Top Ten Tuesday | Shame, Shame, Shame...

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl. 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 'Books That Have Been On My TBR the Longest and I Still Haven’t Read' which is basically the story of my life. So this is going to be embarrassing.

We all have them, don't we? Those books we keep telling ourselves we need to read but then, year after year, they fall by the wayside for other things. I have quite a lot of those books, in fact, so today I'm talking about the books I haven't read despite having owned my copies for quite a few years now.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini: I'm pretty sure I've owned my copy of this book since I finished my undergraduate degree, which means I've owned it since 2013 and still haven't read it. It's about time I got on that!

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon: Even worse I'm fairly certain I picked my copy of this one up while I was still at uni. It's one of those books I tell myself I'm going to read and never get to, so I really do need to try and get to it soon.

The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber: Like the majority of the books on this list this is another one I came across in a charity shop and picked up because, as a huge historical fiction fan, it's one of the classics of the genre that I feel like I should have read by now. I'm not as eager to pick this one up as I am the others on this list but I'd like to cross it off my TBR at some point.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood: Considering I did my dissertation on women in dystopian fiction it's incredibly embarrassing that I haven't read this one yet and, sadly, I know it's still so relevant. I want to read it, I just know it's going to make me angry and upset and I need to be in the right mood for that kind of book.

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly: I've owned my copy of this for a few years now and still haven't read it which is ridiculous considering it's historical fiction with a dash of dark fairy tales. So many things I love!

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke: It's the size of this book that intimidates me but my friend Natalie @ A Sea Change loved it and I'd really like to cross it off my TBR.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas: Similarly, at around 1,500 pages, this book is so daunting to me. It's the one classic I'd really like to try and cross off my TBR, though.

Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman: Another one I found in a charity shop and still haven't read because I'm the worst. Sharon Kay Penman is an author I definitely need to have under my belt, though, she's so highly regarded in the realms of historical fiction.

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett: My parents got me this one for my first Christmas home from university. This means I've owned my copy since 2010. Oh dear.

The Lady's Slipper by Deborah Swift: Yet another one I discovered in a charity shop and would really like to read because I had the pleasure of meeting the author while studying for my MA and she was lovely. This piece of historical fiction is actually set around the area where I went to university so it'd be lovely to revisit it in this book.

Which books made your list this week?

My 5 Star TBR Predictions!

This post is entirely inspired by Mercedes @ MercysBookishMusings who has invited readers everywhere to pick some books from our TBR that we think we're going to give five stars to - and then see if we're right!

Ratings are such a subjective thing, and a five star rating varies from reader to reader and book to book. Some readers give a book five stars depending on the quality of the writing while others rate a book based purely on enjoyment, and the best thing about the subjectivity of reading is that none of us are wrong. Sometimes I'll know immediately if a book is a five star read while other times I'll go back and change my ratings having thought about the book for a while.

What I want more than anything is a brilliant story with characters I care about. If the writing's lyrical and beautiful then that's a bonus, but how much I care about the characters and how much they tugged at my emotions is the deciding factor for me.

So, without further ado, below are six books I think (and hope) that I'll love enough to give them five stars!

Ever since I learned about her, I've been fascinated by Joan, Lady of Wales, who was the illegitimate daughter of King John and the wife of Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, and it's so frustrating that we're never really going to know anything about her because she lived so long ago and there's so little record of her. I was in a charity shop when I discovered that Sharon Kay Penman, a highly respected author of historical fiction, had written a book all about her, Here Be Dragons, and I knew I had to have it.

I also came across A Thousand Orange Trees in a charity shop and had never heard of it before until I found it. It has fairly mixed reviews on Goodreads but it sounds like the kind of story that I would love; again it's historical fiction focused on women, this time set in Spain during the inquisition, and it sounds amazing.

Hannah Kent's Burial Rites and Susan Fletcher's Corrag were both five star reads for me, and as Alias Grace is another piece of fiction focusing on a woman accused of being a murderess I'm expecting to love this one, too.

We're going to see a lot of The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock this year, I have a feeling it's going to get the same buzz as Sarah Perry's The Essex Serpent. Usually I'm wary of really hyped books but something about this one makes me think I'm going to love it.

The Shadow of the Wind is another book that I've heard nothing but great things about and one that's been on my TBR for years. One of my colleagues read it last year and loved it, so I'm hoping to love it, too.

To be honest it's exactly the same case with A Thousand Splendid Suns. It's been on my TBR for years and I've heard fantastic things; my dad read it last year and really enjoyed it so I need to listen to his recommendation and get to it soon.

