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TOP TEN TUESDAY: Books on my Fall TBR

- Meg 1 Comment

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly discussion hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl (and formerly hosted by The Broke and the Bookish). This week, I’m featuring my Fall 2023 TBR! I read only one off of my Summer 2023 TBR (and to no one’s surprise, it’s Fourth Wing). It’s been a weird summer, and I fell off the wagon for a lot of things. The only book carrying over from the previous list onto this one is T. Kingfisher’s Nettle & Bone.

Legends & Lattes, by Travis Baldree — I bought the BN exclusive paperback edition with the deckled edges last year and still haven’t read it. With the weather cooling down, I’m definitely in the mood for some cozy fantasy.

Payback’s a Witch, by Lana Harper — Another one of those that I bought when it came out because the story and the cover appealed to me. 

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, by Sangu Mandanna — I’ve been saving this since last year since I bought it after ‘spooky season’ was over! I’ve heard so many good things about it, so I’m ready to dive right in.

Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, by Juno Dawson — This one is another one that I wanted to save until the third book had a release date, but once I saw the second one out on the table at work and saw the third title of this trilogy, I knew I needed to add this to my fall TBR.

Certain Dark Things, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia — 2023 is the year of vampires for me, apparently, between all of the vampire books, movies, and video games (hello, Astarion) I’ve been consuming. 

Nettle & Bone, by T. Kingfisher — every time I reached for this over the summer, something in my brain was like, no this is autumn, and I can’t wait to take a weekend day to read this with a hot chocolate

Summer Sons, by Lee Mandelo — this one I should have read in August, but I forgot about it and now that it’s spooky season, it’s time to read it!

If We Were Villains, by M.L. Rio — to be fair, I have had a copy of this on my shelves for years – from way back when it initially made the bookstagram rounds, but this BN exclusive cover (and sprayed edges) caught my attention, and dark academia fits this season so well

The Last Heir to Blackwood Library, by Hester Fox — this came out in April?? I bought it as a birthday present for myself, but like Nettle & Bone, this feels like a very seasonally fall read, and I’m looking forward to reading more of Hester Fox’s work

A Certain Hunger, by Chelsea G. Summers — I have been thinking about this one for a long, long time, and I finally got my hands on it a few weeks ago!

What’s on your fall TBR?

TOP TEN TUESDAY: Books on My Summer 2023 TBR

- Meg 11 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly discussion hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl (and formerly hosted by The Broke and the Bookish). This week, I’m featuring my Summer 2023 TBR! (I missed the original date, but there’s no time like the present!)

Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros — This is the book of the summer, and the hype machine behind it is HUGE. I love dragons in fantasy, and I’m glad I picked up a copy of this when it first came out because those sprayed edges are to die for!! 

The Island of Doctor Moreau, by H.G. Wells — I want to read more classics in general, and I want to read this before I read Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s The Daughter of Doctor Moreau. It’s short, so it shouldn’t take too long, and I enjoy what I’ve already read of Wells!

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, by Hank Green — I’ve had this on my shelf for far too long, and in an effort to read and complete series, I added the duology to my TBR shelf! 

You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight, by Kalynn Bayron — I’ve heard this called a callback to pulpy YA horror and that it has an amazing twist, and it sounds like it’ll be fun to read on a hot summer night! 

Dead Eleven, by Jimmy Juliano — I didn’t realize until receiving this book from Dutton Books (thank you!!) that this author wrote a lot of creepypasta stories on reddit!! This sounds so interesting because why are people on this island stuck in 1994?? 

The Dead Romantics, by Ashley Poston — this has been on too many TBRs at this point, and I need to get it read!! Especially now that her second romance just came out!

The Shining, by Stephen King — another one on several TBRs and one on my 23 in 2023 list, but summer feels like the perfect time to read Stephen King for the first time.

Cemetery Boys, by Aiden Thomas — this is one is another one on my 23 in 2023 list, and I wanted to get to it in June, but I’m prioritizing it for this summer!

Nettle & Bone, by T. Kingfisher — this author has become one of my favorite writers that I’ve read recently, and I want to read everything on her backlist. I meant to grab this in hardcover but I never ended up doing it, but I just bought it the other day in paperback and can’t wait to dive in!

