Top Ten Tuesday | My 2018 Spring TBR!

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 On My Spring TBR'. I mentioned in my Winter TBR (and looking at that now I still haven't read any of the books on that TBR - oops!) that I love to tackle high fantasy in the winter, but as it's a genre I've been starting to get back into that's something I'd like to keep going - especially as I didn't actually read any of the high fantasy I was hoping to read over the winter.

Usually I try and do themed seasonal TBRs, but this time I've just gone for books I'm in the mood for at the moment, including some new releases that I'm very excited for!

The Good People by Hannah Kent: I'm definitely a mood reader, but there are certain themes/genres/countries that pull me in at various times of the year, and for some reason I gravitate towards Ireland in the spring. I think it's all that green. I still haven't read this one even though I loved her debut, Burial Rites, so I need to get to it soon.

Gaslight by Eloise Williams: I can't remember the last time I read a Middle Grade book. In all honesty it's not a genre I particularly gravitate towards, but lately I've so been in the mood for an MG book and I couldn't resist picking this one up. Not only is this historical fiction, but it's historical fiction set in Victorian Cardiff which is so unusual given how many Victorian era novels are set in London. I briefly met the author at Cardiff Book Festival last year, she was lovely, and I used to work with the lady who set up the publisher, Firefly Press, who is also incredibly nice. If you're a big fan of MG fiction I recommend checking out their website - they're publishing some great stuff!

Circe by Madeline Miller: This is my most anticipated release of 2018 and it's due out in April! I'm so glad I only read The Song of Achilles last year, I'm not sure I could have waited seven years for another book from Miller.

Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth: Embarrassingly, I'm pretty sure this was on my Spring TBR last year and I still haven't read it. Oops. Something about spring makes me crave fairy tales and this spin on Rapunzel sounds right up my street. Hopefully I'll get to it this year!

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig: I've been reading Jodi Taylor's Just One Damned Thing After Another recently and it's whet my appetite for more books about time travel. This isn't a time travel book exactly, but the protagonist is a history teacher with a strange genetic condition that's caused him to live for hundreds of years. I picked up an edition that's been illustrated by Chris Riddell and signed by both him and Matt Haig and it's beautiful, hopefully I'll get to it soon.

The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton: This high fantasy retelling of King Lear features three princesses fighting for their father's crown and sounds like so much fun. I'm one of three sisters myself so I love stories like this.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi: African-inspired high fantasy! I know it's a bit of a fantasy trope now, but I love 'magic is banned' stories so I can't wait to read this one.

The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine: More Middle Grade! I remember reading Ella Enchanted in school and loving it and I've heard so many good things about this one but never read it. I love stories about sisters, as I mentioned before, so I'm looking forward to cross this one off my TBR.

The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu: This time some Asian-inspired fantasy! I was hoping to get to this one over winter - especially as I talked about wanting to read more big books this year - but then I started It and I didn't think I could handle two chunky books at once, so hopefully I'll get to this one in the spring instead.

The Magicians' Guild by Trudi Canavan: I've never read any Trudi Canavan but friends of mine read her when we were teenagers and loved her work. I've seen a lot of reviews about this one that aren't great, saying it's full of tropes, but do you know what? Sometimes I'm in the mood for a trope-filled fantasy story, and I think this one is going to make me nostalgic for the stories I loved as a child.

Which books made your list this week?

Top Ten Tuesday | Oops! I Did(n't read) It Again...

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 We Meant To Read In 2017 But Didn't Get To (and totallyyyy plan to get to in 2018!!)' - books I meant to get to and didn't is the story of my life, particularly in 2017. There are so many books I could have mentioned, but I decided to go with the 2017 releases I hoped to get to, couldn't find the time to and really hope to get to this year. Without further ado, here are my top ten!

The Women of the Castle by Jessica Shattuck: I love the sound of this one because it's WW2 fiction told from within Germany, which is a perspective we don't get often - the most famous example is The Book Thief. Hopefully I can cross this one off my TBR this year.

