Top Ten Tuesday | My 2018 Summer TBR!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This year I've been letting myself get back into reading for the pure, unadulterated fun of it, and after reading and absolutely adoring Six of Crows earlier this year my love for fantasy is back with a vengeance and I'm craving it like mad. As well as high fantasy, lately I've really been in the mood to blast through some urban fantasy reads, the warm weather and my love of The Song of Achilles last year has put me in the mood for Ancient Greece, and I've been craving non-fiction, too, after barely reading any in 2017.

Essentially my summer TBR is brimming with fantasy and non-fiction, and I'm excited for all of it! So without further ado, here are the ten sixteen books I've got my eye on this summer:

Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire: I've seen Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies sing this series' praises for so long and it's a series I've been meaning to get to for the longest time. Seanan McGuire also writes under Mira Grant, and is therefore the author of my beloved Newsflesh trilogy, and I'm looking forward to reading her take on faeries - especially as someone who isn't usually drawn to faerie books.

How the White Trash Zombie Got Her Groove Back by Diana Rowland: I powered through the first three books in this series a few years ago and had a great time, but haven't read any more of them despite owning books four and five. It's about time I rectified that!

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs: This is another urban fantasy series I've heard great things about and I've had a copy of Moon Called on my kindle for almost three years so it's about time I read it.

Djinn City by Saad Z. Hossain: This one is giving me Haroun and the Sea of Stories vibes and, when it comes to mythology/folklore, genies aren't a creature I come across very frequently so I'd like to try something a little different this summer.

A Thousand Nights by E. K. Johnston: I can't believe I still haven't read this one even though I own a copy of the gorgeous UK hardback, thanks to the lovely Mikayla @ Mikayla's Bookshelf, so I think it's about time I crossed it off my TBR. Plus when I think of The Arabian Nights, I can't help but think of the summer, warm weather and desert nights.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik: Another retelling from the same author who brought us Uprooted which, to be honest, I didn't love, but as this is a retelling of my favourite fairy tale, Rumpelstiltskin, I have to pick it up when it's released this July.

Circe by Madeline Miller: I finally read and adored The Song of Achilles last year, so I can't wait to get to Miller's second novel this year.

The Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heilig: I read and really enjoyed The Girl From Everywhere a couple of years ago and still haven't read the sequel. I don't tend to read many books set on ships, but when I do it's usually during the summer; there's something so summery about the sea.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi: I've heard nothing but great things about this African-inspired high fantasy so far, so I need to get to it this year.

Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution by Mona Eltahawy: This is another one I've had on my TBR for the longest time and, as I'm in the mood for non-fiction this year, I'd like to get around to it this summer if I can.

The Butterfly Mosque: A Young American Woman's Journey to Love and Islam by G. Willow Wilson: In the past year or so I've become really interested in Islam. Unfortunately it's a religion that, in the UK at least, has been tainted by its association with terrorism and often the media wants us to believe that Islam = evil because it helps them sell newspapers. If Islam is going to be talked about so much then I want to learn more about it so I'm not another ignorant butthole leaving ignorant comments on the internet, and I'm fascinated by what it was that encouraged G. Willow Wilson to convert to the faith. If you're wondering where you recognise her name from, she's the author of the Ms. Marvel graphic novels!

On the Front Line with the Women Who Fight Back by Stacey Dooley: I've been a big fan of Stacey Dooley's work for almost ten years now, her documentaries are always excellent, so I'm looking forward to reading her very first book.

Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault: One of my friends adores Alexander the Great and has been recommending Mary Renault's fiction to me for a few years now, so when I saw this beautiful new Virago Modern Classics edition I couldn't resist it. I know very little about Alexander the Great apart from that he died very young and yet accomplished so much in those few years, so I'm looking forward to learning more about him through Renault's fiction.

The Sweet Girl by Annabel Lyon: I read Lyon's Imagining Ancient Women a couple of years ago in which she talked about her research for this novel, so I thought it'd be fun to read this one. I know very little about this one other than it's about Aristotle's daughter after the death of Aristotle and Alexander the Great (there he is again) and the tumultuous turn her life takes.

The Children of Jocasta by Natalie Haynes: We've all heard of the Oedipus complex, but I know very little about the Oedipus myth other than that Oedipus was a prince who was raised by the enemy kingdom and, when he defeated the man he didn't know was his birth father, ended up taking his birth mother as his wife. Here classicist Natalie Haynes has chosen to retell the story from the point of his mother, Jocasta, and I've heard brilliant things about it so far.

