Top Ten Tuesday: The First 10 Books I Randomly Grabbed from My Shelf

Published on by Margaret

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. For the rules see her blog

The topic today is The First 10 Books I Randomly Grabbed from My Shelf (Stand in front of your book collection, close your eyes, point to a title, and write it down. If you have shelves, point to your physical books.

This week’s topic is pretty easy. I used the bookcase that’s behind me as I write this post, filled mostly with hardback books, stood in front of it, closed my eyes and touched the books one by one from different shelves. So this is a mixed bunch of books, only some of which I’ve read.

I enjoyed doing this post, but now, of course I want to read those I haven’t read yet – immediately!

The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard, historical fiction. I haven’t read this one yet. Set in the aftermath of World War II in Asia and Europe.

Tommy Walsh Outdoor DIY, how to make the most of the garden – fences, patios, planters, pergolas and water features galore!

Daemon Voices: On Stories and Storytelling by Philip Pullman. A lovely book. I’ve read some of the stories and Pullman’s reflections in essays and talks on the subject of storytelling.

Cosmopolis by Don Delilo, a novel covering day in the life of Eric Packer, a multi-billionaire. I haven’t read this one yet.

Russia: A Journey to the Heart of a Land and its People by Jonathan Dimbleby, nonfiction first published in 2008. I’ve not read this.

Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making by Jonathan Curran. It includes two unpublished Poirot Stories . A wonderful book exploring the contents of Agatha Christie’s 73 handwritten notebooks about her plots, titles and characters. I’ve dipped into this several times.

Force of Nature by Jane Harper. I loved this novel set in the fictional Giralang Ranges in Australia, where Aaron Falk is investigating the disappearance of Alice Russell, during a team building exercise in the outback.

Hardy Country by Gordon Beningfield, a book to dip into, not one to read straight through. Paintings and drawings of Wessex accompany a discussion of the portrayal of the region of England in the novels of Thomas Hardy.

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, historical fiction, the first in her fantastic Wolf Hall trilogy. This is the story of Thomas Cromwell, the son of a blacksmith, and his political rise, set against the background of Henry VIII’s England. I loved it.

Completely Unexpected Tales by Roald Dahl. There are 25 short stories in total in this book, some of them are very short. I’ve only read some of these. They all end with an unexpected twist, some are more predictable than others, but others did take me by surprise with a sting in the tail.

13 thoughts on “Top Ten Tuesday: The First 10 Books I Randomly Grabbed from My Shelf”

    1. Yes, I also enjoy watching the Ground Force TV series. Amazing to think that the last episode was broadcast twenty years ago and that the three presenters, Alan Titchmarsh, Charlie Dimmock and him are still presenting other TV programmes, which I still enjoy watching!

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  4. I like this idea very much, Margaret! It’s a way to get to know other bloggers a bit through the books they have. And it’s a reminder of those books we mean to read but…haven’t yet. You’ve got a great selection here, too. I especially noticed Wolf Hall, which I thought was an excellent book. And the John Curran is a wonderful book, too.

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  6. That’s a fun topic and you have a very wide range of titles behind you! I haven’t read any except Wolf Hall (and love) but the Agatha Christie sounds good of course!

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