Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week’s theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!
This week’s theme is ‘Books I’ve Added to my TBR and Forgotten Why (stolen from Louise @ Foxes & Fairy Tales)’ but to be honest I’m pretty good at clearing my Goodreads TBR shelf, so if I’ve forgotten why I added a book to my TBR and the cover doesn’t remind me, I’ll just remove it.
Something I started doing this year (before lockdown, of course) was taking advantage of my library, which is something I’ve failed at over the years. Now that I’m trying to save both money and shelf space I’ve realised I don’t actually need to own a copy of every book I want to read and I want to support my library, so today I thought I’d share ten books I’m looking forward to borrowing when I can go to the library again!
The Beauty of the Wolf by Wray Delaney: This novel has very low reviews over on Goodreads, but it’s a gender-swapped Beauty and the Beast retelling set in Elizabethan England so I’d like to give it a try.
Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky: I read my first Tchaikovsky, Children of Time, last year and really enjoyed it, and this sci-fi from the POV of a dog sounds so good.
The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie: I’ve yet to read any of Leckie’s work but I’m very intrigued by her fantasy debut.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson: I love YA mystery thrillers and I’ve seen really good reviews of this one, which I believe is set in the UK unlike a lot of the US-based YA thrillers I know of.
The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel: Each novel in this series is a chunker, but I’m so intrigued because I’ve never read a historical fiction novel set during the Ice Age before.
Divine by Mistake by P.C. Cast: During Wyrd & Wonder I wrote a post about the lack of centaurs in fantasy fiction, but that’s not the case in this series which sounds pretty bonkers, to be honest. If I can get a free copy from the library, though, I’d like to give it a try!
Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus: Another YA thriller, this time from an author I’ve read before. I really enjoyed One of Us is Lying and One of Us is Next, so this is one I want to try.
Small Island by Andrea Levy: I’ve heard so many amazing things about this novel and I really enjoyed the adaptation of Levy’s The Long Song in 2018, so I’d like to try her work.
The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden: I borrowed a copy of The Girl in the Tower from the library, which I still need to read, after reading and enjoying The Bear and the Nightingale earlier this year. This is one I’m planning to borrow this winter!
Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moïra Fowley-Doyle: Spellbook implies witches, and I love witches. I’d also like to read more Irish authors and I’ve heard good things about Fowley-Doyle’s work.
The Winter of the Witch is so good! A very satisfying series ender.
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I can’t wait for my library to reopen. I have so many books I wasn’t able to buy that I still want to read.
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Great choices, Jess! I’m really sad that I don’t have access to a library living in Asia but going to the library and discovering books by chance/random is one of my favourite things to do! I could literally spend hours browsing (and have done in the past lol). I hope you enjoy these books 😀 I’m really keen to read A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and to finish Two Can Keep A Secret!
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Oh excellent list. I loved dogs of war, the raven tower, and winter of the witch. The first two are odd but lovely. The last one is lovely and one of the best series endings I have ever read. As for the cave bear books, I read the series in 7th grade (eons ago) and it was one of me favourites. If ye end up reading the series, don’t read the last book. Bad. Also start with the first book. I read 2 – 4 then 1. I shouldn’t have. The books are a bit repetitive in terms of long descriptions (the steppes in particular). The sex scenes were interesting to a silly 7th grader but are tame for an adult. I haven’t read them in 20 years but still think of them fondly. The animals are the best.
x The Captain
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Glad to hear you enjoyed so many of the books on this list!
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Fingers crossed we’ll get to go to the library again soon! I hope to read the Katherine Arden books this year.
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I hope you enjoy them if you pick them up!
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I need to continue with The Bear and the Nightingale series (but it’s kind of a wintry book, so not right now). Our library is doing curbside service now; it would be nice if yours would too!
One of the drawbacks to a library is when you have series and the library doesn’t get the books to you in order. I may have to buy a Kindle copy of the 2nd Twilight book because it’s not available yet, I’ve borrowed the last two, and I’m about done with the first one. But I did save myself from buying the other three books!
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Yes, I love using the library but every now and then they’ll have every book in a series apart from the one you need!
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I really need to read Spellbook of the Lost and Found too – it sounds fantastic.
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It does sound really good!
