top ten tuesday – The Terror of Knowing

Top Ten Tuesday | Ten Most Recent Additions to My TBR

29/01/201929/01/2019Emma7 Comments

Welcome one, welcome all, to Top Ten Tuesday! For those who are unaware (or who might need a reminder) Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by book bloggers and list lovers, The Broke and the Bookish, and is now hosted fantastically by Jana from That Artsy Girl! Each week a topic is chosen for bloggers to respond to.

I haven’t participated in a Top Ten Tuesday for a couple of months but I couldn’t pass up on this week’s topic since there are so many anticipated reads that I had recently came across my reading radar. In case it wasn’t already obvious, this week’s topic is The Ten Most Recent Additions to My To-Read List. I usually rank the selections for Top Ten Tuesday but since this week’s topic is about the most recent things added to your TBR I thought we could mix it up from my usual ways and go from the most recent to least recent (of ten) books added to my TBR list. These were all added in this last month so… I need to stop growing my TBR, clearly. Let’s waste no more time and dive straight in…

1. The Beholder by Anna Bright

I’d heard this was a retelling by way of Cinderella meets The Odyssey but a lot of advance readers seem to be disputing that marketing claim. To me, I’m getting similar vibes as The Selection by Kiera Cass – so it’s no surprise to see that Cass has blurbed this book. Regardless of whether the marketing pitch is accurate or not, I’m still intrigued by this one because… ok, fine, I was lured in by the pretty cover and the promise of voyage by sea, ok?! But I mean, come on, look at it.

2. Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests and Adventures by Stephen Fry

The second of the ‘Stephen Fry takes on Greek mythology’ books, this one seems to concentrate on the heroes of the piece, rather than the gods which his previous Mythos focused on. I’m intrigued to read both and I’m sure I’ll pick up a copy of this via audiobook because there’s just quite a comforting thing abut listening to Stephen Fry narrating anything – this is definitely solely a byproduct of his Harry Potter audiobook narration, but I’m looking forward to seeing if that translates well into retelling myths and legends.

3. Lady Hotspur by Tessa Gratton

I LOVED Tessa Gratton’s The Queens of Innis Lear and I had NO idea she was writing another book based on Shakespearean characters but I’m SO excited to hear she is! I don’t know what to expect from this one though since I think this is set in Innis Lear so I’m curious how that will affect the source material she’s drawing from Henry IV (which is one of my fave Shakespeare plays). I cannot wait for this one, though I’m seeing conflicting things about when it is being published – hopefully sooner rather than later!

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Top Ten Tuesday | Backlist Books I Want to Read

06/11/201830/10/2018Emma11 Comments

This week’s topic is Backlist Books I Want to Read. It’s a pretty self-explanatory topic: what are the main books that I want to read that aren’t… well… new releases. So since “backlist” basically means anything that isn’t the current publishing season, I can even include books that were released in Spring/Summer 2018. So that leaves quite a large category of books to choose from! In an effort to filter down this list, I’ve decided to make this the top ten backlist books I want to read before the end of 2018, the real priorities on my far too big TBR list. Now, that’s not to say I will at all get to all 10 of these before the end of December because who knows what will happen with my reading pace? Still, it never hurts to have a plan!

10) Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

Although this backlist book is from 2013 and doesn’t seem like something I’d necessarily read, I feel as though I’ve seen tonnes of people online reading this because of the film adaptation which came out this year. Before that, this book hadn’t really been on my radar in a big way, but after hearing some good things about the film, and that the book was hilarious and a really enjoyable read, I promptly bought it in the hope of it being a light read for my holiday to Orlando. I’m really hoping it fits the bill in that respect since I do love reading (and watching TV shows) about annoyingly rich people, haha.

9) The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

I’m ashamed to say that, despite the fact this book is firmly on this list, I’m not sure I recall why I first decided I wanted to read it. I know it’s Russian-inspired fantasy steeped in folklore and tradition. And I know that a lot of readers seem to have found this very enchanting and evocative so I’m sure I will love this novel once I have a chance to set proper time aside to sink into the story it has to tell. I was recently reminded of this book’s existence by a YouTuber I watch, lexcanroar, so I’m glad for that timely reminder that I need to get to this book sooner rather than later.

8) If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

As with a fair few other books on this list, this book by M.L. Rio is one that I’ve been meaning to read for months at this point but that I’m hesitant to ultimately pick up. The reason why? I’m sure I’ll love it. That seems like a dumb reason not to read something but I’m so hesitant to pick this book up because so many people (myself including) are pretty sure I’m going to love this and I’m worried it could disappoint me. I’m told this is very The Secret History-ish but with Shakespeare-obsessed students rather than Classics ones so that does sound like something I should love – fingers crossed for me and this book, huh?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Longest Books I’ve Ever Read

09/10/201808/10/2018Emma7 Comments

This week’s topic is Longest Books I’ve Ever Read. I should point out that, for the purposes of this, I’m not counting any anthologies that I had to read in university, nor am I counting the likes of The Faerie Queene or Les Misérables which I say I’ve kind of read but haven’t really finished properly enough to say I’ve read it cover to cover. Mileage may vary, haha.

