Can't Wait Wednesday #189 - The Glass Town Game

Can't Wait Wednesday is a new weekly meme hosted here to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 
 
This week's choice is -

The Glass Town Game - Catherynne M Valente

ISBN - 9781481476966

Publisher - Margaret K McElderry Books

Release date - September 5th, 2017

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

Charlotte and Emily must enter a fantasy world that they invented in order to rescue their siblings in this adventurous and fiercely intelligent novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making.

Inside a small Yorkshire parsonage, Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne Brontë have invented a game called Glass Town, where their toy soldiers fight Napoleon and no one dies. This make-believe land helps the four escape from a harsh reality: Charlotte and Emily are being sent away to a dangerous boarding school, a school they might not return from. But on this Beastliest Day, the day Anne and Branwell walk their sisters to the train station, something incredible happens: the train whisks them all away to a real Glass Town, and the children trade the moors for a wonderland all their own.

This is their Glass Town, exactly like they envisioned it…almost. They certainly never gave Napoleon a fire-breathing porcelain rooster instead of a horse. And their soldiers can die; wars are fought over the potion that raises the dead, a potion Anne would very much like to bring back to England. But when Anne and Branwell are kidnapped, Charlotte and Emily must find a way to save their siblings. Can two English girls stand against Napoleon’s armies, especially now that he has a new weapon from the real world? And if he escapes Glass Town, will England ever be safe again?

Together the Brontë siblings must battle with a world of their own creation if they are to make it back to England alive in this magical celebration of authorship, creativity, and classic literature from award-winning author Catherynne M. Valente.

If you're a fan of Catherynne Valente, the Brontes, Tales of Glass Town, Angria & Gondal or all three then this is a no-brainer really. I grew up reading the Brontes and my love for Catherynne Valente's work is no secret so this book is at the top of my wishlist!

Book Haul #124, Or The One With Good Intentions...

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly event hosted on Tynga's Reviews where we can share what new books we've picked up this past week be they bought, borrowed or downloaded. There are also lots of other 'book haul' memes out there for you to choose from!

I was full of good intentions this week, with everything... Absolutely nothing happened though :( No blogging, not much reading and no progress on my decluttering project! After my rituximab infusion last week this week was a steroid injection directly into my knee joint, it hasn't helped and in fact feels worse. I'm struggling to get out of bed in the mornings just now but I'm ever hopeful things will improve soon. I have my 2nd rituximab infusion on Monday though so wish me luck!

Another one of my prepaid preorders arrived this week, the Cat Valente, and it's so nice seeing the whole series lined up on my shelf. Completely unnecessary but I bought the gorgeous special edition of The Lie Tree, all I need now is the US hardcover and I'll have a complete set! My Agatha Christie project continues too and I've decided I might as well buy the ones I really want to read so long as I don't go nuts... Not a bad week overall, 3 books for review and 3 books bought (sort of).

Bought

For Review

Waiting On Wednesday #146 - The Starlit Wood; New Fairy Tales

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week's choice is -

The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales - ed. Navah Wolfe & Dominik Parisien 

Publisher - Saga Press

Release date - October 2016

Find - Goodreads

Once upon a time in the desert, in a tower, on a spaceship, in the Other Country...

For centuries, storytellers have crafted timeless tales that have always found a place in our hearts. Here, a new generation of critically acclaimed, award-winning writers have taken up their mantle and shaped traditional and extraordinary fairy tales into something startling and electrifying.

From castles to canyons, a post-human landscape to a pixelated dungeon, from the far future to fantastical realms, The Starlit Wood transforms eighteen stories you thought you knew and takes you on a journey at once unexpected and familiar across time, space, and amazing new worlds.

OMG... This might just turn out to be one of my top ten most anticipated books of 2016 and it's a long wait until October. Just look who the authors are!

Charlie Jane Anders 

Aliette de Bodard  

Jeffrey Ford,  

Max Gladstone 

Theodora Goss 

Daryl Gregory 

Kat Howard,  

Stephen Graham Jones

Margo Lanagan  

Marjorie M. Liu  

Seanan McGuire

Garth Nix

Naomi Novik

Sofia Samatar

Karin Tidbeck

Catherynne M. Valente 

Genevieve Valentine 

Amal El-Mohtar  

Most of these authors are ones that I would read a shopping list if the published them and I think there's only three authors that I haven't read anything by them before.

