Top Ten Tuesday | Never Say Never Apart From When You Should

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 I’ve Decided I’m No Longer Interested In Reading', and it was a difficult theme for me to make a list for at first because I'm one of those people who doesn't like to say 'never'. 

My tastes are always evolving and changing, so there are books I might not want to read now that I'll suddenly have a craving for in a year's time, so today I decided to go with a list mostly made up of books I've started reading before, given up on and am sure I won't go back to.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell: I remember this book being everywhere years ago and I was intrigued because Eleanor is overweight and it's so rare to see an overweight heroine in fiction - it's particularly rare to see an overweight heroine in fiction whose story isn't about losing weight in some way. I've since seen quite a few reviews from people of colour, however, who've said the way Rowell portrays Park made them uncomfortable which really put me off reading it and now it's been so long since it came out that I don't care. The only things of Rowell's I've read are Attachments and Midnights in My True Love Gave to Me and I didn't love either so I think she's just not for me.

Divergent by Veronica Roth: I tried reading this one years ago when YA dystopian fiction was all the rage and while I easily could have forced myself to finish it I didn't want to. I thought it was boring and the society as a whole didn't really make sense to me. The Hunger Games is creepy because it's easy to see how society might have got to that, but I couldn't understand in what world these factions were considered a good idea by any government. I don't think I'm missing out on anything and I know a lot of people who loved the trilogy hated the ending, so I'm going to keep my distance.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater: Tried it and didn't like it and I was disappointed! I've heard so many good things about Stiefvater's writing and about this series in particular that I was hoping to enjoy it, but sadly her style isn't for me. Also, as someone who's lived in Wales and worked alongside people whose mother tongue is Welsh, I couldn't get past the butchering of 'Owen Glendower'. His name's Owain Glyndŵr.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han: I wanted to try one of Han's novels after really enjoying her short story in My True Love Gave to Me, but, again, her work isn't for me. This is another one I easily could have finished if I'd forced myself to, I just didn't want to force myself to finish something when I could be reading something else.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman: I liked If I Stay a lot and I picked up a copy of Where She Went with the intention of reading it, but I never did and now I'm not that interested. I think If I Stay is fine on its own.

Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James: It's only in the past year or so I've started to get into Austen and I wanted to pick this one up so I could watch the BBC adaptation starring Anna Maxwell Martin, whom I adore. Unfortunately the book was another I couldn't get into and I ended up watching the adaptation only to be pretty underwhelmed by the story as a whole, so I have no interest in reading the book.

Rebel Heart and Raging Star by Moira Young: Blood Red Road is one of my favourite YA novels. I love the way its written and I love Saba and I love Jack and it pulled me out of a reading slump when I really needed to be pulled out of one. I had every intention of continuing with the trilogy but then I saw more and more reviews that the latter two books weren't as good and eventually I lost interest in it. Blood Red Road is enough for me - why does every YA novel have to have a sequel?

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab: Schwab is another one of those authors who I should love and just don't. A Darker Shade of Magic, in particular, should be right up my street considering it's historical fantasy but Schwab's writing style and I don't get along. Oh well!

The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber: I'm always fascinated by novels that combine science and science fiction with religion, so I thought this one would be right up my street. I started reading it, got about a third of the way through it, and still nothing had happened. My patience only goes so far so I put it aside and I have no real desire to try again.

Which books made your list this week?

Top Ten Tuesday | All You Need is Love (and Books)

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 a love themed freebie, so today I thought I'd talk about my bookish otps. I usually struggle with otps - something I've mentioned before is that, for whatever reason, I have more otps from films and tv shows than books - but today I decided to challenge myself to sit down and think about the romantic couples in books I love and was pleasantly surprised to discover that almost half of them are from books I read last year!

(Please be aware that there may be some spoilers in this post if you're the kind of reader who doesn't like to know who ends up with who!)

