Most Anticipated Book Releases | May 2024

There are some exciting book releases coming up this month! 

This is what I’m looking forward to:


The titles above are books I haven’t read but I think I also should showcase the arcs I read that are releasing this month. So here they are:

What is your most anticipated book release this month?

The Tortured Poets Department: Anthology – My Thoughts

Well, it’s finally out, The Tortured Poets Department by Taylor Swift and it was a double album like she’s been hinting for so long with her 2’s. I’m Swiftie enough to follow all the easter eggs and clue and investigate things etc…I just go on TikTok and watch the people that do have theories – it’s fun but I don’t have the time! 😅 But I’ve been so curious about this album because of the grayscale or “greige” as she says in one song of her songs, it’s such a gloomy aesthetic. There is a lot of songs to process and just remember, this is just my interpretation of her songs and my first impressions. Everyone has their own and that’s all good! Let’s get into it:

  1. Fortnight (feat. Post Malone) – unexpected slow tempo, beat is very pop-synth, lyrics are interesting…(fortnight is 2 weeks – so is this about Matty Healy?!🤭 since they were so short lived in public last year), kinda thought Post Malone’s part would be more pronounced but I think I like it. This one is a grower I think.
  2. The Tortured Poets Department – slow tempo beat again, Matty again…”a tattooed golden retriever” lol…oh wow…this situationship she had with him really affected her – relatable!😅
  3. My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys – so far the beats feel the same, feels like one continuous song, slight differences here and there but tempo is the same and feels like the same song…”once I fix me, he’s gonna miss me” YUP…all the time. “stole my tortured heart, left all these broken parts” ouch.
  4. Down Bad – still kind of slow but I love the funky sounds it starts with – oh she said “fuck it if I can’t have him” – he really had her down bad! “I loved your hostile takeovers” – I felt that. He really screwed with her heart and brain. The ending sounds like a song from Lana Del Rey 🤔
  5. So Long, London – track 5? Will it break my heart? Love how it starts like bells chiming? Another slow one. Oh Joe…this one is sad and I think about their relationship or the ending of it. This one reminds me of Folklore and Evermore – and it makes sense because it’s co-written with Aaron Dessner and I LOVE her songs with him.
  6. But Daddy I Love Him – AH! this gives me Fearless/Love Story vibes and I love it! Another Aaron Dessner song. My favorite so far 🥰 maybe because it sounds so different from the first 5. Great lyrics – she even came for the fans who was going on and on about her and Matty “all this bitching and moaning” and that chaotic time! 😅 It is her life guys and girls, she’s grown enough to make her own mistakes and learn from it. Such a good song!!
  7. Fresh Out of the Slammer – back to slow but again, that guitar sound in the beginning and throughout giving me Lana vibes, maybe “Brooklyn Baby”?. She was in prison doing her time and now she’s out and running back to “him”. Whoa – tempo change.
  8. Florida!!! (feat. Florence + the Machine) – someone explain Florida to me, or the significance of it. She mentions Florida in Fortnight too. Love how this song is more hard hitting at some parts of the song, love Florence’s voice. What happened in Florida?! lol…🤷🏻‍♀️. I know this one has layers, I just can’t decode it right now. Also…I’m realizing all these guitar sounding/Lana vibes are Jack Antanoff songs which makes sense.
  9. Guilty as Sin? – she’s fantasizing! Ah! 🤭 Kind of reminds me of her song “I Can See You”…fantasies. Question is who is she fantasizing about? 👀
  10. Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me – ohhhh this one is good. She screams, finally! Reminds me of 1989 and I’m a 1989 girly. Love this song and the theme. “I was tame, I was gentle till the circus life made me mean”. Seems like she’s talking about the entertainment industry and how it’s changed her.
  11. I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) – another slow one that gives me Lana vibes – oh Matty how you had her in a chokehold. But so relatable. “I can fix him, no, really, I can and only I can.” Yes, I have been this delusional but not anymore. LOL..love that she comes to her senses at the end of the song!👏🏼👏🏼
  12. loml – giving me Evermore vibes – UGH, this one is so good and such a sad, heartbreaker song. Thank you Aaron Dessner. “Talking rings and talking cradles”. I wanna say both about Joe and Matty.
