Monthly Wrap Ups

November Wrap Up!

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a lovely day. It is the end of the month and that means it is time to discuss the books that I did and did not read in November.

What books did you read this month? Did you enjoy them?

From my November TBR:

  • Immortality by Dana Schwartz – I did not get around to reading it this month
  • Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead – I decided, after putting two on my November TBR, not to do any rereads this month so I did not read this one
  • The Guest List by Lucy Foley – I did read this book. I have been putting it off for a long time but I have finally read it and I thought it was good, not amazing but good enough.
  • The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrews – I did read this.
  • Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco – this was the second book that I put on my November TBR as a reread, so I did not read this.
  • Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Fairies – I did read this.
  • Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft – I did not read this
  • To Steal From Thieves by M K Lobb – I did not read this.
  • A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna – I did read this.
  • Agency of Scandal by Laura Wood – I did read this.
  • Fate of the Argosi by Sebastien de Castell – I did read this.
  • Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas – I am writing this a little early, I have a week left of November and in that time I plan on finishing Queen of Shadows, Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn.

Outside of my TBR I also read The Ripper of Whitechapel by Yvette Fielding and A Quiet Life in the Country by TE Kinsey.

That means in November, I read a total of 8 books so far this month, but I might be able to add three more to this if I manage to read the three Sarah J Maas books.

Monthly TBRs

November TBR!

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a lovely day today. It is November and now that I am free from my PhD work (at least until January), I have a lot more time to read and that makes me very excited – so many options!

What are you all planning on reading this month?

Fate of the Argosi by Sebastien de Castell

Agency of Scandal by Laura Wood

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

To Steal From Thieves by M K Lobb

Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairies by Heather Fawcett

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrew

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Immortality by Dana Schwarz

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them?

Monthly Wrap Ups

November Wrap Up!

Happy Monday bookish people! How are you all today? It is December, the final month of 2024 but before that we need to talk about how November went.

As a month in general, not the best honestly. It seemed to be a month of one bad thing after another, but hopefully we are past all of that now. Onwards and upwards. In terms of reading, it was actually one of my best months of the year. I have started doing an hour or two of reading every evening instead of watching something on TV and it has made me feel much better, not only in terms of loving what I am reading but also I just feel better within myself, most of the time. Reading has been a great escape from everything this month.

How was your reading this month? Any new favourite books?

My November TBR was:

  • Murder At The Playhouse by Helena Dixon – the third book in the Miss Underhay cosy mystery series – I did read this and LOVED it, it might be my favourite one in the series so far.
  • Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Fairies by Heather Fawcett – I did not get to this one, I really wanted to and still do but it wasn’t at the top of my priorities for this month.
  • Curtain Calls to Murder by Julian Clary – I did read this book. It looked like something i would love from the description and I didn’t hate it but it also wasn’t something I loved. If you’re interested in knowing why I will be writing a review soon.
  • Powerless by Lauren Roberts – I finally read this and again, I loved it. I will be putting up my review for this in December so look out for that if you are interested.
  • The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannon – I am currently reading this book and honestly, I’m not sure at the moment if this is going to be a soft DNF and I will come back to it later or if I am going to push through and see if I like it. I am 100 pages ish in and I have no idea what is going on so we will see.
  • People of Abandoned Character by Clare Whitfield – I did not read this. I just was not in the mood this month for a gothic feeling book.
  • The Secret Service of Tea and Treason by India Holton – I did not get to this either which was a shame because I was hoping to get a series finished and crossed off my list.
  • Queen B by Juno Dawson – I did read this, I love anything Anne Boleyn so I wanted to make sure that I gave this book a go.
  • Diabolical Bones by Bella Ellis – I did not get around to this book either unfortunately.
  • Pandora by Susan Stokes Chapman – This was one book that I really wanted to get around to but it just didn’t happen this month.

So, from my TBR I read five books this month which I am pretty happy with but, I also read two books outside of my TBR. I finished Throne of the Fallen by Kerri Maniscalco and then I also read The League of Lady Poisoners.

So, overall I read seven books this month. Which is a great amount in my opinion. I am happy with it and excited to get started on my December TBR.

