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10 Years of Top Ten Tuesday!


Today Top Ten Tuesday is ten years old! My very first post was in February 2012, and I've written 173 TTT posts since then. While I don't participate as frequently as I used to, I'm still so glad that Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl decided to take it over after The Broke and the Bookish retired. It's such a fun part of the bookish community, and it's been the inspiration for so much blog content for me. Today's topic called for revisiting past posts, and I decided to make TWO lists for it: I revisited ten past answers and then listed my ten favorite topics that I participated in. 

And just a note: I'm posting this really late on Tuesday, so email subscribers probably won't see it until Wednesday. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten the day of the week! I just didn't want you to be confused.

REVISITING PAST ANSWERS

It was so fun to compile this list! One thing you'll notice about this section is that most of the posts come from 2013-2014. That's because those are the years I most actively participated in Top Ten Tuesday! I had a baby in 2016 and only blogged sporadically that year and didn't do many TTT posts until 2019. But my answers wouldn't changed for those! I excluded seasonal TBRs or lists I do every year (favorite books, new-to-me authors, etc.) because I wanted more variety. So, here's how many answers have changed on ten past topics: 

1. Top Ten Blogs That Aren't About Books – May 2012
There's only one blog on this list that I still look at (though it's not a daily read anymore), and that's Elements of Style. The others either no longer exist or don't interest me. And I care so little about fashion that it's hard for me to believe I used to look at some of these blogs! I mostly just look at book blogs now, though I love I Heart Naptime for recipes and Em for Marvelous for lovely reflections on life, parenting, goals, and more.

2. Top Ten Series I'd Like to Start or Finish – March 2013
Of the five series I wanted to start, I'm excited to say that I read them all! I've since completely finished four of the five (The Passing Bells series, The Lunar Chronicles, The Bronze Horseman trilogy, and the Throne of Glass series) and read the first three (and don't plan to finish) books in the Fairyland series. Of the series I wanted to finish, I did read of the five finales listed. I decided not to complete the Chaos Walking trilogy.

3. Top Ten Characters I'd Crush on If I Was Fictional – April 2013
Only five of these crushes still have my heart: Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gilbert Blythe, Peeta Mellark, Frederick Wentworth and Sean Kendrick. Jonah is okay, but Adult Me has moved on. As for the other four (Cricket Bell, Adam Wilde, Dimitri Belikov, and Roar), to quote TSwift: I forgot that you existed. I'd replace them with the only other crushes that matter: Rowan Whitethorn from the Throne of Glass series and Jake Archer from Happiness for Beginners.

4. Top Ten Things That Make Life as Reader/Blogger Easier – August 2013
It was so fun to see what I considered an essential in 2013! Many have stayed the same: Goodreads, my iPhone camera, my local library, Feedly, Audible, and my Kindle Paperwhite. Three have changed slightly: I now use Happy Planners (not May Books), Instagram instead of Twitter, and OneNote rather than Reminders. While I have the Kindle app on my phone still, I rarely use it. I'd probably replace it with my iPhone tripod, AirPods, or Hoopla.

5. Top Ten Best Sequels Ever – September 2013
I laughed when I read this list! If I were to write it today, only one of these books would make my list: The Piper's Son. The other sequels aren't bad, but I've read so much more since then. They just don't compare anymore!

6. Top Twenty Books I Want to Re-Read – February 2014
Of the books I highlighted, I've re-read five of the ten adult books (After You, Me Before YouNowhere but Home, Attachments, and The Help) and all of the young adult books except The Sky is Everywhere (which I no longer care to re-read). I'd still like to eventually re-read the other five adult books, but they aren't a priority. 

7. Top Ten Books People Tell Me I Must Read – August 2014
I've read six of the ten books I featured here. My favorite of them all was All the Light We Cannot See, followed by The Bone Season. And I have no plans to pick up the four that I never got around to reading,

8. Top Ten Authors I've Read One From But Need More – September 2014
I did eventually read more from eight of these authors, and I just purchased the 2020 release from Emily St. John Mandel so it may become nine. I never read more from Kiersten White and likely won't. Only one of these authors is still really on my radar: Mhairi McFarlane. My interest in all the other authors has faded.

