Contemporary YA on my TBR!

If there's one genre I tend to avoid, it's YA Contemporary. It's one of those genres I've often found hard to relate to, but last year I fell head over heels in love with Becky Albertalli's Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, and while I'm 99.9% certain I'll always prefer speculative fiction to 'realistic' fiction it's made me want to explore more YA Contemporary.

Below are some of the YA Contemporaries I'd like to check out this year!

(Check out my review of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda here!)

If I Stay is another YA Contemporary that I really like which I read back in 2014, and for whatever reason I still haven't read Where She Went despite owning a copy of it. You can check out my review of If I Stay here! Eleanor & Park is another book that's been on my TBR for quite a while, but it's also one I'm slightly hesitant to pick up - in the world of contemporary fiction I know Rainbow Rowell is very popular, but I have yet to be wowed by her. Still, I'd like to give Eleanor & Park a try because it features a heroine who's overweight whose story doesn't have anything to do with going on a diet.

Similarly, Dumplin' is another book I want to check out because it's all about body positivity. In all honestly I didn't realise it was a YA book until I saw Cait @ Paper Fury's review, but that doesn't matter in the slightest - I'm all for books about body positivity! Lisa Williamson's debut, The Art of Being Normal, has really great reviews on Goodreads, and after I read What We Left Behind (reviewed here!) I'd like to read more books which feature trans and gender fluid characters. What I really want is to read a book about a trans character written by a trans writer, but I'm not going to ignore a non-trans writer in the mean time - what's the point in that?

Asking For It by Louise O'Neill, the author of Only Ever Yours, and Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E. K. Johnston, author of A Thousand Nights, both deal with sexual assault, and the effect it has on the people who are the victims of it. I own a copy of Asking For It and Exit, Pursued by a Bear is due to be released in March. I think both of these are going to be difficult to read, but I also think it's fantastic that this is an issue which is being discussed in YA; there's too much victim-blaming in our culture. Just too much.

Are any of these books on your TBR? Which of these should I read first?

Books I've Pre-Ordered

It's only in the past year or so that I've started to pre-order books. I've pre-ordered books before - my dad pre-ordered the final Harry Potter book for me so it'd be delivered to me on the release day and I could read it without being spoiled - but for the most part I'd just wait until a book appeared in the shops before I bought it, or I'd just put it on my birthday and/or Christmas list.

Now that I'm earning my own money, though, I spend the majority of it on books, and I'm glad I do. I love books, and even though I'm running out of room I like building up my own personal library. Besides, I like a bit of organised chaos so the slowly encroaching clutter doesn't really bother me.

So today I thought I'd share with you some of the books I've pre-ordered!

Winter

by Marissa Meyer

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend–the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?

I mean, of course I've pre-ordered Winter. It's my most anticipated book of 2015, and I can't wait to read it!

The Birds and Other Stories

by Daphne du Maurier

A classic of alienation and horror, The Birds was immortalised by Hitchcock in his celebrated film. The five other chilling stories in this collection echo a sense of dislocation and mock man's sense of dominance over the natural world. The mountain paradise of Monte Verità promises immortality, but at a terrible price; a neglected wife haunts her husband in the form of an apple tree; a professional photographer steps out from behind the camera and into his subject's life; a date with a cinema usherette leads to a walk in the cemetery; and a jealous father finds a remedy when three's a crowd...

Don't Look Now and Other Stories

by Daphne du Maurier

A married couple on holiday in Venice are caught up in a sinister series of events. A lonely schoolmaster is impelled to investigate a mysterious American couple. A young woman loses her cool when she confronts her father's old friend on a lonely island. A party of British pilgrims meet strange phenomena and possible disaster in the Holy Land. A scientist abandons his scruples while trying to tap the energy of the dying mind. 

Collecting five stories of mystery and slow, creeping horror, Daphne Du Maurier's Don't Look Now and Other Stories showcases her unique blend of sympathy and spinetingling suspense.

Earlier this year I collected all of du Maurier's novels that have been released in the VMC Designer editions - Rebecca, Jamaica Inn, Frenchman's Creek, and My Cousin Rachel - so when I saw they were releasing two of her short story collections in the same editions I just had to order them. I haven't read any of her short fiction yet, but I'm looking forward to reading it!

Dumplin'

by Julie Murphy

Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . . until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.

Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.

With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine— Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart.

The minute I read the synopsis of this book I knew I had to have it. It's so rare to come across a book with a plus size protagonist where the story doesn't revolve around them losing weight, and that's so important. All bodies are different; I have friends who are slim and who will always be slim even if they ate their weight in food, and I have other friends who are plump and will always be plump no matter how much they exercise. I think we have this poisonous way of seeing 'thin' and thinking 'healthy', but that's not always the case. Everyone should be able to feel confident in their own skin, no matter how big or how small they are, and I'm really hoping this book doesn't disappoint!

Demon Road

by Derek Landy

Full of Landy’s trademark wit, action and razor sharp dialogue, DEMON ROAD kicks off with a shocking opener and never lets up the pace in an epic road-trip across the supernatural landscape of America. Killer cars, vampires, undead serial killers: they’re all here. And the demons? Well, that’s where Amber comes in...Sixteen years old, smart and spirited, she’s just a normal American teenager until the lies are torn away and the demons reveal themselves.

Forced to go on the run, she hurtles from one threat to another, revealing a tapestry of terror woven into the very fabric of her life. Her only chance rests with her fellow travellers, who are not at all what they appear to be…

I love Derek Landy - the Skulduggery Pleasant series always makes me smile - so I couldn't let the opportunity to pre-order a platinum, signed edition of his new book pass me by. I know very little about this book, but I'm looking forward to reading it!