The Witchfinder's Sister by Beth Underdown: I have a big interest in the history of witchcraft and witch trials and love the sound of this novel told from the point of view of Matthew Hopkins' sister. In my opinion Hopkins is one of the most cruel men in history and I'm hoping to read this one soon as I believe it's going to be adapted for TV.

The Good People by Hannah Kent: You probably all know by now how much I loved Kent's debut, Burial Rites, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy of The Good People, but I was never quite in the mood for it in 2017 and I'm very much a mood reader. I really want to try and get to this one this year!

The Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heilig: I loved Heilig's debut, The Girl From Everywhere, but still haven't read the sequel. I think I'll try to get to this one in the summer.

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: I'm so disappointed for not getting to this one in 2017. I've started this one and I really like what I've read so far, but I was in a bit of a slumpy mood while reading this one and I didn't want my mood to effect my enjoyment. Hopefully I'll get back into this one soon!

Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng: Yet another one I started and just wasn't quite in the mood for but I love the sound of it and I'd really like to get to it this year.

A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge: I've yet to read any Frances Hardinge but I couldn't resist picking up a copy of this at the end of last year. I haven't owned this one for as long as some of the others on my list so I'm not beating myself up about it that I didn't get to it last year, but I'd like to get to it this year if I can - I've heard lots of good things about Hardinge's work.

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant: My lovely friend Natalie @ A Sea Change bought me this one for Christmas and I'm very excited to read it. I've been in the mood for a bit of horror recently and I've been looking forward to this sequel since I enjoyed Rolling in the Deep.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng: Everything I Never Told You was my favourite book that I read in 2016 so I couldn't wait to get my hands on Ng's next novel and, so far, I've heard nothing but amazing things about it. Unfortunately I was never quite in the mood to pick this one up last year but, as with all of these books, I'm hoping I can get to it soon.

Florence in Ecstasy by Jessie Chaffee: I visited Florence in 2016 and fell in love with it, it's my favourite European city (out of the ones I've seen so far, anyway), so I couldn't resist picking up this novel which is set there and sounds fascinating, especially when I saw Katherine Howe, author of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane which I like a lot, singing its praises. This is another one I'd like to get to in the summer.

Which books made your list this week?

Winter Reading Recommendations for Historical Fiction Lovers!

Happy New Year!

I don't know about you, but I love reading books set in cold, barren landscapes during the winter months - particularly after Christmas. In the run-up to Christmas (if it's a holiday you celebrate) it's so easy to take refuge from the miserable weather when you have time off work to watch your favourite festive films, eat lots of food that's incredibly bad for you and maybe curl up with a hot chocolate, a warm blanket and a holiday-themed romance.

Then the thrill of Christmas and New Year pass into long, dreary January and it's time to go back to work against a backdrop of adverts for work-out DVDs and the latest diet. Apologies to anyone with a January birthday, but January is probably my least favourite month of the year because the world becomes Narnia - always winter, never Christmas - without all the talking animals to make it exciting.

One thing the cold, Christmas-less months of January and February are great for is reading wintery books. I'm sure you all know by now how much I love historical fiction, and the kind of historical fiction that unravels amidst a bleak, snowy landscape is the kind of fiction I love to read at this time of year. There's nothing more atmospheric than reading a book set in winter when the weather outside is frightful.

So if you're in the mood for a wintery book, some historical fiction or you have no idea which book you should pick up first this year, below are three books I would highly recommend reading before spring arrives!

I've mentioned Burial Rites a lot on my blog and that's because I found it so powerful. In this debut novel Hannah Kent explores the final days of the last woman to be executed in Iceland, Agnes Magnúsdóttir, who was beheaded on the 12th January, 1830. Kent captures who Agnes might have been wonderfully, but the most memorable character is the bleak, isolated Icelandic landscape itself. I went to Reykjavik in December and visited the National Museum of Iceland where I happened upon the block and axe head that were used to execute Agnes. I left that museum feeling quite hollow.