  13. I Can Do It With a Broken Heart – finally an upbeat song?! wow! Aw damn, her heart was breaking and broken but she had her Eras Tour, she kept going even with her broken heart…honestly she deserves to take a break as long as she wants! Very synth-pop.
  14. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived – Aaron Dessner song again. “Cause it wasn’t sexy once it wasn’t forbidden.” This one reminds me of All Too Well…great story telling. Love it.
  15. The Alchemy – she likes her white wine. “Touch down”? Is this aTravis song?! 🤭 aww she’s saying why fight the magic happening between them – cute!🥰
  16. Clara Bow – yup another Aaron Dessner song, love how it sounds. Another song about her experience with fame and the music industry. As much as I love her sad love songs, I totally love any songs about herself and how she deals with fame, the public, the fans, etc…great song! “It’s hell on earth to be heavenly”. That’s heavy. I love how she mentions her own name at the end…almost like talking about the next starlet, a successor, who will have to endure this hell of the entertainment industry.
  17. The Black Dog – love how the hard guitars came in, I like this one a lot and probably need a few listens but I like how it builds.
  18. imgonnagetyouback – this one’s okay I think, still same slow tempo so it kind of sounds like other songs and nothing is really standing out for me on it – giving me 1989 vibes but I wish it was a little more dynamic maybe just to make it stand out a little more.
  19. The Albatross – Folklore vibes – gotta be an Aaron song. Love the sound, not sure what it’s about yet, need a few more listens but I love it. I think she’s saying she’s the albatross? Will have to see what people say about it.
  20. Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus – Evermore vibes – wait – she mentions “scarlet maroon” and I was getting that it’s about Matty way before that line….but does this mean Maroon is about Matty?! Because I love Maroon and I didn’t feel like it was a Joe song. Whoa…”Will I always wonder?”. Oh that wondering and what ifs.
  21. How Did It End? – wow these extra songs are the Folklore/Evermore storytelling songs. Sad, sad song. ☹️ “It’s happening again, how did it end?” UGH. To go from ending it with Joe after 6 years, to the crazy ending with Matty right after? I don’t know how she did those first Eras Tours shows with all this going on.
  22. So High School – YES. guitars, drums! 1990’s/2000’s teen rom-coms?! Awww a Travis song!! I love it. So cute! Oh this is sooo high school, at least when I was in high school! lol I’m rooting for them.
  23. I Hate It Here – “secret gardens in my mind” yes…I escape too Taylor! Folklore/Evermore vibes again.
  24. thanK you aIMee – I saw this one being broken down on Tik Tok and I was like ohhhhh. I can definitely see it! It’s about a certain person who tried to tear Taylor down. Great song, just a big F-U to any person that’s tried beating you down.
  25. I Look in People’s Windows – this is an interesting song. “I’m addicted to the ‘if only'” – I used to relate to that! I’ll need a few listens on this one. I think this one is just okay for me.
  26. The Prophecy – Folklore/Evermore vibes – so so good, so witchy! Love the lyrics “please, I’ve been on my knees, Change the prophecy”. Ugh the begging. This is one of my favorites! Shades of “greige”?! Yes I had to google that word old. Gray/beige pallete.
  27. Cassandra – more Folklore/Evermore vibes! amazing storytelling “In a mourning warning no one heard.” WOW – tortured poets for real!! This one is deep – love it and need a few more listens!
  28. Peter – Peter Pan? Another Matty song? But this time a sad Matty song and not so much anger, more reflective. “And I won’t confess that I waited, but I let the lamp burn.” Sadness that she was pining for him that long.
  29. The Bolter – for sure the Aaron Dessner songs are probably some of my favorites in this whole Anthology! It’s the story-telling for me, I love it. I love that this one is a little upbeat since it’s kind of rare on this album.
  30. Robin – I think this song is about innocence. I picture Christopher Robin (Winnie the Pooh) but as a mom this is giving me so many visuals of children and my hopes of them to stay innocent as long as they can be.❤️ Sweet song.
  31. The Manuscript – hmmm looking back on All Too Well?! whoa…”But the story isn’t mine anymore.” She’s not going to dwell on it – good for her! I like this ending.


