Welcome one, welcome all, to ‘Emma Remembers Top 5 Wednesdays Exists And Decides To Join In’… again. We all know how this show goes… but, for those who are unaware, Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme/challenge which was created by the wonderful Lainey from gingereadslainey and is now overseen by the equally lovely Sam from Thoughts of Tomes. Basically, every Wednesday, participants devise their Top 5 books based on a given topic – because who doesn’t love a good list?
This Wednesday’s theme is Top 5 Most Recent Additions to Your Wishlist. I loosely interpreted the word ‘recent’, I think, and there were way too many I could have picked that I already mentioned in my post about my most anticipated releases in the latter half of 2016, so I tried to not repeat that too much. Some of these are new releases, some aren’t released yet, and some have been out for a little while, but I would like to own all of them, please and thank you.
5. The Singles Game by Lauren Weisberger (x)
I was avidly watching Wimbledon recently, the tennis grand slam that is, and remembered how much I loved the trash this is Wimbledon, the film starring Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany, and then I found out this book existed. Like most people with a limited knowledge of Lauren Weisberger, I read The Devil Wears Prada years ago on holiday and it was ok, disposable for the most part (I adore the film though – ah the power of Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Meryl Streep, and Stanley Tucci). This is about tennis though so I mean, I’m hoping it’s going to be as trashy yet entertaining as I find the film Wimbledon.
4. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain (x)
I’m an introvert, I am constantly anxious that this holds me back socially and professionally because I am completely incapable of (ugh I even hate the word) “networking”. I believe Quiet looks at the contributions introverts have made and Cain tries to reassess how we see introverts, and how introverts see themselves, using research from psychology and neuroscience to argue her case. I could definitely use this book and I’m really hoping that it proves entertaining as well as interesting.
3. The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard (x)
The concept of this really interested me when I first heard about it on Booktube but since seeing people haul it I’ve then seen reviews that weren’t so great. As I vaguely recall it’s about a war in Heaven, fallen angels, vying houses, power politics, and is set in a ruined Paris – you’d think that would be enough, right? Probably is for me, to be honest.
2. Smoke by Dan Vyleta (x)
As with the above book, I saw ARCs of this book being hauled on Booktube and was immediately interested in the concept, only to hear mixed reviews after people had actually read it. Even so, I definitely want to give it a go for myself. It’s set in a dystopian London, I believe, and sounds a tad Dickensian in tone mixed with a good heaping of sci-fi. As I understand it, the main concept is that, in this world, sin is visible on peoples’ bodies as any wickedness is marked by this Smoke, with a capital S. I’ve never heard of anything quite like it which is precisely why I must give it a go, despite other peoples’ reviews.
1. Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood (x)
I’ve mentioned this book many times already – it’s part of the Hogarth Shakespeare series where contemporary authors re-tell or “remix” Shakespeare’s plays into novels. Atwood’s offering will be the latest in a series that has included The Gap of Time, ‘A Winter’s Tale’ as retold by Jeanette Winterson, My Name Is Shylock, ‘The Merchant of Venice’ as retold by Howard Jacobsen, and most recently Vinegar Girl, ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ as retold by Anne Tyler. Hag-Seed will be a retelling of ‘The Tempest’ which, as one of my favourite Shakespeare plays, is one of my most anticipated releases of this year. I have complete faith in Atwood’s ability to bring the play into the novel form in a complex and compelling fashion.
So there we have it – those were my Most Recent Additions to my Wishlist! Do you agree with my choices? Do you disagree? Do you have a Top 5 Wednesday list or post of your own? Be sure to link it below if so; I’d love to take a look!
Goodreads | Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram | Bloglovin’
The Terror of Knowing 