April 2023 TBR

I did roll for my April TBR earlier this month, but I now I would like to concentrate on reading the books I bought in the past couple of months. So, of course I am going to do a combination!

So, I will have a bunch of books that I rolled for that I would still like to read this month, some of which are NetGalley ARCs (which I am not sure why I am doing that to myself again – but they are ones I am actually really interested in!) and then I will add a number of new books.

So, the ones I rolled for that I will read are:

• Small Worlds (Caleb Azumah Nelson) – NetGalley e-book
• Second Star: And Other Reasons for Lingering (Philippe Delerm) – NetGalley e-book
• Drinkers of the Wind (Carl Raswan) – Hardback that has been on my TBR for twenty years! It’s a memoir about living among the Bedouin and their horses in the 1940s I believe.
• Cranford (Elizabeth Gaskell) – I have the paperback, but will be listening to the audio book.
• Ship of Destiny (Robin Hobb)
• Silver Under Nightfall (Rin Chupeco)

Apart from those I am definitely planning to read:

• Dragonfall (L R Lam) – NetGalley e-book

And hopefully a number of these, but I don’t want commit to any in particular:

I also have Book One of The Sandman by Neil Gaiman, but I forgot to add it to the stack, as my husband has been looking at it. That’s an option as well.

The other books that I rolled for earlier in the month will get read in May or June. They will just get moved up a bit. They still stand. I just need a bit of space to moodread, even if it’s from a fixed stack. It’s actually good I have left this stack out, cause it makes me notice them and it makes me want to pick them up!

By the way, Entangled Life is a non-fiction about fungi – perfect The Last of Us vibes 🤣.

Advertisement

Spring 2023 TBR

My spring season include Q2, so the months of April, May and June. I set a seasonal TBR of 9 books.

This spring I had to include some NetGalley books, as I requested a few earlier this year and towards the end of last year. Anyway, let’s get to the 9 books I want/need to read over the next few months.

1 – Small World (Caleb Azumah Nelson)

This is one of the said eARCs from NetGalley. I never got around to Open Water, his debut novel, but when I saw this one up for request, I knew I wanted to read it. I am very excited about this one.

2 – Dragonfall (L R Lam)

A fantasy book about dragons. Give me more! An easy request from NetGalley and one I am excited to get to. It has a release date for early May so I will probably read it in the latter half of April.

3 – Where Ivy Dares To Grow (Marielle Thompson)

A time travel novel that I ended up requesting. This one is due at the end of June. It sounded like a good read and one I would enjoy.

***

Let’s continue with some books from my 2023 TBR that I would like to read in Spring.

4 – The Makioka Sisters (Jun’ichirō Tanizaki)

I read a short non-fiction essay collection by this author and absolutely loved it, so I put this one on my 2023 TBR. It’s quite a big book and will likely take some time to read. However, I am confident that the writing will be beautiful and I am looking forward to it. I am tentatively planning this one for May.

5 – When All Is Said (Anne Griffin)

This one is set in June, so I will try and read it in June. This book sounds a bit existential, so I better be in a good mood at the time!

6 – A Good Scot is Hard to Find (Angeline Fortin)

I read the first book in this series (A Scot to Remember) was a pleasant surprise. I expected one thing from the cover and it really was much more than that. This is a historical romance with time travel elements. I guess a bit like Outlander, but I wouldn’t know – I haven’t read Outlander! I think I will enjoy a bit of a lighter book that still has a bit of substance to it. It will make a nice change.

***

And finally, I want to add three fantasy series I want to continue.

7 – Ship of Destiny (Robin Hobb)

I am hoping to finish this trilogy in April. I’ve really enjoyed the first two books, so hopefully this one will be just as great!

8. Starsight (Brandon Sanderson)

I plan on continuing (and hopefully finishing) the Skyward series this spring.

9. Bearers of the Black Staff (Terry Brooks)

I am hoping to finish the current series I am reading by Terry Brooks this month and then I hope to continue with the next series in the chronological order of reading the Shannara books, which is the Legends of Shannara. This is actually one I have never read before, so I am looking forward to it.

