Top Ten Tuesday | Fictional Places I Would NOT Want to Live In

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 'Bookish Worlds I’d Never Want to Live In', which I found to be a really fun topic! So often when I love a story, particularly a fantastical one, I can find myself thinking 'I wish I'd gone to Hogwarts' or 'I wish I lived in The Shire', but I've never given too much thought to the places I really wouldn't want to live in.

For my list this week I've decided to stick with fictional places. I thought of mentioning The Book Thief because I would have hated to live in Nazi Germany, but in the end I felt like, for me, it was a little disrespectful to mention real places because some people really have had to live through that. Anyway, on with my list!

Panem from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: Let's just get this one out the way with because it's probably on most lists this week, right? Pretty much any dystopian novel has a setting I wouldn't want to live in, but Panem in particular I'd hate because if I'd been chosen to take part in the Games when I was younger I'd've been the first one to die.

Airstrip One from Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell: Carrying on with that dystopian theme, Nineteen Eighty-Four is one of the most depressing novels I've ever read and I would hate to live somewhere where the government was quite literally watching me all the time.

The town from The Lottery by Shirley Jackson: There's a reason why The Lottery is one of the most famous American short stories ever, and this story alone earns Jackson a place as one of the best horror writers in my opinion. I can't say much without giving anything away, although this story's so short I recommend you reading it asap, but trust me when I say I wouldn't want to live in that town and I guarantee you wouldn't want to live there either.

Neverland from Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie: Disney Neverland looks fun, but the Neverland in the book is just as creepy as everything else. I don't understand the whimsy around Peter Pan, it's so strange and unnerving, and even as a child I don't think Neverland would have appealed to me unless Robin Williams was there.

The Other World from Coraline by Neil Gaiman: Having everything I want in exchange for having buttons sewn into my eyes? Yeah, no, that's not happening.

Westeros from A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin: Admittedly I haven't read the books but I watch Game of Thrones and no amount of money could convince me to live there. It's so brutal and I wouldn't last five minutes.

Wonderland from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll: Unlike Peter Pan, I love Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and I've always been fascinated by it. Having said that, the world is just so bizarre that I think I'd go mad and, while I love stuff that's a bit weird, I think Wonderland would be just a bit too weird for me.

The Stillness from The Broken Earth by N.K. Jemisin: There's no way I'd want to live in a world where the earth decides it doesn't want you there every few years and has a little apocalypse to wipe a few million people off it.

Giant Country from The BFG by Roald Dahl: This is going to sound ridiculous, but I'm terrified of giants. I know they're not real but the idea of them scares the crap out of me so Giant Country is my idea of hell. I don't want to be anyone's dinner, thanks.

The Fifteen Realms from Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder: There's a plague spreading across this world killing thousands at a time and even the healers can't do anything about it. No thanks.

Which places made your list this week?

Top Ten Tuesday | Down in One

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 'Read In One Sitting' theme, so, shockingly, I'm going to talk about the books I read in one sitting. Because I lack imagination today.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling: This arrived during the weekend, a blissful day when I wasn't at school and had nothing to do, so I holed myself up on the sofa with snacks and started reading as soon as this book arrived and finished it that same day. I had to know what happened, and I had to know what happened before the internet ruined it for me.

Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant: This little horror novella is the perfect read for anyone who loves horror movies, particularly found footage movies like The Blair Witch Project or Trollhunter. I read this in an hour or two, so it's a great book to pick up if you're in the mood to start and finish something in the same day.

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli: My favourite book of 2017 so far, which I really wasn't expecting because I loved Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and I didn't see how this book could be any better. I was lucky enough to read it early thanks to NetGalley, and once I started it I couldn't stop and devoured it one evening after work.

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson: It's a very rare instance in which I don't read a graphic novel in one sitting, but I have such fond memories of this one because it took me on such an emotional rollercoaster. Like The Upside of Unrequited, I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did and it ended up giving me lots of feelings.

