Tag Archives: TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my Spring 2024 TBR


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

There are four stacks of books in the background of this image that have about 6-8 books in each stack. No spines, authors, or titles can be seen in these stacks. The three books in the foreground have been wrapped up multiple times with a rough, brown, thick string that might be twine. There is a large pink cloth flower on top of the books. On their spines the words “Happy Spring’ and a few tiny pink cloth flowers have been affixed to cover any signs of their authors or titles. So here’s the thing about spring and my reading habits:

I tend to dramatically slow down on my reading time once the weather warms up, April showers have ended, and spending ample time outdoors is pleasant again for the first time in about six months.

If Ontario happens to have an unusually cold or stormy spring in a given year, this obviously does not happen.

I try to plan for all sorts of possibilities since you never know what the weather might do as the seasons change.

Let’s see which new books coming out this spring have caught my eye. I hope to read them on stormy days when going outdoors is not such an appealing idea.

 

Book cover for The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church by Sarah McCammon. There is no image on the cover really. It starts off as lime green at the top of the cover and gradually shift colour to a sea green at the bottom. The title and author are written in a white font whose style is reminiscent of chalk on a chalkboard.

1. The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church by Sarah McCammon

Publication Date: Today!

Why I’m Interested: Not only am I part of this demographic group, I was also a preacher’s kid. I’m really curious to see what the author has to say about us and how much of her research matches my own experiences.

 

 

 

 

 

The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez book cover. Image on cover shows a drawing of a very pale person who might be a statue lying down with their eyes closed. They are surrounded by flowers and greenery, including one green leaf that is touching their lips and some grass growing up by their pale, still body. The background is pitch black, possibly a reference to this being set very late on a cloudy night?

 

2.  The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez 

Publication Date: April 2

Why I’m Interested: As an author, I have my own little cemetery of abandoned stories that I feel guilty about and do hope to go back and finish one day. Personifying forgotten characters is such a creative idea. This could be an excellent read.

Book cover for A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland. Image on cover shows a closeup of a white person whose long, straight, brown hair is flowing over their bare chest, concealing their breasts. Their hands are holding their hair in exactly the right position to keep this image from becoming too racy.

 

 

3. A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland

Publication Date: April 9

Why I’m Interested: Romance isn’t a genre I visit very often as you all may remember, but I love the fact that this is a retelling of the classic folktale The Selkie Wife and am excited to see what the author does with it.

Book cover for https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/196834746-the-house-that-horror-built. Image on cover shows an eerie red glowing light that looks like an alien spaceship hanging low over the floor in an otherwise almost pitch black room. You can see two white lightbulbs above it and the dim outline of a large wooden door, but the rest of the room is shrouded in darkness.

 

4. The House That Horror Built by Christina Henry

Publication Date: May 14

Why I’m Interested: It’s much less common for me to read horror since the pandemic started, but I do find the occasional stories in this genre that aren’t too scary. Here’s hoping I can handle some paranormal horror as the protagonist sounds like a very interesting person who just so happens to work in what sounds like might be a haunted house.

 

 

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Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Meant to Read in 2023 but Didn’t Get To


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A photo of a huge bookcase filled with hundreds or maybe even thousands of books. The books are stacked in about eight different shelves that reach higher than most people can reach. You’d need a ladder to get the books on the top couple of shelves. It looks like a peaceful place to browse. I still have a number of books from my 2023 seasonal TBR posts left to read.

This is pretty normal for me.

Most of what i read comes from my local library, so I never quite know when they’ll get any specific title in.

They do a great job of adding new books to their collection, but no library can possibly buy every single book in existence or have enough copies for all of their patrons to read in the first week or two of release.

How are you all doing with your lists from last year?

Here’s what I still have left to read that I hope to get around to sometime.

 

Book cover for Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher. Image on cover shows a dwarfing of a curved and pointed axe whose tip is bathed in blood. One large drop of blood is falling off of the tip. There is a castle in the background.
Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher
Book cover for “You Are My Sunshine and Other Stories” by Octavia Cade. Image on cover shows about a dozen wilting sunflowers that are falling down or have already fallen down onto a wooden desk.