But, as far as topics go, this one is a very straightforward one that requires little to no explanation… so shall we just not waste any time and get to the books? These are not ranked per say but listed by how many pages they clock in at.

10) A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic #3) by V.E. Schwab (666 pages)

I’m surprised that this ended up on this list because whilst it was a chunker compared to the other books in the trilogy, I didn’t expect it to reach ‘longest books I’ve ever read’ levels. However, it seems I can’t go one tag or weekly meme without mentioning either Leigh Bardugo or V.E. Schwab so looks like this one will be the token Schwab book this time! I ended up trying to eek this book out because I didn’t want it to end, there was so many highs and so many lows and V, how dare you?

9) The Hero of Ages (Mistborn #3) by Brandon Sanderson (748 pages)

Brandon Sanderson is clearly fond of writing a tome or two, and this one is no exception, but such is often the way with writers of epic fantasy series. In fact, you may very well notice that theme running through a lot of the books on this list. Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series books are like 1200 pages apiece (and often split into two parts when published in the UK!) so this one from the Mistborn trilogy is practically a baby in comparison. Still, it’s pretty damn hefty…

8) Breaking Dawn (Twilight #4) by Stephenie Meyer (756 pages)

I had no idea that Breaking Dawn ended up being so long! I think we can all agree, though, that it would have been immeasurably better had a good editor been allowed to have a crack at it and removed some of the… weirder bits, right? I remember precisely zero about the reading experience of this… I must have blocked it out of my memory, for better or for worse.

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Top Ten Tuesday | Books By My Favourite Authors That I Still Haven’t Read

25/09/201825/09/2018Emma3 Comments

This week’s topic is Books By My Favourite Authors That I Still Haven’t Read. You might know the feeling: you’ve read an amazing top ten best of all-time book by an author so you call them one of your favourite authors and you enthusiastically track down, buy, or put on your TBR all of their other books. Then, time passes, and you realise you still haven’t read that book by them. Can you still consider them your favourite author? The guilt spirals…

But to bring it back to an optimistic tone, just think of how great it is that you still have books left by your favourite author to experience reading for the first time! Let’s see my list, shall we?

I should point out I only managed to think of 8 for this “Top Ten”, which is pretty good going… but I did only pick one book for each author as sort of stand ins for the ones where I have multiple books as of yet unread. Clearly, I need to get reading!

8) Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo

I’ve read everything else Leigh Bardugo at this point so what’s one more book? I’ve heard mostly mixed reviews about the DC Icons series which is probably why I haven’t picking this one up yet. I’m also much more of a Marvel gal than a DC one. However, I did enjoy the recent Wonder Woman film so clearly I’m not completely adverse. Plus it’s Leigh Bardugo and I trust Leigh Bardugo with most things, so I’m sure this is wonderful.

7) Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig

I’m a big fan of Matt Haig and I enjoy his fiction (though, again, I’ve only read The Humans and How to Stop Time, both of which I loved) but his non-fiction is what I often keep an eye on. Despite this, and despite buying a signed edition of this as soon as it was released, I still haven’t got to Notes on a Nervous Planet which is a little bit silly considering it’s a short, easily digestible book.

6) The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier

Rebecca is one of my favourite books of all-time and whilst I have re-read that a fair few times, and also tried out some other du Maurier for size (Jamaica Inn, Frenchman’s Creek, and My Cousin Rachel), I somehow haven’t read this novel which is silly because it sounds so intriguing.

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Top Ten Tuesday | Books on my Spring TBR

20/03/201820/03/2018Emma16 Comments

This week’s topic is Books On My Spring TBR. This topic is extremely timely as it’s the first day of Spring (allegedly) and the weather has seemed a little brighter and sunnier, even if the bitterly cold winds haven’t completely disappeared. Still, the weather is definitely trying to shake off the wintry weather we’ve been having lately so I’m now looking forwards to Spring and all the books I am planning to read in this transitional period as Winter slowly lets go. Let’s take a look at the top ten books I’ve put on my Spring TBR…

10. The View from the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman

Can you believe I still haven’t read this non-fiction essay collection despite the fact I love Neil Gaiman and I’ve had this for months because I pre-ordered it? No, I can’t quite believe it either, I need to pull my socks up! This is a hefty hardback too, which is possibly why I’ve been able to make excuses for so long because there’s no way I could carry this to/from work for the sake of reading it on my commute. And although I don’t read that much non-fiction, I am trying to be better about it, so I should really try to get to this once and for all.

9. Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

This book has been EVERYWHERE as of late – and rightly so. I waited for this to be released in paperback before picking it up recently and I’m really looking forward to reading it. Like, I think a lot of people, I can be guilty of thinking of black history as rooted in the American experience which is ridiculous given that I live in the UK. This has been blurbed by Nikesh Shukla who put together The Good Immigrant collection which I very much appreciated (“enjoyed” seems an odd word to use) so I really ought to have picked this up already as it promises to be “a powerful and provocative argument on the role that race and racism play in modern Britain”.

8. The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin

Next up on my list we have a book that I definitely should have already finished because I was lucky enough to get an eARC through NetGalley and it was released early in March, and yet I haven’t read/reviewed it yet because I am a terrible person. Late last year, Stephanie from Adventures of a Bibliophile gave this a rave review and it put the book on my radar – a quick request on NetGalley and I thankfully had a copy. But I’ve yet to read it, despite all these things working in its favour, I really need to fix that.

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Top Ten Tuesday | Books I Could Re-read Forever

27/02/2018Emma15 Comments

This week’s topic is Books I Could Re-read Forever which is a pretty simple topic and requires little to no explanation, excepting this: I am a serial re-reader who is trying to be much better this year about not just re-reading previous favourites and forgetting about the potential in new releases. I’ve implemented a project called the Bookish Savings Jar to help me (/fine me) and everything! Because of this, there are SO MANY books I am dying to re-read right now but I’m really trying to hold off and read some new-to-me novels instead, so this Top Ten Tuesday post has come at exactly the right time to help me blow off some steam! I’ve purposely forced myself to sit down and, in one go, list ten books I’d re-read forever if given the chance, and I’m not allowing myself to change the titles listed after the fact because I think, if they immediately spring to mind, that says a lot. So let’s take a look at the books I could (quite literally, if given the chance) re-read forever…

10. The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Not a single one of these characters is likeable in the traditional sense – they’re uppity, condescending, patronising, in equal measure – but I love them all the same. This is the kind of book I never plan to re-read, I always just find myself randomly picking it up and reading the first few pages and before I know it I’ve embarked on a full-scale reread. It has a compelling quality though so I find it pretty damn impossible to put down once I have picked it up.

9. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Rebecca is one of my favourite books so it’s really no surprise that I can re-read it forever, if given the chance. It’s a book that has so many layers to it, that I’m sure during re-reads for years to come, I will notice things I didn’t notice previously, and I will never not enjoy the book so this is going to be a firm re-read for many years.

8. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

As I type this I have just bought an audiobook version of Pride and Prejudice so that I have yet another means through which to re-read (/re-experience) this story and these characters. I love Pride and Prejudice and whilst Persuasion might technically be my favourite Austen, it’s not exactly the most cheery, so I tend to re-read Austen’s most famous book most frequently. I’m not mad about that, it’s become nostalgia by this point to sink into the book and the lives of the Bennet family.

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Top Ten Tuesday | Kindle Books That Have Been On My TBR the Longest

06/02/201807/02/2018Emma10 Comments

This week’s topic is Books That Have Been On My TBR the Longest (and I Still Haven’t Read!) Now, because this is practically the story of my (reading) life I’ve actually done this topic previously and the answers still remain pretty much the same, with the exception of Madame Bovary which I have now read (go me!). But I do really like this week’s topic so, inspired by Kelly over at Kelly’s Rambles’ post about the books that have been on her Kindle the longest, I decided to take a leaf out of her book and check out my Kindle collection for the books I bought a long time ago and still haven’t read. I have a tendency to forget ebooks and my Kindle exist at times so this should be fun…

A small caveat: I probably won’t include all the classics I enthusiastically downloaded when I first got my Kindle – since they were free, I just went crazy with the downloading of things I’ll never in a million years actually read. We’ve all done it, let’s not mention it again and move on.

10. Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse by David Mitchell

I enjoy David Mitchell’s comedy and his writing… that’s probably about as far as the thought process went when I bought this. It’s likely that it was also cheap, because I’m a sucker for ebooks priced under £2 and can’t help myself – I get ridiculous ‘gotta catch ’em all!’ urges when books are so cheap. If I’m presuming correctly, this is a bit like the Charlie Brooker books I own where they’re essentially compendiums of previous columns from the newspaper, and I like the short format so I’m sure that eventually I’ll dip in and out of this when I’m in need of a laugh… hopefully anyway!

9. The One You Really Want by Jill Mansell

This one isn’t even on my Goodreads TBR shelf… so that should say something about how impulsive of a buy this was and how the rapidly closing window of opportunity (read: desire) to read this has definitely slammed shut. But I own it and it’s on my Kindle so it’s kind of hard to delete it entirely but I’ll likely never get around to this unless I’m stuck on holiday somewhere and I’ve read all the other books on my Kindle already.

