All I Want for Christmas... (8)

Every year my mom asks me to send her my book wishlist for Christmas, since it just isn't Christmas without books. In the hopes of getting some content onto this blog more regularly, I'll be posting my book wishlist picks on here.

If anyone would like to join in with picks from their own wishlist, please feel free to add your link in the comments :) And if you've read any of the books on my list, let me know what you thought of them (good, bad, or otherwise!)

This week's pick:

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

From Goodreads:

"Sometimes it’s the little lies that turn out to be the most lethal. . .
  A murder… . . . a tragic accident… . . . or just parents behaving badly?
What’s indisputable is that someone is dead.   But who did what?
  Big Little Lies follows three women, each at a crossroads:   Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny and biting, passionate, she remembers everything and forgives no one. Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beachside community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline’s youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline’s teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline’s ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?).
Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn’t be, with those rambunctious twin boys? Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay.   New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why? While Madeline and Celeste soon take Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all.
  Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive."

I've read two of Liane Moriarty's previous novels — The Husband's Secret and What Alice Forgot — and particularly loved the latter. Moriarty does such a wonderful job of creating characters who feel real. Big Little Lies sounds like a bit more of a mystery than some of her other books but from what I've seen it's been getting good reviews, and I'm eager to check it out for myself!

What books are you hoping to find in your stocking this Christmas?

Waiting on Wednesday: Rook, First Frost, and Ink & Bone

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and features books that we just can't wait to get our hands on!

Oh look, it's a Waiting on Wednesday post! Haven't had one of those on the blog in ages...

Anyway, without further ado, my WoW picks:

Rook by Sharon Cameron

Goodreads' description:

"History has a way of repeating itself. In the Sunken City that was once Paris, all who oppose the new revolution are being put to the blade. Except for those who disappear from their prison cells, a red-tipped rook feather left in their place. Is the mysterious Red Rook a savior of the innocent or a criminal?

Meanwhile, across the sea in the Commonwealth, Sophia Bellamy’s arranged marriage to the wealthy René Hasard is the last chance to save her family from ruin. But when the search for the Red Rook comes straight to her doorstep, Sophia discovers that her fiancé is not all he seems. Which is only fair, because neither is she.

As the Red Rook grows bolder and the stakes grow higher, Sophia and René find themselves locked in a tantalizing game of cat and mouse."

I think I first saw this one mentioned by Lindsey at Bring My Books as one of the top books she's looking forward to in 2015. And then once I read the description I was like, "Yep, that is going on my TBR list!" I read and enjoyed Sharon Cameron's The Dark Unwinding (have not yet read the second book!) and so I'm hoping Rook will deliver as well. It sounds like a retelling of The Scarlet Pimpernel but...set in a future Paris? Very cool.

First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen

Goodreads' description:

"From the New York Times bestselling author of Garden Spells comes a story of the Waverley family, in a novel as sparkling as the first dusting of frost on new-fallen leaves...

It's October in Bascom, North Carolina, and autumn will not go quietly. As temperatures drop and leaves begin to turn, the Waverley women are made restless by the whims of their mischievous apple tree... and all the magic that swirls around it. But this year, first frost has much more in store.

Claire Waverley has started a successful new venture, Waverley’s Candies. Though her handcrafted confections—rose to recall lost love, lavender to promote happiness and lemon verbena to soothe throats and minds—are singularly effective, the business of selling them is costing her the everyday joys of her family, and her belief in her own precious gifts.

Sydney Waverley, too, is losing her balance. With each passing day she longs more for a baby— a namesake for her wonderful Henry. Yet the longer she tries, the more her desire becomes an unquenchable thirst, stealing the pleasure out of the life she already has.

Sydney’s daughter, Bay, has lost her heart to the boy she knows it belongs to…if only he could see it, too. But how can he, when he is so far outside her grasp that he appears to her as little more than a puff of smoke?

When a mysterious stranger shows up and challenges the very heart of their family, each of them must make choices they have never confronted before. And through it all, the Waverley sisters must search for a way to hold their family together through their troublesome season of change, waiting for that extraordinary event that is First Frost.