Book cover for Furies by Margaret Atwood. Image on cover shows a medieval-style drawing of a dragon who has pink wings, a green neck, a red chest, purple arms and tail, and a face that includes all of these colours in stripes down it.

Furies by Margaret Atwood

 

Book cover for The Mysteries by Bill Watterson. Image on cover is a black and white drawing of a person wearing a cloak as they stand outside of a cottage in a dark winter forest. The person has a frightened expression on their face.

The Mysteries by Bill Watterson

 

Book cover for The Wrong Girl & Other Warnings by Angela Slatter. Image on cover is a drawing of a short, red haired person standing in a smoky magical forest. There is a massive, about 15-foot-tall tree monster with glowing yellow eyes looking at the person as it slowly turns around.

The Wrong Girl & Other Warnings by Angela Slatter

 

 

Book cover for Like Thunder by Nnedi Okorafor. Image on cover shows a photograph of a beautiful African woman who has short hair and is wearing an intricate necklace. Her head is overlaid with another image that shows lighting striking a lightning rod on a building.

 

Like Thunder by Nnedi Okorafor

 

 

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Top Ten Tuesday: The Ten Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A person who is all wrapped up in a a warm winter coat and a red and black headscarf is sitting on a snowy bench in a park reading a book. You can see evergreen trees covered in a thick layer of snow in front of them, too. I was originally thinking about discussing library books this week, but December is such a busy month for me that I needed to finish this post well in advance and therefore would probably have already read (or DNF) any library books I had on my radar when I wrote it by the time this goes live.

Therefore, I’m going to be discussing books I’ve bought or downloaded for free but have not read yet (with two exceptions) instead.

Every Thursday, I share a list of free speculative fiction books on Mastodon. Everything but the first book on this list came from those toots, but they may or may not still be free by the time this post goes live.

Here are my answers and why I’m excited about them.

 

Book cover for The Long Arms by Michael Kanaly. Image on cover shows a fire burning brightly. There is a rock in front of the fire that has a few deer or cows painted on it in a prehistoric style.

 

1. The Long Arms by Michael Kanaly

Why I’m Interested: As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m fascinated by Neanderthals and read everything I can find – both fiction and nonfiction – about them. This looks like it could be a great story.

 

Book cover for Magic, Mistletoe, & Murder by Ruby Blaylock. Image on cover shows a witch flying on her broom in front of a full moon. On the city street below two black cats sit together and peer up at her. The cats are surrounded by a red gift wrapped in a white bow, a witch’s hat, some Christmas lights, and a bat flying low to the ground.

2. Magic, Mistletoe, & Murder by Ruby Blaylock

Why I’m Interested: It’s a cozy mystery set at Christmas. I love reading gentle stories like this sometimes.

 

Book cover for Neuro Noir by Al Hess. Image on cover shows a drawing of about a dozen different eyes that all have black irises and sclera. the one in the centre is red instead!

3. Neuro Noir by Al Hess

Why I’m Interested: I actually have a review of this book scheduled for January 11, so stay tuned.  Artificial intelligence always makes for such interesting protagonists.

 

Book cover for Devil's Night - A Halloween Short Story by Richard Chizmar. Image on cover is a drawing of three jack-o-lanterns leering at the viewer as they sit in a field under the light of a full moon at night.

4. Devil’s Night – A Halloween Short Story by Richard Chizmar

Why I’m Interested: Halloween is my favourite holiday, so I read a lot books set then so long as they’re not gory.

 

(No cover photo)

5. Hologram Kebab by Phillip Kebar

Why I’m Interested: The title was what first grabbed my attention. Isn’t it creative? My review of this book is scheduled for January 4.

 

Book cover for Don’t Look Back - Short Halloween Stories by Jason Thomas. Image on cover shows small, black-and- white drawings of a scythe with blood dripping from it, a gravestone, a stake, and a mushroom that has a little dirt on it.

 

6. Don’t Look Back – Short Halloween Stories by Jason Thomas

Why I’m Interested: See #4. There are never enough non-gory Halloween stories for my tastes.