Troy by Adèle Geras: I've owned this one for a while now and I was very lucky to meet Adèle Geras at an event at Litfest several years ago now and she was wonderfully eccentric. As much as I adored The Song of Achilles last year I do feel like the Trojan War has been rather overdone in the realm of Ancient Greek books and movies, but I like the sound of this one because it's the story of two Trojan sisters trying to survive amidst the war rather than following the well-known names such as Achilles, Hector or Paris.

Which books made your list this week?

Seven series to start this summer!

Series were something I fell out of love with for a little while. When I was younger I adored series! I loved spending a long time with the same set of characters, watching them grow and change and waiting to see if all of the characters I loved would still be there when the adventure eventually came to an end. I don't think I'm being melodramatic when I say my teen years were defined by the release of the next Harry Potter book and film; the books I adored, but the films went from fun Christmas treats at the cinema to, from the fourth film onwards, the summer blockbusters my friends and I looked forward to when school came to an end for the year.

Then, thanks to the Twilight franchise, publishers started to take YA publishing seriously and YA series became the new thing. Unfortunately, while I think YA publishing has done far, far more good than bad, it's actually YA I have to thank for my falling out of love with series. When YA first started out there were trends (there still are, but I don't think they have quite as much of an impact on the kind of stories that get published as they used to) from vampires to dystopian fiction that turned every YA trilogy into exactly the same story. There were the same tropes, the same love interests, the same basic story arc to the point where I could guess what was going to happen in a sequel before it even came out, and it turned series into something I loved to immerse myself in to something I was bored of.

This wasn't entirely a bad thing. Over the past few years I've developed such a love and appreciation for well-told standalone novels and, nine times out of ten, I'd much rather read a standalone to a series now. This year, though, thanks to the fantastic Six of Crows duology, I've rediscovered my love for a truly good series.

It's something of a running joke with me that my entire reading life is defined by series I either haven't started or haven't finished, but that's something I'd like to get better at, so today I thought I'd talk about seven series I'd like to start this summer! Some are long, some are short, some are new, some are old, and they're all books I'm excited to read.

This is one I've already mentioned this month and one I'm hoping to get to very soon! The first half of a duology, The Abyss Surrounds Us features pirates and sea monsters and a sapphic romance which I am so here for. Frankly I'm surprised we don't have more LGBT+ pirate stories, particularly stories featuring women, considering Mary Read and Anne Bonny were rumoured to be lovers.

I keep seeing Children of Blood and Bone everywhere - not that I'm surprised; that cover is gorgeous - and friends of mine who've read it have nothing but brilliant things to say about it. I've mentioned several times this year that I've rediscovered my love for high fantasy and I'm keen to read more African and Asian-inspired high fantasy. Not only is this fantasy world African-inspired, but it also includes one of my favourite fantasy tropes: magic banned by those in power. I can't wait for this one.

I had no real intention of getting this one when it came out; I've tried reading Kate Mosse's Labyrinth before and ended up DNFing it because it was so long and nothing happened for what felt like an eternity. The Burning Chambers is another beast, but it's historical fiction set during one of my favourite periods of history - the 1500s - featuring the religious turmoil at this time that I have always found fascinating. More than anything this story sounds like an adventure and I'm hoping to get lost in it this summer.

Robin Hobb has been on my TBR for far too long, so it's about time I read Assassin's Apprentice. I've heard so many wonderful things about this series and this world and, if I fall in love with it like I'm hoping to, there are so many more books for me to enjoy!

Fun fact: Set a story in a nunnery and I'm 100000000% more likely to read it. Turn the nuns who inhabit (get it?) that nunnery into assassins and I am THERE. Still haven't started this series, though. Oops. I actually tried reading Red Sister when it first came out after receiving a copy through NetGalley but I couldn't get into it despite seeing so many rave reviews, so I decided to put it down and I recently bought myself my own copy to give it another try.

I'm going to be completely honest and say I had no desire to read this until very recently. I remember it coming out and not paying much attention to it, but I recently received a bookmark promoting the sequel in a FairyLoot box and decided to look into Flame in the Mist again and realised that, actually, it sounds like something I'd really enjoy. I'm trying to read more books set in Asia, I feel like it's a continent that's been neglected in my reading, and another of my favourite tropes is girls posing as boys so I am ready to dive into this one.

