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TOP TEN TUESDAY: Books on My Summer 2021 TBR

- Meg 2 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly discussion hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl (and formerly hosted by The Broke and the Bookish), and last week’s topic (that I’m doing this week instead) is “Books on my Summer TBR” and all of these are books I currently have with me in my car or on my Kindle. I read exactly ZERO of my spring books, but to be fair I also moved and probably packed half of them in a hurry. I should call these possibility piles because set TBRs don’t always work for me, but when I’m sitting there wondering what to read, having this list put out there in the world is a great reference and starting point for me.

  • Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manasala – I saw this on a table and on a couple of Instagram posts, and it looks like the perfect summer cozy mystery!
  • Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid – I have enjoyed all of Reid’s recent releases, so I’m sure I will love this one!! I also want to knock out her backlist prior to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, but first things first!
  • Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto – I love everything about this cover and the premise, and I hope it’s an alphabet series!
  • The Duke Heist by Erica Ridley – Let’s be real, I just need some historical romance fluff to balance out this current chaos.
  • Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth – This was sent to me by HMH (thank you!!!) and I’m very interested in the premise! I enjoyed the Divergent series, didn’t quite enjoy what came next, but I’m looking forward to reading Roth’s foray into adult fiction!
  • The Pariah by Anthony Ryan – Access to this was included as part of me being a bookseller, and I’m always in the mood to try some new fantasy even though I’m terrible at keeping up with series. However, this one looks gritty and something to balance out everything else I’m reading and wanting to read!
  • Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia – Listen, I am in the mood for mysteries and thrillers, probably because they are pageturner likelihoods and I desperately need those, but the cover of this initially caught my attention and then it being queer??? YES thank you.
  • Anne of Manhattan by Brina Starler – I just need more Anne of Green Gables in my life, and this contemporary romance retelling set in New York has already ticked off a lot of my yay boxes.
  • The Ninth Metal by Benjamin Percy – Something about the cover and the premise caught my attention, and everything I’ve heard about this weird sci-fi has been good things!
  • One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston – This has been on my radar since it was announced but then I recently found out that it’s kind of a reinvention of Kate & Leopold which is one of my favorite movies???

What’s on your summer TBR?

TOP TEN TUESDAY: Books on my Spring TBR

- Meg Leave a comment

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly discussion hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl (and formerly hosted by The Broke and the Bookish), and last week’s topic (that I’m doing this week instead) is “Books on my Spring TBR” and some of these have been on some form of a TBR at some point or another, and I’m going to read them by the time the spring season is over!! I read seven of the ten I chose for winter, and I’m currently in the middle of the eighth! The other two will be read eventually, but I am going to pursue this list as it’s something new and exciting!

  • Walk the Wild With Me by Rachel Atwood – This is a revisit to the mythology of Robin Hood, and I’ve been in the mood for these kinds of retellings, so when I saw this out on the shelves at my store, I immediately grabbed it and have kept my eye on it since. It feels like a spring read to me, so this is the perfect time to read it.
  • Phoenix Unbound by Grace Draven – I want to read more fantasy and romance, especially after catching up completely on the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, and this feels right along the lines of what I’m wanting to read.
  • Yellow Jessamine by Caitlin Starling – I loved her debut novel The Luminous Dead and this looks and feels very gothic fantasy.
  • Cherry by Nico Walker – This has been on my radar since its release, mostly because that cover is compelling, but now that it’s a movie with Tom Holland, it’s moved up my TBR a little bit.
  • The Wolf of Oren-Yaro by K.S. Villoso – The Chronicles of the Bitch Queen trilogy is complete this year, and now I can finally start it! I’ve heard so many good things about this book and its sequel, and for some series, I’m very weird and only like to read them if I can get my hands on the entire series…
  • The Princess Will Save You by Sarah Henning – This is a feminist retelling of The Princess Bride, and the second part of the duology releases this year, and I’m a super in the mood for fantasy everything.
  • Star Wars The High Republic: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule – So many new Star Wars books have come out in the last year and I’ve bought so many of them, and I’ve been really excited for this next chapter in the Star Wars saga!
  • A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer – This trilogy is complete now, and the hardcovers all look beautiful, and again, I am in the mood for fantasy trilogies.
  • Persephone Station by Stina Leicht – I bought this on release day in January, and this is the only title I’m carrying over officially from the Winter TBR!
  • Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas – I don’t know why I’ve been putting off reading this, but after finishing A Court of Silver Flames I want to get caught up on everything she’s released so far because I’ve also not read the last three books in the Throne of Glass series!