 

Book cover for The Ballad of Mary-Anne by Kody Boye. Image on cover shows a starry evening sky that is partially lit up with a beautiful pink and purple light shining up from the bottom of the page. It may be from a sunset?

7. The Ballad of Mary-Anne by Kody Boye

Why I’m Interested: One word – aliens. I think they’re such fascinating things to read about.

 

Book cover for Free Will by Lisa Shea. Image on cover shows a human skull that has some gears drawn onto it. I’m sorry, but I have no idea what that symbolizes either! I guess we’ll both have to read the book to find out. :)

8. Free Will by Lisa Shea

Why I’m Interested: Here’s a fun, quick little story for you. My spouse is adamant that free will doesn’t exist. This is not a topic I honestly think about very much, but sometimes I like to tease my spouse a little by picking rabbits or other random creatures and saying those animals have free will but no one else in the universe does. (Yes, we are a little geeky sometimes. Hehe).  So I want to read this book mostly because it reminds me of this silly memory.

 

Book cover for Life on the Other Side by Daniel Powell,. Image on cover shows a peaceful little cottage covered in several feet of snow. It’s surrounded by gigantic fir trees that are also covered in snow, and there is a friendly little light emanating from a window in the cottage. It is overall a peaceful and happy scene.

9. Life on the Other Side by Daniel Powell

Why I’m Interested: The cover looks rather peaceful, while the blurb promises a lot of conflict. I think it’s cool when there’s a little conflict between a blurb and a cover. Which one will win, I wonder?

 

Book cover for The Fall Of Denver - A Tribute Story to the Original War Of The Worlds By H.G. Wells’ by Richard Paolinelli. Image on cover is a black and white drawing of an alien spaceship that looks like it’s beginning to crash onto a large pile of rubble on Earth. Everything is so messily drawn that it’s hard to tell where the rubble ends and the alien vessel begins. This feels like an intentional choice on the part of the illustrator and makes me wonder what other parallels might be drawn between the two.

10. The Fall Of Denver – A Tribute Story to the Original War Of The Worlds By H.G. Wells’ by Richard Paolinelli

Why I’m Interested: I adored War of the Worlds and am so curious to see what a contemporary author does with those ideas.

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Top Ten Tuesday: Books On My Winter 2023-2024 To-Read List


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

 

Three white pillar candles are sitting on a stack of four antique hardback books. The candles are of varying lengths from short to tall. The books have grey, red, green, and blue covers respectively. As I mentioned last week, winter is a time of year when I often get a lot of reading done.

I love the outdoors in spring and autumn, but I don’t spend as much time there when I have snow, ice, and freezing temperatures to think about.

Thank goodness there are countless books out there for all of us to rely on for entertainment until it warms up again! (Or cools down again for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere).

Here are some of the upcoming titles I’m curious about and why I want to read them.

 

 

 

Book cover for Escaping Mr. Rochester  by L.L. McKinney. Image on cover shows a drawing of Jane Eyre wearing a red, 1800s style dress and the first Mrs. Rochester wearing an off-white 1800s style dress. They are both young black woman who have determined expressions on their faces.

Escaping Mr. Rochester  by L.L. McKinney

Publication Date: January 16

Why I Want to Read It: Jane Eyre is one of my favourite classics novels, but I always thought Jane should have chosen not to marry either of the men who proposed to her. I am intrigued by a retelling that shows her teaming up with the first Mrs. Rochester to make better lives for themselves.

 

Book cover for The Warm Hands of Ghosts  by Katherine Arden. Image on cover shows a pair of painfully pale hands clasping a red rose. They have a bracelet with a small pendant on their left wrist, and both hands are partially covered by the leaves and branches that are concealing the rest of this person’s body.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts  by Katherine Arden

Publication Date: February 13

Why I Want to Read It: While I normally shy away from fiction set during either World War, I love ghost stories and enjoyed the Small Spaces quartet enough to see what Ms. Arden is planning to do with Flanders field and life during the First World War.

