Adding to Your TBR – September 2018

TBR – To Be Read tower/list 

September’s list is full of exciting reads and I am very grateful for the Kindle app which allows me to read on my trusty Android device while travelling without the burden of heavy bags. There are more historical fiction stories than usual, just a sprinkling of thrillers and fantasy and a couple of contemporaries. Which one are you looking forward to?

 

The Storyteller’s Secret by Sejal Badani 

Expected: 1 September 2018

From the early reviews on Goodreads, it’s obvious The Storyteller’s Secret has a large following of emotionally slain but ultimately happy fans. #historicalfiction

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An epic story of the unrelenting force of love, the power of healing, and the invincible desire to dream.

Nothing prepares Jaya, a New York journalist, for the heartbreak of her third miscarriage and the slow unravelling of her marriage in its wake. Desperate to assuage her deep anguish, she decides to go to India to uncover answers to her family’s past.

Intoxicated by the sights, smells, and sounds she experiences, Jaya becomes an eager student of the culture. But it is Ravi—her grandmother’s former servant and trusted confidant—who reveals the resilience, struggles, secret love, and tragic fall of Jaya’s pioneering grandmother during the British occupation. Through her courageous grandmother’s arrestingly romantic and heart-wrenching story, Jaya discovers the legacy bequeathed to her and a strength that, until now, she never knew was possible. – Abstract from Goodreads

 

Two Dark Reigns (Three Dark Crowns #3) by Kendare Blake

Expected: 4 September 2018

I usually try to avoid sequels in these book recommendation posts but this series is so good and I am beyond excited to read this book. If you are interested in the series pop over to my review of the first book Three Dark Crowns which has the relevant links to get your hands on it. #YAFantasy

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Queen X (no spoilers @ Crushingcinders!) sits on the throne, Queen Y and Queen Z are in hiding, and an unexpected renegade is about to wage a war of her own. The crown has been won, but these queens are far from done.- Abstract from Goodreads

 

 

 

 

 

A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna

Expected: 4 September 2018

A Spark of White Fire is the first of a new sci-fi/fantasy series (The Celestial Trilogy) and was inspired by a Hindu mythology poem called Mahabharata. Early reviewers on Goodreads describe it as ‘fast-paced’, ‘twisty’ and ‘addictive’. Sounds amazing! #YAFantasy

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In a universe of capricious gods, dark moons, and kingdoms built on the backs of spaceships, a cursed queen sends her infant daughter away, a jealous uncle steals the throne of Kali from his nephew, and an exiled prince vows to take his crown back. 

Raised alone and far away from her home on Kali, Esmae longs to return to her family. When the King of Wychstar offers to gift the unbeatable, sentient warship Titania to a warrior that can win his competition, she sees her way home: she’ll enter the competition, reveal her true identity to the world, and help her famous brother win back the crown of Kali. 

It’s a great plan. Until it falls apart.  – Abstract from Goodreads

 

 

In Her Bones by Kate Moretti 

Expected: 4 September 2018

Kate Moretti’s new sinister sounding thriller follows the daughter of a serial killer obsessed with her mother’s victims. #thriller

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Fifteen years ago, Lilith Wade was arrested for the brutal murder of six women. After a death row conviction, media frenzy, and the release of an unauthorized biography, her thirty-year-old daughter Edie Beckett is just trying to survive out of the spotlight. She’s a recovering alcoholic with a dead-end city job and an unhealthy codependent relationship with her brother.

Edie also has a disturbing secret: a growing obsession with the families of Lilith’s victims. She’s desperate to see how they’ve managed—or failed—to move on. While her escalating fixation is a problem, she’s careful to keep her distance. That is until she crosses a line and a man is found murdered.

Edie quickly becomes the prime suspect—and while she can’t remember everything that happened the night of the murder, she’d surely remember killing someone. With the detective who arrested her mother hot on her trail, Edie goes into hiding. She’s must get to the truth of what happened that night before the police—or the real killer—find her.

Unless, of course, she has more in common with her mother than she’s willing to admit… –  Abstract from Goodreads

 

Dare You to Lie by Amber Lynn Natusch

Expected: 4 September 2018

For some reason Dare You to Lie has been flying under the radar despite some excellent early reviews which describe it as full of ‘whiplash twists’ and ‘snarky characters’. #YAthriller

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When her FBI agent father is framed for murder, Kylene is forced to move in with her grandfather, back to the small town that turned its back on her, and the boy who betrayed her.

All Ky cares about is clearing her father’s name, but someone won’t let her forget the photo scandal that drove her away two years ago. As the threats gain momentum, Ky finds an unlikely ally in the rookie FBI agent sent to keep an eye on her.