***

I am so looking forward to reading those 9 books!

I will be posting my April and possibly May TBR some time in the next week.

What are you reading this spring?

March 2023 TBR

I have really been enjoying a rigid TBR recently. I have been reading recent purchases far more quickly, because I do my best to fit them in and besides that I read random backlist books that fit in. It seems to work for me for the moment.

1. Bought 2019: I actually did a random number generator for this one as I was not sure what I wanted to read. I ended up with An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears and I think I will stick with that one. As far as I can tell it’s an historical fiction. It is not a book I was likely to pick up any time soon, so this is a good excuse. (paperback)

2. Black or white spine: I actually already started the book that I chose for this prompt in Februay, knowing it would run into March anyway. I am listening to Zofloya, or the Moor by Charlotte Dacre on audio. I have the Oxford World’s Classic edition, which has a white spine. On my 2023 TBR. (audio/ebook)

3. Nature related title: I chose To The River by Olivia Laing for this prompt. It’s a non-fiction book to do with nature and walking and all sorts I think. It should be a book I enjoy. It is included in my Audible membership, so I will probably listen to it. I do also have the e-book, which has been on my Kindle for a couple of years. (audio/ebook)

4. Blue to green spine: I chose the last book left on my Winter TBR, which is Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges. I was glad I was able to fit this one in rather easily! It is also on my 2023 TBR. (paperback)

5. Number generator: I have 15 books in a list that I really want to read and when I get this prompt I randomly generate one of them. This time it landed on My Grandmother Sends her Regards and Apologises by Fredrik Backman, a recent sales buy. (ebook)

6. Continue series: A great prompt to come up! I will likely read the second book in the Genesis of Shannara series by Terry Brooks, which is The Elves of Cintra. I am looking forward to this one! It is a re-read. (paperback)

7. Standalone: I chose Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake for this one. It is the last book I bought and I just want to read it! (hardback)

8. Translated: I am planning to read Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo for this prompt, another 2023 purchase and a book that is on my 2023 TBR. (paperback)

9. Young adult: I recently got the Skyward series by Brandon Sanderson, so I am going to start that with the first book, Skyward. (paperback)

10. Number generator: second time for March. I chose Violets by Alex Hyde for this one. It’s a short book and I have heard such good things. (ebook)

***

I am very happy with that TBR. There is a 500+ page book (Skyward) and an almost 700 page book (An Instance of the Fingerpost), but also some shorter books, so hopefully they will balance each other out nicely.

February TBR

TBR number two! Can’t believe January is almost over already.

I have two books on the go. I am 85% into Shield Maiden by Sharon Emmerichs, which is a NetGalley eARC and I have just over an hour left in Mudlarking by Lara Maiklem. I am not sure whether I will finish either of them today, but they are not included in my February TBR. I will start on my Feb TBR once I have finished those, which will most likely be tomorrow anyway.

I used my board halfway through January to set my Feb TBR, but ended up finishing my January TBR early and already read two of the books that had been on my TBR for Feb. I know, I am so efficient *sarcasm at work*, so I added two more rolls to make an even ten again. So, what were the prompts that came up?

1. Seasonal or Year TBR: so, a book that was on a longer term TBR. Always good when this one comes up. I decided to go with The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb for this one. It is on my Winter TBR and I can’t wait to continue with The Liveship Traders trilogy! (paperback)

2. Translated book: I actually took Amazon up on their First Reads offer for the first time this month and I found a couple of books that looked good. For this prompt I have decided to go with The Fires by Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir. It’s translated from the Icelandic and just sounds like a book I would really enjoy. I don’t think I have read an Icelandic book before, so that’s exciting! (eBook)

3. Black or white spine: For this one I have decided to with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson. I have a white edition. I may listen to this one on audio. I am not sure whether this one will be for me, but I am going to find out! (paperback/audio)

4. Sci-Fi: Now I don’t have a ton of sci-fi on my shelves, but it is a genre I’d like to delve into a bit more. Again, Amazon had a book that fitted this prompt that sounded good to me. The book is Meru by S B Divya. Just the tagline “One woman and her pilot are about to change the future of the species in an epic space opera about aspiration, compassion, and redemption” was enough for me. I hope I will love it! (eBook)

5. Published 2000-2015: I have decided to go with The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon for this one. I have been meaning to read it for a good while. I have the paperback, but I think I will listen to the audio book for this one.

