Goodreads: My December To-Read List

Goodreads: My December To-Read List

Wednesday, 14 December 2016

Read post

My December to-read pile is a pretty ambitious one for two reasons. Firstly, because it’s already the 14^th of the month and I’ve read a grand total of about 50 pages of one book, and secondly, because I work 56 hour weeks at the moment and barely have time to sleep let alone get lost in a gem of a book. I also happen to have chosen 5 books which have a remarkable amount of pages between them. However, God loves a trier so I’m going to give it a go and see if I can exceed my own incredibly low expectations.

The first book from my monthly TBR is one I’ve actually already started reading and I’m enjoying so far, Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. I love my war fiction (have a read of my post all about it, if you so wish!) and this one falls nicely into that category. It’s a pretty short one, but it’s quite complex and uses some incredibly intricate prose. It’s a book that’s been on my TBR for a good few years so it’s nice to finally get around to reading it.

The next book on my list is an ARC sent to me by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Books; My Sister’s Bones by Nuala Ellwood. This one is right up my street and has been described as being a compelling and intriguing psychological thriller. Exactly what the doctor ordered and something I’ve had on my pile for a few months now. It’s publishing date is 9^th February but you can download it on kindle now, if you want to give it a go.

I absolutely love Jodi Picoult and have read a fair few of her books over the last few years. I picked up this one whilst perusing the shelves in Sainsbury’s and it sounds absolutely amazing, as always. I think the cover is absolutely beautiful as well, which definitely aided in my choosing of it. I love the way that Jodi writes and how she approaches difficult, important topics in her tales. I’m sure that this one will not disappoint me.

At the end of January I’m going to be part of a Penguin Books blog tour for the book Lying In Wait by Liz Nugent, so obviously I’m dying to get that one read this month. I’m really thrilled to be part of this tour; I absolutely love Penguin and hold their name in high esteem so I’m certain I’m going to find it to my taste. It’s also a psychological thriller, I believe, and we ALL know how I feel about those…

My final book is also an ARC, this time from Pan Macmillan, The House of New Beginnings by Lucy Diamond. I don’t really know all that much about this one, other than the fact that the review copy cover is beautiful, so it’ll be nice to go into it with a clear mind and absolutely no expectations. I HAVE  read books by Lucy before so I know to expect good things!

What are you planning on reading this month? Let me know! 

Follow

Goodreads: ARC April

Goodreads: ARC April

Thursday, 31 March 2016

Read post

I decided that this month, in keeping in line regarding my book ban, that I would introduce “ARC April” and read absolutely nothing but things that have been sent to me by publishers. Luckily for me, I have 6 ARCs waiting patiently for me on my to-read pile so I have plenty to get my teeth stuck into. 

The first of the ARCs I’ve received recently is The Girl You Lost by Kathryn Croft, published by Bookouture. This one has already been published, I’m just really slow at getting to books, but I won’t let a good book go to waste so I’ll be reading and reviewing it as normal. It’s a psychological thriller (my favourite kind of book!) and sounds like it’s going to be right up my street. I’m really looking forward to reading this book and seeing what Kathryn Croft, an author I’ve never read before, has to offer. 

I also received The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood, a YA fiction contribution from Pan Macmillan and Macmillan Children’s Books. Again, this isn’t an author I’ve read before but the cover jumped out at me when putting my NetGalley requests through and I couldn’t resist requesting to read and review this one. I absolutely love YA fiction and have recently really got back into reading the genre more seriously so it’ll be really interesting to read an author that I know nothing about and see how it measures up to the Young Adult authors that I already love so much. The Square Root of Summer will be published on May 5th. 

I received a copy of The Primrose Path by Rebecca Griffiths from the lovely team at Little, Brown Book Group UK, and is another psychological thriller. There’s a chance I might have already read this by the time it gets to this post being published, as its publication date is March 24th and I’d prefer to have reviewed it as close to this date as possible, but I thought I’d include it in this list anyway just in case I don’t get the time. I think of the four books I have here, this is the one which jumps out to me the most as being one that I’m really excited to read- it sounds creepy and exciting and creepy and exciting is EXACTLY what I love about a good old psychological thriller. The cover art is absolutely gorgeous and really adds to the appeal of the book, while the creepy quote on the cover makes is blatantly obvious that this book is going to be no picnic in the park. Very excited.

I was also fortunate enough to be approached by the lovely Cara at Harlequin books. She sent me 2 books to read and review and I’m absolutely thrilled by these two as well. The first of the two is The Good Mother by A.L. Bird, yet another psychological thriller for me to grip my teeth into! I also received The Chic Boutique on Baker Street by Rachel Dove which is something different to the type of books that I usually read, but one that interested me quite a lot when I looked through the possible request choices. Both of these books are to be published in April, on the 4th and the 21st respectively. 

My final ARC for ARC April is The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson, provided by Bloomsbury UK. It’s written by the woman who wrote Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand which I haven’t personally read but I’ve heard amazing things about. That was what drew me to the novel and the reason why I chose to request a review copy so naturally I’m thrilled to be allowed the opportunity to give it a read. The book is set in 1914, so this book also falls into the War Fiction Challenge which I’ve been doing for the last few years (which I will blog about very soon- watch this space). Again, the cover is absolutely beautiful and I absolutely LOVE the little poppies scattered around. This one’s also going to be published on March 24th, so it’ll be an early April review from me. 

What are you reading at the moment? Which ARCs should I request for next month? Let me know in the comments!