Goodreads

Down the TBR Hole #4

~ Amanda @ Literary Weaponry ~ 3 Comments

I started doing this Down the TBR Hole feature about a month ago now. It has really helped me clean up my potential reading list on Goodreads and I’ve reintroduced myself to books I want to read but had forgotten about. All in all, it has been a real win-win situation. Hopefully, by posting this, it is also introducing you lovely readers to books you may want to read but hadn’t heard about before!

 

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Red Queen (Red Queen #1) by Victoria Aveyard

This is a world divided by blood – red or silver.

The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.

That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of Mare’s potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.

But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance – Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart.

From reviews I’ve read about this book people seem to be very much on one side of the fence or the other about it. Aka a very love it or hate it kind of book without much middle ground. When I first added it to my TBR I thought it sounded vaguely interesting but since then my interest had waned. I think it is time for this book to go.

Verdict: tenor

 

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An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes #1) by Sabaa Tahir

Laia is a slave.

Elias is a soldier.

Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

You know, I had been seeing this book and author around online everywhere lately. I kept thinking, “Hm. I need to get on Goodreads and look at her books!” Apparently I already had sometime last year and forgotten about it. Whoops! This one is definitely sticking around.

Verdict: KEEP

 

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A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

Grace Mae knows madness.

She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum.

When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace finds friendship and hope, hints of a life she should have had. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who stalks young women. Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness, must hunt a murderer while she confronts the demons in her own past.

What can I say? I still want to read this. It’s not high on my TBR but I’ll get to it eventually. Maybe when I am old and grey.

Verdict: KEEP

 

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Snow Like Ashes (Snow Like Ashes #1) by Sara Raasch

A heartbroken girl. A fierce warrior. A hero in the making.

Sixteen years ago the Kingdom of Winter was conquered and its citizens enslaved, leaving them without magic or a monarch. Now, the Winterians’ only hope for freedom is the eight survivors who managed to escape, and who have been waiting for the opportunity to steal back Winter’s magic and rebuild the kingdom ever since.

Orphaned as an infant during Winter’s defeat, Meira has lived her whole life as a refugee, raised by the Winterians’ general, Sir. Training to be a warrior—and desperately in love with her best friend, and future king, Mather — she would do anything to help her kingdom rise to power again.

So when scouts discover the location of the ancient locket that can restore Winter’s magic, Meira decides to go after it herself. Finally, she’s scaling towers, fighting enemy soldiers, just as she’s always dreamed she would. But the mission doesn’t go as planned, and Meira soon finds herself thrust into a world of evil magic and dangerous politics – and ultimately comes to realize that her destiny is not, never has been, her own.

This one pretty much lost me at “a heartbroken girl.” You all may have noticed that I have a healthy dislike of love stories. I just don’t understand their draw, I suppose. Or my heart is a shriveled thing incapable of appreciating that concept which is love. Either way, this book has to go.

Verdict: tenor

 

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Girl Waits with Gun (Kopp Sisters #1) by Amy Stewart

A novel based on the forgotten true story of one of the nation’s first female deputy sheriffs.

Constance Kopp doesn’t quite fit the mold. She towers over most men, has no interest in marriage or domestic affairs, and has been isolated from the world since a family secret sent her and her sisters into hiding fifteen years ago. One day a belligerent and powerful silk factory owner runs down their buggy, and a dispute over damages turns into a war of bricks, bullets, and threats as he unleashes his gang on their family farm. When the sheriff enlists her help in convicting the men, Constance is forced to confront her past and defend her family — and she does it in a way that few women of 1914 would have dared.

Guys, the comments section for this book on Goodreads is pretty brutal. Especially the Reader Q&A part. Folks are feisty! This one is definitely sticking around my TBR list.

