Well hello, beautiful people! And how was your holiday? Was it filled with family and friends? Or was it relaxing and calm? Mine was great! I’m still not ready for it to be over, so I went on the interwebs and searched for a fun and festive book tag. I found this one on Meghan M Blogs but its original creator has removed it from their blog. Oh, bother.
On to the tag!
Father Christmas: Name a book you received as a child that you treasure to this day.
The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene
It’s all the Nancy Drew books I received as a child, really. This was just the first one. Plus, she was a 1930s feminist icon! I Loved, loved Nancy Drew.
The Ghost of Christmas Past: Is there a book or series you like to revisit each year at Christmas time?
The Autobiography of Santa Claus by Jeff Guinn
No one should be surprised by this. I may not be reading this particular book this year, but I am hoping to get to the sequel before the end of the year.
Christmas Tree: Name a series that reaches new heights with every entry.
The In Death Series by J.D. Robb
Yes. I will take all of this, always, all of the time. I love the rich character dynamics, the mysteries, the settings. It all makes for a spectacular 50 plus book series. I have already pre-ordered the next one!
Friends and Family: Name a book with fantastic characters.
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
While this book had great world-building and an amazing story, I was really blown away by the characters in it. I want to be friends with Susan and Merlin and Merlin’s crazy family!
Decorations: Name a book with a gorgeous cover you would proudly display on your shelves.
The Hobbit: Illustrated Edition by J.R.R. Tolkien
I do proudly display this. It’s a gorgeous edition with loads of beautiful illustrations inside. It’s also a souvenir from when the Hubs and I took our engagement photos many eons ago.
Christmas Cards: Name a book that carries a great message.
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
A story about it never being too late to change yourself for the better. There are also some other messages in this book, but you’ll just have to read it to find out for yourself.
Ice and Snow: Name a book that you were hoping to love but which ultimately left you feeling cold.
Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas
Sometimes, a book just doesn’t make you happy. This was one of those books.
Christmas Lunch: Name a book that was big and intimidating but oh so worth it in the end.
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
I’m not sure if this was exactly worth it. I only gave it three stars, but I did find the size of it (864 pages!) intimidating. The Hubs laughed at me. He’s been reading Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive. Zeesh.
Mince Pies: Name a book you found sweet and satisfying.
The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan
I just finished this one earlier this month. I found it was a cute and cozy holiday read that I very much enjoyed.
Presents: What book do you wish you could give everyone to read?
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
I want everyone to read this story. It’s so expertly told. And Addie’s life is fascinating. Just fascinating. And that ending! Oh, that ending!
Spreading the Festive Cheer: Tag some friends to help spread the festive bookish love.
You. I don’t usually tag people to do these things. But yeah. Why don’t you give it a try and let me know how it went!
Happy Christmas! How is your holiday eve going! Me, well, I’m going to watch A Muppet’s Christmas Carol 16 times. That movie is perfect.
But hey, it just so happens to be First Lines Friday!
First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author, or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!
The Lines:
” Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge’s name was good upon ‘Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was a dead as a door-nail.”
That’s a pretty famous opening line. Do we even need arrows?
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an old miser who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. After their visits Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man.
I just couldn’t help myself. It is Christmas after all! Besides, I couldn’t mention the superior adaptation of A Christmas Carol and not use the original for my First Lines Friday post.
Themeing!
But in all seriousness. I wish you and yours the happiest of holidays. May you know both comfort and joy this Christmas and may all your bookish wishes come true!
When I saw this festive tag on the Wicked Witch’s Blog, I knew I had to do it. She got it from Jennily, to whom the image below also belongs. This tag spoke to me, which is weird because I read it.
Rules
Tag & link the person who tagged you (um, no one)
Tag and link me/this post (if you would be so kind, I love reading your answers!)
Tick/cross off the ones you’ve done
Tag another 10 people! (I don’t think I even know ten people!)
Received an ARC and not reviewed it: Yes, but’s that’s only because I like to review books closer to their release date. I should work on that.
Have a less than 60% feedback ratio on NetGalley: Unfortunately, the answer to this one is yes. And that’s because of the same answer above. I’m also behind by one book. Sigh.
