This week’s topic for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl) is “Books with Numbers in the Title”. I’m sure a similar topic has come up before, but I didn’t take part that time so thought I’d join in today – and to make things more difficult, I have chosen a different title for each number from one to ten and have only used books that I have read and reviewed!
One Night in Winter by Simon Sebag Montefiore – There were a few books I could have used for number one, but I’ve chosen this thriller set in Stalin’s Moscow at the end of World War II and based on a true story.
Two on a Tower by Thomas Hardy – This is a lesser known Hardy novel, but I still really enjoyed this story of Lady Viviette Constantine and her love for the young astronomer, Swithin St Cleeve.
Three Singles to Adventure by Gerald Durrell – I avoided the more obvious choices here, such as The Three Musketeers and Three Men in a Boat and went with this non-fiction account of Durrell’s expedition to Guyana in 1950. I loved the descriptions of the animals and birds he finds there and the funny anecdotes about things that happen to Durrell and his companions during the journey.
The Four Emperors by David Blixt – Ancient Rome has never been one of my favourite periods to read about, but this novel brought to life the Rome of AD 69, the year in which four different emperors ruled in quick succession.
Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie – This 1942 Poirot mystery is slightly unusual in that Poirot is trying to solve a crime that took place many years before the story begins. It’s one of several Christie novels with a title based on a children’s rhyme!
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid – I didn’t think this would be my kind of book, but I enjoyed it much more than I expected to. Written in a documentary style, it tells the story of a fictional 1970s rock band.
The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley – I had several choices for number seven too, but I decided on this one, the first in Lucinda Riley’s Seven Sisters series. Each book in the series tells the story of one of seven adopted sisters and in this first novel we meet the eldest, Maia, as she traces her family history back to Brazil during the creation of the statue of Christ the Redeemer.
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne – I’m cheating slightly here as I don’t seem to have read any books with ‘eight’ in the title. Anyway, I enjoyed this classic tale of a man who sets out to prove that it’s possible to travel round the entire world in eighty days – although it seemed such a waste to visit so many different countries and not have time to actually explore any of them!
Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart – I love Mary Stewart! This wonderful Gothic suspense novel set in France was the first of her books that I read and probably still my favourite.
Ten-Second Staircase by Christopher Fowler – This is the fourth novel in Fowler’s Bryant and May series about a pair of elderly detectives who work for the Peculiar Crimes Unit. In this book, Arthur Bryant and John May are on the trail of a mysterious serial killer dressed as an 18th century highwayman.
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Have you read any of these books? Could you put your own ‘one to ten’ together?
She Reads Novels 
I’ve only read a couple of these – very clever choices!
Thanks! I thought it would be more difficult, but it was only number 8 that I struggled with.
Good choices. The only ones I’ve read are Daisy Jones and the Six , and Nine Coaches Waiting. The others sound good though. I’m thinking of giving Lucinda Riley another try. I read a book by her a while back that I didn’t really care for, so I haven’t read anything else by her. Do you know of any good ones?
I can recommend all of the books on my list this week! As for Lucinda Riley, I have enjoyed most of her books but her Seven Sisters series are my favourites.
Thank you! I’ll give them a try soon.
Such a great diverse list you have! I love Agatha Christie (as you could see) and Mary Stewart! Nine Coaches waiting is one of her best. I’ve also read Daisy Jones and the six. Different type of book, but worth the read.
Thanks for stopping by earlier!
I’m pleased to hear you love Mary Stewart too! Daisy Jones and the Six was not my usual sort of book at all, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
Nine Coaches Waiting! That’s my favorite Mary Stewart book. I’ve also read (and loved) Five Little Pigs and Two on a Tower. Great list, Helen. 😀
Nine Coaches Waiting is such a great book! I’m glad you like it too.
Nine Coaches Waiting, and it’s my favourite too. I’ve read Two on a Tower too and really liked it.
I’ve enjoyed most of Thomas Hardy’s books. Two on a Tower was a good one.
I have several of these books either on my red or my TBR list!
That’s great – I really enjoyed nearly all of them.
I only read the seven sisters and regarding book titles with numbers I can think of ‘The three musketeers’ and ‘A thousand ships’ and that is pretty much it, I’m afraid :D.
I enjoyed A Thousand Ships, but I only wanted to use books with numbers 1 to 10 for this post. It was easier than I expected, apart from number 8!
The only one I have read from your list is Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne, which I featured on my previous list for the similar topic in 2019, but I did have another Verne novel on my list this year, too! And kudos for having tiles for numbers 1-10 – I have tried both years to do this but never have enough titles! 😁
I thought I would struggle to find a book for each number, but in the end it was only number 8 where I had to cheat!