Verdict: KEEP

 

Not a bad list clean up for a Monday morning, if I do say so myself, and it was done with a head cold and Game of Thrones hangover. I’ll call it a success. I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Throwback Thursday – June 29

~ Amanda @ Literary Weaponry ~ Leave a comment

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Renee began Throwback Thursday at Its Book Talk as a way to share some of her old favorites as well as sharing books that she wants to read that were published over a year ago. Books that were published over a year ago are almost always easier to find at libraries or at a discounted sale price. As I have been sifting through my TBR list and purging those books that no longer hold my interest, I came across several from years past that I’d love to share with you!

 

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Title: Best Served Cold (First Law World #4) by Joe Abercrombie
Published: June 2009
Publisher: Gollancz
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.16

Springtime in Styria. And that means war. Springtime in Styria. And that means revenge.

There have been nineteen years of blood. The ruthless Grand Duke Orso is locked in a vicious struggle with the squabbling League of Eight, and between them they have bled the land white. While armies march, heads roll and cities burn, behind the scenes bankers, priests and older, darker powers play a deadly game to choose who will be king.

War may be hell but for Monza Murcatto, the Snake of Talins, the most feared and famous mercenary in Duke Orso’s employ, it’s a damn good way of making money too. Her victories have made her popular – a shade too popular for her employer’s taste. Betrayed, thrown down a mountain and left for dead, Murcatto’s reward is a broken body and a burning hunger for vengeance. Whatever the cost, seven men must die.

Her allies include Styria’s least reliable drunkard, Styria’s most treacherous poisoner, a mass-murderer obsessed with numbers and a Northman who just wants to do the right thing. Her enemies number the better half of the nation. And that’s all before the most dangerous man in the world is dispatched to hunt her down and finish the job Duke Orso started…

Springtime in Styria. And that means revenge.

 

This book sounds like it has everything. Murder? Check. Betrayal? Check. A yearning for revenge? Double check and not a love story in sight. I have been in the mood for a violent, fast paced story that doesn’t include a love plot. From the reviews this one sounds like a perfect fit. I’m so glad I saw this hanging out on my TBR this morning. I’m going to check to see if my library has it right now. Happy reading, everyone!

 

Find this book on

Goodreads | Amazon US | Amazon UK | Book Depository | Thriftbooks

Throwback Thursday – June 22

~ Amanda @ Literary Weaponry ~ 4 Comments

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Renee began this Throwback Thursday meme at Its Book Talk as a way to share some of her old favorites as well as sharing books that she wants to read that were published over a year ago. Books that were published over a year ago are almost always easier to find at libraries or at a discounted sale price. As I have been sifting through my TBR list and purging those books that no longer hold my interest, I came across several from years past that I’d love to share with you!

 

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Title: Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #1) by Laini Taylor
Published: August 2012
Publisher: Hodder Paperbacks
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.04

“Errand requiring immediate attention. Come.”

The note was on vellum, pierced by the talons of the almost-crow that delivered it. Karou read the message. ‘He never says please’, she sighed, but she gathered up her things.

When Brimstone called, she always came.

In general, Karou has managed to keep her two lives in balance. On the one hand, she’s a seventeen-year-old art student in Prague; on the other, errand-girl to a monstrous creature who is the closest thing she has to family. Raised half in our world, half in ‘Elsewhere’, she has never understood Brimstone’s dark work – buying teeth from hunters and murderers – nor how she came into his keeping. She is a secret even to herself, plagued by the sensation that she isn’t whole.

Now the doors to Elsewhere are closing, and Karou must choose between the safety of her human life and the dangers of a war-ravaged world that may hold the answers she has always sought

 

I know it’s not just me that sees Laini Taylor’s books everywhere. Her newest release, Strange the Dreamer, appears to be incredibly popular. But you know what? I was being shallow and a little odd and refused to look up books by Taylor because I hate the cover (US) of Strange the Dreamer so much. I mean, it is an intense hate. Don’t ask me why, I can’t figure it out myself. I’m being a terrible person and judging a book by it’s horrendous cover.