Rated a book on Goodreads and promised a full review was to come on your blog (and never did): I can honestly say I have never done this. I don’t really write reviews on Goodreads, and if I do, it’s the same thing you would find on my blog so…yeah.
Folded down the page of a book: Yes. When I was younger. It leads to tearing and ripping on my part so I stopped doing it.
Accidentally spilled on a book: No, thank goodness. Now other people have spilled on my books and I have never forgiven them. But yeah, not me.
DNF a book this year: That’s a big affirmative.
Bought a book purely because it was pretty with no intention of reading it: Yes. I have an illustrated copy of The Hobbit that I got purely for the aesthetics.
Read whilst you were meant to be doing something else (like homework): Um, yes. Almost all the time. I mean, who needs sleep?
Skim read a book: No. I dislike skim reading. If I generally dislike a book enough to be tempted to skim it, I just stop reading.
Completely missed your Goodreads goal: Yes, though I met it this year. Go me!
Borrowed a book and not returned it: Never. Libraries are sacred places. You should always return your books!
Broke a book buying ban: Am I breathing? Then yes, yes I have. And I will continue to do so to the point that I will ban myself from doing book buying bans.
Started a review, left it for ages then forgot what the book was about: Nope. I tend to sit down a write a review as soon as I finish the book so I don’t forget what it is I was reading.
Wrote in a book you were reading: I can honestly say I have not. Have I thought about it? Sure. That temptation usually passes me by.
Finished a book and not added it to your Goodreads: In my past, yes. My Goodreads from years past is a mess. I am much better at keeping up with it now. Of course, this means I’m posting what I’m reading on both Goodreads and The Storygraph.
Borrowed a book and not returned it to a friend: Only once. And I am bound and determined to get that book back to her. I just saw her a few months ago too! I missed my golden opportunity!
Dodged someone asking if they can borrow a book: No. But that’s because I just outright say no.
Broke the spine of someone else’s book: Nope. At least, not that I can remember.
Took the jacket off a book to protect it and ended up making it more damaged: Yes. But my cat did it. I have since learned to put the dust jackets back on the books when I am not reading them.
Sat on a book accidentally: Of course. Who hasn’t? Liars, that’s who.
My score is 11 out of 10, so I’m naughty, but also nice? But mostly naughty. Guess I’m getting coal in my stocking this year!
If you would like to do this tag, go on and give it a go! I had a lot of fun doing it. It’s always amusing to admit you forgot to give a book back.
I don’t have a problem. I swear. Anyway… it’s Top Ten Tuesday! Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and originally created by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s post is all about the books we want for Christmas! And I’m not gonna lie. I already have that list prepared because all I asked for Christmas was books.
I’m not predictable at all.
Far From The Light Of Heaven by Tade Thompson
The colony ship Ragtime docks in the Lagos system, having traveled light-years to bring one thousand sleeping souls to a new home among the stars. But when first mate Michelle Campion rouses, she discovers some of the sleepers will never wake.
Answering Campion’s distress call, investigator Rasheed Fin is tasked with finding out who is responsible for these deaths. Soon a sinister mystery unfolds aboard the gigantic vessel, one that will have repercussions for the entire system—from the scheming politicians of Lagos station, to the colony planet Bloodroot, to other far-flung systems, and indeed to Earth itself.
Inhibitor Phase by Alistair Reynolds
For thirty years a tiny band of humans has been sheltering in the caverns of an airless, crater-pockedworld called Michaelmas. Beyond their solar system lie the ruins of human interstellar civilization, stalked by a ruthless, infinitely patient cybernetic entity determined to root out the last few bands of survivors. One man has guided the people of Michaelmas through the hardest of times, and given them hope against the wolves: Miguel de Ruyter.
When a lone human ship blunders into their system, and threatens to lead the wolves to Michaelmas, de Ruyter embarks on a desperate, near-suicide mission to prevent catastrophe. But an encounter with a refugee from the ship—the enigmatic woman who calls herself only Glass—leads to de Ruyter’s world being turned upside down.
