Autumn TBR List

It’s autumn! Time for jumpers, scarves and beautiful autumn colours. I love autumn, it’s not yet freezing, the sun still makes an appearance but it’s still cozy blanket weather. I read a lot all year around but it feels right to be curled up under a blanket reading all afternoon while it’s raining outside. Anyway here are the books I hope to read over the next three months.

After the Party by Cressida Connolly – September

I’ve just started this one, it’s set in 1938 in England. Phyillis Forrester has lived abroad with her husband and children for years and they’ve finally come back to England. She wanted to live close to her sisters and she soon finds herself mixing with their middle class friends. But war is brewing and the hatred that spurs on the Nazi’s isn’t exclusive to them. I’m not that far into the book so everything seems innocent enough at the moment, but all the meetings that the sisters go to and speakers that preach to them has the potential to become hateful. It’s pretty scary.

Eric by Terry Pratchett – September

Another book with our favourite failing wizard Rincewind. A funny take on the Faust legend, Eric makes a deal with the devil but instead of getting immortality and riches he gets stuck with Rincewind and the Luggage.

The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley – September/October

This is the third book in the series and I’m really looking forward to finding out more about Star and her roots. These books are so well written, they really take you on the sisters journeys with them. I have pushed this book back a few times, I had books that my Mum had leant me so I wanted to read those first but I will definitely keep it’s place this time.

Sunday Morning Coming Down by Nicci French – October/November

The seventh Frieda Klein novel this leads straight from the end of Saturday Requiem which ended dramatically with Frieda finding the dead body of a policeman under her floorboards. Frieda is sure her stalker Dean Reeve is behind it but he’s been (supposedly) dead for seven years.

Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett – November

A twist on Cinderella, a servant girl’s fairy godmother dies but her wishes have already set in motion a terrible plan that could destroy the kingdom. It’s up to Granny Weatherwax, Magrat Garlick and Nanny Ogg to save the kingdom of Genua and stop the Prince from making a huge mistake.

Nightflyers by George R.R Martin – November

I saw this book in a shop a little while ago and I didn’t know George had written any space books, I’m so excited to read it.

I’m also re-reading ASOIAF at home, the books are so huge, I don’t bother taking them to work! What are some of your autumn reads this year?

Top Five Tuesday – Series I Need to Finish

A new Top Five Tuesday, the prompts are created by Bionic Book Worm. I’m actually doing quite well at keeping up with series I’ve started, I don’t like to read similar books in a row so I do space out books by the same authors etc. These are all on my on my TBR list some are quite low down but shhh…

1. The Seven Sisters series by Lucinda Riley

I started reading these books this year, I’ve read the first two which were wonderful. They each focus on one of the sisters who were adopted from around the world by their father who recently passed away. He left them clues and coordinates to where they’re from in case they want to find out one day. I’m going to start the third book soon The Shadow Sister which follows Star and her journey to discovery in England.

2. Frieda Klein series by Nicci French

I have only two books left of this series, they are waiting on my bookshelf right now! I have taken my time with this one, I forgot it for a while, the first book was published in 2011 and the last in 2018. Frieda is a psychologist who liases with the police when they need help on cases. But trouble seems to follow her, she has a stalker who has followed her since the first book, he once saved her life. But he faked his own death so no one will believe Frieda when she claims it’s him that’s harming others around her.

3. Tudor Legacy series by Laura Andersen

This is the second series surrounding the Tudors, Elizabeth is now queen after her brother Henry died. It’s been fifteen years since the first series finished, Elizabeth has a child! And so do her dear friends Minuette and Dominic. As always at Tudor court there are spies and drama, I’ve only read the first book so far but the second isn’t far away.

4. Discworld series by Terry Pratchett

Although these books don’t have to be read in chronological order, each is a stand alone, they all take place on the strange Discworld and usually in the city of Ankh-Morpork. I love these books, I’ve lost count of how many I’ve read but I’ve still got many to go yet there are forty one in total!

5. Six Tudor Queens series by Alison Weir

I’ve only read the first of this series but it was so detailed and felt like a biography of Katherine of Aragon and her life in England. I am excited to read Anne Boleyn’s book because she has always fascinated me.