Malkin Child by Livi Michael: I read this little book in one sitting while I was studying for my MA, and was lucky enough to meet the author and get a signed copy. The Pendle Witch Trials are one of the most famous witch trials in Britain, most famous for the fact that it was the testimony of a nine year old girl who sent ten people, including her own mother, sister and brother, to the gallows. That little girl, Jennet Device, has been depicted as something of a cruel child ever since, and I enjoyed Livi Michael's more sympathetic view of her.

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood: Another one I read at uni, this time while doing my undergrad degree, and a book that also happened to be my very first (and so far only) Margaret Atwood read. I'm determined to read more of Atwood's work this year, but this was a brilliant introduction to her. If you're a fan of retellings I recommend picking this one up!

The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark: I think this book has to be read in one sitting to really feel the impact of it, and I recommend picking it up if you haven't already - I read it in January and loved it.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll: I'm sure I read this as a child, but I remember reading it one sitting during a five hour coach ride; I had to study it at university, so it was a lot of fun to revisit it as a student rather than only a reader and there was so much in it that passed me by as a little girl.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman: It's easy to read this book in one sitting, it's not long at all, but this is one of those rare instances in which I enjoyed the film adaptation more than the book itself.

Woman Who Brings the Rain by Eluned Gramich: This teeny memoir made the English-language non-fiction shortlist at last year's Wales Book of the Year and it ended up being the first book I read this year. I enjoyed it, but I'd love Eluned Gramich to write a longer book about her time in Japan.

Which books made your list this week?

Top Ten Tuesday | My Winter 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 a Thanksgiving freebie, so because I'm British and therefore don't celebrate Thanksgiving, and also just don't like the origin of the holiday (sorry America!), I'm going to talk about the books on my Winter TBR instead.

The majority of these are 2016 releases I want to read before the end of the year, along with a few seasonal reads!

The Muse by Jessie Burton: I read and loved Burton's debut, The Miniaturist (reviewed here!), last year, so it's pretty ridiculous that I haven't read this one yet. To be honest I just haven't been in the mood to pick it up yet, and I'm very much a mood reader, but I want to read it before the end of the year.

A Tyranny of Petticoats edited by Jessica Spotswood: I definitely should have read this anthology by now, especially as I love historical fiction about women which is what this collection is all about. I ended up DNFing the other YA anthology I tried this year so I'm hoping I like this one more.

The Tidal Zone by Sarah Moss: I've heard nothing but brilliant things about this book and this author, and for someone who doesn't usually like covers with people on I think there's something so striking about this one.

The Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffmann: A classic Christmas story I love but have never actually read, which is something I need to change!

The View from the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman: I was surprised by just how chunky this collection of Gaiman's non-fiction is when I bought a copy, but I think it'll be a really interesting collection to dip in and out of during the winter months.

The Butcher's Hook by Janet Ellis: I wasn't sure if I wanted to read this when it first came out, it sounds fairly bizarre, but I've seen so many good reviews that I couldn't resist picking up a copy for myself and I'd really like to read it this year.

The Winter Witch by Paula Brackston: I'm pretty sure this is the third year in a row this book has been on my Winter TBR. It's an ideal winter read so I need to get to it this winter.

Under a Pole Star by Stef Penney: I read Penney's debut, The Tenderness of Wolves (reviewed here!), back in January and while I didn't fall completely in love with it I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since finishing it. Under a Pole Star is another book with a wintery setting, something Penney wrote brilliantly in her debut novel, and I think it's going to be a brilliant book to read this winter.

What is Not Yours is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi: I have to be completely honest, the only reason I bought this is because it's a gorgeous book. I do love the sound of it, though! I read my first Oyeyemi novel this year and even though I sadly wasn't the biggest fan, I think I'll enjoy her style of writing much more in a story collection.

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry: I've started this one, and gotten about a quarter of a way through it, and while I've enjoyed what I've read it just hasn't grabbed me because I've been an absolutely rubbish reader this year. I want to finish it soon!

What did you talk about this week?

Top Ten Tuesday | Witch, Please

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 Halloween freebie, so I thought I'd share my favourite fictional witches with you!

Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling: We all know this girl was going to make my list. I love Luna and Ginny and Tonks and so many other HP ladies, too, but Hermione speaks to my inner nerd; she never plays dumb to impress anyone and she's a darn good witch.