I always find it difficult to explain the plot of The Tenderness of Wolves. The simple explanation is that a woman in 19th century Canada goes searching for her son when it appears he could be guilty of the murder of one of their neighbours. In reality, though, the novel is about the entire community and weaves several different story threads into one overarching plot; when I finished this book I didn't think I'd enjoyed it that much, but it's a novel that I'm still thinking about even though I read it two years ago. The setting makes it the perfect book to read during the coldest months of the year - especially if you have a cosy fireplace to snuggle up in front of.

All the Truth That's in Me is similar to the previous two in that it's also set in the 19th century, this time in the United States, and it also includes a crime. In Burial Rites we have the story of the criminal, in The Tenderness of Wolves we have the story of the outsiders, and finally in All the Truth That's in Me we have the story of the victim. Judith becomes something of a pariah in her community when she returns home after being held hostage for four years, a time in which her best friend was murdered and she was left without her tongue. What follows is Judith trying to tell her story, trying to learn how to speak again, and trying to learn how to fit back into her community. The story is told in second person as Judith addresses Lucas, the boy she loves, throughout and I fell in love with the way it was told. Like the previous books this is a slow, quiet story, and I loved it a lot more than I thought I was going to.

Have you read any of these? What kind of books do you turn to in the winter?

The New Disney Princess Book Tag!

I saw Deanna @ Deanna Reads Books do this tag and, being the Disney nerd that I am, I couldn't resist doing it myself.

THE RULES

• Mention where you saw the tag/thank whoever tagged you!
• Tag Zuky and Mandy's posts (the awesome creators of the tag) so they can check out the wonderful Princess fun throughout the blog world (Mandy @ Book Princess Reviews & Zuky @ Book Bum)
• Play a game of tag at the end!

SNOW WHITE

This book (like the movie) started it all

Favorite Debut Book from an Author

I know you're all so shocked, but of course it's Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Signal to Noise. This debut took me completely by surprise in 2015 and it's one of my favourite novels of all time.

CINDERELLA

A Diamond In The Rough

Just Like Cinderella, You Either Didn’t Expect Much Out of This Character in the Beginning But They Turned Out to Be a Total Gem

Neville Longbottom. What a precious bean. I don't think anyone really expected much from Neville, not even his own grandmother, and then he grew into one of the best characters in the Harry Potter series. I love Neville.

AURORA

Sleeping Beauty

A Book That Makes You Sleepy, or Just Could Not Hold Your Attention

I'm sorry to say it's Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, knowing how beloved it is. I did like it but it took me so long to get through; the circus itself fascinated me, but I actually found Celia, Marco and their relationship really boring. I might try rereading it at some point, though, because my tastes have changed a lot since I last read it.

ARIEL

Under the Sea

A Book With a Water/ Ocean Setting

I'm really looking forward to reading Julia Ember's The Seafarer's Kiss, a lesbian retelling of The Little Mermaid with vikings. All the yes. I'm saving my copy for the winter months because I'm going to Iceland in the first weekend of December, so I think Reykjavik will be the perfect setting to read about vikings.

BELLE

Beauty and the Books

Name A Book With The Best Bookworm/ Booklover

Hermione Granger is the obvious answer, and I do adore her, but instead I'm going to go with Catherine from Austen's Northanger Abbey, who loves Gothic fiction so much she wrongly accuses her future father-in-law of murder. Oops.

JASMINE

The Thief and the Princess

Name A Book With An Unlikely Love Story (Either in Terms of Romance, or a Book You Didn’t Expect To Love So Much)

I think I'm going to go with Agnieszka and The Dragon from Naomi Novik's Uprooted. Heteronormativity is real, so whenever a book is released with one female and one male protagonist we can be certain they're probably going to fall in love at some point, but when I started reading Uprooted I began to think there wasn't going to be a romantic relationship, after all. What surprised me most, though, was that when their relationship did become romantic, I actually really liked their chemistry. So kudos to you, Naomi Novik, you did a good job!