 

 

Publication Date:

Why I Want to Read It:

 

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Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Fall 2023 To-Read List


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows in it and four chocolate digestive biscuits are sitting on a white plate next to a closed,hardback white book. The plate and book are sitting on a white piece of fur that is in turn sitting on a white wooden surface that could be a table or floor. There are dried purple, yellow, and orange flowers arranged with their flowers pointing towards the items I described earlier. The entire scene seems like it was set up to say goodbye to summer and brace for the cold, damp winter to come. We were already asked to share the books we were looking forward to in the second half of the year, so I’ll do my best not to have too many repeats for this post.

I think it can be just as, and maybe even more, interesting to hear why someone is excited for a specific book as it is to read the blurb of that book in many cases.

You get such a fabulous peek at a reader’s personality, reading habits, thought processses, and what they value in a story that way.

Here is what I’m hoping to have time to read this autumn and why I’m curious about them.

 

Book cover for Starter Villain by John Scalzi. Image on cover shows a housecat who is sitting up and posing for a portrait. The cat is wearing a suit and tie. They have light brown fur with black streaks in it and a darling little white nose and mouth.

1. Starter Villain by John Scalzi

Why I’m Interested: Scalzi is a talented storyteller, and it’s always fun to see pets being anthropomorphized.

 

Book cover for Misbelief: What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things by Dan Ariely. Image on cover shows a drawing of a profile of a human head. There are grey, red, and white lines squiggled up everywhere inside of the head. At the end of each line is a little arrow the same colour as the rest of the line.

2. Misbelief: What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things by Dan Ariely

Why I’m Interested: I believe everyone should work to improve their critical thinking skills no matter who you are, how much formal or informal education you may already have, or what labels best describe your stances on religion, politics, etc. While some people do seem to fall for misinformation more often than others, it’s something that can fool any of us if we’re not careful. We all have blind spots, and I hope to learn how to start correcting mine by reading this book and learning more about the psychology of irrational beliefs.

 

Book cover for This Is Salvaged by Vauhini Vara. Image on cover shows a dried yellow flower - possibly a rose? - that is lying against a light yellow background. Most of the flower has been fairly well preserved, but a few petals are loose and just about to fall off.

3. This Is Salvaged: Stories  by Vauhini Vara

Publication Date: September 26

Why I’m Interested: I’m in the mood for slice of life fiction. The reference to a story about a character who decides to build a replica of Noah’s Ark also intrigued me. There were a few people in the churches my parents pastored back in the day who might have tried something like this if they had the money for such a project.

 

Book cover for The Wrong Girl & Other Warnings by Angela Slatter. Image on cover is a drawing of a short, red haired person standing in a smoky magical forest. There is a massive, about 15-foot-tall tree monster with glowing yellow eyes looking at the person as it slowly turns around.

4. The Wrong Girl & Other Warnings by Angela Slatter

Publication Date: October 17

Why I’m Interested: This looks like a great Halloween read, and you all might remember how much I love that holiday. I previously reviewed and enjoyed another book of hers, No Good Deed: A Sourdough Tale, so I’m hoping my second attempt with her work is just as worthwhile. 

 

Book cover for Like Thunder by Nnedi Okorafor. Image on cover shows a photograph of a beautiful African woman who has short hair and is wearing an intricate necklace. Her head is overlaid with another image that shows lighting striking a lightning rod on a building.

 

5. Like Thunder by Nnedi Okorafor

Publication Date: November 28

Why I’m Interested: She’s on my shortlist of must-read authors. Ms. Okorafor is such a fantastic storyteller, although I do need to read Shadow Speaker before picking this tale up!

 

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Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Want to Read Because of Top Ten Tuesday


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Photo of a young woman with straight black hair and olive skin standing in a bookstore. Her ethnicity isn’t perfectly clear, but she could be Asian or Middle Eastern. She’s reading a hardback novel while standing in front of a display of books that has been arranged in a large circle formation that perfectly frames her chest, shoulders, and head. It gives the effect of looking through a mirror or a portal and seeing her on the other side. It’s very cool.