6. Middle Grade: I am going with Coraline by Neil Gaiman for this one. I’ve had it on my shelf or a while and I wanted a shorter book to balance out some of the bigger books I am reading this month. (paperback)

7. Standalone: I was going to go with a different book, but I ended up going with All the Horses of Iceland by Sarah Tolmie. It is a novel that is on my Winter TBR and I prefer to read it when it’s still actually winter. If I read it next month it may start edging towards spring. I feel it’s time. This is another shorter book. (paperback)

8. Cover with a structure on it: I had a few options, but I have put Specters by Radwa Ashour on my TBR. It is a book I bought this month and it would be nice to not let it linger. It’s translated from Arabic and I think it’s set in Egypt and centres around two women, both professors. It sounds super interesting to me. (paperback)

9. Middle Grade: TBC. My second middle grade this month. I am not sure what to go with yet. It depends on how my other reads go, so I will leave this one blank for now.

10. Bought 2017/2018: Always good when a prompt like this comes up and I go back and check what books I bought in those years that I haven’t read yet. I decided to go with an e-book and I felt like some fantasy kind of fare. I put The Tiger and the Wolf by Adrian Tchaikovsky on my priority list a few weeks ago and this seems like the perfect excuse to read it. It’s been lingering on my Kindle since 2017!

***

Do you have any specific reading plans or are you winging it in February?

Happy reading!

23 for 2023 TBR

The books I chose for my yearly TBR may appear a bit random, but they all fulfill prompts for a few reading challenges I am participating in, like the Buzzwordathon and a classics challenge.

So, these are the 23 books I really hope to read this year. There are lots of translated works and classics, but also quite a few really random choices. I kind of like it that way. 😊

• Still Life (Louise Penny)
• We Hunt the Flame (Hafsah Faizal)
• The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
• How to be Happy (Eva Woods)
• Driving Over Lemons (Chris Stewart)
• My Family and Other Animals (Gerald Durrell)
• Snow Like Ashes (Sara Raasch)
• A Ghost in the Throat (Doireann Ni Ghriofa)
• The Angel’s Game (Carlos Ruiz Zafon)
• Spellslinger (Sebastien de Castell)
• A Good Scot is Hard to Find (Angeline Fortin)
• When All is Said (Ann Griffin)
• Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
• Mansfield Park (Jane Austen)
• Carmilla (J Sheridan Le Fanu)
• The Makioka Sisters (Junichiro Tanizaki)
• Near To The Heart (Clarice Lispector)
• Zofloya, or the Moor (Charlotte Dacre)
• Fictions (Jorge Luis Borges)
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Hunter S Thompson)
• The Moon is Down (John Steinbeck)
• Pedro Páramo (Juan Rulfo)
• Apocalypse Postponed (Umberto Eco)

January TBR

Happy New Year, lovely bookish folk!

I am planning to have proper TBRs over 2023 to keep my reading on track. My first TBR of 2023 is 10 books long (gulp!). I set it using my TBR game, which is encouraging me to think outside the box. In months where I feel mood reading may be better I will probably still set a small TBR. I don’t think 10-book TBRs will be the norm throughout the year, but it’s January and I feel like I’m rearing to go!

I will include the prompts I landed on and the book I chose.

1. Adult book: Darkfever (Karen Marie Moning) – I got this as an ebook in 2022 and I may as well tick it off right away. I hope it’s decent! It should be a quick read in any case. (ebook)

2. Colour generator (light blue): Migrations (Charlotte McConaghy) – Another 2022 purchase, in paperback this time. I have been looking forward to this one, so easy pick. (paperback)

3. Unread Year: The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett) – I have not read any books from 1811 since I started my ‘Reading Through The Years challenge. I have this as ebook , but the audio book is free to listen to on Audible, so I will probably listen to it.