The Body Scout by Lincoln Michel
In the future, you can have any body you want—as long as you can afford it. But in a New York ravaged by climate change and repeat pandemics, Kobo is barely scraping by. Hescouts the latest in gene-edited talent for Big Pharma-owned baseball teams, but his own cybernetics are a decade out of date and twin sister loan sharks are banging down his door. Things couldn’t get much worse.
Then his brother—Monsanto Mets slugger J.J. Zunz—is murdered at home plate.
Determined to find the killer, Kobo plunges into a world of genetically modified CEOs, philosophicalNeanderthals, and back-alley body modification, only to quickly find he’s in a game far bigger and more corrupt than he imagined. To keep himself together while the world is falling apart, he’ll have to navigate a time where both body and soul are sold to the highest bidder.
A Marvelous Light by Freya Marske
Robin Blyth has more than enough bother in his life. He’s struggling to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents’ excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what’s been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he’s always known.
Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that come with it—not to mention Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy, who clearly wishes Robin were anyone and anywhere else.
Robin’s predecessor has disappeared, and the mystery of what happened to him reveals unsettling truths about the very oldest stories they’ve been told about the land they live on and what binds it. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles—and a secret that more than one person has already died to keep.
Absynthe by Brenden P. Bellacourt
Liam Mulcahey, a reclusive, shell-shocked veteran, remembers little of the Great War. Ten years later, when he is caught in a brutal attack on a Chicago speakeasy, Liam is saved by Grace, an alluring heiress who’s able to cast illusions. Though the attack appears to have been committed by the hated Uprising, Grace believes it was orchestrated by Leland De Pere–Liam’s former commander and the current President of the United States.
Meeting Grace unearths long-buried memories. Liam’s former squad, the Devil’s Henchmen, was given aserum to allow telepathic communication, transforming them into a unified killing machine. With Grace’s help, Liam begins to regain his abilities, but when De Pere learns of it, he orders his militia to eliminate Liam at any cost.
But Liam’s abilities are expanding quickly. When Liam turns the tables and digs deeper into De Pere’s plans, he discovers a terrible secret. The same experiment that granted Liam’s abilities was bent toward darker purposes. Liam must navigate both his enemies and supposed allies to stop the President’s nefarious plans before they’re unleashed on the world. And Grace is hiding secrets of her own, secrets that could prove every bit as dangerous as the President’s.
Hench by Natalie Zina Walchots
Anna does boring things for terrible people because even criminals need office help and she needs a job. Working for a monster lurking beneath the surface of the world isn’t glamorous. But is it really worse than working for an oil conglomerate or an insurance company? In this economy?
As a temp, she’s just a cog in the machine. But when she finally gets a promising assignment, everything goes very wrong, and an encounter with the so-called “hero” leaves her badly injured. And, to her horror, compared to the other bodies strewn about, she’s the lucky one.
So, of course, then she gets laid off.
With no money and no mobility, with only her anger and internet research acumen, she discovers her suffering at the hands of a hero is far from unique. When people start listening to the story that her data tells, she realizes she might not be as powerless as she thinks.
Because the key to everything is data: knowing how to collate it, how to manipulate it, and how toweaponize it. By tallying up the human cost these caped forces of nature wreak upon the world, she discovers that the line between good and evil is mostly marketing. And with social media and viral videos, she can control that appearance.
It’s not too long before she’s employed once more, this time by one of the worst villains on earth. As she becomes an increasingly valuable lieutenant, she might just save the world.
Once More Upon A Time by Roshana Chokshi
Once upon a dream, there was a prince named Ambrose and a princess named Imelda who loved each other… But alas, no more. “What a witch takes, a witch does not give back!” their friends and family warn. They resign themselves to this loveless fate… A year and a day pass. And then their story truly begins…
Embark on a perilous journey with Imelda and Ambrose as they brave magical landscapes and enchanted creatures on their quest to reclaim their heart’s desire…But first, they must remember what that is…
No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull
One October morning, Laina gets the news that her brother has been shot and killed by Boston cops. But what looks like a case of police brutality soon reveals something much stranger. Monsters are real. And they want everyone to know it.