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Great topic! I’m dying for the library to reopen. I’ve been enjoying the digital borrowing I’ve been able to do, but I can’t wait to be able to check out actual physical books again!
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Yes, I’m so excited to go back to the library!
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I feel like I had Spellbook of the Lost and Found on my TBR at some point – hope you enjoy it!
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Thanks!
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I liked Two Can Keep A Secret a lot! And I’d like to read the Clan of the cave Bear series- I’ve wanted to read those for years.
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I really enjoy McManus’s thrillers, so I need to try Two Can Keep a Secret!
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Winter of the Witch was wonderful… a fantastic trilogy! Great list! There are some lovely looking covers there!
My TTT is here https://bookloverssanctuary.com/2020/06/09/top-ten-tuesday-books-ive-added-to-my-tbr-and-forgotten-why-i-havent-read-them-yet/
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I’ve heard so many good things about the series finale!
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I was lucky enough to get it as an ARC!
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Two Can Keep a Secret is a great book. I hope you get to read it soon.
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Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
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Great topic! I added Small Island to my TBR, too. I think there was a tv show? I haven’t seen it though.
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No, me neither! I’ll have to check it out once I read it. 🙂
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My mum loves the clan of the cave bear series. It’s the only series she ever dedicated herself to. She was so excited for the last book to come out… took like a bazillion years, but then she was disappointed by it sadly. Felt it was very repetitive apparently. But she says that first book is still terrific. I’ve been meaning to borrow her copies to read it for myself.
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Oh no! Quite a few people have said the last book is rubbish. It’s a series I’d really like to try, though!
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My library is open for curbside pickup, which is nice, but I miss browsing. Libraries in a nearby city have opened up fully, so maybe it will happen for us here soon. I hope yours will open at least for curbside pickup!
I haven’t read any of these books, but I’m on the library waitlist for A GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER. I’m interested in the McManus book as well. I hope we both love them when we read them.
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
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Oh that’s very cool! I actually retreated to my parents’ house for lockdown (and I’m very glad I was able to, as they live in the middle of the countryside where it’s much easier to go out for a walk!) so I’m nowhere near my library at the moment. I might see if I can take advantage of my parents’ library when it reopens…
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I can’t wait until all of our libraries finally reopen! It’s been so sad without them, haha. I recently read The Clan of the Cave Bear and it was SO different from what I expected. I would be really curious to hear your thoughts on it if/when you get to pick it up! Spellbook of the Lost and Found is one I’ve really wanted to read!
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Ooh everyone’s comments are making me so much more eager to try The Clan of the Cave Bear!
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Oh, you must read The Winter of the Witch! Spellbook of the Lost and Found is also on my radar.
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It’s a series I definitely plan to complete this year! 😀
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The Winter of the Witch looks so good! Great list!
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Thanks!
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Spellbook of the Lost and Found sounds super interesting.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
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It does! 🙂
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Those books in Jean Auel’s series are huge but I’ve seen raves about them.
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Same! I need to try them. 🙂
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A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder is on my TBR, I need to get to it at some point, everyone seems to have really loved it. Fingers crossed the library opens again soon 🙂
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Yeah, I’ve heard great things about it!
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🙂
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I really need to read Katherine Arden. I have been saying that for a while now.
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I really enjoyed The Bear and the Nightingale – it’s the perfect winter read!
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I remember reading and loving Small Island long ago.
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That’s good to know! 🙂
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I miss the library! But I’m definitely adding The Beauty of the Wolf to my own TBR too. 🙂
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Ooh I hope we both enjoy it!
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I’ve been eyeing A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder because of that title alone and just for the love of mystery.
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I’ve heard really good things about it. 🙂
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The Clan of the Cave Bear was a wonderful story! I really liked the sequel to it, The Valley of Horses, as well.
My TTT .
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It’s a series I need to check out!
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I liked Small Island – and the BBC series was a really good adaptation, if you can find it anywhere. I definitely take for granted being able to bring books home from the libraries – definitely missing it a bit!
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I’ll have to check the adaptation out once I read it! 🙂
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I hope the library will open again soon!
Spellbook of the lost and found is one of my faves, I hope you get to that one!
(www.evelynreads.com)
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I hope so too! 😀
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