Top Ten Tuesday: The Ten Most Recent Books I’ve Read

/ Lisa R. Howeler

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Today’s prompt is: Freebie/Throwback (Come up with a topic you’d like to do or go back and do an old topic you missed or just want to do again!)

 So this week, I chose to share my last ten reads so far this year with quick, two to three sentence reviews for each.

I am telling you, guys and gals, I am reading so slowly this year! The number of books I have read so far is a very sad amount. I know what is important is that I’m reading at all, not how many I have read, but ugh! I feel like I am not spending enough time just relaxing and reading!

Of course, I also have started some books that took up quite a bit of time and then decided I couldn’t finish them. I also read two very long books that took me longer than most of the books I read.

Anyhow, on with the post!

  1. The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis

This third book in the Chronicles of Narnia series was a very fun read with a lot of humor, but yet also seriousness, thrown in. It is a children’s book, but there is a lot of spiritual wisdom if you read between the lines.

2. The Tuesday Night Club by Agatha Christie

Interesting and intriguing collection of short stories that are connected by the fact a group of people are sitting around sharing their stories about mysteries they experienced and either couldn’t solve or did later. This is a Miss Marple book and in many of the stories Miss Marple ended up solving the crime. This wasn’t my favorite Agatha Christie book but it was an interesting concept.

3. Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke

I’ve heard tons about this series over the years and I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I did not like this book as much I hoped I would. I liked most of it, but toward the end it totally fell apart for me. I might try others in the series but at this point, my expectations have been lowered.

4. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

It took me quite a long time to get through The Fellowship of the Ring but once I really sat down and got into this one, it took a lot less time. I very much enjoyed this one. I love  the friendships, the fight of good against evil, the adventure, all of it. I do not like that the two “bad guys” have names that are so similar to each other, though. Up next in this series will be, of course, Return of the King, and I’m saving that for late fall, early winter.

5. The Twisted Claw by Franklin W. Dixon (A Hardy Boys)

This was the first Hardy Boys book I read and I ended up enjoying it. I’m looking forward to reading others.

6. Peg and Rose Solve a Murder by Laurien Berenson

I enjoyed this first in a new series and by a new-to-me author. I am looking forward to finding and reading book two soon.

7. Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (On A Dead Man) by Jesse Sutanto

This one was the second book in a series and it was not as good as the first, at least for me. I enjoyed Vera’s character like I did in the first book, but in this second book, things took a really dark turn and I was having a hard time pushing through. I didn’t connect with the characters in this second book like I did with the first either. It was still a pretty good book and I will read more in this series, if there is more.

8. The Wishing Well by Mildred Wirt

I enjoyed this juvenile mystery by the original Carolyn Keene. It is a book from the Penny Parker Mysteries and the wit and quick tongue moments in this book were Wirt at her finest. In these books Wirt is free to write how she wants and not how Harriet Adams of Stratemeyer Publishing wanted her to write.

If you want to read more about Mildred, you can do so here https://lisahoweler.com/2025/05/05/tell-me-more-about-mildred-millie-wirt-benson/

You can also read a full review of this book here: https://lisahoweler.com/2025/06/09/book-review-the-wishing-well-by-mildred-wirt-benson/

9. All Things Wise and Wonderful by James Herriot

This book felt very long to me because it was broken down into a lot of short stories with the related thread being James’ time in the military. It was a little tedious to me to read straight through, so I took breaks and read it a few times a week, a couple of chapters at a time. In the end, I really enjoyed the book, the stories about James in the military and his family life, and the stories about Tristan, which were hilarious. I could absolutely picture the actor who plays Tristan in the new series as I read stories he was a part of. When I was done with the book, I actually felt a little sad because it had been part of my life for at least three months, and I felt like I had been reading about family in some ways. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the books that I haven’t read yet in the series.

10. The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie

I finished this one just Sunday night and enjoyed it when I originally thought I wouldn’t. This book deals a lot with occult and mediums, etc., which is not my thing, so I didn’t think I would like it. About halfway through, I had to find out what happened and couldn’t put the book down. I felt a little stupid that I didn’t figure out who the guilty party was until it was revealed, since it was a little obvious, but I like how it was brought out, and I really liked the very ending. That’s all I will say about that.

What are some of the recent books you’ve read?

Lisa R. Howeler is a blogger, homeschool mom, and writes cozy mysteries.

You can find her Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find her on Instagram and YouTube.

