This Week in Books 13.05.2015

Welcome to my weekly post, where I sum-up what I’ve been up to in bookland the past week.

Now: Fairest ~ Marissa Meyer // The Testimony of a Hanged Man ~ Ann Granger

I had been waiting for Fairest to arrive for soooooooooo long, but it hasn’t gripped me yet which I’m sad about. I’m only 50 pages in, but still! I’m still going on my lunch-time read The Testimony of a Hanged Man too. It’s OK but hasn’t completely won me over yet either.

Then: Heir of Fire ~ Sarah J. Maas // The Heir ~ Kiera Cass

Ahhhh all the heirs! So good, both of them! I was on such a roll…I hope it hasn’t come to an end!

Next: ???

I still have Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin, The Foreshadowing by Marcus Sedgwick an Horns by Joe Hill at the top of my physical TBR pile, and quite a few ARCS to start as well, so who knows!

New on the Wishlist

Linking up with Friday Finds hosted by A Daily Rhythm

I added The Law of Moses by Amy Harmon to my wishlist after Lekeisha’s irresistible review on her blog, Lekeisha the Booknerd.

If I tell you right up front, right in the beginning that I lost him, it will be easier for you to bear. You will know it’s coming, and it will hurt. But you’ll be able to prepare.

Someone found him in a laundry basket at the Quick Wash, wrapped in a towel, a few hours old and close to death. They called him Baby Moses when they shared his story on the ten o’clock news – the little baby left in a basket at a dingy Laundromat, born to a crack addict and expected to have all sorts of problems. I imagined the crack baby, Moses, having a giant crack that ran down his body, like he’d been broken at birth. I knew that wasn’t what the term meant, but the image stuck in my mind. Maybe the fact that he was broken drew me to him from the start.

It all happened before I was born, and by the time I met Moses and my mom told me all about him, the story was old news and nobody wanted anything to do with him. People love babies, even sick babies. Even crack babies. But babies grow up to be kids, and kids grow up to be teenagers. Nobody wants a messed up teenager.

And Moses was messed up. Moses was a law unto himself. But he was also strange and exotic and beautiful. To be with him would change my life in ways I could never have imagined. Maybe I should have stayed away. Maybe I should have listened. My mother warned me. Even Moses warned me. But I didn’t stay away.

And so begins a story of pain and promise, of heartache and healing, of life and death. A story of before and after, of new beginnings and never-endings. But most of all…a love story.

New on the Shelf

(Linking up with Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga’s Reviews) and Friday Finds hosted by A Daily Rhythm.

Purchased: These two FINALLY arrived (plus Frozen Singalong…can’t go wrong!):

Netgalley: I need to catch up so I didn’t request any this week!

I’m Waiting on…

(Linking up with Breaking the Spine)

The Almost King ~ Lucy Saxon

I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed Take Back the Skies, so when I found out a sequel is due pretty soon I was thrilled! Cant’t wait!

Aleks Vasin is the youngest of four brothers, each with his path mapped out. But Aleks doesn’t want to work in his father’s shop and live with his family in a village in the westernmost corner of Siberene. And when he hears his parents fretting about money, he decides to save them the cost of his keep and leave.

First he heads south – though everyone tells him not to – to Rudavin, headquarters of the kingsguard, and he signs up for the army, little knowing what brutality it entails. After only a few weeks, Aleks realizes that this garrison is full of liars and thieves; he’s signed away four years of his life to a commander who steals his money and a captain who’s already hurt Aleks’s beloved horse. This is not a noble destiny.

After a brutal beating, Aleks escapes, hoping to find safety and a new life somewhere in the north. And there, this deserter finds love, adventure, and a skyship in which he might just prove himself a hero after all – if he can evade the soldiers who seek to capture him.

Prepare for another sweeping adventure in this second book in a unique six-book series. Each book is set in a different land within the Tellus world, with repeating characters and related, nonlinear storylines that combine to create a one-of-a-kind, addictive reading experience. Expected publication: June 4th 2015 by Bloomsbury

So, that’s my week in books, now how about yours?

If you still do a similar WWW post (or just want to join in, leave your link/answers in the comments, OR why not tweet using #ThisWeekInBooks, and I’ll come and visit!

