Top Ten Tuesday | Gimme More

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 Debut Authors Who Have Me Looking Forward To Their Sophomore Novel'. Luckily for me I recently went on a bit of a debut binge, and it's made me want to read more debuts in future - I don't think I'm particularly good at reading debuts, especially not reading debuts the year that they're published, mainly because half the time I don't realise I'm reading a debut unless it mentions it somewhere in the blurb. This year, though, I've been trying to check out more books by the same author because I find it frustrating when people ask me who my favourite authors are and I realise just how many authors I've only read one book by; I feel unable to call an author a favourite if I've only read one of their books.

Anyway, these are the ten authors whose debut novels I thoroughly enjoyed, and whose work I'll be keeping an eye out for in future - some more than others!

Hannah Kent: Hannah Kent's debut novel, Burial Rites, was the first book I read this year and it broke me. It's a beautifully written fictonalised account of the last days of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, the last woman to be executed in Iceland. I'm really looking forward to seeing what she writes next! Read my review of Burial Rites here.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia: You guys already know how much I love Silvia Moreno-Garcia's debut novel, Signal to Noise. She's already published two short story collections and edited plenty of others, and recently she announced she'll be releasing two more standalone novels! I believe Young Blood will be her next novel, also set in Mexico City and featuring a homeless teen and drug lord vampires (give it to me now), and she's also writing a historical fantasy novel titled Proper People. I want them both. Also you should all drop everything you're doing and read Signal to Noise right now. Check out my review here.

Anne Brontë: I don't really know if Anne Brontë counts on account of her not being a living author but, hey, this is my list. I love Agnes Grey, and though I've read bits of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall for school and whatnot in the past, I've never sat down and read the whole thing from start to finish. Considering I'm taking part in The Women's Classic Literature Event, I'm planning to read it soon!

Nicola Yoon: I didn't love Everything, Everything, but I did enjoy it and I'll be keeping my eye on Nicola Yoon to see what she releases next; she's an official member of the We Need Diverse Books campaign, so she's definitely an author I want to keep on my radar! Read my review of Everything, Everything here.

Mary Shelley: Another classic lady. Frankenstein is one of my favourite classics - it's such a fantastic book - and I've been meaning to read more of Shelley's work ever since.

Andrew Davidson: I feel as though Andrew Davidson has vanished off the face of the earth. I adored his debut novel, The Gargoyle, it's a stunning book, but it was published in 2008 and since then I haven't heard of him bringing out anything else. I hope he does, though!

Laura Konrad: Laura is a friend of mine and I was very lucky to receive a review copy of her gritty, post-apocalyptic debut Lorelai, You'll Never Die, which I reviewed here. I've known Laura for a few years now, she's an online writing friend, and I've had the pleasure of seeing her blossom as a fantastic writer of sci-fi. She excels at stories in outer space and post-apocalyptic fiction, and I can't wait to see what she publishes next!

Robin Talley: My entire MA was based around the idea of the representation of minorities in history and how historical fiction can give a voice back to the people who were originally deprived of one, so I love stories like Lies We Tell Ourselves that look at history through the eyes of someone who isn't white and straight. I think Robin Talley is a fantastic voice in YA today, and her third novel, As I Descended, is one of my most anticipated releases of next year! This is kind of cheating because I've already read her second novel, What We Left Behind, but sadly I wasn't a big fan of it, so I'm hoping I enjoy As I Descended a lot more. Check out my reviews of Lies We Tell Ourselves and What We Left Behind here and here!

Becky Albertalli: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda was such a pleasant surprise. I really enjoyed it, and flew through it, and I'll definitely be checking out whatever Becky Albertalli releases next. Check out my review of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda here!

Jessie Burton: I finally read Jessie Burton's debut, The Miniaturist, a couple of months ago and thought it was absolutely stunning - you can check out my review here! I think her style of writing is gorgeous, and I believe she's currently working on her second novel set during the Spanish Civil War.