Top Ten Tuesday #87 - Top Ten ALL TIME Favorite Authors!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the fabulous gals cover at The Broke & The Bookish. This week's topic is -

Top Ten Twelve Fifteen ALL TIME Favorite Authors

When I saw that the all-time favorite authors were this week's topic I snorted! Because who's going to be able to stick to ten? Well, me it would seem... Actually, not me! Have added another three authors before even getting started. And I know I'm going to kick myself when I see other people's lists and think of a hundred more I could have added. Anyway, here's fifteen of my favorite authors... Oh, and this list doesn't include people like Jasper Fforde, Alan Garner, Tolkien, L M Montgomery, Dickens, Hardy, Austen, and Bronte. It also doesn't include Patrick Rothfuss, Marcus Sedgwick, Diana Wynne Jones or George R R Martin because I think they are far too obvious (to me anyway) to be mentioned. And I can still think of at least another ten authors on top of those I would consider all-time favorites.

Freda Warrington

First Book Read - Dark Cathedral

Favorite Book - Court of the Midnight King

Catherynne Valente

First Book Read - Palimpsest

Favorite Book - The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making

Angela Carter 

First Book Read - The Magic Toyshop

Favorite Book - The Bloody Chamber & Other Stories

Frances Hardinge

First Book Read - Fly By Night

Favorite Book - Cuckoo Song

Charles de Lint 

First Book Read - Moonheart

Favorite Book - The Little Country

 Phil Rickman

First Book Read - Crybbe

Favorite Book - The Cure of Souls

Jo Walton 

First Book Read - The King's Peace

Favorite Book - Among Others

Juliet Marillier

First Book Read - Daughter of the Forest

Favorite Book - Daughter of the Forest

Neil Gaiman 

First Book Read - Neverwhere

Favorite Book - The Graveyard Book

Kate Forsyth

First Book Read - The Witches of Eileanan

Favorite Book - Bitter Greens

Stephen King 

First Book Read - 'Salem's Lot

Favorite Book - IT

Terry Pratchett

First Book Read - The Color of Magic

Favorite Book - Wyrd Sisters

Susanna Kearsley

First Book Read - Season of Storms

Favorite Book - The Winter Sea aka Sophia's Secret

Sarah Pinborough

First Book Read - A Matter of Blood

Favorite Book - Poison

Susan Cooper

First Book Read - Over Sea Under Stone

Favorite Book - The Dark Is Rising

Book Haul #104, Or The One With All The Library Books...

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly event hosted on Tynga's Reviews where we can share what new books we've picked up this past week be they bought, borrowed or downloaded. There are also lots of other 'book haul' memes out there for you to choose from!

It's been a good week in terms of book buying, just one book which was actually a preorder that I completely forgot was due out around now and a couple of review books that I'm excited about. The majority of my haul this week though is the giant stack of library books I somehow managed to acquire! Hopefully they'll keep me going for a while... There's a couple of -rereads in the pile and the only Mieville book I haven't read so fingers crossed it's as good as the rest!

Bought

The Boy Who Lost Fairyland

Review

The Ghost Fields | Ghosts of War | The Raven's Head

Lock & Mori | Seed

Library

The Drowning City

The Bone Palace

Kingdoms of Dust

Die Again

The Uncrowned King

A Breath of Frost

Falling Kingdoms

Rebel Spring

The Last of the Spirits

Mountwood School For Ghosts

Florence & Giles

The Girl Who Couldn't Read

Jekyll's Mirror

The Art of Being Normal

The Oversight

Bad Dreams

No True Echo

Station Eleven

Five Children on the Western Front

Neversuch House

My Brother's Shadow

There Will Be Lies

Vendetta

The Bane Chronicles

Railsea

The Seven Sisters

The Chimes

Adult Fiction To Look Forward To In 2015

These is just a selection of some of the adult fiction I can't wait to get my hands on this year. I want to try and read more this year, I barely read any adult fantasy last year which is normally my most popular genre. The last couple of titles are wishful thinking, who knows when they actually may appear but I know 2015 is the year I would love them to!

January

February

March

February

March

February

August

August

February

July

September?

