2017: Books I Want to Read this Year

As ever, I’m going into a brand new year with a heaving TBR that’s full of books I bought and was sent over the last year that I never got around to reading. My shelves are currently bursting with wonderful adult fiction that just also seemed to get pushed aside to make way for review books, but here are a few that I really want to make a priority in 2017.

The Princess Saves Herself in This One, Amanda Lovelace

This gorgeous little poetry collection has had a lot of love on Twitter, Instagram and Goodreads ever since it was self-published in April and was recommended for fans of Rupi Kaur’s Milk and Honey which I LOVED. Beyond ready for this.

It tackles grief, loss, loneliness, love, empowerment and an essense of the fairytale. Plus it's a poetry collection under 200 pages 0 it really won't take me long to read!

Warbreaker, Brandon Sanderson

I’ve fallen head over heels for Sanderson’s books in the last few years and I’m super excited to continue my journey through his backlist. Warbreaker tells the story of two princess sisters who live in a world where those who die in glory return as gods and a magic system based on breath - SOLD.

This is another chunky Sanderson though so it'll definitely take some working up to! But now I have a physical copy and the audiobook I really don't have an excuse not to get on with it...

The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt

Donna Tartt’s most recent novel has been on my TBR since I devoured The Secret History in 2015 but it’s just intimidatingly long. Her previous two novels that sit around 500 pages, while readable and thoroughly enjoyable, took me a while to read so I can’t imagine how long it’ll take to wade through 800 pages! But I’m sure it’ll be 100% worth it. Donna Tartt is a legend.

I'm determined to conquer this, and it'll probably be via audiobook.

The Paying Guests, Sarah Waters

I devoured Sarah Waters’ first novel Fingersmith on a trip to Disneyland Paris last winter and I was blown away. I immediately bought her latest with the full intention of reading it straight away. Whoops. I’m a little fussy with my historical fiction but I already feel like Sarah Waters could do no wrong.

She has the elements of romance, mystery, thriller, historical and Gothic all mashed together beautifully. Oh, and the writing is stunning. And now I'm making myself desperate to read it...

The Gracekeepers, Kirsty Logan

This book was the darling of booktube for a long while and I got swept up by the hype and the beautiful cover and bought myself a copy. And it’s sat (beautifully) on my shelf ever since. Islands, circuses and magical realism basically sounds like a dream and I’m pretty sure I’m going to love it, but the hype does make me worry...

BUT I'll suck it up and give it a read. That many people can't be wrong, right? Right.

What are you determined to read in 2017?

Sophie

Series Review: Avry of Kazan by Maria V Snyder

Series: Avry of Kazan

Author: Maria V Snyder

Books in Series: Touch of Power, Scent of Magic, Taste of Darkness

What’s it all about?

Avry’s ability to cure the sick should inspire awe and reverence in Kazan, but the outbreak of a deadly plague that killed millions changed everything. A plague that has been blamed on healers. When Avry uses her magic to save a dying child, she’s caught and faces execution until a mysterious band of rescuers help her flee her cell. They want her to save a dying prince who has the ability to heal Kazan, but it’ll kill her in return. Will she sacrifice herself to save her world?

The verdict:

Touch of Power

I picked up this book on a complete whim after it sitting on my shelf for four years and I fell head over heels with Avry, Kerrick, Flea, Balen and the monkeys. It’s been years since I binge-read an entire series that wasn’t a re-read or catch-up!

As always, Maria V Snyder has created an involving, vivid and dangerous world that I became immediately involved in. There’s never a moment in in Snyder’s novels when I wonder what’s going on or what’s happening which is something I often struggle with in fantasy - I hate that feeling of floundering. But most of all? It’s all about Kerrick’s gang. I love the banter, affection and loyalty between them and I feel for them all properly, especially the monkeys. It was just what I needed at just the right moment.

Scent of Magic

In book one I wasn’t completely sold on Avry and Kerrick’s growing feelings for each other, I was all for Avry/Belen for a long time, but after the ending of Touch of Power I was suddenly fiercely behind them. The agony of book two was in how much they were separated. The near deaths, the actual deaths, the near misses and the stress of their separation.

The stakes felt higher than ever and all of the risks to the world and the characters were more serious than ever. Seriously, some of the situations Avry got herself into made me want to throw the book across the room so I had to hunker down for hours to read instead. So good! The cliffhanger at the end of the book when Avry and Kerrick were finally reunited was cruel - I had to go straight on to Taste of Darkness.

Taste of Darkness

The finale came around and I still wasn’t getting at all tired of this series or these characters and I was genuinely sad to see it end.

There were many moments during this novel when I looked at how little was left and couldn’t figure out how everything could possibly turn out okay, but it ended perfectly. I was really pleased with how the relationships, friendships, enemies and the whole war thing turned out - and yet I totally feel like there’s scope for re-visiting this world and I really hope Maria V Snyder will go back to it one day. There’s so much to explore and so many side characters I’d love to be re-united with. Flea had one of the biggest and most significant arcs in the series and I’d love to get under his skin a little more.