Cinder and Kai from The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer: There are plenty of sweet couples in this series, Cress and Thorne are especially adorable, but I've always had a soft spot for these dorks.

Judith and Lucas from All the Truth That's in Me by Julie Berry: I wasn't expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did and I loved it, and I was especially surprised by how much I enjoyed the relationship between these two.

Monty and Percy from The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee: Well done romances that grow from friendship are hard to do - quite often they come across as a little lazy to me - but the relationship between Monty and Percy was my favourite thing about this book.

Molly and Reid from The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli: These two are just the cutest nerdy, body-positive couple and I love them.

Saba and Jack from Blood Red Road by Moira Young: When it comes to fictional characters I have a genuine soft spot for guys called Ben and Jack and I love this Jack in particular, but I loved Saba even more and their chemistry is fantastic.

Achilles and Patroclus from The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller: I went into mourning after I finished this book and I adored the way Miller wrote the relationship between these two from childhood through to adulthood. If you haven't read this book yet you're severely missing out.

Rosemary and Sissix from The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: The relationship between Rosemary and Sissix was such a pleasant surprise. I loved their chemistry and hoped something might happen but thought 'nah, the author's probably not going down that road' and then she did! This book is another one of my all-time favourites.

Meche and Sebastian from Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: The above quotation is one of my favourites and always tugs at my heart. This is another one of my favourite novels and I loved the relationship between Meche and Sebastian, both their awkward teen years and their awkward reunion as adults. This is another example of platonic to romantic love done exceptionally well.

Laura and Carmilla from Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu: Definitely not exactly the healthiest relationship on this list, but Carmilla is one of my favourite classics and I've always loved the strange, intoxicating relationship between Laura and Carmilla.

Maia and Csethiro from The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison: If someone held a gun to my head and asked me to pick my favourite novel of all time, this is the novel I'd pick. What I love about the relationship between Maia and Csethiro is that we only ever see its potential, but I love the way they interact with each other and I love that they work at becoming friends before anything else.

What did you talk about this week?

Top Ten Tuesday | Give Me Some Space, Man

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 Want My Future Children to Read (Or nieces and nephews, Godchildren, etc.)' - I actually kind of did this topic back in May and I don't really want to repeat myself, but I also didn't want to miss another week of TTT!

I have a nephew and four nieces - yes, four! Christmas shopping is a nightmare! - and my oldest niece is a bookworm, too, which is lovely, but there are some things I still definitely need to teach her. I live in South Wales while my older sister lives in North England so I don't see my oldest niece or her brother and sister that often, and when I saw her a few months ago I just so happened to be wearing a Star Wars t-shirt. She told me I shouldn't be wearing it because, and I quote, 'Star Wars is for boys'.

I'm sure you can imagine my horror.

So today I'm going to talk about the sci-fi books I'd like my niece to read when she's a little older to help her learn that Star Wars, and science fiction, is for everyone. She doesn't have to like science fiction, but I don't want her thinking it's a genre she's not allowed to participate in.

(Just as a sidenote, I don't tend to read as much sci-fi as I'd like to so the sci-fi experts amongst you probably have even better recommendations than I do - please feel free to leave them down below!)

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: When eighteen year old Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley penned this haunting tale she set up the foundations for the genre we now know as science fiction. What better way to realise it's a genre that was never meant for boys alone?

Feed by Mira Grant: One of my favourite books of all time, this book broke my heart into teeny tiny pieces and made me sob. I love this one because it's a zombie story that isn't really about zombies in the way traditional zombie stories are, and when my niece is older I hope she'll enjoy its commentary on politics and the media as much as I did.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: Another one of my favourite books of all time and one I can't praise highly enough. Its discussions of gender, sexuality, race relations, family units and what it means to be human will stay with me for the rest of my life and I think anyone who reads this novel can learn something from it while also enjoying a beautiful story.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood: I still haven't read this one myself (I know, I know, the shame!) but I swear I'm going to get to it soon and I think a book like this one would be the ideal story to get my niece thinking about feminism when she's a bit older.