4. Yellow to red spine: TBC – I haven’t decided what to read for this prompt yet. I may let this be a mood read.

5. Highest GR rating: A Little Devil in America (Hanif Abdurraqib) – The perfect excuse to get to this non-fiction book. I have loved everything I have read by this author and (at 4.63) this was one of the highest rated books on my TBR. I will probably listen to it on audio, even if I do own the paperback as well. 2022 Purchase.

6. Flora or fauna on the cover: The Marriage Portrait (Maggie O’Farrell) – The hardback cover I own of this book has both flora AND fauna on the cover, and I have been looking forward to reading this one. Perfect! Another 2022 purchase.

7. Book published between 2000-2015: Armageddon’s Children (Terry Brooks) – Here starts my (mostly) re-read of Terry Brooks’ Shannara books. I am apprehensive, but excited. There’s a re-read order I am reading them in rather than publishing order. This one is a re-read. I originally read the book somewhere around 2015/2016 maybe?

8. Unlikely physical book: I have pulled three choices out of a hat – I can choose which one to read:

• Decider (Dick Francis)
• Luz (Elsa Osorio)
• Green Rider (Kristen Britain)

9. Unlikely e-book: Again, three choices:

• The Shogun’s Queen (Lesley Downer)
• The Visitor (Katherine Stansfield)
• Lifel1k3 (Jay Kristoff)

(The unlikely books are books that are not really very high up on my TBR and I would be unlikely to pick up otherwise)

10. Book bought 2017 or 2018: Snow Like Ashes (Sara Raasch) – I put this on my 2023 TBR to fulfil a prompt for a reading challenge. It fits here, so why not read it? I am not sure what to expect from this one.

***

This looks like a good start to the year to me!

Winter 2023 TBR

I am excited for 2023. New year, new chances. I love it! I haven’t quite finished deciding what to read for my January TBR, but I am ready to divulge my Winter TBR, which are 9 books I plan to read during the first quarter of 2023. Last year I put 12 books on my seasonal TBRs, but I think for 2023 I will do 9 to give myself a bit more space to wriggle!

• All The Horses of Iceland (Sarah Tolmie) – I bought way too many books in 2022 and I feel like I should really try and get some of those read. This was an easy pick as it just sounded like a good winter read. I can’t remember how I came across this one, but it sounded kind of weird and like I may love it.
• A Ghost in the Throat (Doireann Ni Ghriofa) – This one is also on my general 2023 TBR, which I have not quite finalized yet. I have the audio book and the paperback. It was a book I bought early on in 2022 and I kept meaning to read. I hope I will love this one.
• The Angel’s Game (Carlos Ruiz Zafon) – Another one that will be on my general 2023 TBR. I loved The Shadow of the Wind and always meant to continue. I decided it’s time!
• The Mad Ship (Robin Hobb) – I really enjoyed the first book the Liveship Traders series and I am excited to continue!
• The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett) – I have this as an e-book and for some reason it has been calling me. The audio book is included in my Audible subscription, so I may well listen to it.
• Fictions (Jorge Luis Borges) – I am doing a South American classics project in 2023 and this is the one I will likely start with. It will be on my 2023 TBR as well. I have a feeling I will love it. I am actually really excited in general about diving into South American literature a bit more.
• The Marriage Portrait (Maggie O’Farrell) – I can’t wait to read this one. I love this author’s writing style and storytelling. I have no doubt I will love it.
• Armageddon’s Children (Terry Brooks) – I would like to return to reading some Terry Brooks, the first fantasy author I truly devoured books from as a teenager twenty years ago. There is an alternate order of reading the books for people who have read them before, so I will be sticking to that. This is is the first book of the Genesis of Shannara trilogy and it’s the one it starts with. I last read this one about six years ago, I think. I am a little apprehensive as well as excited, because especially the first Shannara books meant so much to me when I was young. It will be strange to return to those eventually.
• Snow Like Ashes (Sara Raasch) – This one has been sitting on my shelves for ages, but it has been calling to me and it’s time to read it. I have no other reason, apart from that I am in a fantasy mood.

Now I will see how many of those I can fit on my January TBR as I am so excited to read all of those!

