Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves created and hosted by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out Lisa’s introductory post, here.

Sunshine
by Robin McKinley

Rae Seddon, nicknamed Sunshine, lived a quiet life working at her stepfather’s bakery. There are places in the world where darkness rules, where it’s unwise to walk. Sunshine knew that. One night, she went out to the lake for some peace and quiet. There hadn’t been any trouble out at the lake for years, and Sunshine just needed a spot where she could be alone with her thoughts. Big mistake. Vampires never entered her mind. Until they found her. And set upon her, and took her to an old abandoned mansion. They took her clothes and sneakers. They dressed her in a long red gown. And they shackled her to a wall-within easy reach of a figure stirring in the moonlight, who is also chained. She knows that it is a vampire. She knows that she’s to be his dinner, and that when he is finished with her, she will be dead. Yet, when light breaks, she finds that he has not attempted to harm her. And now it is the vampire, Constantin, who needs her to help him survive the day, to protect him from the sun with her magic…

I haven’t read any Robin McKinley yet, despite her being such a well-loved fantasy author, but I’ve heard nothing but praise for this novel featuring vampires. I mentioned at the beginning of the year that I’d like to try some more vampire fiction this year so I treated myself to a copy of this and haven’t managed to get to it yet – I’d really like to get to it soon, too!

What are some of your favourite vampire novels?

It’s April, which means it’s O.W.Ls readathon time! Somehow I’ve managed to tackle half of the subjects so far, so I just have another six subjects to go to meet my goal of ‘passing’ all 12 subjects.

Before

I finally crossed Robin Hobb’s Assassin’s Apprentice off my TBR! I’ve owned a copy of this book for years, and now I’m finally making a start on Hobb’s ginormous Realm of the Elderlings series. I mentioned before that I’m currently isolating in Wales with my parents, so I’m using this time to try and cross as many physical books off my TBR as I can and it’s really satisfying finally getting some of these books under my belt. I read the majority of this book at night, so I’m counting it for Astronomy in the O.W.Ls!

Now

Susan Dennard’s Truthwitch is another fantasy novel that’s been waiting on my bookshelves for a while, so I decided to pick it up for History of Magic. I’m still waiting to really get into the story, but I am enjoying what I’ve read so far for the most part and I love that it’s a book that focuses on the friendship between two women. I’m aiming to finish this one up today!

Next

My parents very kindly got me a copy of Scott Lynch’s Red Seas Under Red Skies for Christmas, and I’m planning to read it for Defence Against the Dark Arts and cross another physical book off my TBR! I’m looking forward to being back in this Italian-inspired fantasy world – especially as I’m pretty certain there are pirates in this book.

What are you reading right now?