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor: Another sci-fi story that discusses race relations and the validity of cultures both familiar and alien (hurr hurr) to us. As my niece will sadly be growing up in post-Brexit Britain, I hope she reads lots and lots of stories about why it's important not to dismiss another culture simply because it's different to her own.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: As much as I got sick of the genre, YA dystopian fiction is such a good starting point into science fiction, at least one strand of science fiction, especially for people like myself and my niece who aren't huge sci-fi people. Katniss Everdeen is one of the fiercest heroines around; my niece will be able to learn a lot from her, I think.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver: On the other end of the scale is a quieter dystopian tale, but an equally powerful one. One of the things I loved most about this book is that the heroine, Lena, is more traditionally feminine than a lot of the YA dystopian heroines out there, and unfortunately I think a lot of heroines were distanced from traditionally feminine things because how can a girl possibly be feminine and kick-ass? Thankfully there are different ways to be 'kick-ass' and Lena and Katniss are both prime examples of that.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer: I think this could be a particularly good starting point for my niece when she's old enough to start reading YA. I love this series, and the fact that all of the books in the series are retellings of fairy tales means that they're accessible for readers who might be familiar with the fairy tales but find sci-fi a little intimidating. It worked for me! (Also can I take the moment to have a mini rant and say that it really annoys me when I see this series being described as a dystopian series - not every YA sci-fi book is dystopian!)

Blood Red Road by Moira Young: More post-apocalyptic than dystopian, this book is just so much fun and yet another book with a very interesting heroine; Saba's even fiercer than Katniss, I think, and I hope it would show my niece just how fun and versatile this genre is.

Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson and Various Artists: Because let's face it, if my niece thinks Star Wars is for boys she probably thinks that about Marvel, too. Who better than Ms. Marvel herself to show her otherwise?

Which books made your list this week?

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 | Unique, just like everyone else

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 Of The Most Unique Books I've Read', which is a topic with a whole lot o' scope. How do we judge what's unique when every single one of us reads different books and even reads the same books in a different way? But there's no need for me to get all philosophical.

Here are ten of the most unique books I've read, all for different reasons, and if you haven't read them yourself I recommend them! Or at least most of them...

Holes by Louis Sachar: I was lucky enough to read Holes in school, and when I was first told I was going to read it I wasn't impressed. It's essentially described as a story about boys digging holes but it turned out to be so much more than that and I have such fond memories of it now.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young: This one was a unique read for me because of the way it's written. Usually I find it hard to get into books written in dialect, but this book pulled me through it and I ended up loving it. I still haven't read the sequels because it turns out I'm rubbish at reading series, but I do still love this one.

Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: As always, I refuse to miss a chance to mention this book. I love witches and I love stories about witchcraft, but there are a lot of samey ones out there. Signal to Noise, however, is such a fresh witchcraft story; it's set in Mexico in the 1980s, where fifteen year old Meche learns to cast spells with her vinyl records. It's so good and you need to read it immediately.

The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig: I don't read many time travel books, but I think the way time travel happens in Heilig's debut is such an exciting, new way. The characters in The Girl From Everywhere don't find secret portals or build time machines, instead there are certain people who can sail to places on a map - but there's a catch, if they find a map to 17th century France then they'll travel to 17th century France. It's just so cool, and a really fun novel, too!

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli: My favourite book of 2017 so far, it's still gives me the warm fuzzies just thinking about it. The protagonist, Molly, is overweight, but something about this book is truly miraculous: the story isn't about Molly wanting or trying to lose weight. I know, it's astounding, isn't it? Read this if you haven't already, it'll make you feel better about the world.

Wise Children by Angela Carter: Sadly I'm not the biggest Carter fan, aside from The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, because her work is just a little too weird for my tastes - Wise Children is no exception. I had to read this during sixth form and it's just bizarre. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it yet, but any book that ends with a seventy-five woman sleeping with a one hundred year old man who she knows is either her uncle or her father is definitely unique in my book. And bloody weird.