Are there any books on your TBR that you think you're going to love?

Top Ten Tuesday | 2017 Summer TBR

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!

Every year I find myself making seasonal TBRs, usually made up of books that suit the season (floral books for spring, ghost stories for autumn etc.), but this year my summer TBR consists of two kinds of books: books I'm just in the mood to read right now, and books that have been on my TBR for far too long.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood: I'm ashamed to admit I still haven't read this and I definitely should have by now. I've been hearing amazing things about the new adaptation, but I want to read the book first and I'm determined to cross it off my TBR this year.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller: Greece always makes me think of the summer, probably because I was lucky enough to go to Crete with my parents several times during my childhood early teens, and yet I don't think I've ever actually read any fiction set in Greece. I've been in an Ancient mood recently - the warmer weather makes me want to watch films like Troy and Pompeii - and I've heard so many brilliant things about this book that I think it's about time I read it.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón: This has been on my TBR for years. Years. Every year I say I'm going to read it and then I never get around to it, but I've been lucky enough to have several city breaks over the past couple of years so I'm definitely in the mood to read a book set in Barcelona now that the weather's warming up. One of my colleagues read this recently and loved it, so I'm hoping I love it too!

The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng: This is another book that's been on my TBR for at least a year or so, and this past year I've been trying to make more of an effort to read books set in Asia written by Asian authors. I know so little about Asia thanks to my history lessons at school being so Britain-centric but there's nothing stopping me from doing my own research, and I learn as much from fiction as I do non-fiction. This book, in particular, sounds really interesting to me and I'm looking forward to getting to it.

The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant: So I went to Florence last year and it's become my favourite European city. It's the first time I've come home and felt homesick for the place I've left, and now I want to revisit it as much as I can in fiction. I picked up my copy of The Birth of Venus in the Uffizi Gallery giftshop after having just seen the real Birth of Venus painting - how could I not? - and I'm looking forward to reading it soon.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi: This book has been everywhere and I still haven't read it, but I want to get to it this year. I love the idea of exploring how a family's history, of being enslaved or of being involved in the slave trade, can impact a family throughout the generations, and I think this is going to be a very eye-opening and important book.

Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi: I read my first Oyeyemi last year, White is for Witching, and unfortunately I didn't like it, but I want to give her another chance because I think she writes beautifully. This book follows a male writer who keeps killing off his female characters, only for one such character to turn up at his door. I'm looking forward to it!

Florence in Ecstasy by Jessie Chaffee: More Florence! This is a very recent release and I'm looking forward to sinking my teeth into it.

Stay With Me by Aọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀: I've heard brilliant things about this debut novel and it's another one I'm hoping to get to fairly soon, especially as I think there's a good chance it's going to be the winner of the Bailey's Prize this year.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini: Like The Shadow of the Wind, this book has been on my TBR for far too long and I've had countless people recommending it to me, so it's about time I bloody read it. I've heard amazing things and I'm sure it's going to make me cry, but I'm looking forward to reading it.

What did you talk about this week?

Top Ten Tuesday | Wanderlust

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 all about books that aren't set in the USA. Now because I'm not American I don't think I read as much set in America as a lot of Americans probably do. That's not to say that all Americans only ever read books set in America, that's not true, but because I'm British the majority of the books I come across are also set in Britain, so luckily I didn't find this week's challenge too difficult. But I like to read about different places as much as I can and I didn't want this to be a list of books set in Britain, so I've included ten different countries from all over the world.

Half of this list is European, and the other half is set outside of Europe. I'd like to make more of an effort to read more books set outside Europe and North America.

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent: Hannah Kent's fantastic debut is set in the bleak, hauntingly beautiful landscape of Iceland, and is a fictionalised account of the final days of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, the last woman to be executed in Iceland. It's a wonderful book, and a very atmospheric winter read!

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton: Jessie Burton brings 17th century Amsterdam, The Netherlands to life in her sumptuous debut novel. This book is glorious, and if you haven't read it yet because of the hype I can assure you the hype is worth it for Burton's writing style alone.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: The setting is one of the things I love most about The Book Thief, because it's so rare to come across a WW2 novel set in Germany that isn't about soldiers or villains or prisoners of war. In this book Zusak shows that the German population were as much a victim of WW2 and Hitler's regime as everywhere else, perhaps even more so.

The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant: Not only is this book set in Florence, Italy, but I also bought my copy in Florence. I found this novel in the gift shop of the Uffizi Gallery, and having just seen Botticelli's The Birth of Venus I couldn't resist picking it up.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon: As well as being set in Spain, this book has also been translated from the original Spanish. If you like mysteries and books about books, then this is the novel for you.

Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Did you really think I was going to miss an opportunity to mention this book? Silvia Moreno-Garcia's fantastic debut novel is set in Mexico City in Mexico. I'd love to visit Mexico, so I'd really like to read more books set there.

The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney: I really enjoyed the cold, 19th century Canadian setting of this novel, even if the story as a whole left me a little underwhelmed. I need to read more books set in Canada!

Cinder by Marissa Meyer: It may be futuristic, but Cinder is still set in China! The diversity in The Lunar Chronicles is one of my favourite things about the series, and I love how neither America nor the UK are settings in any of the books.

Show Me a Mountain by Kerry Young: This is the kind of historical fiction I love: historical fiction with a mixed race protagonist, and in this novel our protagonist's home is Jamaica. Jamaica is another country I know very little about, but one I'd like to learn more about!

The Untold by Courtney Collins: The complete lack of fiction set in Australia I've read is just plain embarrassing.

Which books (and countries) made your list this week?

The TBR Tag!

I wasn't tagged, but I saw Mel @ The Daily Prophecy doing this and thought I'd give it a go!

How do you keep track of your TBR?

HA. I don't. I'm constantly on Goodreads; really I should organise my shelves, because right now all I do is click 'Want To Read' whenever I see a book that looks even remotely interesting and most of them I'll never actually be interested enough to read. It's mainly so I don't forget about them!

Is your TBR mostly print or e-books?

It's all print books, because I don't own an e-reader. I suppose I could download PDF files, but I have no interest in reading a full-length novel on my laptop unless I'm proofing it or something.

How do you determine which book to read from your TBR next?

I usually have several books on the go at once, because there's so damn much I want to read. Basically I pick up whatever I feel like reading and I read it; I've tried giving myself monthly TBRs in the past, but they've always just ended up bumming me out.

A book that has been on your TBR the longest?

I feel like I've been meaning to read The Shadow of the Wind forever. Notable mentions also go to The Count of Monte Cristo and The Pillars of the Earth.

A book you recently added to your TBR?

The Great Zoo of China combines Jurassic Park with dragons. How could I not want to read it? I'd like to get a copy, but I entered a giveaway on Goodreads so I'm going to make sure I don't end up with a free copy before I buy my own!















A book in your TBR because of its beautiful cover?

Honestly I don't think there is one. I'm not saying I don't judge books by their covers, because I do, but I never buy a book I don't know anything about just because it's pretty. I find books that sound interesting, and then I find the prettiest copies I can find.

A book in your TBR that you never plan on reading?

If you'd asked me last week I could have told you, but at the weekend I ended up donating a big pile of my books to charity because I knew I was just never going to read them. Pretty much all the books I own now are books I've already read and enjoyed, or books I want to read.

An unpublished book in your TBR that you're excited for?

Give me Winter, give it to me now!

Also Mistress Firebrand by Donna Thorland, which I'll get to read very soon because Donna very kindly sent me an ARC.

A book in your TBR that everyone recommends to you?

Not everyone so much as one person who's recommended it so many times it feels like everyone (I love you really, Mallory): The Handmaid's Tale.

Number of books in your TBR?

Hundreds. It's embarrassing, really.

I tag Mallory @ The Local Muse, Frannie @ Frannie in the Pages and Michelle @ In Libris Veritas - what's your TBR pile like, ladies?

Top Ten Tuesday | Historical Fiction I Can't Believe I Haven't Read Yet!

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 'Top Ten Books I Haven't/Want To Read From X Genre'. As you all know by now, I love my historical fiction, but there are still a lot of historical fiction books, including some historical fiction staples, that I haven't read yet. That's something that needs to change!

So, without further ado, here are my top ten!

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel: I love the Tudors, and I love my historical fiction set during this period of history, but I still haven't gotten around to reading this yet. I'd like to read it soon, though, so I can watch the BBC adaptation!

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett: This book is a bit of a beast, which I think is why I still haven't read it despite having owned my copy for over four years. Oops!

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters: I'm desperate to read this - I've heard amazing things about Fingersmith - but for whatever reason I've just never gotten around to it. That's going to change very soon, though!

Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman: Considering I live in Wales I haven't read many books set in Wales, and I definitely haven't read any historical fiction set in Wales. Here Be Dragons is based on the story of Joan, Lady of Wales, a real figure from history. She was the illegitimate daughter of King John who was married to Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (also known as Llylwelyn the Great) in the early 13th century, at a time when England and Wales were not the best of friends.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón: If there's one thing I need to read more of it's books that weren't originally written in English. In fact I need to read more books that aren't written by British or American authors in general. This is another book I've heard amazing things about, and another I just haven't gotten to yet.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein: Why I haven't read this yet I really don't know, because it involves two of my favourite things: history and female friendships. I need to read this soon!

