My Top 3 Novels of 2015!

I read some fantastic novels this year, books that have become some of my favourite books ever as well as my favourite books of 2015, but there were a select few I just had to take yet another opportunity to rave about in the hope that some of you pick them up, too!

Two of these books are 2015 releases. One thing I noticed about my reading habits in 2015 is that I was a lot better at reading books that were published in 2015. I was also a lot better at reading debut novels, because two of the books on this list are debuts.

So, without further ado, here are my Top 3 Novels of 2015!

The Goblin Emperor

by Katherine Addison

The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an "accident," he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.

Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment.

Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favor with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody. Amid the swirl of plots to depose him, offers of arranged marriages, and the specter of the unknown conspirators who lurk in the shadows, he must quickly adjust to life as the Goblin Emperor. All the while, he is alone, and trying to find even a single friend... and hoping for the possibility of romance, yet also vigilant against the unseen enemies that threaten him, lest he lose his throne – or his life.

My Review

Why I loved it: I was a little hesitant when I first picked up The Goblin Emperor; it had been so long since I'd read high fantasy that it was a genre that intimidated me, and while I had a feeling I would like it - I'd seen so many positive reviews - I wasn't entirely sure. As it turns out, I adored it. The world-building in this book is so exquisitely done, but what really gave this book a special place in my heart is the protagonist, Maia, who is one of the most charming characters I have ever encountered in high fantasy. I tend to enjoy high fantasy most when the world isn't at stake, and The Goblin Emperor isn't an end of the world story - this is both a coming of age novel and a novel of courtly intrigue. It blew me away, and whether you're a fan of high fantasy or not you need to give this book a try!

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

by Becky Chambers

When Rosemary Harper joins the crew of the Wayfarer, she isn't expecting much. The Wayfarer, a patched-up ship that's seen better days, offers her everything she could possibly want: a small, quiet spot to call home for a while, adventure in far-off corners of the galaxy, and distance from her troubled past.

But Rosemary gets more than she bargained for with the Wayfarer. The crew is a mishmash of species and personalities, from Sissix, the friendly reptillian pilot, to Kizzy and Jenks, the constantly sparring engineers who keep the ship running. Life on board is chaotic, but more or less peaceful - exactly what Rosemary wants.

Until the crew are offered the job of a lifetime: the chance to build a hyperspace tunnel to a distant planet. They'll earn enough money to live comfortably for years... if they survive the long trip through war-torn interstellar space without endangering any of the fragile alliances that keep the galaxy peaceful.

But Rosemary isn't the only person on board with secrets to hide, and the crew will soon discover that space may be vast, but spaceships are very small indeed.

My Review

Why I loved it: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is a very recent read, but it's earned itself a firm place on my list of favourite books. Like high fantasy, science fiction is a genre that used to intimidate me, and there is some sci-fi that still does. This book is similar to The Goblin Emperor in that it's not about a group of people trying to save the galaxy, but about a group of people who are, quite literally, on a journey. This is another book that surprised me with how much I loved it; I finished it and immediately wanted to reread it and shout from the heavens how wonderful and life-affirming and heart-warming and touching and beautiful it is. Chambers' world-building is gorgeous, as are her characters; I wish I could go and live on the Wayfarer with them.

Signal to Noise

by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Mexico City, 1988: Long before iTunes or MP3s, you said “I love you” with a mixtape. Meche, awkward and fifteen, has two equally unhip friends -- Sebastian and Daniela -- and a whole lot of vinyl records to keep her company. When she discovers how to cast spells using music, the future looks brighter for the trio. With help from this newfound magic, the three friends will piece together their broken families, change their status as non-entities, and maybe even find love... 

Mexico City, 2009: Two decades after abandoning the metropolis, Meche returns for her estranged father’s funeral. It’s hard enough to cope with her family, but then she runs into Sebastian, and it revives memories from her childhood she thought she buried a long time ago. What really happened back then? What precipitated the bitter falling out with her father? And, is there any magic left?

My Review

Why I loved it: I was very lucky to win a copy of Signal to Noise in a giveaway hosted by SciFiNow, before then I'd never even heard of it so I'm very, very glad I won that giveaway. If there's anything Signal to Noise has taught me it's that I always seem to love books I completely wasn't expecting. This book stole my heart because it's one of the only books I've ever read that's reminded me of what it feels like to be a teenager. I find it hard to relate to a lot of contemporary YA because so much of it is centred around romance, and there wasn't any romance in my school years - I was too busy thinking about Harry Potter and dipping my toes into feminism for a boyfriend. While there is a little romance in Signal to Noise, it's not a romantic story. It's about life and growing up and what confused, hormonal teenagers would really do if they found out they could do magic. It's such a fantastic book, and I can't wait for Moreno-Garcia's next book!