That’s all of them, I can’t believe it’s autumn already! Are there any series you have yet to finish or have forgotten?

Top Five Tuesday – Books With Less Than 300 Pages

A new Top Five Tuesday, the prompts are created by Bionic Book Worm. A lot of my potential picks for this week were aimed at children but I’ve tried to pick a mixture!

1. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

I love this book, it’s so bonkers! Alice’s adventures are so much fun to read, my favourite bit is probably at the beginning when she shrinks then grows huge. And the Hatter’s tea party!

2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K Rowling

This book still gives me chills, I’m surprised it’s this short, this book used to terrify me, I used to think a basalisk would come out of my sink and eat me (one of the toilets in my house has a green door, I think that set me off!) I still love the bit towards the end when Harry and Ron (with the help of a petrified Hermione) figure out what the beast is and how to get into the Chamber of Secrets.

3. Mort by Terry Pratchett

This is one of my favourite Discworld novels as it’s centred around Death. Death decides to hire and apprentice, Mort, a very alive human! As always from Terry Pratchett the book is filled with imagination and wit.

4. Persuasion by Jane Austen

I really enjoy reading this classic maybe because it isn’t ridiculously long! Some classics feel like you’re never going to be able to finish them, but not Persuasion. It’s about getting a second chance at love and if you’re meant to be with a person, eventually you’ll find each other again. It’s also just really cute and filled with olden days kind of sexual tension!

5. Solar by Ian McEwan

I really enjoyed the science angle of this book, it’s about Michael, a prize-winning physicist who travels to New Mexico and tries to save the world from environmental disaster. In his private life Michael is a mess, he’s facing his fifth divorce as his wife wants to leave him for another man.

Top Five Tuesday – Alphabet

A new Top Five Tuesday, the prompts are created by Bionic Book Worm. This week it’s letters K-O, again I’ve tried to pick books that I don’t talk about often.

K – Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen by Alison Weir

The book starts from when Katherine first comes to England from her home in Spain. She’s been betrothed to Arthur Tudor for years but they’ve never met. She is nervous and doesn’t warm to England or Arthur at first. But when she marries the sickly prince she does fall for him. They only have a short time together before Arthur gets gravely ill and dies. The book feels so real, there’s so much detail it’s almost as if Alison Weir were there at the time.

L – Lock In by John Scalzi

In the future a virus strikes humankind that causes paralysis in its victims but they are still mentally conscious and functioning but they’re trapped. Technology evolved to help the people affected by the virus, they can enter a computer generated world and enter robot type beings and move around as they used to. Chris Shane is a rookie FBI agent and one of the ‘locked in’. He has been paired up with Leslie Vann on a murder case which proves more complicated than it first appears.

M – Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

A rare romantic read for me, I actually loved this book. Louisa’s quirky and optimistic nature really drew me in, I loved reading her and Will’s relationship grow. Louisa gets a job working for Will who is now wheelchair bound after a skiing accident. Will hates that he can’t be independent anymore. It’s a heartbreaking story and I haven’t read any of the other books in the series because I don’t want to be sad!!

N – Nation by Terry Pratchett

On a deserted island Mau is all alone, everyone and everything he loves has been washed away in a storm. He’s all alone, until he meets Daphne, a survivor of a shipwreck. Together they discover remarkable things, more survivors turn up and they start to build a new nation. A really clever and enlightening book.

O – The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

This is probably my favourite Philippa Gregory book. When I first learnt about the Tudors and Henry VIII’s many wives I was fascinated by the six women. This book tells the story of Mary Boleyn who had an affair with Henry and of course Anne and her marriage to Henry. It is fictional but it feels very real.

Top Five Tuesday – Alphabet

A new Top Five Tuesday, the prompts are created by Bionic Book Worm. This week it’s the second part of the alphabet! I’ve tried to go for books that I don’t usually talk about.

F – A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin

This is definitely a book I’ve never spoke about (not)! I couldn’t resist having at least one ASOIAF book in the month. Westeros is in absolute tatters by this book and Kings Landing is about to get hit by a group of militant religious fanatics, great. This book has the first POV chapters for Cersei and Brienne which is probably why it’s my favourite because they are the best!