Seanan McGuire is one of my faves - I'm still not over Feed and never will be, so thanks for that Seanan - and I've been meaning to read her October Daye series for years. Urban fantasy isn't something I read often but, when I do, I devour it in humungous gulps until I'm stuffed on it. I'm also not a big fan of faerie books, not sure why, but I'm looking forward to seeing McGuire's take on the fae in Rosemary and Rue and, if I enjoy it, devouring the rest of the enormous series. I know Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies loves this series so I'm hoping I will, too.

Do you read a lot of series, or are you more of a standalone reader? What are some of your favourite series? And are there any series you're planning to start or finish this summer?

Top Ten Tuesday | Pride Month Reading Recommendations!

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 Decided to DNF (did not finish) too Quickly', but as someone who's a big fan of DNFing books that just aren't working for me, I decided to talk about my LGBT+ recommendations for Pride instead - Happy Pride Month!

(I'm also hoping to read at least one LGBT+ novel this month - you can take a look at my TBR here, if you like.)

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire: We're starting off with a strange recommendation because I didn't actually enjoy this one very much; I liked the concept far more than its execution, but this is the only book I've come across (so far) in which the protagonist identifies as asexual, and describes herself as such, and we need far more asexual representation in fiction.

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley: Set in America in 1959 when black students were first admitted to previously all-white high schools, this powerful debut follows two teenage girls, Sarah and Linda, as they battle racism, both outwardly and inwardly, and their growing feelings for each other.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli: Another fantastic voice in the world of YA, Becky Albertalli's debut follows Simon as he tries to find the courage to tell his friends and family that he's gay, only to be blackmailed by a fellow student who wants his help winning the affection of a girl at school. This is fun, funny and heart-warming, and has some brilliant things to say about the process of coming out.

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee: A spoiled, wealthy, bisexual boy from an aristocratic family is given the opportunity to take a tour of Europe before he must resolve himself to the family business in this incredibly fun novel. Add to the mix the best friend he's fallen in love with, a sister with no intention of going to finishing school and a theft that sees them being pursued across Europe and you have a wild ride of a novel.

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters: Quite possibly the twistiest, turniest book I've ever read, Fingersmith is considered Sarah Waters' masterpiece and reads like a Dickensian thriller - only this time, the women have agency. Because of the Victorian setting this one is a great book to read in the autumn, but if you're looking for something to sink your teeth into for Pride this month I'd definitely recommend this one.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: This is one of my favourite science fiction novels. While its focus is far more on character than plot, the universe Chambers has created is such a beautiful, hopeful vision of the future. She explores sexuality, gender, family units, war, peace and what it means to be human, and if you haven't read this one yet then I can't recommend it enough.

A Portable Shelter by Kirsty Logan: The stories in this collection, inspired by Scottish folklore, are told to an unborn child by its mothers, who are eagerly awaiting its birth. It's a lovely, melancholic collection and definitely one to read for anyone interested in folklore and fairy tales.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller: One of my favourite novels of all time, this stunning novel tells the story of Patroclus and Achilles, from their childhood together up to their roles in the Trojan War, and their relationship as it grows from friendship, to companionship to love. Definitely one to read if you haven't already!

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu: Given that this is a Victorian novella I can't imagine Le Fanu would have described this as a lesbian story but, like most early vampire stories, Carmilla is awash with homoeroticism. This novella was released about 25 years before Dracula and, in my opinion, is the far better work. One to read if you'd like something short this month!

The One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg: This beautiful graphic novel has stories within stories as two women in love tell tales to a friend of the husband of one of the women who has made a bet that he can seduce her while her husband is away. Inspired by The Arabian Nights, it features stories about and for women in a fantasy world where women are second-class citizens.

Which books made your list this week?

Top Ten Tuesday | It's not you, it's me (but also you)

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 Disliked/Hated but Am Really Glad I Read'. I thought this would be a tricky one because usually if I really didn't like a book I wish I hadn't wasted time on it, and most of the time these days I don't! If I'm really not liking something I'll DNF it. I did manage to find ten books that fit this week's theme, though!

Five I had to read for school or university, and therefore needed to finish, while others I didn't hate enough to put down while I was reading them but I definitely wouldn't say I liked them either. Anyway, on with my list!