Who made your list this week?

Top Ten Tuesday | It Takes Two

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 Author Duos You'd LOVE to See Write a Book Together'. I had a lot of fun with this topic!

G. Willow Wilson & Fiona Staples: G. Willow Wilson is the writer behind the Ms. Marvel series, and Fiona Staples is the artist behind Saga. Try and tell me the two of them wouldn't produce something cool together!

Jenny Han & Jenny Colgan: Both of these ladies write contemporary, but while Jenny Han writes YA, Jenny Colgan writes adult fiction. I think the two of them would write something very cute together, because not only do they both like to write cute stories but they've also both dabbled in SFF, as proven by Jenny Han's 'Polaris is Where You'll Find Me' in My True Love Gave to Me (reviewed here!) and Jenny Colgan's Resistance is Futile. I'd love to see the two of them write a super cute contemporary that also just happens to have aliens in it.

Samantha Ellis & Jessica Swale: These two ladies are playwrights, and considering Samantha Ellis is the author of the fantastic memoir How To Be a Heroine (reviewed here!) and Jessica Swale wrote the plays Blue Stockings and Nell Gwynn I think they might write something pretty amazing together.

Neil Gaiman & Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Neil Gaiman's one of my favourite fantasy writers and Silvia Moreno-Garcia's debut novel Signal to Noise (reviewed here!) is one of my favourite reads of 2015, if not ever. The two of them also write a lot of short stories, and I think together they could make something truly magical.

Seanan McGuire & Tanya Huff: BOW TO THE QUEENS. These two authors are two of the best authors to turn to if you're looking for female-led SFF. Seanan McGuire (also known as Mira Grant, and therefore the author of my beloved Feed) writes fantastic heroines, as does the brilliant Tanya Huff. Both of them have tried their hand at urban fantasy: Seanan is the author of the October Daye series and Tanya is the author of the Vicki Nelson series, and nothing would make me happier than for the two of them to write something in which these two ladies join forces and kick butt.

Nancy Bilyeau & C.J. Sansom: Nancy Bilyeau is the author of the Joanna Stafford trilogy and C.J. Sansom is the author of the Matthew Shardlake series; both Tudor-era crime series. I think the two of them could combine their talents quite nicely! Sansom could provide his background in law and Bilyeau could provide her ability to write women who have agency.

David Levithan & Robin Talley: These two are both YA authors who both specialise in YA LBGT* fiction, so I think the two of them could write something pretty cool together. I'd read it!

Derek Landy & Diana Rowland: These two are two of the funniest authors on my shelves. They both have rather dark senses of humour, judging by the stories they write, and together I think the two of them could write something both creepy and hilarious.

Donna Thorland & Naomi Novik: Donna Thorland is the author of several books, with leading ladies, set during the American Revolutionary War and is also one of the writers for the TV show, Salem. Naomi Novik is the author of the incredibly popular Temeraire series, set during the Napoleonic Wars with added dragons, and the more recent Uprooted. I think if the two of them mashed their brains together they could write an epic historical fantasy series with a brilliant leading lady and some kind of mythical beast for a companion. Maybe a unicorn this time. Who doesn't love unicorns? No one, that's who.

Nicola Yoon & Gurinder Chadha: Nicola Yoon is one of the official team members of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks Campaign and also the author of Everything, Everything (reviewed here). Gurinder Chadha is probably most famous for writing, producing and directing the 2002 film, Bend It Like Beckham, which is a film you should totally watch if you haven't already. I think considering Nicola Yoon knows what it's like to be a poc in America and Gurinder Chadha knows what it's like to be a poc in Britain, I'd love to see the two of them write a book told in letters or emails between two penfriends, one in America and one in Britain, who both also happen to be poc. I imagine there's a lot of similar experiences, but there'd be quite a few different ones too in terms of the little differences in culture between America and Britain.

