December 2020 TBR

The last TBR of the year …

After seemingly ignoring my November TBR completely, only managing to get to two of my planned reads, I was very selecting about my December book picks. Here’s what I’m hoping to read …

The Bone Shard Daughter

Written by Andrea Stewart

Published by Orbit Books

This is the book I’m the most excited for and dedicated to reading this month… if only I could get my butt in gear and find time to read lately!! Bone magic, falling empires, revolution, and magical animal companions … sign me up. From the author: “The Bone Shard Daughter is an epic fantasy in an Asian-inspired setting that follows several characters: a daughter trying to reclaim her rightful place as heir, a smuggler who professes not to care but can’t seem to stop doing good things, two women in an established relationship struggling with the class differences between them, and a stranger on a remote island trying to unravel the mystery of why she’s there.”

You can find it here: Bookshop.org

A Deadly Education

Written by Naomi Novik

Published by Del Rey Books

Naomi Novik has such of way of creating deliberately paced plots with exceptionally vivid characters – so I am going into this one with high expectations! This time she’s bringing us to a deadly, magical boarding school: Scholomance. Where failure means certain death (for real) — until one girl, El, begins to unlock its many secrets. There are no teachers, no holidays, and no friendships, save strategic ones. Survival is more important than any letter grade, for the school won’t allow its students to leave until they graduate… or die! The rules are deceptively simple: Don’t walk the halls alone. And beware of the monsters who lurk everywhere.

You can find it here: Bookshop.org

A Curious Beginning

Written by Deanna Raybourn

Published by Berkley Books

Having sat on my TBR shelf for a couple years now, I’ve decided it’s time! Either reading physically or as an audiobook, I haven’t decided, but this looks like a super fun, easy paced, delightful read to enjoy over the Christmas rush … you know those days where you can only find minutes between baking, cooking, wrapping … repeat? The Veronica Speedwall series is a fun mystery/historical fiction/romance series that follows the titular character through her trials and tribulations in a regency era setting. In the series opener, Veronica manages to thwart her own attempted abduction, with the help of a German Baron and his grumpy friend, Stoker. Before the Baron can reveal what he knows, he is found murdered and Veronica and Stoker are on the run from would be assailants, forming an unlikely alliance … I smell a romance??

You can find it here: Bookshop.org

Unnatural Magic

Written by C.M. Waggoner

Published by Ace Books

Why haven’t I heard more about this wonderful sounding Adult Fantasy?? Throwing us back into a magical school setting, but with trolls, this sounds like a fantastic fantasy. Talented magician Onna is denied study at the prestigious arcane academy, on account of her being a woman, and ventures to the busy city-state of Hexos hoping to earn a spot at the University. Upon arrival she is drawn into the mysteries surrounding the murder of four trolls. Meanwhile, Tsira, a troll with similar fitting-in issues, decides to leave her village and pursue work in the human city. She too will be drawn into these murders as her path crosses with Onna and an injured human soldier … they must work together to find who is targeting trolls before their lands are torn apart!

You can find it here: Bookshop.org

Mistletoe & Mr. Right

Written by Sarah Morgenthaler

Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca

Is it Christmas without a Christmas romance? Unbeknownst to me, this is actually book two in a series, so hopefully I’ll be alright starting here … (unlike the disaster that was Christmas At the Island Hotel by Jenny Colgan … why books can’t be clearly marked as sequels on the actual book I’ll never understand). But this romance has all the ingredients for a fun read: quirky, small Alaskan town, a socialite trying to change for the better while hunting down the town’s mysterious Santa-Moose Grinch (yes, you read that right), and the boy who has always loved her who accidentally gets tranquillized in her quest to find said moose. I mean, what else can we look for in a holiday romance plot?

You can find it here: Bookshop.org

Wintersong

Written by S. Jae-Jones

Published by Thomas Dunne Book for St. Martin’s Griffin

Another YA that’s been sitting on the shelf for years … I think what has mostly drawn me to this title again and again is the cover. I truly don’t know a lot about this other than it is often described as Labyrinth meets The Cruel Prince. I kind of want to leave it as a surprise, but here’s a brief blurb: In the first days of a winter The Goblin King rides above searching for a bride … this year he takes the main protagonist, Leisl’s, sister. Now Liesl must journey to the underground to save her where she finds herself captivated by the the strange world and its king.

You can find it here: Bookshop.org

Get a Life, Chloe Brown

Written by Talia Hibbert

Published by Avon Books

It’s an option for another light hearted romance, but I’m not entirely set on this … if I need a romance then I’ll reach for it, but most likely I’ll be grabbing Among the Beasts & Briars by Ashley Poston, and saving this one for February. A brief synopsis: Suffering from a chronic illness, Chloe Brown decides to formulate a list full of wild and slightly debaucherous tasks in order to “get a life” … along the way she enlists the help of Red Morgan, the tattooed, motorcycle-loving, closeted artist to help her accomplish her list. I’m assuming romance blooms …

You can find it here: Bookshop.org

Heart of Flames

Written by Nicki Pau Preto

Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books

The sequel that has haunted my 2020 TBR shelves, I’d love to polish this off before the final book is released next year. Since this is the sequel to The Crown of Feathers I’m not going to say too much for risk of plot spoilers … but if you are as obsessed with phoenixes (who can talk with their human riders) as I am, you need to pick up this series!

You can find it here: Bookshop.org

Among the Beasts & Briars

Written by Ashley Poston

Published by Balzer + Bray

The November OwlCrate book pick centres on one of my favourite literary settings — enchanted, sinister forests. Cerys, the daughter of a humble gardener, is safe within the borders of the kingdom of Aloriya because the first king made a bargain with the Lady who ruled the forest that borders the kingdom. But the forest has grown dark and evil, and Cerys, who barely survived an attack of the woods as a child, is about to be on the run again when a new Queen is crowned. Armed only with her odd companions – a fox and a bear – and her own secret magic, Cerys will venture to find The Lady of the Wilds to save her home.

You can find it here: Bookshop.org

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