Descender, Vol.1: Tin Stars

by Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nyugen

Young Robot boy TIM-21 and his companions struggle to stay alive in a universe where all androids have been outlawed and bounty hunters lurk on every planet. Written by award-winning creator, Jeff Lemaire, Descender is a rip-roaring and heart-felt cosmic odyssey. Lemaire pits humanity against machine, and world against world, to create a sprawling epic. Collecting issues #1-6 of Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth, Trillium) and Dustin Nguyen's (Little Gotham) critically acclaimed, bestselling new science fiction series!

If you've been following my blog for a while you'll know I've been reading a lot of graphic novels this year, and I've really enjoyed it! This one was recommended to me over on amazon and it was available to pre-order for only £5 so I thought 'why not?' So far it's gotten some great reviews on Goodreads and apparently the art is beautiful, so I'm looking forward to reading it!

Saga, Vol.5

by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Multiple storylines collide in this cosmos-spanning new volume. While Gwendolyn and Lying Cat risk everything to find a cure for The Will, Marko makes an uneasy alliance with Prince Robot IV to find their missing children, who are trapped on a strange world with terrifying new enemies. 

I've been eager to get my hands on Volume 5 of Saga ever since I finished Volume 4. I managed to plough my way through the first four volumes at the beginning of this year, so I'm looking forward to getting back into this world and seeing these characters again.

I've also pre-ordered the second volume of Copperhead, but it still doesn't have a complete title, a cover or even any information about all of the artists who've worked on it. Soon I'll be pre-ordering Volume 7 of American Vampire and Volume 4 of Ms. Marvel, too; I know American Vampire, Vol.7 has already been out for a little while, but I collect the paperbacks rather than the hardbacks, so I have to wait a little longer for my copies!

Have you pre-ordered any books?

Top Ten Tuesday | Books That Celebrate Diversity

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 celebrate diversity, a topic I'm very excited about! I became very passionate about diversity in literature during my MA, and since then I've tried to read as widely and diversely as possible. It's been wonderful to see so much diversity in the publishing world in recent years, though I think we still have a way to go.

The Ms. Marvel series by G. Willow Wilson and Various Artists: I don't think I'd read anything with a Muslim protagonist before I started reading this series, which frankly I'm ashamed of. This series is so much fun, and I love that Kamala Khan is a Muslim girl in a series that's written by a Muslim lady.

Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories ed. by Alisa Krasnostein and Julia Rios: The title pretty much says it all, doesn't it?

Cress by Marissa Meyer: The Lunar Chronicles in general is an incredibly diverse series, something I've talked about on my blog plenty of times before, but I decided to go with Cress because it's the book with the most characters in so far!

Rat Queens, Vol.1: Sass and Sorcery by Kurtis J. Wiebe and Roc Upchurch: One of the main ladies in this series is a poc, and another is queer. Yay!

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon: I recently read this (look out for my review next week!) and the thing that impressed me the most was just how diverse this book is. The main character, Maddy, is mixed race; her father is African American and her mother is Asian American. I've never read a book with a character like her before.

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy: Yay! Body positivity!

Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Signal to Noise is one of the best books I've read this year, and it's set entirely in Mexico with an entirely Mexican cast of characters.

Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant: This fun novella has several characters with disabilities; a couple of the characters are in wheelchairs and another is deaf.

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters: Sarah Waters is well known for her LGBT* historical fiction, and there's a bit of cross-dressing in this one, too!

Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History ed. by Rose Fox and Daniel José Older: This is another short story anthology, made up of speculative historical fiction starring a whole cast of diverse characters.

Which books made your list?

Top Ten Tuesday | Even More Anticipated 2015 Reads

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 we're talking about the remaining upcoming 2015 releases we're looking forward to!

Winter by Marissa Meyer: I need it. I need it now.

Ms. Marvel, Vol.3: Crushed by G. Willow Wilson, Takeshi Miyazawa, Mark Waid and Humberto Ramos: This one's actually due to be released later this month - hooray! - and I'm looking forward to continuing with the series. Kamala Khan's adorable.

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness: I'm rather ashamed to admit that I still haven't read anything by Patrick Ness, but I love the premise of this story and as someone who isn't a big fan of the common tropes in YA I think this will be very tongue-in-cheek and a lot of fun!

The Dinosaur Lords by Victor Milán: This has dinosaurs in it. That's all I need to know to make me want to read it.

Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente: I also have yet to read any Valente despite the fact that I've heard nothing but wonderful things about her prose. I love the alternate history/sci-fi/golden age of Hollywood feel to this one, and I think it'll be a really interesting read.

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy: I'm all for reading more books about body positivity, and this one sounds fabulous.

Chimera by Mira Grant: First of all, how great is that cover? Second of all, I think we all know by now how much I love Mira Grant. This is the third and final book in her Parasitology trilogy; I recently bought myself the first two books in the series so I can read it this year.

Song of the Sea Maid by Rebecca Mascull: I love historical fiction starring heroines who want to make a name for themselves in the field of science, and I don't think I've read any historical fiction with Portugal as a setting yet.

The Curse of Jacob Tracy by Holly Messinger: I love books involving ghosts and mediums and spiritualists, especially when those books are set during the 19th century, so I'm looking forward to this debut!

The Sparrow Sisters by Ellen Hendrick: I have a weakness for witches.

Which books made your list?