Originally, I was planning to give credit to the people who introduced me to these books in previous Top Ten Tuesday posts.

The problem with that plan is that a) I usually can’t remember who talked about them first, and b) most of these books have been mentioned by multiple Top Ten Tuesday bloggers before, during, and after their release dates.

Therefore, I’m giving credit to everyone has who blogged about these books.

Thank you for bringing these titles to the attention of the rest of us. You’ve enriched my TBR list and no doubt the reading lists of lots of other folks, too.

Here are some of the many books that came to my attention thanks to you.

1. Starter Villain by John Scalzi

2. Babel by R.F. Kuang

3. Camp by Lev A.C. Rosen

4. Anna, A Child of the Poorhouse by Pat Mattaini Mestern

5. Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

6. Godkiller (Godkiller, #1) by Hannah Kaner

7.  Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man by Fannie Flagg

 

 

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Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2023


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A metal statue of a woman sitting on a stone ledge. She’s holding a book and looking up at the land. There is a metal statue of a dog looking in the same direction she is. The dog is sitting on it’s haunches but has it’s front legs touching the land as if it’s about to stand up fully and run away.

Happy Pride to everyone celebrating it!

Between Pride festivities, other summer festivals, time spent in nature, and the hot, humid days of summer, it feels a little hard to believe that autumn is only a few months away.

At this time of year, summer seems it will last forever…but all seasons end eventually.

I thought it would be interesting to look ahead at some books that have been scheduled to come out this autumn. There were more to add to this list than I thought there would be!

As much as I relish the long, sunny days of summer, there are things to look forward to as the temperatures drop and the days become terribly short, too.

 

Book cover for Wednesday’s Child: Stories by Yiyun Li. Image on cover shows a painting of a large white poodle-like dog that is standing in front of a green summer forest. There is a large light brown patch on the left that covers whatever was next to the dog.

Wednesday’s Child: Stories by Yiyun Li

 

Release Date: September 5

I Want to Read It Because: It sounds like this collection has a little bit of everything in it. I admire writers who can do that.

 

Book cover for The Vaster Wild by Lauren Groff. Image on cover shows a drawing of a tree that has spindly branches that are only half filled with green leaves.

The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff
Release Date: September 12
I Want to Read It Because: Survival fiction is interesting.
Book cover for North Woods by Daniel Mason. Image on cover is a painting of a mountain lion lying on a grassy meadow and staring at something or something that is just out of the viewer’s range.
North Woods by Daniel Mason
Release Date: September 19
I Want to Read It Because: Houses generally aren’t the main characters of stories, and I love the idea of following a house through all of the various inhabitants it has had.
Book cover for “You Are My Sunshine and Other Stories” by Octavia Cade. Image on cover shows about a dozen wilting sunflowers that are falling down or have already fallen down onto a wooden desk.
Release Date: September 21
I Want to Read It Because: It sounds like a possibly excellent Halloween read.  Yes, I know it’s June, but I always relish the opportunity to plan ahead for my favourite holiday of the year.

Book cover for Furies by Margaret Atwood. Image on cover shows a medieval-style drawing of a dragon who has pink wings, a green neck, a red chest, purple arms and tail, and a face that includes all of these colours in stripes down it.

Furies by Margaret Atwood

 

Release Date: September 26

I Want to Read It Because: Ms. Atwood is a must-read author for me. I don’t necessarily like everything she writes, but I give it all a shot because of how often I do enjoy her work.

 

 

Book cover for The Mysteries by Bill Watterson. Image on cover is a black and white drawing of a person wearing a cloak as they stand outside of a cottage in a dark winter forest. The person has a frightened expression on their face.

The Mysteries by Bill Watterson

 

Release Date: October 10

I Want to Read It Because: I was a huge fan of his Calvin & Hobbes comic strips back in the day and can’t wait to see what he’s come up with now.

 

Book cover for Green Fuse Burning by Tiffany Morris. Image on cover shows a black-haired woman with glowing eyes leaning her head back slightly and opening her mouth as red string (or maybe blood vessels?) wind their way out of her mouth, possibly in search of their next victim. The woman’s head is surrounded by a sickly green halo that is reminiscent of the white or yellow halos painted around the heads of saints in Medieval paintings.

