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 | Indigenous Peoples' Day and World Mental Health Day

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 With Fall/Autumn Covers/Themes' which I struggled with, but it's actually my birthday today so it didn't seem right to miss another week of TTT! More importantly, however, October 10th is also World Mental Health Day, and as Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight is once again hosting her wonderful Shattering Stigmas blog event I decided to join in and use this week's TTT as an opportunity to mention some books which discuss mental health, some I've read and some I've yet to read, and also as an opportunity to mention some books in celebration of Indigenous Peoples' Day (9th October).

If you have any recommendations, please leave them below!

Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig: I've owned a copy of this for a while and have heard amazing things but still haven't read it. Hopefully I can make time for it this Non Fiction November!

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: It's amazing how much impact Perkins Gilman can have in so short a story, but The Yellow Wallpaper, following the mental deterioration of a woman after she is married and expected to play a certain role is nothing short of a masterpiece.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath: I'm ashamed to say I still haven't read any Plath, something I know one friend of mine in particular will be unhappy with as she loves her work so much. I think knowing the tragic end to Plath's own life makes her work seem a little intimidating to me, but I'd like to read The Bell Jar sooner rather than later.

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia: Not only does this sound like a very sweet, fun story, but I've also heard it deals with depression and anxiety really well and I'm all for that.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson: I wasn't sure if I was going to include this one at first. Jackson is my favourite horror writer and a lot of her work seems to revolve around how society damages women, particularly their mental state, but it can also be read as a pure ghost story. This novel, in particular, leaves it entirely up to the reader as to whether the heroine is really in a haunted house or if her mental health is deteriorating. However you choose to read it, it's worth reading.

The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney: I've mentioned this novel several times before, particularly how I'd like to reread it as I think I might appreciate it more a second time, but one of the things I loved about it was that there were several characters who are First Nations people and the novel as a whole doesn't ignore the impact white settlers in Canada had on the indigenous population. A great novel to read in the winter!

Beyond the Pampas by Imogen Rhia Herrad: This book explores something I know practically nothing about it: Welsh settlers in Patagonia. While a lot of the book seems to be about Herrad learning about the descendents of those Welsh settlers, she also explores the impact that their settling had on the indigenous people.

The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King: I've heard fantastic things about this book, which explores the history of North America's First Nations people and the way they are still portrayed today in the media. I started reading last year, I think, but wasn't in the right headspace for it, so I'm hoping I can get to it this year.

Between Earth and Sky by Amanda Skenandore: This novel isn't due out until next year but it sounds super interesting. Set in early 20th century Philadelphia, a woman asks her lawyer husband to defend her childhood friend, a First Nations man raised in one of America's 'savage-taming' boarding schools, when he is accused of murder.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown: I've heard so many good things about this book and still haven't read it, and I'd love to check out the film adapted from the book starring Anna Paquin, too.

Which books made your list this week?