Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme run by That Artsy Reader Girl. As I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, I’m a sucker for a good book cover, so a topic related to covers is right up my alley. At first I was going to pull from books I have read already, but instead I decided to plumb the depths of my ever-growing TBR list, reminding me of some books I had completely forgotten about.

The Death of Grass by John Christopher

This is an old science fiction novel I managed to track down a copy of a while ago about a post-apocalyptic world where all grass has died out. I first learned about it from reading Science Fiction: A Very Short Introduction, a book I found disappointing but still had some interesting recommendations.

Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman

This is a Gaimain book I’ve owned for a  long time but have neglected to get to because I only own an ebook, so it’s easy to forget that I have access to it at all. Since I’ve caught up on all physical copies of his books that I own, I really ought to give this one a look.

Deep River Night by Patrick Lane

I added this to my TBR many years ago now; it’s about a WW2 vet working at a sawmill in British Columbia coping with trauma from the war and haunted by memories of inaction in the face of evil acts committed by others. This feels very Canadian in a way that reminds me of why I probably shelved it.

Watership Down by Richard Adams

Another book I’ve been meaning to read for a long time, this is a piece of literature I’ve been aware of since childhood. I often wonder if it will live up to its reputation.

Dark Matter: A Ghost Story by Michelle Paver

A book about a young man embarking upon a year-long expedition to the Arctic in 1937, I really like the combination of a harsh, cold environment, the disappearance of the sun during Arctic winters, and the promise of otherworldly forces inhabiting this oppressive landscape.

The Book of Koli by M. R. Carey

Though a book I remember very little about, and I’m choosing not too look up more, I’ve always loved how viscerally natural the plants on the cover look. Although they simply appear to be sprouting, I have always found something to be unusually creepy, possibly threatening, about their appearance.

Road of Bones by Christopher Golden

Telling the story of a film crew investigating the villages along the “road of bones” in Siberia, where thousands of Soviet prisoners were buried where they fell as they died during forced labour, I think this mostly caught my attention because I’ve read a number of Golden’s Hellboy novels. I’m curious what his original work looks like.

The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of the Whole Stupid World by Matt Kracht

I read the first book, The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America, and I had enough fun with it that I’d like to read this one too. They don’t follow any sort of narrative and don’t teach you much; I just think they’re good fun.

The Rise and Reign of the Mammals by Steve Brusatte

I really loved the author’s previous book, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, so picking this one up was an easy choice. I’m hoping to get through this book this year.

Last Days by Adam Nevill

Billed as a “Blair Witch style novel”, this book follows a documentary film maker investigating a dangerous cult. This perhaps feels like it was one of the more throwaway additions to by TBR, compared to the others, but I’m still curious about it. I just can’t help but think that this one is the most likely to be passed over. Still, the premise does sound interesting.

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Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own list down below.