As creatures from myth and legend come out of the shadows, seeking safety through visibility, their emergence sets off a chain of seemingly unrelated events. Members of a local werewolf pack are threatened into silence. A professor follows a missing friend’s trail of bread crumbs to a mysterious secret society. And a young boy with unique abilities seeks refuge in a pro-monster organization with secrets of its own. Meanwhile, more people start disappearing, suicides and hate crimes increase, and protests erupt globally, both for and against the monsters.
At the center is a mystery no one thinks to ask: Why now? What has frightened the monsters out of the dark?
The world will soon find out.
The Lost Girls by Sonia Hartl
Holly Liddell has been stuck with crimped hair since 1987 when she agreed to let her boyfriend, Elton, turn her into a vampire. But when he ditches her at a gas station a few decades into their eternity together, she realizes that being young forever actually means working graveyard shifts at Taco Bell, sleeping in seedy motels, and being supernaturally compelled to follow your ex from town to town—at least until Holly meets Elton’s other exes.
It seems that Holly isn’t the only girl Elton seduced into this wretched existence. He turned Ida in 1921, then Rose in 1954, and he abandoned them both before Holly was even born. Now Rose and Ida want to kill him before he can trick another girl into eternal adolescence, and they’ll need Holly’s help to do it. And once Holly starts falling for Elton’s vulnerable new conquest, Parker, she’ll do anything to save her.
To kill Elton for good, Holly and her friends will have to dig up their pasts, rob a bank, and reconcile with the people they’ve hurt in their search for eternal love. And to win the girl, Holly will have to convince Parker that she’s more than just Elton’s crazy ex—even though she is trying to kill him.
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Welcome to Mexico City, an oasis in a sea of vampires. Domingo, a lonely garbage-collecting street kid, is just trying to survive its heavily policed streets when a jaded vampire on the run swoops into his life. Atl, the descendant of Aztec blood drinkers, is smart, beautiful, and dangerous. Domingo is mesmerized.
Atl needs to quickly escape the city, far from the rival narco-vampire clan relentlessly pursuing her. Her plan doesn’t include Domingo, but little by little, Atl finds herself warming up to the scrappy young man and his undeniable charm. As the trail of corpses stretches behind her, local cops and crime bosses both start closing in.
Vampires, humans, cops, and criminals collide in the dark streets of Mexico City. Do Atl and Domingo even stand a chance ofmaking it out alive? Or will the city devour them all?
I also had The Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao on this list, but the hubs gave that to me early as a birthday gift! It’s like he knows me!
But yes, I did ask for all of these books for Christmas. No, I’m not expecting to get them all. Santa loves me but I don’t expect him to have to carry that many books down the chimney.
Well hello! And how are we doing this fine Monday before Christmas? Doing that last minute Christmas shopping? I have one gift left to buy and it will just have to patiently wait on me to pick it up!
In the meantime, I read a book I think you should know about. Absynthe by Brendan P. Bellecourt.
Liam Mulcahey, a reclusive, shell-shocked veteran, remembers little of the Great War. Ten years later, when he is caught in a brutal attack on a Chicago speakeasy, Liam is saved by Grace, an alluring heiress who’s able to cast illusions. Though the attack appears to have been committed by the hated Uprising, Grace believes it was orchestrated by Leland De Pere–Liam’s former commander and the current President of the United States.
Meeting Grace unearths long-buried memories. Liam’s former squad, the Devil’s Henchmen, was given a serum to allow telepathic communication, transforming them into a unified killing machine. With Grace’s help, Liam begins to regain his abilities, but when De Pere learns of it, he orders his militia to eliminate Liam at any cost.
But Liam’s abilities are expanding quickly. When Liam turns the tables and digs deeper into De Pere’s plans, he discovers a terrible secret. The same experiment that granted Liam’s abilities was bent toward darker purposes. Liam must navigate both his enemies and supposed allies to stop the President’s nefarious plans before they’re unleashed on the world. And Grace is hiding secrets of her own, secrets that could prove every bit as dangerous as the President’s.
Let’s just get this out of the way. I loved this book. I had a lot of fun reading it. It’s set in an alternate history 1920’s after World War 1. A war in which The United States were the aggressors. That made for a very interesting plot point, let me tell you. Liam and his squad were given an experimental treatment that allowed them to use telepathy between them. It made them extremely efficient. But somewhere along the way, Liam lost his memory, and when Grace comes along to unlock it, well, that’s when the fun begins.