What were your favourite books of 2015?

Happy New Year! Thank you for reading my blog and for all of your comments, and I can't wait for another great blogging year in 2016!

Review | The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

by Becky Chambers

My Rating: 

When Rosemary Harper joins the crew of the Wayfarer, she isn't expecting much. The Wayfarer, a patched-up ship that's seen better days, offers her everything she could possibly want: a small, quiet spot to call home for a while, adventure in far-off corners of the galaxy, and distance from her troubled past.

But Rosemary gets more than she bargained for with the Wayfarer. The crew is a mishmash of species and personalities, from Sissix, the friendly reptillian pilot, to Kizzy and Jenks, the constantly sparring engineers who keep the ship running. Life on board is chaotic, but more or less peaceful - exactly what Rosemary wants.

Until the crew are offered the job of a lifetime: the chance to build a hyperspace tunnel to a distant planet. They'll earn enough money to live comfortably for years... if they survive the long trip through war-torn interstellar space without endangering any of the fragile alliances that keep the galaxy peaceful.

But Rosemary isn't the only person on board with secrets to hide, and the crew will soon discover that space may be vast, but spaceships are very small indeed.

I received an eARC of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It's no secret that this book has been all over the book blogging community this year. I thought it sounded cool when I came across it on NetGalley, but it was only after I started seeing all these brilliant reviews that I knew I needed to read it. Soon enough Natalie @ A Sea Change was recommending it to me, so I had to read it.

This is my kind of sci-fi. I closed this book feeling bereft, elated and hopeful all at once. This book is not only one of my favourite books of this year, but one of my favourite books period. It broke my heart and made me laugh, sometimes in the same scene, and I loved it.

At first glance this story seems fairly simple. Rosemary Harper, a character with a secretive past, joins the eclectic crew of the Wayfarer as the captain's new clerk. The Wayfarer's crew make their money punching holes in space, making shortcuts throughout the galaxy - kind of like intergalactic road works. They get by, but they're not exactly rich, so when they're offered the extremely well-paid job of creating a new tunnel near a planet which is the home of rather hostile occupants, they take it.

Sounds simple enough, right? But this book is so much more than that.

The blurb might make it sound as though Rosemary is the main character, but this book very much has an ensemble cast of characters - it reminded me of Firefly, and if you like that show you'll love this book. Each character is exquisitely drawn, as is the galaxy, and all the species in it, that Chambers has created. Her detail is so rich and yet it's never boring or too much; it's so vivid I felt like I could live in it. In fact I'm a little sad I don't, because never before have I read sci-fi that's so hopeful and life-affirming.

This story is kind of a story that takes place between the action, if that makes sense. A lot happens on this ship, and aside from the various stopping points on their long journey when they need to stock up on supplies or visit families, the ship is the setting for the entire novel. By having all these different characters in this small, enclosed space, Chambers explores ideas of culture, gender, sexuality, relationships, family structures and what it means to be a person. It's just fantastic. It's so hard to write a review for a book I loved so much I can't put it into words.

Please read this. It'll break your heart and blow you away. A truly stunning debut.

Top Ten Tuesday | Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2016

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 Most Anticipated Releases For The First Half of 2016', so I'm going to talk about the books that will be released in January, February, March, April, May and June of next year that I'm most looking forward to!

Stars Above by Marissa Meyer: Marissa Meyer is releasing a book of all her short stories set in The Lunar Chronicles universe and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy. I read all of them online but I'd really like to own a hard copy of them all, plus I want to sit it on my shelf with the rest of the books in this series.

A Tyranny of Petticoats ed. by Jessica Spotswood: An anthology of female-led historical fiction including authors like Marissa Meyer, Robin Talley and Elizabeth Wein? GIVE IT TO ME NOW. *grabby hands*

Unicorn Tracks by Julia Ember: It has unicorn in the title. Obviously I want it. Plus it just sounds really cool!

The Amber Shadows by Lucy Ribchester: I'm all for books set at Bletchley Park, especially if they're books which just so happen to have a female lead.