However, I stumbled across Daughter of Smoke and Bone and the story synopsis certainly interests me. My local library currently has it on hold for me and I’ll be picking it up today. I’m trying not to judge it by the fact that the Goodreads description compares it to Twilight. How did the publishers ever think that comparison was a good selling point? Boy, I’m being a negative Nancy. I think I’ll go brew some coffee and read a few pages of my current book before the day has to begin. Happy Thursday, everyone!

Top Ten Tuesday – Series I Want to Read

~ Amanda @ Literary Weaponry ~ 20 Comments

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It is time once again for Top Ten Tuesday! This week’s theme is Top Ten Series I’ve Been Meaning To Start But Haven’t. I’m going to do a mixed bag with this one and add in series I have started and need to finish. As always, be sure to check out The Broke and the Bookish for other Top Ten Tuesday posts and themes. (This post got a little long. Whoops! Ten points to the Hogwarts House of your choice if you make it to the bottom. )

 

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The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare
In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them…

I just started on this series maybe two days ago and I feel like I’m definitely going to be continuing with it.At the beginning of a series there is usually a lot of set up that needs to happen which is slow going to get through which can get tiresome but this seems like it is going to be a great read.

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Graceling Realm by Kristin Cashore
Eight years have passed since the young Princess Bitterblue, and her country, were saved from the vicious King Leck. Now Bitterblue is the queen of Monsea, and her land is at peace.

But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisers, who have run the country on her behalf since Leck’s death, believe in a forward-thinking plan: to pardon all of those who committed terrible acts during Leck’s reign; and to forget every dark event that ever happened. Monsea’s past has become shrouded in mystery, and it’s only when Bitterblue begins sneaking out of her castle – curious, disguised and alone – to walk the streets of her own city, that she begins to realise the truth. Her kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year long spell of a madman, and now their only chance to move forward is to revisit the past.

Whatever that past holds.

Two thieves, who have sworn only to steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck’s reign. And one of them, who possesses an unidentified Grace, may also hold a key to her heart . .

I’ve read the first book of this trilogy, Graceling, and the third book, Bitterblue, which I absolutely adored. Somehow I managed to skip the second book, Fire, which I’ve been told is the best of the three. I find that hard to believe because I adore Bitterblue. It’s my safe harbor book when life gets a little too heavy. Need to read Fire to see if it really is the best of the three.

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Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king’s council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she’ll serve the kingdom for four years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she’s bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her … but it’s the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead … quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

I finished the first book in this series last week and I was unimpressed, I’m sorry to say. However, I’m told the next book in the series is fantastic so I’m going to give it a shot. I want to fall in love with them like so many other people have.

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Stalking Jack the Ripped by Kerri Maniscalco
Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord’s daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.

Against her stern father’s wishes and society’s expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle’s laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.

I stumbled across this series on another blog just a few days ago and can’t wait to get started on it. I’ve always had a fascination with Jack the Ripper and love finding books that include him. So far this series has two books out with a third announced.

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Cruel Beauty Universe by Rosamund Hodge
Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she’s ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle—a shifting maze of magical rooms—enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex’s secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

I have this book as a requested hold at the library right now and am hoping they get it in soon. When a fairy tale retelling is done well it is a thing of wonder and I hope this one is.

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Menagerie by Rachel Vincent
When Delilah Marlow visits a famous traveling carnival, Metzger’s Menagerie, she is an ordinary woman in a not-quite-ordinary world. But under the macabre circus black-top, she discovers a fierce, sharp-clawed creature lurking just beneath her human veneer. Captured and put on exhibition, Delilah in her black swan burlesque costume is stripped of her worldly possessions, including her own name, as she’s forced to “perform” in town after town.

But there is breathtaking beauty behind the seamy and grotesque reality of the carnival. Gallagher, her handler, is as kind as he is cryptic and strong. The other “attractions”—mermaids, minotaurs, gryphons and kelpies—are strange, yes, but they share a bond forged by the brutal realities of captivity. And as Delilah struggles for her freedom, and for her fellow menagerie, she’ll discover a strength and a purpose she never knew existed.