I really enjoyed the twists and turns in this book. Some of them I saw coming, and others I did not. I thought I had the big twist figured out, but alas, I was wrong. It was nice to be wrong…for a change.
This book does take you on a bit of a journey through Liam’s history. It will flash back to his time in the service for a chapter, sometimes two, to help move the plot along. But it does it well. Sure, there are some overly done expositiony bits, but I actually enjoyed those. And that’s a testiment to how much I liked this book, because usually, I do not like those moments.
The characters were vibrant and engaging. However, it does feel like Grace, who is an important character, doesn’t get enough page time. Which is disappointing, but also makes sense given the scope of the story. Liam is hopelessly lost at the start of the book, and it’s fascinating to watch him start to put his life back together as he searches for his kidnapped friend, Morgan.
The setting of an alternative America was fun to explore. I loved getting to see prohibition era Chicago. And it’s also kind of steampunk-esque, with its mechanized men and the hoppers they used to fight in the Great War. To say anything else about the setting would give away plot points, so I’ll just avoid doing that for your reading enjoyment.
I would say that you need to read this. It’s a very fun, twisty read that will leave you guessing until the very end. 5 stars!
Well hello. Are you prepared for the upcoming Christmas chaos? Me neither! It’s always hectic. We have lots of nieces and nephews, and even though we don’t always get to see them all, we love and miss them all!
Don’t celebrate and are just looking forward to a day off of work? Awesome! I hope you have a nice, relaxing day.
But on this, the Friday before Christmas, I am thinking of First Lines Friday!
First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author, or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!
The Lines:
“Her name is Melanie. It means “the black girl”, from an ancient Greek word, but her skin is so fair she thinks maybe it’s not such a good name for her. She likes the name Pandora a whole lot, but you don’t get to choose. Miss Justineau assigns names from a big list: new children get the top name on the boys’ list or the top name on the girls’ list, and that, Miss Justineau says, is that.?”
Intrigued?
The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey
Melanie is a very special girl. Dr. Caldwell calls her “our little genius.” Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don’t like her. She jokes that she won’t bite, but they don’t laugh.
So I’m not going to lie. This has been on my TBR for a while. And, since I have had my realization that I don’t like dystopians, I am worried I won’t like it. But! I must go in with an optimistic mind! Otherwise, I will defeat myself before I have even started the book. But yeah, I’ve had this book for years. Years! And I haven’t picked it up. Maybe in the new year?
Well hello, happy people! I bring to you today a festive book review. Hence the stockings hung by the fireplace.
Anyway. I read The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan for book club this month, and it was too cute to not review.
Laid off from her department store job, Carmen has perilously little cash and few options. The prospect of spending Christmas with her perfect sister Sofia, in Sofia’s perfect house with her perfect children and her perfectly ordered yuppie life does not appeal.
Frankly, Sofia doesn’t exactly want her prickly sister Carmen there either. But Sofia has yet another baby on the way, a mother desperate to see her daughters get along, and a client who needs help revitalizing his shabby old bookshop. So Carmen moves in and takes the job.
Thrown rather suddenly into the inner workings of Mr. McCredie’s ancient bookshop on the picturesque streets of historic Edinburgh, Carmen is intrigued despite herself. The store is dusty and disorganized but undeniably charming. Can she breathe some new life into it in time for Christmas shopping? What will happen when a famous and charismatic author takes a sudden interest in the bookshop—and Carmen? And will the Christmas spirit be enough to help heal her fractured family?
Like I said, this book was cute. The premise is what caught my attention initially. I mean, anything involving a bookshop is bound to draw a book hoarder’s attention, right? Right. And it did. And then I read about Mr. McCreadie’s old shop, filled to the brim with dusty old tomes, and realized I was an amateur book hoarder. Also, I want to visit Edinburgh and go to his shop. It sounds like a wonderful place to find beautiful old books, even if it did need some help at first.
The cast of characters is amazing. Jenny Colgan does a wonderful job of painting them into fully fleshed-out humans, which, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting in a holiday romance. I should just read more romances I think, so I stop making erroneous judgments about the genre.