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix: Sadly, this story about a haunted store rather than a haunted house turned out not to be as different as I was hoping, but the way it's been published is definitely unique. Horrorstör has been published to look and feel like a department store catalogue and I love it for that alone.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin: Probably the most unique high fantasy book I've read, which doesn't really say much because I haven't read much high fantasy since I was a teenager and have only started getting back into it in the past year. The way this book is written is unique, the characters are unique, the relationships are unique, the ways magic and science intersect are unique. It's a brilliant book and you should read it.

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson: I've yet to come across any other books in which the narrator is a nameless pornographer recovering from severe burns. That's pretty unique to me!

The Meat Tree by Gwyneth Lewis: This is a retelling of one of the stories in The Mabinogion. Now The Mabinogion is already weird in and of itself, and this sci-fi retelling took it to a whole other level that, to be honest, I didn't really enjoy. I haven't read anything else like it, though!

Which books made your list this week?

My Favourite Romantic Quotes from Fiction

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm a bit of a grump when it comes to Valentine's Day - I've always thought that if you love your significant other you should tell them every day of the year - but I can understand why it's a lovely day for a lot of couples, whether they've been together for years or they're going on their first date.

I'm ill, so I'll be spending today feeling sorry for myself and eating raspberry ripple ice cream out of the tub, but I figured I couldn't let Valentine's Day pass by without sharing with you some of my favourite declarations of love/quotes about love from fiction. There are only a few here, but they all fill me with the warm fuzzies.

I'm not the biggest fan of Wuthering Heights, mainly because I think Heathcliff is romanticised a ridiculous amount for someone who's actually a terrible human being. That being said Cathy isn't exactly a paragon of goodness herself. Regardless of how unhealthy their relationship is though, there's no denying that it's passionate, and there are some gorgeous passages throughout.

Some books don't deserve all the hype, but The Miniaturist most certainly does. It's one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read, and the above quote is one of many stunners.

I think we've all come to terms with the fact that I'll mention Signal to Noise whenever I can. This book means a lot to me, and so does this quote.

Ah, Saba and Jack. I love these two. Blood Red Road is so much fun to read, I still need to read the rest of the books in the trilogy, though; I've heard that the second and third books aren't quite as good as this one, which is why I've been putting them off.

There's a special place in my heart for Sabriel, and for Garth Nix who was the first fantasy author I came across in my late childhood/early teens who showed me female-led fantasy didn't have to revolve around romance. While there is romance in Sabriel it's a very minor part of the overall story, and it's lovely.

What are some of your favourite love related quotes from fiction?

Top Ten Tuesday | Unfinished Finished Series

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 Finished Series I Have YET To Finish', and I found this topic really, really difficult. I'm amazed I managed to make it to eight, because for a while I honestly thought I might have to settle for three.

I love a good series, don't get me wrong, but I was wary of them for the past few years. I was tired of the same structure to every trilogy I picked up, which is one of the main reasons I read so few YA series nowadays. I've read quite a few first books in series, but I didn't want to include series on my list that I knew I wasn't going to continue. I hated Legend and I wasn't all that impressed with Angelfall, so there was no way those two were going to make their way onto my list.

In terms of series, I have a lot more finished series that I haven't started yet, never mind finished, so I wasn't going to include them either. And then there are the series I love that are ongoing, such as the White Trash Zombie series and The Lunar Chronicles, as well as a lot of graphic novel series that I love.

So in the end I managed to scrape together eight, and here they are!

The Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy: I didn't start this series until I was in uni, and I thought it was fantastic. I speed through these books and they're so much fun; I love Derek Landy's sense of humour. Then uni got in the way, and for whatever reason I just didn't return to the series - I want to, though! I read the first six, I believe, but rather than start at book seven I think I may actually re-read those first six and read the series in its entirety from start to finish.