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray: I used to pass this book all the time during my teens, back when Borders was still around (R.I.P Borders, forever in our hearts), and for some reason I just never bought it, but I was obviously interested in it because I'd pick it up and read the blurb every time I saw it. I finally bought myself a copy last year, and I'd like to read the entire Gemma Doyle trilogy this year!

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler: Kindred is both historical and science fiction, because the main character actually ends up time travelling back to the Antebellum South, which isn't all that great for a young black woman. I've heard amazing things about it, and I really want to check it out for myself.

Temeraire by Naomi Novik: Unlike the other books on this list, Temeraire is a piece of alternate history. It's the Napoleonic Wars, but with dragons. Why wouldn't I want to read it?

The Falconer by Elizabeth May: I've heard mixed things about this book, but I still want to check it out for myself. Not only because I haven't really read much involving faeries, but also because I follow Elizabeth May on Twitter and I love her feminist rants.

Which books made your list?

Top Ten Tuesday | Books I'd Read if I Had a Book Club

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 I'd Love To Read With My Book Club/If I Had A Book Club'. Sadly, I don't have a book club; my local library has one that meets each month, but it's at 2:00 on a Wednesday and I work 9-5 Monday-Friday. Oh well!

I was thinking of theming this post, but instead I decided to go for the ten books I'd most love to talk about with other people. I've decided to split my list into books I'd love to reread, and books I haven't read yet. So, without further ado, here are my top ten!

Books I'd Reread

Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman: One of my all time favourite books. There are so many things in this book to discuss, and I'd love to hear what other people had to say about it.

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu: Again, this is another favourite and another book in which there's a lot to talk about. This classic is just fascinating.

Feed by Mira Grant: Haha, I think we should just assume that this book is going to pop up on the majority of my TTT posts from now on. Honestly the main reason I'd want to read this for a book club is to make even more people read it because it's amazing and I love it.

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins: Probably my favourite classic. There. I said it. Again, there's a lot to talk about in this novel. It's quite dense, yes, but if you stick with it it's so worth it.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman: I just think this book would be a lot of fun to read with other people, and, again, there's a lot to talk about here!

Books I'd Read for the First Time

Among Others by Jo Walton: I've heard a lot of wonderful things about this book, and something about it makes me think it'd be a great book club read.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood: I need to read this book (I promise I'll get to it this year, Mallory!) and I might read it sooner if I had to read it for a book club. Plus I think there'd be a lot to discuss.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón: I think a book about books would be a great choice for a reading group, and I've heard brilliant things about this book! Plus I like book clubs that include books that were not originally written in English.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov: I feel like this is a classic I have to read before I die, but I'm not all that interested by it. The premise doesn't put me off (I know that probably sounds weird, but I'm more frightened by supernatural creatures than I am by creepy people) although I'm sure reading it would certainly make me uncomfortable, and I think it'd be a really interesting book to discuss with other people.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke: This book is such a beast. My copy's like a brick, I swear to God it should be one of the murder weapons in Cluedo. A book's size usually doesn't put me off, but this one is the exception. A book club might finally make me crack this baby open!

Which books made your list this week?

My End of Year Historical Fiction TBR!

It's the last week of October - where has the year gone? - and there are still so many historical fiction books I haven't read yet!

Below are twelve pieces of historical fiction I'd love to have under my belt before 2015!

The House on the Strand

by Daphne du Maurier

The Count of Monte Cristo

by Alexandre Dumas

(I'm going to be hosting a Count of Monte Cristo read-a-long in November! If you're interested in taking part check out the Facebook group for all the information you need here!)

Mortal Heart

by Robin LaFevers

After Flodden

by Rosemary Goring

Lamentation

by C. J. Sansom

Caleb's Crossing

by Geraldine Brooks

The Tenderness of Wolves

by Stef Penney

Fingersmith

by Sarah Waters

Burial Rites

by Hannah Kent

The Shadow of the Wind

by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

The Morning Gift

by Eva Ibbotson

Outlander

by Diana Gabaldon

Top Ten Tuesday | An Introduction to Historical Fiction

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

This week's theme is 'Top Ten Books I'd Give To Readers Who Have Never Read ____', and as a lover of historical fiction who doesn't tend to come across that many bloggers who read historical fiction when compared with other genres, I'm going to recommend some historical fiction!

