Fall Haul

I have gone book crazy this September onward. I moved house to Bolton and so the Arndale Waterstones has been within my reach. Safe to say my student loan now lives only in history books.

I have been heavily into Kingdom themed novels since reading Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas. I knew I would have a bad book hangover, so I prepared thoroughly. Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker declared that fans of Maas would enjoy this. Naturally I trust everything the yellow font on the front of a book says.

Elizabeth Grey is one of the king's best witch hunters, devoted to rooting out witchcraft and doling out justice. But when she's accused of being a witch herself, Elizabeth is arrested and sentenced to burn at the stake.

Kick-butt heroine caught herself in a pickle. Sounds right up my street.

Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine promised me medieval-type adventure with the included literature love of The Book Thief. I love purchasing the first book in a new series. It always sort of feels like a promise, like something great is yet to come and knowing their is more of the adventure out there, really matters when I'm choosing material to read.

Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the Library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly—but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden. Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the Library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from illegal books obtained by his family, who are involved in the thriving black market. Jess has been sent to be his family’s spy, but his loyalties are tested in the final months of his training to enter the Library’s service.

The Kingdom of Little Wounds by Susann Cokal is my favourite buy for fall. I have read nothing of it other than the blurb. The blurb and the title though, it sounds amazing, I have high hopes for this book, especially seen as the author has won several very impressive awards, this book even being shortlisted for the Printz prize.

On the eve of Princess Sophia’s wedding, the Scandinavian city of Skyggehavn prepares to fete the occasion with a sumptuous display of riches: brocade and satin and jewels, feasts of sugar fruit and sweet spiced wine. Yet beneath the veneer of celebration, a shiver of darkness creeps through the palace halls. A mysterious illness plagues the royal family, threatening the lives of the throne’s heirs, and a courtier’s wolfish hunger for the king’s favors sets a devious plot in motion.

Next on the agenda were the books I'd be waiting to buy or that weren't available in bookstores in my hometown. Naturally after reading Fairest by Marissa Meyer and eagerly waiting for Winter, I had to buy it in paperback and it was so worth it. The cover is even more beautiful in real life. It's like shiny and fiery and just breathtaking. 

In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.
Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?
Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now. 


Then, I returned to the Grishaverse, with Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. This book is a monster, it is huge, only 500 pages but has a good inch in height more than the other books. Cannot complain though because I have been waiting for this for over a year since Bardugo announced it via tumblr.  I already knew I was buying this book as soon as it was published. The Grisha series was amazing, I loved it and  I'm praying for a Darkling  character who turns out not to be completely bonkers. 

As I am a fan of Frozen by Melissa De La Cruz and Michael Johnston, I purchased the sequel Stolen.

Months after Nat and Wes said good-bye on the shores of the Blue, Nat is learning how to control and use her new power. She and her drakon are the last of their kind—and she’s risked her life for their reunion. When she receives a mysterious distress call, she races to help, soliciting the guidance of her new friend, the beautiful and aloof Faix Lazaved of the Blue. Still heartbroken over losing Nat, Wes is racing cars on a New Vegas racetrack while his team is scattered and lost. When he finds out that his sister, Eliza, is being held in the golden domes of El Dorado, he does what he’s best at—running to her side—and gambles on luck to see him through one more time.

As I'm also a lover of Disney, I couldn't help by help myself to The Descendants by Melissa De La Cruz. I went to Cuba in the summer and Disney Channel was all about The Descendants Movie and to an extent the book. I like Melissa De La Cruz's easy to follow pace and I like Disney. So what's not to like - nothing that's what. 

Twenty years ago, all the evil villains were banished from the kingdom of Auradon and made to live in virtual imprisonment on the Isle of the Lost. The island is surrounded by a magical force field that keeps the villains and their descendants safely locked up and away from the mainland. Life on the island is dark and dreary. It is a dirty, decrepit place that's been left to rot and forgotten by the world. But hidden in the mysterious Forbidden Fortress is a dragon's eye: the key to true darkness and the villains' only hope of escape. Only the cleverest, evilest, nastiest little villain can find it...who will it be?