What’s on your spring TBR?

TOP TEN TUESDAY: Books on My Summer 2020 TBR

- Meg Leave a comment

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly discussion hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl (and formerly hosted by The Broke and the Bookish), and this week’s topic is “Books on My Summer 2020 TBR.” I have an endless unread shelf because I work in a bookstore, have a decent discount, and am buying things that catch my interest, but this summer, aside from my yearly challenges, I want to read the following books.

  • Witchmark – C.L. Polk – How many times have I added this to a TBR and never read it? Enough. After I finish one of my current reads, this is getting read. The final installment of the trilogy was just announced, so it’s time to actually buckle up and read this. I also have a problem with finishing series, especially not finishing series until the final book is out.
  • A Song of Wraiths and Ruin – Roseanne A. Brown – This has been on my radar since I saw the announcement for it a long time ago, and I’m finally glad to have the book in my hands! I’ve heard so many good things about it so far, and a stabby, deathy YA fantasy is something I need to read right now.
  • Beach Read – Emily Henry – This one I bought partially because of Instagram’s influence, but also because once I started reading people’s reviews, it appears to be much more than your typical summer beach read romance. I love the idea of writers switching from their usual genres, so I’m looking forward to this one!
  • Binti: The Complete Trilogy – Nnedi Okorafor – I have read the first of this trilogy, but when these new covers and this omnibus came out, I needed it, mostly because this omnibus also has some short stories that interconnect the novellas.
  • Crave – Tracy Wolff – This one is so out of my usual genre (I have never read Twilight!), but one of my friends read it and loved it because she said it’s just so out there that I have to read it so that we can talk about it.
  • Rosewater – Tade Thompson – I’ve had this book on my shelf forEVER, and again with the series thing, but I want to read this and the other two in the series ASAP.
  • Something to Talk About – Meryl Wilsner – I am a sucker for Hollywood stories? I don’t know why? I’ve had this on my radar since it was announced, it’s a f/f romance, and just looks like a fun escape.
  • The City We Became – N.K. Jemisin – I haven’t finished The Broken Earth Trilogy yet (also to be read/reread soon), but this one is an urban fantasy about New York City that looks so good. Everything I’ve read by Jemisin has been a masterpiece, so I fully expect to enjoy this one.
  • When We Were Magic – Sarah Gailey – Gailey is one of my favorite authors, and their work is everything I want and more, so to have a book like this about queer teen witches and a murder, I need it. I NEED IT.
  • The Shining – Stephen King – Full confession, the only thing I’ve read by King is On Writing and I don’t think that counts, so I’m starting here and seeing how I fare. I’m not one for horror, generally speaking, but it’s on my shelf, I bought it because I wanted to give it a go, and summer feels like a good time to read it.

Have you read any of these? What’s on your Summer 2020 TBR?

 

WYRD AND WONDER: May 2020 (tentative) TBR

- Meg 7 Comments

Wyrd and Wonder is a month-long fantasy blog celebration hosted by Lisa, Jorie, and Imyril! I’ve followed for the last two years, but I decided to participate this year!

I’m trying to read more of my own books while on lockdown because I have so many unread. I will obviously read others than this, but here are the three books I really want to get to this month, including the readalong!

