Anticipated Book Releases 2019

Hello everyone, 

I hope you are all well and feeling ready to welcome in the new year! In my opinion one of the most exciting things about a new year is the next round of new book releases. I have been keeping my beady eyes on my favourite author's websites and being a total nerd have compiled a list of my most anticipated released for 2019.

I have no photos of these books as they aren't out yet!

So have my weekend breakfast book instead :-) 

Now this is by no means exhaustive and these are all follow-ups to series I am already reading so take a peek and let me know if you think I have missed any out: 

1. The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden 
2. Finale by Stephanie Garber 
3. Beneath the Twisted Trees by Bradley Beaulieu 
4. King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo 
5. Sword and Pen by Rachel Caine 
6. Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab
7. Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare 
8. Queenslayer by Sebastien de Castell

I think that's all of them! Whew I have quite a few exciting books to wait for. I am very excited about finishing off Caraval and Winter of the Witch as I have been reading these series for quite some time, but over-all Beneath the Twisted Trees and Queenslayer are my most anticipated releases! I love these high fantasy series. Both Beaulieu and de Castell have fantastic narrative styles that keep you turning the pages long after the lights should have been switched off. If you are a fan of intrigue, sorcery and complex character relations then you should definitely check out these two series. 

What are you guys excited to read next year? Let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo

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April Reading Wrap Up

Hello everyone! 

May is here! That means it should be Spring right? So where is the warm weather? Did I sleep through Spring and Summer or something? Well hopefully it'll be warm soon so we can bring on the summer contemporary romance books :-) 

April was an amazing reading month for me, I read a whole ton of books! If I'm honest I did cheat a little, by reading some short stories and graphic novels, but they were all part of series I needed to catch up on I swear. You might notice I did binge a lot of books by the same authors, I find it much easier to immerse myself in a fantasy world if I read all the books very close together. I like to live and breathe the world and its characters, it helps me connect with the story. 

My favourite of the month has to be Katherine Arden's The Girl In The Tower, which makes her my favourite author two months running. This book is the much anticipated sequel to The Bear And The Nightingale. It follows Vasya as she journeys across Russia trying to find her place in the world. Along the way she gets embroiled with savage bandits, treacherous politics and daring horse races. This would all be simply exciting, if there wasn't the added element of fear of discovery. Vasya has to masquerade as a man to survive. What will happen when her identity is revealed? And what is the gathering darkness in Moscow? Vasya will have to dig even deeper into her soul if she wants to save her people.

Now I hear you all shouting "Stop rambling and get on with the ratings", so without further ado here they are: 

1. In The Village Where Brightwine Flows by Bradley Beaulieu - 4 Stars 
2. The Doors At Dusk And Dawn by Bradley Beaulieu - 5 Stars 
3. The Tattered Prince And The Demon Veiled by Bradley Beaulieu - 4.5 Stars 
4. City Of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare - 5 Stars 
5. Of Sand And Malice Made by Bradley Beaulieu - 5 Stars 
6. City Of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare - 5 Stars 
7. The Girl In The Tower by Katherine Arden - 5 Stars 
8. Snotgirl #3 by Bryan Lee O'Malley - 3 Stars 
9. Snotgirl #4 by Bryan Lee O'Malley - 3 Stars 
10. Snotgirl #5 by Bryan Lee O'Malley - 3.5 Stars 
11. Lumberjanes Vol. 1 by Noelle Stevenson - 4 Stars  

11 books you guys! How did I even achieve that?! I am beginning to think I might be a little too generous with my ratings or maybe I'm just lucky with the books I choose? Let me know what you think in the comments below, and don't forget to tell me what you read in April :-) 

xoxo

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March Reading Wrap Up

Hello everyone! 

I think, *crosses fingers*, that Spring is finally here in the UK to stay. We didn't get any of the snow forecast for the bank holiday weekend and it's finally starting to get sunny! I love Spring and summer, and not just for the warmth, flowers and outdoor activities, but because I find that I am much more productive in the lighter months. I read more and tend to do more re-organising, which is especially good this year as Mr. GingerSnap and I have some exciting changes coming up, but I'll talk about those at a later date :-) 

Staying true to my usual habit of wanting to read more in Spring, I read 10 books in the month of March. Now for some of you that sounds like quite a reasonable number, but I work very long hours so for me that is a huge number! 

