Tag: TBR

Did you know Winter doesn’t officially start until the 21st of December? The seasons are weird. And I’m ignoring it and writing my Winter TBR now because it’s already snowed and the nearing the end of November. That says Winter to me. And I split it up into Christmas and non-Christmas because Christmas reads are dominating the list!

Shakespeare’s Christmas by Charlaine Harris is the third Lily Bard mystery and  putting off reading it until closer to the season has been super difficult. We all know how much I love Charlaine Harris’s writing and I’ve been really enjoying this series so far. I also got the audiobook; Wolfsbane and Mistletoe that she co-wrote after I mentioned in my Audiobooks I Want to Buy and Why post. It’s downloaded and ready to go!

The one review copy that I have this year to read is The Cat of Yule Cottage by Lili Hayward* and I’m super excited. Cats and Christmas? Those are two of my favourite things! I don’t know a huge amount about it but I know the main character is a writer, so my hopes are high.

I got the beautiful Penguin English Library edition of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens last Christmas from Santa and I haven’t read it since I was a kid so I’m looking forward to it. I’ve seen it in play form and the muppets movie several times so I’m hoping that knowing the story will help with all that Dickensian language I struggle with. And it’s pretty short at 94 pages.

My second Dickens is actually an anthology with a bunch of Victorian authors; The Haunted House. The idea is that the narrator invites over friends on the Twelfth Night and they tell spooky tales. I love a good ghost story when it gets nearer to Christmas, but the reviews on this are still pretty- eh. We’ll see if I get around to it.

Another short story collection, that I got for Christmas two years ago, is The Mistletoe Bride and Other Haunting Tales by Kate Mosse. Come Christmas Eve, I’m going to be well and truly spooked. And if I like it, I have her The Winter Ghosts book too.

I actually won The Christmas We Met by Kate Lord Brown on Goodreads last October but it didn’t show up until February and well- it’s a Christmas book so I waited on reading it. I really don’t know that much about it apart from that it’s set in the seventies and it entered around the main characters mysterious family jewels.

And another Goodreads win is The Proposal by Tasmania Perry which I’m actually currently reading. It’s set in New York and so far, the descriptions of the city are making me long to visit. When I won this, through some sort of computer error, I was sent 10 copies and the publisher told me to just keep them so- giveaway?

I am a terrible, terrible sister who borrowed Batman: Noel by Lee Bermejo from her brother over 4 Christmases ago and never read it. I am determined to actually read it this year because it does look amazing. It’s Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol with Batman as Scrooge.

Okay! That’s the Christmas books. Onto the others because the self control I had with my Autumn TBR has failed me. Really, I’m just pulling books over from my Autumn TBR. I want to continue the The Chronicles of the Invaders by Jennifer Ridyard and John Connolly and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, and I want to start The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. We’ll see, eh?

In my original Summer TBR post I had the rather hopeful idea that I would read 1000 pages a week. Little did I know how ridiculous a claim this was! I had a busy Summer so my most was about 780 pages, but I did much better on my Summer TBR then I did on my Spring one. And I found tracking my pages a really interesting experience. But onto the books.

First off, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams didn’t get read as the friend I was going to read it with was moving and had internet problems. I honestly don’t know when we’ll get to it because 2016 has been both a sucky and annoyingly busy year, but I hope it’ll be soon! I think we could all do with some humour in our lives.

On a high note, I finally started my re-read of the Chronicles of the Invaders by Jennifer Ridyard and John Connolly! It’s slow going because I’m not much of a re-reader of books that I’ve read as recently as a couple of years but I’m really enjoying revisiting the world. Syl is one of my favourite female characters.

I decided to give up on the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett at the beginning of Summer, and re-read The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell but ended up doing the opposite. The Edge Chronicles were moved to next seasons TBR whereas I started The Colour of Magic this month, I’m still not sure if that was the right choice though… More on that when I review it.

I did end up going down to London and meeting Jennifer L. Armentrout who is absolutely lovely. So it was a good thing that I did get round to Obsidian. And I loved it! You can read my full review rave here but in short- the perfect book for a book blogger.