Sabrina Spellman from Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996-2003): I grew up in the '90s and always watched this show when I came home from school. I loved Sabrina the Teenage Witch. It's so much fun - and funny! - and I spent a lot of time wishing I had a cat like Salem. What I loved most about Sabrina was that, despite all the magic, her struggles were still the usual struggles teenagers find themselves facing, from homework to bullying to boyfriends.

Mildred Hubble from The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy: Before Harry Potter, I read The Worst Witch. I can clearly remember being given some of the books for one of my birthdays from my Nana and, like Sabrina the Teenage Witch, I loved the TV series. Poor Mildred's rather hopeless, but you certainly can't fault the girl for trying! That's what I love about her; she makes a mistake, then she gets back up, dusts herself off, and tries again.

Winifred, Mary and Sarah Sanderson from Hocus Pocus (1993): I know these three are the villains but they're SO MUCH FUN. I adore Hocus Pocus, I watched it so many times when I was a child, and Bette Midler's rendition of 'I Put a Spell On You' will always be my favourite.

Sally and Gillian Owens from Practical Magic (1998): I know Practical Magic is also a book, but I'm afraid I'm only familiar with the film. The first time I watched it I didn't like it that much, but then I watched it again and ended up loving it. It's not the best film in the world - it's a little cheesy and, ultimately, very '90s - but what I love most about it is that the love at the centre of it all is the love between these two sisters, and to me that's what witchcraft should be about. Witchcraft is covens and sisterhood, by blood or not, and this film understands that.

Ursula from The Little Mermaid (1989): I know, another villain, but Ursula's just fabulous, and she's the only sea witch on the list! She has one of the best Disney villain songs in my opinion (though I think Be Prepared is my favourite) and, like the Sanderson sisters, she's so much fun. It's easy to like witches like them because we know they're going to be defeated, even though it's freaking terrifying that Ursula shrinks merpeople down when they can't pay up and then eats them. I considered putting Maleficent on this list purely because she's one of the few Disney villains who genuinely terrified me as a child, but while I think Sleeping Beauty is beautiful it's never been one of my favourite Disney movies; I'm a child of the '90s, so I love Ursula a little more.

Eglantine Price from Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971): Bedknobs and Broomsticks is one of the most underrated Disney films in my opinion, and it's also one of my favourites. Like Practical Magic this was a book first but I'm afraid I'm only familiar with the film starring the fantastic Angela Lansbury. Eglantine is almost an adult Mildred Hubble - she's constantly turning people into rabbits when she means to turn them into toads - the big difference is she's being taught by a magician who doesn't believe in magic, so he gets something of a shock when he discovers that when she casts his spells, they work. Honestly what isn't there to love about a witch who fights Nazis?

Liza Hempstock from The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman: Neil Gaiman's one of my favourite authors and The Graveyard Book has to be my favourite book of his (with American Gods a very close second) because of its characters. I adore Bod, I adore Silas, I adore Miss Lupescu and I adore Liza Hempstock - in fact she's quite possibly my favourite character in the book. Bod is taught to fear the unmarked grave just outside the cemetery, buried in unconsecrated ground, but it turns out to be the unmarked grave of a teenage girl executed for being a witch. The fact that all she wants is a gravestone breaks my heart a little and I love her.

Mary Newbury from Witch Child by Celia Rees: I had to include Mary on this list because Witch Child is the book that really got me into witches, not only in fiction but also in terms of European and North American history. 

Meche from Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: One of my favourite heroines from one of my favourite books. If you want to read about witchcraft that's a little different then you need to read Signal to Noise, because not only is it set (refreshingly) in Mexico, as opposed to all the British and American witch stories out there, but Meche learns to cast magic with her vinyl records. I just adore her.

What did you talk about this week?

Review | The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

by Neil Gaiman

My Rating: 

This is what he remembers, as he sits by the ocean at the end of the lane:

A dead man on the back seat of the car, and warm milk at the farmhouse; An ancient little girl, and an old woman who saw the moon being made; A beautiful housekeeper with a monstrous smile; And dark forces woken that were best left undisturbed.

