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!

This week's theme is Top Ten Books On My Spring TBR, and this week I've split my list into fiction and non-fiction. There are lots of books I want to read, but right now these are the books I'm either most inclined toward or put me most in the mood for spring. My non-fiction selections certainly have a theme as March is Women's History Month (woohoo!) so I'm hoping to absorb all the women's history I can throughout spring and beyond.

The Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heilig: I have such fond memories of reading The Girl from Everywhere last spring that it only feels natural to pick up the sequel, which has been released very recently, this spring. I'm looking forward to seeing where Heilig takes this story!

The Witchfinder's Sister by Beth Underdown: To me, Matthew Hopkins is one of history's most wicked villains. He's also known as The Witchfinder General, and we have him to thank for the persecution of thousands of women across the UK and in the US. It's thanks to a book written by Hopkins that the Salem Witch Trials took place, such is his influence. This novel, another recent release, is about Hopkins' sister and I can't wait to read it; I think it'll be really interesting to read Hopkins through the eyes of a female relative.

Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth: Something about spring puts me in the mood for fairy tales, and Bitter Greens has been on my radar for a while. Recently I finally got a copy for my kindle and I keep thinking of picking it up so I think I'm going to read it soon; rather than the Brothers Grimm, I think Bitter Greens focuses more on the many women who told fairy tales before the Brothers Grimm collected them and subsequently took the credit for them.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson: Another thing spring puts me in the mood for is contemporary, and I've owned this novel for longer than I'd like to admit. Not only does it sound like a charming, very British book, but with the focus on the relationship between a white man and a Pakistani woman, a woman who isn't thought particularly highly of within her community, I think it's going to be a timely and important read, too.

Chocolat by Joanne Harris: I really like the film but I still haven't read the book, and frankly what better book is there to read over Easter?

Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly: I saw the film not so long ago and absolutely adored it, it's one of the best films I've seen in a long time, and now I can't wait to read the book and learn more about the African-American women who helped get man to the moon.

Heartthrobs: A History of Women and Desire by Carol Dyhouse: This is another recent release and a book that sounds super interesting to me. I've seen plenty of books and articles about the male gaze, particularly when I was at uni, but I don't think I've ever read anything about the way men are portrayed for women, and I think this will be a fascinating read given the worrying love some women have for men such as Heathcliff and Christian Grey.

She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth by Helen Castor: I love to watch documentaries and Helen Castor's are always fantastic, but I've yet to read any of her books. This one sounds brilliant and will hopefully fill some of the gap in my historical knowledge; my favourite era of history is the 16th century, particularly the reign of the Tudors, but my Medieval knowledge is lacking, so I'm hoping this book will teach me about some of the amazing women who paved the way for Elizabeth I.

Take Courage: Anne Brontë and the Art of Life by Samantha Ellis: I loved Samantha Ellis's memoir, How To Be a Heroine, and I've been looking forward to this book since I found out she was writing a book about Anne Brontë, who is my favourite of the three sisters. I'm looking forward to reading it!

Crown of Blood: The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey by Nicola Tallis: I've always had a soft spot for Lady Jane Grey ever since one of my primary school teachers introduced me to her story as the Nine Days Queen, but other than the basics I know very little about her. I know what happened to her and I know that was a very intelligent young woman, but I don't have a feel for her character in the same way I do her cousins, Mary I and Elizabeth I. I've heard very good things about this biography so far and I'm looking forward to getting to it soon.

What are you planning to read this spring?

Christmas Book Haul!

Merry Christmas!

I hope you're all having a wonderful day, and if you don't celebrate Christmas I wish you a very Merry Sunday all the same!

I've been treated to a bunch of lovely things today, but I thought I'd share with you the pile of shiny new history books I received this Christmas. I'm so excited to read all of them!

The Witches by Stacy Schiff

The Astronomer and the Witch by Ulinka Rublack

The Lives of Tudor Women by Elizabeth Norton

Crown of Blood by Nicola Tallis

Game of Queens by Sarah Gristwood

I'm especially pleased with this pile as #HistoryBooksByWomen was trending on Twitter earlier this month, and I love my women's history and my women historians. I can't wait to get stuck in!

Did Santa leave some books under your tree? Whatever you're doing today, I hope it's wonderful. Merry Christmas!

Top Ten Tuesday | All I Want for Christmas...

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 I Wouldn't Mind Santa Leaving Under My Tree'. Merry Christmas, everyone!

A Visitor's Companion to Tudor England by Suzannah Lipscomb: I'm a big fan of Suzannah Lipcomb's documentaries and what I love about the sound of this book is its interactivity. Lipscomb has compiled a list of places to visit which have a connection to the Tudors that are available to visit, and I think it'd be so much fun to explore Tudor Britain with a copy of this in my bag.

Red: A History of the Redhead by Jacky Colliss Harvey: I love books like this which look at something very particular and explore its history, and there's something really interesting about the history of people with red hair; Mary Magdalene and Lilith were often depicted as redheads in art, and having red hair was one of the signs that a woman was a witch according to the Malleus Maleficarum, one of the most evil books ever written. This sounds like a really interesting read and the cover's gorgeous!

The Good Immigrant ed. by Nikesh Shukla: I saw Nikesh Shukla speak at the London Book Fair this year - he made the news by sending a porkchop into space to promote his first novel - and he was fantastic. Given our current political climate, that I still can't quite believe is real, I think this is such an important book and I've heard fantastic things about it.

The Witches by Stacy Schiff: Perhaps you've noticed, but I'm fascinated by the history of witchcraft. Shocking, I know. As a British person I grew up learning an awful lot about the witch trials in Britain and Europe, but the Salem Witch Trials are probably the most well-known trials in the world. Yet I know absolutely nothing about the Salem Witch Trials. This book is essentially a history of the trials, one that was written fairly recently too, so I think it'll be a great introduction for me.

The Astronomer and the Witch by Ulinka Rublack: Yet more witches. This little book tells the story of Johannes Kepler, a famous astronomer, astrologer and mathematician, whose mother was accused of witchcraft. When it came to her trial it was Johannes himself who stepped up to defend her and I'd love to learn more about this moment in history.

Crane Pond by Richard Francis: The only novel on my list (I've got my eye on a lot of non-fiction this year) and one that could happily be read alongside one of the above books. Crane Pond is a novelisation of the story of one of the judges from the Salem Witch Trials, the only judge who later admitted that hanging those women had been a mistake. Colour me intrigued!

Crown of Blood: The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey by Nicola Tallis: Poor Lady Jane Grey. I've always had a soft spot for her and yet everything I know about her I've learned through documentaries where she's been given a brief mention or through her Wikipedia page, so I'd like to get to know her a bit better with this book.

Game of Queens: The Women Who Made Sixteenth-Century Europe by Sarah Gristwood: I love my women's history and I love my 16th century history and I love Europe, so this is ideal for me!

The Lives of Tudor Women by Elizabeth Norton: What I love about the sound of this book is that it looks at the lives of Tudor women across the spectrum, using four different Elizabeths to explore women's lives from the nobility to the peasantry. I'm a huge Tudor nerd so this sounds great to me.

Tale as Old as Time: The Art and Making of Beauty and the Beast by Charles Solomon: I'm 100% positive this isn't going to be under my Christmas tree because it's not longer in print and second hand sellers tend to sell it for about £250, but a girl can dream. Beauty and the Beast is my favourite film so I'd love to own this one day!

Which books made your list this week?