  • Daughter of the Forest – Juliet Marillier :: Marillier recently put out another book (The Harp of Kings) and this reminded me of Daughter of the Forest that I devoured as a teenager because I wanted to read everything fairy tales and retellings. I’ve seen it pop up on bookstagram over the last few months, and now is the perfect time to read it!
  • The Goblin Emperor – Katherine Addison :: I bought this a year and a half ago because it was getting a new cover and I liked this one better and I wasn’t sure if the bookstore where I worked would stock this mass market size after the (more expensive) trade, but I obviously still haven’t read it. I think Addison is releasing a new one this year or next, and I’ve also seen this one going around bookstagram and various online readalongs (including this one!)!
  • The Queen of Blood – Sarah Beth Durst :: This is another one that I bought the whole series of based off of someone’s recommendation but never got around to it until seeing it read by someone I follow on social media. Now is the best time to binge read a series, so I’m looking forward to getting to this one!

Have you read any of these? Let me know what you’re reading this month!

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY: January-March 2020 Review Copies On My Shelves

- Meg Leave a comment

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine (though it seems as though it’s been a while since she updated that particular blog, so if you know of the current host, if there is one, please let me know) that highlights upcoming releases that we’re impatiently waiting for. This week I’m featuring January-March 2020 review copies that I have either in physical form or digital form that I can’t wait to dive into! And now that it’s the middle of December, I need to get started on some of those January ones! The release dates are listed but are always subject to change.

  • A Beginning at the End – Mike Chen :: The tagline for this is “How Do You Start Over After the End of the World?” and I’m all for something that supposedly calls back to Station Eleven with post-apocalyptic pandemics and how society picks up the pieces and returns to normalcy after a catastrophe. Releases January 14, 2020
  • Followers – Megan Angelo :: A book about social media and what happens when good intentions go horribly wrong?? YES. Releases January 14, 2020.
  • A Queen in Hiding – Sarah Kozloff :: This is the start of a four-book fantasy series and we don’t have to wait long for the sequels! Each of the sequels will be released in subsequent months (January, February, March, and April), so I’m excited for that first off because I always hate the wait for a series I really like. This is a coming of age story with a twist, and so far the early reviews have been looking great! Releases January 21, 2020.
  • Show Them a Good Time – Nicole Flattery :: A collection of stories by a debut writer that I heard some good buzz about on Twitter, and when I saw it was available for download on Netgalley, I snapped it up! Releases January 28, 2020.
  • Things in Jars – Jess Kidd :: Victorian London, female sleuths, anatomists, fairy tales? Give me all of those things, please. Releases February 4, 2020.
  • Daughter from the Dark – Marina & Sergey Dyachenko :: I downloaded Vita Nostra last month as a Kindle deal because I keep seeing it in various places, so when I saw this on the ARC shelf at work, I grabbed it because this is also a stand-alone and seems really interesting. It’s about music and companionship with a magical twist. Releases February 11, 2020.
  • Foul is Fair – Hannah Capin :: This is described as a Macbeth retelling with hints of Kill Bill and Heathers and all of those things are right up my alley?? This came in my inbox as a one-day download from Netgalley, and I’m so excited to see what this will bring. Releases February 18, 2020.
  • The Hidden Girl and Other Stories – Ken Liu :: Anything Ken Liu writes is a gift, and this latest collection is sure to be another favorite of mine. Releases Feburary 25, 2020.
  • The Girl in White Gloves – Kerri Maher :: This is historical fiction about Grace Kelly and her life behind the scenes, and I love Hollywood stories. The cover for this is also GORGEOUS. Releases February 25, 2020.
  • Beheld – TaraShea Nesbit :: This is about the first murder in Plymouth, Massachusetts not long after the Mayflower landed in the 1600s. Some of the reviews and buzz I’ve seen have said it evokes that period very well. I love a good historical mystery, and I don’t think I’ve seen many set in this era.

Are any of these on your to-read list? What one would you read first?