POCAHONTAS

The Real Life Princess

Name A Book That is Based On a Real Life Person You Want to Read or Have Read

It's been on my TBR for a while now and I still haven't read it simply because, when it comes to historical fiction, I don't tend to read many books set in the medieval period, but I really want to give Sharon Penman's Here Be Dragons a try. Penman is such a huge name in the realms of historical fiction, so I need to read some of her anyway, and Here Be Dragons follows Joan, Lady of Wales, also known by her Welsh name Siwan, who was an illegitimate daughter of King John and was married off to the Welsh Prince Llywelyn ap Iorwerth. I've always been fascinated by her, it's a shame we know so little about her.

MULAN

The Princess That Saved Her Country

Name the Fiercest Heroine You Know

That has to be Saba from Moira Young's Blood Red Road. I adore her, she's a real survivor and I wouldn't want to cross her.

TIANA

The Princess With the Coolest and Most Diverse Crew

Name A Diverse Book, Whether it is a Diverse Set of Characters (Like Tiana’s Group of Naveen, Louis, Ray, and More)or Just Diverse In General

That has to be Becky Chambers' The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, whose entire cast of characters are different species and genders and sexes and sexualities and nationalities and races whom Chambers uses to explore what makes us different and, more importantly, what makes us similar. It's often compared to Firefly and I can understand why, but honestly I think I'd much rather watch a TV adaptation of this.

RAPUNZEL 

Let Your Longggggg Hair Down

Name the Longest Book You Have Ever Read

I had a look on Goodreads and was surprised to realise that the longest book I've read so far is Winter by Marissa Meyer. I don't know why I was surprised because I never read books that are 800 pages long or more (my edition of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is only 766 pages long) although I'd like to read more long books in future, because I certainly own plenty to get through.

MERIDA

I Determine My Own Fate

A Book Where There is No Love Story/ Interest or Isn’t Needed

I'm going to go with Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor, which is one of my favourite books ever. Our protagonist, Maia, becomes betrothed in this book and we do get a hint that he and his fiancee will be happy together and might even love each other one day, but there's no life-altering romance getting in the way of what is already a wonderful story.

ELSA & ANNA

Frozen Hearts

A Book in a Winter/ Cold Setting

No book has ever made me feel as cold as Hannah Kent's fantastic descriptions of the Icelandic landscape in Burial Rites.

MOANA

How Far I’ll Go

A Character That Goes On a Journey

I have to go with Nan King. Tipping the Velvet isn't my favourite of Sarah Waters' novels, but it's a true coming of age novel and such a fun, saucy romp through Victorian London. While reading it I got the feeling that Waters had a lot of fun writing it - there isn't much that poor Nan doesn't go through, and by the end of the novel she's a completely different person to who she was at the beginning.

If you'd like to do this tag, consider yourself tagged!

Top Ten Tuesday | My Autumn 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!

This week's theme is all about our Autumn TBRs, and if you've been following my blog for a while you'll know I love me a seasonal TBR. Even if I don't get around to all of the books on my TBR, and I often don't because I'm very much a mood reader, I really enjoy making themed lists because I'm that sad.

As I'm sure a lot of readers do, I love to read spooky books in the autumn close to Halloween, but something about the autumn also always puts me in the mood for books set in the 19th century. I don't know what it is; I guess it's rare to come across a summery 19th century book, most historical fiction set in this era likes to portray it as cold and gloomy and it makes for ideal autumn reading.

The Good People by Hannah Kent: Considering how much I loved Kent's debut, Burial Rites (reviewed here), I definitely should have read this one by now but I haven't been in the mood to pick it up yet. It sounds like it'll make for a great autumn read, though!