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31 thoughts on “Top Ten Tuesday: The Ten Most Recent Books I’ve Read”

  1. Pingback: Bookmarked: July – the Farm Wife Reads

    • Oh that’s nice. thank you. That’s so nice that you were able to do a summer reading program! We missed a lot of our library’s this year because of other events but they always do a nice job!

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  4. I too am disappointed in the speed (or lack thereof) I read these days. I watch Hallmark Mysteries, so I’m familiar with the Joanna Fluke series (Hannah Swenson on Hallmark). I tried to read the books, but didn’t find them to be as likeable as the movies. I listened to a book you might like – listening to the second in the series now – the first was, “Poppy Harmon Investigates” and the second is “Poppy Harmon and the Hung Jury”. I also liked Mother Daughter Murder Night, but I think a lot of that is the location and my familiarity with it. 🙂

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  5. Pingback: Sunday bookends: The day Thriftbooks sent me a book I did not order, and it turned out to be a collectable – Boondock Ramblings

  7. I’m glad you have taken your own pace reading this summer! Sometimes we all need a little slow-down. I just finished my bookclub re-reading of Hind’s Feet on High Places, so thanks for the opportunity to link up my old post about it! I needed this summer’s refresher. Now I’m glad to get back to LMM, and an Emily sequel.

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  9. I love your first four! You should definitely try the chocolate chip cookie recipe from Joanne Fluke’s book. It’s become our favorite chocolate chip. It freezes great too! How cool that you read a Mildred Wirt book! I’ve wanted to check out her Penny Parker series ever since I wrote my capstone paper. I’ve only seen the 2010 movie of The Pale Horse and have been leery of reading the book because of the occult stuff. How was that in the book?

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  10. I loved the James Herriot books! Sometimes life just keeps us from reading as much as we’d like. Glad you are finding some time to work it in in spite of your busy-ness.

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  11. “The Two Towers” took me forever. I don’t have the patience to read battle scenes, they seemed endless to me.
    I did read the first book several times, you can tell from my copy that it was my favorite of the three. I love a good “road movie” 😉

    I don’t read as much anymore which has to do with my other hobby of watching movies, but also for another reason there will be a post about soon.
    In my opinion, it’s just important you enjoy reading at all.

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  12. Lol…Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, by Joanne Fluke, was the first cozy mystery I ever read (four years ago) and I loved it so much it made me the avid reader I am today and it drew me into the genre. I will say that it’s probably a good idea to watch the movies first. I find that when people read the books first they often don’t like the movies. I watched a couple movies first then started reading the books. I love both the movies and the books. Also, I think it’s safe to say that if you didn’t enjoy Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, you probably won’t enjoy the rest of the books in the series. The earlier ones in the series are the best in my opinion. 🙂

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    • I feel bad for writing such a short little blurb there about it and making it sound like I hated it. I just didn’t like it as much as I hoped but I actually did like it. The ending felt super rushed to me and just took away from the rest of the book. I do think I’ll read more from the series. I should really update that and explain I didn’t hate it. Just didn’t like it as much as I was hoping. Eek!

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  17. I tried at least twice to get into Joanne Fluke’s books and for whatever reason they just don’t appeal to me. Which is kind of weird since I seem to love murder mysteries that also incorporate sweets/baking/recipes.

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  18. I haven’t read any books that have been over about 415 pages in a LONG time. I am *trying* to read 3 books over 400 pages this summer, I have already finished one. I recently finished Perilous Tides by Elizabeth Goddard and it was fantastic! Have a great week!

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  20. I’m starting Vera 2 on audio probably today/tomorrow, so good to know there’s a dark turn in there!

    The Fluke series … so I discovered it after seeing the first movie that Hallmark did of the series, and then binged my way through the backlist to catch up to current offerings. Do yourself a favor and watch the Hallmark movie series instead! The book series has quite honestly gone about 10 books too far, and while I will read the next when it comes out – it’s more for the trainwreck than anything else. The Hallmark series handled things really well (especially one element that got weird in the books) – although I haven’t watched the second/spinoff/sequel series yet. But the originals are good stuff.

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  22. I’m still on the waiting list for the first Vera Wong book. I remember reading The Two Towers and wondering if it would ever end! I need to reread some Agatha Christie books. Many years ago (and I mean many, many), I read a lot of her books. I’m so impressed you can figure out whodunnit!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com

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