Yellowface, by R.F. Kuang — another one of the hyped books of the spring/summer, but I also love me some literary industry fiction/drama, and after reading Babel, I can’t wait to see how Kuang handles modern day fiction!

What’s on your summer TBR?

TOP TEN TUESDAY: 2023 Debut Books I’m Looking Forward To

- Meg 7 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly discussion hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl (and formerly hosted by The Broke and the Bookish). This week’s topic is 2023 debuts I’m looking forward to! These come from a variety of different genres and audiences

She Is a Haunting, by Trang Thanh Tran — this has comps to Mexican Gothic, and that’s all I needed to know to put this on my radar!! This cover looks amazing, the story sounds sufficiently spooky for me, and I can’t wait to read how everything plays out. (February 28, 2023 / Bloomsbury YA)

Weyward, by Emilia Hart — a novel about three women connected throughout time that celebrates nature, female power, and breaking free. I’ve already seen several positive reviews from people I follow, and witchy stories definitely appeal to me. (March 7, 2023 / St. Martin’s Press)

Seven Faceless Saints, by M.K. Lobb — the premise of this reminds me a bit of Six of Crows with a holy war at its center. The cover looks amazing, and I’m always up for reading anything with a Six of Crows comp, especially if there’s a murder-mystery twist involved. (February 7, 2023 / Little, Brown Books)

Flowerheart, by Catherine Bakewell — the first time I saw this book mentioned, the ‘cottagecore’ descriptor was attached to it, and that alone made me interested in it. I love that this is a standalone, and the Margaret Rogerson and Tamora Pierce comps have gotten me more excited to read this. (March 14, 2023 / HarperTeen)

The Writing Retreat, by Julia Bartz — in this book, writers who attend a writing retreat are told they must complete an entire novel from scratch during the next month, and the author of the best one will receive a life-changing seven-figure publishing deal. This with an alleged haunting of the mansion itself seems like it’s exactly what I’d enjoy reading!! (February 21, 2023 / Atria/Emily Bestler)

Godkiller, by Hannah Kaner — the premise of this sounds interesting: a godkiller finds a god she cannot kill, the god of white lies, who is connected to a little noble girl on the run. It’s a quest novel, and I feel like I haven’t read one of those in a bit! (January 19, 2023 / Harper Voyager)

Spice Road, by Maiya Ibrahim — a YA fantasy series set in an Arabian-inspired land with secret spice magic and tea magic. I enjoy Arabian-inspired fantasy, and I hope I’ll enjoy this one too! (January 24, 2023 / Delacorte Press)

The Daughters of Izdihar, by Hadeer Elsbai — set in a world inspired by Egyptian history, two young women – a spoiled aristocrat and a poor bookshop worker – find they have more in common than initially expected, particularly in their struggle for the rights of women and their ability to fight for it with forbidden elemental magic. I love the duality of rich vs poor, magic, and bookshops!! (January 10, 2023 / Harper Voyager)

Sizzle Reel, by Carlyn Greenwald — a queer romcom that’s Booksmart meets The Devil Wears Prada??? I love stories set in Hollywood, no matter what decade, and a romcom with insider Hollywood vibes sounds like it’s going to be a perfect read for summer. (April 18, 2023 / Vintage)

On Earth as It Is on Television, by Emily Jane — I love the title of this so much!! It’s a first-contact story, and I want to read it based on the title and general concept alone. (June 13, 2023 / Hyperion Avenue)

What debuts are you looking forward to?

TOP TEN TUESDAY: 10 Books on My Fall 2022 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 “Typographical Covers” but I wanted to revisit the previous week’s topic of ‘Books on Your Fall TBR!’ I’ve not really focused on TBRs in the last year or so, but sometimes setting aside a few books I want to focus on has actually led me to focus on them, so I’m swinging back to trying these out again. Maybe seasonally instead of monthly work better for me as I tend to be a mood reader and a library due date-driven reader!!