Green Fuse Burning by Tiffany Morris

Release Date: October of this year (but no specific publication date has been chosen yet)

I Want to Read It Because: 1) I love eco horror, 2) the blurb sounds deliciously scary and possibly perfect for Halloween, and 3) I have not read many Indigenous authors recently and want to change that.

 

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Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Summer 2023 to-Read List


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

There are three yellow lounges on a wooden deck by the sea or a large lake. The lounge closest to the viewer also has a white and grey beach towel, a pair of sunglasses, and an opened hardback book on it.

As usual, my summer to-read list isn’t going to be a very long one.

I like to leave plenty of space for mood reading and to take breaks from reading to enjoy the nice, warm weather and the various Pride events that happen every June here.

Once the cloying humidity and heatwaves of July, August, and September arrive in Toronto, I will settle down again and spend more time reading.

Here are some of the books that will be close to the top of my to-read list as June melts into July. Pageboy is already out, but I’ve listed the publication dates for the rest.

 

 

 

Book cover for Pageboy by Elliot Page. Image on cover is a photo of Mr. Page wearing a white tank top and a pair of blue jeans. He is sitting in a room with a red wall and staring ahead at the camera with a serious expression on his face.

Pageboy by Elliot Page
I Want to Read It Because: Memoirs are always interesting things to read, and I don’t know much about Mr. Page’s personal life.

Book cover for The Reformatory by Tananarive Due. Image on cover shows a drawing of a white shack in a smoky, hazy woods just as twilight hits and the world begins to become black.

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
Release Date: June 27
I Want to Read It Because: I’ve enjoyed Ms. Due’s other work, and this story sounds deliciously scary.
Book cover for Pageboy by Elliot Page. Image on cover shows a drawing of a mandarin orange with three green leafs attached to it. It is set against a green and blue background.

The Apology  by Jimin Han

Release Date: August 1
I Want to Read It Because: You don’t see a lot of overlap between literary fiction and ghost stories. This could be excellent!
Book cover for Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher. Image on cover shows a dwarfing of a curved and pointed axe whose tip is bathed in blood. One large drop of blood is falling off of the tip. There is a castle in the background.
Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher
Release Date: August 15
I Want to Read It Because: Kingfisher is a good storyteller and I like to check out all of their new books.
Book cover for Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas. Image on cover shows a Mexican woman wearing a red. floor-length, late 1800s style dress. She is running across the desert past two cacti as lighting strikes the ground in the distance.
Vampires of El Norte  by Isabel Cañas
Release Date: August 29
I Want to Read It Because: It’s been a while since I read a vampire story, and this one looks like it could be very creative.

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Top Ten Tuesday: Self-Published Books I Will Be Reviewing


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A closeup of a black ballpoint pen that has just finished writing the phrase “once upon a time” in black ink on a white unlined piece of paper. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the majority of the books I review are self-published because I believe in supporting other indie/self-published authors as much as I possibly can.

Writing is hard work, and I am always respectful of the effort other authors put into what they publish.

All eight of these reviews have already been written and scheduled. If they’re marked as tentative, that means that there is a possibility that particular review might be pushed back if another book fits better into that slot. When that happens, the original review will be published a few week to a month later on average instead.

I only have the time, energy, and space to review about four or five books each month here, and it can be hard for me to write effectively if a migraine flairs up unexpectedly. Therefore I like to have about a month of posts ready to go while leaving space to rearrange the order of things if, say, I find an excellent book about an upcoming holiday like Mother’s Day that I want to publish that week instead.

At the moment, I’ve surpassed that goal by quite a bit.  Planning ahead makes life so much easier when you can do it!

I’d love to hear how far in advance all of you write your posts and reviews on average. Do you prefer to have a cushion of work to fall back on or do you write everything right before it’s due to be published?