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows: I'll be honest, I'm a little unsure about this one. I love the cover - it reminds me of Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette - but I think this is either going to be really cool, or appalling. I love my Tudor history and I've always had a fondness for Lady Jane Grey, so the fact that these three authors (and the fact that there are three writers here always has me a little unsure, as I don't know how fluid it's going to be) have turned her story into a funny one intrigues me. I'm interested to see what this book's like!

The Little Shop of Happy Ever After by Jenny Colgan: I'm weak for Jenny Colgan's adult contemporary novels, they're my guilty pleasure, and in this book her heroine opens her very own bookshop. Yes.

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders: This book sounds so cool. I love stories that explore the relationship between magic and science, so I'll definitely be getting my hands on a copy of this one!

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler: This is one of the books in the new Hogarth Shakespeare series, a series in which a bunch of really well-known authors are retelling Shakespeare's plays. Vinegar Girl is a retelling of The Taming of the Shrew and it sounds really fun; I'm also looking forward to Margaret Atwood's retelling of The Tempest and Gillian Flynn's retelling of Hamlet.

Love, Lies and Spies by Cindy Anstey: This book sounds like everything I love to read - it sounds so fun! - and I really like the cover, too, so I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a copy.

Blackhearts by Nicole Castroman: Yay pirates!

Which books made your list this week?

Review | The Creation of Anne Boleyn by Susan Bordo

The Creation of Anne Boleyn: In Search of the Tudors' Most Notorious Queen

by Susan Bordo

My Rating: 

Part biography, part cultural history, The Creation of Anne Boleyn is a fascinating reconstruction of Anne's life and an illuminating look at her afterlife in the popular imagination.

Why is Anne so compelling? Why has she inspired such extreme reactions? What did she really even look like?! And perhaps the most provocative questions concern Anne's death more than her life. How could Henry order the execution of a once beloved wife? Drawing on scholarship and popular culture Bordo probes the complexities of one of history's most infamous relationships.

In her inimitable, straight-talking style Bordo dares to confront the established histories, stepping off the well-trodden paths of Tudoriana to expertly tease out the human being behind the myths.

I've been fascinated with the Tudors since I was a little girl; ever since I learned that Henry VIII had six wives, two of whom he executed, I've wanted to know more about these women who found themselves married to a man who sounded like the worst husband in the world. Once I'd delved into Tudor England, I couldn't break away from it; I became fascinated by the religious turmoil and the turbulence of the dynasty as a whole, from Henry VII's bloody ascension to the throne to Elizabeth I's inspiring but worryingly childless reign.

Like many history fans, particularly Tudor fans, I've been interested in Anne Boleyn since I was very young; the woman for whom the King of England would defy the Pope, only to later become the first English Queen to be executed by the very husband who had sought her so lustfully. Everyone has a different opinion of Anne; some people think she was a Protestant martyr while others think she was a home-wrecking whore, not to mention all the opinions that fall inbetween.

We're fascinated by her because we're almost completely (in my case entirely) certain that she was innocent of all the charges against her, meaning she was innocently put to death. She was witty and intelligent, and the mother of one of the greatest monarchs England has ever seen.

I was recommended this book by a friend of mine, and it sounded like everything I'd ever wanted to read. Rather than a history of Anne's life, The Creation of Anne Boleyn is more about how we perceive Anne; how she's been represented in period dramas and historical fiction and how, ultimately, we'll never know what she was really like because aside from one disputed letter, we have nothing written in her hand. It's worth me pointing out, I think, that if you want a book about Anne's life then these aren't the droids this isn't the book you're looking for.

I loved this book so much. As you'll know if you've been following my blog for a while, I've fallen in love with non-fiction this year, and now that I've read this I'd really like to check out more of Susan Bordo's work.

The usual problem I have with books about Anne Boleyn is that the people who write them put too much of their opinions into them. I know that might sound odd. Don't get me wrong, I always find other people's opinions interesting, but Anne Boleyn seems to bring out such strong opinions in authors and historians that their books irritate me. For example, I'm not a big fan of Philippa Gregory's portrayal of Anne Boleyn in The Other Boleyn Girl - in fact Bordo discusses Gregory's portrayal as breathing new life into some of the ridiculous insults thrown at Anne, during her lifetime, by rampant Catholic Eustace Chapuys.

Though Bordo is a big fan of Anne's, and it's clear from the way she talks about her that she thinks very highly of her, she also doesn't hesitate to point out how much proof certain theories have. Many historians say things must be true because 'they have a hunch', so Bordo's honesty was very refreshing and made me feel like I was reading a book which had been written fairly.