Friday Feature: May Releases & Cover Love

I usually list the month’s most anticipated releases on the previous monthly wrap-up post, but there were so many this month that I figured it warranted its own post. And for an added bonus, just check out the covers. I love them all.

A Court of Thorns and Roses ~ Sarah J. Maas

A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!

5th May

The Far End of Happy ~ Kathryn Craft

Twelve tense hours, three women, and the suicide standoff that turns one family’s little piece of heaven into a scene from hell

After enduring years of a struggling marriage, Ronnie Farnham has decided to divorce her husband and is beginning to hope for a happy future–until the morning Jeff is supposed to move out, when he locks himself in their barn with a rifle.

When a massive police presence arrives to control the 12-hour stand off, the women in Jeff’s life are pushed to their breaking points.

Based on the author’s harrowing personal story, The Far End of Happy is a powerful novel about the way one man’s spiral towards life’s violent conclusion tests the resolve, love, and hope of the women he will leave behind.

5th May

The Heir ~ Kiera Cass

Princess Eadlyn has grown up hearing endless stories about how her mother and father met. Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won the heart of Prince Maxon—and they lived happily ever after. Eadlyn has always found their fairy-tale story romantic, but she has no interest in trying to repeat it. If it were up to her, she’d put off marriage for as long as possible.

But a princess’s life is never entirely her own, and Eadlyn can’t escape her very own Selection—no matter how fervently she protests.

Eadlyn doesn’t expect her story to end in romance. But as the competition begins, one entry may just capture Eadlyn’s heart, showing her all the possibilities that lie in front of her . . . and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn’t as impossible as she’s always thought.

May 7th

The Violet Hour ~ Andrea L. Wells

Still shocked over her mother’s mysterious death, California socialite Logan Keller is handed a one-way ticket to her long lost roots in Wyoming where love, deceit and danger await. Though she could forget everything staring into Luke Callahan’s eyes, Logan is quickly thrust into a fight for survival. Taking fate into her own hands, she begins unraveling the dangerous deceptions that abound at every turn. Her father is keeping secrets and Luke is keeping more. But Logan is keeping the biggest secret of them all.

The Violet Hour is a page-turning captivating twist of young romance and the paranormal.
11th May

5 to 1 ~ Holly Bodger

In the year 2054, after decades of gender selection, India now has a ratio of five boys for every girl, making women an incredibly valuable commodity. Tired of marrying off their daughters to the highest bidder and determined to finally make marriage fair, the women who form the country of Koyanagar have instituted a series of tests so that every boy has the chance to win a wife.

Sudasa, though, doesn’t want to be a wife, and Kiran, a boy forced to compete in the test to become her husband, has other plans as well. As the tests advance, Sudasa and Kiran thwart each other at every turn until they slowly realize that they just might want the same thing.

This beautiful, unique novel is told from alternating points of view-Sudasa’s in verse and Kiran’s in prose-allowing readers to experience both characters’ pain and their brave struggle for hope.

12th May

Made You Up ~ Francesca Zappia

Reality, it turns out, is often not what you perceive it to be—sometimes, there really is someone out to get you. Made You Up tells the story of Alex, a high school senior unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. This is a compelling and provoking literary debut that will appeal to fans of Wes Anderson, Silver Linings Playbook, and Liar.

Alex fights a daily battle to figure out the difference between reality and delusion. Armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude, her camera, a Magic 8-Ball, and her only ally (her little sister), Alex wages a war against her schizophrenia, determined to stay sane long enough to get into college. She’s pretty optimistic about her chances until classes begin, and she runs into Miles. Didn’t she imagine him? Before she knows it, Alex is making friends, going to parties, falling in love, and experiencing all the usual rites of passage for teenagers. But Alex is used to being crazy. She’s not prepared for normal.

Funny, provoking, and ultimately moving, this debut novel featuring the quintessential unreliable narrator will have readers turning the pages and trying to figure out what is real and what is made up.

19th May

Hold Me Like a Breath ~ Tiffany Schmidt

Penelope Landlow has grown up with the knowledge that almost anything can be bought or sold—including body parts. She’s the daughter of one of the three crime families that control the black market for organ transplants.

Penelope’s surrounded by all the suffocating privilege and protection her family can provide, but they can’t protect her from the autoimmune disorder that causes her to bruise so easily.

And in her family’s line of work no one can be safe forever.