Which authors made your list this week?

My 2015 Reading Goals: An Update

At the end of last year I set myself an incredibly ambitious set of reading goals for 2015, and I want to see how I've done so far!

Goal No.1: Complete 10 series

Nope. Not even close. In fact I don't think I've finished any...

Goal No.2: The Retelling Challenge

So this challenge basically meant that after I signed up for the challenge, I wanted to make sure I took part, and I have! I haven't read a huge amount of retellings - I think sometimes they can get a little samey if you read too many - but I have read White Ravens by Owen Sheers, The Meat Tree by Gwyneth Lewis, Fairest by Marissa Meyer, The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman, Fables, Vol.1: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham and Various Artists and Uprooted by Naomi Novik. So right now that puts me in the Magic Mirror category - hooray!

Goal No.3: Read 5 Classics

I'VE COMPLETED THIS ONE! I'm so pleased I have, too, because I don't think I read any classics at all last year. Looking at the books I've read this year I've actually read more than 5, so I'm really chuffed!

I've read: A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf, The Great God Pan and Other Stories by Arthur Machen, The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley and The Poor Clare by Elizabeth Gaskell. Almost double what I wanted!

Goal No.4: Read At Least 3 2015 Debuts

Another one I've completed, hooray! I didn't read any 2014 debuts last year, and barely any books that weren't actually published in 2014, and that was something I really wanted to change this year. So far I've read Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (which everyone should read immediately), Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon, Lorelai, You'll Never Die by Laura Konrad and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli.

Goal No.5: Read More Short Story Collections

I've certainly bought plenty of short story collections, but I need to get better at reading them. I've read Through the Woods by Emily Carroll and American Vampire, Vol.6 by Various Artists which are both technically collections of short stories, so I guess they count!

Goal No.6: Read More Poetry Collections

I haven't read a bunch but, thanks to work, I've read Judas by Damian Walford Davies and The Art of Falling by Kim Moore! I've bought a few other collections, too, so there's still plenty of poetry I'd like to read.

Goal No.7: Read More Non-Fiction

This I have done, and I've been loving it! So far I've read A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf, Jane Eyre's Sisters: How Women Live and Write the Heroine's Story by Jody Gentian Bower, How To Be a Heroine by Samantha Ellis, Beyond the Pale: Folklore, Family and the Mystery of our Hidden Genes by Emily Urquhart and We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Goal No.8: Reread Harry Potter

I still haven't managed this! I love Harry Potter, I love it so much, but I own so many books that I haven't read once I feel like I'm not allowed to reread this series, which I know is silly. I will reread them at some point. I will.

So that's my reading progress so far this year! Apart from the laughable attempt to finish ten series, particularly stupid for someone like me who is a terrible finisher, I think I'm doing pretty well. I'm happy anyway - I've done better than I thought!

How is your reading progress? Did you set yourself any goals?

Monthly Wrap-Up | July 2015 | When in Rome...

I got up to quite a bit last month, so let's get on with it!

The Goblin Emperor

by Katherine Addison

Everything, Everything

by Nicola Yoon

Northanger Abbey

by Jane Austen

Skim

by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki

White Trash Zombie Apocalypse

by Diana Rowland

July was a bit of a slower reading month for me as there was almost an entire week where I didn't read at all, but I still think it was a pretty decent month. I know there are so many other bloggers who usually read five books in a week, not a month, but I stopped making myself feel bad for 'not reading enough' a long time ago. All I care about is that I enjoy what I read, and that reading doesn't become a chore.

I enjoyed pretty much everything I read this month - especially The Goblin Emperor, which has quickly become one of my favourite books of all time - and I'm looking forward to reading more fantasy in August!