If I go into detail on all the books I read then you will be here forever... So I'm just going to give you my star ratings and talk about my two favourite books of the month: 

1. The Bear And The Nightingale by Katherine Arden - 5 Stars
2. The Wicked Cometh by Laura Carlin - 3 Stars
3. Call The Midwife by Jennifer worth - 4.5 Stars
4. Blood Upon The Sand by Bradley Beaulieu - 5 Stars
5. Caraval by Stephanie Garber - 5 Stars 
6. Lady Susan by Jane Austen - 4 Stars
7. The Old Nurse's Story by Elizabeth Gaskell - 5 Stars
8. Daphnis And Chloe by Longus - 4.5 Stars
9. Happily by Chauncey Rogers - 4 Stars ( full review here! )
10. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare - 5 Stars

My two favourites were Clockwork Princess and The Bear And The Nightingale. Clockwork Princess is the final book in The Infernal Devices trilogy and oh my lord did I cry at the end! I probably cried solidly for the last 150 pages, it was so heart wrenching and beautifully written. Cassandra Clare crafts such stunning prose that it really gets under your skin. In this book Tessa is getting ready for her wedding to her dying fiance Jem, but they might not make it that far. The army of automatons is on the move and they want Tessa at all costs! 

Look at this spine!! <3 

The Bear And The Nightingale was arguably one of the biggest debut fantasy releases of last year. As a big fan of Russian literature I was super excited to get into this one. It is strongly interwoven with Russian fairytales and mythology, creating an ethereal and spellbinding world. It follows Vasya as she grows from a child to an adult woman in the countryside. After her mother died giving birth to her, he father remarries a very pious woman. Her stepmother gradually beats out all the old superstitions of the village and imposes her own strict religion. Nobody realises how dangerous this really is, only Vasya can see the decline of the local spirits protecting the house. As their spirits fail, an old evil creeps into the village and only Vasya can do anything about it. 

If that intro for The Bear And The Nightingale doesn't tickle your fancy, nothing will! For the next month I am going to continue Wild Reading and just pick up whatever I fancy reading next :-) At the moment I am reading City Of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare and Matilda by Mary Shelley. What did you enjoy reading last month and do you have any books you want to get to next month? Let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo

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Sequels I Can't Wait To Read

Hello everyone! 

How are you all doing? Enjoying Spring so far? I certainly am looking forward to some sunshine :-) Today I thought I'd tell you all about the sequels I am most excited about! As many of you know, I am thoroughly addicted to series as they allow so much more character development and let me stay immersed in a particular world that much longer! So here they are in all their glory:

1. The Girl In The Tower by Katherine Arden

This is the much anticipated sequel to The Bear And The Nightingale. This story follows Vasya after she flees her village branded as a witch. She rejects the two choices for women, convent or marriage, and instead dresses as a man and seeks freedom. All I know about this one is that it delves deeper into  the old magic coursing through Vasya's veins as she figures out who and what she is. 

2. Legendary by Stephanie Garber

This is the follow up to Caraval, which took the world by storm over a year ago. Caraval is an enchanting book and thoroughly stole my soul! The end of Caraval leaves us with Scarlett and Tella free from their father's grip and enmeshed in the world of Master Legend, the leader of Caraval. This series is spellbinding, filled with magic and danger. Legendary follows Tella as she embarks on a dangerous quest to revel Legend's true name, but if she does it will mean the magic of Caraval dies forever... Excited much? Hell yes I am!! 

3. Veil Of Spears by Bradley Beaulieu 

Words cannot describe how excited I am for this one! This is the third book in Bradley Beaulieu's series following Ceda as she tries to assassinate as many of the twelve kings of Sharakhai as possible. The last book, Blood Upon The Sand, left us with a major cliff hanger and I can't wait to see where Ceda will go next! Will her and Emre find each other? Will she survive? Will anything be salvageable from the ashes of a city burned by a war? We'll see :-) 

4. Smoke And Iron by Rachel Caine

I have been waiting for a year for this book to come out! The Great Library series is one of my favourite YA fantasy series of all time and this is going to be the fourth instalment. In the world of The Great Library all the knowledge in the world is controlled by library branches. However, some people want to fight against this. The smugglers do this covertly, as the name implies, but the Burners want to set the world on fire and rebuild it differently. They are radical and dangerous, but they might just be in the right... 

5. City Of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare 

Okay this is an old book, hardly news, but I still haven't finished this series. To be perfectly honest, I have been putting it off because I don't want it to end :-( That being said I am in a massive Shadowhunters phase at the moment and really want to read the rest and catch up before Queen Of Air And Darkness comes out :-) The Mortal Instruments series is such an amazing series, all the characters really suck you in and make you wish you were a part of their world. This series follows Clary and her friends as they battle demons and the shadow world to protect not just themselves but all the humans blind to the evil that stalks the world! Very dramatic right? 

So that's it, the top 5 sequels I can't wait to read! The real list is as long as my arm, so I thought I'd just give you the shortlist :-) What sequels are you excited for? Let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo

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