#TopTenTuesday | 13th May 2025: The First Ten Books I Reviewed on damppebbles #Top10Tuesday #bookblogger #bookish #amreading #TTT #BookTwitter #booktwt #BookX #BookSky #damppebbles

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Hello and a very warm welcome to damppebbles. It’s Tuesday which means it’s time for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday post. I’ve decided to take part in That Artsy Reader Girl’s Top Ten Tuesday meme to mix things up a little here at damppebbles. Add a little bit of variety to our bookish weeks.

The meme was originally created by The Broke and the Bookish but has lived with Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl since January 2018. It was created to encompass a love of books, of lists and to bring readers together. If you would also like to take part then you’re very welcome: the more, the merrier. Just make sure you link back to Jana’s post every week. If you don’t have a blog then no problem, just add your list to the comments below.

This week’s theme is Ways in Which My Blogging/Review Style Has Changed Over Time (submitted by Susan @ Bloggin’ ’bout Books). I’ve been thinking a lot about this topic, desperately trying to come up with ways my style has changed. But I’m not sure it has. From day one I always wanted damppebbles to be informal, more relaxed – almost chatty – in style. And I hope it still is that. If anything, my reviews aren’t as good as they used to be which I put down to two things. 1) It’s sometimes hard to find something different and interesting to say [the plot? The characters? The pace? The Storyline? Your feelings about the book?] and 2), there are now monumental gaps between me finishing a book and writing my review. This is something I wanted to address this year but so far, no progress whatsoever has been made! If anything, things are going downhill 🙈 Anyway, I couldn’t think of ten ways my style has changed so I’m going to go off-plan this week and share the first ten reviews I posted on damppebbles back in 2016 (so you can see how my reviewing style has changed for yourself, ha!). These ten books are in date order with the earliest review first. There has definitely been a visual style change over the years! 😂

1. The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley (posted 14th January 2016)

2. Syndrome E by Franck Thilliez (posted 17th January 2016)
Interesting to see that despite this being nearly 10 years ago, my dislike of romance in thriller novels was present even then!

3. Now You See Me by Jean Bedford (posted 20th January 2016)
This book was my first ever NetGalley approval and the book I blame for the state my NG shelf is currently in! Unfair, I know 😂

4. The Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza (posted 21st January 2016)

5. Blacklands by Belinda Bauer (posted 29th January 2016)

6. Follow Me by Angela Clarke (posted 3rd February 2016)

7. Follow You Home by Mark Edwards (posted 5th February 2016)

8. Dust and Desire by Conrad Williams (posted 8th February 2016)
My most sincere, heartfelt apologies to all fantasy fans for what I say about the fantasy genre in this review. It’s really not true anymore. There are many other genres I would swerve before fantasy. MANY!

9. The Girl You Lost by Kathryn Croft (posted 11th February 2016)

10. The Jackdaw by Luke Delaney (posted 16th February 2016)

A trip down memory lane! I rather enjoyed looking back at reviews from 10 years. Going back to this week’s original theme of changes to blogging/reviewing style, one of the things I did notice was that I used to be a lot more up front with my feelings. If I don’t enjoy a book now, I will find all of the positive things and list them first. Ten years ago, I was straight in with the negative comments! I did cringe a little reading some of these.

Have you read any of these books? What was the first review you published on your blog? Were you reviewing before starting a blog, perhaps as a guest reviewer or on Goodreads/Amazon? Are you taking part in Top Ten Tuesday this week? Let me know in the comments.

So there we have it! If you fancy joining in next week then head on over to That Artsy Reader Girl’s blog to find out what the next topic is!

19 thoughts on “#TopTenTuesday | 13th May 2025: The First Ten Books I Reviewed on damppebbles #Top10Tuesday #bookblogger #bookish #amreading #TTT #BookTwitter #booktwt #BookX #BookSky #damppebbles”

  1. My first blog review in 2017 was actually a collection of mini reviews of the best books I’d read in the last few months. So I was just dipping my toes in the water! You came up with a good solution to the prompt! How’s your shoulder?

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  3. It’s harder to write reviews if there’s a gap between when you finish reading and start writing! I take notes while I’m reading to help jog my memory.

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  7. I said the same thing in my list of changes – I’m a lot nicer now! LOL. I still post honest reviews, but I’m less harsh in what I say and the way I say it.

    Let’s see…the first book I reviewed on my blog waaayyyy back in 2006 was a religious book no one’s ever heard of. The second was THE KNOWN WORLD by Edward P. Jones. Some heavy reads to start off with, not at all the type of books I read these days. Funny how things change, isn’t it?

    I haven’t read any of these books, but I do love a good thriller. I’ll have to check some of these “oldies” out 🙂

    Happy TTT!

    Susan

    http://www.blogginboutbooks.com

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  8. Pingback: #CaseClosed: May 2025 | Monthly Wrap-Up #amreading #amreviewing #bookblogger #BookoftheMonth #GoodreadsChallenge #NetGalleyCheckIn #BookTwitter #booktwt #BookX #BookSky #damppebbles | damppebbles.com

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