Buzzwordathon 2023 TBR Options

I quite enjoyed finding books for Booksandlala’s Buzwordathon this year, so when she released her video for next year’s I had to watch it and think about a TBR. Unlike last year, I will incorporate these books in my yearly TBR, so I don’t add TBRs on TBRs on TBRs. I want to have a more relaxing reading year in 2023. My 23 for 2023 TBR will be made up of this challenge and a classics challenge and I won’t actually make my post for that until I knew the categories of the Classics challenge. That should make for a good mix of books.

By the way, I won’t read these in order in their specified months, but just as and when the mood takes me.

So, let’s look at the challenges and I will add some options below. All are books already on my owned TBR (some digital/some physical):

JANUARY: Life / Death

• Still Life (Louise Penny
• Death at the Opera (Gladys Mitchell)
• The Death of Ivan Ilych (Leo Tolstoy)
• The Painter of Modern Life (Charles Baudelaire)

FEBRUARY: Verbs

• The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea (Yukio Mishima)
• The Silence that Remains (Ghassan Zaqtan)
• Play It As It Lays (Joan Didion)
• We Hunt The Flame (Hafsah Faisal)
• Call Down The Hawk (Maggie Stiefvater)
• What Lies Between Us (John Marrs)

MARCH: “Secret”

• The Secret River (Kate Grenville)
• The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
• Lady Audley’s Secret (Mary Elizabeth Braddon)

APRIL: Emotions (apparently very few of my books do emotions 🤣)

• How To Be Happy (Eva Woods)
• Malice (John Gwynne)
• Happiness for Beginners (Carole Matthews)

MAY: Flavours/Seasonings/Herbs

• Tasting Salt (Stephanie Dowrick)
• Driving Over Lemons (Chris Stewart)
• The Chocolate Lovers’ Wedding (Carole Matthews)
• Suite as Sugar and Other Stories (Camille Hernandez-Ramdwar)

JUNE: “Other”

• My Family and Other Animals (Gerald Durrell)
• Under the Banyan Tree and Other Stories (R K Narayan)
• Suite as Sugar and Other Stories (Camille Hernandez-Ramdwar)
• The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Stories (Edgar Allan Poe)
• The Enchanted Wanderer and Other Stories (Nikolai Leskov)

JULY: Weather

• The Ninth Rain (Jen Williams)
• Drinkers of the Wind (Carl Raswan)
• Isle of Winds (James Fahy)
• Embers on the Wind (Lisa Williamson Rosenberg)
• Snow Like Ashes (Sara Raasch)
• Lord of Snow and Shadows (Sarah Ash)

AUGUST: Body Parts

• The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Stories (Edgar Allan Poe)
• A Ghost in the Throat (Doireann Ni Ghriofa)
• The Crusades Through Arab Eyes (Amin Malouf)

SEPTEMBER: Game-Related Words

• The Angel’s Game (Carlos Ruiz Zafon)
• My First and Only Love (Sahar Khalifeh)
• Last Tang Standing (Lauren Ho)

OCTOBER: Magic and related words (all the Terrys! 😲)

• Magic Kingdom for Sale/Sold! (Terry Brooks) would be re-read
• The Colour of Magic (Terry Pratchett)
• Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)

NOVEMBER: “good” (I thought I would have more, but no… only two options, but that’s ok)

• The Good Daughter (Karen Slaughter)
• A Good Scot is Hard to Find (Angeline Fortin)

DECEMBER: sound-related

• When All is Said (Ann Griffin)
• The Screaming Staircase (Jonathan Stroud)
• Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair (Pablo Neruda)
• Birdsong (Sebastian Faulks)

***

I am not quite sure which books I am going to read for the challenges. If you have particular books you see above that you should think I should read, let me know!

End of Year TBR

Time to make an overview of the books I would still like to get to in 2022!

Let’s start with my 22 for 2022 TBR – which ones am I yet to read?

