Tuesday 2 August 2016

Top Ten Tuesday | Shut up and take my money


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!


This week's theme is 'Ten Books You'd Buy Right This Second If Someone Handed You A Fully Loaded Gift Card', which I actually found quite tough purely because I have no control - I buy way more books than I should, in fact most of my wages go on books, but I do have a few I still haven't completely convinced myself to buy. Yet.


Tale as Old as Time: The Art and Making of Beauty and the Beast by Charles Solomon: Disney's Beauty and the Beast is my favourite film. Ever. The Mummy is a very close contender, but I've adored Beauty and the Beast since I was a little girl and still love it now. I wish I had this book on my shelves, but I believe it's out of print which means it's being sold for around £200 online. I want it, but I don't want it that much. One day I hope I can find one for a decent price!

His Last Fire by Alix Nathan: This is a collection of historical fiction short stories, something I very rarely come across. I love historical fiction and I'd like to read more short stories in this genre, and this collection has received a lot of wonderful praise.

Red: A History of the Redhead by Jacky Colliss Harvey: I came across this book in my local Waterstones a couple of weeks ago and almost bought it, until I discovered this beautiful hardback edition existed. Unfortunately the hardback is a little expensive, so I'm hoping to either snap it up when the price has come down or ask for it for my next birthday.

Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino: Since going to Rome last year I've completely fallen in love with Italy, and was lucky enough to return there again earlier this year when I went to Florence. This is quite a chunky book of folktales, and another fairly expensive one, so I think it's another book I'll be adding to my birthday list this year...

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo: I've never been too fussed by Leigh Bardugo. The Grisha trilogy doesn't interest me and while I've heard great things about Six of Crows, and I do love a heist story, nothing has compelled me to pick it up until I read her short story 'Head, Scales, Tongue, Tail' in Summer Days & Summer Nights. I really enjoyed Bardugo's addition to the anthology, so I'd like to check out Six of Crows soon!


The Uninvited by Cat Winters: Mallory @ The Local Muse has been recommending Cat Winters to me for yonks, and I love the sound of The Uninvited. I think I'm going to pick a copy up near Halloween, as I'd like to read a bunch of spooky novels this October!

Female Gothic Histories by Diana Wallace: Unlike any of the other books on this list, Female Gothis Histories is actually a piece of academic criticism - it's the kind of book I was always dipping in and out of during university to pick out quotes for my various essays. I actually work at the publishing house which publishes this book and therefore can get a discount, but even with the discount this book, being an academic book, is very expensive. Diana Wallace specialises in the study of historical fiction, during my MA I ended up dipping in and out of her other books, and in Female Gothic Histories she explores how female writers have used the Gothic to rewrite women into history, which is an idea that fascinates me.

The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood: I seriously need to read more Atwood. One of my colleagues recently recommended The Robber Bride to me, and it wasn't until he recommended it that I realised it's actually a fairy tale retelling. I really enjoyed The Penelopiad (reviewed here!), another of Atwood's retellings, so I'd like to get my hands on a copy of this one, too.

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: I've heard nothing but amazing things about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and her novels have recently been released in these gorgeous new editions, so I'd like to treat myself to a copy of her debut novel soon.

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis: Doomsday Book sounds like time travel that's dedicated to accurately portraying the history rather than exploring the science, and I love the sound of that. I've heard it takes some getting into and that it's rather slow-moving but I don't mind that at all - I think I may add this book to my Christmas list this year!

Which books made your list this week?

18 comments:

  1. The Uninvited is really, really good! Cat Winters definitely deserves the hype. And I didn't know they had a book about the making of the most ROMANTIC AND AMAZING Disney film of all times. Great list! Here's my TTT -http://birdbooksandcoffee.blogspot.com/2016/08/top-ten-tuesday-books-id-buy-right.html

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    1. Yes BatB is the BEST. Glad to heard The Uninvited's a good read - I'm hoping to check it out this Halloween!

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  2. I focused on books related to Tolkien for my list. I hadn't heard of The Uninvinted. I agree that it looks like a good October read. I have one Italo Calvino book on my TBR but I didn't know he had a folktale collection. Good picks!

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  3. Tale as Old as Time looks lovely^^ I have an ARC of Six of Crows that I have yet to read - can you imagine?! The Uninvited sounds perfect for Halloween time ♥ Fab selection! xx

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    1. Thanks Micheline! I know, right? It looks so beautiful and I can't afford it. D: Hahaha, I hope you enjoy that ARC when you get to it. ;)

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  4. Yay for Six of Crows! Please, please read it so I can talk to you about how awesome Inej is! I'm fascinated by the 'redhead' book, it's always bizarre trying to explain attitudes to redheads to people from non-Western backgrounds so anything that explores that strange prejudice is always going to interest me. I also really need to read some Italo Calvino - after Andrew singing his praises so much I kind of owe it to him!

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    1. I'm hoping to get to it very soon! I love a heist story. ^_^

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  5. Nice list!! Six of Crows was so good. I really enjoyed that one. I hope you are able to get all of these soon!! :D

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    1. Thanks Erin! Glad to hear Six of Crows is a good read, I'm hoping to pick it up soon. :)

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  6. Oh man! I should have put the Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie new editions on my list this week! They are beautiful and I don't own any of her books yet so it's perfect. I also need to read more Atwood, but most of her books are so chunky it's easy to put them off because of their size. I haven't read The Uninvited yet but I love Winters so I have high hopes for it! I really like you will love the historical fiction girl power with a creepy twist that she is so good at!
    Mallory @ The Local Muse

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    1. They're gorgeous, aren't they? ^_^ Yes, I'm hoping to read The Uninvited this October and then, with any luck, I'll be Cat Winters' latest fan. ;)

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  7. I have just finished A Six of Crows and enjoyed it. Hope you get to pick it up soon.

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  8. I am sure you'll love Six of Crows! I wasn't that much of a fan of Shadow and Bone either, but Six of Crows is just amazing! The characters are perfect and everything is glorious in that book! I am sure you won't regret taking that one up!

    Here's my list

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    1. Clearly I'll have to read Six of Crows soon, everyone's singing its praises! ^_^

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  9. I'm in love with so many of these just from your descriptions, but I think Doomsday Book is at the top of my list. I love a good time travel story that doesn't get bogged down in techno babble. My TBR list is about to collapse under it's own weight with all the novels I want to add to it after this Tuesday.

    www.smpace.com/blog

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    1. You're not alone there, my TBR pile is ridiculous. Thanks for stopping by! =)

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