I need a few more listens to figure out which of 31 songs is my favorite. Top ones so far is But Daddy I Love Him, loml, and The Prophecy. I’m sure a few more will be growers. I know I love So High School

I will say this on my first two listens…I feel like it’s too slow in tempo and the first couple songs blend into one continuous song it feels like. It’s why I love But Daddy I Love Him, because it changed sound and beat, made me think of Fearless, which is a much needed switch up. Then it went back to slow tempo but I get it…it’s “The TORTURED POETS Department”…so these were going to be sad, slow songs! Who knows maybe it’s like Midnights and will grow on me?

It’s obvious I loved all the Aaron Dessner produced songs. The storytelling just shines and Folklore is in my top 3 Taylor albums. Funny, I never really listened to Evermore until this year! Yeah I don’t know why…I think during the pandemic and Folklore was on repeat, I couldn’t take more sad songs so I didn’t listen to Evermore. I took a chance this year and started listening to it and really love a bunch of songs on there!

It sounds like this album is Midnights/Folklore/Evermore combined with a few nods to Fearless and Red? I will say I am a 1989/Rep/Folklore girl so I’m happy about all the Aaron Dessner tracks – he and Taylor together make amazing music. Most of the songs on TTPD just felt like they blended into one which was just okay to me. I was waiting for a song to jump out at me and Florida! definitely did but I guess I should have expected something more low tempo since the theme was “greige”.

As for subject matter…wow! I didn’t anticipate it being a lot about Matty Healy but I TOTALLY get it and it allllll makes sense now with all that took place last year between them – she really unloaded all her feelings about this situation-ship. I love that there is a song or 2 about Travis – it’s the only happy tracks on this album! Of course the Joe was are just sad but definitely a goodbye. I think she already made 5 albums about their relationship so what else is there to say there? I love how she also addressed how people need to stay out of her business and if she wants to go wreck her life with some guy she’s so in love with – LET HER – she’s a grown up and she can make mistakes and learn from them too. 😅 Why is it always the bad boys that wreck you so bad? So relatable lol…and SO glad that phase of my life is over. She talks about her mental health a lot and she was really going through something bad and smiled through it all with a drink in her hand.

I love how she ends the Anthology with The Manuscript. Very much like “Dear Reader” but it’s definitely telling us that this whole chapter of messy guys, etc…is over for her. And I hope she does find Happiness and I’m rooting for her and Travis so hard but even if it’s not with him I think as fans we just want her to be okay. ❤️


And yeah…I bought the vinyl even though I have no record player. 😅 Last time I had a record player I was a kid and I would play my uncle’s records like Queen and my grandpa’s music from the 50’s. I’d beg to play with the records. I guess it’s time to get one! I have wanted to get some vinyls but I figured I didn’t need another expensive hobby. 😭 I bought The Albatross because I love the grayness of it and I liked the title of that song. I’m glad I love the song also now that I have heard it, but I now wish I had the vinyl for the DOUBLE album.

A poem from Stevie Nicks
Love this song!!
this song gutted me

This poem Taylor wrote is at the end of vinyl and I LOVE the line:

“A smirk creeps onto this poet’s face

Because it’s the worst men that I write best.”

😅 Because YES, we can’t have this album if Matty wasn’t the worst to her unfortunately. I don’t feel like Joe was the worst…I think they tried hard and it just fell apart.

Are you going to listen to the album? What did you think of the album?

I have been listening to a few major drops like Ariana and Beyonce’s records so I may do a post of them too since I haven’t been finding good books to read lately. 😔 At least music is doing it for me!

Most Anticipated Book Releases | April 2024

There are some exciting book releases coming up this month! 

This is what I’m looking forward to:


The titles above are books I haven’t read but I think I also should showcase the arcs I read that are releasing this month. So here they are:

What is your most anticipated book release this month?

Most Anticipated Book Releases | March 2024

There are some exciting book releases coming up this month! 

This is what I’m looking forward to:


The titles above are books I haven’t read but I think I also should showcase the arcs I read that are releasing this month. So here they are:

What is your most anticipated book release this month?

#5OnMyTBR: Title Starting with an ‘M’

#5OnMyTBR is a bookish meme hosted by E. @ Local Bee Hunter’s Nook and you can learn more about it here or in the post announcing it. It occurs every Monday when we post about 5 books on our TBR.