Things Half in Shadow by Alan Finn: Set in 19th century Philadelphia, this novel follows a crime reporter who sets out to expose the spiritualists of the city as frauds, but when the city's only supposedly genuine medium is murdered mid-séance he sets out to catch the killer. This sounds like the perfect book to read around Halloween.

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood: I've been meaning to read this one for years and still haven't, but I'd love to read it this year - especially as there's a new adaptation, starring Anna Paquin, coming to Netflix in September!

Falling Creatures by Katherine Stansfield: This 2017 release is right up my alley: it's historical, it's based on a true murder and it's set in Cornwall. The paperback is being released in October and I'd like to get my hands on a copy, unless the kindle edition becomes a little cheaper beforehand...

See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt: This one sounds fairly similar to Alias Grace, again focusing on a 19th century murderess, but in See What I Have Done Sarah Schmidt has chosen to explore the famous Lizzie Borden. I've received an eARC from NetGalley that I really want to read and review, but I haven't been in the mood for a book this dark yet - the sun's shining too brightly!

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry: I've owned a copy of this since its publication and have heard amazing things about it, and I think it's the hype that's made me hesitant to read it thus far but it sounds like it'll be a great autumnal read!

Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho: I've owned this one for a while now and still haven't read it because, unfortunately, I haven't seen great reviews so far - I'm still very interested in it, though!

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Moreno-Garcia's debut, Signal to Noise, is one of my favourite novels and I really enjoyed her sophomore novel, Certain Dark Things, too. Now Moreno-Garcia's third novel is a Fantasy of Manners and I can't wait to dive into it!

A Murder in Time by Julie McElwain: I haven't seen the best reviews of this one, but it's about an FBI agent who finds herself in the 19th century after stumbling into a stairwell. Forced to adapt to the time period until she can work out how to get back to her own time, she can put her skills to good use when a young woman is murdered. I'm really intrigued by the idea of a modern day FBI agent dealing with a historical murder case.

Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng: Firstly, that cover is gorgeous, and secondly, this novel is about missionaries in the land of fae. Why wouldn't I want to read it?

Which books made your list this week?

Five Great Books Set Outside the UK and USA

Let's face it: when you're from the UK or the USA, you're pretty lucky in how much fiction, and non-fiction, is set in  or  is about your country. It's not hard to find settings you can relate to on a personal, nostalgic level, as well as all the people who inhabit those familiar spaces.

One thing I really enjoy, however, is when I come across books that aren't set in these typical places, especially if they're set on a completely different continent. My reading habits still have a lot of broadening to do, I still find myself reading mainly books set in the UK or the USA written by white authors from the UK or the USA, but I'm constantly trying to read more books set in places that are completely foreign to me in all the best ways. So today I thought I'd share five books with you that aren't set in the UK or the USA and, if you haven't already, hopefully you'll want to read them, too! (I've also just realised that all five of these books are debut novels...)

Stay With Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀

The novel I've read most recently from this selection, Adébáyọ̀'s debut was released earlier this year and was one of my most anticipated releases of 2017. I loved it. Set in Nigeria, where the author is from, the story follows a married couple desperate for a child whose relationship begins to unravel when a second wife is brought into the family. It's fantastic, so worth reading, and I'd recommend it for fans of Celeste Ng's Everything I Never Told You.

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

Set in Amsterdam, this book was EVERYWHERE when it was released a few years ago. As much as I love historical fiction I was wary to pick this one up at first because I was worried it had been over-hyped, but when I read it I thoroughly enjoyed it. 17th century Amsterdam came to life for me in this book and Jessie Burton writes exquisitely. A three-part adaptation of The Miniaturist is coming to the BBC later this year, so now's a great time to read it if you haven't already!