Darkhaven

by A.F.E. Smith

To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee

The Goblin Emperor

by Katherine Addison

Everything, Everything

by Nicola Yoon

Season 2 of Penny Dreadful came to an end in July, and what an ending it was! I'm so glad it's been renewed for a third season, because if that had been the end I would have been pretty devastated. Sadly I did find some aspects of this season a little problematic, primarily with the characters they chose to kill off, but I did enjoy the show as a whole and it's certainly not as terrible as some shows out there (*cough*Game of Thrones*cough*). I'm looking forward to seeing all these characters again, especially my beloved Ethan.

Look at this nerd

Hannibal is now back in full swing and it's so good! I'll be honest Season 3 did start out quite slow, but it was all building up to probably my favourite episode to date, S03E07. It's just fantastic and I really hope someone picks it up because I can't bear the thought of it being cancelled. How can Hannibal, an amazing show, be cancelled while every other mediocre show out there gets to keep returning with the same crappy storylines? It's not right, I tells ya!

And after I read Northanger Abbey I decided to watch the 2007 adaptation, too. I think it was a pretty decent adaptation, although I think they could have made General Tilney far more intimidating than they did. Felicity Jones was a lovely Catherine, though.

Strong hat game this month

Why I Love The Order of the Phoenix

Sexuality in Harry Potter

Upcoming Hiatus

I went to Rome!

My friend Elena and I decided to go to Rome for a long weekend, and it was fantastic! I've been wanting to go to Italy for years, and now that I'm back in the UK I've really missed being there. The people were so helpful and friendly, and the architecture was stunning and the food. The food might be what I miss most. Especially the ice cream.

Vanilla, lemon and apple ice cream

We flew to Rome on a Thursday afternoon which meant we got Thursday evening in Rome to have some dinner - I had a really, really yummy carbonara - and get acquainted with the city. We stayed at the beautiful Hotel Medici (called that because the building used to be owned by the Medici family!) which had the friendliest, most helpful staff and both of us fell in love with the place pretty quickly. Everywhere we went there was the most beautiful architecture, it really is an absolutely stunning city.

Me! This gorgeous fountain was just around the corner from our hotel.

We had three full days in Rome - Friday, Saturday and Sunday - and we were out and about on all three days. On Friday we went to the Vatican, which was amazing. We joined this tour group led by a lady who flitted from English to Italian to French to German like it was nothing, and the woman was an encyclopaedia of Vatican knowledge.

The Vatican and a pretty fountain. The sky was so blue.

We saw the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Basilica while we were there too, and I still can't quite believe that I've seen them. The Sistine Chapel is just... unreal. You're not allowed to take pictures in there (a lot of people still did, which was annoying) and I liked that; you can't do it justice in a picture, you must see it for yourself. It's gorgeous.

We jumped onto a tour bus, too, to try and get an idea of where everything was. It's strange how small Rome seems when you're in a taxi or on a bus, nothing seems too far away from anything else, but when you try walking it... We got distracted by a lot of pretty side streets.

Elena and I on the bus. Such tourists.

On the Friday evening we found the Spanish Steps and had dinner in a lovely restaurant where I had the most amazing pizza. Seriously, it was so yummy. I miss Italian food so much.

World's tastiest pizza.

Me on the Spanish Steps

On Saturday we visited the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, which was equally as amazing as the day before. It's astounding that all these parts of ancient culture are still here; there's even a 2,000 year old door in one of the temples at the Forum, and the lock still works.

It sounds silly but the Colosseum was so much bigger than I imagined. Or rather, I hadn't really considered its presence until I saw it myself. I'm so used to seeing it in films and documentaries that when I first saw it - we stepped out of the metro station and it was right there - it was kind of jarring. There it is, this huge staple of Roman history, surrounded by 21st century roads filled with 21st century cars.

Me outside the Colosseum!