It's also written well. I think for a lot of people non-fiction can seem intimidating - I know it did for me. For a long time I didn't think I'd ever be able to read non-fiction for my own enjoyment because I associated non-fiction with sifting through dusty old tomes for relevant evidence to back up the arguments I made in the essays during my student years. This year I finally began to read non-fiction for pleasure and in doing so discovered what I've been missing. The Creation of Anne Boleyn isn't a dry book at all; Bordo has a very readable writing style, and nothing's ever too complicated to follow. I wouldn't recommend trying to read this if you know nothing about the Tudors - as I said it's not a history book in the traditional sense, so it's not going to teach you the basics - but to be honest I'd be surprised if this book appealed to people who didn't have some knowledge or interest in that period of history.

What this book does really well is look at Anne Boleyn as a person - a real living, breathing human being - and her cultural impact. Reading this has also sparked my interest in the French court at this period of history, and particularly in the life of Marguerite de Navarre, whom I definitely want to learn a lot more about in future.

If you have any interest in the Tudors, and especially in Anne Boleyn, and you want to read a book about her that doesn't try to figure out whether or not she was guilty for a change, then you need this book in your life.

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to take a moment to wish all of my followers a very Merry Christmas! I hope Santa has brought you everything you asked for, and that you've had a wonderful day surrounded by your loved ones.

(And if you don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you had a fantastic day!)

I found nine books waiting for me under the tree come Christmas morning, I must thank my friend Natalie @ A Sea Change and the lovely Mikayla @ Mikayla's Bookshelf for their wonderful gifts.

I've been thoroughly spoiled.

I have no idea that I'm going to read first - they all look brilliant!

Merry Christmas!

Top Ten Tuesday | All I Want for Christmas is Books

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 I Wouldn't Mind Santa Leaving Under My Tree This Year'. Like most book bloggers, I'm sure, the things I ask for most when Christmas rolls around are new books. When I was younger I used to ask for a huge pile of books, but now that I'm older I don't expect to find as much under the tree which, of course, is perfectly normal - my poor parents have paid for enough! Nowadays I tend to receive money a lot more which is ideal for me; I already own a lot of books so people are unsure what to get me, so getting a bit of money means I can treat myself to whatever I've been after without specifically asking for something and ruining the magic of the surprise.

So, this week I've split my list! The first half are books I'd like to receive, and the second half are books I plan on treating myself to very soon.

Books I'd Like to Receive

Peter and Alice by John Logan: John Logan is the writer behind Penny Dreadful, one of my favourite shows, but before he was a screenwriter (he also wrote the scripts for Gladiator and Skyfall!) he was a playwright. I love the sound of this play, which is about a fictional meeting between Alice Liddell and Peter Llewelyn Davies, who were the real-life inspirations for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Peter Pan.

A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston: First of all, I think that cover is gorgeous, and second of all I've heard some brilliant things about this one, including a rave review from my friend Natalie @ A Sea Change.

Public Library and Other Stories by Ali Smith: This collection of stories are all about why books are so important to us. As a book lover, I'm sure you can understand why I want to get my hands on a copy of this. Plus I keep meaning to read some Ali Smith.

The Lake House by Kate Morton: I've been after a copy of The Lake House ever since I saw this interview with Kate Morton over on Pan Macmillan's YouTube channel!

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi: This memoir is about an Iranian teacher who began a reading group with seven of her most committed female students to read forbidden Western classics. It sounds amazing.

Books I'd Like to Buy

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden is one of my favourite classics, but the only copy I own is an old, battered copy that's full of my notes from university. I'd really like to treat myself to this beautiful Penguin Threads edition - it's so pretty!

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn: I really want to check out some of Gillian Flynn's novels after I read The Grownup earlier this year, and while I've heard a lot of great things about Gone Girl I'm actually a lot more intrigued by her debut novel, Sharp Objects. Besides, if Gone Girl is her best novel yet I might as well start from the beginning and make my way through her work that way!

Let Me Tell You: New Stories, Essays, and Other Writings by Shirley Jackson: Shirley Jackson's my favourite horror writer, and this year a new collection of some previously unseen stories and non-fiction was published, edited by her son and daughter. I think it has a gorgeous cover, and I really want it for my growing Jackson collection!

Worlds Elsewhere: Journeys Around Shakespeare's Globe by Andrew Dickson: Expect to see a lot of Shakespeare around in 2016, as it marks 400 years since his death. In this book Andrew Dickson explores Shakespeare's impact all around the world, and why he's still so popular - it sounds really interesting, and if you've been following my blog for a while you'll know this year is the year I've really gotten into non-fiction.

Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley by Charlotte Gordon: Another non-fiction book about two fascinating ladies. Mary Shelley is one of my heroes - I think Frankenstein is a masterpiece - and Mary Wollstonecraft is a woman I want to learn more about, so this book sounds very cool.

Which books made your list this week?

16 Books I Want to Read in 2016

There are some books I'm always talking about wanting to read, and yet I never get to them. I don't know if it's because they fall to the wayside of newer releases or I'm hesitant to pick them up after waiting so long to read them in the first place, or perhaps a mix of the two, but in 2016 there are some books I'm determined to get to.

These are two classic feminist texts I'm ashamed to say I haven't read yet, and two books Mallory @ The Local Muse is always recommending to me. Now I'm taking part in The Women's Classic Literature Event I have even more reason to read them, and I want to get to them soon. I haven't read any Sylvia Plath yet, so The Bell Jar is a must, and so far the only Margaret Atwood book I've read is The Penelopiad; I'd really like to read Alias Grace, too, but I have to cross The Handmaid's Tale off my TBR!

I'm sure most of you know by now how much I love Sarah Waters, and now I only have two of her six published novels left to read - until she releases her next book! The Night Watch is told backwards, which should be interesting to read, and as The Paying Guests is a bit of a chunker I'm looking forward to diving into it.

Somehow I still haven't read The Raven Boys, and with the final book in this series, The Raven King, coming out in 2016, I think it's about time I got to it! I also still haven't got to Station Eleven despite buying it in January, and I really need to read it as it's one of my friend Elena's favourite books.

I've read sections of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and I've seen the BBC mini series of North and South, so I'm familiar with both stories, but I want to read them both. I'm a big fan of Anne Brontë and Elizabeth Gaskell, so I can get to both of these in 2016 I'll be a happy bunny!

Among Others and The Shadow of the Wind are two of those books I'm always hearing fantastic things about, and yet despite owning both of them I still haven't read them. Both of them are books about books, so I'm very excited to cross them off my TBR!

I've heard a lot of great things about Americanah, and I'm eager to read some of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's fiction after I read We Should All Be Feminists earlier this year. I'm hoping to find a copy of Reading Lolita in Tehran under the Christmas tree, because it sounds fantastic.

The Crimson Petal and the White and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell are two beasts in the historical fiction world, and though they both intimidate me they're both books I want to read. I've heard nothing but good things about The Crimson Petal and the White, and I love my historical fiction with a dash of magic. Hopefully I can get to both of these!

Similarly, No Name and The Count of Monte Cristo are both GIANT classics. I've been telling myself I'm going to read The Count of Monte Cristo for far too long, I really need to cross it off my TBR, and I only discovered No Name this year but I love Wilkie Collins and I think it sounds brilliant. These classics both deal with revenge, and I love me a good revenge story every once in a while.

So those are some of the books I'd like to read in 2016. Are there any books you're determined to cross off your TBR next year?

Review | Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

Tipping the Velvet

by Sarah Waters

My Rating: 

This delicious, steamy debut novel chronicles the adventures of Nan King, who begins life as an oyster girl in the provincial seaside town of Whitstable and whose fortunes are forever changed when she falls in love with a cross-dressing music-hall singer named Miss Kitty Butler. 

When Kitty is called up to London for an engagement on "Grease Paint Avenue", Nan follows as her dresser and secret lover, and, soon after, dons trousers herself and joins the act. In time, Kitty breaks her heart, and Nan assumes the guise of butch roue to commence her own thrilling and varied sexual education - a sort of Moll Flanders in drag - finally finding friendship and true love in the most unexpected places.

Check out my reviews of Affinity, Fingersmith and The Little Stranger!

I've been slowly but surely making my way through Sarah Waters' novels; I'd already read Affinity, Fingersmith and The Little Stranger, so when I was in the mood for another Sarah Waters story I thought it was about time I picked up her debut. I'm sad to report that this is probably my least favourite of Waters' novels so far, but that doesn't mean I didn't like it.

Firstly, I think having read Fingersmith and The Little Stranger this year and adoring them both - I loved The Little Stranger an unbelievable amount - I couldn't go into Waters' debut with huge expectations because, as with most writers, her skill as a storyteller has improved with each novel. So far she's published six novels, The Paying Guests being her most recent release, and this year I read her third and fifth novels, so to go back to her first is quite a jump.

For anyone unfamiliar with Sarah Waters, she writes primarily queer historical fiction; five of her six published novels have queer female protagonists, and even the main female protagonist of The Little Stranger can be read as queer if you like. In terms of sexual diversity in historical fiction, Sarah Waters is a fantastic voice, and with Tipping the Velvet she burst into the literary world with an action-packed, steamy lesbian romp of a novel.

Something I must say is that, of the novels I've read so far, Tipping the Velvet is the most sexually explicit, the title itself is Victorian slang for cunnilingus, so if that kind of thing makes you uncomfortable I'd definitely recommend you stay away from this one. There's a lot of sex in this book; I don't think it's gratuitous, the novel itself is basically a young girl's sexual coming (pardon the pun) of age story, but it's certainly a large part of the book so if you do find reading about sex uncomfortable I don't think this book is for you.

One of the things I loved most about Tipping the Velvet was how I couldn't have possibly guessed what was going to happen. It begins in the small town of Whitstable where eighteen year old oyster girl Nancy Astley sees Kitty Butler, a cross-dressing music-hall singer, performing at her local theatre and falls hopelessly in love with her. The story moves quickly; before we know it Nancy has followed Kitty to London as her dresser, and her story progresses from there and turns into a different story every few chapters. There is such a difference between the opening chapter and the final chapter, and I got the sense that Waters had a lot of fun writing this book.

The book actually takes place over a number of years; by the end of the novel Nancy is twenty-four, and she certainly has a lot of adventures in those six years. Sarah Waters has said that some of her favourite books to read are classic Victorian novels, and Tipping the Velvet feels like a tip of the hat to all those classic novels which were initially serialised; Nancy goes through so much that I could imagine her story being told in small, dramatic installments over a few months.

I did enjoy this novel, but I didn't love it, and that's mainly because of Nancy. I wouldn't say I disliked Nancy - in the world of historical fiction she's a very interesting heroine - but I found it hard to relate to her, and some of the decisions she made had me wanting to shake her. She frustrated me a lot more than the other heroines I've encountered in Waters' stories, and if I don't completely like a main character I'm not going to love her story. Plus, as I mentioned above, Tipping the Velvet is her debut novel, and I didn't think it was quite as accomplished as some of her later work in terms of the way it's written; because it's all written in hindsight, with an older Nancy telling us her story, I found some sections of it to be told a lot more than shown, so I couldn't immerse myself in the story as much as I could with some of her other novels.

That being said, there are so many books out there about men having lots of sex and treating women terribly and 'finding themselves' that it was really refreshing to read a book about a woman who has more than one sexual partner, and doesn't apologise for it. Ultimately I think I liked what this story was doing more than the story itself, but I did like it even if I didn't like it as much as some of Waters' other work.

I'm glad I read it, though, and I'm looking forward to crossing The Night Watch and The Paying Guests off my TBR in the new year!

If sex doesn't bother you and you want to try out some of Waters work then, with this being her debut, I think Tipping the Velvet is a good place to start. If not, personally I think one of the best ways to introduce yourself to Waters' work is to read Fingersmith.

This Week in Books | 16/12/15

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

NOW: This morning I started Val McDermid's non-fiction book, Forensics, in which she looks at how real scientists solve crimes. I'm fascinated by the idea of a writer of crime fiction exploring real crime - something I'm sure she does regularly when she's researching her novels - and so far I'm enjoying it. It's very readable, and I find forensic science really interesting.

THEN: Recently I was in the mood for another Sarah Waters book, so I decided to pick up her debut, Tipping the Velvet. Look out for my review on Friday!

NEXT: I'm in a really non-fiction mood right now, and there's so much I want to try and read before the end of the year, but I think I might at least start making my way through The Creation of Anne Boleyn, in which Susan Bordo explores the ways in which Anne Boleyn has been perceived, from whore to saint. Anne Boleyn is one of my favourite figures from history - I find her so, so interesting, and I'm fascinated by the fact that everyone has an opinion about her, and yet none of us will ever really know what she was like.

What are you reading?

Top Ten Tuesday | Best Books of 2015

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 Best Books I Read in 2015', and considering how wonderful this past reading year has been I had a lot of books to choose from. There were a few graphic novels I loved this year too, but to make things a little easier for myself I decided to leave them out and just talk about traditional novels instead.