This week’s theme is: Title Starting with an ‘M’

Title: Meet Me at the Lake

Author: Carley Fortune

Fern Brookbanks has wasted far too much of her adult life thinking about Will Baxter. She spent just twenty-four hours in her early twenties with the aggravatingly attractive, idealistic artist, a chance encounter that spiraled into a daylong adventure in Toronto. The timing was wrong, but their connection was undeniable: they shared every secret, every dream, and made a pact to meet one year later. Fern showed up. Will didn’t.

At thirty-two, Fern’s life doesn’t look at all how she once imagined it would. Instead of living in the city, Fern’s back home, running her mother’s Muskoka lakeside resort—something she vowed never to do. The place is in disarray, her ex-boyfriend’s the manager, and Fern doesn’t know where to begin.

She needs a plan—a lifeline. To her surprise, it comes in the form of Will, who arrives nine years too late, with a suitcase in tow and an offer to help on his lips. Will may be the only person who understands what Fern’s going through. But how could she possibly trust this expensive-suit wearing mirage who seems nothing like the young man she met all those years ago. Will is hiding something, and Fern’s not sure she wants to know what it is.

But ten years ago, Will Baxter rescued Fern. Can she do the same for him?


Title: Mirrored Heavens

Author: Rebecca Roanhorse

The interwoven destinies of the people of Meridian will finally be determined in this stunning conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Roanhorse’s Between Earth and Sky trilogy.

Even the sea cannot stay calm before the storm. —Teek saying

Serapio, avatar of the Crow God Reborn and the newly crowned Carrion King, rules Tova. But his enemies gather both on distant shores and within his own city as the matrons of the clans scheme to destroy him. And deep in the alleys of the Maw, a new prophecy is whispered, this one from the Coyote God. It promises Serapio certain doom if its terrible dictates are not fulfilled.

Meanwhile, Xiala is thrust back amongst her people as war comes first to the island of Teek. With their way of life and their magic under threat, she is their last best hope. But the sea won’t talk to her the way it used to, and doubts riddle her mind. She will have to sacrifice the things that matter most to unleash her powers and become the queen they were promised.

And in the far northern wastelands, Naranpa, avatar of the Sun God, seeks a way to save Tova from the visions of fire that engulf her dreams. But another presence has begun stalking her nightmares, and the Jaguar God is on the hunt.


Title: More Than This (The Davenports, #2)

Author: Krystal Marquis

The anticipated sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller featuring escapist romance and a wealthy Black family in 1910s Chicago

Like the blazing Chicago sun, the drama is heating up for the Davenports and their social set. Before the summer of 1910 drops its last petal, the lives—and loves—of these four young women will change in ways they never could have imagined:

Newly engaged Ruby Tremaine is eagerly planning her wedding to the love of her life when a nasty rumor threatens her reputation and her marriage. Olivia Davenport has committed to the social justice cause and secretly hopes she’ll be reunited with dashing lawyer Washington DeWight—until her parents decide she’s to marry someone else. Amy-Rose Shepherd is making her lifelong wish of owning a salon come true, but when an incident forces her to return to Freeport Manor, she’s back in the path of John Davenport, who still holds her heart. Helen Davenport is determined to get over her own heartbreak and bring the Davenport Carriage Company into the new century, even if it means teaming up with a thrill-seeking racecar driver who just loves to get under her skin.

Inspired by the real-life story of the Patterson family, More Than This is the second book in critically adored Davenports series, following four empowered and passionate young Black women as they navigate a rapidly changing society and discover the courage to steer their own paths in life—and love.


Have you read any of these? Or plan to read any of these?

>>>>>

February

  • 05/02/2024 — Artsy (character/setting/non-fiction…)
  • 12/02/2024 — Title Starting with an ‘M’
  • 19/02/2024 — Set in a Foreign Country (can be your own if you usually read about foreign ones or choose a different continent)
  • 26/02/2024 — Released in the Decade You Were Born

January

  • 01/01/2024 — New Year Freebie
  • 08/01/2024 — 2024 Releases
  • 15/01/2024 — The Longest on Your TBR
  • 22/01/2024 — Speculative
  • 29/01/2024 — Part of a Series

Most Anticipated Book Releases | February 2024

There are some exciting book releases coming up this month! And how pretty have these purple covers been so far this year? I love purple book covers!

