Five Recent Books I’d Love to Get More Attention

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish that asks bloggers to create Top Ten lists on a variety of bookish topics. This week’s topic is Ten Books I Really Love But Feel Like I Haven’t Talked About Enough/In A While.

I was so excited to see this topic on the Top Ten Tuesday calendar because I was recently talking with another blogger about how to get a book we mutually loved (which is on this list) some more attention. While I have talked about these books relatively recently, I’m going to push them on you yet again because they’re fantastic and I think they deserve some more love…from both inside and outside the blogger world.

Beneath the Bonfire, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Summerlong, Unraveling of Mercy Louis, Why They Run the Way They Do


Beneath the Bonfire
 by Nickolas Butler (May 5, 2015)
The first short story collection I ever loved! Comforting, surprising, a bit wacky, an incredible sense of place (rural Wisconsin)…and stories of just the right length to allow a skittish short story reader to get emotionally invested in the characters.

Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Ed Tarkington (January 5, 2016)
A Southern coming of age story with the gorgeous writing and well developed characters of literary fiction and the action of commercial fiction. I love finding these types of books and it’s not often that I do! If you liked last year’s My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh, give this one a try!

Summerlong by Dean Bakopoulos (June 16, 2015)
Hey, women who are struggling with maintaining your identity through motherhood, this one is for you! Bakopoulos absolutely nails this issue…plus, there’s a hilariously inappropriate (but also wise) pothead grandmother!

The Unraveling of Mercy Louis by Keija Parssinen (March 10, 2015)
Like Only Love Can Break Your Heart, this book is my favorite kind of literary novel that also has commercial appeal. Gorgeous writing, coming of age, Southern culture, a Purity Ball (which I recently discovered actually exists in real life…wha??!), and a badass female high school basketball star.

Why They Run the Way They Do by Susan Perabo (February 16, 2016)
Another short story collection that would be a fantastic starter for those new to short stories or who think they don’t like them. These are stories about mundane daily life, but with a darkness simmering just underneath. At just over 200 pages, it would also be an excellent selection for Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon (coming up in late April)!




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49 Comments

  1. I love posts like this. These are books that have stuck with you and they’ve all been bumped up on my TBR list.

    Posted 3.22.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Yay!! My goal was to get more people reading these, so possible success!

      Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  2. I have seen Why They Run The Way They Do, but none of the other books.

    Thanks for sharing….now I need to go see what the others are all about.

    Thanks, and have a great day.

    Elizabeth

    Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  3. I haven’t read any of those but would like to read all of them. Great list!

    Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  4. Kay wrote:

    I’ve had SUMMERALONG and MERCY LOUIS on my Kindle since – well, whenever it was that you talked about it – last year? One day I’ll get to them. And thanks for reminding me again!

    Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  5. Alexis wrote:

    I need to check out Summerlong… it sounds like it is right up my alley. Thank you for bringing it to my attention!

    Posted 3.22.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      You’re welcome – it was a dark horse surprise for me last summer! Hope you get to it!

      Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  6. Sarah R wrote:

    Thanks for bringing these to my attention! I’ve only read Only Love Can Break Your Heart, but it was the flat out best book I’ve read in several months.

    Posted 3.22.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      YAY – I’m so happy to hear that!!

      Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  7. Great list! I haven’t seen any of these before (I stick almost exclusively to Popular Young Adult books for some reason) and I love the covers, particularly The Unraveling Of Mercy Louis.

    Posted 3.22.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      You know what? I feel like Mercy Louis would actually really appeal to someone who likes YA. It kind of felt like a YA/Adult crossover to me. I think it’s technically adult, but I’d give it a shot.

      Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  8. Merci Louis was a daily deal not too long ago. I bought it because I remembered you really liked it. I still have to read it though…

    Posted 3.22.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Yay – glad to hear it!

      Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  9. Ohhh Beneath the Bonfire sounds perfect for me!! Thanks for sharing these!

    Posted 3.22.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Please, please read it!! If you read his novel, Shotgun Lovesongs, they have similar feels.

      Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  10. Amanda wrote:

    Oh man. I think I have Mercy Lewis in my ALA pile. Now I’ll really have to read it soon. Beneath the Bonfire and Only Love are on my to read list too!

    Posted 3.22.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      What is your ALA pile?! That’s one I haven’t heard before! And glad to hear it about Bonfire and Only Love!