9. Top Ten Auto-Buy Authors – August 2015
My auto-buy list has definitely changed since 2015! Four of these authors would still definitely make my updated list: Jane Austen, Sarah J. Maas, Melina Marchetta, and Mhairi McFarlane. Two would likely still be auto-buy: Mindy Kaling and Taylor Jenkins Reid. And the other four are authors I'm still interested in, just on a case-by-case basis. I'd replace them with Fredrik Backman, Julie Buxbaum, Abby Jimenez, and Lucy Parker.

10. Top Sixteen Audiobook Superlatives – September 2016
Most of these answers would stay the same, with a few exceptions. I think I'd change the audio that makes me feel all the things, but I'm not sure what I'd pick instead. I've listened to a lot of long books that might unseat Pillars of the Earth from its place, and I doubt I'll ever finish / catch up on the Bloody Jack series. But the biggest change is that I no longer wish I had an Audible subscription – I'm now active!

REVISITING PAST TOPICS

In the process of choosing posts for the section above, I started noting some of my favorite past topics. They often inspired posts that I still love today, so I thought it would be fun to highlight them here:

1. Top Ten Best Bookish Memories – February 2013
This is still one of my favorite blog posts because I love how books are so entwined with my memory. While reading through this post, I decided I'm going to write an updated version of it. Be on the lookout!

2. Top Ten Things That Instantly Make Me Pick Up A Book – April 2013
Kelly and I were just talking about this recently, and I'd completely forgotten that I once wrote a post about it. A few of my answers have changed, so you'll likely see my share a new version on this one soon, too.

3. Top Ten Things on My Reading Wishlist – January 2014
Everything on this list still stands! The only thing I'd change is that I'd probably add more to my wishlist. And I just might, in a future post... are we sensing a theme here? My archives are apparently full of inspiration. Haha!

4. Top Ten Bookish Confessions – July 2014
Yep. To all of these things. I could probably add more, but the ten things listed are all still true.

5. Top Ten Things I LOVE in Love Stories – February 2015
I like my categories in this post! I still love the same types of romance, though I've since realized second-chance romance is very hit or miss for me. All of the feelings and moments are still favorites, too. But the most shocking change? I think I've reversed my opinion on the failure featured in the post. 

6. Top Ten Books On My "Jane Austen 101" Syllabus – August 2015
This is one of my favorite topics because I loved getting creative with my answer. I remember wanting to make it look as realistic as possible. This was a fun one to look back on!

7. Top Ten Reasons I Love Reading – June 2016
Here's a post that isn't exactly groundbreaking but just makes me happy, regardless. I liked coming up with this list, making the graphics for it, and scouring my shelves to see what books fit each item. I wrote it not long after my first baby was born, when I still hadn't found my blogging groove, and have sweet memories of it.

8. Top Ten Books to Pull You Out of a Reading Slump – August 2018
I tweaked this topic when I posted about it and focused on ten ways to kick a reading slump to the curb (but did pair a book with each item on the list). It's all advice you've probably heard before, but I liked compiling it anyway.

9. Ten Favorite Books Released in the Past Ten Years – May 2019
Looking back at all the books I've read in the past ten years and trying to narrow it down to the ten best felt impossible. But oh man, I thoroughly enjoyed doing it! You'll actually find twelve favorites on my list because I couldn't resist.

10. Top Ten Things I'd Have at My Bookish Party – May 2020
This was such a creative topic, and I really felt inspired by it! I had a great time planning my pretend party and finding accompanying photos for the post. There are a lot of topics I love, but my favorites are often things I never would have thought of on my own. This is a great example of that!

Bonus: Seasonal TBRs, New-to-Me Authors, and Yearly Favorites
I didn't want to link to one specific post, but these three topics are my tried-and-true favorites. Even when I'm barely blogging or inconsistent with TTT, one of these topics is most likely to pull me back in.

Have you participated in Top Ten Tuesday?

What's been one of your favorite topics?

1 comment

  1. Wow, you've been doing Top Ten Tuesday posts for a long time! How cool.

    My TTT .

    ReplyDelete

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