They are memories hard to believe, waiting at the edges of things. The recollections of a man who thought he was lost but is now, perhaps, remembering a time when he was saved...

I've heard nothing but praise for The Ocean at the End of the Lane since its publication, but while I love Neil Gaiman's work I didn't get around to reading his latest novel until this year. I have to be in the right kind of mood for Gaiman's work, but Natalie @ A Sea Change and I have been taking part in our own version of the Book Buddy-A-Thon and this was the book she chose for me so I was glad of the excuse to cross it off my TBR.

For some reason I always find Gaiman's work difficult to review, but I like to try and review every book I read so here goes nothing!

The Ocean at the End of the Lane follows our nameless narrator as he returns home for his father's funeral and finds himself reminiscing about a peculiar time in his childhood that involved a suicidal lodger, a monster in a beautiful disguise and three witches who lived down the lane.

I've come away from The Ocean at the End of the Lane not quite sure how to feel about it. Like all of Gaiman's work it's beautifully written, so imaginative and wonderfully whimsical; it has a fairy tale quality to it, despite not being a fairy tale, as so much of Gaiman's work does, but having said that it didn't make me feel as much as I'd hoped it would.

I love whimsy. I grew up on fairy tales, Disney movies and classic films like The NeverEnding Story and Labyrinth, but I find some of Gaiman's work more focused on whimsy than substance. I feel like I'm not being fair saying that because I liked The Ocean at the End of the Lane a lot, and parts of it are just beautiful, but I came away from novels like The Graveyard Book and American Gods feeling a lot more and I like to come away feeling something.

Basically what I'm trying to say, not very eloquently, is that The Ocean at the End of the Lane isn't my favourite of Gaiman's novels, but it's still wonderful and I still recommend you check it out. If you've yet to read any Gaiman this would be a brilliant place to start!

This Week in Books | 15/06/16

This week I'm joining in with Lipsy @ Lipsyy Lost & Found to talk about the books I've been reading recently!

NOW: 2016 hasn't been a great reading year for me so far, I don't know why; I've been slumpy and uninspired for way too long and I've been waiting for something to come along and that will pull me out of my slump. I don't know if Soulless is going to do it, but one thing I do know is that so far it's a lot of fun. It's so tongue-in-cheek and wonderfully cheesy. I've been meaning to read some Gail Carriger for a very long time, so I'm glad I've finally made a start!

THEN: Last month I finally read Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane, and I'm still not 100% sure what I thought about it. As with all of Gaiman's work it was very well-written, it just didn't capture me like some of his other work has. Hopefully I'll be able to gather my thoughts into a review soon.

NEXT: Technically I've already started Longbow Girl, I read the first chapter last night on my kindle after buying it on a whim, but I'd like to try and finish Soulless first. Considering I currently live in Wales I've read very little set in Wales, and after enjoying The Girl From Everywhere earlier this year I'm eager to check out more time travel stories.

What are you reading?

This Week in Books | 11/05/16

This week I'm joining in with Lipsy @ Lipsyy Lost & Found to talk about the books I've been reading recently!

NOW: Right now I'm in the middle of Jo Walton's Among Others, which I've heard nothing but good things about and have been meaning to read for years. I'm enjoying it, but it's not quite what I expected - the main character was revealed to be older than I'd been reading her when I was already about a quarter of the way through the book so that was a bit jarring. I'm looking forward to seeing how the story progresses, though!

THEN: I decided to re-read The Goblin Emperor, which might very well be my favourite book. Period. I read it for the first time last year and adored it, and re-reading it reminded me how much I love it. If you haven't read this book yet I can't recommend it enough.

NEXT: The Ocean at the End of the Lane, like Among Others, is one of the books on my #BookBuddyAthon TBR. Neil Gaiman's one of my favourite authors but I still haven't read this, so I'm looking forward to finally sinking my teeth into it.

What are you reading?

#BookBuddyAthon TBR

The #BookBuddyAthon is a read-a-thon created on YouTube by Samantha @ Cold Tea and Crumbs and Elena @ Elena Reads Books. The official read-a-thon is running all this week, from the 7th-13th May. My lovely friend Natalie @ A Sea Change agreed to be my buddy - go and check out her blog if you haven't already, because it's wonderful - and we've decided to extend our read-a-thon to last throughout the month, purely because we'd like to read all of the books we'll be reading and there's no way we can do it all in 5 days; I work full time and Natalie's in the midst of a full time PhD, so we're both busy bees!