This is what I’m looking forward to:


The titles above are books I haven’t read but I think I also should showcase the arcs I read that are releasing this month. So here they are:

What is your most anticipated book release this month?

#5OnMyTBR: Part of a Series

#5OnMyTBR is a bookish meme hosted by E. @ Local Bee Hunter’s Nook and you can learn more about it here or in the post announcing it. It occurs every Monday when we post about 5 books on our TBR.

This week’s theme is: Part of a Series

Title: The Grandest Game

Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Get caught up in the puzzles, games, danger, romance, and riches of this lush new chapter in the #1 bestselling Inheritance Games saga.

Seven tickets. An island of dreams. The chance of a lifetime.

Welcome to the Grandest Game, an annual competition run by billionaire Avery Grambs and the four infamous Hawthorne brothers, whose family fortune she inherited. Designed to give anyone a shot at fame and fortune, this year’s game requires one of seven golden tickets to enter. With millions on the line, those seven players will do whatever it takes to win.

Some of the players are in it for the money. Some for power. Some for reasons all their own. Every single one of them has secrets. Amidst it all is Grayson Hawthorne, tasked with a vital role in this year’s game. But as tensions rise and the mind-bending challenges push the players to their limits—physically, mentally, and emotionally—it soon becomes clear that not everyone is playing by the rules.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Lynn Barnes delivers a brand-new series in the world of The Inheritance Games, where fan-favorite and new characters collide in a game you’ll never forget.

Do you have what it takes to play?


Title: Heavenbreaker

Author: Sara Wolf

Preorder now and receive the stunning DELUXE LIMITED EDITION while supplies last―featuring gorgeous sprayed edges with stenciled artwork, as well as exclusive endpapers and special design features. This breathtaking collectible is only available on a limited first print run, a must-have for any book lover while supplies last in the US and Canada only.

They take what they want. They kill who they want. Now she’s going to end them all… From New York Times bestselling author Sara Wolf comes a pure adrenaline shot of a read―about retribution, catastrophic attraction, and becoming the fury within the machine.


Title: Ghostsmith

Author: Nicki Pau Preto

In this action-packed finale to the House of the Dead Duology, Wren and her friends put everything they know to the test as they battle the living and the undead to save their world.

Wren is still reeling from the revelation that the mother she thought was dead is actually the Corpse Queen, a ghostsmith with the terrifying power to control the undead. It was Wren’s own mother who created the iron revenants—an army of near unbeatable undead soldiers. When the iron revenants attack, no one in the Dominions will have the strength to stand in their way.

Now Wren, Leo, and Julian find themselves once more in the Breach, this time on the run from Wren’s father, who is determined to secure more power for himself and the House of Bone. The three are desperate to stop the upcoming war, but working together is easier said than done with Julian still furious about Wren double-crossing him. And to make matters worse, Wren is plagued by powerful new abilities that force her to reassess everything she knows about being a bonesmith.

When Wren’s long-lost twin brother shows up and vows to help her destroy the well of magic that feeds the iron revenants, she must decide if trusting him is worth potentially playing right into their mother’s hands.

After all, the dead might be dangerous, but it’s the living who can betray you.


Title: Reckless

Author: Lauren Roberts

The second heart-racing instalment in this bestselling and sizzling fantasy romance trilogy. Perfect for fans of Red Queen and The Hunger Games.

The kingdom of Ilya is in turmoil…

After surviving the Purging Trials, Ordinary-born Paedyn Gray has killed the King, and kickstarted a Resistance throughout the land. Now she’s running from the one person she had wanted to run to.

Kai Azer is now Ilya’s Enforcer, loyal to his brother Kitt, the new King. He has vowed to find Paedyn and bring her to justice.

Across the deadly Scorches, and deep into the hostile city of Dor, Kai pursues the one person he wishes he didn’t have to. But in a city without Elites, the balance between the hunter and hunted shifts – and the battle between duty and desire is deadly.

Be swept away by this bestselling, kiss-or-kill romantasy trilogy taking the world by storm.


Title: Wisteria

Author: Adalyn Grace

#1 New York Times bestselling author Adalyn Grace delivers a sensational conclusion to the deathly and decadent Belladonna trilogy, with dramatic twists and a seductive new romance that will set readers’ hearts ablaze.

