Welcome back to another Top Ten Tuesday! This week’s topic is Things Characters Have Said (Maybe a character said something really profound or romantic or hilarious or heartbreaking. You could share witty one-liners, mic-drop moments, snippets of funny dialogue between multiple characters, catchphrases, quotes that have become a part of pop culture–like “May the odds be ever in your favor.”, etc.). But, I’m the worst in remembering quotes, so I decided to go rogue. Again. I always reflect on my past seasonal TBR and as we will be putting together our Spring TBR shortly, this is the perfect moment to check in on my winter 2024 TBR. Did I read all the books I wanted to read? Links will direct you to my reviews if I have any.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

1. Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano – I read this book right before Christmas and I definitely enjoyed this.
2. The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Daré – It finally happened, I read this book in the beginning of the new year. Unfortunately I’m not that enthusiastic about it, I’m afraid much of the story got lost in translation since I read this book in Dutch.
3. The Songbird & The Heart of Stone by Carissa Broadbent – This was one of my most anticipated releases for the final quarter of 2024, but it turned out to be one of my biggest disappointments.
4. Archer’s Voice by Mia Sheridan – My final book of 2024 and I wonder why I didn’t pick this one up earlier.
5. Tale of the Heart Queen by Nisha J. Tuli – And yet another book I’ve read right before 2024 ended. Although I enjoyed it, it’s my least favourite of the entire “Artefacts of Ouranos” series.
6. The Most Secret Memory of Men by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr – No, I haven’t read this one. I hit some kind of slump in late January that took the entire month of February and that’s not the best timing to read a book as challenging as this one.
7. A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson – An anticipated release that did not disappoint. Fortunately I read it before that other dragon book, otherwise I’m not sure if I would have had the same opinion on it that I have now.
8. The Dead of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi – No, I haven’t picked this up and only because I run out of time as some books took me longer to finish.
9. Heir by Sabaa Tahir – I haven’t read this one either.
10. Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett – This was my first book of 2025 and the best in the trilogy in my opinion.

Oh wow, I did really well on this TBR! I thought I had more trouble with it as winter is my slump season. Even though I had some disappointing books, I still read 7 out of the 10 on this TBR.

Have you had the courage to look back on how you did on your winter 2024 TBR yet? If so, how did you do? If no, how do you think you did?