 

Book cover for MARiiMO by Tyrel Pinnegar. Image on cover shows a drawing of a grey robot with blobby arms and legs and a white head. The bottom portion of the head is filled with a blue liquid, an the rest of the head is white and blank.

MARiiMO by Tyrel Pinnegar

My Review Publication Date: April 6

Blurb: This is the journal of Tammy Maheswaran, a reclusive roboticist living with undiagnosed autism. It documents the creation of Mariimo, a developmental robotics platform through which Tammy subconsciously externalizes her issues with isolation, anxiety, and touch. Upon the machine’s activation, Tammy gradually begins to realize that in the act of constructing Mariimo, she’s been unknowingly deconstructing herself.

 

Book cover for The Sword and the Kestrel by Shawna Reppert. Image on cover is a photograph of a Kestrel being held by the gloved hand of their handler out in a forest where the leaves on the trees and bushes are just beginning to grow in spring.

The Sword and the Kestral by Shawna Reppert

My Review Publication Date: April 13

Blurb: Can a Renn-Faire falconer break an ancient family curse and make peace with the Lord of Forests?

 

Book cover for The Trip to Nowhere by Stephanie Shaw. Image on cover is a photograph of someone walking alone down an incredibly foggy road lined with trees at either dusk or dawn. Only weak light can filter through the dense fog, and everything looks blurry and out of focus because of how much fog there is. Even the trees are just bare outlines of trees due to it.

 

The Trip to Nowhere by Stephanie Shaw

My Review Publication Date: April 20

Blurb: A broken marriage,
A lost love,
And nothing to lose.
When his wife confesses that she’s pregnant for Cole’s business rival, the news throws him into a downward spiral. Unable to face his life, he decides to go on a road trip alone. In the process, he uncovers the truth about a missing woman, an unborn child and a shocking family secret. He realizes too late that sometimes the past needs to be left in the past.

 

Book cover for The Old Mountain Biker by Robert Adamson. Image on cover shows a bike rider sitting on their bike on the edge of a cliff at sunset. They are looking over the edge of the cliff at the ground far below them. There is a pine forest in the distance.

My Review Publication Date: April 27

Blurb: In this SciFi short story, an old mountain biker encounters aliens from another planet that rescue him after a fall. They cure his injuries but also restore his youth.Then they offer a similar gift to the entire planet, but with conditions.

 

 

Book cover for Building Beauty by Rachel Eliason. Image on cover shows a closeup of a human face carved out of wood. The eye of the statue is bright purple.

Building Beauty by Rachel Eliason

My Review Publication Date: May 4 (tentatively)

Blurb: In the waning days of World War One, Alejandro Faidosky is sent to serve the Tsar in a distant corner of the Russian Empire. In the industrial center of Chelyabinsk, deep in southern Siberia Alejandro discovers a factory producing “automatons”, clockwork robots. His job is to sculpt a robotic prostitute for the common soldier. “Of all the men in Mother Russia I must be the most ill equipped for this assignment” Alejandro moans to himself, but he must not let Major Dmitri know, and he must somehow build beauty.

Building Beauty is a coming out story set in Tsarist Russia and tinged with elements of science fiction. It is typical of Rachel Eliason’s writing; an evocative and imaginative blend of reality and fiction.

Book cover for Come in the Weater by K.C. Hastings. image on cover shows the sun setting over a lake. There is a pool of water on the beach and a portion of the sand that shows marks from something heavy being dragged into the water. In the distance, you can see something tentacle-like poking out of the water.

Come in the Water by K.C. Hastings

My Review Publication Date: May 11 (tentatively)

Blurb: There’s something in the lake, and I don’t mean the giant catfish.

 

Book cover for The Life and Lies of Danny Diaz by Andy Paine. Image on cover shows the title written in a font that’s orange on the left and gradually fades to yellow as you move further to the right of the page. This was all written against a black background.

The Life and Lies of Danny Diaz by Andy Paine

My Review Publication Date: May 18 (tentatively)

Blurb: An ageing rocker, a journalist, and a small, seemingly inconsequential object. This is the tale of the greatest musical theft in history.