Blythe Hawthorn has never let anyone tell her what to do—not society, not her overprotective father, and certainly not the man she’s bound herself to, no matter how rude and insufferable he is. In fact, she’s determined to be a thorn in his side for the rest of her days, even as he ensures that her life in his palace is anything but a fairytale. But as Blythe discovers a new side of herself linked to his past, she’ll have to decide if she’s willing to let an unexpected spark ignite…and to discover the truth about who she really is.


Have you read any of these? Or plan to read any of these?

>>>>>

January

  • 01/01/2024 — New Year Freebie
  • 08/01/2024 — 2024 Releases
  • 15/01/2024 — The Longest on Your TBR
  • 22/01/2024 — Speculative
  • 29/01/2024 — Part of a Series

#5OnMyTBR: Speculative

#5OnMyTBR is a bookish meme hosted by E. @ Local Bee Hunter’s Nook and you can learn more about it here or in the post announcing it. It occurs every Monday when we post about 5 books on our TBR.

This week’s theme is: speculative

Title: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Author: Suzanne Collins

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capital, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined — every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute… and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.


Title: Legend

Author: Marie Lu

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors.

Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles.

Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths – until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect.
Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.


Title: Thunderhead

Author: Neal Shusterman

Rowan has gone rogue, and has taken it upon himself to put the Scythedom through a trial by fire. Literally. In the year since Winter Conclave, he has gone off-grid, and has been striking out against corrupt scythes—not only in MidMerica, but across the entire continent. He is a dark folk hero now—“Scythe Lucifer”—a vigilante taking down corrupt scythes in flames.

Citra, now a junior scythe under Scythe Curie, sees the corruption and wants to help change it from the inside out, but is thwarted at every turn, and threatened by the “new order” scythes. Realizing she cannot do this alone—or even with the help of Scythe Curie and Faraday, she does the unthinkable, and risks being “deadish” so she can communicate with the Thunderhead—the only being on earth wise enough to solve the dire problems of a perfect world. But will it help solve those problems, or simply watch as perfection goes into decline?

nature.


Title: The Toll

Author: Neal Shusterman

It’s been three years since Rowan and Citra disappeared; since Scythe Goddard came into power; since the Thunderhead closed itself off to everyone but Grayson Tolliver.

In this pulse-pounding conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman’s Arc of a Scythe trilogy, constitutions are tested and old friends are brought back from the dead.


Title: Gleanings

Author: Neal Shusterman

Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. To the south, the king’s powers are failing—his most trusted adviser dead under mysterious circumstances and his enemies emerging from the shadows of the throne. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the frozen land they were born to. Now Lord Eddard Stark is reluctantly summoned to serve as the king’s new Hand, an appointment that threatens to sunder not only his family but the kingdom itself.

Sweeping from a harsh land of cold to a summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, A Game of Thrones tells a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; a child is lost in the twilight between life and death; and a determined woman undertakes a treacherous journey to protect all she holds dear. Amid plots and counter-plots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, allies and enemies, the fate of the Starks hangs perilously in the balance, as each side endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.


Have you read any of these? Or plan to read any of these?

>>>>>

January

  • 01/01/2024 — New Year Freebie
  • 08/01/2024 — 2024 Releases
  • 15/01/2024 — The Longest on Your TBR
  • 22/01/2024 — Speculative
  • 29/01/2024 — Part of a Series

#5OnMyTBR: The Longest on Your TBR

#5OnMyTBR is a bookish meme hosted by E. @ Local Bee Hunter’s Nook and you can learn more about it here or in the post announcing it. It occurs every Monday when we post about 5 books on our TBR.

This week’s theme is: The Longest on Your TBR

Title: A Darker Shade of Magic

Author: V.E. Schwab

Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.

Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.

Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive.


Title: All the Light We Cannot See

Author: Anthony Doerr

Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.

From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the stunningly beautiful instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.


Title: The Great Alone

Author: Kristin Hannah

Alaska, 1974.
Unpredictable. Unforgiving. Untamed.
For a family in crisis, the ultimate test of survival.

Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier.

Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl coming of age in a tumultuous time, caught in the riptide of her parents’ passionate, stormy relationship, dares to hope that a new land will lead to a better future for her family. She is desperate for a place to belong. Her mother, Cora, will do anything and go anywhere for the man she loves, even if it means following him into the unknown.

At first, Alaska seems to be the answer to their prayers. In a wild, remote corner of the state, they find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the Allbrights’ lack of preparation and dwindling resources.

But as winter approaches and darkness descends on Alaska, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates and the family begins to fracture. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own. In the wild, there is no one to save them but themselves.

In this unforgettable portrait of human frailty and resilience, Kristin Hannah reveals the indomitable character of the modern American pioneer and the spirit of a vanishing Alaska―a place of incomparable beauty and danger. The Great Alone is a daring, beautiful, stay-up-all-night story about love and loss, the fight for survival, and the wildness that lives in both man and nature.


Title: The Ruin of Kings

Author: Jenn Lyons

Kihrin is a bastard orphan who grew up on storybook tales of long-lost princes and grand quests. When he is claimed against his will as the long-lost son of a treasonous prince, Kihrin finds that being a long-lost prince isn’t what the storybooks promised.

Far from living the dream, Kihrin finds himself practically a prisoner, at the mercy of his new family’s power plays and ambitions. He also discovers that the storybooks have lied about a lot of other things too: dragons, demons, gods, prophecies, true love, and how the hero always wins.

Then again, maybe he’s not the hero, for Kihrin is not destined to save the empire.

He’s destined to destroy it.


Title: A Game of Thrones

Author: George R.R. Martin

Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. To the south, the king’s powers are failing—his most trusted adviser dead under mysterious circumstances and his enemies emerging from the shadows of the throne. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the frozen land they were born to. Now Lord Eddard Stark is reluctantly summoned to serve as the king’s new Hand, an appointment that threatens to sunder not only his family but the kingdom itself.

Sweeping from a harsh land of cold to a summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, A Game of Thrones tells a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; a child is lost in the twilight between life and death; and a determined woman undertakes a treacherous journey to protect all she holds dear. Amid plots and counter-plots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, allies and enemies, the fate of the Starks hangs perilously in the balance, as each side endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.


Have you read any of these? Or plan to read any of these?

>>>>>

January

  • 01/01/2024 — New Year Freebie
  • 08/01/2024 — 2024 Releases
  • 15/01/2024 — The Longest on Your TBR
  • 22/01/2024 — Speculative
  • 29/01/2024 — Part of a Series

#5OnMyTBR: 2024 Releases

#5OnMyTBR is a bookish meme hosted by E. @ Local Bee Hunter’s Nook and you can learn more about it here or in the post announcing it. It occurs every Monday when we post about 5 books on our TBR.

This week’s theme is: 2024 Releases

Title: House of Flame and Shadow

Author: Sarah J. Maas

The stunning third book in the sexy, action-packed Crescent City series, following the global bestsellers House of Earth and Blood and House of Sky and Breath.

Bryce Quinlan never expected to see a world other than Midgard, but now that she has, all she wants is to get back. Everything she loves is in Midgard: her family, her friends, her mate. Stranded in a strange new world, she’s going to need all her wits about her to get home again. And that’s no easy feat when she has no idea who to trust.

Hunt Athalar has found himself in some deep holes in his life, but this one might be the deepest of all. After a few brief months with everything he ever wanted, he’s in the Asteri’s dungeons again, stripped of his freedom and without a clue as to Bryce’s fate. He’s desperate to help her, but until he can escape the Asteri’s leash, his hands are quite literally tied.

In this sexy, breathtaking sequel to the #1 bestsellers House of Earth and Blood and House of Sky and Breath, Sarah J. Maas’s Crescent City series reaches new heights as Bryce and Hunt’s world is brought to the brink of collapse-with its future resting on their shoulders.


Title: Destroy the Day

Author: Brigid Kemmerer

Left for dead, but desperate to survive . . . they have one last chance to save their kingdom.

Prince Corrick is out of options. Held captive by the vicious Oren Crane, he’s desperate to reunite with Tessa, but will need to ally with the rebel leader Lochlan, who until now wished him dead. An unlikely but deadly pair, Corrick and Lochlan must plot their next moves carefully.

