Top Ten Tuesday | My Spring 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!

Today I'm going to talk about the books on my Spring TBR! As always, I don't tend to like TBRs much, but I do like creating seasonal TBRs.

The Rose by Jennifer Potter: This non-fiction book is all about what roses mean throughout history and around the world. It's a really heavy book, published on very thick paper for all the pictures, but it looks fascinating and I'm looking forward to reading it. Spring seems like the best time to read a book about flowers!

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen: Even more gardens! I love witches, so the more the merrier for me!

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett: Speaking of gardens, I'd quite like to read The Secret Garden this Spring - it's one of my favourite classics, and it's such a heart-warming tale.

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh: I picked up a second hand copy of The Language of Flowers in one of my local charity shops years ago, and still haven't read it despite it having brilliant ratings on Goodreads. Continuing with the flowery theme, I think this will make a great spring read.

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert: And to complete this gardening theme I've got going on, the heroine of The Signature of All Things is a botanist in the 19th century. I love reading historical fiction novels about women in science, particularly when they're set during the 18th and 19th centuries, and I've yet to read any of Gilbert's fiction.

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim: April's in the title, so what better time to read this modern classic? This book is about four ladies who decide to spend April in Italy and have some time to themselves for a change. I started reading it last April but, for whatever reason, I put it down and didn't pick it back up so I'd like to give it another shot. I'm actually going to Florence in two days, so I might take it on holiday with me!

The Sparrow Sisters by Ellen Herrick: This is one of the novels the lovely Mikayla @ Mikayla's Bookshelf got me for Christmas! It's another book that seems to heavily feature flowers, herbs and plants, so it should be another great read for Spring.

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton: Yup, even more gardens. Are you sensing a theme? Apparently this book features an old book of dark fairy tales, a secret garden, an aristocratic family and a mystery. Sounds like everything I like to read, then!

Faery Tale: One Woman's Search for Enchantment in a Modern World by Signe Pike: This is another piece of non-fiction, and one that sounds lovely. Signe Pike decided to leave her job and go in search for people who still believe in faeries. I really want to read it.

Among Others by Jo Walton: Speaking of faeries, I believe they feature in Jo Walton's most famous novel. I'm pretty sure Among Others was on my spring TBR last year too but I still haven't gotten to it, I really need to though because I think I'm going to love it.

Which books made your list this week?

Top Ten Tuesday | If I Could Turn Back Time

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 2015 Releases I Meant To Get To But Didn't'. While I thought I did a lot better at reading books that were released in 2015 in 2015, there were still a few that managed to slip by me because I got distracted by other books or I simply wasn't in the mood to read them. Hopefully I can cross them off my TBR soon!

Mistress Firebrand by Donna Thorland: This is the one I'm most ashamed to have not yet read, as the author very kindly contacted me and sent me an ARC. I kept meaning to read it, and for whatever reason I didn't get around to it. I really want to cross it off my TBR soon, because it sounds so fun!

The Hourglass Factory by Lucy Ribchester: Yet more historical fiction that I didn't get around to, which is pretty bad considering I've owned my copy of this for almost a year. Hopefully I'll get to it soon, because I don't think I've ever actually read anything about suffragettes. That's something I need to change.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab: I know, I know. I'm pretty sure I'm the only person left in the world who hasn't read this yet. I've owned it since it came out, I just haven't gotten to it yet, but with the second book coming out next month I'm hoping to read it soon!

Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho: I love historical fiction that includes magic, and as I've mentioned before the entire focus of my MA was on the representation of minorities in historical fiction, so the fact that the sorcerer at the centre of this book is a poc is pretty darn cool. I didn't discover this one until the last couple of months of 2015, so I didn't get around to it, but I do have a very pretty copy I'm hoping to read soon.

The Lake House by Kate Morton: I haven't read any Kate Morton, but after watching this interview with her I've been very interested in reading her most recent novel. Hopefully I'll read it soon!

The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan: I also haven't read Kirsty Logan's most recent short story collection, A Portable Shelter, and I'm hoping to read both books as soon as I can. I don't think I've read any books that incorporate Scottish folklore and this one sounds very magical.

