Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Books to Read By the Pool/At the Beach (Summer TBR)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

I... don't really have specific beach reads, by genre or anything, so this is more of just a TBR list.



1. The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal: I recently went through Kowal's Shades of Milk and Honey series and really enjoyed how well she wrote in a historical context, and integrated magic into regency society. This one sounds even more up my alley- space travel! Historical ladies in STEM! Historical ladies in STEM doing SPACE THINGS.

2. Smoke and Iron by Rachel Caine (The Great Library #4): I've been a fan of The Great Library series since reading the first book. I was fortunate enough to receive a copy of this for review and I've been waiting for closer to the release date to actually read it. 

3. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi: I've owned this since it came out... and I still haven't read it. It isn't that I don't want to it's just that... I haven't. I am looking forward to picking it up, though!

4. The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang: I feel like this list has a lot more adult speculative fiction on this list than would be representative of my usual reading habits, but perhaps I'm branching out.

5. Binti by Nnedi Okoraror: This is another one that I've had for a while and am looking forward to picking up. I've been in a sci-fi mood lately and I've also heard really fantastic things about the audiobook of this one. 



6. The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley: I don't know too much about this one but the cover is stunning and it comes highly recommended so I snagged it at the library.

7. The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson: I have had this novella for an embarrassingly long time and still haven't read it. 

8. City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty: I've got the audiobook on hold right now but I might see if the physical copy will take less time for me to get my hands on because it sounds great.

9. A Thousand Beginnings and Endings edited by Ellen Oh and Elise Chapman: It's pretty and I've heard really good things about it.

10. Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin: if you say the words "Pride and Prejudice retelling/twist" I am there. 

34 comments :

  1. I'm intrigued by Ayesha At Last! Fab list, I hope you get around to these books. My TTT

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    1. It sounds good, right? Realistic fiction tends not to be my cup of tea but tell me something has shades of Jane Austen and I'm intrigued.

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  2. I love the story of Pride and Prejudice. Hope the re-telling works out for you!

    My TTT

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    1. P & P holds a special place for me, reading-wise. It was a total coincidence that I picked it up at all, but it wound up being one of the only classics that I've ever really enjoyed. As a result I'm just always drawn to anything with shades of Jane Austen.

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  3. I need to read Children of Blood and Bone and The Watchmaker of Filigree Street too (I own both of them).

    Hope you enjoy all these fabulous looking books and have a great week. - Katie

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    1. Children of Blood and Bone is pretty high up on my priority list because a) I've heard it's really good and b) I have owned it since it came out and... still haven't read it.

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  4. City of Brass is fantastic! I need to get back to the Great Library series, I hadn't realised it had got to book 4 already! I also want to read The Calculating Stars.

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    1. Definitely give The Great Library a go when you get a chance! (Or I guess you could wait until the series is over then read them all without the suspense... both are good options.) I found out about The Calculating Stars late so I've been kind of dwelling on it for the past two weeks. I'm so excited to read it!

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  5. Children of Blood and Bone is next up on my list! I can't wait to dive in :)

    My TTT

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    1. I'm really looking forward to reading it which begs the question... why I haven't yet.

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  6. Children of Blood and Bone is on my Summer TBR too!
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2018/06/19/top-ten-tuesday-164/

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    1. I'm glad I'm not the only whose still getting to it... Hopefully it works out well for both of us!

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  7. I loved both Children of Blood and Bone and A Thousand Beginnings and Ends! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
    My TTT: https://booksofteacups.wordpress.com/2018/06/19/top-ten-tuesday-summer-tbr/

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    1. I keep hearing such fantastic things about both, I'm really looking forward to whenever I wind up reading both!

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  8. Smoke and Iron looks really good, I' going to have to check that series out now.

    Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!

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    1. If you do wind up reading it, I hope you enjoy them! If you'd like to know more about the first book, my review is here.

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  9. What a lovely list! The covers! I hate to admit, I have but have not read Pride and Prejudice. YET! I keep meaning to get to it. It's even on the top of my bookshelf for easy access. Soon! Have a lovely summer. Looks like you're going to.