Top Ten Tuesday #73 - Sequels I Can't Wait To Get

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the fabulous gals cover at The Broke & The Bookish. This week's topic is -

Top Ten Sequels I Can't Wait To Get

Sequels! I feel like I'm waiting for so many and for some, the wait is years... I'm talking about you, GRRM and Rothfuss! The Mime Order is a bit of a cheat as I have an e-galley which I have already started reading and loving!

Sequels Without Covers


The Winds of Winter (ASOIF #6) - George R R Martin

Doors of Stone (Kingkiller Chronicle #3) - Patrick Rothfuss

The Tower of Bann (Blackthorn & Grimm #2) - Juliet Marillier

Winter (Lunar Chronicles #4) - Marissa Meyer

The Thorn of Emberlain (Gentlemen Bastard #4) - Scott Lynch

Waiting On Wednesday #86 - The Boy Who Lost Fairyland

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week's choice is -

The Boy Who Lost Fairyland (Fairyland #4) - Catherynne M Valente

ISBN - 9781250023490

Publisher - Feiwel & Friends

Expected release date - March 3rd 2015

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

When a young troll named Hawthorn is stolen from Fairyland by the Golden Wind, he becomes a changeling – a human boy -- in the strange city of Chicago, a place no less bizarre and magical than Fairyland when seen through trollish eyes. Left with a human family, Hawthorn struggles with his troll nature and his changeling fate. But when he turns twelve, he stumbles upon a way back home, to a Fairyland much changed from the one he remembers. Hawthorn finds himself at the center of a changeling revolution--until he comes face to face with a beautiful young Scientiste with a very big, very red assistant.

Time magazine has praised Catherynne M. Valente's Fairyland books as "one of the most extraordinary works of fantasy, for adults or children, published so far this century." In this fourth installment of her saga, Valente 's wisdom and wit will charm readers of all ages. - Goodreads

Cue flailing and squeeing! Catherynne Valente is one of my favorite authors and I adore her Fairyland books so I can't wait to get my grubby hands on a copy of The Boy Who Lost Fairyland! But March! 2015!!! That's way too long to wait :( 

Top Ten Tuesday #55 - Freebie Day!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely people at The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is a topic of your choice so I chose my favorite female authors! And, because it's a freebie this week, I'm throwing the rules out of the window and you get some bonus answers too :) This is a fairly comprehensive list of either my favorite book or the first book I read by them. It's a list female authors who have written books that I've fallen in love with and have become auto-buy authors. I'm sure I've missed some off the list that should be startlingly obvious but I cannot think of who they are!

Top Fifteen Favorite Female Authors

Margaret Atwood | Juliet Marillier | Kate Forsyth

Jo Walton | Frances Hardinge | Freda Warrington

Patricia McKillip | Robin Hobb | Susan Cooper

Ursula Le Guin | Catherynne Valente | Cherie Priest

Elizabeth Bear | Kim Harrison | Marianne de Pierres

Book Haul #48

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly event hosted on Tynga's Reviews and Letterbox Love is a UK edition hosted by Narratively Speaking. Here we can share what new books we've picked up this past week. There are also lots of other 'book haul' memes out there for you to choose from!

Thanks for all the well wishes about my dad, that meant a lot :) He's doing alright so far but we're all still worried about him a great deal. I'm giving myself the day off from looking after him and heading to my first ever convention! As you read this I'll be enjoying various panels such as 'How To Poop In A Fantasy Universe' and 'Seriously Inventive Ways of Killing People' at BristolCon, mixing with lots of lovely people and lots of lovely authors. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is having to get up at 6am, the con is only 20 miles from me but of course, being a non-driver, I have to get the train which involves leaving too early for my liking...

Without further ado, here are the books I got this week! I would just like to say that the cover of Fearie Tales is absolutely stunning in real life and if you love fairy tales you need to buy a copy of this book (and there's a Neil Gaiman story in there as an added incentive to invest). There's a whole load of bargains in the UK Kindle store at the moment, you can be proud of me as I managed to resist buying dozens of books!

Bought

Fearie Tales - ed. Stephen Jones

Dark Currents - Jacqueline Carey

Deathless - Catherynne M Valente

Kindle

Ways To See A Ghost - Emily Diamand

A very restrained week on all counts, I'm hoping this new surge of will-power will get me through BristolCon without blowing too much. What will help is knowing whatever I do buy I've got to carry home...

Let me know what you got this week!