Hello lovely people,

It’s the first day of March, the sun is shining and everything is starting to seem a little bit brighter so I think it’s time for a Spring TBR post. I’ve been working a lot of hours over the last couple of months so I’ve not had a lot of time (or focus) for reading but I’ve been doing quite a lot of book buying. I’ve also picked up a few ARCs that I’m really looking forward to and have been venturing more and more onto Book-tok which has added a LOT of interesting books to my TBR mountain.

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ARCs

Lets kick off with the ARCs, I’ve been lucky enough to get my hands on a few of my most anticipated reads.

• The Atlas Six by Olivia Blake – I’ve seen this talked about a lot on book-tok, so given I’ve been taking pretty much any recommendation I see on there I thought why not and pre ordered it. Then it appeared on Netgalley so I requested it there too and my request was granted. Anyway, there’s a competition, magic, a library, sounds fab.
• Mad About You by Mhairi McFarlane – McFarlane is an autobuy author for me. I absolutely adore her books, they tend to be marketed as rom-coms or chick lit but I don’t think this captures all that they are. There is so much depth and emotion and they have a tendency to deal with some difficult themes. Previous book Just Last Night had me in bits with how it dealt with grief and friendship. I was hoping this would be a little more cheerful but I’ve already heard people saying they were sobbing so I shall have tissues at the ready.
• First Born by Will Dean – I really feel like I should get up to speed on Dean’s back catalogue. I’ve only read his previous standalone, Last Thing to Burn, but it was absolutely brilliant. It probably had one of the most vile and disgusting villain’s that I think I’ve ever read and it made for gripping reading. I have a feeling that First Born will be the same, it has twins, mystery, death and secrets. I am very excited.
• Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough – It’s been a while since I’ve read anything by Pinborough, possibly Behind Her Eyes, but I do love her writing and she knows how to write a great thriller so this should be good.

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Book Subscriptions

Because I clearly don’t have enough books to read… ahem… I started a couple of monthly book subscriptions at the end of last year. One is a Bert’s books debut fiction subscription and the other is Illumicrate. I’ve had book subscriptions before and had to give them up as I was always falling behind so this year I set myself the goal of reading the month’s book within a month of actually receiving it.

• The Leviathan by Rosie Andrews – I have accidentally ended up with two copies of this as I spied it in the bookstore and couldn’t resist buying it (I had a voucher), then a second copy arrived through the door as February’s Bert’s Books pick. I guess it does mean I really want to read it, I love the sound of a story that combines fantasy, gothic and historical.
• A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross – This just arrived from Illumicrate today and was a bit of a surprise but I’m kind of tempted to read right away. I loved Rebecca Ross’ previous series and having read the synopsis it sounds really good. It’s the first adult fantasy from the author which I take to mean “contains spice” plus it has the enemies forced to work together thing which is one of my fave tropes.
• Little Thieves by Margaret Owen – I received this in November (I think) but haven’t quite gotten around to reading as yet. I was on a Zodiac Academy / Plated Prisoner binge read so was OD-ing on fantasy. I’ve also been a little off YA fantasy but this is a retelling so I will almost definitely read it and love it.
• This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi – I’m a little on the fence about reading this as it’s the first in a trilogy. It does sound good but I’ve been trying to wait till all of the books in a series (or most) are out before diving in. It’s highly likely if they’re not I’ll never finish the series.

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Recent Purchases

Waterstones half price hardback sale was a bit of a killer for me. I bought more books than I should have considering the number of books I already own but have yet to read. I’ve also discovered that I am completely unable to resist a book with a sprayed or stencilled edge, something I am pretty sure the publishers have now realised. If a book has a pretty cover and a stencilled edge, I’ll buy it, probably without even checking what it’s about.

• The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett – Hallett’s debut book The Appeal was one of those happy discoveries for me last year. It was one I’d seen a few people rave about but only got around to picking up when it was chosen as a Bloody Scotland bookclub read. I borrowed from the library, thought I’ll read a few pages see what it’s like and of course ended up reading the whole thing in one sitting. Needless to say as soon as I finished I pre ordered The Twyford Code. One of the things I loved about The Appeal was the unusual format and as far as I can tell Hallett has done something similar with this one. I do love a book with an unusual format and the reviews I’ve read so far have all been positive.
• The Christie Affair by Nina De Gramont – This is one I picked in large part due to the stencilled edges. I am loving mysteries and thillers at the moment so that was a big draw and I do like the idea of this book, a reimagining of what happened during those 11 days when Agatha Christie went missing.
• Ariadne by Jennifer Saint – I absolutely love mythology and have heard a lot of good things about this (I’ve also heard a few not so great things but I’m opting to ignore them and judge for myself).
• Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune – I literally only read The House in the Cerulean Sea a couple of weeks ago but it was love at first page. There was something so warm and happy about the writing. I was feeling very stressed and a bit anxious and it was the hug in book form I really needed. From what I’ve heard Under the Whispering Door could be a little sadder and will no doubt make me cry but I don’t care.

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Audiobooks

I’m managing to get out and about a bit more so I’ve been really enjoying having a book in my ear when I’m driving or out for a walk. It still seems to take me a while to get through them so I tend to be selective in my picks but there seem to be lots of really intriguing ones being published at the mo.

• The Maid by Nita Prose – There’s been a LOT of buzz around this book and yep I have totally fallen for it. It has a mystery at the centre of it but also a very unique sounding main character. I’m always on the lookout for books that are a little bit different so this is just the kind of story I’m looking for. Here’s hoping it lives up to expectations.
• Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes – I have to confess I’d lost some of the love for Marian Keyes’ books recently. I will always love her early books about the Walsh family but I have found her more recent novels a bit of a struggle. That was, until I listened to her last book, Grown Ups, on audio and really enjoyed it. Keyes narrates it herself and is somehow good at it, something not all authors are. Again, Rachel therefore has double appeal to me having both Keyes as narrator and featuring the Walsh family.
• The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley – This is actually a similar one to Marian Keyes, I read and enjoyed The Hunting Party but didn’t love it and then I listened to The Guest List on audio and it was so much better. The narration somehow brought the characters to life in a way that reading it somehow failed to do. As I had a couple of audible credits I thought The Paris Apartment would be a good shout.
• The No-Show by Beth O’Leary – I listened to O’Leary’s previous book The Road Trip on audio last year and really enjoyed it so I think I’m probably also going to go for her new book in the same format.

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So that’s my spring reading plans. I am also doing a team reading challenge at the moment so fully anticipate it pushing me into new and unusual directions but hopefully I’ve left myself enough space to squeeze in whatever I need to.

Have you read any of these? Should I push any to the top of my list?

Let me know below