My Expanding Bookshelf

This month is quite a nice sized TBR, and I'm off work until the 5th so I'm hoping I'll be able to get a great headstart.

Title: Obsidio Series: The Illuminae Files #3 Author: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff Published: 13th March 2018, Rock the Boat Pages: 620 Source: Bought Format: Paperback Rating: 4/5 Kady, Ezra, Hanna and Nik narrowly escaped with their lives from the attacks on Heimdall station and now find themselves crammed with 2,000 refugees on the container ship, Mao. With the jump station destroyed and their resources scarce, the only option is to return to Kerenza - but who knows what they'll find seven months after the invasion? Meanwhile, Kady's cousin, Asha, survived the initial BeiTech assault and has joined Kerenza's ragtag underground resistance. When Rhys - an old flame from Asha's past - reappears on Kerenza, the two find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict. With time running out, a final battle will be waged on land and in space, heroes will fall and hearts will be broken.

Title: Gemina Series: The Illuminae Files #2 Author: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff Published: 20th October 2016, Rock the Boat Pages: 659 Source: Bought Format: Paperback Rating: 4/5 Hanna Donnelly is the station captain's pampered daughter and Nik Malikov is the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. Together they struggle with the realities of life aboard the galaxy's most boring space station, blissfully unaware that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall with news of the Kerenza invasion.

                          Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl . This week's topic is the best books I read in 2021.

Title: The Love Hypothesis Series: The Love Hypothesis Author: Ali Hazelwood Published: 14th November 2021, Berkley Pages: 373 Source: Bought Format: Paperback Rating: 5/5 As a third-year PhD candidate. Olive Smith doesn't believe in lasting romantic relationships - but her best friend does, and that's what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees. That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor - and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford's reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive's career on the Bunsen burner, Adma surprised her again with his unyielding support and eve...

Title: Gilded Series: Gilded Author: Marissa Meyer Published: 2nd November 2021, Faber & Faber Pages: 512 Source: Netgalley Format: Ebook Rating: 4/5 All magic comes at a price, but love was never part of the bargain... The look he was giving her. Serilda had never been looked at like that before... The intensity. The heat. The raw astonishment. He was going to kiss her. Cursed by the god of lies, a miller's daughter has developed a talent for storytelling - but are all of her tales as false as they appear? When one of Serilda's stories draws the attention of the devastating Erlking, she finds herself swept away into a world of enchantment, where ghouls prowl the earth, and ravens track her every move. The king locks Serilda in a castle dungeon and orders her to spin straw into gold, or be killed for lying. In despair, Serilda unwittingly summons a mysterious young man to her aid. And he agrees to help her, for a price. But love wasn't meant to be part of the ba...

  The Bout of Books readathon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It’s a weeklong readathon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 3rd and runs through Sunday, January 9th in YOUR time zone. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are reading sprints, Twitter chats, and exclusive Instagram challenges, but they’re all completely optional.  For all Bout of Books 33 information and updates, be sure to visit the  Bout of Books  blog.  - From the Bout of Books team

                          Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl . This week's topic is books I hope Santa brings and includes books that I have discovered this year. I've always kept my Amazon wishlist private and for my own use, not even my family know I have one, but this time I thought I'd give it a share just to show some of the other books I have on my radar to buy this year that aren't included in this list.

Title: How to Stop Time Author: Matt Haig Published: 6th July 2017, Canongate Books Pages: 325 Source: Library Format: Hardback Rating: 5/5 A love story across the ages - and for the ages - about a man lost in time, the woman who could save him, and the lifetimes it can take to learn how to live. Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he's been alive for centuries. Tom has lived history - performing with Shakespeare, exploring the high seas with Captain Cook, and sharing cocktails with Fitzgerald. Now, he just wants an ordinary life.  So Tom moves back to London, his old home, to become a high school history teacher - the perfect job for someone who has witnessed the city's history first hand. Better yet, a captivating French teacher at his school seems fascinated by him. But the Albatross Society, the secretive group which protects people like Tom, has one rule: never fall in love. As painful memories...

    The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly of  Caffeinated Reviewer . It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

                          Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl . This week's topic is books on my winter TBR.

  The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly of  Caffeinated Reviewer . It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

So, ahead of tomorrow's Top Ten Tuesday post, Books on My Winter TBR, this is a follow-up to the  Books on My Autumn TBR  post to see how I managed. I started actually planning my monthly TBR around that time so it will be interesting to see how successfully this was...

Title: Final Girls Author: Riley Sager Published: 13th July 2017, Ebury Digital Pages: 354 Source: Netgalley Format: Ebook Rating: 4/5 FIRST THERE WERE THREE. The media calls them the Final Girls - Quincy, Sam, Lisa - the infamous group that no one wants to be part of. The sole survivors of three separate killing sprees, they are linked by their shared trauma. THEN THERE WERE TWO. But when Lisa dies in mysterious circumstances and Sam shows up unannounced on her doorstep, Quincy must admit that she doesn't really know anything about the other Final Girls. Can she trust them? Or... CAN THERE ONLY EVER BE ONE? All Quincy knows is one thing: she is next.