I've put these in the order I read them because I couldn't possibly rank them, although there are one or two that have made it onto my all-time favourite books list!

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent: This is the very first book I read this year, and it started a year of fantastic reading for me. It's a brilliant read for the winter months, so now is a perfect time to pick it up! It'll break your heart, but it's beautifully written.

My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland: This book made my list because it took me by surprise. I expected to like it - it sounded fun, and I loved the cover - but I flew through it and just loved it. It's such a great urban fantasy read!

Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Another one that took me completely by surprise and wrung me out so it could collect all of my emotions in a little tin bucket. This is my favourite book of 2015. There. I said it. It's also a book that I'm desperate for more people to read, because other than my friend Natalie @ A Sea Change I haven't seen any other bloggers talking about it and it's so good. Please read it!

How To Be a Heroine by Samantha Ellis: I was really disappointed when this memoir ended. I just really enjoyed it, and if you're a fan of literary heroines I think you'd like it a lot, too. I know some people aren't keen on non-fiction, but I can promise you that this is a truly excellent memoir.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: Yup. I finally read To Kill a Mockingbird this year and I loved it. It's such a shame that Harper Lee never wrote anything else. (Yes, I know there's Go Set a Watchman, but don't let publishers trick you - it's not a sequel, it's basically a manuscript of what To Kill a Mockingbird might have been if her editor hadn't told her to write more about Scout's childhood.) In Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear Elizabeth Gilbert talks a little bit about Harper Lee, and how the huge success that was To Kill a Mockingbird made Harper Lee afraid to write anything else because it could never be as good. I wish people didn't ask authors - or anyone in any sort of field - how they're going to 'top' their biggest success. You can't top your biggest success, that's why it's your biggest success, and I hope writers who do well continue to write for their own enjoyment like J.K. Rowling has done.

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison: Another book that is one of the very best I've read this year. It's perfection. I've been wary of high fantasy for a couple of years, I found myself struggling to get into it as easily as I used to, but this I adored. I fell into this world and I was genuinely gutted when it was over. Maia is definitely my favourite character of the year.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters: I bloody loved The Little Stranger, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I read that final page. If you like ghost stories, particularly ghost stories set in old houses, you'll like this.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli: Definitely the best YA book I've read this year, and another one that took me completely by surprise. I knew people were rating it highly but, and I mean this with the greatest respect, I see a lot of readers on Goodreads rate every YA book they read 5 stars, so I was expecting this to be, well, like every other YA book out there. Boy was I wrong. It's so funny and realistic and just a genuinely good book. Loved it!

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton: Like Burial Rites, The Miniaturist is another gorgeous historical fiction debut. I loved it a lot, and I can't wait for Burton's next novel, The Muse.

Winter by Marissa Meyer: I couldn't not have this book on my list. It's not my favourite book in The Lunar Chronicles - that's probably Cress - but it did bring to an end one of my favourite series, so I had to include it!

Which books made your list this week?

My Non-Fiction TBR

I've really gotten into non-fiction this year, and though I've read more non-fiction this year than I ever thought I'd read there's still so much I'd like to read - the more I read, the more I discover! So, here are some of the non-fiction books I'd like to cross off my TBR soon.

The Creation of Anne Boleyn: In Search of the Tudors' Most Notorious Queen

by Susan Bordo

Part biography, part cultural history, The Creation of Anne Boleyn is a fascinating reconstruction of Anne's life and an illuminating look at her afterlife in the popular imagination.

Why is Anne so compelling? Why has she inspired such extreme reactions? What did she really even look like?! And perhaps the most provocative questions concern Anne's death more than her life. How could Henry order the execution of a once beloved wife? Drawing on scholarship and popular culture Bordo probes the complexities of one of history's most infamous relationships.

In her inimitable, straight-talking style Bordo dares to confront the established histories, stepping off the well-trodden paths of Tudoriana to expertly tease out the human being behind the myths.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Women Writers Explore Their Favorite Fairy Tales

ed. by Kate Bernheimer

Fairy tales are one of the most enduring forms of literature, their plots retold and characters reimagined for centuries. In this elegant and thought-provoking collection of original essays, Kate Bernheimer brings together twenty-eight leading women writers to discuss how these stories helped shape their imaginations, their craft, and our culture. In poetic narratives, personal histories, and penetrating commentary, the assembled authors bare their soul and challenge received wisdom. Eclectic and wide-ranging, Mirror, Mirror on the Wall is essential reading for anyone who has ever been bewitched by the strange and fanciful realm of fairy tales.