Monthly TBRs

November TBR

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today! Today I am sharing with you the books that I hope to get to in November. I have been a little ambitious this month, my TBR is long but I wanted to give myself a lot of choice so I could also sort of mood read at the same time.

What are you planning to read in November?

The Secret Service of Tea and Treason by India Holton

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen

People of Abandoned Character by Claire Whitfield

Queen B by Juno Dawson

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Fairies by Heather Fawcett

Pandora by Susan Stokes Chapman

Curtain Calls to Murder by Julian Clary

Murder at the Playhouse by Helena Dixon

Diabolical Bones by Bella Ellis

Uncategorized

Upcoming January 2024 Book Releases

Happy Friday Bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today.

Today I wanted to bring you a small list of some of the books that are being released in January that I have heard about. This is not a complete list, this is only a small list of the books I know about.

House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J Maas – 30th January

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.

The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake – 9th January

An explosive return to the library leaves the six Alexandrians vulnerable to the lethal terms of their recruitment.

Old alliances quickly fracture as the initiates take opposing strategies as to how to deal with the deadly bargain they have so far failed to uphold. Those who remain with the archives wrestle with the ethics of their astronomical abilities, while elsewhere, an unlikely pair from the Society cohort partner to influence politics on a global stage.

And still the outside world mobilizes to destroy them, while the Caretaker himself, Atlas Blakely, may yet succeed with a plan foreseen to have world-ending stakes. It’s a race to survive as the six Society recruits are faced with the question of what they’re willing to betray for limitless power―and who will be destroyed along the way.

So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole – 16th January

Whip-smart and immersive, this Jamaican-inspired fantasy follows a gods-blessed heroine who’s forced to choose between saving her sister or protecting her homeland.

Faron Vincent can channel the power of the gods. Five years ago, she used her divine magic to liberate her island from its enemies, the dragon-riding Langley Empire. But now, at seventeen, Faron is all powered up with no wars to fight. She’s a legend to her people and a nuisance to her neighbors.

When she’s forced to attend an international peace summit, Faron expects that she will perform tricks like a trained pet and then go home. She doesn’t expect her older sister, Elara, forming an unprecedented bond with an enemy dragon—or the gods claiming the only way to break that bond is to kill her sister.

As Faron’s desperation to find another solution takes her down a dark path, and Elara discovers the shocking secrets at the heart of the Langley Empire, both must make difficult choices that will shape each other’s lives, as well as the fate of their world.

A Fragile Enchantment by Alison Saft – 4th January

Niamh Ó Conchobhair has never let herself long for more. The magic in her blood that lets her stitch emotions and memories into fabric is the same magic that will eventually kill her. Determined to spend the little time she has left guaranteeing a better life for her family, Niamh jumps at the chance to design the wardrobe for a royal wedding in the neighboring kingdom of Avaland.

But Avaland is far from the fairytale that she imagined. While young nobles attend candlelit balls and elegant garden parties, unrest brews amid the working class. The groom himself, Kit Carmine, is prickly, abrasive, and begrudgingly being dragged to the altar as a political pawn. But when Niamh and Kit grow closer, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more—until an anonymous columnist starts buzzing about their chemistry, promising to leave them alone only if Niamh helps to uncover the royal family’s secrets. The rot at the heart of Avaland runs deep, but exposing it could risk a future she never let herself dream of, and a love she never thought possible.

Transporting readers to a Regency England-inspired fantasy world, A Fragile Enchantment is a sweeping romance threaded with intrigue, unforgettable characters, and a love story for the ages.

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins – 4th January

When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she’s not only North Carolina’s richest woman, she’s also its most notorious. The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family’s estate high in the Blue Ridge mountains. In the aftermath of her death, that estate—along with a nine-figure fortune and the complicated legacy of being a McTavish—pass to her adopted son, Camden.

But to everyone’s surprise, Cam wants little to do with the house or the money—and even less to do with the surviving McTavishes. Instead, he rejects his inheritance, settling into a normal life as an English teacher in Colorado and marrying Jules, a woman just as eager to escape her own messy past.