All Penelope has ever wanted is freedom and independence. But when she’s caught in the crossfire as rival families scramble for prominence, she learns that her wishes come with casualties, that betrayal hurts worse than bruises, that love is a risk worth taking . . . and maybe she’s not as fragile as everyone thinks.

19th May

Penny Heart ~ Martine Bailey

A historical novel of suspense, seasoned with recipes and remedies, THE PENNY HEART draws on age-old themes of cooking, trickery and revenge.

The North of England 1787. Sentenced to death for a simple confidence trick, Mary Jebb escapes the gallows … but her reprieve is harsh: seven years in the unforgiving penal colony of Botany Bay. Yet Mary is determined not to be forgotten, sending two pennies, engraved with a promise, to the two men who sealed her fate.
Timid artist Grace Moore jumps at the opportunity to marry handsome gentleman Michael Croxon – happy if only to get away from her drunken father.

But when Grace takes on a new cook, the two penny heart love tokens reveal she is tied to a world she didn’t know existed … A world of deceit, double-crossing, revenge and murder.

21st May

The Cage (The Cage #1) ~ Megan Shepherd

The Maze Runner meets Scott Westerfeld in this gripping new series about teens held captive in a human zoo by an otherworldly race. From Megan Shepherd, the acclaimed author of The Madman’s Daughter trilogy.

When Cora Mason wakes in a desert, she doesn’t know where she is or who put her there. As she explores, she finds an impossible mix of environments—tundra next to desert, farm next to jungle, and a strangely empty town cobbled together from different cultures—all watched over by eerie black windows. And she isn’t alone.

Four other teenagers have also been taken: a beautiful model, a tattooed smuggler, a secretive genius, and an army brat who seems to know too much about Cora’s past. None of them have a clue as to what happened, and all of them have secrets. As the unlikely group struggles for leadership, they slowly start to trust each other. But when their mysterious jailer—a handsome young guard called Cassian—appears, they realize that their captivity is more terrifying than they could ever imagine: Their captors aren’t from Earth. And they have taken the five teenagers for an otherworldly zoo—where the exhibits are humans.

As a forbidden attraction develops between Cora and Cassian, she realizes that her best chance of escape might be in the arms of her own jailer—though that would mean leaving the others behind. Can Cora manage to save herself and her companions? And if so . . . what world lies beyond the walls of their cage?

26th May

Do you have any of these lined up, or a favourite May cover?

This Week in Books 22.04.15

Welcome to my weekly post, where I sum-up what I’ve been up to in bookland the past week.

Now: Ice Kissed (The Kanin Chronicles #2) ~ Amanda Hocking

I’m still reading Ice Kissed, and I’m still not sure how much I like it…

Then:  The Girl With All the Gifts ~ M.R Carey

I really liked this, much more than I thought I would. My review won’t be up for a week or two though.

Next: ???

It HAS to be Heir of Fire….this time. LOL.

New on the Wishlist

Linking up with Friday Finds hosted by A Daily Rhythm

I added Dream a Little Dream by Kerstin Gier to my wishlist after spotting it on the wonderful Darcy’s Book Blog. I fell in love with the cover straight away. It was released last week.

Mysterious doors with lizard-head knobs. Talking stone statues. A crazy girl with a hatchet. Yep, Liv’s dreams have been pretty weird lately. Especially this one where she’s in a graveyard at night, watching four boys perform dark magic rituals.

The really weird thing is that Liv recognizes the boys in her dream. They’re classmates from her new school in London, the school where’s she’s starting over because her mom has moved them to a new country (again). But they seem to know things about her in real life that they couldn’t possibly know, which is mystifying. Then again, Liv could never resist a good mystery. . . .

New on the Shelf

(Linking up with Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga’s Reviews) and Friday Finds hosted by A Daily Rhythm.

Purchased: I bought some more beautiful vintage books this weekend at a local carboot sale. Some amazing finds! Watch this space, I’ll be sure to post when they go live in the shop.

Netgalley: This week I downloaded Twisted Dark Vol 1 by Neil Gibson in a bid to read more graphic novels. And I was approved for The Bones of You by Debbie Howells.