Witches: A Tale of Sorcery, Scandal and Seduction

by Tracy Borman

September 1613.

In Belvoir Castle, the heir of one of England’s great noble families falls suddenly and dangerously ill. His body is ‘tormented’ with violent convulsions. Within a few short weeks he will suffer an excruciating death. Soon the whole family will be stricken with the same terrifying symptoms. The second son, the last male of the line, will not survive.

It is said witches are to blame. And so the Earl of Rutland’s sons will not be the last to die.

Witches traces the dramatic events which unfolded at one of England’s oldest and most spectacular castles four hundred years ago. The case is among those which constitute the European witch craze of the 15th-18th centuries, when suspected witches were burned, hanged, or tortured by the thousand. Like those other cases, it is a tale of superstition, the darkest limits of the human imagination and, ultimately, injustice – a reminder of how paranoia and hysteria can create an environment in which nonconformism spells death. But as Tracy Borman reveals here, it is not quite typical. The most powerful and Machiavellian figure of the Jacobean court had a vested interest in events at Belvoir.He would mastermind a conspiracy that has remained hidden for centuries.

The Bookshop Book

by Jen Campbell

Every bookshop has a story.

We’re not talking about rooms that are just full of books. We’re talking about bookshops in barns, disused factories, converted churches and underground car parks. Bookshops on boats, on buses, and in old run-down train stations. Fold-out bookshops, undercover bookshops, this-is-the-best-place-I’ve-ever-been-to-bookshops.

Meet Sarah and her Book Barge sailing across the sea to France; meet Sebastien, in Mongolia, who sells books to herders of the Altai mountains; meet the bookshop in Canada that’s invented the world’s first antiquarian book vending machine. 

And that’s just the beginning. 

From the oldest bookshop in the world, to the smallest you could imagine, The Bookshop Book examines the history of books, talks to authors about their favourite places, and looks at over three hundred weirdly wonderful bookshops across six continents (sadly, we’ve yet to build a bookshop down in the South Pole).

The Bookshop Book is a love letter to bookshops all around the world.

Losing Israel

by Jasmine Donahaye

During a phone call to her mother Jasmine Donahaye stumbled upon the collusion of her kibbutz family in the displacement of Palestinians in 1948 - and earlier, in the 1930s. She set out to learn the facts behind this revelation, and her discoveries challenged everything she thought she knew about the country and her family, transforming her understanding of Israel, and of herself.

In a moving and honest account that spans travel writing, nature writing and memoir, Losing Israel explores the powerful attachments people have to place and to contested national stories. Moving between Wales and Israel, and attempting to reconcile her conflicted feelings rooted in difficult family history and a love of Israel's birds, the author asks challenging questions about homeland and belonging, and the power of stories to shape a landscape.

Flappers: Six Women of a Dangerous Generation

by Judith Mackrell

Glamorized, mythologized and demonized - the women of the 1920s prefigured the 1960s in their determination to reinvent the way they lived. Flappers is in part a biography of that restless generation: starting with its first fashionable acts of rebellion just before the Great War, and continuing through to the end of the decade when the Wall Street crash signal led another cataclysmic world change. It focuses on six women who between them exemplified the range and daring of that generation’s spirit.

Diana Cooper, Nancy Cunard, Tallulah Bankhead, Zelda Fitzgerald, Josephine Baker and Tamara de Lempicka were far from typical flappers. Although they danced the Charleston, wore fashionable clothes and partied with the rest of their peers, they made themselves prominent among the artists, icons, and heroines of their age. Talented, reckless and willful, with personalities that transcended their class and background, they re-wrote their destinies in remarkable, entertaining and tragic ways. And between them they blazed the trail of the New Woman around the world.

Reading Lolita in Tehran

by Azar Nafisi

Every Thursday morning in a living room in Iran, over tea and pastries, eight women meet in secret to discuss forbidden works of Western literature. As they lose themselves in the worlds of Lolita, The Great Gatsby andPride and Prejudice, gradually they come to share their own stories, dreams and hopes with each other, and, for a few hours, taste freedom. Azar Nafisi's bestselling memoir is a moving, passionate testament to the transforming power of books, the magic of words and the search for beauty in life's darkest moments.

Are there any non-fiction books you'd like to read soon?