Hamlet by William Shakespeare: I had to read this in school and then again in university, and it's probably my least favourite of Shakespeare's plays because I had to read it so much and also because I just find it boring. Hamlet's irritating and the whole story feels like it should be on an episode of Jerry Springer, which I suppose could be said for a lot of Shakespeare's plays. It is said to be the most quoted play in the world, though, so I'm at least glad I can say I've read it. I'd much rather see it performed, though.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: UGH I hate this book so much. I had to read it in sixth form and I despised every minute. The only reason I'm glad I've read it is so I can tell people I don't like it when they tell me I should read it.

The Were-Wolf by Clemence Housman: This one I read for my Victorian Gothic course at university and I found it really interesting! It's one of the earliest examples of werewolf literature that sparked the love for monster stories in the 19th century. I enjoyed studying it, but the story itself I didn't like; the titular character is a woman, interesting when so many werewolves in modern fiction are men, but she's also the villain and to be honest I was rooting for her. The protagonist is so boring in comparison.

Regeneration by Pat Barker: I had to read this one while studying the First World War in literature during sixth form. This is another book that I enjoyed studying more than I enjoyed actually reading, when it comes to historical fiction I'm just not all that interested in modern history, but it's stayed with me a decade later so I guess it can't be that bad!

Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie: I read this one for my Popular Victorian Fiction module at university and didn't like it at all, it's so sinister, but I'm glad I know the origins of Peter Pan!

What We Left Behind by Robin Talley: This was Talley's second novel after Lies We Tell Ourselves, which I loved, and sadly I didn't like it very much at all. You can check out my review here if you'd like to know why! That being said I do like that it included a genderqueer protagonist and I'd like to read about more non-binary protagonists, especially characters written by non-binary authors.

Angelfall by Susan Ee: There was so much hype around this one when it came out but I just found it really boring? I also wasn't a fan of the way the protagonist's mother's mental health was portrayed. This book did help me realise I'm just not into angel books, though, so I'm glad I read it.

Among Others by Jo Walton: This is my biggest disappointment on this list, because I put off reading this one for the longest time thinking it was going to become a new favourite when I got to it. I was very wrong. You can read my review here, if you like.

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire: I love the concept of this book SO MUCH, I just didn't like the plot. Why it had to become a really obvious whodunnit I don't understand, because I think it would have been far more powerful as character study.

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer: I'm not going to sit here and pretend I wasn't swept away by the Twilight craze, because I totally was, but I remember finishing Breaking Dawn and being so disappointed that nobody important had died. What kind of finale was that? I'm glad I followed the series to the end, though, and whatever we think of it now it played a huge part in getting publishers to take YA publishing seriously.

Which books made your list this week?

Top Ten Tuesday | A Series of Failures

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 Series I've Been Meaning To Start But Haven't', which is essentially the story of my life. I'm a bad finisher and I'm impatient, so I'm much better at reading standalones than series because I can't bear the wait. A series has to be very special to captivate me. That being said, I miss that feeling of being captivated by a series and a huge cast of characters the way I was when I was younger, from Harry Potter to The Old Kingdom to Twilight (yep, I went through that phase, too), so here are ten series I'd really like to get to at some point.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan: If I'm being honest I don't know if I ever will read this series now, I feel like I should have read them when I was a bit younger because I'm not sure I'll get the sense of humour now that I'm 25 (oh god I'm 25), but I still love the idea of the series. I may get around to it one of these days, maybe it'd be a fun, quick series to blast through over the summer months.

The Memoirs of Lady Trent by Marie Brennan: I actually tried reading A Natural History of Dragons a few years ago but ended up DNFing it, I just wasn't feeling it at the time, but I've heard so many people raving about the series and it ticks so many of my boxes (I love books about ladies in science) that I think I have to give it another chance. I'm going to give the audiobooks a try.

The Bel Dame Apocrypha series by Kameron Hurley: This sounds violent and gritty and so fun. I recently read Hurley's essay collection, The Geek Feminist Revolution, and it's made me want to read her fiction even more. This sci-fi series is set in a world where insects play a large role, I believe, and where the society is inspired by Islam rather than Christianity which sounds super interesting to me.

The Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley: I love me some historical crime, and this series set in the 1950s has a child protagonist who loves science. All the yes. I'm always interested by books written for adults with child protagonists because children can be so difficult to write, so I'm hoping this series will be a good one when I get to it.

The Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo: I should have read this by now, especially as it's only two books long. I've heard fairly mixed things about Six of Crows, but my friend Natalie @ A Sea Change loved it and I really enjoyed Bardugo's story in Summer Days and Summer Nights, so I'm looking forward to getting to it at some point this year.

The Gold Seer Trilogy by Rae Carson: The covers of these books are beautiful and I love the concept, so hopefully I'll at least give the first book a go soon after I received it the Christmas before last from the lovely Mikayla @ Mikayla's Bookshelf.

The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik: This series is essentially the Napoleonic Wars with dragons. What's not to like? Admittedly I'm not actually the biggest dragon fan, I'm much more of a unicorn girl, but I love the idea of including dragons in a well-known historical setting. I struggled a bit with Novik's writing when I read Uprooted (reviewed here) which is why I haven't started this series yet, but I'm hoping I enjoy it.

The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon: I really want to watch the series but I want to read the books first, only there's so many of them and they're all HUGE. It's pretty intimidating.

The October Daye series by Seanan McGuire: Seanan McGuire (also known as Mira Grant) is one of my favourites, and though I'm not the biggest fan of faeries I do really like the sound of this urban fantasy series. There are already ten books in the series, though, so I have some catching up to do!

The Glamourist Histories series by Mary Robinette Kowal: Similar to Temeraire, this series involves slipping something fantastical into Georgian/Regency history. These books are essentially Jane Austen with magic and considering I own the first book, Shades of Milk and Honey, I'd like to start the series this year.

I actually own all but one of these books, The Lightning Thief being the only one I don't have a copy of, so perhaps I should set myself the challenge of reading the first book in the nine other series by the end of 2017...

Which series made your list this week?

Review | Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

Every Heart a Doorway

by Seanan McGuire

My Rating:

Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children

No Solicitations

No Visitors

No Guests

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.

I so wanted to love this and I just couldn't. I'm a big fan of Seanan McGuire; she also writes under the name Mira Grant, and is therefore the author of one of my favourite all-time books, Feed, and a horror novella I really enjoyed, Rolling in the Deep. I was excited to check out another of her novellas and the premise sounded fantastic: the idea of a boarding school especially for children who have fallen through doors into fantastical worlds, such as Narnia or Wonderland, and have then been spat back out sounded right up my street.

The amount of different worlds and the detail in them that McGuire creates, and in so few words, is enchanting; the story of Loriel, one of the many side characters, and her world completely broke my heart and I don't think I'll be able to stop thinking about it for a while. I also really appreciated that our protagonist, Nancy, is asexual and identifies herself as such within the text: the words 'I am asexual' are actually used, which is super refreshing when so many authors choose to allude to diversity instead of outright saying it.

And that's about where my appreciation for this novella ends, and I hate admitting that when I love McGuire so much.

Shortly after Nancy's arrival at Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, the story turns into a murder mystery as students start getting killed off; what could have been a clever juxtaposition between whimsy and horror just felt jarring, and I spent the entire novella thinking one thing: why? Why now? Why isn't more done? Why does no one figure it out sooner?

The book's only short, but I still figured out who the culprit was long before it was revealed because, without wanting to sound like a douche, I thought it was obvious who it was going to be. I could have lived with that if it weren't also for the fact that I even guessed why they were doing it, which is often more fun than figuring out the who in a whodunnit, and that everything else made such little sense.

For example, the authorities don't get involved. Now I'm all for younger people trying to solve mysteries, but when it's the younger people themselves getting killed and their headteacher's response is 'eh, just stay in pairs, kids - we don't wanna get shut down!' it steps from the realms of suspending your disbelief to plain old disbelief. I understand they don't want the school to be shut down, I even understand why they don't want the school to be shut down, but what I don't understand is why the school's headmistress leaves the mystery to her students to solve when they're the ones in the most danger. Seriously, the woman does very little to actually solve the mystery.

There also doesn't appear to be any real reason for the murders to start happening once our protagonist arrives. Sorry if I just spoiled the story for you if you were thinking our protagonist is the killer but, let's be honest, that's rarely the case! Nancy as a whole is a rather passive character. Again I don't have a problem with that, in fact I like the idea of a protagonist who isn't a Katniss Everdeen or a Hermione Granger, but a passive heroine still needs to be an engaging heroine and Nancy just wasn't that for me.