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

This is such a good book to pick up during winter, Kent captures the barren yet beautiful Icelandic landscape wonderfully, but as this book is a novelisation of the final days of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, the last woman to be executed in Iceland in the 19th century, it'll probably make you cry. I'm actually going to Iceland in December, so I might have to give this one a re-read.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

If sci-fi retellings of fairy tales aren't something that interests you then I don't understand you these books aren't for you, but personally I love this series - it's so fun! One thing I also really love about it, though, is that none of the books are set in either the UK or the USA (the final book, Winter, is set on the moon!) with Cinder being set in a futuristic version of China, in New Beijing to be exact. I have lots of other books set in Asia on my TBR, and if you have any recommendations I'd love to hear them!

Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

If a month goes by where I haven't mentioned this book on my blog, assume I'm ill. I think you all know by now that this is one of my favourite novels and its originality is a huge part of that. Not only is this book set in Mexico City, but it focuses on witchcraft in the 1980s where our protagonist, Meche, learns to cast spells with her vinyl records. How can you not want to read that?

Have you read any of these? What are some of your favourite books set outside the UK and USA?

Top Ten Tuesday | Things I Want My (Hypothetical) Daughter to Read

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 a Mother's Day freebie, which is weird for me as Mother's Day's in March in the UK. I remember doing something along the lines of my favourite mothers in fiction some time last year, it doesn't feel like long ago anyway, so today I'm going to talk about the books I'd want my daughter to read.

I don't have any children, and I don't know if I'll ever have any, but if I ever have a daughter I hope she reads these books:

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: If I ever have a daughter, I want her to know there's nothing wrong with the word 'feminist' and there's certainly nothing wrong with identifying as one. Feminism means equality, not misandry, and I want her to grow up fighting for the equal rights of everyone, in whichever way she feels most comfortable doing it. This little book is an ideal introduction to feminism, and I hope, if I ever have a daughter, she doesn't have to fight as much as I've had to, and her daughters after her have to fight even less.

How To Be a Heroine by Samantha Ellis: I really, really enjoyed this memoir about Samantha Ellis's relationship with her favourite heroines throughout her life; she thinks about the effect these heroines had on her growing up, and returns to them to see if they still make her feel the way they once made her feel now. It got me thinking about the heroines in my life, and I'd love to share that with my hypothetical daughter, too.

Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman: This is the first novel I can remember reading that made me bawl. Noughts & Crosses is something of a British children's classic now, I'm not sure how well-known it is outside the UK but I think it's fairly well-known, and it's the first book that really made me think about race and terrorism and how to see something from both sides. It's still one of my favourites.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: There are some books in the world that are perfect books, and Rebecca is one such book. Daphne du Maurier has quickly become one of my favourite authors after I started reading her work a few years ago. You can only read Rebecca for the first time once and it's an experience I think every reader should try.

The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister: The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a classic, but the picture book I remember loving most when I was little is The Rainbow Fish. It's a lovely story with a lovelier message and I adored it.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling: Does this warrant an explanation? I was lucky enough to grow up as part of the Potter generation, it'd be great to share that with my children.

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent: This novelisation of the story of the last woman to be executed in Iceland is fiction, there's no way of knowing if Agnes Magnúsdóttir was simply a murderess or a woman who wound up in the wrong place at the wrong time, but this book is a brilliant reminder that there are two sides to every story, and sometimes people are forced into criminality by situations they can't help and are then punished for it. I want any children I might have to be able to consider both sides of a story.

The Good Immigrant ed. by Nikesh Shukla: I'm proud to live in a multi-cultural country and recent political events have frightened me a lot. I don't want to live in a country built on ignorance, discrimination and prejudice and if I ever have children I want them to be open-minded, kind and aware of the struggles other people might face simply because they're viewed as 'other'.

The Illustrated Mum by Jacqueline Wilson: Jacqueline Wilson was my favourite writer growing up, she was never afraid to tackle issues like bullying, foster care, mental health, terminal illness and many others. The Illustrated Mum was always my favourite.