Another book I purchased on a whim simply as it had an authors name on,  is Silence is Goldfish by Annabel Pitcher. I have read every book Pitcher has written and she is a very talented British writer. Sh has this impeccable way of writing each of her books the same but also different. Ketchup Clouds was written in letters to a murderer and My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece was directly focused around the London Bombings. She is a very contemporary style and I have never regretted reading one of her books, so here is to this one. *Raises mug of Irn Bru, clinks like it's champagne.*

My name is Tess Turner - at least, that's what I've always been told.
I have a voice but it isn't mine. It used to say things so I'd fit in, to please my parents, to please my teachers. It used to tell the universe I was something I wasn't. It lied. It never occurred to me that everyone else was lying too. But the words that really hurt weren't the lies: it was six hundred and seventeen words of truth that turned my world upside down.
Words scare me, the lies and the truth, so I decided to stop using them.
I am Pluto. Silent. Inaccessible. Billions of miles away from everything I thought I knew.

Another favourite author of mine is Sarah Crossan, of whom I will be seeing at Manchester Literature Festival later on in the month. Crossan's novel The One, is based around two twins who are conjoined. Much like The Weight of Water it is written in verse and I loved that book so I think I will love this just as much, maybe even more. 

Tippi and Grace. Grace and Tippi. For them, it’s normal to step into the same skirt. To hook their arms around each other for balance. To fall asleep listening to the other breathing. To share. And to keep some things private. The two sixteen-year-old girls have two heads, two hearts, and each has two arms, but at the belly, they join. And they are happy, never wanting to risk the dangerous separation surgery.

The last few books I purchased were spur of the moment. For the most part, I judged a book by it's cover. The Catalyst by Helena Coggan is just stunning looking. Almost like an iris with the shadow of people walking inside it. It really captured my interest and I picked it up. This year's Divergent? We shall see. 

Rose Elmsworth has a secret. For eighteen years, the world has been divided into the magically Gifted and the non-magical Ashkind, but Rose's identity is far more dangerous. At fifteen, she has earned herself a place alongside her father in the Department, a brutal law-enforcement organisation run by the Gifted to control the Ashkind. But now an old enemy is threatening to start a catastrophic war, and Rose faces a challenging test of her loyalties. How much does she really know about her father's past? How far is the Department willing to go to keep the peace? And, if the time comes, will Rose choose to protect her secret, or the people she loves.

The next stunning cover was The Night Owls by Jean Bennett. The gold spray paint, the golden map lines behind. My eyes were just in love instantly and I had to buy it. 

Meeting Jack on the Owl - San Francisco's night bus- turns Beatrix's world upside down. Jack is charming, wildly attractive...and possibly one of San Francisco's most notorious graffiti artists. But Jack is hiding a piece of himself. On the midnight rides and city rooftops, Beatrix begins to see who this enigmatic boy really is. 

Last but not least, The Jewel by Amy Ewing  I bought not because of the cover, which is kind of The Selection by crapper. I got this because it reminded me of Only Ever Yours by Louise O'niell. In which I loved the concept but the narrative didn't go where I hoped. This book seemed to follow much more what I expected from Only Ever Yours. 

The Jewel means wealth. The Jewel means beauty. The Jewel means royalty. But for girls like Violet, the Jewel means servitude. Not just any kind of servitude. Violet, born and raised in the Marsh, has been trained as a surrogate for the royalty—because in the Jewel the only thing more important than opulence is offspring.

Purchased at the surrogacy auction by the Duchess of the Lake and greeted with a slap to the face, Violet (now known only as #197) quickly learns of the brutal truths that lie beneath the Jewel’s glittering facade: the cruelty, backstabbing, and hidden violence that have become the royal way of life.

Violet must accept the ugly realities of her existence... and try to stay alive. But then a forbidden romance erupts between Violet and a handsome gentleman hired as a companion to the Duchess’s petulant niece. Though his presence makes life in the Jewel a bit brighter, the consequences of their illicit relationship will cost them both more than they bargained for.

So that is my Fall Haul, I really did go a little crazy but then again, I will never run out of anything to read. I hope  you enjoyed this and I would love to here what you have been reading this Autumn, so keep in touch. 

Happy Reading.