Lose yourself in Sarah Addison Allen's enchanting world and fall for her charmed characters in this captivating story that proves that a happily-ever-after is never the real ending to a story. It’s where the real story begins."

I quite liked Garden Spells, so I'm interested to see how Sarah Addison Allen continues those characters' stories in this sequel (pretty sure it's the first sequel she's written to any of her books...?). I particularly enjoyed the subtle use of the magic in this world in Garden Spells, so I hope that keeps up in First Frost.

Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine

"In an exhilarating new series, New York Times bestselling author Rachel Caine rewrites history, creating a dangerous world where the Great Library of Alexandria has survived the test of time.…

Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the Library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly—but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden.

Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the Library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from illegal books obtained by his family, who are involved in the thriving black market. Jess has been sent to be his family’s spy, but his loyalties are tested in the final months of his training to enter the Library’s service.

When he inadvertently commits heresy by creating a device that could change the world, Jess discovers that those who control the Great Library believe that knowledge is more valuable than any human life—and soon both heretics and books will burn.…"

Anything involving the Great Library of Alexandria gets automatic points from me. A world where you can only access books by use of alchemy? Spies? Heresy? SIGN ME UP. 

What books are you waiting for?

All I Want for Christmas... (7)

Every year my mom asks me to send her my book wishlist for Christmas, since it just isn't Christmas without books. In the hopes of getting some content onto this blog more regularly, I'll be posting my book wishlist picks on here.

If anyone would like to join in with picks from their own wishlist, please feel free to add your link in the comments :) And if you've read any of the books on my list, let me know what you thought of them (good, bad, or otherwise!)

This week's pick:

  The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

From Goodreads:

"An international sensation, this hilarious, feel-good novel is narrated by an oddly charming and socially challenged genetics professor on an unusual quest: to find out if he is capable of true love.

Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical—most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.

Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent—and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don's Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie—and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper.

The Rosie Project is a moving and hilarious novel for anyone who has ever tenaciously gone after life or love in the face of overwhelming challenges."

Okay, so it feels like pretty much everybody else has read this book already. My mom's read it. My roommate's read it. I'm pretty sure my sister's read it. How have I not read it yet? I do not know, because it sounds really adorable and everyone seems to love it.

If you are not like me and have read this book, let me know what you thought of it! If somehow, like me, you have been living under a rock for the past year been too darn busy with school to read anything, even this book, let me know that too, and then we can commiserate together.

All I Want for Christmas... (6)

Every year my mom asks me to send her my book wishlist for Christmas, since it just isn't Christmas without books. In the hopes of getting some content onto this blog more regularly, I'll be posting my book wishlist picks on here.

If anyone would like to join in with picks from their own wishlist, please feel free to add your link in the comments :) And if you've read any of the books on my list, let me know what you thought of them (good, bad, or otherwise!)

This week's pick:

The Shadow Year by Hannah Richell

From Goodreads:

"On a sultry summer’s day in 1980, five friends stumble upon an abandoned lakeside cottage hidden deep in the English countryside. For Kat and her friends, it offers an escape; a chance to drop out for a while, with lazy summer days by the lake and intimate winter evenings around the fire. But as the seasons change, tensions begin to rise and when an unexpected visitor appears at their door, nothing will be the same again.

Three decades later, Lila arrives at the same remote cottage. With her marriage in crisis, she finds solace in renovating the tumbledown house. Little by little she wonders about the previous inhabitants. How did they manage in such isolation? Why did they leave in such a hurry, with their belongings still strewn about? Most disturbing of all, why can't she shake the feeling that someone might be watching her?

The Shadow Year is a story of secrets, tragedy, lies and betrayal. It’s a tale that explores the light and dark of human relationships and the potential the past has to not only touch our present, but also to alter our future."

YA is still my comfort zone, but I've been branching out a bit more in the last year into adult fiction, and this is one of a few adult books that made it onto my wishlist. It just sounds mysterious and intriguing and a little creepy... Also, it sounds like it might be written in interweaving timelines (past and present), which can be a neat format if done well.

Has anyone else read this one, and if so what did you think? And what books are you hoping Santa brings you this year?