• Homegoing (Yaa Gyasi) – CURRENTLY READING!
• Fingersmith (Sarah Waters)
• It Ends With Us (Colleen Hoover)
• Lost Boy (Christina Henry)
• The Curse of the Raven (Nicholas Kotar)
• Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)

Unfortunately there are two big ones on there still, including one REALLY big one in Anna Karenina. I did start it, but found I wasn’t in the mood. I think my reading mojo has to be really good to get that one read. Perhaps around Christmas. I have it on this month’s TBR, but I don’t think I will get to it,

I have three books left on my Classics TBR, one of which is a double:

• Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen) – CURRENT AUDIO BOOK!
• Children of the Alley (Naguib Mahfouz)
• Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy) again!

I have two Christmassy reads planned for December as well:

• The Christmas Lights (Karen Swan)
• Stay Another Day (Juno Dawson)

The only other two books I have left on my seasonal TBR are:

• A River Dies of Thirst (Mahmoud Darwish)
• The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (David Mitchell)

On this month’s TBR I did have an ‘unlikely e-book’ as well. A random number generator gave the following books to choose from:

• The Handfasted Wife (Carol McGrath)
• Three Dark Crowns (Kendare Blake)
• Sealskin (Su Bristow)

With one being historical fiction, one YA fantasy and one kind of historical fiction, fantasy and magical realism rolled into one, I will let myself moodread and choose in the moment. If I had to choose one right this moment I would read The Handfasted Wife, but we will see.

***

So, I have a TBR of 13 books until the end of 2022, two of which are underway. In theory this should be doable, but it depends how my reading mojo holds up. I have a longer train trip planned next week, on which I will be taking my Kindle. Fingers crossed I will be able to get a good chunk of reading done.

***

What books are still on your TBR until the end of the year?

Autumn 2022 TBR

For me, autumn is the last quarter of the year, 1 October until New Year’s Eve.

My seasonal TBRs are always 12 books, four for each month, leaving me plenty of space for mood reading. Of course, this is the final quarter and my various TBRs need fulfilling! I am a bit behind on my 2022 TBR, but I have not but all the books on this TBR, even if I fully plan to read all of them.

I went with the following books:

• A River Dies of Thirst (Mahmoud Darwish) – This one has been on my last two seasonal TBRs and I still did not manage to get to it. I really want to though, so I will definitely prioritise.
• Children of the Alley (Naguib Mahfouz) – I haven’t read a book my Mahfouz yet this year and I want to correct that. This one is also on my Classics TBR for this year.
• The ABC Murders (Agatha Christie) – I will likely listen to this on audio, but this one is also on my Classics TBR.
• Fingersmith (Sarah Waters) – From my 2022 TBR. This actually sounds like the perfect autumn read.

• Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen) – Yes. Classics TBR. I think this one is quite gothic, so hopefully perfect for this time of year.
• Mrs Dalloway (Virginia Woolf) – You guessed it! Classics TBR!
• Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy) – THE big one. This one is on both my 2022 and Classics TBRs, so I really should get to it. I am very intimidated! I should just bite the bullet!
• Curse of the Raven (Nicholas Kotar) – This is a short one, but it’s on my 2022 TBR. I plan to read this one in October, as it works for the Buzzwordathon prompt.
• Homegoing ( Yaa Gyasi) – This one is on my 2022 TBR and works for the November Buzzwordathon prompt.

• The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (David Mitchell) – This one is outside any of my TBRs, but I’d like to read it anyway!
• Christmas Lights (Karen Swan) – Just felt like putting a couple of Christmas reads on here. This one I meant to read last year, but didn’t get to it, so I really should this year.
• Stay Another Day (Juno Dawson) – Another Christmas read to finish off my main autumn TBR.

HOWEVERRRRRRRR….

These are the other books still on my TBRs for 2022:

• Clean (Juno Dawson) – 2022 TBR
• The Wife Between Us (Hendricks/Pekkanen) – 2022 TBR
• Lost Boy (Christina Henry) – 2022 TBR
• It Ends With Us (Colleen Hoover) – 2022 TBR
• Room (Emma McDonoghue) – 2022 TBR
• The Chalk Man (C J Tudor) – 2022 TBR
• The Aeneid (Virgil) – Classics TBR

Is it doable to read those as well? Hopefully!