Top Ten Tuesday #39 - Things On My Reading Wishlist

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely people at The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is -

Top Ten Things On My Reading Wishlist 

This was hard! I'll happily read just about anything and if I don't like it I'll move on to the next book. After much racking of brains this is what I came up with, nine things I'd love more of in books and one thing to do with the actual books!

1. More books about books

Books about books or bookish people, why aren't there more? If I see a book involves books in just about any way I immediately pick it up!

2. YA Mysteries/Thrillers

Some of my favorite reads last year were YA mysteries and thrillers. There's something about the way they're written that I find myself drawn to and I'd like more :)

3. Retellings

This will probably be on quite a few lists but I'll go one step further and say I'd like to see more retellings from other characters points of view. Instead of Cinderella, one of the ugly step-sisters or the fairy godmother? Instead of Gerda, how about the Snow Queen? If these already exist please do tell me!

4. Prequels

I know a lot of people don't like these but sometimes it's nice to have an insight into characters before you delve into a book, especially if it sets the scene in more detail!

5. Boarding School

I have always had an obsession with boarding school, probably due to my unhealthy addiction to the Chalet School and Malory Towers books! I love the Night School books by C J Daugherty and even though I didn't think much of the book I loved that Thorn Abbey was set in a boarding school.

6. YA Horror

This could probably tie into number two but I remember being enthralled by all the Point Horror books and Christopher Pike. I'd love to see more YA Horror as it's one of my favorite adult genres, pretty please authors?

7. Fantastical Historical

I love fantasy and I love historical novels so let's put the two together!  I love Grave Mercy and The Gathering Storm but I want to see more fantastical historicals!

8. Parallel Universes

I love this idea. Sadly I cannot bring to mind a single book I've read with this storyline except for When The World Was Flat (and we were in love) which I loved! Recommendations please if you've read anything!

9. Supernatural

Yes, Supernatural. The television show. Wouldn't you love to read books that are like Supernatural, featuring hot brothers and mentors and books of monsters? Think of all the different ideas you get from this, I for one would be queuing up - and it's nothing whatsoever to do with my obsession with Sam & Dean...

10. Special Editions

Not an idea for a book but the actual book itself. I would love to see more special editions of books, pretty editions, which are not only great to read but look good on the shelf. I already have a few a lot but I'd like to see more.

When The World Was Flat (and we were in love) - Ingrid Jonach

When The World Was Flat (and we were in love) - Ingrid Jonach
ISBN -
Publisher - Strange Chemistry
Release date -
Find - Goodreads/Book Depository/AmazonUK/AmazonUS

'Looking back, I wonder if I had an inkling that my life was about to go from ordinary to extraordinary.

When sixteen-year-old Lillie Hart meets the gorgeous and mysterious Tom Windsor-Smith for the first time, it’s like fireworks — for her, anyway. Tom looks as if he would be more interested in watching paint dry; as if he is bored by her and by her small Nebraskan town in general.

But as Lillie begins to break down the walls of his seemingly impenetrable exterior, she starts to suspect that he holds the answers to her reoccurring nightmares and to the impossible memories which keep bubbling to the surface of her mind — memories of the two of them, together and in love.

When she at last learns the truth about their connection, Lillie discovers that Tom has been hiding an earth-shattering secret; a secret that is bigger — and much more terrifying and beautiful — than the both of them. She also discovers that once you finally understand that the world is round, there is no way to make it flat again.

An epic and deeply original sci-fi romance, taking inspiration from Albert Einstein’s theories and the world-bending wonder of true love itself.' - Goodreads

When The World Was Flat (and we were in love) tells the story of Lillie and Tom, a somewhat unorthodox love story. Lillis is plagued by dreams & nightmares that feel too real at times and always seem to involve her death at the hands of the same unknown assailant.When she meets Tom this feeling of deja vu only increases, certain that she knows him and that somehow, somewhere the two of them were close.  What only adds to her confusion is the knowledge that Tom seems to be doing everything possible to avoid talking to her or spending time with her for reasons we can only begin to guess at until further into the story.

When I first read about When The World Was Flat I was intrigued by the fact that it was described as a sci-fi romance influenced by Albert Einstein's unfinished Theory of Everything, not exactly a concept you come across every day. I don't have a scientific bone in my body but I do love reading sci-fi so thought why not, it does sound like it could be an amazing read and I was right. Tom & Lillie's story was written so wonderfully and so clearly that even though I did get a bit stuck in places where the more detailed explanations of how the worlds worked I fell in love with Ingrid Jonach's writing almost straightaway.

At first, I wasn't sure whether I liked Lillie, she seemed to be very judgmental about her best friends Jo & Sylv, one for being overweight and one for being a teenage man-eater and without being too spoiler-y further on in the book she does appear to abandon both of them at times when they needed her support. Tom was the same, didn't know if I liked him or not. Ignoring Lillie to the point of rudeness but still seeking her out and being jealous of her relationship with Jackson (an old friend) didn't make much sense until you read about his situation and understand what's happened to him, it's a heartbreaking situation for both of them.

Although I assume Lille & Tom's story is finished it would so easy to set more stories in the world that Jonach has created. The theories of merging and sliding could be applied to so many storylines and thanks to the parallel worlds idea could be set in any number of different worlds, not necessarily the one used in WTWWF. One other thing I loved but people might find slightly schmaltzy was the idea behind soulmates, that your soulmate is someone you've loved before, in one of the parallel worlds. I thought this was such a plausible explanation, just a shame it couldn't actually happen! Between a beautifully simple but significant cover and beautiful writing WTWWF is far different from your usual YA/romance/sci-fi novel but one definitely worth reading and I look forward to seeing what Ingrid Jonach comes up with next.

Thanks to Strange Chemistry for providing with an electronic copy of WTWWF via Netgalley!