An island away, Tessa Cade is heartbroken and angry. Grieving Corrick, and unsure how to find a way back to Kandala, she doesn’t know who to trust. Until Rian—the man she trusts least—makes an offer: aid in a plot to finally oust Oren Crane and see what the future holds . . .

Meanwhile in Kandala, Harristan is dethroned and on the run. He’s struggling to unite the rebels in his fractured kingdom, but he finds support—and maybe more—in unexpected places.

Can Harristan be the king his people need? Can Corrick and Tessa find their way back to each other? As outside threats loom and the fires of revolution burn from within, time is running out to save their kingdom.

In the thrilling conclusion to the Defy the Night series, Brigid Kemmerer crafts heartrending twists and devastating turns that will keep readers breathless to the very end.


Title: The Prisoner’s Throne

Author: Holly Black

I am a Weyward, and wild inside.

An imprisoned prince. A vengeful queen. And a battle that will determine the future of Elfhame.

Prince Oak is paying for his betrayal. Imprisoned in the icy north and bound to the will of a monstrous new queen, he must rely on charm and calculation to survive. With High King Cardan and High Queen Jude ready to use any means necessary to retrieve their stolen heir, should Oak attempt to regain the trust of the girl he’s always loved, or remain loyal to Elfhame and hand over the means to end her reign-even if it means ending Wren, too…

With war looming and treachery lurking in every corner, neither Oak’s guile nor his wit will be enough to keep everyone he loves alive. He will have some terrible choices to make.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black comes the stunning blood-soaked conclusion to the Stolen Heir duology.


Title: The Invocations

Author: Krystal Sutherland

From the author of New York Times bestseller House of Hollow comes a darkly seductive witchy thriller where, though both men and demons lurk in shadows, girls refuse to go quietly into the night.

Zara Jones believes in magic because the alternative is too painful to bear—that her sister was murdered by a serial killer and there is precisely nothing she can do to change it. If there’s anything Zara cannot stand it’s feeling powerless, so she decides she will do whatever it takes—even if that means partaking in the occult—to bring her sister back from the dead.

Jude Wolf might be the daughter of a billionaire, but she is also undeniably cursed. After a deal with a demon went horribly wrong, her soul is now slowly turning necrotic. Flowers and insects die in her wake and monstrous things come to taunt her at night. If Jude can’t find the right someone to fix her mistake, she fears she’ll die very soon.

Enter Emer Bryne: the solution to both Zara’s and Jude’s predicaments. The daughter of a witch, Emer sells spells to women in desperate situations willing to sacrifice a part of their soul in exchange for a bit of power, a bit of magic to change their lives. But Emer has a dark past all her own—and as her former clients are murdered one-by-one, she knows it’s followed her all the way to London.

As Zara and Jude enter Emer’s orbit, they’ll have to team up to stop the killer—before they each end up next on his list.


Title: The Hemlock Queen

Author: Hannah Whitten

In the second installment of New York Times bestselling author Hannah Whitten’s lush, romantic epic fantasy series, a young woman who can raise the dead must navigate the dangerous and glamorous world of the Sainted King’s royal court. 

The corrupt king August is dead. Prince Bastian has seized the throne and raised Lore—a necromancer and former smuggler—to his right hand side. Together they plan to cut out the rot from the heart of the sainted court and help the people of Dellaire. But not everyone is happy with the changes. The nobles are sowing dissent, the Kyrithean Empire is beating down their door, and Lore’s old allies are pulling away. Even Prince Bastian’s changed. No longer the hopeful, rakish, charismatic man Lore knows and loves, instead he’s reckless, domineering and cold. 

And something’s been whispering in her ear. A voice, dark and haunting, that’s telling her there’s more to the story than she knows and more to her power than she can even imagine. A truth buried deep that could change everything. 

With Bastian’s coronation fast approaching and enemies whispering on all sides, Lore must figure out how to protect herself, her prince, and her country before they all come crumbling down and whatever dark power has been creeping through the catacombs is unleashed.


Have you read any of these? Or plan to read any of these?

>>>>>

January

  • 01/01/2024 — New Year Freebie
  • 08/01/2024 — 2024 Releases
  • 15/01/2024 — The Longest on Your TBR
  • 22/01/2024 — Speculative
  • 29/01/2024 — Part of a Series