Tomorrow marks the start of the Underhyped Read-A-Thon - and if you're not too sure what that is I wrote a blog post about it here! - so I figured I might as well share with you the books I'm going to try and read. I say 'try' because I'm in the middle of working on my portfolio so I might not have much time to read, but I think this is such a good idea for a read-a-thon that I at least want to try!
It's up to each individual how they define a book as 'underhyped' - I've decided to try and get through some of the books on my shelves that have less than 1,000 ratings on Goodreads.
by Victoria Lamb
Number of ratings on Goodreads: 620
Meg Lytton has always known of her dark and powerful gift. Raised a student of the old magick by her Aunt Jane, casting the circle to see visions of the future and concocting spells from herbs and bones has always been as natural to Meg as breathing. But there has never been a more dangerous time to practise the craft, for it is 1554, and the sentence for any woman branded a witch is hanging, or burning at the stake.
Sent to the ruined, isolated palace of Woodstock to serve the disgraced Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII and half-sister of Queen Mary, Meg discovers her skills are of interest to the outcast princess, who is desperate to know if she will ever claim the throne. But Meg's existence becomes more dangerous every day, with the constant threat of exposure by the ruthless witchfinder Marcus Dent, and the arrival of a young Spanish priest, Alejandro de Castillo, to whom Meg is irresistibly drawn - despite their very different attitudes to her secret.
by Laura Powell
Number of ratings on Goodreads: 807
In a modern world where witches are hunted down and burned at the stake, two lives intersect. Glory is from a family of witches, and is desperate to develop her 'Fae' powers and become a witch herself, though witch-activity carries a threat of being burned at the stake. Lucas is the son of the Chief Prosecutor for the Inquisition with a privileged life very different from the witches he is being trained to prosecute. And then one day, both Glory and Lucas develop the Fae. In one fell stroke, their lives are inextricably bound together.
by Robin Llywelyn
Number of ratings on Goodreads: 9
"White Star is the first translation into English of Robin Llywelyn's award-winning novel Seren Wen ar Gefndir Gwyn. A hilarious romp through the fears and fortunes of three unlikely heroes out to save the world." Gwern started the war. By mistake. He and his friends, Pilgrim and Saffron Tinker, are trying hard to put things right. Perhaps a little too hard. Their journey takes them across Sunless Summer to the badlands on a diet of ice locust sandwiches. They get promoted as diplomats and even manage fifteen minutes as fighter pilots. As the evil Empire of the Heartless Bodies threatens to conquer the High Country, Gwern, Pilgrim and Saffron Tinker are learning a lot about allegiance.
This last book I may get out from my local library if I happen to see it there:
by Chris Kuzneski
Number of ratings on Goodreads: 382
The Hunters: a team of renegades - an ex-military leader, a historian, a computer whiz, a weapons expert and a thief - financed by a billionaire philanthropist are tasked with finding the world's most legendary treasures.
The Mission: recover a vast Romanian treasure that was stolen by the Russians nearly a century ago. Fearing a Germany victory in World War 1, the Romanian government signed a deal to guarantee the safety of the country's most valuable artifacts until after the war. In 1916 two treasure trains full of gold and the most precious objects of the Romanian state - paintings, jewellery from the Royal family, ancient Dacien artifacts - were sent to the underground vaults in the Kremlin only to be lost to the Romanian people forever as Russia severed all diplomatic relations with the country and scattered the treasure to its outlying regions. With a haul valued at over $3.5 billion dollars, everyone wants to claim the vast treasure but its location has remained a mystery, until now.
Are you taking part in the Underhyped Read-A-Thon? What are you planning to read?
J.