Determined to expose the town’s hidden skeletons, Ky unwittingly thrusts herself into a much bigger plot. They thought she’d forgive and forget. They’re about to learn they messed with the wrong girl. – Abstract from Goodreads

 

 

 

When Elephants Fly by Nancy Richardson Fischer 

Expected: 4 September 2018

This gorgeous cover! I have been seeing this book for months on publishers catalogues and book blogs and I know I will read it for the cover alone. It’s had mixed reviews, but I like that it includes mental illness which is often marginalised. We need to shatter the stigma. #YAcontemporary

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There are some battles worth fighting even if it means losing yourself.

T. Lily Decker is a high school senior with a twelve-year plan: avoid stress, drugs, alcohol and boyfriends, and take regular psych quizzes administered by her best friend, Sawyer, to make sure she’s not developing schizophrenia. Genetics are not on Lily’s side. 

When she was seven, her mother, who had paranoid schizophrenia, tried to kill her. And a secret has revealed that Lily’s odds are even worse than she thought. Still, there’s a chance to avoid triggering the mental health condition, if Lily can live a careful life from ages eighteen to thirty when schizophrenia most commonly manifests.

But when a newspaper internship results in Lily witnessing a mother elephant try to kill her three-week-old calf, Swifty, Lily can’t abandon the story or the calf. With Swifty in danger of dying from grief, Lily must choose whether to risk everything, including her sanity and a first love, on a desperate road trip to save the calf’s life, perhaps finding her own version of freedom along the way. – Abstract from Goodreads

 

Transcription by Kate Atkinson

Expected: 6 September 2018

With the promise to feed my addiction to WWII and espionage stories this one is at the top of my list. It has had rave early reviews on Goodreads with one reviewer describing it as ‘beautiful, harrowing and haunting’.  #historicalfiction

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Transcription is a bravura novel of extraordinary power and substance. Juliet Armstrong is recruited as a young woman by an obscure wartime department of the Secret Service. In the aftermath of war, she joins the BBC, where her life begins to unravel, and she finally has to come to terms with the consequences. – Abstract from Goodreads

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Real Name Is Hanna by Tara Lynn Masih

Expected: 11 September 2018

Exceptional early reviews on Goodreads with a rating of 4.49 (out of 5) this book has already proved it’s success before it is even published. Inspired by real events during the Holocaust this WWII story is a must-read. #YAhistoricalfiction

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Hanna Slivka is on the cusp of fourteen when Hitler’s army crosses the border into Soviet-occupied Ukraine. Soon, the Gestapo closes in, determined to make the shtetele she lives in “free of Jews.” Until the German occupation, Hanna spent her time exploring Kwasova with her younger siblings, admiring the drawings of the handsome Leon Stadnick, and helping her neighbour dye decorative pysanky eggs. But now she, Leon, and their families are forced to flee and hide in the forest outside their shtetele—and then in the dark caves beneath the rolling meadows, rumoured to harbour evil spirits. Underground, they battle sickness and starvation, while the hunt continues above. When Hanna’s father disappears, suddenly it’s up to Hanna to find him—and to find a way to keep the rest of her family, and friends, alive. 

Sparse, resonant, and lyrical, weaving in tales of Jewish and Ukrainian folklore, My Real Name Is Hanna celebrates the sustaining bonds of family, the beauty of a helping hand, and the tenacity of the human spirit. – Abstract from Goodreads

 

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty 

Expected: 18 September 2018

After binge-reading all of Liane Moriarty’s books via Audible it has been a long wait for a new one! Sha has an incredible knack of getting inside people’s heads and bringing out their insecurities. One of auto-buy author’s – If you haven’t read her books yet I suggest starting with my favourite The Three Wishes. #contemporary

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Could ten days at a health resort really change you forever? These nine perfect strangers are about to find out… – Abstract from Goodreads

 

 

 

 

 

I Know You Know by Gilly Macmillan 

Expected: 18 September 2018

Of course, there is a psychological thriller on my list! #mysterythriller

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Twenty years ago, eleven-year-olds Charlie Page and Scott Ashby were murdered in the city of Bristol, their bodies dumped near a dog racing track. A man was convicted of the brutal crime, but decades later, questions still linger.

For his whole life, filmmaker Cody Swift has been haunted by the deaths of his childhood best friends. The loose ends of the police investigation consume him so much that he decides to return to Bristol in search of answers. Hoping to uncover new evidence, and to encourage those who may be keeping long-buried secrets to speak up, Cody starts a podcast to record his findings. But there are many people who don’t want the case—along with old wounds—reopened so many years after the tragedy, especially Charlie’s mother, Jess, who decides to take matters into her own hands.