Historical fiction is so much fun - people were still people back in the 11th, 16th and 19th centuries! - and there is so much cross-over between other genres. Because of this, I'm going to base my recommendations around the different sub-genres of historical fiction; from romance to crime! I hope you find something here that interests you!

Middle Grade

Pirates!

by Celia Rees

Nancy Kington, daughter of a rich merchant, suddenly orphaned when her father dies, is sent to live on her family's plantation in Jamaica. Disgusted by the treatment of the slaves and her brother's willingness to marry her off, she and one of the slaves, Minerva, run away and join a band of pirates. 

For both girls the pirate life is their only chance for freedom in a society where both are treated like property, rather than individuals. Together they go in search of adventure, love, and a new life that breaks all restrictions of gender, race, and position. 

Young Adult

Code Name Verity

by Elizabeth Wein

Oct. 11th, 1943-A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun.

When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.

As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage, failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy? 

LGBT

Fingersmith

by Sarah Waters

Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a "baby farmer," who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby’s household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves—fingersmiths—for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home.

One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives—Gentleman, an elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud’s vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be disposed of—passed off as mad, and made to live out the rest of her days in a lunatic asylum.

With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways...

Romance

A Company of Swans

by Eva Ibbotson

Weekly ballet classes are Harriet Morton's only escape from her intolerably dull life. So when she is chosen to join a corps de ballet which is setting off on a tour of the Amazon, she leaps at the chance to run away for good. Performing in the grand opera houses is everything Harriet dreamed of, and falling in love with an aristocratic exile makes her new life complete. Swept away by it all, she is unaware that her father and intended fiance have begun to track her down. . .

Magical Realism

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

by Katherine Howe

Harvard graduate student Connie Goodwin needs to spend her summer doing research for her doctoral dissertation. But when her mother asks her to handle the sale of Connie's grandmother's abandoned home near Salem, she can't refuse. As she is drawn deeper into the mysteries of the family house, Connie discovers an ancient key within a seventeenth-century Bible. The key contains a yellowing fragment of parchment with a name written upon it: Deliverance Dane. This discovery launches Connie on a quest--to find out who this woman was and to unearth a rare artifact of singular power: a physick book, its pages a secret repository for lost knowledge.

As the pieces of Deliverance's harrowing story begin to fall into place, Connie is haunted by visions of the long-ago witch trials, and she begins to fear that she is more tied to Salem's dark past then she could have ever imagined.

Science Fiction

Outlander

by Diana Gabaldon

The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon--when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach--an "outlander"--in a Scotland torn by war and raiding Highland clans in the year of Our Lord...1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into intrigues and dangers that may threaten her life...and shatter her heart. For here she meets James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, and becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire...and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

Horror

The Scourge

by Roberto Calas

A mysterious plague descends upon 14th century England, ravaging the country and trapping the souls of the afflicted in eternal madness. The feudal hierarchy--and even the church itself-- slowly crumbles as the dead rise to feed and the living seek whatever shelter they can. The bishops of England call for calm and obedience, but one man isn’t listening.

Sir Edward of Bodiam has been separated from the woman he loves and nothing on heaven or earth can stop him from seeking her out. 

Edward and two of his knights travel through the swiftly changing landscape of England, a countryside now overrun by the minions of hell. The knights encounter madness, violence, and sorrow, but Edward fights his way ever deeper into the thickening darkness of unholy terror. 

Crime

Dissolution

by C. J. Sansom

It is 1537, a time of revolution that sees the greatest changes in England since 1066. Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church. The country is waking up to savage new laws, rigged trials and the greatest network of informers it has ever seen. And under the order of Thomas Cromwell, a team of commissioners is sent through the country to investigate the monasteries. There can only be one outcome: dissolution. 

But on the Sussex coast, at the monastery of Scarnsea, events have spiralled out of control. Cromwell's Commissioner, Robin Singleton, has been found dead, his head severed from his body. His horrific murder is accompanied by equally sinister acts of sacrilege.

Matthew Shardlake, lawyer and long time supporter of Reform, has been sent by Cromwell to uncover the truth behind the dark happenings at Scarnsea. But investigation soon forces Shardlake to question everything that he hears, and everything that he intrinsically believes...

Alternate History

Temeraire

by Naomi Novik

Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors ride mighty fighting dragons, bred for size or speed. When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes the precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Captain Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future – and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. 

Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France’s own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte’s boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire.

Non-English

The Shadow of the Wind

by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julián Carax. But when he sets out to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax’s books in existence. Soon Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets--an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.

I hope there's something in this list that interests you! What are you recommending this Tuesday?

J.