Hey, it’s Ariel coming at you with my first ever TBR post on this blog! I’ve been having a lot of fun building the website and coming up with cool ideas to post on here for you guys. There are some things that I’m really excited to try out here in the coming weeks and months, so look forward to that.
For now, though, let’s just get into the TBR. It might be a tad ambitious, considering I usually only read a few books a month, but starting this blog has gotten me all fired up about reading again (yay!), so I wanted to go for something a little ambitious.
The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North
I first heard about this book quite a while ago on the booktube channel PeruseProject (which is awesome, by the way—the booktuber’s name is Regan, and she’s one of my absolute favorites), and it just sounded like something that would be right up my alley.
It seems like it’s magical realism, which although I’ve never read a book by Claire North, I’ve heard a lot of her books are like that. As I understand it, it’s about a girl named Hope who no one can ever remember—her parents, her friends, everyone. They know her one minute and the next they think she’s a complete stranger. As you can imagine, this can make it pretty hard to have a normal life. And Hope doesn’t. Since everyone forgets about her, she can’t have a normal job, or a family—but she can do a great job as a criminal, where having people constantly forget who you are is an asset, not a hindrance.
That’s basically all I know about it, but it sounds really cool, and I’ve heard it’s good, so I bought it, and now I’m going to try to read it this month.
Operation Hail Storm by Brett Arquette
I have basically no idea what this book is about, but I was able to get the e-book version for free a few months ago, and I really need to get around to it. When I do get to it, there will probably be a review soon after, so I’ll probably let you guys know more then.
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
This is a book I’ve been wanting to read for a long time, ever since booktube became obsessed with V.E. Schwab a while back. It’s about a world where there are alternate versions of London, and the main character has the magical ability to travel between them. There’s Grey London, which is like our world in that it has no magic. Red London has magic and is the most peaceful and successful of the Londons. White London is a ruthless place that has magic, but people fight their way to the throne. And there was once Black London, but it doesn’t exist anymore for some reason.
I know, that wasn’t a very good description. To be honest, though, I don’t really want to know much more than that. The world sounds cool enough that I just want to read it and see what happens.
Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
Another book I’ve been wanting to read for a while, but I just haven’t ever had a chance to buy it. This one is set in a world where the same million souls have been reborn, over and over, since basically the beginning of time, and they have kept their memories of their past lives each time. Then comes our main character, Ana, who is a new soul, and one of the other souls disappeared for her to be there.
It sounds like a really cool concept, and I’m interested to see where the author goes with it. Plus, the cover is pretty cool. I’m normally not the biggest fan of faces on covers, but I like the colors on this one, and I think the butterfly is beautiful. I’m super excited to read this one.
Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
All I needed to hear was that this book was based on Greek mythology and I was sold. I grew up reading and loving the Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan, and by extension becoming obsessed with Greek myths. So this one was sort of a given for me. We’ll see what I think.
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
I haven’t read a single book by Libba Bray, and I want to remedy that situation. Unfortunately, the first time I tried to read this book, I just couldn’t get into it. This time around, I’ve decided to try listening to the audiobook version and seeing if I like it any better.
The concept sounds cool, at least. It’s about a group of beauty pageant girls whose plane crash lands on a deserted island, and they have to try to fend for themselves. I know from the little bit of the book that I read that it is very self-aware, and it is very obviously making fun of today’s society. It’s set up like a reality show in book form, with commercial breaks and everything. Normally I like books that have unusual formats or points of view, but the first time I tried to read this one, I struggled. Mainly, I had problems with how fake most of the characters felt. I know that was probably intentional, but still… I hope I like it better the second time around.
Gods Behaving Badly: A Novel by Marie Phillips
We’ve come to the last book in my TBR for this month, and of course it is also another book based on Greek myths. This one is one I’m excited for, but I won’t be that upset if I don’t get to it. I haven’t really heard or seen anyone talk about, but it’s about the twelve Olympian gods all being stuck in one house together, and the consequences of that. It sounds like it’ll be a lot of fun.
Okay, that’s what I want to read in June. It’s seven books, which is honestly a ton for me, but it’s summer, so I have less responsibilities to contend with now. Wish me luck, and let me know if any of you have read any of these books, and what you think of them. I’d love to hear your thoughts, but no spoilers, please!
Thanks for reading! I’ll see you next time.
-Ariel