When a long-dead body is found in the same location the boys were left decades before, the disturbing discovery launches another murder investigation. Now Detective John Fletcher, the investigator on the original case, must reopen his dusty files and decide if the two murders are linked. With his career at risk, the clock is ticking and lives are in jeopardy…- Abstract from Goodreads

 

Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton 

Expected: 18 September 2018

I love the sound of eerie forests, sacrifice and dark deals. It’s had mixed early reviews on Goodreads but those who like it describe it as ‘compelling’ ‘atmospheric’ and ‘twisted’ so I am persuaded!

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Long ago, a village made a bargain with the devil: to ensure their prosperity, when the Slaughter Moon rises, the village must sacrifice a young man into the depths of the Devil’s Forest.

Only this year, the Slaughter Moon has risen early.

Bound by duty, secrets, and the love they share for one another, Mairwen, a spirited witch; Rhun, the expected saint; and Arthur, a restless outcast, will each have a role to play as the devil demands a body to fill the bargain. But the devil these friends find is not the one they expect, and the lies they uncover will turn their town—and their hearts—inside out. – Abstract from Goodreads

 

 

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White 

Expected: 25 September 2018

A dark, twisted retelling from a master storyteller, Kiersten White author of the formidable historical fiction And I Darken. #YAretelling

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Elizabeth Lavenza hasn’t had a proper meal in weeks. Her thin arms are covered with bruises from her “caregiver,” and she is on the verge of being thrown into the streets . . . until she is brought to the home of Victor Frankenstein, an unsmiling, solitary boy who has everything–except a friend.

Victor is her escape from misery. Elizabeth does everything she can to make herself indispensable–and it works. She is taken in by the Frankenstein family and rewarded with a warm bed, delicious food, and dresses of the finest silk. Soon she and Victor are inseparable.

But her new life comes at a price. As the years pass, Elizabeth’s survival depends on managing Victor’s dangerous temper and entertaining his every whim, no matter how depraved. Behind her blue eyes and sweet smile lies the calculating heart of a girl determined to stay alive no matter the cost . . . as the world she knows is consumed by darkness. – Abstract from Goodreads

 

The War Outside by Monica Hesse 

Expected: 25 September 2018

The third WWII book on this list – it’s going to be a good month for me! This one deals with a huge and terrifying concept – that of imprisoning civilian citizens during a war just because they were born in the country of the enemy. #YAhistoricalfiction

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It’s 1944, and World War II is raging across Europe and the Pacific. The war seemed far away from Margot in Iowa and Haruko in Colorado–until they were uprooted to dusty Texas, all because of the places their parents once called home: Germany and Japan.

Haruko and Margot meet at the high school in Crystal City, a “family internment camp” for those accused of colluding with the enemy. The teens discover that they are polar opposites in so many ways, except for one that seems to override all the others: the camp is changing them, day by day and piece by piece. Haruko finds herself consumed by fear for her soldier brother and distrust of her father, who she knows is keeping something from her. And Margot is doing everything she can to keep her family whole as her mother’s health deteriorates and her rational, patriotic father becomes a man who distrusts America and fraternizes with Nazis.

With everything around them falling apart, Margot and Haruko find solace in their growing, secret friendship. But in a prison the government has deemed full of spies, can they trust anyone–even each other? – Abstract from Goodreads

 

For a Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig

Expected: 25 September 2018

Admission: I haven’t read any of Heidi Heilig’s books… They have been so popular I that I feel guilty they still languish under my TBR. Note to self: search online for immortality spell #YAfantasy

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A young woman with a dangerous power she barely understands. A smuggler with secrets of his own. A country torn between a merciless colonial army, a terrifying tyrant, and a feared rebel leader. 

Jetta’s family is famed as the most talented troupe of shadow players in the land. With Jetta behind the scrim, their puppets seem to move without string or stick—a trade secret, they say. In truth, Jetta can see the souls of the recently departed and bind them to the puppets with her blood. But the old ways are forbidden ever since the colonial army conquered their country, so Jetta must never show, never tell. Her skill and fame are her family’s way to earn a spot aboard the royal ship to Aquitan, where shadow plays are the latest rage, and where rumour has it the Mad King has a spring that cures his ills. Because seeing spirits is not the only thing that plagues Jetta. But as rebellion seethes and as Jetta meets a young smuggler, she will face truths and decisions that she never imagined—and safety will never seem so far away. – Abstract from Goodreads