Back to the characters. Carmen and Sofia have a great relationship, in the fact that it’s written well, their actual relationship is terrible. And I really enjoyed watching Carmen try to corrupt Sofia’s children with things like milkshakes and Muppets.
This book does set itself up for a love triangle…kinda, which I do not enjoy, so I won’t go much into our romantic interests. They were both very different and that did redeem that part of the book a little bit. There is also a little bit of the miscommunication trope, which I do enjoy I have discovered.
The plot was, well, cute. Mr. McCredie will lose his shop if he doesn’t turn a profit over Christmas, so Sofia calls in her recently unemployed sister to help him turn it around. The dynamic between Mr. McCredie and Carmen is very sweet. I love the way the two interact with each other while trying to save the shop. The shop, by the way, also happens to be Mr. McCreadie’s home.
Also, randomly, I didn’t know that Thundersnow was a thing. I live in the south and that just doesn’t happen here. Or, at least, it hasn’t happened where I live in my memory.
The pacing was consistent. Nothing felt rushed or forced, even towards the end. And that’s a rarity.
This book kept me entertained and was a lovely, cozy read. I can honestly say I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. When all is said and done, I gave The Christmas Bookshop 4 stars.
Well hello beautiful humans! Today is proving to be interesting as my cat woke me up bright and early because she decided that I just needed to be awake. The hubs, or course, slept through her waking me up, because she was quiet about it! Evil cat is evil. But she’s also cute so…yeah. I cuddled the crap out of her.
What? I’m weak.
Today is Wednesday! That means it’s WWW Wednesday! WWW Wednesday is hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words but was previously hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm. WWW Wednesday asks three simple questions: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
What are you currently reading?
Absynthe by Brendan P. Bellecourt
I am three fourths of the way through this book and I am loving every word. I can’t believe it hasn’t gotten more hype. It’s an alternate history story of a man who, following World War 1, has PTSD and discovers he has the ability to cast illusions. I’ll have a review for it up later this month, but if the rest of the book lives up to that promise, it will be a good one.
What did you recently finish reading?
The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan
The story of Carmen, who loses her job and has to move in with her family only to be asked by her sister to work in Mr. McCreadie’s bookshop for the Christmas season. I have a review coming for this tomorrow, but this book was so cute. It’s the perfect warm and cozy read.
What do you think you’ll read next?
The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews
This books sounds like a cozy read to me! Ivy finds a Santa suit in her newly purchased home and wants to get to the bottom of a note left in the suit. I’m really looking forward to this one. I hope it doesn’t let me down!
But also, this my evil cat who likes to wake me up early and knock stuff off of counters in the middle of the night. Isn’t she cute!
Well hello, happy people! At least, I hope you’re happy. Are you happy? If you’re not that’s okay. You don’t have to be. All feelings are valid. Except for the ones that lead to pre-meditated murder. Those are not good and you should seek help immediately.
I think I may have gotten a bit off-topic. Because it’s Top Ten Tuesday! Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and originally created by The Broke and the Bookish. This week we celebrate the winter TBR, a list of ten books that I think I will get to over the next few months!
The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox
When chef Charlie Goodwin gets hit on the head on the L.A. set of her reality baking show, she loses a lot more than consciousness; she also loses her ability to taste and smell—both critical to her success as a show judge. Meanwhile, Charlie’s identical twin, Cass, is frantically trying to hold her own life together back in their quaint mountain hometown while running the family’s bustling bakery and dealing with her ex, who won’t get the memo that they’re over.
With only days until Christmas, a desperate Charlie asks Cass to do something they haven’t done since they were kids: switch places. Looking for her own escape from reality, Cass agrees. But temporarily trading lives proves more complicated than they imagined, especially when rugged firefighter Jake Greenman and gorgeous physician assistant Miguel Rodriguez are thrown into the mix. Will the twins’ identity swap be a recipe for disaster, or does it have all the right ingredients for getting their lives backon track?
This one is on my TBR for this month. So I’m hoping to get to it presently.
Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell
Prince Kiem, a famously disappointing minor royal and the Emperor’s least favorite grandchild, has been called upon to be useful for once. He’s commanded to fulfill an obligation of marriage to the representative of the Empire’s newest and most rebellious vassal planet. His future husband, Count Jainan, is a widower and murder suspect.
Neither wants to be wed, but with a conspiracy unfolding around them and the fate of the empire at stake they will have to navigate the thorns and barbs of court intrigue, the machinations of war, and the long shadows of Jainan’s past, and they’ll have to do it together.
So begins a legendary love story amid the stars.
I’ve heard a lot of good things about this book. I mean, it did get nominated for a Goodreads choice award. So yeah.
Fan Fiction by Brent Spiner
Set in 1991, just as Star Trek: The Next Generation has rocketed the cast to global fame, the young and impressionable actor Brent Spiner receives a mysterious package and a series of disturbing letters, that takes him on a terrifying and bizarre journey that enlists Paramount Security, the LAPD, and even the FBI in putting a stop to the danger that has his life and career hanging in the balance.
Featuring a cast of characters from Patrick Stewart to Levar Burton to Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, to some completely imagined, this is the fictional autobiography that takes readers into the life of Brent Spiner, and tells an amazing tale about the trappings of celebrity and the fear he has carried with him his entire life.
A book that was written by Data himself? How could I pass this up?
The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
The Anthropocene is the current geologic age, in which humans have profoundly reshaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his groundbreaking podcast, bestselling author John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale—from the QWERTY keyboard and sunsets to Canada geese and Penguins of Madagascar.
Funny, complex, and rich with detail, the reviews chart the contradictions of contemporary humanity. As aspecies, we are both far too powerful and not nearly powerful enough, a paradox that came into sharp focus as we faced a global pandemic that both separated us and bound us together.
I’m going to try to read more non-fiction next year. A goal I set for myself for this year. I thought I would start the year off with this one.
The World Gives Way by Marissa Levin
In fifty years, Myrra will be free.
Until then, she’s a contract worker. Ever since she was five, her life and labor have belonged to the highest bidder on her contract—butchers, laundries, and now the powerful, secretive Carlyles.
But when one night finds the Carlyles dead, Myrra is suddenly free a lot sooner than she anticipated—and at a cost she never could have imagined. Burdened with the Carlyles’ orphaned daughter and the terrible secret they died to escape, she runs. With time running out, Myrra must come face to face with the truth about her world—and embrace what’s left before it’s too late.
I just want to read this because the cover is so pretty. That’s how it’s done, right?
Night Broken by Patricia Briggs
When her mate’s ex-wife storms back into their lives, Mercy knows something isn’t right. Christy has the furthest thing from good intentions—she wants Adam back, and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to get him, including turning the pack against Mercy.
Mercy isn’t about to step down without a fight, but there’s a more dangerous threat circling. As the bodies start piling up, she must put her personal troubles aside to face a creature with the power to tear her whole world apart.
I know, I know. It’s the only Mercy Thompson book on the list! I promise. Does it mean it’s the only one I’m going to read? Nope. It’s just the only one I put here.
Monstress Vol 1: Awakening written by Marjorie Liu and art by Sana Takeda
Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900’s Asia, in a richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steampunk, MONSTRESS tells the story of a teenage girl who is struggling to survive the trauma of war, and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, a connection that will transform them both and make them the target of both human and otherworldly powers.
I keep meaning to get to this one and just forgetting I own it! I am hoping by listing it here that I will get to it.
Outlander by Diana Galbadon
Scottish Highlands, 1945. Claire Randall, a former British combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding clans in the year of Our Lord . . . 1743.
Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of a world that threatens her life, and may shatter her heart. Marooned amid danger, passion, and violence, Claire learns her only chance of safety lies in Jamie Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior. What begins in compulsion becomes an urgent need, and Claire finds herself torn between two very different men, in two irreconcilable lives.
I have a friend who has been on me to read this book! And since I have a physical copy, a Kindle copy, and have it on audiobook, so I have no excuse!
When the Tiger Came Down the Mountian by Nghi Vo
The cleric Chih finds themself and their companions at the mercy of a band of fierce tigers who ache with hunger. To stay alive until the mammoths can save them, Chih must unwind the intricate, layered story of the tiger and her scholar lover—a woman of courage, intelligence, and beauty—and discover how truth can survive becoming history.
