Series I Absolutely Need To Finish This Year

Hello everyone! 

Who am I? I've been posting so much recently that I bet you're wondering if I've secretly been replaced by an alien. I have been on such a blogging kick so here's hoping it'll carry on all through the year. *Shrugs*. We'll see...

One of my resolutions for this year is to finish at least 5 series I have already started. I am awful at getting stuck into series and then getting bogged down by other series. It's a vicious spiral. I end up not knowing what to read next and getting overwhelmed by choices. Aaaannnnddd voila, the reading slump! You feeling stressed yet? I sure am! 

Fingers crossed if I make a list of 5 series then I'll manage to stick to it and finish that resolution fairly easily :-) 

The first series I want to finish is the Shades of Magic series by V. E. Schwab. I read the first two books last year and really enjoyed the world building. I liked the characters so much that I even named on our kittens Kell! This series follows Kell and Lila as they fight for survival across the four worlds and the four Londons. Each London is deadly in its own way with Black London being the worst. The second book ended on a huge cliffhanger and I swore I would pick up the third book straight away, but instead it has been sat on my shelf gathering dust for the last 6 months! 

This next one should be fairly easy, *she prays*. Katherine Arden's Bear and the Nightingale blew me away last year and the sequel just took it to a whole new level of brilliant. The third, and final book Winter of the Witch came out yesterday so I raced off to pick up my pre-ordered copy. It is the next book I'm picking up as I am really feeling the wintry Russian vibes!

Finale by Stephanie Garber is a final book on a lot of people's lists this year. Sadly we do have to wait a few months before this final follow-up in the whimsical Caraval series is released. This series features circus like magic, plot-twists, gorgeous love interests and some serious darkness. If that doesn't sell it to you then I don't know what will. 

I have been reading Rachel Caine's Great Library series since it first came out, which has made the wait for the final book agonising. This series follows a group of young students as they become ever more entangled in the dark web of the library of Alexandria. For centuries the library has been the highest power in the world, but now it is falling to corruption and fanaticism. Jess and his friends are trying to change that. Sword and Pen comes out later this year and I can guarantee I will be reading it as soon as it comes out! 

If anyone knows the artist for this please give them credit, because it is amazing :-) 

So this one may be a cheat because technically the series isn't really finished as more books are coming, but I have 5 books to catch up on so I'm including it to the challenge. That's right, I'm talking about the Shadowhunters series by Cassandra Clare. I still have The Dark Artifices to read, The Bane Chronicles and Tales From the Shadowhunter academy to catch up! 

What series are you planning on wrapping up this year? Let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo

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January 2019 TBR

Hello everyone,

Happy New Year! I hope you have all recovered from the celebrations and are basking in all the hope of a new year before the dullness of January really starts. I always find January the hardest month of the year, it seems to drag by and just be dreary and cold without all the jolly festive cheer of December. To cheer myself up i’m planning on reading some amazing books this month!

The first one I need to prioritise is Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor. I’m doing this as a buddy read with my friend Jonny over at Jonnyslibrary. We have both had this book sitting on our tbr shelves for a while and as this is the year of the tbr takedown we decided to join forces for this one! This book follows a group of time travelling historians as they try to document history, but instead cataclysmiacally alter events that could threaten the very fabric of time itself. So dramatic! I’m all for time travel and sci-fi so I can’t wait to get lost in this one.

I’m hoping to carry on my Sebastien de Castell binge by reading Charmcaster, the third book in the Spellslinger series. I adore this series and it sweeps me off my feet every time. The last book had me startling Mr. Gingersnap out of his chair as I laughed raucously for whole pages at a time. The third book features Ferius and Kellen as they follow the Shadowblack epidemic further into hostile territory. When you pick up these books think of them as a cocktail of the Wild Wild West, magic and sarcasm!

Next on my list is The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare. Magnus is one of my favourite characters of all time. I love his flamboyancy and care-free attitude combined with his deadly seriousness if his loved ones are threatened. I am very excited to read this set of short stories about his life as it will help me understand him so much better ready for the imminent release of The Red Scrolls Of Magic later this year.

Photo from Penguin

My final book of the month is the much anticipated Winter Of The Witch by Katherine Arden. Now if you read my most anticipated released of 2019 post you will know this was right at the top of the list. This is the third, and final book, in this amazing series set in ancient Russia. It has strong feminist elements and features a truly fantastic range of characters. The Russian folk-lore is fascinating and really adds depth to the story. I am super excited to see where this story goes! 

I may add a couple of books to the list as I finish these ones, but for now that's it! What do you plan to read this month? Let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo

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March Madness - Wild Reading

Hello everyone! 

How are you all doing and, most importantly, what have you been reading? As my regular readers will know, I set myself quite a few hefty books to read in February and, predictably, it pushed me into a slump. Now we are talking a big slump, not just a reading slump, but a Blog, Twitter and Instagram slump! Mr. Gingersnap always gets quite anxious when I stop reading, he knows how important it is to keep me happy :-) 

He then had the brightest idea ever and suggested that for March Madness I should do a reading safari that we will call Wild Reading! This involves picking books off my shelf at random and reading whatever I feel like reading whenever I feel like it. So far this is working out excellently and I am onto my fourth book of the month already! Which is already more than I achieved last month. 

In the end, I only read half my TBR last month: 

1. The Mermaid And Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar - 5 Stars
2. Thief Of Time by Terry Pratchett - 5 Stars 
3. Two On A Tower by Thomas Hardy - 5 Stars
4. Turtles All The Way Down by John Green - 3 Stars 

I won't yet tell you what I have been reading this month, if I do then who will even read my wrap up at the end of the month?!? However, I am open to suggestions, that is the joy of Wild Reading :-) Let's make this a thing and tell me what your impulse reads have been in the comments below! 

xoxo

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February TBR

Hello everyone! 