The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor is still unread. It seems that I’m not as forgiving of the season 6 finale as I thought. I just haven’t wanted to pick up anything Walking Dead related over Summer. The same for World War Z by Max Brooks. But I did read Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse? by Max Brallier and my review should be up soon!

The Princess Diaries: Seventh Heaven was a bit of a disappointment, I have a real hatred for slut-shaming which I go into a little more detail here. So I didn’t pick up the rest of the series and I’m not sure I ever will. Life is just too short for books you’re not 100% passionate about. This may be the one occasion where the movie is better than the book.

Gorilla Beach by Nicole ‘Snooki’ Polizzi is put away for another year. It doesn’t seem right to read such a beach read in the dreary town I live in.

And lastly, I finished the last two books in the Harper Connolly omnibus by Charlaine Harris. One in July, and one in August. I can’t tell you how good it feels to have this big chunky book on my ‘read’ shelf next to all my other Charlaine Harris completed series. Onto a new one!

For me, this was a success. I don’t know, maybe I need to do monthly TBRs rather than seasonal ones. I thought I would prefer the openness but I find myself getting distracted from my choices. I’ll see how I feel after my Autumn TBR (up on the blog tomorrow).

At the beginning of April I wrote a long ambitious Spring TBR. Unfortunately a lot of things got in the way of my reading over the season so I didn’t get through as many of them as I wanted to. Some are going to be moved to my Summer TBR (coming Monday) but some are back on the bench. Let’s have a look…

Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series is still on my mind but I’ve been thinking about re-reading a different series and I don’t like to have too may series on the go. I’ll get to it! Maybe in Winter? I still need to figure out the order either way, so if anyone knows I’d love some help!

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is definitely joining my Summer TBR. I just bought the audiobook with Stephen Fry and Martin Freeman (haul coming soon) since I’ve been kind of getting back into audiobooks lately. So a friend and I are going to listen/ read it together!

The Blandlings Castle series by P.G. Wodehouse is back on the shelf for now, although I am really enjoying historical fiction lately… And don’t even ask about Dominion by Jennifer Ridyard & John Connolly* though. I’m so ashamed I haven’t got around to hit yet. Soon! I promise!

The One-In-A-Million Boy by Monica Wood* and This Must Be The Place by Maggie O’Farrell* were both picked up and I got about ten pages in before putting them back down. I could just tell they weren’t for me, not at this moment in my life. But y’know, I thought the same about Tenacity this time last year so we’ll see.

I did read Katherine of Aragon, The True Queen by Alison Weir! And boy, it took me over a month to get through. I loved it, don’t get me wrong, but it was an intense read and took time. I’m definitely glad I don’t have a big Goodreads reading challenge because I’m only at 29 and 7 were graphic novels/ comic books.

After my Books I ‘Paused’ in 2015 post I wanted to pick up Kit by Marina Fiorato* and The Long Way to a Small Angry Planey by Becky Chambers* again. They sat on my bedside table but I haven’t got around to them yet. I still want to, they might not both join my Summer TBR though. 

The Harper Connolly Omnibus by Charlaine Harris** was actually the first from my Spring TBR that I picked up and I read two of the books before putting it back down. I’m liking them, I just took a break to read other things. I plan to finish them real soon and do a lil’ giveaway too.

After finally getting over the truly awful Season 6 finale of the show, I picked up 5 hardcovers of The Walking Dead comic in Spring. I love The Walking Dead and after revisiting the comics, I think I prefer them to the show! At least dumb cliffhangers are resolved in a month.

Overall, I’ve seen more successful TBR’s. I think 11+ books were too many. Hopefully Summers (coming Monday) will be better.

I like big books and- I apparently can lie because I don’t. I really don’t like big books most of the time. They scare me. But, there are big books that I want to read and I’ve really enjoyed writing TBR posts lately so here are my top ten picks from my TBR over 600 pages. Starting with the biggest…

It by Stephen King – 1376 pages
I attempted to watch the movie of this book but my friend was scared of the clown so we never finished it. I am really interested in reading the book though. It took Stephen King 5 years to write which is some serious dedication and it gets a lot of love over on /r/books.