Ever since I read The Night Circus I’ve had an interest in books that include an odd circus. Weirdly specific, right? Right now the Menagerie series has two books published and a third announced.

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Dr Pimms, Intermillennial Sleuth series by L.J.M. Owen
Archaeologist Dr Elizabeth Pimms thoroughly enjoys digging up old skeletons.

But when she is called home from Egypt after a family loss, she has to sacrifice her passions for the sake of those around her.

Attempting to settle into her new role as a librarian, while also missing her boyfriend, Elizabeth is distracted from her woes by a new mystery: a royal Olmec cemetery, discovered deep in the Mexican jungle, with a 3000-year-old ballplayer who just might be a woman.

She soon discovers there are more skeletons to deal with than those covered in dirt and dust.

Suitable for readers young and old, Olmec Obituary is the first novel in a delightful cosy crime series: Dr Pimms, Intermillennial Sleuth. Really cold cases.

I bring this book/series up every couple of weeks and I still haven’t been able to get a hold of it. The only way I can find it is as an overpriced e-book and I want a hard copy which, apparently, is difficult to find outside of Australia. I want it. GIMME!

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Thomas De Quincey series by David Morrell
Gaslit London is brought to its knees in David Morrell’s brilliant historical thriller.

Thomas De Quincey, infamous for his memoir ‘Confessions of an English Opium-Eater’, is the major suspect in a series of ferocious mass murders identical to ones that terrorized London forty-three years earlier.

The blueprint for the killings seems to be De Quincey’s essay “On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts.” Desperate to clear his name but crippled by opium addiction, De Quincey is aided by his devoted daughter Emily and a pair of determined Scotland Yard detectives.

In ‘Murder as a Fine Art’, David Morrell plucks De Quincey, Victorian London, and the Ratcliffe Highway murders from history. Fogbound streets become a battleground between a literary star and a brilliant murderer, whose lives are linked by secrets long buried but never forgotten.

My love affair with good historical fiction knows no bounds. I recently got a copy of the first book in this series at an excellent price from Thriftbooks and am very much looking forward to reading it. I’m saving it for a rainy day and sour mood but still itch to pick it up every time I walk by my book case.

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Lady Julia Grey series by Deanna Raybourn
“LET THE WICKED BE ASHAMED, AND LET THEM BE SILENT IN THE GRAVE.”
These ominous words, slashed from the pages of a book of Psalms, are the last threat that the darling of London society, Sir Edward Grey, receives from his killer. Before he can show them to Nicholas Brisbane, the private inquiry agent he has retained for his protection, Sir Edward collapses and dies at his London home, in the presence of his wife, Julia, and a roomful of dinner guests.

Prepared to accept that Edward’s death was due to a long-standing physical infirmity, Julia is outraged when Brisbane visits and suggests that Sir Edward has been murdered. It is a reaction she comes to regret when she discovers the damning paper for herself, and realizes the truth.

Determined to bring her husband’s murderer to justice, Julia engages the enigmatic Brisbane to help her investigate Edward’s demise. Dismissing his warnings that the investigation will be difficult, if not impossible, Julia presses forward, following a trail of clues that lead her to even more unpleasant truths, and ever closer to a killer who waits expectantly for her arrival.

I have quite the love of Raybourn’s other series, The Veronica Speedwell Mysteries, and see no reason why I wouldn’t fall for Lady Julia Grey as well. Historical fiction? Check. Mystery? Check. Bad ass leading lady? Check. Not to mention Raybourn’s writing itself is just lovely. If there weren’t so many books in this series I’d have started it already but once I get started I know I won’t want to stop.

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The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss
Told in Kvothe’s own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen.

The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature.

A high-action story written with a poet’s hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard.

I’ve been wanting to start on this series for a while but, I have to say, it’s a little intimidating. Just the first book is 662 pages which is a bit of a monster (at least for my attention span) and Rothfuss’s reputation precedes him. I’ll start on this series one day when I’m feeling like conquering the world or something.

