UPCOMING RELASES: NOVEMBER

We've made it through another month and we've got some exciting new books making their ways into bookshops in the next few weeks!

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho

10th
You may have seen the YouTube series with the same name that started earlier this year where Emmanuel Acho would have uncomfortable conversations about race. I love that series, I think it's incredibly educational and having it in book form sounds fantastic!

Dearly by Margaret Atwood

10th
It's always exciting whenever Margaret Atwood comes out with new stuff and this one is especially intriguing to me because it's poetry! 

The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar

24th
This is a contemporary fiction novel where we follow a Syrian-American trans boy who struggles with his identity, the grief after the loss of his mother and his art.

This Magnificent Dappled Sea by David Biro

1st

This is a historical fiction novel about two people who are brought together because of an illness requiring a bone marrow transplant and as they come together, secrets from the years of the second World War rise to the surface.

A Promised Land by Barack Obama

17th

I've never read any of Barack Obama's books but I think it could be interesting to see his thoughts now that he's been out of office for a while, and this offers insight into where he came from, how he became the President of the US and what it was like. Sounds very interesting to me!

#FRIDAYREADS

 

OCTOBER BOOK HAUL

 S P O N S O R E D  :  S O M E  B O O K S  S E N T  B Y  P U B L I S H E R S
I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S
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We're coming to the end of spooky season and swiftly moving on to the last months of the year and I don't know about you, but I'm already ready for this year to be over (even if things aren't guaranteed to get better next year, there's just something hopeful about moving on from 2020). Before we get there though, we've got November and the start of winter, and of course, the holidays.

There's also something about moving on to the second to last month of the year which reminds me of all the books I want to get to before next year, even if I'm only a few books away from reaching my yearly reading goal. I got quite the big selection of books this month and there's no way I can read them all before 2021 but I'll do my best because all of these look so good!

( a f f i l i a t e  l i n k s  +  b o o k s  m a r k e d  *  s e n t  b y  p u b l i s h e r s )
A Fever of the Blood by Oscar de Muriel
A Mask of Shadows by Oscar de Muriel
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
Skyggejegeren by Camilla Grebe
Opium and Absinthe by Lydia Kang
The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman
The King of Crows by Libba Bray
The Housekeeper and The Professor by Yoko Ogawa
Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs by Caitlin Doughty
*Three Rival Sisters by Marie-Louise Gangeur
*The Woman of the Wolf by Renée Vivien
The Five by Hallie Rubenhold
One By One by Ruth Ware
Dødens Spill by Anne Elvedal
The Glass House by Eve Chase
The One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg

I hope you're all doing all right and enjoying what's left of October!

BOOK REVIEW: THE WICKED DEEP BY SHEA ERNSHAW

I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S

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Title: The Wicked Deep
Author: Shea Ernshaw
Published: 2018
Language: English
Pages: 310
Rating: 2/5

Summary:

In a small isolated town by the sea, three sisters were sentenced to death for witchery centuries ago and return every summer to seek vengeance, luring and drowning young men, and in this town, we meet a seventeen year old girl who, like the townsfolk, have accepted the curse until one summer, a boy she meets changes everything.

Review:

I was intrigued by this book because of the folklore and myth aspect of it, as well as the promise of witches, but alas, this reminded me why I so often steer clear of the young adult genre.

There's nothing wrong with this book necessarily, it just wasn't my thing at all. The only thing I did actually like was the myth of these sisters and parts of the magical realism we get to see in here, but otherwise, there was just not a lot in here for me. The characters were all right, if somewhat stereotypical, I didn't care for the romance element in the slightest and I just... I wasn't invested in this at all.

There's something melodramatic about the writing in here as well that just made me roll my eyes and it's just not my thing, so unfortunately, this was just kind of OK for me. Might be good for the right audience though. 

You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads

HALLOWEEN CREATURE BOOK TAG

BOOK REVIEW: BRIGHT YOUNG DEAD BY JESSICA FELLOWES

I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S

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Title: Bright Young Dead
Author: Jessica Fellowes
Published: 2018
Language: English
Pages: 400
Rating: 3/5

This is the second book in The Mitford Murders series. 

Summary:

Set in the mid 1920's, the glamour of the Bright Young Things crashes into the world of The Mitford sisters and their maid Louisa Cannon finds herself at the scene of another murder mystery.

Review:

This was, as the first novel in this series, an enjoyable and entertaining read.

I really enjoyed returning to these characters and seeing what they got up to this time around. I absolutely love the time period and the setting of this and I really felt like I could get lost in this book, which is the best thing! The mystery in here was also very intriguing and I really enjoyed the twists and turns of it. It also includes a notorious girl gang, which was extra fun. 

The characters in here are interesting, especially the main characters. There are a lot of side characters in this story though, not all of whom are equally well developed and I sometimes had a hard time telling them apart. 