                          Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl . This week's topic is a freebie so I'm going to go with books I want to re-read by this time next year.

Title: Battle Royale Author: Koushun Takami Published: 1st April 2014, Haikasoru Pages: 647 Source: Bought Format: Paperback Rating: 5/5 Koushun Takami's notorious high-octane thriller envisions a nightmare scenario: a class of junior high school students is taken to a deserted island where, as part of a ruthless authoritarian program, they are provided with arms and forced to kill until only one survivor is left standing. Criticized as violent exploitation when first published in Japan - where it became a runaway best seller - Battle Royale is a Lord of the Flies for the 21st century, a potent allegory of what it means to be young and (barely) alive in a dog-eat-dog world.

                                  The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly of  Caffeinated Reviewer . It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

Title: Illuminae Series: The Illuminae Files Author: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff Published: 22nd October 2015, Rock the Boat Pages: 602 Source: Bought Format: Paperback Rating: 5/5 Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the worst thing she'd ever been through. That was before her planet was invaded. Now, with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra are forced to fight their way onto one of the evacuating craft, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit. But the warship could be the least of their problems. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their biggest threat; and nobody in charge will say what's really going on. As Kady plunges into a web of data hacking to get to the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: Ezra. Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents - including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, med...

I've decided to start a monthly post to show what I'm planning to read and post each month. It'll be a bit of accountability, but I'm not going to stress out if I don't read or post everything. But I love planning things anyway so I've no idea why I haven't done this before...  This month is quite a big TBR, but I'm off work at the start of the month and from Christmas Eve onwards so I'm hoping I'll be able to squeeze in a bit more reading and blogging time.

I can't believe it's the end of November already! I've had a fairly successful reading month, although it did take me longer than expected to read a few of my picks, so I'm slightly gutted I didn't read slightly more.

                                The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly of  Caffeinated Reviewer . It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

Title: The Midnight Library Author: Matt Haig Published: 4th February 2021, Canongate Books Ltd Pages: 288 Source: Bought Format: Paperback Rating: 5/5 Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

                              The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly of  Caffeinated Reviewer . It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

                      Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl . This week's topic is books to read if you love freebie, so I'm going with books to read if you love history.

                    Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl . This week's topic is memorable things characters have said.

                            The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly of  Caffeinated Reviewer . It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

                  Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl . This week's topic is books I'd give to someone that doesn't like reading. It's a very short list this week but I'm basing it off my sister-in-law who doesn't read much but these are books she enjoyed.

                          The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly of  Caffeinated Reviewer . It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

                        The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly of  Caffeinated Reviewer . It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

                      The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly of  Caffeinated Reviewer . It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

Title: I Was Here Author: Gayle Forman Published: January 2015 Pages: 270 Source: Giveaway (I think) Format: ARC Rating: 4/5 Cody and Meg were inspearable. Two peas in a pod. Until... they weren't anymore. When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything - so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg's college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there's a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg's heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can't open - until she does. and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend's death gets thrown into question. I Was Here is Gayle Forman at her finest, a ta...

                Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl . This week's topic is books that are on my autumn TBR.

Title: What I Saw and How I Lied Author: Judy Blundell Published: 6th July 2009, Scholastic Children's Books Pages: 265 Source: Bought Format: Paperback Rating: 3/5 Murder mystery with a dash of romance, a strongly written coming-of-age novel set in the aftermath of the Second World War which won the 2008 National Book Award in the USA. It's 1947 and 15-year-old Evie is desperate to grow up, go on dates and look glamorous like her mother. But then a handsome and mysterious ex-GI turns up. Peter served with Evie's stepfather during the war and seems to have a strange control over him; slowly, Evie realises she's falling for Peter, despite his dark secrets.

                    The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly of  Caffeinated Reviewer . It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

              Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl . This week's topic is books with a number in the title.

                  The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly of  Caffeinated Reviewer . It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

Title: Behind the Veil Author: E J Dawson Published: 1st October 2021, Literary Wanderlust Pages: 252 Source: Book Sirens Format: Kindle Rating: 3/5 Can she keep the secrets of her past to rescue a girl tormented by a ghost? In 1920s Los Angeles, Letitia Hawing reads the veil between life and death. A scrying bowl allows her to experience the final moments of the deceased. She brings closure to grief-stricken ward widows and mourning families. For Letitia, it is a penance. She knows no peace. For Alasdair Driscoll, it may be the only way to save his niece, Finola, from her growing night terrors. But when Letitia sees a shadowy figure attached to the household, it rouses old fears of her unspeakable past in England. When a man comes to her about his missing daughter, the third girl to go missing in as many months, Letitia can't help him when she can't see who's taken them. As darkness haunts Letitia's vision, she may not be given a choice in helping the determin...

            Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl . This week's topic is books guaranteed to put a smile on your face. A bot of a mixed bag this week with some romance, childrens and biographies included

Title: Orphans of the Storm Author: Celia Imrie Published: 19th August 2021, Bloomsbury Pages: 416 Source: Netgalley Format: Kindle Rating: 3/5 Nice, France, 1911. After three years of marriage, young seamstress Marcela Caretto has finally had enough. Her husband, Michael, an ambitious tailor, has become cruel and controlling and she determines to get a divorce. But while awaiting the judges' decisions on the custody of their two small boys, Michael receives news that changes everything. Meanwhile fun-loving New York socialite Margaret Hays is touring Europe with some friends. Restless, she resolves to head home aboard the most celebrated steamer in the world - RMS Titanic. As the ship sets sail for America, carrying two infants bearing false names, the paths of Marcela, Michael and Margaret cross - and nothing will ever be the same again.  From the Sunday Times bestselling author, Celia Imrie, Orphans of the Storm dives into the waters of the past to unearth a sweeping, e...

                The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly of  Caffeinated Reviewer . It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

Book Beginnings on Friday is a meme hosted every Friday by  Rose City Reader  where you share the first sentence (or couple of sentences) from your current read. The Friday 56 is also hosted every Friday by  Frida's Voice  where you share a sentence or two from page 56 or 56% into your current read.

Title: The Editor's Wife Author: Clare Chambers Published: 2nd September 2021, Cornerstone Pages: 404 Source: Netgalley Format: Kindle Rating: 4/5 When aspiring novelist Christopher Flinders drops out of university to write his masterpiece (in between shifts as a fish delivery man and builder's mate), his family is sceptical. But when he is taken up by London editor Owen Goddard and his charming wife Diana it seems success is just around the corner. Christopher's life has so far been rather short of charm - growing up in an unlovely suburb, with unambitious parents and a semi-vagrant brother - and he is captivated by his generous and cultured mentors. However, on the brink of realising his dream, Christopher makes a desperate misjudgment which results in disaster for all involved. Shattered, he withdraws from London and buries himself in rural Yorkshire, embracing a career and a private life marked by mediocrity. Twenty years on a young academic researching into Ow...

Book Beginnings on Friday is a meme hosted every Friday by  Rose City Reader  where you share the first sentence (or couple of sentences) from your current read. The Friday 56 is also hosted every Friday by  Frida's Voice  where you share a sentence or two from page 56 or 56% into your current read.

Title: The Woman at the Gates Author: Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger Published: 2nd September 2021, Bookouture Pages: 343 Source: Netgalley Format: Kindle Rating: 3.5/5 "For as long back as Antonia could remember, there had been sliding panels and secret doors to be discovered in her Carpathian village, and the music of their defiance had sustained her." 1944, Germany: Gazing through the barbed wire fence, up to the pale blue sky, Antonia dreams of home: cherry orchards, golden fields, and the man she loves, who she may never see again... Resistance fighter Antonia is out in the forest behind her family's beloved farm when the Nazi soldiers arrive. As she sees her sister Lena and her young nephews herded towards the trucks, guns pointed at their heads, she faces a split-second, heart-wrenching decision: to stay hidden, stay free and continue the flight. Or give herself up and go with her family to protect them - no matter what lies ahead. As she clutches her nephew'...

The Bout of Books readathon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It’s a weeklong readathon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 16th and runs through Sunday, August 22nd in YOUR time zone. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are reading sprints, Twitter chats, and exclusive Instagram challenges, but they’re all completely optional.  For all Bout of Books 32 information and updates, be sure to visit the  Bout of Books  blog.  - From the Bout of Books team

              The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly of  Caffeinated Reviewer . It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

The Bout of Books readathon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It’s a weeklong readathon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 16th and runs through Sunday, August 22nd in YOUR time zone. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are reading sprints, Twitter chats, and exclusive Instagram challenges, but they’re all completely optional.  For all Bout of Books 32 information and updates, be sure to visit the  Bout of Books  blog.  - From the Bout of Books team

The Bout of Books readathon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It’s a weeklong readathon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 16th and runs through Sunday, August 22nd in YOUR time zone. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are reading sprints, Twitter chats, and exclusive Instagram challenges, but they’re all completely optional.  For all Bout of Books 32 information and updates, be sure to visit the  Bout of Books  blog.  - From the Bout of Books team

Book Beginnings on Friday is a meme hosted every Friday by  Rose City Reader  where you share the first sentence (or couple of sentences) from your current read. The Friday 56 is also hosted every Friday by  Frida's Voice  where you share a sentence or two from page 56 or 56% into your current read.

 The Bout of Books readathon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It’s a weeklong readathon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 16th and runs through Sunday, August 22nd in YOUR time zone. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are reading sprints, Twitter chats, and exclusive Instagram challenges, but they’re all completely optional.  For all Bout of Books 32 information and updates, be sure to visit the  Bout of Books  blog.  - From the Bout of Books team

The Bout of Books readathon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It’s a weeklong readathon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 16th and runs through Sunday, August 22nd in YOUR time zone. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are reading sprints, Twitter chats, and exclusive Instagram challenges, but they’re all completely optional.  For all Bout of Books 32 information and updates, be sure to visit the  Bout of Books  blog.  - From the Bout of Books team