 

I got seriously long winded on this one, folks. Sorry. I probably could have left out the book descriptions but I like having them here. That way someone can go, “Yeah! I want to read that, too!” after just giving the description here a quick peruse without having to go look the book up. For getting to the end, as promised, ten point to your Hogwarts House! (Go Ravenclaw!)

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Top Ten Tuesday – Added to the TBR

~ Amanda @ Literary Weaponry ~ 9 Comments

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It is time once again for Top Ten Tuesday! Brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish, this week’s theme is Top Ten Books from X genre you have recently added to your TBR. After a quick browse of my TBR on Goodreads, it was obvious I had to go with fantasy/historical fantasy novels. This surprised me a bit as a few years ago I would been hesitant to pick up a fantasy novel but that seems to be the majority of what I read now. As time has passed my reading preferences have changed and that’s fine. As you grow and change as a person you can expect your likes and dislikes to change and I’m okay with that.

 

The Dark Days Club (Lady Helen #1) by Alison Goodman – London, April 1812. On the eve of eighteen-year-old Lady Helen Wrexhall’s presentation to the queen, one of her family’s housemaids disappears-and Helen is drawn into the shadows of Regency London. There, she meets Lord Carlston, one of the few who can stop the perpetrators: a cabal of demons infiltrating every level of society. Dare she ask for his help, when his reputation is almost as black as his lingering eyes? And will her intelligence and headstrong curiosity wind up leading them into a death trap?

Menagerie (Menagerie #1) by Rachel Vincent – When Delilah Marlow visits a famous traveling carnival, Metzger’s Menagerie, she is an ordinary woman in a not-quite-ordinary world. But under the macabre circus black-top, she discovers a fierce, sharp-clawed creature lurking just beneath her human veneer. Captured and put on exhibition, Delilah in her black swan burlesque costume is stripped of her worldly possessions, including her own name, as she’s forced to “perform” in town after town.

But there is breathtaking beauty behind the seamy and grotesque reality of the carnival. Gallagher, her handler, is as kind as he is cryptic and strong. The other “attractions”—mermaids, minotaurs, gryphons and kelpies—are strange, yes, but they share a bond forged by the brutal realities of captivity. And as Delilah struggles for her freedom, and for her fellow menagerie, she’ll discover a strength and a purpose she never knew existed.

The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell –

Stop the Magician.
Steal the book.
Save the future.

In modern day New York, magic is all but extinct. The remaining few who have an affinity for magic—the Mageus—live in the shadows, hiding who they are. Any Mageus who enters Manhattan becomes trapped by the Brink, a dark energy barrier that confines them to the island. Crossing it means losing their power—and often their lives.

Odd & True by Cat Winters – Trudchen grew up hearing Odette’s stories of their monster-slaying mother and a magician’s curse. But now that Tru’s older, she’s starting to wonder if her older sister’s tales were just comforting lies, especially because there’s nothing fantastic about her own life—permanently disabled and in constant pain from childhood polio.

In 1909, after a two-year absence, Od reappears with a suitcase supposedly full of weapons and a promise to rescue Tru from the monsters on their way to attack her. But it’s Od who seems haunted by something. And when the sisters’ search for their mother leads them to a face-off with the Leeds Devil, a nightmarish beast that’s wreaking havoc in the Mid-Atlantic states, Tru discovers the peculiar possibility that she and her sister—despite their dark pasts and ordinary appearances—might, indeed, have magic after all.

Cruel Beauty (Cruel Beauty Universe #1) by Rosamund Hodge – Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she’s ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor #1) by Mark Lawrence – I was born for killing – the gods made me to ruin.

At the Convent of Sweet Mercy young girls are raised to be killers. In a few the old bloods show, gifting talents rarely seen since the tribes beached their ships on Abeth. Sweet Mercy hones its novices’ skills to deadly effect: it takes ten years to educate a Red Sister in the ways of blade and fist.

Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore – Love grows such strange things.

For nearly a century, the Nomeolvides women have tended the grounds of La Pradera, the lush estate gardens that enchant guests from around the world. They’ve also hidden a tragic legacy: if they fall in love too deeply, their lovers vanish. But then, after generations of vanishings, a strange boy appears in the gardens.

The boy is a mystery to Estrella, the Nomeolvides girl who finds him, and to her family, but he’s even more a mystery to himself; he knows nothing more about who he is or where he came from than his first name. As Estrella tries to help Fel piece together his unknown past, La Pradera leads them to secrets as dangerous as they are magical in this stunning exploration of love, loss, and family.

The Changeling’s Journey by Christine Spoors – Ailsa is dead. Leaving Morven the last surviving changeling in the village. Everyone knows it is only a matter of time before she too is dead. Desperate to find out why the fairies steal human babies, and to save her own life, she leaves her family behind, travelling north into the fairy kingdoms with her best friend.

One changeling’s journey to save her life will alter their world forever. (considering deleting this one from my TBR)

The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand  – On Christmas Eve five years ago, Holly was visited by three ghosts who showed her how selfish and spoiled she’d become. They tried to convince her to mend her ways.

She didn’t.

And then she died.

Now she’s stuck working for the top-secret company Project Scrooge–as the latest Ghost of Christmas Past.

Every year, they save another miserly grouch. Every year, Holly stays frozen at seventeen while her family and friends go on living without her. So far, Holly’s afterlife has been miserable.

But this year, everything is about to change.

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins –  A missing God.
A library with the secrets to the universe.
A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away.

Populated by an unforgettable cast of characters and propelled by a plot that will shock you again and again, The Library at Mount Char is at once horrifying and hilarious, mind-blowingly alien and heartbreakingly human, sweepingly visionary and nail-bitingly thrilling—and signals the arrival of a major new voice in fantasy.

 

I think a couple of these may get the axe from my TBR list but for the most part they still sound interesting. I think Cruel Beauty, Wild Beauty, and The Library at Mount Char catch my attention most from the list. What books are on your TBR?

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WWW Wednesday – May 31

~ Amanda @ Literary Weaponry ~ 7 Comments

WWWWednesday

 

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words and was formerly hosted by A Daily Rhythm. It is open for anyone to participate, even without a blog you can comment on Sam’s post with your own answers. It is a great way to share what you’ve been reading! All you have to do is answer three questions and share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.

The three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

DorothyMustDie

“No matter how tough you think you are, there are certain things that just get to you, and they’re usually the little things. The ones you don’t expect.”

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. I picked Dorothy Must die up last week and, I admit, I have only read about three chapters of it. It really does seem like a good book but I’ve hit a slump and just don’t think anything will pull me in right now. Maybe I’ll put this one down for a while and try again another time. I don’t want to read it and dislike it just because I’m in funk, you know?

What did you recently finish reading?

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“In the darkness, two shadows, reaching through the hopeless, heavy dusk. Their hands meet, and light spills in a flood like a hundred golden urns pouring out of the sun.”

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. This book is the reason for my reading slump. I picked it up expecting epic battles, the clashing of swords, and a noble and heroic death. What I got was a love story. If you are into love stories it would be a wonderful book, I think, but I’m not. With the name “Achilles” in the title I just expected something very different than the book I got and it was such a disappointment.

 

What do you think you’ll read next?

AndIDarken

“On our wedding night,” she said, “I will cut out your tongue and swallow it. Then both tongues that spoke our marriage vows will belong to me, and I will be wed only to myself. You will most likely choke to death on your own blood, which will be unfortunate, but I will be both husband and wife and therefore not a widow to be pitied.”

And I Darken by Kiersten White . Look at that quote. Look at it. How can I resist? Even Emily May liked it and if you’ve spent any time at all on Goodreads you’ve seen Emily’s reviews and know she is a bit picky. I’ll be picking this book up from the library later today and am really looking forward to getting started on it. Hopefully it gets me out of my reading funk because, at this rate, I’m not going to have a review to put up this week. Yikes!