The first volume in Neil Gibson’s acclaimed series of twisted tales. This 200 page book contains 12 individual and unique stories which are all related. The stories vary from 10 year old girls to Colombian drug lords and everything in between. It is left to the reader to find the connections between the stories – some connections are immediately clear whilst other connection only become clear in later volumes. This series is designed for re-reading. The author describes the genre as psychological thriller, but the books contains horror, dark (at times demented) stories incorporating every human emotion, illegal activity, and brutal reality. Using various illustrators allows each story and character to develop their own form. Twisted Dark has been embraced by the comic book world receiving critical acclaim and a cult following.

I have a gardener’s inherent belief in the natural order of things. Soft‑petalled flowers that go to seed. The resolute passage of the seasons. Swallows that fly thousands of miles to follow the eternal summer.

Children who don’t die before their parents.

When Kate receives a phone call with news that Rosie Anderson is missing, she’s stunned and disturbed. Rosie is eighteen, the same age as Kate’s daughter, and a beautiful, quiet, and kind young woman. Though the locals are optimistic—girls like Rosie don’t get into real trouble—Kate’s sense of foreboding is confirmed when Rosie is found fatally beaten and stabbed.

Who would kill the perfect daughter, from the perfect family? Yet the more Kate entwines herself with the Andersons—graceful mother Jo, renowned journalist father Neal, watchful younger sister Delphine—the more she is convinced that not everything is as it seems. Anonymous notes arrive, urging Kate to unravel the tangled threads of Rosie’s life and death, though she has no idea where they will lead.

Weaving flashbacks from Rosie’s perspective into a tautly plotted narrative, The Bones of You is a gripping, haunting novel of sacrifices and lies, desperation and love.

I’m Waiting on…

(Linking up with Breaking the Spine)

The Seed Collectors ~ Scarlett Thomas
I only found out about this when I was looking into my favourite authors for yesterday’s TTT post. Eeeeeek I’m very excited that Scarlett Thomas has a new book out, and it sounds very different to her others.

THREE GENERATIONS. TWO SECRETS. ONE FAMILY TREE.

Aunt Oleander is dead. In the Garden of England her extended family gather to remember her, to tell stories and to rekindle old memories. To each of her nearest and dearest Oleander has left a precious seed pod. But along with it comes a family secret that could open the hardest of hearts but also break the closest ties…
Expected publication: July 2nd 2015 by Canongate

So, that’s my week in books, now how about yours?

If you still do a similar WWW post (or just want to join in, leave your link/answers in the comments, OR why not tweet using #ThisWeekInBooks, and I’ll come and visit!

This Week in Books 11.02.15

Welcome to my new Wednesday post, where I sum-up what I’ve been up to in bookland the past week.

Now: The Ghosts of Heaven ~ Marcus Sedgwick //When Mystical Creatures Attack! ~ Kathleen Founds

I love Marcus Sedgwick so I’m really excited about this one. Not to mention that the book is SEXY. I still have no idea what it’s about though…

When Mystical Creatures Attack! is also a bit of a weird one – but I’m trying really hard to get into it. It has a unicorn on the cover so – hello!

Then: Me & Mr J ~ Rachel McIntyre

I wasn’t completely sold on this one, but parts of it were enjoyable and it was written well. Lovers of contemporary YA will probably enjoy it. My review will be up next week.

Next: ???

As always, I’m not sure. There are lots of options; Heir of Fire, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and The Girl with all The Gifts are at the top of the pile at the mo

New on the Shelf

(Linking up with Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga’s Reviews)

I was relatively well behaved this week. I’m still waiting on the arrival of Fairest by Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles). Where are you??? And I bought a second hand copy of Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin which was my wishlist pick from last week.

I didn’t make any Netgalley requests or borrow any from friends.

New on the Wishlist

When My Heart Was Wicked ~ Tricia Stirling

I saw this on the wonderful Over the Bookshelf’s WWW Wednesday post and I WANT!

“I used to be one of those girls. The kind who loved to deliver bad news. When I colored my hair, I imagined it seeping into my scalp, black dye pooling into my veins. But that was the old Lacy. Now, when I cast spells, they are always for good.”

16-year-old Lacy believes that magic and science can work side by side. She’s a botanist who knows how to harness the healing power of plants. So when her father dies, Lacy tries to stay with her step-mother in Chico, where her magic is good and healing. She fears the darkness that her real mother, Cheyenne, brings out, stripping away everything that is light and kind.

Yet Cheyenne never stays away for long. Beautiful, bewitching, unstable Cheyenne who will stop at nothing, not even black magic, to keep control of her daughter’s heart. She forces Lacy to accompany her to Sacramento, and before long, the “old” Lacy starts to resurface.

But when Lacy survives a traumatic encounter, she finds herself faced with a choice. Will she use her powers to exact revenge and spiral into the darkness forever? Or will she find the strength to embrace the light?

I’m Waiting on…

(Linking up with Breaking the Spine)

The Ship ~ Anotonia Honeywell

Thanks to Cosmochicklitan for bringing this book to my attention!

Children of Men meets The Handmaiden’s Tale: a dystopian epic about love, friendship and what it means to be free.

Welcome to London, but not as you know it.

Oxford Street burned for three weeks
The British Museum is squatted by ragtag survivors
The Regent’s Park camps have been bombed

The Nazareth Act has come into force. If you can’t produce your identity card, you will be shot.

Lalla, 16, has grown up sheltered from the new reality by her visionary father, Michael Paul. But now the chaos has reached their doorstep. Michael has promised Lalla and her mother that they will escape. Escape is a ship big enough to save 500 people.

But only the worthy will be chosen.

Once on board, as day follows identical day, Lalla’s unease grows.
Where are they going?

What does her father really want?
Expected publication: February 19th 2015 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson

So, that’s my week in books, now how about yours?

If you still do a similar WWW post (or just want to join in, leave your link/answers in the comments, OR why not tweet using #ThisWeekInBooks, and I’ll come and visit!

Friday Feature: It’s all about the Bass Thrones & Thorns!

Do you ever get the feeling you’ve heard that title before, seen that cover a million times, or get déjá vu when reading a synopsis? It seems like we see a different book trend every month lately, whether it’s a hot new sub-genre, a cover style or even a title trend.

I thought it would be fun to explore book trends in more detail, and for this first post on the subject I’m going to look at two words that have been continuously cropping up in book titles for what seems like forever, and they just keep on coming.

It’s impossible to know were it all really began, but for me these two trends began with George R.R Martin’s A Game of Thrones, and Mark Lawrence’s Prince of Thorns. Since then it’s been pretty hard to look at any physical or virtual bookshelf in the fantasy section without being bombarded with both thrones and thorns.

Let’s take a look…

Thrones

 

Overview: Tales of claims to the throne and everything that comes with it – war, murder, romance –  have always been popular in both Historical Fiction and Fantasy. But A Game of Thrones definitely seems to have been the game changer here. The ever popular series and accompanying TV show seems to have set in motion a whole new wave of old-world-new-world fantasy.

• The Diamond Throne by David Eddings – 1989: Slightly ahead of its time, perhaps?
• A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire #1) by George R.R. Martin – 1996

• The Throne of Bones  by Brian McNaughton – 1997: I had to include this one just for the hilarious title. It’s not quite on trend with the rest as this is an anthology of Horror shorts.
  

  “Imagine earthy Tolkienesque characters in a setting full of cemeteries, graverobbers, necromancers, corpse-eaters–even a huge labyrinthine necropolis”.

 

• The Poison Throne by Celine Kiernan – 2008: Now this is more like it. The synopsis sounds like a million other throne books that emerged between 2008 and now – but y’ know…still good.

• The Lost Throne by Chris Kuzneski – 2008: Slight reprieve here as we head more into The Da Vinci Code territory (by the sounds of it). There isn’t even mention of a throne in the synopsis. Band wagon much!

• The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan – 2011: Oooh Riordan has caught on.

• Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Mass – 2012: And we have lift off. As much as I love this title and the series in general, I did always wonder why she called it that. The throne in question plays a very little part in the book which makes me wonder if the choice of title was marketing genius over anything else.

• Assassin’s Gambit (Hearts & Thrones #1) by Amy Raby – 2013: You could be forgiven for thinking this is the exact same plot of ToG from the synopsis. A beautiful assassin, a powerful emperor…that damned déjá vu again!

• The Shadow Throne by Django Wexler/ Jennifer A. Nielsen – 2014: Two in one year with the same title! This throne malarkey is big business!

Thorns

 

Overview: I always associate the use of thorns in literature with the Grimm’s fairy tale Little Briar Rose, and many of these books appear to have been inspired by that too. These are stories of broken princes, powerful sorcerers and abandoned castles. We’ve seen a steady resurgence of fairy-tale retellings in the past twenty years, but only recently have so many focused on the thorns element.

• The Briar King (Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone) by Brian Keyes – 2002

• The Thorn Queen by Richelle Mead – 2008: Richelle Mead is always pretty ahead of her game. She brought us Vampire Academy before the whole Twilight thing went mental, and here she’s at it again.

• Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence – 2011: This was when I first noticed the emerging trend of thorns and it seems to have paved the way for the anti-hero too.

• The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson – 2011: This book seemed to kick off the thorn-love in YA land.

• Thorn by Intisar Khanani – 2012

• The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kittredge – 2011: Not to be confused with the iron throne in Game of Thrones…are you getting confused yet?

• Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman – 2013: This is another one that has been popular in the YA world of fantasy.

• The Castle Behind the Thorns by Meril Haskel – 2014

• Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay – 2014: Woah. Double whammy or what. This book is actually described as:

  ‘Game of Thrones meets the Grimm’s fairy tales in this twisted, fast-paced romantic fantasy-adventure about Sleeping Beauty’s daughter, a warrior princess who must fight to reclaim her throne.’

  Why have one trend when you can have two? Mind blown. I also really want to read it now!

• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas – 2015: She’s at it again. This Maas chick knows exactly what she’s doing.

Final Thoughts: So there we have it. This is just a snap-shot of the books out there that seem to be following these trends. If this were a battle though, I’d say that the thrones trend may be coming to an end, and the thorns are taking over.

It’s also interesting how much fire, ice and bones are mentioned in both trends. The two themes seem pretty incestuous actually – nearly all of the thorn books also mention thrones, however the same can not be said the other way around. But whether you’re in to Iron Thrones or Iron Thorns, you’re not going to run out of reading material any time soon!

What do you think about these two trends…do you have a favourite??

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Wouldn’t Mind Santa Bringing This Year

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish (click the image to visit them) who pick a different topic each week.

The topic for this week is:The Top Ten Books I Wouldn’t Mind Santa Bringing This Year.

Ooooooooh so many, so, so many. Most of the books I really want are ones that I never got round to buying…I hope Santa has a bottomless sack! 😉

Dear Santa,

I have a been a very good girl this year, so if you would be so kind, I would like these books in my life…(in no particular order).

More Than This – Patrick Ness: I always need more Ness in my life!

Of Scars and Stardust – Andrea Hannah: This was my second favourite book of the year, which I had as a digital advance copy but I need to own a physical copy. I wanted to read it again as soon as I’d finished it!

Rebel Belle – Rachel Hawkins: It looks so pretty and sounds bad-ass too!

Heir of Fire – Sarah J. Maas: So much love for this series but I just keep forgetting to buy it!

The Bane Chronicles – Cassandra Clare: I never did finish TMI but Alec and Magnus Bane were totally my favourites.

The Jewel – Amy Ewing: I need to fill the void that The Selection trilogy has left and this sounds like it could be up to the job. There’s too long to wait until The Heir is released!

Subversive Horror Cinema (Countercultural Messages of Films from Frankenstein to the Present) – Jon Towlson: I don’t buy a lot of non-fiction books but one or two always end up on my Christmas list. I’m a huge fan of cinematic horror and this sounds really interesting to me.

Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe – Benjamin Alire Sáenz: I’ve heard so many wonderful things about this book. It’s been on the top of my wishlist for a while now.

The Girl Who Walked on Air – Emma Carroll: I loved Frost Hollow Hall and have been meaning to buy this one, the second book by Emma, since it was released. I have failed.

The Chaos Walking Trilogy – Patrick Ness: It makes me sad that I don’t own these books. I borrowed them off my friend Di but I definitely need my own copies ASAP!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books to read this Autumn

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish (click the image to visit them) who pick a different topic each week.

This week the topic is: Top ten books on my Autumn to-be-read list

Some of these are my reads for Horror October, and some are just the ones at the top of my TBR pile.

