love a book on female friendship; I think I even prefer it to romance books.
3. Letters From the Ginza Shihodo Stationery Shop by Kenji Ueda, translated by Emily Balistreiri
StoryGraph synopsis:
Write your story, heal your heart . . .
Hidden away in a corner of the Ginza neighbourhood is a venerable stationery shop. To venture inside is to find everything your stationery-loving heart desires, from the most delicate paper to fountain pens that fit exactly to the shape of your hand to gorgeously coloured inks. The shop owner intuits your every need, inviting you to take a seat at a small wooden table on the top floor, where you’ll find the words flowing, helping you unlock repressed memories, secret longings and your own mysteries.
To this shop comes a young company employee, uncertain in his career and needing a connection back to his past; the hostess of an elegant club; the vice-captain of a high-school archery team, an ageing businessman and a formerly homeless sushi chef. With impeccable manners and a warm demeanour, the shop owner helps each of them with more than just their stationery needs.
I really enjoy books that connect people through something, whether that be food or a love of good quality stationery! I’m yet to read the sequel, but looking forward to it becoming available on Borrow Box.
4. Summer at the Comfort Food Cafe by Debbie Johnson
StoryGraph synopsis:
The Comfort Food Cafe is perched on a windswept clifftop at what feels like the edge of the world, serving up the most delicious cream teas; beautifully baked breads, and carefully crafted cupcakes. For tourists and locals alike, the ramshackle cafe overlooking the beach is a beacon of laughter, companionship, and security – a place like no other; a place that offers friendship as a daily special, and where a hearty welcome is always on the menu.
For widowed mum-of-two Laura Walker, the decision to uproot her teenaged children and make the trek from Manchester to Dorset for the summer isn’t one she takes lightly, and it’s certainly not winning her any awards from her kids, Nate and Lizzie. Even her own parents think she’s gone mad.
Her new job at the cafe, and the hilarious people she meets there, give Laura the chance she needs to make new friends; to learn to be herself again, and – just possibly – to learn to love again as well.
For her, the Comfort Food Cafe doesn’t just serve food – it serves a second chance to live her life to the full…
The Comfort Food Cafe book series is so heartwarming and so easy to read. I remember picking it up because I had been in a bit of a reading slump, and then suddenly whizzing through the whole series. I was browsing the pre-order section of Waterstones and noticed that a new book is coming out in the series. I’ll definitely be reading that when it releases in the winter 🙂
5. Expectation by Anna Hope
StoryGraph synopsis:
What happened to the women we were supposed to become?
Hannah, Cate and Lissa are young, vibrant and inseparable. Living on the edge of a common in East London, their shared world is ablaze with art and activism, romance and revelry – and the promise of everything to come. They are electric. They are the best of friends.
Ten years on, they are not where they hoped to be. Amidst flailing careers and faltering marriages, each hungers for what the others have. And each wrestles with the same question: what does it take to lead a meaningful life?
This is another book about female friendship and finding your way in life.
6. The Future We Choose by Christiana Figueres, and Tom Rivett-Carnac
StoryGraph synopsis:
We can survive the climate crisis. This book shows us how. We have two choices for our future, which is still unwritten. It will be shaped by who we choose to be right now. So, how can we change the story of the world?
The Future We Choose is a passionate call to arms from former UN Executive Secretary for Climate Change, Christiana Figueres, and Tom Rivett-Carnac, senior political strategist for the Paris Agreement. We are still able to stave off the worst and manage the long-term effects of climate change, but we have to act now. We know what we need to do, and we have everything we need to do it. Practical, optimistic and empowering, The Future We Choose is a book for every generation, for all of us who feel powerless in the face of the climate crisis. This is the final hour: it can be our finest. But we must act now.
If you only read one book on the climate crisis, make it this one. The Future We Choose is so easy to read, and really puts things into perspective. In my copy, I have pages bookmarked, sections highlighted and refer back to bits from time to time.
7. The Switch by Beth O’Leary
StoryGraph synopsis:
Eileen is sick of being 79.
Leena’s tired of life in her twenties.
Maybe it’s time they swapped places…
When overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, she escapes to her grandmother Eileen’s house for some overdue rest. Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She’d like a second chance at love, but her tiny Yorkshire village doesn’t offer many eligible gentlemen.
Once Leena learns of Eileen’s romantic predicament, she proposes a solution: a two-month swap. Eileen can live in London and look for love. Meanwhile Leena will look after everything in rural Yorkshire. But with gossiping neighbours and difficult family dynamics to navigate up north, and trendy London flatmates and online dating to contend with in the city, stepping into one another’s shoes proves more difficult than either of them expected.
Leena learns that a long-distance relationship isn’t as romantic as she hoped it would be, and then there is the annoyingly perfect – and distractingly handsome – school teacher, who keeps showing up to outdo her efforts to impress the local villagers. Back in London, Eileen is a huge hit with her new neighbours, but is her perfect match nearer home than she first thought?
I love a fiction book where a granny-type figure and a younger person form a friendship, I find it so heartwarming!
8. Book Lovers by Emily Henry
StoryGraph synopsis:
Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.
Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.
If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.
Book Lovers was my favourite book I read in 2023. I really enjoyed reading this book, the romance and family dynamic were written so well. It also led me to read Emily Henry’s other books.
9. Meetings With Moths by Katty Baird
StoryGraph synopsis:
The ecologist Katty Baird roams East Lothian, Scotland, trapping, documenting and observing moths. Burnet Moths, Kentish Glories, Death’s Head Hawk-Moths are just some of the moths that catch her attention as she climbs into holes, ventures behind waterfalls and wanders forests.
Why do butterflies bask in the limelight as mood-lifting colourful insects associated with bright flowers and sunny days, when the near-identical moths are relegated to be cast as their drab and dowdy, at best ignored, cousins?
‘Moths are some of the most stunning and diverse insects on our planet. They come in a glorious array of colours, shapes and designs, enough to be admired for their looks and lifestyles alone.’
Meetings with Moths is a story about green health and the power of a passion to sustain us.
I found moths interesting before I read this book, however reading about Katty’s passion for them really made me want to see more species. A couple of months ago, my dad and I made a moth trap and have recorded over 30 species of moths in our garden! You can read my review for Meetings With Moths here.
10. The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking
StoryGraph synopsis:
Denmark is often said to be the happiest country in the world. That’s down to one thing: hygge.
‘Hygge has been translated as everything from the art of creating intimacy to cosiness of the soul to taking pleasure from the presence of soothing things. My personal favourite is cocoa by candlelight…’
You know hygge when you feel it. It is when you are cuddled up on a sofa with a loved one, or sharing comfort food with your closest friends. It is those crisp blue mornings when the light through your window is just right.
Who better than Meik Wiking to be your guide to all things hygge? Meik is CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen and has spent years studying the magic of Danish life. In this beautiful, inspiring book he will help you be more hygge: from picking the right lighting and planning a dinner party through to creating an emergency hygge kit and even how to dress.
Meik Wiking is the CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen. He is committed to finding out what makes people happy and has concluded that hygge is the magic ingredient that makes Danes the happiest nation in the world.
The last book I’m sharing that lives in my head rent-free is The Little Book of Hygge. I love the concept of hygge, and I try to incorporate it in my daily life. I do find this easier in autumn & winter though.
Are there any books that live in your head rent-free?
Caroline ♡
Great choices Caroline! Emily Henry is one of my favourite authors so I was particularly happy to see that her books stick with you as well.