All in all, a wonderfully readable and addictive fantasy trilogy that I could have followed for another 3 books. Highly recommended!

Sophie

Blog Tour: WIN a copy of Lisa Thompson's Goldfish Boy

Lisa Thompson's brilliant debut, The Goldfish Boy, is a mystery that you won't be able to put down. 

Matthew suffers from severe OCD. He hasn't been to school in weeks as he refuses to leave his bedroom and his hands bleed from too much cleaning. He passes the time by observing his neighbours from the safety of his bedroom window, but when the toddler next door goes missing it quickly becomes apparent that Matthew was the last person to see the little boy alive. But solving this mystery may involve him breaking out of his safety zone - can he do it? 

Enter to win a copy here!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

• UK only.
• Closes 13th January 2017.
• Prize will be send out by Scholastic UK - I have no responsibility for the prize once the winner's details have been passed on to Scholastic. 

Good luck!

Sophie

2017: Reading Goals

It’s time to dramatically declare all of the ambitious reading goals I want to achieve in 2017 and then wrap them up in December and realise I’ve failed most of them - I love it! Without further ado, this is what I want to achieve reading-wise over the next twelve months.

• Read ‘War and Peace’

I have a plan. Reading only 7 chapters a day (around 50 pages) will get this behemoth finished in two months. I loved Anna Karenina last year and people I trust have said that War and Peace is even better. Bring. It. On.

• 125 books

• Continue to diversify – short stories, poetry, literary fiction, classics, and more!

• 24 classics

Two classics a month is 100% achievable if I keep up the pace I set last year.

• Read the Russians

As well as reading War and Peace this year, I'd really like to tackle a few more Russian classics. I have Crime and Punishment, The Master and Margarita, Dead Souls and Eugene Onegin on my TBR.

• 12 non-fiction

This is a challenge that I very nearly conquered in 2016 as I managed 11 non-fiction books, so I’m hoping I’ll finally manage it in 2017.

• Get some chunky classics under my belt

I have a fair few on my list for this challenge, but I’m going to leave it open. These are a few I’m considering: The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Muskateers, Vanity Fair, Moby Dick and Crime and Punishment.

I’d love to hear all about your reading goals for 2017!

Sophie

Most Anticipated: January to June 2017

January

Wing Jones, Katherine Webber (5th, Walker)

A Quiet Kind of Thunder, Sara Barnard (12th, Macmillan)

Margot and Me, Juno Dawson (26th, Hot Key Books)

Waiting for Callback: Take Two, Perdita & Honor Cargill (28th, S&S)

Caraval, Stephanie Gerber (31st, Hodder)

February

Unconventional, Maggie Harcourt (1st, Usborne)

Traitor to the Throne, Alwyn Hamilton (2nd, Faber)

All About Mia, Lisa Williamson (2nd, David Fickling Books)

King’s Cage, Victoria Aveyard (9th, Orion)

Silver Stars, Michael Grant (9th, Electric Monkey)

History is All You Left Me, Adam Silvera (9th, S&S)

Heartless, Marissa Meyer (9th, Macmillan)

Dragon with a Chocolate Heart, Stephanie Burgis (9th, Bloomsbury)

Dawn Study, Maria V Snyder (9th, HQ)

We Are Okay, Nina LaCour (14th, Dutton)

The Night Spinner, Abi Elphinstone (23rd, S&S)

March

The Scarecrow Queen, Melinda Salisbury (2nd, Walker)

Optimists Die First, Susin Nielsen (2nd, Andersen Press)

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life, Benjamin Alire Saenz (7th, Clarion Books [US])

Following Ophelia, Sophia Bennett (9th, Stripes)

The Ship Beyond Time, Heidi Heilig (23rd, Hot Key Books)

Strange the Dreamer, Laini Taylor (28th, Hodder)

Just an Ordinary Day, Shirley Jackson (30th, Penguin Modern Classics)

April

Always and Forever, Lara Jean, Jenny Han (6th, Scholastic)

Gem & Dixie, Sara Zarr (4th, Balzar & Bray [US])

Cream Buns and Crime, Robin Stevens (6th, Corgi)

Naondel, Maria Turtschaninoff (6th, Pushkin Press)

The Upside of Unrequited, Becky Albertalli (11th, Penguin)

May

Windfall, Jennifer E Smith (4th, Macmillan)

A Court of Wings and Ruin, Sarah J Maas (4th, Bloomsbury)

One Italian Summer, Keris Stainton (4th, Hot Key Books)

The Last Piece of My Heart, Paige Toon (18th, S&S)

Lord of Shadows (The Dark Artifices #2), Cassandra Clare (23rd, S&S)

June

The Names They Gave Us, Emery Lord (1st, Bloomsbury)

Spellbook of the Lost and Found, Moira Fowley-Doyle (1st, Corgi)

Once and For All, Sarah Dessen (6th, Viking [US])

Midnight Jewell, Richelle Mead (27th, Razorbill [US])

What are your most anticipated reads from the first half of 2017?

Sophie