I gave the first novella 5 stars, so I have high expectations for this one!
Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
What happens when America’s First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales?
When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius—his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There’s only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse.
Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instragramable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations and begs the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? And how can we learn to let our true colors shine through? Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue proves: true love isn’t always diplomatic.
I figured with Valentine’s Day coming up in February I should try and read something romantic. So why not this?
Now, will I actually get to all these books? Probably not. But am I going to try my hardest? Also probably not. I mood read too much. It interferes with my TBR attempts.
But what will you be reading this winter? Inquiring minds want to know.
hello beautiful humans! I hope you are doing well this fine day! Me, I’m fine. A little disgruntled that it’s not Christmas yet!
Oh well. I shall tide myself over with festive movies, music, and, well, books! This month I only have a few books on the TBR due to the hectic nature of the holiday season. I don’t know about you, but my month is crazy and I don’t even have kids!
To the TBR we go.
The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan
Laid off from her department store job, Carmen has perilously little cash and few options. The prospect of spending Christmas with her perfect sister Sofia, in Sofia’s perfect house with her perfect children and her perfectly ordered yuppie life does not appeal.
Frankly, Sofia doesn’t exactly want her prickly sister Carmen there either. But Sofia has yet another baby on the way, a mother desperate to see her daughters get along, and a client who needs help revitalizing his shabby old bookshop. So Carmen moves in and takes the job.
Thrown rather suddenly into the inner workings of Mr. McCredie’s ancient bookshop on the picturesque streets of historic Edinburgh, Carmen is intrigued despite herself. The store is dusty and disorganized but undeniably charming. Can she breathe some new life into it in time for Christmas shopping? What will happen when a famous and charismatic author takes a sudden interest in the bookshop—and Carmen? And will the Christmas spirit be enough to help heal her fractured family?
If you’ve been following along this month, I have already read this one. It was cute.
The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox
When chef Charlie Goodwin gets hit on the head on the L.A. set of her reality baking show, she loses a lot more than consciousness; she also loses her ability to taste and smell—both critical to her success as a show judge. Meanwhile, Charlie’s identical twin, Cass, is frantically trying to hold her own life together back in their quaint mountain hometown while running the family’s bustling bakery and dealing with her ex, who won’t get the memo that they’re over.
With only days until Christmas, a desperate Charlie asks Cass to do something they haven’t done since they were kids: switch places. Looking for her own escape from reality, Cass agrees. But temporarily trading lives proves more complicated than they imagined, especially when rugged firefighter Jake Greenman and gorgeous physician assistant Miguel Rodriguez are thrown into the mix. Will the twins’ identity swap be a recipe for disaster, or does it have all the right ingredients for getting their lives back on track?
I did a First Lines Friday on this one, and it sounds so cute! Plus I can imagine I will want to bake cookies by the time I am done with this book.
The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews
When newly-divorced Ivy Perkins buys an old farmhouse sight unseen, she is definitely looking for a change in her life. The Four Roses, as the farmhouse is called, is a labor of love—but Ivy didn’t bargain on just how much labor. The previous family left so much furniture and so much junk, that it’s a full-time job sorting through all of it.
At the top of a closet, Ivy finds an old Santa suit—beautifully made and decades old. In the pocket of a suit, she finds a note written in a childish hand: it’s from a little girl who has one Christmas wish, and that is for her father to return home from the war. This discovery sets Ivy off on a mission. Who wrote the note? Did the man ever come home? What mysteries did the Rose family hold?
Ivy’s quest brings her into the community, at a time when all she wanted to do was be left alone and nurse her wounds. But the magic of Christmas makes miracles happen, and Ivy just might find more than she ever thought possible: a welcoming town, a family reunited, a mystery solved, and a second chance atlove.
Another one that sounds, well, cute. I need to use another word. Adorable! Yeah! this one sounds adorable!
And yes, you are seeing that right. I only have three books on my holiday TBR this month. And one of them is a novella! I wanted to keep it short and sweet so I could have time to do activities and visit with friends and family. Mostly over facetime.
Lauren Corcur 