Showing posts with label sarah schmidt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sarah schmidt. Show all posts

Tuesday, 19 September 2017

Top Ten Tuesday | My Autumn TBR


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!


This week's theme is all about our Autumn TBRs, and if you've been following my blog for a while you'll know I love me a seasonal TBR. Even if I don't get around to all of the books on my TBR, and I often don't because I'm very much a mood reader, I really enjoy making themed lists because I'm that sad.

As I'm sure a lot of readers do, I love to read spooky books in the autumn close to Halloween, but something about the autumn also always puts me in the mood for books set in the 19th century. I don't know what it is; I guess it's rare to come across a summery 19th century book, most historical fiction set in this era likes to portray it as cold and gloomy and it makes for ideal autumn reading.



The Good People by Hannah Kent: Considering how much I loved Kent's debut, Burial Rites (reviewed here), I definitely should have read this one by now but I haven't been in the mood to pick it up yet. It sounds like it'll make for a great autumn read, though!

Things Half in Shadow by Alan Finn: Set in 19th century Philadelphia, this novel follows a crime reporter who sets out to expose the spiritualists of the city as frauds, but when the city's only supposedly genuine medium is murdered mid-séance he sets out to catch the killer. This sounds like the perfect book to read around Halloween.

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood: I've been meaning to read this one for years and still haven't, but I'd love to read it this year - especially as there's a new adaptation, starring Anna Paquin, coming to Netflix in September!

Falling Creatures by Katherine Stansfield: This 2017 release is right up my alley: it's historical, it's based on a true murder and it's set in Cornwall. The paperback is being released in October and I'd like to get my hands on a copy, unless the kindle edition becomes a little cheaper beforehand...

See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt: This one sounds fairly similar to Alias Grace, again focusing on a 19th century murderess, but in See What I Have Done Sarah Schmidt has chosen to explore the famous Lizzie Borden. I've received an eARC from NetGalley that I really want to read and review, but I haven't been in the mood for a book this dark yet - the sun's shining too brightly!



The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry: I've owned a copy of this since its publication and have heard amazing things about it, and I think it's the hype that's made me hesitant to read it thus far but it sounds like it'll be a great autumnal read!

Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho: I've owned this one for a while now and still haven't read it because, unfortunately, I haven't seen great reviews so far - I'm still very interested in it, though!

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Moreno-Garcia's debut, Signal to Noise, is one of my favourite novels and I really enjoyed her sophomore novel, Certain Dark Things, too. Now Moreno-Garcia's third novel is a Fantasy of Manners and I can't wait to dive into it!

A Murder in Time by Julie McElwain: I haven't seen the best reviews of this one, but it's about an FBI agent who finds herself in the 19th century after stumbling into a stairwell. Forced to adapt to the time period until she can work out how to get back to her own time, she can put her skills to good use when a young woman is murdered. I'm really intrigued by the idea of a modern day FBI agent dealing with a historical murder case.

Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng: Firstly, that cover is gorgeous, and secondly, this novel is about missionaries in the land of fae. Why wouldn't I want to read it?

Which books made your list this week?

Wednesday, 10 May 2017

This Week in Books | 10/05/17


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


Now: I've returned to one of my favourite authors, Daphne du Maurier, to read My Cousin Rachel ahead of the film adaptation starring Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin which is due to be released next month. I'm enjoying it so far, but that's no surprise - du Maurier's work is always a treat.

Then: I picked up The Doll's Alphabet after receiving it from Moth Box, and after recently reading Diving Belles (reviewed here) I was in the mood to read more short story collections. I read a little bit from this to get the feel for what it was like and then couldn't put it down, but I can't say I loved it. Camilla Grudova writes beautifully, her stories read like weird, grotesque dreams and there were some stories I don't think I quite 'got'. I did like it, though - look out for my review soon!

Next: Natalie @ A Sea Change and I are taking part in our own version of Elena @ Elena Read Books' BookBuddyAthon - check out my TBR here! - and this is the book Nat chose for me out of three options I gave her, all of which I've received to review from NetGalley. See What I Have Done is a novelisation of the story of Lizzie Borden, and as I recently watched a documentary about murder in the 19th century I'm definitely in the mood to pick this up. However, The Doll's Alphabet was very dark and My Cousin Rachel is quite gloomy so far, so I might opt for something more cheerful once I've finished My Cousin Rachel.

What are you reading?

Sunday, 7 May 2017

BookBuddyAthon TBR!

The BookBuddyAthon is back! Hosted by Elena @ Elena Reads Books over on Book Tube, this is a week-long readathon that encourages you to read with a friend and, luckily, I've managed to rope the lovely Natalie @ A Sea Change into doing this with me.

Unfortunately Nat and I are both a tad too busy to try and complete five reading challenges in a week, so we're bending the rules a little; we're going to take on the BookBuddyAthon challenges and try to complete them by the end of the year. We like taking things at our own pace, as right now I have a busy job and Nat's in the midst of a PhD, so deadlines make us twitch.



Essentially the five books we pick for this challenge we need to try and finish by the end of the year. Will it be the end of the world if we don't? No, but I hope we can!

Read a book with your buddy


Nat and I have chosen The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry, which has been absolutely everywhere lately. We both love historical fiction and we both love ladies pursuing science when everyone else is telling them they shouldn't be. I've heard quite mixed reviews so far, so I'm keen to see what I think of it and I'm hoping Nat likes it - I got her copy for her for Christmas, so I hope I didn't choose a rubbish book for her!

Read a book that's your buddy's favourite colour


Nat's favourite colours are blue and red, so I decided to go with my edition of The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood because I'm ashamed to admit I still haven't read it. I've heard fantastic things about the recent adaptation but I'm determined to read the book first. I do want to read it, I just know it's going to make me angry and upset.

Read a book that begins with your buddy's first initial


I was quite surprised by how few books I own that begin with 'n', but I'm going to listen to the audio book of A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan (NATural - I get bonus points!) which is a book Nat actually recommended to me very recently, so it feels fitting to go with this one and read about more ladies who love science.

Choose 3 books on your TBR and read the book your buddy picks for you


I decided to give Nat three of my NetGalley reads to choose from because, as always, I'm behind with my reviews: Gone by Min Kym, New Boy by Tracy Chevalier or See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt. Nat chose See What I Have Done, a novelisation of the story of Lizzie Borden, which also happens to be the book I was leaning towards most, too, so I'm very happy with that choice! I'm hoping it'll give me Burial Rites vibes.

Read something you feel like reading


A nice and simple challenge! For this one I'm choosing The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman because Nat very kindly bought it for me a couple of Christmases ago and I still haven't read it which is ridiculous because I'm sure I'm going to enjoy it.

Are you taking part in the BookBuddyAthon?