How are you all doing today? Have you got any interesting plans for the weekend? I am working this weekend, so I'll just be doing some reading and hanging out with Mr. GingerSnap in the evenings. Fingers crossed he will have finished the bookcase he is building for our house. If my February TBR goes to plan there will be quite a few additions!

Some may say I am being ambitious with what I want to read in Feb, but I like a challenge :-) 

1. Dubliners by James Joyce 

I don't know too much about this one beyond it following 15 Irish people and their every day lives in Dublin. I believe it shows different aspects of middle class Irish life. I'm quite excited to read this one because my Mam hated it and we have very different tastes in books. Generally if she disliked it, I will probably love it. 

2. Two On A Tower by Thomas Hardy 

I'm so excited about this one as Thomas Hardy is one of my favourite authors. This story follows two star crossed lovers as the try to navigate their feelings and avoid the minefield that is social class. The astronomy aspect of this novel also appeals to my inner scientist and I can't wait to get my teeth into this classic! 

3. The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar

I have been trying like crazy to avoid spoilers in the massive hype around this book. By the looks of things it is set to become a modern classic, taking the world by storm, but to be honest they had me at the word "mermaid". 

4. Nevernight by Jay Kristoff 

I'm a little late to the party on this book, so when I heard that the author was working on book 3 I decided it was time to tackle the first two. This one is quite a gruesome high fantasy novel. It tells the story of Mia Corvere, trained assassin and ruthless killer. She is determined to avenge her father's death, but first she must survive the rigorous training of the mysterious Red Church. I'm so excited to get to this one as it has been ages since I read anything like it. 

5. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare 

I have been eking out this trilogy for as long as possible because of how much I love these characters. I never want to leave them behind, but it is time. My curiosity over how the story ends has won out over my dismay at finishing the story arc. This one follows the end of Tessa, Will and Jem's fight against the destructive Magister's automatons. The automatons are set to destroy the Shadowhunter world, the world they fight so hard to protect. I have a feeling this will break my heart, but I am feeling ready for it! 

Finally... 6. Thief Of Time by Terry Pratchett

This one is a bit of a cheat as I am already 1/4 of the way through this, but I'll count it nonetheless. Mr. GingerSnap has been building up my collection of Discworld Collector's Library editions as they come out and he bought the next four for Christmas. I have to wait for next year for the next 4 so I'll be dragging these ones out across the year to try to avoid too many withdrawals. Thief Of Time is the final book in the Death story arc and follows Time's son as he creates a clock which threatens to destroy time itself. So far I am loving this and can't wait to see what wonderful twists of plot this brings. 

What are you guys reading? Do you think this is over-ambitious? Let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo

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Christmas Book Haul

Hello everyone! 

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and festive period if you don't celebrate Christmas itself! I had a wonderfully relaxing time, just spending quality time with my family and pets and, of course, eating all the food :-) 

It wouldn't be the holidays if I didn't receive at least one book, my friends and family know they are one of my major passions and tend to taylor their gifts around that. So here are the books I was lucky enough to get! 

Four of these books were from the wonderful Mr.GingerSnap. He is responsible for my acquiring the whole Discworld Collectors Library. For those of you who don't know, Terry Pratchett is my favourite author of all time and I was so excited to see they had started bringing out the Discworld series in these beautiful editions. When they stopped at Jingo I was so frustrated at potentially only ever having half of the collection! Luckily the second publishing house got on board and they have been bringing out four more every year. This years round are Going Postal, Thief Of Time, Monstrous Regiment and Night Watch. 

Going Postal follows Moist Von Lipwig as he is faced with the choice of being executed as a criminal or attempting the impossible task of reviving the Ankh-Morpork post office. Needless to say he chooses the option he is most likely to survive. The story shows all his hilarious ups and downs as he brings back good old snail mail and thrives on a new and honest business. 

Nightwatch is the next book in the City Watch collection, following Sam Vimes and his never ending fight against crime in the city. Sam Vimes is the ultimate under-dog, he tries so hard and has all sorts thrown at him, from dragons, crazy wizards and talking dogs to being knighted and sent to parlay with vampires!  

Thief Of Time is the next one in the Death collection. The anthropomorphism of Death is my favourite character choice of all time, he is so sassy and such a bad-ass really. In this book Death uncovers plans to create a clock destroying time and human mortality, unable to intervene himself he sends his grand-daughter Susan to the rescue...

Monstrous Regiment is all about women's rights and how having a war in your country changes the rules and freedom of women. There is a war on in the Discworld and it's about time women stepped up to fill the gaps men usually fill, with hilarious and heart-rending results. 

H. G. Wells is one of my favourite authors and the fact that he has been included so many times in the Penguin English Library makes me very happy. I have read all of his other works so I couldn't wait to get my hands on The Invisible Man. The tale follows Griffin, a man who is searching for the antidote to invisibility and he is willing to go to ANY length to achieve this. 

Finally we have Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, well done if you made it this far through the post! I don't really know a lot about this book, but it's a Penguin Classic so it must be good! Naturally it follows Ethan Frome, a farmer struggling to make ends meet and reach the unreasonable standards set by his wife. His life changes suddenly when his wife's cousin comes to help them, obsessed with her, Ethan tries to picture a way to be happy. 

Wow, that was a longer post than I was expecting to write. I hope some of these books have piqued your interest. I certainly can't wait to dive into them! What did you guys get for Christmas? Any good books? Let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo

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