G – A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson

This book is the follow up to Life After Life, it follows Ursula’s younger brother Teddy as he joins the RAF in WWII and his life after the war. He becomes a husband and father but he struggles with all the changes in the decades that follow the war. It’s really poignant and heartbreaking.

H – The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help is set in Mississippi, USA, 1962. The story follows Minny and Aibileen as they go through their lives as maids until Skeeter approaches them about the maid who used to look after her, she can’t find her. Skeeter decides to use her privilege to tell the women’s stories. This time in US history makes me shudder, I cannot understand how they could treat other people the way they did just because of the colour of their skin. And people still have that backwards view now, it madness. The book shows us what it was like for the women of colour in that time and how they kept going.

I – The Illustrated Mum by Jacqueline Wilson

I read this book forever ago, it’s about Dolphin, Star and their mother Marigold. Marigold has loads of tattoos, bright hair and a quick temper. Star is the eldest and worries what her Mum will do next.

J – Jingo by Terry Pratchett

This is on my TBR list, I just read the blurb, it sounds amazing. It’s about war over land that people consider their own and bearing arms in defence of their ‘own’ land. I can’t wait to read Pratchett make a fool of humanity once again!

Top Five Tuesday – Fantasy Books

A new Top Five Tuesday, the prompts are created by Bionic Book Worm. I love fantasy as a genre and here are my favourite five picks:

1. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

I don’t think anyone is surprised that this is the top of my list. I can barely go five minutes without talking about this series, it’s phenomenal. The world of Westeros and Essos that George has created is so real, it’s a cruel and brutal world with dragons, undead ice zombies and devastating wars. Wherever we go in this world the detail George describes is incredible, when we change to a different point of view you know where you are almost immediately.

2. The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett

This world that Terry Pratchett created is so brilliant, it’s quirky, random, it’s a flat disc with land and sea like ours on top. The disc rests on four elephants who in turn stand on the Great A’Tuin, a giant turtle who swims through space. Every single book in the series is funny and thought provoking. Death is probably my favourite character and I think my favourite book is either Hogswatch or Soul Music.

3. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

I read the Hobbit when I was about ten. I absolutely loved it, I’ve read it again since and it doesn’t get less magical. I think it’s the adventure side of it I really enjoyed and of course it sets the scene for the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

4. His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman

I’ve been re-reading this series and I hd forgotten how good it was. The original world in the first book is home of Lyra, everyone in her world has a daemon, a piece of their soul in the form of an animal, always with them but they’re able to converse and play together. Children’s daemons can change form until the grow up and stick to one thing. We then travel to different worlds, one like ours, one where shadows come and steal the grownups souls. It’s quite a dark series for children actually! In the third book there is a war approaching between God himself and Lord Asriel’s army of combined forces. It’s detailed, complex and fascinating.

5. Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb

I really enjoyed this series, it starts with a boy being abandoned by his family to the heir to the kingdom claiming he was his bastard son. Fitz grows up in the castle kept out of sight and eventually he is trained to be an assassin.

What are some of your favourite fantasy books?

Top Ten Tuesday – Summer TBR

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday topic by thatartsyreadergirl is the top books on my Summer TBR list. It’s the summer! Although it really doesn’t feel like it at the moment, the weather is rubbish!

1. Transcription by Kate Atkinson

I’m reading it at the moment and absolutely loving it! We follow Juliet’s story through WWII when she joins MI5 and then through the Cold War.

2. Guards! Guards! By Terry Pratchett

A dragon has taken over Ankh-Morpork, and is burning or eating everything in sight. The City Watch are in disarray and even the Wizards haven’t got a clue what to do. I’m really looking forward to this one, the City Watch are my favourites also dragons!

3. The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton

Kate Morton’s books are always great summer reads. This book is set in the summer of 1862 in London, a group of artists spend the summer in a beautiful manor on the Thames. But by the end of their time there one woman has been shot dead and a family heirloom is missing. In the present day, a young archivist finds drawings of the manor with a photograph of a beautiful woman, will she be able to uncover the truth?