I loved the premise of this so much, but the more I read the lower my rating became as the story seemed to lose its otherness that made it so enchanting in those first few pages. I got the feeling the murder mystery was introduced because McGuire felt as though some kind of plot needed to appear to spur the story on, but I happily would have read a slow, quiet novella about these kids coming to terms with being back in the real world. I didn't need the murder mystery, and if there really had to be one I wish it hadn't been so predictable because I know McGuire can do better.

There are a lot of people out there who love this book, though, so if you're intrigued by the premise I'd still recommend checking it out - you may like it more than I did, and if you do I hope you check out more of McGuire's work!

LGBT+ History Month Book Recommendations!

Happy LGBT+ History Month!

February is LGBT+ History Month here in the UK (our Black History Month falls in October) so I figured now was as good a time as any to recommend some books to you that feature LGBT+ protagonists. This list is not as long as I'd like it to be; despite being able to think of a lot of LGBT+ characters out there, the list became much narrower when I considered how many of those characters were the main protagonists of their books. I still have a lot of reading to do!

(Before I continue I'd also like to say that reading LGBT+ authors and characters is something we should be doing all year, not just LGBT+ History Month!)

Five of Sarah Waters' six published novels have LGBT+ protagonists - The Little Stranger is the only one that doesn't - so she's an author well worth checking out this month and beyond. Fingersmith is considered her masterpiece and I can see why; it's probably the most shocking book I've ever read (in terms of plot twists, not content) and it's such great fun. Being a gay woman herself Waters writes gay women well, and is particularly good at writing these women back into history. If you haven't read Fingersmith yet, you're missing out.

I wasn't actually the biggest fan of Every Heart a Doorway, which is a real shame because I love Seanan McGuire, but it gets points from me just for having a protagonist who identifies as asexual and actually calls herself asexual in the text. Even better, she discusses the differences between asexuality and aromanticism, and as someone who has asexual friends and falls somewhere on the spectrum herself (if I had to identify my sexuality, I'd probably describe myself as demisexual) it was really refreshing to see it being acknowledged.

This beautiful graphic novel is a lesbian retelling of The 1001 Nights (also known as The Arabian Nights) and it's so lovely and funny and bittersweet. If you like self-aware stories and stories within stories you'll enjoy The One Hundred Nights of Hero, and while the romance is an important part of the book it also has a general focus on women's relationships - be it sisters or mothers and daughters or friendships -  that was a real joy to read.

I don't read much YA but Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda is probably one of my favourite ever YA books. I was wary of it at first because there was so much hype surrounding it, but this is one of the few instances in which the hype was well-deserved. If you're keen to read some LGBT+ YA and you haven't picked this one up yet, you're definitely missing out.

A bit of historical YA now and, like Sarah Waters, LGBT+ women are the focus of all of Robin Talley's novels. She's such an important voice in the YA community and from what I've read so far (I still have her most recent book, Our Own Private Universe, to read) her debut is still her best work yet because it's so heart-breaking and, sadly, so relevant when we take into consideration the problems with racism the world is still having in 2017. What I appreciate about Talley is that her characters feel like people, they're not perfect, and while I did have one particular issue with Lies We Tell Ourselves that I discuss in my review it didn't take away from my enjoyment of it. This is such a great read, and also relevant for those of you in the US celebrating Black History Month!

Have you read any of these books? Which books with LGBT+ protagonists would you recommend?

This Week in Books | 01/02/2017

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

Now: I'm still reading The Obelisk Gate after I took a break from it to get ahead on a couple of ARCs I'd been sent, but now I intend to finish it! I'm really enjoying it so far and I'd like to finish it soon so I can try and dedicate most of February to reading some of the review copies waiting for me on my kindle.

Then: Every Heart a Doorway is the second novella I've read by Seanan McGuire (who also writes under the name Mira Grant, and is therefore the author of one of my all-time favourite books, Feed) and unfortunately I didn't enjoy this one as much as I hoped I would. Look out for my review later this month!

Next: Once I have The Obelisk Gate under my belt I'm aiming to finish Red Sister, which is due to be released in April, and then get ahead on my other ARCs. I've liked what I've read so far, though I'm still waiting for it to really get going - I'm happy to be patient for a novel that promises assassin nuns, though.

What are you reading?

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?