    My list: TTT

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    1. Honestly picking up Pride and Prejudice was a bit of a fluke for me, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. (I went in without knowing the ending, if you can believe it. I had somehow managed to avoid all spoilers about a centuries old text, and was deeply worried that it would end in someone dying of consumption or something because I just assumed based on my school classics readings, that all classics were sad. I was pleasantly surprised.)

      Anyway. I'd love to hear your thoughts if/when you do wind up picking it up!

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  10. A few of these are on my list, but I'll be adding some from yours! <3 I read Binti awhile back, but it didn't really work for me. I listened to the audiobook, too! I hope it's a better fit for you. Everyone else seems to really enjoy it. I must be the black sheep bahhhh (sheep sound, lol).

    L @ Do You Dog-ear?

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    1. Different stories work for different people, right? I think I was subconsciously deliberately waiting until the whole trilogy was out because the first novella is so short and I want to be able to marathon them... fingers crossed. I hope you have better luck with liking your summer reads!

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    2. That makes sense! It's what I'm doing with The Lunar Chronicles. They're not novellas, but I wanted to be able to read them all at my own pace. I can't do that if I'm waiting on something to be released.

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    3. Speaking as someone who was reading The Lunar Chronicles as they were release by the 3rd book... this was not a bad call. So. Much. Waiting.

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    4. Right? I feel like I need to re-read the entire series before the new book comes out, and there's not always time for that! I wish books in a series gave you a small recap at the beginning of every book that the reader has the option to read/not to read.

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    5. I've actually read a couple books that do this (Eragon comes to mind)... otherwise Recaptains provides summaries of a lot of popular books in series so you're able to familiarizing yourself with a story. They haven't covered every series but they've hit quite a few popular ones. (I compulsively reread so usually a story IS fresh in my mind but the Recaptains stuff is also just really fun to read.

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  11. I don't know how I'll feel about The Poppy War, but I want to try it out because everyone has been praising it. I added Ayesha at Last to my TBR as soon as I heard about it. I didn't realize it already came out. Hope you enjoy all the reads you pick up this summer!

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    1. There are so many release dates it's hard to keep track! I'm not super huge on contemporaries but the moment I saw Ayesha at Last being related to P & P I was intrigued... and by the time I'd read the synopsis I was sold. I've got it on hold right now and I'm really excited to pick it up. Thanks for stopping by!

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  12. I have the second book in the Binti series on my TTT this week. And CBB is SOOOO good. Happy reading!

    eli @ the (book) supplier
    My TTT

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    1. I'm so excited to start both of them! I feel like all the feedback in the comments this week has given me a real push to finally pick up CBB.

      I've heard the audio for Binti is great and my library has access but at the same time... I already own the paper copy of the novella. Dilemma dilemma. (Which is to say that it's the opposite of a problem. Probably what one would call an embarrassment of riches).

      Anyway. Thanks for stopping by!

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  13. Children of Blood and Bone has been on my TBR for awhile and I'm really hoping to get around to it soon. I hope you enjoy all of these!

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    1. I feel like I should have already read it and yet... I have not. Thanks for stopping by!

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  14. I'm probably most interested in The Children of Blood and Bone and The Poppy War on that list.

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    1. They both sound fantastic, don't they? If you get a chance to read either of them, I'd love to hear what you think.

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  15. 'Blood and Bone' has gotten a lot of hype, but it's not one I've really taken a second look at. Fantasy isn't really my genre, so I tend to stick with favorites like all the contemporaries. ;D

    Thanks so much for visiting Finding Wonderland, Kelly - happy summer TBR-ing!

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    1. I think the hype is part of why it's taken me so long to read it? I bought it as I was just starting to consider coming back to blogging and then things got busy and then there was so much hype and now I just keep waiting for the perfect time to read it... I don't know.

      Contemporaries aren't totally my genre but I definitely do have a few favourites. I hope you find some contemporaries you really love this summer!

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