The Talisman by Peter Straub and Stephen King – 992 pages
I finished American Gods by Neil Gaiman in May and it’s re-kindled an interest in cross-country road trips and America. And The Talisman mixes that with some fantasy elements that makes me almost not notice the 992 pages and the fact this is book 1 of 2. 

Insomnia by Stephen King – 902 pages
Another King! I struggle with sleep, not to the point of insomnia but enough that I picked up Insomnia by Stephen King without really reading what it was about. From what I gather from the vague Goodreads blurb it’s about a guy who is sleeping less and less, then stuff goes down. But I like Stephen King and I do want to read it, I just think I’ll reach for a couple of his shorter books first.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy – 838 pages
I quite enjoyed how I have 20+ Goodreads friends with this on their TBR as well and only 5 who have read it. It’s one of those books you see on the lists. You know like- 100 books to read before you die, 820 books to read, 100002 classics we can’t believe you haven’t read yet. Those kind of lists.

If This Is A Woman: Inside Ravensbruck – Hitler’s Concentration Camp for Women by Sarah Helm – 768 pages
One of the more interesting parts of history to me is the second World War and just the inconceivable thought process that happened. If This Is A Woman is a huge detailed account of the only female concentration camp. I did try to pick it up earlier this year but put it down. It’s a super heavy read, but I think I’ll get to it one day.

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson – 763 pages
I tried to read this one last year and talked about that in my post of Books I Paused in 2015 but this is definitely still a ‘to be read’ for me. People love this series. I loved the first book. This 763 page monster will be conquered!

George VI: The Dutiful King by Sarah Bradford – 668 pages
I love George VI. I’m not a big Royal Family person because they cost the country so much money and realistically we don’t need them now we have a government that has taken over all their roles, but that’s neither here nor there. I love George VI and I think Britain did need him during the war and he was an all round good guy. So I want to read his biography because he’s interesting.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss – 662 pages
I hauled this way back when and despite being published in 2007, it’s started to pick up a second wind on booktube. I’ve been wanting to read something magical lately as well so this might be picked up sooner, rather than later.

We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas* – 620 pages
I won this on Goodreads a while back and haven’t got around to it yet. It’s so big! And it took the author ten years to write which is really something. I want to give it the attention it deserves and it’s rare I’m in the mood to read a character driven book set in 1940s America. I’ve read it’s slow going and that, mixed with the page count makes my inner-reader tremble.

Advent by James Treadwell* – 612 pages
Another magic series I’ve been meaning to start. This is about a 15 year old boy Gavin and there’s a lot of mythology in the world- but it’s one of the lowest rated overall books on my shelf which has put me off from starting it. I know reviews and ratings aren’t always indicative of how I’ll personally feel but it casts a shadow.

I’ve been doing more TBR posts on the blog lately and I had an idea that I would show you my ‘eventually’ TBR. Books that I look at and say that I’ll get to them, maybe tomorrow, the next day, the next week, next month, next year. Eventually. They’re important books and I want to read them, but I put them off for various reasons. Such as…

The Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness
I know nothing about this trilogy apart from that I bought it over two years ago in my post-Hunger Games slump and it’s Ceces (Problems of a Book Nerd) second favourite series. It’s enough for me to really want to read it- eventually. Trilogies really aren’t my jam lately though, I’ve only read two in the past three years.

Watership Down by Richard Adams
“Hell of a book… It’s about bunnies.” One of my favourite TV shows is Lost and my favourite character, Sawyer, spends a surprising amount of time reading despite being stuck on a desert island. I’ve wanted to read Watership Down for years now, despite knowing almost nothing about it- apart from the bunnies.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
“Confession: I have read Pride and Prejudice about 200 times. I get lost in the language, words like thither, mischance, Felicity. I’m always in agony over wether Elizabeth and Mr Darcy are really going to get together! Read it, I know you’ll love it.” – You’ve Got Mail, my all-time favourite movie, no other explanation needed.