We had an audio tour of the Colosseum that was really interesting. One of the things I found most interesting was that there's a huge cross erected in the Colosseum to commemorate the Christians who were slaughtered there. However, there's no evidence whatsoever to suggest that Christians were ever thrown into the Colosseum. They were in danger - Nero started a fire in the city just so he could blame the Christians for it and massacre them - but not necessarily from gladiatorial combat. That doesn't mean they weren't thrown in there, because they may well have been, but any writings claiming such were written approximately 200 years after they were supposedly killed in the Colosseum. I thought it was an interesting fact, anyway!

The cross to commemorate the Christians

I think my favourite thing at the Colosseum, however, was this 2,000 year old mirror we found in one of the display cabinets. The glass itself is long gone, but the rest of it is in pretty amazing condition. We stood and stared at it for about 5 minutes wondering whose face it was that looked back the last time it was used.

After the Colosseum we had some lunch in a little cafe just across the road from where we'd just been.

Elena outside the Colosseum!

Then we were off to the Roman Forum! There was so much to see, and when we eventually left to go back to the hotel and shower and get ready for dinner I'm pretty sure we still hadn't seen it all.

I saw two things at the Forum that were my absolute favourites. Firstly, we found the Temple of Castor and Pollux.

Just look how blue that sky is

I got really excited about this because I love the story of Castor and Pollux, and I didn't even know they had a temple in Rome. Actually I didn't even know they'd have a temple in Italy at all because I associate them so strongly with Greece.

And I also loved this:

At first glance it might not look like much, but just look at what this was 2,000 years ago:

How beautiful does that sound?

We spent our third and final full day in Rome trying to see as much as possible that we hadn't already seen, including the Trevi Fountain, Villa Borghese and a bunch of museums. We did find the Trevi, but unfortunately there's no water in it and they were doing repairs on it, which was a real shame. I hope water leaving the Trevi isn't some kind of omen...

The Trevi minus water :(

But the lack of water didn't stop us from throwing a euro in - apparently if you throw a euro into the Trevi you're guaranteed to return to Rome! Also, fun fact: approximately 3,000 euros gets thrown into the Trevi each day.

Elena throwing her euro into the Trevi

We decided to check out Villa Borghese, which is basically a huge expanse of beautiful gardens, complete with museums, a casino and an open air cinema. It was very cute. We kept stumbling into authors, there!

First we found Victor Hugo...

... and then Elena was very pleased that we found Lord Byron.

Elena, AKA Mrs Byron

I also saw this statue outside one of the museums and I had to snap a picture of it because I thought it was lovely.

And in one of the museums we visited that day we found this statue, which I also loved:

One of my nieces loves faeries, so I had to take a picture of her, and I thought she was beautiful.

I'm going to wrap this up because I feel like this blog post is long enough already, but before I do I have to mention an absolutely stunning ice cream parlour that was just around the corner from our hotel. It was open from around 10pm to around 1am - yep, late night ice cream! - and sometimes people would be queuing around the corner to get in. For just 3 euros you could have 4 scoops of the most delicious ice cream I have ever tasted. Ever.

Just look at some of the cakes they sold:

Just

so

delicious.

Basically Elena and I had a fantastic holiday, and I can't wait to go back to Italy because I'll most certainly be going back!

Beth @ The Quiet People talked about the Importance of Big Issues in YA Fiction

Cait @ Paper Fury asked Does an Author's Behaviour Influence Your Opinion of Their Books?

Micheline @ Lunar Rainbows talked about Book Ginny vs. Movie Ginny for Harry Potter Month

Merin @ Read and Reviewed talked about Keeping Up with Series

Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight asked Does a Bad Ending Ruin a Series?

Faith @ GeekyZooGirl shared her Tips for a Harry Potter Movie Marathon for Harry Potter Month

Rinn @ Rinn Reads shared some Books Set in The Netherlands

Kaja @ Of Dragons and Hearts talked about Harry Potter and Sex for Harry Potter Month

Alex @ The Book Banner shared her recipe for Butterbeer Cupcakes

Cole @ Miss Cole Seeks Publisher shared some of her Publishing Advice from YALC

How was your July?