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng: The relationships between mothers and daughters are fairly toxic in this novel, which was my favourite read of last year, and if I ever have a daughter I'd want her to read this so she'd know that sometimes parents make mistakes, sometimes they make terrible mistakes, and it's okay for her to tell me how she feels and to pursue the things in life that will make her happy. It's her life to live, not mine.

What did you talk about this week?

Top Ten Tuesday | Anticipated Releases of 2017

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'm Looking Forward To For The First Half Of 2017'. I usually don't like doing these because, despite working in publishing, I'm not that great at keeping up with what's coming out in the coming years that I'm going to love. If there's a favourite author I follow or a series I'm keeping up with, I'll know, but otherwise I'm fairly useless.

Nevertheless there are some books I'm really looking forward to in the first half of 2017, so, without further ado, here are my top ten twelve most anticipated books being published between January and June!

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli: Despite not being much of a YA reader these days, I adored Becky Albertalli's debut Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (reviewed here!) so I'd like to check out her second novel not only because I loved her debut so much, but also because The Upside of Unrequited features an overweight protagonist. We need more such protagonists in YA!

The Other Half of Happiness by Ayisha Malik: The sequel to Sofia Khan is Not Obliged (reviewed here!), which is probably one of the best adult contemporary novels I've read in a long while.

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal: If that title doesn't catch your eye, I don't know what will. I just love the sound of this novel.

Stay With Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀: I read about Adébáyọ̀'s debut in The Bookseller and loved the sound of it. Anyone who's had Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Margaret Atwood for mentors has to be fantastic so I can't wait to get my hands on this one.

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence: I don't read much high fantasy - I wish I read more than I do - but this sounds so cool. Assassin nuns are the best kind of characters.

The Seafarer's Kiss by Julia Ember: A Norse, LGBT+ retelling of The Little Mermaid. I am ready. I read and enjoyed Ember's debut Unicorn Tracks (reviewed here!) this year, and I can't wait to read more of her work!

The Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heilig: I was surprised by how much I enjoyed The Girl From Everywhere (reviewed here!), so I'll definitely be checking out the sequel! I'm fairly certain this series is a duology so I'm curious to see how Heilig intends to wrap up Nix's story.

Dragon Springs Road by Janie Chang: This sounds magical. I've been meaning to read Chang's debut novel, Three Souls, but haven't got around to it yet. Dragon Springs Road sounds like my cup of tea, though; it's historical fiction meets magical realism meets mystery, all with a mixed race protagonist. I always enjoy reading books featuring mixed race protagonists and I'm really looking forward to this one.

Take Courage: Anne Brontë and the Art of Life by Samantha Ellis: I loved Samantha Ellis's memoir, How To Be a Heroine (reviewed here!), and I love Anne Brontë, so Samantha Ellis writing a book about Anne Brontë sounds perfect to me.

The Witchfinder's Sister by Beth Underdown: As far as I'm concerned Matthew Hopkins is one of the most evil men in history. He turned witch-hunting into a career for himself, inciting fear in small towns and making money killing women he accused of witchcraft - we even have him to thank for the Salem Witch Trials after a book he wrote became very popular overseas. This novel is from the point of view of Matthew's sister during the tumultuous years of the witch trials, and I think it'll be so interesting to read a book about Hopkins from the point of view of a female relative.

The Good People by Hannah Kent: Another author whose debut, Burial Rites (reviewed here!), I adored. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of The Good People which, like Burial Rites, is set in the 19th century but this time in Ireland.

The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck: This novel is set in Germany after the Second World War and follows the widow of a German resistor who was killed in a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler in 1944. She has made a promise to her dead husband to rescue other widows of the resistance and make a home for all of them in the grand house of her husband's ancestors. I think there's a real lack of historical fiction set in Germany during or after the Second World War, and this sounds fantastic.

Which books made your list this week?