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick
Speculative fiction isn’t something I own a lot of, but it’s interested me since I was a kid and first watched Titanic. What would be different if they had not tried to change course? (I learned later: They would have survived, it’s because it scraped down the edge that it sunk) And I’m currently working on a speculative fiction story myself so I really want to read the master of the niche genre. Plus, I want to watch the show and I’m a snob who needs to read the book first.

Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides
This is the only book I own with an intersex character and I haven’t even read it. I went a little overboard with my schools reading lists back in the day so I’ve owned this for about 8 years now. That makes me feel really old, wow. I just need to read it!

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
I’ve started this book so many times and never finished it. I love it every time I pick it up but we know my fear of big books by now. This will grace my read shelf eventually. I have the audiobook as well so maybe I’ll listen to it.

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes
Fun fact about me: My first cousin once removed is married to a pastor, and when I met him for the first time he was reading I Am Pilgrim. I don’t know why I found this so strange, I’m fully aware that pastors don’t exclusively read religious texts. But he recommended I read it so here it is, on the list. It’s huge though, 912 pages of huge.

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Despite loving the movies with my heart and soul… I’ve never read the three books in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It’s shocking, I know. But last year I started The Hobbit after not reading it since I was a kid and didn’t really enjoy it so it’s the age old question- do you miss out if you don’t have The Hobbit fresh in your memory?

After an unsuccessful Quiet Re-Read-A-Thon I started thinking about how much I enjoyed having a TBR pile that was so small that I wasn’t overwhelmed when I started looking for my next read. So I thought a TBR that covered a long enough time that I had a chance to read them all, yet short enough that it was books I was immediately looking forward to might work. There’s a bunch of review copies I need to read that are being published in Spring, and enough of my own books that a seasonal TBR seemed to fit the bill. Here’s the result…

Shadow-y blog photos are my nemesis. Spring weather soon please.

I’ve been thinking about starting Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series for a while now and after finding the first three books in my house (this happens a lot, I definitely inherited my book hoarding) it seems like Spring might be the time to delve in. I’m on the fence about this one though. Have you read this series? Is there a good season to read them- like how Harry Potter is best in Winter?

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams was the first added to the list because I need a pick-me-up. I need something new but something I know will be comforting, and happy, and I could think of nothing better. And on the same thread of comforting reads, I’d like to start the Blandlings Castle series by P.G. Wodehouse with Something Fresh. These are supposed to be light witty reads and that’s what I’m after.

Dominion by Jennifer Ridyard & John Connolly* is next because I need to finish this series. I’ve started re-reading Conquest, the first book in the series so I plan to just read right through.

This Must Be the Place by Maggie O-Farrell* is being published May 17th and The One-In-A-Million Boy by Monica Wood* is being published on the 5th of April and I’ve been meaning to read both for weeks. They’ve both been getting buckets of positive reviews and feedback and I want to read it and review them so I can throw my two cents in for my readers that might want to pick these up.

I have three main interests when it comes to non-fiction; George VI and WWII, powerful women in history and the Tudors. Alison Weir has a new series that fits into two of those categories and will span the next six years looking at Henry VIII’s six wives, starting on May 5th with Katherine of Aragon, The True Queen*. She was always my favourite so I’m hyped.

After my Books I ‘Paused’ in 2015 post my interest in a couple of books was re-kindled. Mainly for Kit by Marina Fiorato* and The Long Way to a Small Angry Planey by Becky Chambers* so they jumped from paused back onto the TBR and will stay there until I finish them.

I need to start the Harper Connolly Omnibus by Charlaine Harris** because I haven’t read a Charlaine Harris for months and I miss her writing in my life. Her Lily Bard series may have just arrived in the mail today to they’re interchangeable or just both on this TBR.

For photographic purposes I only put one in but I have 7 more hardcovers of The Walking Dead comic to read before I buy some more. I’ve really been enjoying getting back into the comics and we all know I love The Walking Dead.