• The Girl who Walked on Air – Emma Carroll
• The Printer’s Devil Court – Susan Hill
• Last Stand of Dead Men – Derek Landy
• Doll Bones – Holly Black
• Heir of Fire – Sarah J. Maas

• The Ghosts of Heaven – Marcus Sedgwick
• Daughter – Jane Shemilt
• Mr Mercedes – Stephen King
• Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe – Benjamin Alire Sáenz
• Dark Satanic Mills – Julian & Marcus Sedgwick

Lazy Saturday Review: The Assassin’s Blade

Title: The Assassin’s Blade
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass (The Novellas, #0.1- #0.5)
Edition: Paperback, 437 pages
Published: March 13th 2014 by Bloomsbury Childrens
Genre(s): YA; Fantasy
Disclosure? Nope, I bought it!
Goodreads
Purchase

Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan’s most feared assassin. As part of the Assassin’s Guild, her allegiance is to her master, Arobynn Hamel, yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. In these action-packed novellas – together in one edition for the first time – Celaena embarks on five daring missions. They take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, where she fights to liberate slaves and seeks to avenge the tyrannous. But she is acting against Arobynn’s orders and could suffer an unimaginable punishment for such treachery. Will Celaena ever be truly free? Explore the dark underworld of this kick-ass heroine to find out.

This has been at the top of my TBR pile since it came out in March. I’m totally in love with the series, but something was putting me off reading it. I’m not really a fan of novellas. I feel the same way about them as I do about short stories – I just don’t see the point. I prefer something more substantial that I can sink my teeth into.

However, I really loved this collection. It was hard not to. Not only do we get to witness all the events leading up to Celaena’s incarceration in the salt mines where the first book begins, but we also get to see the more human side of her too – her first love, Sam.

I think the reason why I loved this so much was that it was basically just a novel. Each novella carries on where the last one left off so it didn’t feel like five short stories at all. That being said, there were a few I could give or take. The first novella, The Assassin and the Pirate Lord, was good for background and context, but I wasn’t hooked. And the second one, the shortest of them all at just 40 pages was entertaining enough but not really vital to the character arcs.

It’s when we get to The Assassin and the Desert that things get really interesting and there was no looking back after that.

Celaena is such a great, complex character, and although on the surface she might just seem like another kick-ass YA heroine, I think there is something unique about her. I can’t wait until the 3rd novel, Heir of Fire is released next month!

The Throne of Glass series is available in paperback from Waterstones. Click here to see how you can get 10% off.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books You Should Read If You Like…

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish (click the image to visit them) who pick a different topic each week.

This week the topic is 10 Books You Should Read if you Like X (TV show/Film etc).

Ooh I like this topic, it’s fun. But I had a hard time coming up with 10 books for just one TV Show or film so I’ve split it into a few categories.

Books you should read if you like…

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
BTVS is my favourite show of all time. It’s everything a high school drama with vampires should be! It’s witty and has a kick-ass protagonist, as do the following books.

The Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

Veronica Mars
V Mars is so awesome. She’s ridiculously intelligent and mature for her age, and she can’t help getting herself into sticky situations. Her dad -who is pretty adorable- is a PI, and the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree. These books also have feisty female protagonists whose inquisitive natures get them into all sorts of scrapes, whether it’s fighting octopuses (Ruby Redfort) or studying poisons (Flavia de Luce).

The Ruby Redfort books by Lauren Child
Skulduggery pleasant by Derek Landy
The Flavia de Luce mysteries by Alan Bradley
The Lily Pascale mysteries by Scarlett Thomas

True Detective
I just finished watching this show last night (gooooood ending), and I did enjoy but it has such a slow-burning pace. And that’s what really reminded me of this book.

The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh

Friday Feature – Let’s Fangirl for a Second

I had a a proper post all planned out for today’s feature – with notes and everything – but then I saw that the cover reveal for Throne of Glass #3 came and went yesterday and it got me excited/distracted!

The ToG books, not to be confused with GoT which I kept calling it at first, is becoming one of my favourite series. I haven’t found them perfect reads by any means, but the protagonist Celaena Sardothien is so awesome I’d probably read about her painting her nails and still enjoy it! Not to mention how pretty they are…and you should all know by now that pretty book covers will eventually be my downfall.

So here are the two covers revealed on the Throne of Glass Fb page yesterday. They may be pretty similar but I still think we Brits get the better one! In your face America. Ahem.

And while I’m in fangirl mode, guess what’s coming out in LESS THAN TWO WEEKS….

….THE ONE (The Selection #3), OBVS!

FINALLY!!!