Such a small, seemingly inconsequential object. Yet for ageing rocker Danny Diaz, journalist Henry Lapthorne, and indeed the entire population, it is an object that has aided in the greatest musical theft in history, forever altering the historical landscape of music as we know it.

After years of wilful deceit, Danny’s life has come full circle as he reaches out to the one man who forever doubted him, intent on telling his story, and finding peace with his past. For Henry, it is the story of a lifetime, an unbelievable tale of addiction, regret, and redemption. But can it possibly be true? Or is it just another ruse? Is this tale the fulfilment of Henry’s career, or yet another deception in the decades long animosity between two men who know each other so well, and yet not at all.

Book cover for Take Care of Your Body by Elton Gahr. Image on cover shows two mostly-leafless trees that have been trimmed to look like two faces looking at each other. A few leaves are flowing from one tree to the next against a cloudy winter sky.

 

Take Care of Your Body by Elton Gahr

My Review Publication Date: May 25 (tentatively)

Blurb: Frank is a new kind of personal trainer. The kind that switches bodies with the ultra rich so they can get the benefits of working out without the effort. But his new client has done the unthinkable, escaping with Frank’s body while leaving Frank to answer for his crimes.
Now Frank has to track down his own body and force his client to return it before the FBI can catch him.

 

 

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Top Ten Tuesday: Books From My Past Seasonal TBR Posts I Still Haven’t Read


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Drawing of a shadow of a large hand pointing accusingly at a man wearing a suit who is cowering in embarrassment. This stock photo made me giggle. Don’t take it too seriously.

Posts that ask us to look back at our seasonal TBR posts and talk about which books from them we haven’t read always make me feel like I’m back in school and being graded by the teacher or have just been called into the boss’ office for a stern talking-to.

I am so glad that Jana does not actually care how many or how few books from past seasonal TBR posts we’ve read.

Here are some books I’ve talked about in those previous posts that I still need to read.

 

Life Ceremony: Stories  by Sayaka Murata book cover. Image on cover shows a drawing of Japanese food in a black bowl.

Life Ceremony: Stories  by Sayaka Murata

Why I Haven’t Read It Yet: It’s still something I want to read. I simply need to find the time to do so.

 

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean book cover. Image on cover shows cutouts of a mother and child from the pages of a book. These silhouettes are walking up to a building made from the page of a print book and looking at a lit window in it as the mom points at it.

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

Why I Haven’t Read It Yet: The cover looks a little scarier to me every time I look at it again. I’m intrigued by the idea of people eating books (and finding different flavours associated with different genres), but I’m not ready for anything too frightening at the moment.

 

Girlhood by Melissa Febos book cover. The only decoration on this cover is the title and author repeated over and over again with each repetition missing a little more of the words.

Girlhood by Melissa Febos

Why I Haven’t Read It Yet: I’m not in the right headspace to read it right now.

 

 

Cursed Bunny  by Bora Chung book cover. Image on cover is a drawing of an alert purple hare.

Cursed Bunny  by Bora Chung

Why I Haven’t Read It Yet: Honestly, I think I was more interested in the cover than the story itself. Isn’t this a compelling cover?

 

 

Cat Problems  by Jory John book cover. Image on cover is of a stressed-out cat sitting in a cardboard box.

Cat Problems  by Jory John

Why I Haven’t Read It Yet: The Toronto Public Library hasn’t ordered copies of it yet.

 

Living Beyond Borders: Stories About Growing Up Mexican in America by Margarita Longoria book cover. Image on cover is a drawing of a man with a butterfly on his shoulder walking into a Mexican village.

Living Beyond Borders: Stories About Growing Up Mexican in America by Margarita Longoria

Why I Haven’t Read It Yet: I’m not in the right headspace to read it yet.

 

Patience & Esther by SW Searle book cover. Image on cover is of two Edwardian women kissing romantically.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patience & Esther: An Edwardian Romance  by SW Searle

Why I Haven’t Read It Yet: The Toronto Public Library hasn’t ordered a copy yet. I did send them an official request to do so, though! We’ll see if they listen to me.

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