The Dust Lands trilogy by Moira Young: One of the few starts to a YA trilogy that I loved was Blood Red Road, and even though I own Rebel Heart and Raging Star I still haven't read them. Boo me!

The Joanna Stafford trilogy by Nancy Bilyeau: This historical crime trilogy came to an end this year, and I read the first book, The Crown, in February. I enjoyed it (and reviewed it here!) and I got my hands on a copy of the second book, The Chalice, I just haven't read it yet. I'm not sure when I'll complete the trilogy as I'm hoping for the release of an edition of the third book, The Tapestry, that will match the two I already own.

The His Fair Assassin trilogy by Robin LaFevers: I have NO IDEA why I still haven't finished this trilogy, it's kind of ridiculous. Maybe this is something I should get to this month, because I loved Grave Mercy and Dark Triumph.

The If I Stay duology by Gayle Forman: Maybe Where She Went is more of a companion novel than a sequel, but give me a break, I'm clutching at straws here. I really enjoyed If I Stay, it's probably one of my favourite contemporaries, so I'd like to read Where She Went soon.

The Healer trilogy by Maria V. Snyder: I didn't love Touch of Power, but I liked it enough to want to know what happens next.

The Khalifa Brothers duology by Salman Rushdie: I had to read Haroun and the Sea of Stories when I studied postmodernism during my first year of university, and I loved it. Now I just need to get my hands on a copy of Luka and the Fire of Life.

The Fruits Basket series by Natsuki Takaya: Love the manga and love the anime, I just haven't gotten around to finishing the manga yet!

Which books made your list?

Top Ten Tuesday | 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!

I'm travelling from South Wales to North England with work today, so I won't get around to leaving my own comments and replies until tomorrow - I promise I'm not just being rude!

I'm not a fan of setting myself TBRs, but I do love seasonal TBRs! This is the first time... ever, really, where I haven't had a free summer. I'm working now, I'm not in school or university anymore, so I don't know if I'll have plenty of time to read, but I'm hoping I will because I've actually found myself reading more since finishing uni.

Summer at Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan: With a title like that, how could I not put this book on my summer TBR? Colgan's books are so much fun, and I love a bit of light reading during the hot summer months.

Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier: If you've been following my blog for a while you'll know I fell in love with Daphne du Maurier last year when I read both Frenchman's Creek (reviewed here!) and Rebecca. I've been meaning to read Jamaica Inn for a while, and a story centered around smuggling on the Cornish coast sounds like a really fun summer read.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters: This book is set during the post-WWII summer in a decaying Georgian mansion. It sounds gloriously atmospheric, and I'm looking forward to crossing it off my TBR this summer.

Past Perfect by Leila Sales: As a history nut, I'm totally up for reading a story about a girl spending her summer working at a village dedicated to Colonial Reenactment.

Lumberjanes, Vol.1 by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis and Brooke Allen: A group of girls fighting monsters at summer camp? Yes please!

Ms. Marvel, Vol.3: Crushed by G. Willow Wilson, Takeshi Miyazawa, Mark Waid and Humberto Ramos: Due to be released in a week, I've already pre-ordered my copy of this. I can't wait to see what Kamala gets up to next!

Rebel Heart by Moira Young: I really, really need to continue with the Dust Lands trilogy, and with a post-apocalyptic desert for a setting I think this'll make for a pretty good read during the summer months. 

Raging Star by Moira Young: I'd like to finish this trilogy over the summer - it's been long enough since I started it!

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan: It's time to confess: I still haven't read this series. Much like Lumberjanes, though, Percy gets sent to summer camp, which sounds like an ideal setting for a summer read! I love Greek mythology, too, so it's about time I read this series.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray: I have another confession: I have yet to read anything by Libba Bray. I'm dying to read her Gemma Doyle trilogy and her Diviners series, but this book sounds like so much fun, too, and definitely a good read for summer!

Which books made your list?