4. The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley

5. The House At Riverton by Kate Morton

This will be a re-read and a wonderful pick for the summer. This is Kate Morton’s first book it’s set in the 1920s/30s and it’s been a while since I read it so I’ve forgotten what happ, it’ll be nice to fall back in love with the book.

6. Sunday Morning Coming Down by Nicci French

7. Nightflyers by George R.R Martin

I saw this book in a shop a little while ago and I didn’t know George had written any space books, I’m so excited to read it.

8. The Virgin’s Spy by Laura Andersen

I really enjoyed the first book in this series and meeting some of the knew characters. The Tudors are so fascinating, Elizabeth I is on the throne and her daughter has finally been allowed to join the court in London.

9. One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson

Another re-read, I’ve started reading the Jackson Brodie series again and this is the second book. Jackson is a private investigator and former police officer. This time he’s in Edinburgh and witnesses a brutal attack on a man stuck in a traffic jam.

10. The Day of the Dead by Nicci French

I think this is the last Frieda Klein novel which makes me sad! I didn’t want to read the blurb because it might have spoilers from the seventh book! But I know however they decide to end it it’ll be a brilliant read.

So there are my Summer TBRs, I don’t think I’ll make it through all of them but we’ll see!

Quotes of the Week

Another rainy week here in England, I’ve been watching the Womens World Cup to keep we occupied and reading of course, here are my favourite quotes from the week:

“They were parcelling the impossible height into manageable sections. Just like time. That’s how we survive infinity, we kill it by breaking it up into small bits.” – Pyramids by Terry Pratchett

I love the imagery in this and it’s true, we get through days by taking them an hour at a time, that’s what I do at work anyway!

“It was all such a waste of breath. War and peace. Peace and war. It would go on for ever without end.” – Transcription by Kate Atkinson

This is so sad, the book is set during WWII and the Cold War and this quote broke my heart. Somewhere in the world terrible things are happening and it’s never ending.

Top Five Tuesday – All Time Favourites

A new Top Five Tuesday, the prompts are created by Bionic Book Worm. This week we actually get 10 picks which is definitely needed my favourites! I’ve probably mentioned all of these at least once before because I can’t ever forget about them!

1. Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

Because I grew up reading HP I genuinely think the books have shaped who I am! I could read them forever, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read them over the years but the magic is still there whenever I go back to Hogwarts.

2. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

I think I will always be obsessed with these books, the characters, the complex plot. I still don’t know everything and I’ve read all the books at least twice. George has created such a real (and incredibly cruel) world that I can’t possibly tear myself away.

3. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

The characters in the Forgotten Garden are the main reason it’s one of my favourites. Eliza Makepeace is a writer herself, she lives in the early 1900s and is adopted by her uncle when her mother dies. Her mother had run away from her privileged life to marry for love, Eliza doesn’t ever feel truly at home in the grand house but she adores the gardens. The story crosses generations going between Eliza’s world to Nell and then Nell’s granddaughter Cassandra who both live in Australia. It’s a magical story that I fell in love with when I first read it.

4. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

This book is so incredible it’s kind of my dream book, it’s set in the 1920’s-40’s and it all about the possibilities of life and the decisions we make affecting our lives. We follow the Todd family, specifically Ursuala through their lives. It’s another one of my all time favourites. We follow Ursula down different paths and some of the possible lives she could have led during WWII. I can’t tell you how much I love this book and how beautiful it is.

5. The Book Thief by Markus Zuask

I absolutely love this book from start to finish. Death is the narrator and his passages are so profound and beautiful. The book is set in 1940s Germany. Death tells Liesel’s story, how she found a book by her brother’s grave and found a love of the written word.

6. Atonement by Ian McEwan

It’s set from 1930s-40’s and then jumps to the early 2000s. Briony Tallis is a curious, over-confident child, she likes to write and perform plays and this summer is no different. Except she winesses something and doesn’t understand it’s innocence. An accusation is made and lives are changed forever. This book is so beautiful and the time it’s set is such a scary but fascinating time.

7. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

I will always come back to this series because of the emotional connection I have to it and how brilliant it is. It’s set in a post apocalyptic version of America. Humanity lives in strict districts and under harsh rules imposed by the Capital and it’s repulsive inhabitants. Every year they force children to fight to the death, for their entertainment and to remind the districts what happens when you rebel. But one girl in District Twelve is about to change all of that, unintentionally she gives the people hope and the courage to fight back.

8. Dominion by C.J. Sansom

It’s 1952, Germany won the war. Britain surrendered after Dunkirk. Germany are still at war with Russia but we are under Nazi rule. The press, radio and television are controlled. Resistance is growing though with the leadership of Winston Churchill. This book is truly brilliant and utterly terrifying. I don’t think I’ve read a scarier book. So convincing it made me physically shudder in parts.

9. Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

This book is my favourite from the Discworld series so far because of its impact on me. It’s about the City Watch of Ankh-Morpork during a revolution. The Watch make barricades with the people of the city to protect themselves from a serial killer and some of the Watch themselves. The leader in it all is Sam Vines who has somehow travelled back in time so he is now at the revolution twice. Once as a new officer and again as an experienced policeman near to retirement. The book is funny of course but is also filled with so much truth about the nature of humanity.

10. Children In Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

This book is so good. Humanity are branching out into the stars, a project has identified different planets to terraform and make suitable for human life. But it’s also an evolutionary experiment, they send down insects and animals and some of our primate ancestors. But there are people back on Earth who believe this is wrong, we are meant to live and die on Earth. They sabotage one of the spaceships. The captain sends the monkeys off towards the planet along with the evolutionary accelerator. Then she is trapped in a tiny escape pod, orbiting her planet, transmitting a distress signal. 100 years later survivors of Earth find the planet and attempt to make it their home, but something has gone wrong. There are no monkeys here, instead the world is covered in webs. I loved this book, it was so interesting!

So there are my ten favourites! What are some of yours?

Top Five Tuesday – Debut Novels

A new Top Five Tuesday, the prompts are created by Bionic Book Worm. I’ve realised that I don’t read enough debut novels as I struggled to make this list! I do tend to stick with what I know so I might need to branch out and find different authors more. Anyway here are my top five debut novels:

1. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton, Published in 2007

This is such a good book and already Kate’s style is clear, the theme of past mysteries, old houses and brilliant written characters that stay with you. It’s set in England between WWI and WWII, a story about an aristocratic family their house and a mysterious death, told in flashbacks by a woman who witnessed it all.

2. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, Published 2015

It is hard to believe this is a debut novel, it’s full of suspense and really clever. It follows three women and their involvement in each others lives. Rachel gets the same train into London every day and it stops opposite some lovely town houses, every morning she sees a couple on their balcony having breakfast together, she makes up a story about them. But one day the woman goes missing.

3. The Boleyn King by Laura Andersen, Published 2013

I absolutely love this book and the rest of the trilogy. What if Anne Boleyn had given Henry a son? Would she have been executed? In this story Anne gives birth to a baby boy and survives to raise her children. Henry IX becomes King at age seventeen. He’s known to his friends as William and there are only three people in the world that he truly trusts, his older sister Elizabeth, his best friend Dominic and Minuette a young orphan raised as a royal ward by Anne. It has all the drama of a Tudor court, a really brilliant read.

4. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett, Published 1985

The whole Discworld series is quirky, funny and genius and the Colour of Magic is no exception. Our introduction to the Discworld and the wizards is led by Rincewind, a former wizard who was thrown out of the University for reading one of the spells that could end the world.

5. The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan, Published 2012

This book is set in the early 1900s, a ship to the USA goes down, the passengers are huried on to lifeboats and have to watch as the ship goes down. Now they are stuck in the middle of the ocean not knowing if help is on its way. The survivors on one lifeboat soon realise they are over capacity. Their supplies are dwindling and the weather is worsening. If they are going to survive they will have to make sacrifices. This book is chilling and thought provoking, as the reader I was constantly wondering what I would have done in the same situation. A fascinating take on humanity’s determination to survive at any cost.

What are some of your favourite debut novels?