My TBR pile is a monstrous thing (whose isn’t?) and my reading is more mood reading these days, so for this week’s Top 10 Tuesday, I am just going to pick 10 books that I’m currently reading (or currently planning to read at any rate). Any of these on your radar too?
Tag: reading-challenges
I shortlisted reading plans at the start of this month, and I am already reworking those! This time, I have my eyes on Back to the Classics Challenge hosted by Karen at Books and Chocolate. There are 12 prompts, and the cut-off year is 1972. I have a *tentative* reading list in mind — no idea if I’ll actually stick to these picks, but I had a field day putting these together.
Winter of Ice and Iron by Rachel Neumeier
Standalone Epic Fantasy
Published: 2017
Tropes: Land Magic/ Wild Magic, Mythological Fantasy, Bi-Protagonist, Court Intrigue, Dark Fantasy.
Winter of Ice and Iron was my pick for the “winter” theme for January, in Bookish Valhalla’s TBR SFF 2022 challenge. I’ve read and liked Neumeier’s work before and I think she deserves more press — so I picked this one up with interest.
Each kingdom’s land has a wild force which must be mastered by its ruler (else it will destroy the ruler and the people). Trouble starts when one particular mad king plans to usurp the wildforces of all neighboring kingdoms.
“Wolf Month was the starving month, the bitter month, the month when winter stores grew lean and the new growth had not yet come, the month when the long haunting cries of the wolves drifted almost nightly from the high mountains. It was a hard month. The cold lingered.”
This book reminded me of Game of Thrones but with land magic involved. (There are a lot of kings and queens asking each other to “bend the knee” which is a GOT reference if ever I saw one.) Ahem:
Tall Order: 2022 Reading Plans
Top 10 TBR SciFi Books
November seems to be SciFi Reading Month. So for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday meme hosted by Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl, I’m sharing a list of top 10 scifi books from my TBR pile (not book quotes). I’d planned to work on my science fiction reading muscle this year, and who knows? Still have 2 more months for end of 2021, you know.
I’m taking inspiration from the prompts for SciFiMonth 2021 challenge hosted by Imyril and Dear Geek Place, particularly the Book Bingo.
About The Forgotten Garden
Published: 2008
Book Tropes: Foundlings, Time Hops, Family Secrets, Mysterious Houses, Australia
Recommended for fans of: Susanna Kearsley, Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen, Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman, Possession by A. S. Byatt, The Thirteenth Tale by by Diane Setterfield
Forgotten Garden was the first book that I decided to read from my Fall 2021 Reading List — since that was the book most people recommended! It turned out to be a very engrossing read, and managed to get me out of my reader’s block.
July TrekAThon is Here
Foxes and Fairy Tales is hosting another very cool reading challenge in July 2021: TrekAThon Round 1. Each book you read will power the Transporter and let you rescue one crew-member (and once you finish the Scotty prompt, you can combine prompts!). All book choices are your own. The sign-up post is here, and here’s a rundown of the books I hope to read.
Wyrd & Wonder 2021
Wyrd & Wonder is a super cool reading challenge for May 2021, hosted at There’s Always Room for One More.
Books 1 & 2: Goblin Moon / Hobgoblin Night by Teresa Edgerton
Genres / Tropes: 18th Century Alternative History, Fantasy, Alchemy, Search for Atlantis and Philosopher’s Stone, Zorro-like Vigilantes
Published: 1991 / 2015
Similar Books: Sorcery & Cecilia by Caroline Stevermer and Patricia Wrede, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, Books by Georgette Heyer, Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater, The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells, The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens, The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
Rating: 10 of 10. Highly Recommended.
The Plot:
Two alchemists try to raise a dead magician who may know how to make the Seramarias Stone. Two women try to flee a vengeful fairie halfling and her troll minions. A secret glassmakers guild plans to raise a submerged Atlantis-like island. A half-mad, sleepdust-addicted Zorro-like vigilante risks all to expose black magic cartels and the slavers’ trade. And no one can make sense of the homunculus and the golem out in the world. Clearly, a lot happens!
I really wanted to give this book a 10-rating, to put it in my Top 10 of 2021 list later in December. Unfortunately, while The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle was interesting and certainly novel, I just couldn’t fall in love with this book.
The Plot:
Aiden Bishop finds himself trapped at Blackheath Manor, where he has been invited to attend the homecoming party for Evelyn Hardcastle. It should have been a happy occasion. But night after night, Aiden finds his “spirit” transmigrated to the body of a different guest at Blackheath — all on the same day. If Aiden can figure out who wants to kill Evelyn, he can escape this repetitive time-loop. Trouble is, Aiden has “competitors” in this game, and only one victor can escape Blackheath.