      Posted 3.22.16 Reply
      • Amanda wrote:

        I went to the American Library Association Midwinter meeting last year and I have a SHAMEFUL stack of ARCs left from attending. So many books I want to read – and that I have to deal before I go to BEA this year. My husband might leave me otherwise.

        Posted 3.22.16 Reply
        • admin wrote:

          Haha! Sounds like my BEA stack from last year!

          Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  11. Michelle wrote:

    This is the second or third time I’ve seen the Tarkington novel on this list today. I will take it as a sign!

    Posted 3.22.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Oh yay! I haven’t seen those other lists…need to go find them!

      Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  12. I still haven’t read Mercy Louis. I feel ashamed. And I want to read Only Love Can Break Your Heart now, because my grandpa just read it and I want to talk to him about it! Normally he just reads history or science books.

    Posted 3.22.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I like your Grandpa!

      Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  13. Carrie wrote:

    these all sound so good!! My TTT

    Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  14. Yay for Beneath the Bonfire, I loved it. I have mixed feelings about Only Love Can Break Your Heart but agree more people should check it out. I hadn’t heard about Why They Run, but will add it to my list.

    Posted 3.22.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I didn’t love the ending (of Only Love), but thoroughly enjoyed the journey!

      Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  15. Beneath the Bonfire was definitely the book that got me into reading short stories again. Summerlong sounds right up my alley so I will definitely have to check it out!

    Posted 3.22.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Me too! Hope you get to Summerlong!

      Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  16. Yes to Mercy Louis! I haven’t read the others but I trust your judgment so if you want them to get more love, then more love I will try to give them.

    Posted 3.22.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I like the sound of that 🙂

      Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  17. Diane wrote:

    I need to try Beneath the Bonfires – like Shotgun Lovesongs by the author.

    Posted 3.22.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Yes – completely different stories, but similar feel. I think you’ll like it!

      Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  18. Rachel wrote:

    Great list! I can’t decide if I am happy or sad when I see a book that I had moved from the TBR to the “not-likely” pile show up on these lists.

    Posted 3.22.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Haha – maybe it’ll get moved back to the TBR?

      Posted 3.22.16 Reply
  19. Judy wrote:

    Me too on Only Love…been meaning to read it ever since I heard of it.

    Posted 3.23.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Yay – I hope you get to it!

      Posted 3.24.16 Reply
  20. Taryn wrote:

    I’ve wanted to read The Unraveling of Mercy Louis since I found out it was based around my hometown. That doesn’t happen to often for me! My TBR list is long, but I am going to try to read it in April! Thanks for sharing your recommendations!

    Posted 3.23.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Very cool that it’s based around your hometown! And it’s a fantastic book too!

      Posted 3.24.16 Reply
  21. Naomi wrote:

    Somehow I missed Summerlong, but it’s on my list now! I’m a sucker for books about women and motherhood and marriages. Probably because that’s exactly my life!

    Posted 3.23.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Haha – mine too! Maybe that’s why it hit such a chord with me. Hope you get to it!

      Posted 3.24.16 Reply
  22. I was just thinking about Mercy Louis the other day. Such a good book!

    Posted 3.23.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      So glad to hear from you!! I think your review of it was what got me to pick it up 🙂 Hope all is well!

      Posted 3.24.16 Reply
  23. Athira wrote:

    I’ve heard about two of these books but the others are new to me! I will have to check them out. I loved this Top Ten Tuesday topic a lot – what a great way to give some love to your favorite books.

    Posted 3.23.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I did too and was thinking about how to get a couple books some more attention anyway – so was really happy it popped up when it did!

      Posted 3.24.16 Reply
  24. I’ve heard of the Unraveling of Mercy Louis from a few of the bloggers I follow, but the rest of these are new to me!

    Posted 3.23.16 Reply
  25. Oh my gosh, you are SO right about Only Love Can Break Your Heart!! It turned into a one-sitting book for me; I would love to see it get more attention.

    Posted 3.23.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      YAY!!! So glad you loved it!

      Posted 3.24.16 Reply
  26. Andi wrote:

    Why They Run the Way They Do is DEFINITELY on my list! THE list.

    Posted 3.24.16 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Yay! I’m so glad to hear that!! I hope it works for you 🙂

      Posted 3.24.16 Reply

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