Overall though, a very enjoyable and easy book to read, perfect for when you want a bit of escapism.

PS: Like I mentioned in my review of the first book, the fact that the Mitford sisters in here are based on real people is irrelevant, so don't go into these books thinking that these novels are about them, because they're really not. 

You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads

A COSY SPOOKY VLOG

BOOK REVIEW: WHEN I ARRIVED AT THE CASTLE BY EMILY CARROLL

I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S

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Title: When I Arrived at The Castle
Author: Emily Carroll
Published: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 72
Rating: 3/5

Summary:

A girl makes her way to a castle no one returns from, determined to snuff out the evil that resides there.

Review:

I've previously read Through the Woods by this author and really liked it, so I was excited to pick this book up.

The art is definitely my favorite part of this. Carrolls style is dark, slightly gruesome and stunning. I especially love the color palette, as it sticks to reds, black and white, which is perfectly suited for horror. 

I did find the story in here a little confusing and I wish there was more of it; I was left feeling like I liked the book but didn't really understand it. It feels disjointed and a little vague. Maybe on a reread it'll make more sense.

I did still enjoy this though, even if it didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Fun to read during October!

You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads

#FRIDAYREADS

 

FAVE BOOKS SET IN THE 18TH & 19TH CENTURY

BOOK REVIEW: PUMPKINHEADS BY RAINBOW ROWELL

I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S

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Title: Pumpkinheads
Author: Rainbow Rowell, Faith Erin Hicks (Illustrator)
Published: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 209
Rating: 4/5

Summary:

Deja and Josiah are seasonal best friends and have worked together at a pumpkin patch for years, but now that they're seniors and soon off to college, this Halloween is different; it's their last shift together.

Review:

This book was incredibly sweet and it put me in such a good mood!

I love how this story explores friendship and that time in your life when you're young and big changes are afoot. I loved getting to know the characters and I really liked the representation we see in here. The story is cute, if a little predictable.

The art is here is absolutely amazing and if you want a book to give you autumn vibes, this is it. I really liked how both the characters and the setting was drawn and I absolutely adore the use of color.

This was just a wonderfully sweet autumnal read and I enjoyed it so much! I can easily see myself returning to this next fall. 

You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads

NEW ON MY TBR

BOOK REVIEW: FIERCE FAIRYTALES BY NIKITA GILL

I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S

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Title: Fierce Fairytales & Other Stories To Stir Your Soul
Author: Nikita Gill
Published: 2018
Language: English
Pages: 161
Rating: 3/5

Summary:

n this poetry/short story collection, Nikita Gill retells fairytales and folklore into modern feminist stories.

Review:

This was a sweet little book.

I generally quite like both fairytales and retellings of them, and I ended up really enjoying this one. The book is a mix of different types of poetry, so we've got shorter, more traditional styles mixed with longer, more modern pieces, which border on being short stories. I quite enjoyed both.

There are also beautiful illustrations scattered throughout this that I loved and I felt like that added something a little extra special to this.

I do think what we get in here varies a little bit in quality, as it usually does with most collections like this, and I think it gets a little bit repetitive sometimes. Perhaps it would have benefited from being edited a bit more heavily.

Either way though, this was enjoyable and magical and well worth the read. 

You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads

TRY A CHAPTER: HISTORICAL FICTION

BOOK REVIEW: QUEENIE BY CANDICE CARTY-WILLIAMS

I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S

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Title: Queenie
Author: Candice Carty-Williams
Published: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 400
Rating: 4/5

Summary:

Set in London, we meet Queenie, a Jamaican British woman in her mid twenties working as a journalist, who finds herself on a break from her long term boyfriend, leading her to seek comfort in all the wrong places.

Review:

This was a book I was a bit hesitant to read because I generally don't love books dealing with relationships but I'm really happy I read this book because it has a lot more to offer than that.

I will say, the part of the book I didn't think I was going to like (the relationship/break-up thing) was the part I was least invested in. However, there is so much other stuff going on in this book that I thought was fascinating. We not only take a look at the main characters relationship with her boyfriend, but also with her family, friends and the strangers she seeks comfort with. We explore modern day life, class, race, friendship and mental health and all of that stuff was amazing.

The book sets off being about a romantic relationship, but slowly moves on to really being about Queenie. Our main character is an interesting one and endlessly frustrating, but I actually kind of liked that, because it didn't feel very far off reality for me; sometimes when people struggle, they do things that are really frustrating and things that very obviously are not good for them. People are complicated and are and feel many things all at once, and I thought this character really captured that. I found myself really rooting for her and seeing her grow was incredible. 

I also like how this book includes e-mails and text messages, which sets it solidly in the present because I feel like that made the book even better.

For me, this is somewhere between a three and four star read, but I've upped it to four because I think this does so many things well. I'd really recommend it, so long as you can deal with reading about a character whose actions might make you cringe from time to time.

You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads