Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
This week’s theme is 10 books you’ve recently added to your TBR. I’ve changed it to ‘wishlist’ because I class my TBR as books I actually own that are sitting on my shelves waiting to be read. My wishlist, however, is on Amazon and it’s where I’m constantly adding new books so I can keep track of all the ones I want.
So, here are 10 books I’ve recently added to my Amazon wishlist:
The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig | YA Historical Fantasy
It was the kind of August day that hinted at monsoons, and the year was 1774, though not for very much longer.
Sixteen-year-old Nix Song is a time-traveller. She, her father and their crew of time refugees travel the world aboard The Temptation, a glorious pirate ship stuffed with treasures both typical and mythical. Old maps allow Nix and her father to navigate not just to distant lands, but distant times – although a map will only take you somewhere once. And Nix’s father is only interested in one time, and one place: Honolulu 1868. A time before Nix was born, and her mother was alive. Something that puts Nix’s existence rather dangerously in question …
Nix has grown used to her father’s obsession, but only because she’s convinced it can’t work. But then a map falls into her father’s lap that changes everything. And when Nix refuses to help, her father threatens to maroon Kashmir, her only friend (and perhaps, only love) in a time where Nix will never be able to find him. And if Nix has learned one thing, it’s that losing the person you love is a torment that no one can withstand. Nix must work out what she wants, who she is, and where she really belongs before time runs out on her forever.
I’d heard a lot of good stuff about this book but, for some reason, it never really appealed to me. But after reading Jackie’s review @ Death By Tsundoku I was convinced to finally give it a chance and add it to my wishlist. Also, it has a diverse cast!
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin | Fantasy
Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky – a palace above the clouds where gods’ and mortals’ lives are intertwined.
There, to her shock, Yeine is named one of the potential heirs to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle with a pair of cousins she never knew she had. As she fights for her life, she draws ever closer to the secrets of her mother’s death and her family’s bloody history.
But it’s not just mortals who have secrets worth hiding and Yeine will learn how perilous the world can be when love and hate – and gods and mortals – are bound inseparably.
Another book I added to my wishlist because of Jackie @ Death By Tsundoku! Plus that cover is just wow.
They Mostly Come Out At Night by Benedict Patrick | Fantasy
Lonan is an outcast, accused of letting the monsters that stalk the night into the homes of his fellow villagers. Now, he will not rest until he wins back the heart of his childhood love and reclaims the life that was stolen from him. However, locked safely in his cellar at night, in his dreams Lonan finds himself looking through the eyes of a young prince…
Adahy has a destiny, and it terrifies him. How can he hope to live up to the legend of the Magpie King, to become the supernatural protector of the forest and defender of his people? But when the forest is invaded by an inhuman force, Adahy must rise to this challenge or let the Wolves destroy his people.
Watching these events unfold in his sleep, Lonan must do what he can to protect his village from this new threat. He is the only person who can keep his loved ones from being stolen away after dark, and to do so he will have to earn back their trust or watch the monsters kill everyone that he holds dear.
I can’t remember who, but someone on WordPress reviewed this book a day or two ago, which is why it’s on my wishlist. If you’re that blogger, then let me know and I’ll add a link to your review here! This sounds like a very dark and creepy fantasy.
A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro | YA Mystery
Jamie Watson has always been intrigued by Charlotte Holmes; after all, their great-great-great-grandfathers are one of the most infamous pairs in history. But the Holmes family has always been odd, and Charlotte is no exception. She’s inherited Sherlock’s volatility and some of his vices and when Jamie and Charlotte end up at the same Connecticut boarding school, Charlotte makes it clear she s not looking for friends.
But when a student they both have a history with dies under suspicious circumstances, ripped straight from the most terrifying of the Sherlock Holmes stories, Jamie can no longer afford to keep his distance. Danger is mounting and nowhere is safe and the only people they can trust are each other.
There are a lot of Sherlock ‘retellings’ out there, but I’m hoping this is one of the good ones. I’m also excited to see a female Sherlock!
The House of Birds by Morgan McCarthy | Contemporary
Oliver has spent years trying to convince himself that he’s suited to a life of money making in the city, and that he doesn’t miss a childhood spent in pursuit of mystery, when he cycled around the cobbled lanes of Oxford, exploring its most intriguing corners.
When his girlfriend Kate inherits a derelict house – and a fierce family feud – she’s determined to strip it, sell it and move on. For Oliver though, the house has an allure, and amongst the shelves of discarded, leather bound and gilded volumes, he discovers one that conceals a hidden diary from the 1920s.
So begins a quest: to discover the identity of the author, Sophia Louis. It is a portrait of war and marriage, isolation and longing and a story that will shape the future of the abandoned house – and of Oliver – forever.
I’ve always been really interested in the World Wars and WWI/WWII fiction is one of my favourite genres. They’re often harrowing reads, but so engrossing, and I’ve heard good things about this book.
The Vagrant by Peter Newman | Sci-Fi | Apocalyptic Fiction
The Vagrant is his name. He has no other.
Years have passed since humanity’s destruction emerged from the Breach.
Friendless and alone he walks across a desolate, war-torn landscape.
As each day passes the world tumbles further into depravity, bent and twisted by the new order, corrupted by the Usurper, the enemy, and his infernal horde.
His purpose is to reach the Shining City, last bastion of the human race, and deliver the only weapon that may make a difference in the ongoing war.
What little hope remains is dying. Abandoned by its leader, The Seven, and its heroes, The Seraph Knights, the last defences of a once great civilisation are crumbling into dust.
But the Shining City is far away and the world is a very dangerous place.
I think someone may have given this a good review, which is why it’s on my wishlist, but either way it sounds right up my street! I’ve been severely lacking in any apocalyptic fiction recently and it’s my favourite genre! However, this book does have quite mixed reviews, so fingers crossed I like it.
Emperor of the Eight Islands by Lian Hearn | Historical Fantasy
An ambitious warlord leaves his nephew for dead and seizes his lands.
A stubborn father forces his younger son to surrender his wife to his older brother.
A mysterious woman seeks five fathers for her children.
A powerful priest meddles in the succession to the Lotus Throne.
These are the threads of an intricate tapestry in which the laws of destiny play out against a backdrop of wild forest, elegant court, and savage battlefield.
I started Lian Hearn’s YA series, Tales of the Otori, years ago, but I was in that phase of skipping through books, spoiling the ending for myself, and giving up, so I never got past Across the Nightingale Floor. However, I’ve always been a huge admirer of Japan and its culture, especially in my early teens, and I finally got to go there a few years ago! So, as you can imagine, Hearn’s books are just my kind of thing as they’re set in a mythical medieval Japan. I’m determined to finish her YA series and hopefully start this new adult series in the future.
Timekeeper by Tara Sim | YA Fantasy | Alternate History
Two o’clock was missing.
In an alternate Victorian world controlled by clock towers, a damaged clock can fracture time–and a destroyed one can stop it completely. It’s a truth that seventeen-year-old clock mechanic Danny Hart knows all too well; his father has been trapped in a Stopped town east of London for three years. Though Danny is a prodigy who can repair not only clockwork, but the very fabric of time, his fixation with staging a rescue is quickly becoming a concern to his superiors.
And so they assign him to Enfield, a town where the tower seems to be forever plagued with problems. Danny’s new apprentice both annoys and intrigues him, and though the boy is eager to work, he maintains a secretive distance. Danny soon discovers why: he is the tower’s clock spirit, a mythical being that oversees Enfield’s time. Though the boys are drawn together by their loneliness, Danny knows falling in love with a clock spirit is forbidden, and means risking everything he’s fought to achieve. But when a series of bombings at nearby towers threaten to Stop more cities, Danny must race to prevent Enfield from becoming the next target or he’ll not only lose his father, but the boy he loves, forever.
This sounds sooooooo gooooood. An alternate Victorian England where time can stop if the clocks do? LGBTQ+ rep? Sign me up!
Flashfall by Jenny Moyer | YA Sci-Fi
Orion is a Subpar, expected to mine the tunnels of Outpost Five, near the deadly flash curtain. For generations, her people have chased cirium the only element that can shield humanity from the curtain’s radioactive particles. She and her caving partner Dram work the most treacherous tunnel, fighting past flash bats and tunnel gulls, in hopes of mining enough cirium to earn their way into the protected city.
But when newcomers arrive at Outpost Five, Orion uncovers disturbing revelations that make her question everything she thought she knew about life on both sides of the cirium shield. As conditions at the outpost grow increasingly dangerous, it s up to Orion to forge a way past the flashfall, beyond all boundaries, beyond the world as she knows it.
This sounds like it has a big similarity with Red Rising, namely a mining community on another planet who are the lowest in society and are fed lies about what’s going on in the outside world. However, it seems that’s where the similarities stop. Hopefully this book holds its own and doesn’t turn into some half-hearted regurgitation of Red Rising but, either way, it sounds pretty good. (Released in the UK on 1st Dec).
Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova | YA Urban Fantasy
Alex is a bruja and the most powerful witch in her family. But she’s hated magic ever since it made her father disappear into thin air. So while most girls celebrate their Quinceañera, Alex prepares for Death Day the most important day in a bruja’s life, and her only opportunity to rid herself of magic.
But the curse she performs during the ceremony backfires and her family vanishes, forcing Alex to absorb all of the magic from her family line. Left alone, Alex seeks help from Nova, a brujo with ambitions of his own. To get her family back they must travel to Los Lagos, a land in- between, as dark as Limbo and as strange as Wonderland…
I’ve seen a lot of love for this so decided to add it to my wishlist. It sounds really intriguing (and diverse!) so I’m looking forward to buying this one.
And that’s it! What books have you added to your wishlist recently? Have you read any of these? Want to read them? Let me know in the comments below!
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