8. Brilliance by Marcus Sakey

As far as I know this is a sci-fi thriller book and that’s pretty much all I know. It isn’t on my Goodreads TBR shelf so, much like the Jill Mansell book above, it’s hard to imagine that I actually still possess a desire to read this. I think I bought it because it was cheap and Regan from Perusse Project had hauled it… but then she didn’t rate it highly so I likely forgot about it completely. So it goes…

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Top Ten Tuesday | Books I Hope Santa Brings

19/12/201719/12/2017Emma8 Comments

Welcome one, welcome all, to this rare appearance of Top Ten Tuesday! To say I’ve been somewhat lax about participating in TTT would be a generous way of putting it… the last TTT I did was Best Books You’ve Read in 2017 So Far which was aaaall the way back in June so, yeah, it’s been… a while.

(“How long have you been seventeen?” “A while…” Anyone find remembering that Twilight scene as funny as I did just now? Nope? Ok, moving on…)

For those who are unaware (or who might need a reminder) Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by the book bloggers and list lovers, The Broke and the Bookish, and each week they post a topic for bloggers to respond to. This week’s topic is festive-themed and it’s Top Ten Books I Hope Santa Brings! (Obviously, substitute your holiday of choice if Santa is not your bag.)

For the past few Christmases, me and my parents have come to an understanding that, since they rarely keep up with my reading enough to know what books I’m wishing for at any given moment, they will give me some money to buy myself books from them for Christmas and they get them delivered to home and wrap them up and everything and then I obviously do a whole bit on Christmas morning like ‘omg what could this possibly be?’ for the obviously book-shaped presents. It has become something of a tradition. All of this is to say that I am quite assured that I will actually be receiving some of these books, providing Santa doesn’t decide I’ve been a naughty girl and take them all away! Other ones were on my gift wishlist so if Santa doesn’t miraculously bring them then I’ll definitely be treating myself to them after Christmas!

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Top Ten Tuesday | Best Books I’ve Read in 2017 (So Far)

28/06/201725/08/2017Emma10 Comments

Well, we’ve reached the midpoint of the year which means it’s time to take a cursory look back at how our reading has been going so far. All in all, I’m having a great year of reading – I’m getting in some re-reads, rediscovering my love for some of my previous favourites (see: Sabriel by Garth Nix), catching up with series, and all this whilst enjoying some newer (or new to me at least) books. I can’t complain! So this week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is downright perfect, it’s: Best Books You’ve Read in 2017 So Far. (Side note: I like the use of the “so far”, it leaves some room for the remaining months of the year!) And, for those who are unaware Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by the book bloggers and list lovers, The Broke and the Bookish, and each week they post a topic for bloggers to respond to.

You may be thinking ‘But Emma, it’s not Tuesday, is it? I could have sworn it was Wednesday today.’ Well, friends, you’d be right – I just completely forgot to upload this post yesterday and it would be a shame if the lovely books missed out on their brief moment in the sun just because of my own ineptitude. So, I hope you’ll forgive the belated nature of this Top Ten Tuesday post – I mean what even are days, really, but constructs? It’s all just timey wimey wibbly wobbly stuff.

But, anyways, in compiling this list I’ve tried not to include any re-reads, simply because otherwise I could never have whittled this list down to only 10 titles. So it’s out of necessity that I’ve not given a proper place on this list to the likes of Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen, The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon, and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood – but consider them firm favourites all the same! I also have a couple of honourable mentions because I’ve read a lot of really good things and I’m incapable of sticking to a ‘just pick 10’ format apparently. Let’s just get on with it…

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Top Ten Tuesday | Series I’ve Been Meaning to Start

20/06/2017Emma8 Comments

It’s been a wee while since I participated in Top Ten Tuesday due to committing to another blogging schedule (ha, what a fancy word!) but the topic this week has been on my mind for the past few weeks so it seemed downright fortuitous.

But, first things first, for those who are unaware Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by the book bloggers and list lovers, The Broke and the Bookish, and each week they post a topic for bloggers to respond to. This week’s topic is Top Ten Series I’ve Been Meaning to Start. Now, I’m a fiend for starting series, reading the first book, getting super excited about the sequel(s), and then putting off reading the subsequent books for so long that I forget what has happened and I need to re-read and basically start from scratch. This won’t be a list of those kinds of series because there are far too many (though I might just do a spin-off post of those ones)… these will be series that I haven’t started at all, haven’t read a single page of I swear (cross my heart and hope to die). Finally, these are in no particular order or ranking other than how my mind works – just don’t question it, it’s for the best!

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