The #BookBuddyAthon challenges are:

1. Read a book with your buddy.
2. Read a book with your buddy's favourite colour on the cover.
3. Read a book that begins with your buddy's first initial.
4. Pick three books you want to read, and read the one your buddy picks for you.
5. Read a book you want to read.

Read a book with your buddy:

Natalie suggested we read Kirsty Logan's A Portable Shelter as we both own it and both have yet to read it, and I whole-heartedly agreed! It sounds like a lovely collection of stories, and because it's a collection I can dip in and out of it throughout the month which is ideal.

Read a book with your buddy's favourite colour on the cover:

Like me, Natalie's favourite colour has a tendency to waver, but for this challenge she chose the colour blue so I decided to go with The Strange & Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, which I've been meaning to get to for a while now. It's a beautiful book, so I hope I enjoy the inside as much as the outside!

Read a book that begins with your buddy's first initial:

For an 'N' book I decided to go with The Night Watch, which is the last of Sarah Waters' published novels I have yet to read. It's the one book I hear the most mixed reviews from, which is why I haven't gotten to it yet, but Waters is one of my favourite authors and I'd really like to get to it soon.

Pick three books you want to read, and read the one your buddy picks for you:

I picked The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. As Natalie is also a big Gaiman fan, like myself, she picked The Ocean at the End of the Lane which I'm very excited to read; Gaiman is another favourite author of mine.

Read a book you want to read:

I've been meaning to read Jo Walton's Among Others for years. I've yet to hear a bad thing about it, and considering it won the Hugo and Nebula Awards when it was published it must be pretty darn special. I think that's why I haven't got to it yet, because I've been worried I won't like it as much as I'm hoping I will - there's only one way to find out, though!

Are you taking part in the #BookBuddyAthon? What are you hoping to read this month?

Top Ten Tuesday | When I Grow Up

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 '' - I'm so excited to share my list with you and to see other people's lists, because I think this is such a fun topic and one that's going to give a lot of insight into the kind of books other book bloggers were reading during their childhood.

Just as a side note, I haven't included any characters from Harry Potter in this list because they'd probably take up my entire list. Also, with the main trio at least, we do get a glimpse of them as adults in the epilogue, and I'm off to see them as adults in the new play in October!

Matilda Wormwood from Matilda by Roald Dahl: As much as I tend to think of Matilda as forever a child, forever living comfortably with Miss Honey in their lovely house, I'd love to see the kind of woman Matilda would grow into. Very intelligent, of course - I get the feeling that Matilda would be the kind of girl who goes to university and never leaves, and once she has her English Literature PhD under her belt I'm sure she'd take the academic world by storm.

Adèle Varens from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë: Considering there's a possibility that Adèle is Rochester's daughter, and that she and Jane get along so well, I feel like she gets forgotten too often by Jane Eyre fans - I'm guilty of forgetting her myself! Before she passed away Angela Carter had plans to write a novel about Adèle in which she slept with Rochester, who did indeed turn out to be her father, and then ran away to France to find her mother and become a dancer. Or something like that. That would have been interesting, but the amount of daughters who sleep with their fathers in Angela Carter's stories kind of freaks me out...

Mary Lennox from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden is one of my favourite classics, and Mary's one of my favourite heroines. I've always had a soft spot for her. I like to think she and Colin had a very happy childhood with Colin's father, and when she grew up I hope Mary became a botanist or something of that ilk. She has to do something with gardens, and Mary enjoys getting her hands dirty far too much to do nothing but arrange bouquets.

Alice from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll: I find it very hard to imagine Alice as anything but a perpetual child, but I imagine adult Alice would be a fascinating Victorian lady. I would hope she'd use her dreams - if they were dreams - to write bizarrely fun and fantastical stories for children, and indulge in a little nonsense.