  • Slaying the Dragon: A Secret History of Dungeons & Dragons, by Ben Riggs – A history of one of the most popular TTRPG! I don’t know much about the history of it, and this is a perfect-looking length of a general introduction!
  • Babel: An Arcane History, by R.F. Kuang – Fantasy dark academia is perfect for this time of year, and I can’t wait to dive into this. I’ve heard so many great things about it already!
  • The Year of the Witching, by Alexis Henderson – I’ve just started reading this after having it on numerous TBRs since it came out, and it’s just what I’ve been needing! I can definitely see this being for someone who enjoyed the movie The VVitch.
  • Long Live the Pumpkin Queen, by Shea Ernshaw – I’m curious about a YA novel about Sally after she marries Jack, and I couldn’t resist getting a copy of the BN exclusive edition because the cover is so much more appealing to me!!
  • For the Wolf, by Hannah Whitten – This is another one that has been on several TBRs since I picked it up, and something about the cover and the fall season makes me want to read fairy tale reimaginings.
  • The Dead Romantics, by Ashley Poston – Everything about this screams spooky season, and I’m interested in seeing how a romance works between a ghostwriter and a ghost.
  • Dead Astronauts, by Jeff VanderMeer – This is another one that’s been on so many TBRs over the last two years, and I keep staring at it, partially wanting to savor VanderMeer’s stuff forever and partially because sometimes his work intimidates me and I know it’s a whole to-do for me when I do read his work.
  • The Night Ocean, by Paul La Farge – A book about Lovecraft and his circle that seems perfect for fall (and has also been on so many TBRs). This is the season of knocking out my backlist!!!
  • The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Tales of Terror , by Robert Louis Stevenson – I read Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde probably about twenty years ago (ack) when I was fourteen/fifteen, and I never revisited it!
  • Silent in the Grave, by Deanna Raybourn – I’ve enjoyed her Veronica Speedwell series, and I found the first two of the Lady Julia Grey series at a used bookstore a few years back, so I’m curious and excited to read her earlier series!

What is on your fall TBR this year? What types of books do you like to read seasonally?

TOP TEN TUESDAY: Authors I Haven’t Read, But Want To

- Meg 4 Comments

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 “Bookish Merchandise I’d Love to Own” but I am not really a bookish merch person any longer, so I will use last week’s prompt that I missed which is “Authors I Haven’t Read, But Want To”! I’m sure there are others that I’m forgetting about, but in a glance at my to-read list and things I can remember off the top of my head, here are ten authors/books I’m looking forward to that I haven’t read yet. Some of these have been on my TBR for a while, and some of these are new-to-me!

  • Tasha Suri – Ever since Empire of Sand was released, I’ve had her work on my TBR/radar, and after The Jasmine Throne‘s release last year and her upcoming Wuthering Heights retelling, I want to read everything of hers sooner rather than later!
  • Alexis Henderson – When The Year of the Witching came out in 2020, I needed it and I bought it and I still haven’t read it. With her second book coming out later this year, it’s definitely time to dive into her work.
  • June Hur – The Red Palace is a historical mystery set in 1758 Korea and looks absolutely amazing to me. I’ve had my eye on her previous books too, but everything about her most recent release has spoken to me!
  • Fonda Lee – I am one of those people who usually puts off starting a series until all of them are announced or out, and now that all of the Green Bone saga is out, I need to stop procrastinating on reading it!!
  • Naomi Novik – I don’t know why I haven’t read anything of Novik’s yet, but I have Uprooted, A Deadly Education, and His Majesty’s Dragon on my shelves to read!!
  • Tade Thompson – I’ve heard such good things about The Wormwood Trilogy (Rosewater, The Rosewater Insurrection, and The Rosewater Redemption), and his books have been on my shelf forever! .
  • Seth Dickinson – The Traitor Baru Cormorant has come up a lot of my friends’ socials and blogs with nothing but praise, and something about it keeps calling to me!
  • Ottessa Moshfegh – I checked one of her books out from the library years ago but didn’t get around to it because of due dates, and I’ve been wanting to actually read her work because it’s been everywhere!
  • Jessie Mihalik – Her Consortium Rebellion trilogy caught my attention awhile back, and the first book of her new series looks interesting to me too! It’s sci-fi romance, and it’s gotten a lot of love on my friends’ socials lately too!
  • Sally Thorne – I’ve been meaning to read The Hating Game for a while (and I even own it!!) but when I found out about her historical rom-com about Victor Frankenstein’s younger sister, my interest has only increased!!!