Resistance Is Futile by Jenny Colgan: I enjoy Colgan's contemporary, so when I heard she'd written a book described as Bridget Jones's Diary meets Independence Day I had to have it. I just haven't read it yet...

A Thousand Nights by E. K. Johnston: I received this gorgeous book from the lovely Mikayla @ Mikayla's Bookshelf for Christmas. It had been on my radar for a while, but it wasn't until I saw Natalie @ A Sea Change's review that I knew I wanted to read it. I can't wait to dive in - it sounds magical!

White Trash Zombie Gone Wild by Diana Rowland: Last year I read the first three books in the White Trash Zombie series and thoroughly enjoyed them, but I still have to read the fourth, How the White Trash Zombie Got Her Groove Back, and this, the fifth. I'm looking forward to them; they're such fun reads and I recommend them to anyone looking for a new urban fantasy series.

The Dinosaur Lords by Victor Milan: This is about dinosaurs. Obviously I was going to get it. I just haven't been in the mood for it yet, but with the second book coming out this summer I'm hoping to read it in the first few months of this year.

Which books made your list this week?

Top Ten Tuesday | All I Want for Christmas is Books

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 Wouldn't Mind Santa Leaving Under My Tree This Year'. Like most book bloggers, I'm sure, the things I ask for most when Christmas rolls around are new books. When I was younger I used to ask for a huge pile of books, but now that I'm older I don't expect to find as much under the tree which, of course, is perfectly normal - my poor parents have paid for enough! Nowadays I tend to receive money a lot more which is ideal for me; I already own a lot of books so people are unsure what to get me, so getting a bit of money means I can treat myself to whatever I've been after without specifically asking for something and ruining the magic of the surprise.

So, this week I've split my list! The first half are books I'd like to receive, and the second half are books I plan on treating myself to very soon.

Books I'd Like to Receive

Peter and Alice by John Logan: John Logan is the writer behind Penny Dreadful, one of my favourite shows, but before he was a screenwriter (he also wrote the scripts for Gladiator and Skyfall!) he was a playwright. I love the sound of this play, which is about a fictional meeting between Alice Liddell and Peter Llewelyn Davies, who were the real-life inspirations for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Peter Pan.

A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston: First of all, I think that cover is gorgeous, and second of all I've heard some brilliant things about this one, including a rave review from my friend Natalie @ A Sea Change.

Public Library and Other Stories by Ali Smith: This collection of stories are all about why books are so important to us. As a book lover, I'm sure you can understand why I want to get my hands on a copy of this. Plus I keep meaning to read some Ali Smith.

The Lake House by Kate Morton: I've been after a copy of The Lake House ever since I saw this interview with Kate Morton over on Pan Macmillan's YouTube channel!

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi: This memoir is about an Iranian teacher who began a reading group with seven of her most committed female students to read forbidden Western classics. It sounds amazing.

Books I'd Like to Buy

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden is one of my favourite classics, but the only copy I own is an old, battered copy that's full of my notes from university. I'd really like to treat myself to this beautiful Penguin Threads edition - it's so pretty!

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn: I really want to check out some of Gillian Flynn's novels after I read The Grownup earlier this year, and while I've heard a lot of great things about Gone Girl I'm actually a lot more intrigued by her debut novel, Sharp Objects. Besides, if Gone Girl is her best novel yet I might as well start from the beginning and make my way through her work that way!

Let Me Tell You: New Stories, Essays, and Other Writings by Shirley Jackson: Shirley Jackson's my favourite horror writer, and this year a new collection of some previously unseen stories and non-fiction was published, edited by her son and daughter. I think it has a gorgeous cover, and I really want it for my growing Jackson collection!

Worlds Elsewhere: Journeys Around Shakespeare's Globe by Andrew Dickson: Expect to see a lot of Shakespeare around in 2016, as it marks 400 years since his death. In this book Andrew Dickson explores Shakespeare's impact all around the world, and why he's still so popular - it sounds really interesting, and if you've been following my blog for a while you'll know this year is the year I've really gotten into non-fiction.

Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley by Charlotte Gordon: Another non-fiction book about two fascinating ladies. Mary Shelley is one of my heroes - I think Frankenstein is a masterpiece - and Mary Wollstonecraft is a woman I want to learn more about, so this book sounds very cool.

Which books made your list this week?