Susan Pevensie from The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis: I hate the way C.S. Lewis treats Susan, so I'd love to see her as a fully grown adult just to make sure she's doing okay. She's 21 years old by the time of The Last Battle, which means the majority of her 20s would take place in the '50s and her 30s in the '60s. I'd love to see her at political rallies fighting for birth control and racial equality. At least that's what she's doing in my head.

Sophie from the Sophie series by Dick King-Smith: Dick King-Smith is one of my favourite childhood authors. I was obsessed with animals when I was little - I wanted to be a vet for the longest time - so I devoured animal books of every kind, including Dick King-Smith's Sophie series. Sophie is a little girl who wants to be a farmer when she grows up, and I'd love to see if she achieved that dream.

Ellie Allard from the Girls series by Jacqueline Wilson: Jacqueline Wilson is another childhood favourite. In fact as a child she was my favourite author for a very long time; I read and loved everything she wrote. Her Girls series in particular has always been very special to me, because these were the first books I read during my pre-teens where I really understood the main character, Ellie. Ellie struggles a lot with self-esteem, especially with her appearance and her weight, and those were issues I struggled with (and still do) a lot during my teens. I'd love to see where Ellie ended up. Hopefully she's a world famous artist by now.

Sophie from The BFG by Roald Dahl: I'd love to know what Sophie grows up to be when she has The BFG for a guardian. Does she give children pleasant dreams with him, or does she set up her own giant-hunting agency for all those other horrible giants out there? Perhaps she even sets up a (very big) safe house for other giants like The BFG, and becomes the ambassador for human and giant relations. Whatever adulthood has in store for her, I'm sure it's not dull.

Nobody Owens from The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman: The Graveyard Book is probably my favourite of Neil Gaiman's novels, with American Gods coming in at a very close second, and I'd love to know what adulthood brings Bod. If you haven't read The Graveyard Book yet then I highly recommend you do - it's so good!

Neil and Emily Parker from the Puppy Patrol series by Jenny Dale: The Puppy Patrol series was another series I was obsessed with as a little girl; I used to own so many of these books, which centred around the adventures of the Parker family, particularly brother and sister Neil and Emily, who owned a kennels. Each book introduced a new dog and a new adventure, and I'd love to know if Neil and Emily stayed in the family business or did something entirely different.

Who made your list this week?

2016 Releases I've Pre-Ordered: The Updated Version

Earlier this year I wrote a post about some of the 2016 releases I've pre-ordered, and today I'm back with an updated version because some of the books I mentioned last time have since been released and there are some books that have since become available to pre-order!

The Tale of Tales by Giambattista Basile (Penguin Classics, April): Before the Brothers Grimm, before Charles Perrault, before Hans Christian Andersen, there was Giambattista Basile, a seventeenth-century poet from Naples, Italy, whom the Grimms credit with recording the first national collection of fairy tales. The Tale of Tales opens with Princess Zoza, unable to laugh no matter how funny the joke. Her father, the king, attempts to make her smile; instead he leaves her cursed, whereupon the prince she is destined to marry is snatched up by another woman. To expose this impostor and win back her rightful husband, Zoza contrives a storytelling extravaganza: fifty fairy tales to be told by ten sharp-tongued women (including Zoza in disguise) over five days.

Summer Days, Summer Nights ed. by Stephanie Perkins (Pan MacMillan, June): Maybe it's the long, lazy days, or maybe it's the heat making everyone a little bit crazy. Whatever the reason, summer is the perfect time for love to bloom. Summer Days, Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories, written by twelve bestselling young adult writers and edited by the international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins, will have you dreaming of sunset strolls by the lake. So set out your beach chair and grab your sunglasses. You have twelve reasons this summer to soak up the sun and fall in love.

Unicorn Tracks by Julia Ember (Harmony Ink Press, April): After a savage attack drives her from her home, sixteen-year-old Mnemba finds a place in her cousin Tumelo’s successful safari business, where she quickly excels as a guide. Surrounding herself with nature and the mystical animals inhabiting the savannah not only allows Mnemba’s tracking skills to shine, it helps her to hide from the terrible memories that haunt her. Mnemba is employed to guide Mr. Harving and his daughter, Kara, through the wilderness as they study unicorns. The young women are drawn to each other, despite that fact that Kara is betrothed. During their research, they discover a conspiracy by a group of poachers to capture the Unicorns and exploit their supernatural strength to build a railway. Together, they must find a way to protect the creatures Kara adores while resisting the love they know they can never indulge.

Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst (Balzer + Bray, November): Betrothed since childhood to the prince of Mynaria, Princess Dennaleia has always known what her future holds. Her marriage will seal the alliance between Mynaria and her homeland, protecting her people from other hostile lands. But Denna has a secret. She possesses an Affinity for fire—a dangerous gift for the future queen of a kingdom where magic is forbidden. Now, Denna must learn the ways of her new home while trying to hide her growing magic. To make matters worse, she must learn to ride Mynaria’s formidable warhorses before her coronation—and her teacher is the person who intimidates her most, the prickly and unconventional Princess Amaranthine (called Mare), sister of her betrothed. When a shocking assassination leaves the kingdom reeling, Mare and Denna reluctantly join forces to search for the culprit. As the two work together, each discovers there’s more to the other than she thought. Mare is surprised by Denna’s intelligence and bravery, while Denna is drawn to Mare’s independent streak. Soon their friendship is threatening to blossom into something more. But with dangerous conflict brewing that makes the alliance more important than ever, acting on their feelings could be deadly. Forced to choose between their duty and their hearts, Mare and Denna must find a way to save their kingdoms—and each other.

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler (Knopf Doubleday, June): Kate Battista feels stuck. How did she end up running house and home for her eccentric scientist father and uppity, pretty younger sister Bunny? Plus, she’s always in trouble at work – her pre-school charges adore her, but their parents don’t always appreciate her unusual opinions and forthright manner. Dr. Battista has other problems. After years out in the academic wilderness, he is on the verge of a breakthrough. His research could help millions. There’s only one problem: his brilliant young lab assistant, Pyotr, is about to be deported. And without Pyotr, all would be lost. When Dr. Battista cooks up an outrageous plan that will enable Pyotr to stay in the country, he’s relying – as usual – on Kate to help him. Kate is furious: this time he’s really asking too much. But will she be able to resist the two men’s touchingly ludicrous campaign to bring her around?

As I Descended by Robin Talley (HarperTeen, September): Maria Lyon and Lily Boiten are their school’s ultimate power couple—even if no one knows it but them. Only one thing stands between them and their perfect future: campus superstar Delilah Dufrey. Golden child Delilah is a legend at the exclusive Acheron Academy, and the presumptive winner of the distinguished Cawdor Kingsley Prize. She runs the school, and if she chose, she could blow up Maria and Lily’s whole world with a pointed look, or a carefully placed word. But what Delilah doesn’t know is that Lily and Maria are willing to do anything—absolutely anything—to make their dreams come true. And the first step is unseating Delilah for the Kingsley Prize. The full scholarship, awarded to Maria, will lock in her attendance at Stanford―and four more years in a shared dorm room with Lily. Maria and Lily will stop at nothing to ensure their victory—including harnessing the dark power long rumored to be present on the former plantation that houses their school. But when feuds turn to fatalities, and madness begins to blur the distinction between what’s real and what is imagined, the girls must decide where they draw the line.

The Muse by Jessie Burton (Picador, June): England, 1967. Odelle Bastien is a Caribbean émigré trying to make her way in London. When she starts working at the prestigious Skelton Art Gallery, she discovers a painting rumored to be the work of Isaac Robles, a young artist of immense talent and vision whose mysterious death has confounded the art world for decades. The excitement over the painting is matched by the intrigue around the conflicting stories of its discovery. Drawn into a complex web of secrets and deceptions, Odelle does not know what to believe or who she can trust, including her mesmerizing colleague, Marjorie Quick. Spain, 1937. Olive Schloss, the daughter of a Viennese Jewish art dealer and English heiress, follows her parents to Arazuelo, a poor, restless village on the southern coast. She grows close to Teresa, a young housekeeper, and her half-brother Isaac Robles, an idealistic and ambitious painter newly returned from the Barcelona salons. A dilettante buoyed by the revolutionary fervor that will soon erupt into civil war, Isaac dreams of being a painter as famous as his countryman, Picasso. Raised in poverty, these illegitimate children of the local landowner revel in exploiting this wealthy Anglo-Austrian family. Insinuating themselves into the Schloss’s lives, Teresa and Isaac help Olive conceal her artistic talents with devastating consequences that will echo into the decades to come.