Ten years later, Camden is a McTavish in name only, but a summons in the wake of his uncle’s death brings him and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but coming home reminds Cam why he was so quick to leave in the first place.

Jules, however, has other ideas, and the more she learns about Cam’s estranged family—and the twisted secrets they keep—the more determined she is for her husband to claim everything Ruby once intended for him to have.

But Ruby’s plans were always more complicated than they appeared. As Ashby House tightens its grip on Jules and Camden, questions about the infamous heiress come to light. Was there any truth to the persistent rumors following her disappearance as a girl? What really happened to those four husbands, who all died under mysterious circumstances? And why did she adopt Cam in the first place? Soon, Jules and Cam realize that an inheritance can entail far more than what’s written in a will––and that the bonds of family stretch far beyond the grave.

The Getaway List by Emma Lord – 25th January

The day of her high school graduation, Riley realizes two things: One, that she has spent the last four years trying so hard to be a Good Kid for her mom that she has no idea who she really is anymore, and two, she has no idea what she wants because of it. The solution? Pack her bags and move to New York for the summer, where her childhood best friend Tom and co-creator of The Getaway List ― a list of all the adventures they’ve wanted to do together since he moved away ― will hopefully help her get in touch with her old adventurous self, and pave the road to a new future.

Riley isn’t sure what to expect from Tom, who has been distant since his famous mom’s scriptwriting career pulled him away. But when Riley arrives in the city, their reconnection is as effortless as it was when they were young―except with one, unexpected complication that will pull Riley’s feelings in a direction she didn’t know they could take. As she, Tom, and their newfound friends work their way through the delightfully chaotic items on The Getaway List, Riley learns that sometimes the biggest adventure is not one you take, but one you feel in your heart.

The Queen of Poisons by Robert Thorogood – 18th January

Geoffrey Lushington, Mayor of Marlow, dies suddenly during a Town Council meeting. When traces of aconite – also known as the queen of poisons – are found in his coffee cup, the police realise he was murdered. But who did it? And why?

The police bring Judith, Suzie and Becks in to investigate as Civilian Advisors right from the start, so they have free rein to interview suspects and follow the evidence to their heart’s content, which is perfect because Judith has no time for rules and standard procedure. But this case has the Marlow Murder Club stumped. Who would want to kill the affable Mayor of Marlow? How did they even get the poison into his coffee? And is anyone else in danger? The Marlow Murder Club are about to face their most difficult case yet . . .

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett – 18th January

When mysterious faeries from other realms appear at her university, curmudgeonly professor Emily Wilde must uncover their secrets before it’s too late in this heartwarming, enchanting second installment of the Emily Wilde series.
 
Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore—she just wrote the world’s first comprehensive of encylopaedia of faeries. She’s learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Folk on her adventures . . . and also from her fellow scholar and former rival, Wendell Bambleby.
 
Because Bambleby is more than infuriatingly charming. He’s an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother, and in search of a door back to his realm. So despite Emily’s feelings for Bambleby, she’s not ready to accept his proposal of marriage. Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and danger.
 
And she also has a new project to focus a map of the realms of faerie. While she is preparing her research, Bambleby lands her in trouble yet again, when assassins sent by Bambleby’s mother invade Cambridge. Now Bambleby and Emily are on another adventure, this time to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambley’s realm, and the key to freeing him from his family’s dark plans.
 
But with new relationships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors, and of her own heart.

The Troublemakers by Tamzin merchant – 18th January

Cordelia Hatmaker has finally united the Maker families and restored the kingdom’s trust in Maker magic. But mysterious outbreaks of chaotic magic are beginning to happen across London… And then the unthinkable happens. Cordelia is accused of treason.

As the guards close in, she must flee London at once. With her father Prospero, and friends Sam and Goose, Cordelia sets sail on her family’s ship, the Little Bear, for the adventure of a lifetime. They’re determined to solve the mystery of a missing girl, and to clear Cordelia’s name once and for all.

But soon they are in the dangerous territory of a band of legendary pirates: the Troublemakers, captained by a fierce and unstoppable pirate queen…