That is it for WWW Wednesday! Feel free to leave a link to your own WWW posts in the comments and have a fabulous day.

 

Throwback Thursday – May 25

~ Amanda @ Literary Weaponry ~ 7 Comments

throwbackthursday

Renee began this Throwback Thursday meme at Its Book Talk as a way to share some of her old favorites as well as sharing books that she wants to read that were published over a year ago. Books that were published over a year ago are almost always easier to find at libraries or at a discounted sale price. As I have been sifting through my TBR list and purging those books that no longer hold my interest, I came across several from years past that I have not yet had the opportunity to read that I’d love to share with you!

 

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Title: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Published: March 14th 2006 (first published 2005)
Added to TBR: December 2016
Published by:  Knopf Books for Young Readers

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

You ever feel like you are the last person in the world to read a book? I’ve been seeing this one every time I turn around for years. In fact, I just glanced through the information on Goodreads and 95% of my friends list has read it. How is that even a thing? It has become one of those books you use as starting point to compare other books to. “(Insert random book title here) is good but it is no Book Thief.” I’m sure I’ll get to it eventually. Maybe. Probably.

“I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn’t already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race-that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant.”

What are some older books sitting on your TBR?

Goodreads Monday – May 15

~ Amanda @ Literary Weaponry ~ 3 Comments

Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Page Turner. To participate, you choose a random book from your TBR Goodreads section and decide whether or not that book is going to stay on your TBR or be removed. Pretty simple, right? Let’s get to it.

 

The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck

The instant New York Times bestselling novel…

Set at the end of World War II, in a crumbling Bavarian castle that once played host to all of German high society, a powerful and propulsive story of three widows whose lives and fates become intertwined—an affecting, shocking, and ultimately redemptive novel from the author of the New York Times Notable Book The Hazards of Good Breeding

Amid the ashes of Nazi Germany’s defeat, Marianne von Lingenfels returns to the once grand castle of her husband’s ancestors, an imposing stone fortress now fallen into ruin following years of war. The widow of a resistor murdered in the failed July, 20, 1944, plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Marianne plans to uphold the promise she made to her husband’s brave conspirators: to find and protect their wives, her fellow resistance widows.

First, Marianne rescues six-year-old Martin, the son of her dearest childhood friend, from a Nazi reeducation home. Together, they make their way across the smoldering wreckage of their homeland to Berlin, where Martin’s mother, the beautiful and naïve Benita, has fallen into the hands of occupying Red Army soldiers. Then she locates Ania, another resistor’s wife, and her two boys, now refugees languishing in one of the many camps that house the millions displaced by the war.

As Marianne assembles this makeshift family from the ruins of her husband’s resistance movement, she is certain their shared pain and circumstances will hold them together. But she quickly discovers that the black-and-white, highly principled world of her privileged past has become infinitely more complicated, filled with secrets and dark passions that threaten to tear them apart. Eventually, all three women must come to terms with the choices that have defined their lives before, during, and after the war—each with their own unique share of challenges.

Written with the devastating emotional power of The Nightingale, Sarah’s Key, and The Light Between Oceans, Jessica Shattuck’s evocative and utterly enthralling novel offers a fresh perspective on one of the most tumultuous periods in history. Combining piercing social insight and vivid historical atmosphere, The Women in the Castle is a dramatic yet nuanced portrait of war and its repercussions that explores what it means to survive, love, and, ultimately, to forgive in the wake of unimaginable hardship
–From Goodreads

I added this one to my TBR just a few months ago. There was a giveaway going on and, though I have yet to win one, I entered it. I can never seem to resist. This book would have pulled me in a decade ago but now it just doesn’t sound appealing. Going through the reviews most people seem over the moon about it but I think, at least for me, it is going to get the axe. While WWII is certainly a major event in our history which needs to be remembered and never repeated, reading about it for fiction and entertainment’s sake just feels off to me.

My vote- Axed