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Thomas Dunne Books, October): Welcome to Mexico City, an oasis in a sea of vampires. Here in the city, heavily policed to keep the creatures of the night at bay, Domingo is another trash-picking street kid, just hoping to make enough to survive. Then he meets Atl, the descendant of Aztec blood drinkers. Domingo is smitten. He clings to her like a barnacle until Atl relents and decides to let him stick around. But Atl's problems, Nick and Rodrigo, have come to find her. When they start to raise the body count in the city, it attracts the attention of police officers, local crime bosses, and the vampire community. Atl has to get out before Mexico City is upended, and her with it.

The Geek Feminist Revolution by Kameron Hurley (Tor, May): A powerful collection of essays on feminism, geek culture, and a writer’s journey, from one of the most important new voices in genre. The Geek Feminist Revolution is a collection of essays by double Hugo Award-winning essayist and science fiction and fantasy novelist Kameron Hurley. The book collects dozens of Hurley’s essays on feminism, geek culture, and her experiences and insights as a genre writer, including “We Have Always Fought,” which won the 2014 Hugo for Best Related Work. The Geek Feminist Revolution will also feature several entirely new essays written specifically for this volume. Unapologetically outspoken, Hurley has contributed essays to The Atlantic, Locus, Tor.com, and elsewhere on the rise of women in genre, her passion for SF/F, and the diversification of publishing.

The View From the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman (Headline, May): An inquisitive observer, thoughtful commentator, and assiduous craftsman, Neil Gaiman has long been celebrated for the sharp intellect and startling imagination that informs his bestselling fiction. Now, The View from the Cheap Seats brings together for the first time ever more than sixty pieces of his outstanding nonfiction. Analytical yet playful, erudite yet accessible, this cornucopia explores a broad range of interests and topics, including (but not limited to): authors past and present; music; storytelling; comics; bookshops; travel; fairy tales; America; inspiration; libraries; ghosts; and the title piece, at turns touching and self-deprecating, which recounts the author’s experiences at the 2010 Academy Awards in Hollywood.  Insightful, incisive, witty, and wise, The View from the Cheap Seats explores the issues and subjects that matter most to Neil Gaiman—offering a glimpse into the head and heart of one of the most acclaimed, beloved, and influential artists of our time.

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (Tor, April): Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else. But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children. Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world. But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter. No matter the cost.

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton, October): Lovelace was once merely a ship's artificial intelligence. When she wakes up in an new body, following a total system shut-down and reboot, she has no memory of what came before. As Lovelace learns to negotiate the universe and discover who she is, she makes friends with Pepper, an excitable engineer, who's determined to help her learn and grow. Together, Pepper and Lovey will discover that no matter how vast space is, two people can fill it together.

Paper Girls, Vol.1 by Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang and Matthew Wilson (Image Comics, March): In the early hours after Halloween of 1988, four 12-year-old newspaper delivery girls uncover the most important story of all time. Suburban drama and otherworldly mysteries collide in this smash-hit series about nostalgia, first jobs, and the last days of childhood.

Rat Queens, Vol.3: Demons by Kurtis J. Wiebe, Tess Fowler and Tamra Bonvillain (Image Comics, April): Having survived the end of the world, the Queens follow Hannah back to where it all began: Mage University. A long perilous journey awaits the Rat Queens as they attempt to find out what happened to Hannah's father while battling their own demons.

American Vampire, Vol.8 by Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque (DC Comics, July): Vampires in space? It's 1965. Pearl and Skinner escaped The Gray Trader with more questions than answers, and their search for clues leads them to ... NASA! You've never seen vampires like this before, as the second major story arc of American Vampire: Second Cycle begins!

Have you pre-ordered any books this year? Which books are you most looking forward to in 2016?