Ten Books I’d Buy If Someone Handed Me a Fully Loaded Gift Card

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Ten Books You’d Buy Right This Second If Someone Handed You A Fully Loaded Gift Card. I already have a mountain of books in my TBR pile and yet, there are still so many books out there that I would love to get a copy of. If I was handed a fully loaded gift card now, these are the titles I’d buy right away:

Interestingly, all of the titles in this list are fantasy! I think that means I’m craving for fantasy reads at the moment. Although my mood can change in a matter of days so who knows what I’ll want to read by next week. Anyway, what books would you grab if you were given a gift card?

My 2016 Anticipated Reads

I did this list last year and I’m happy to report that I’ve read most of the titles in my list. I think it’s always fun to take note of what new releases we’re all looking forward to in the coming months. In no particular order, these are the books that I can’t wait to read this year:

Titles that don’t have covers yet:
Magic Binds by Ilona Andrews
Us by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy
Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
The Future Chosen by Mina V. Esguerra

No titles or covers yet but I want the next installments in the following series:
Black Dog series by Rachel Neumeier
La vie en Roses by Laura Florand
The Ivy Years by Sarina Bowen

Are you also planning to read to any of the titles I listed here? What 2016 releases are you looking forward to?

Ten Books I Wouldn’t Mind Santa Leaving Under My Tree This Year

Hello from Manila! I’m here for the holiday season. It’s always good to be home but I haven’t had that much time to read or blog since I got here because I’ve been busy meeting up with friends and spending time with family. I’m glad I found some time to do this week’s Top Ten Tuesday post because I have some books on my wishlist that I would love to receive as presents. As always, Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish. All of the titles in my list today are graphic novels because I want to read more of those kinds of books. In no particular order:

The first three are Filipino graphic novels and since I’m all for supporting the local writing community, maybe I should just buy them for myself. I suspect that is what will happen for most of these titles, I probably wouldn’t be able to resist buying them if I see them in bookstores. Also, books in Manila are more affordable than books in Singapore so I want to take advantage of that.

How about the rest of you, what books would you like Santa to leave under the tree for you?🙂 Have you started receiving any books for Christmas? I usually don’t get books from friends but I’m luckier than usual this year and have already received a few.

Top Ten Hyped Books I’ve Never Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke and the Bookish. One of the advantages (which can also be a disadvantage sometimes) of being a book blogger is hearing buzz about certain books. For this week, I’m choosing titles that have been hyped by people I follow. I plan to read most of these titles eventually, I just haven’t found time to read them yet.

There are obviously a lot more fantasy titles in this list because I’ve noticed that I’ve read more contemporary than fantasy books in the first half of the year. So I’m trying to make up for lost time. How about you, what are some hyped books that you’ve never read? Are you planning to read them or not?

Authors I Should Read

I wanted to participate in last Tuesday’s Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by The Brooke and the Bookish) with the topic of “Top Ten Books People Have Been Telling Me That I MUST Read” but unfortunately, I missed it. I fell asleep earlier than usual that night instead of working on a blog post. But I really like the topic so I wanted to do a spin off. Instead of books, I wanted to talk about authors that have been broadly and specifically recommended for me.

Mary Renault – This particular author was brought to my attention when Elizabeth Wein recommended it for Megan Whalen Turner (MWT) fans in her guest post for Queen’s Thief Week. I have copies of both The King Must Die and The Bull from the Sea in my TBR pile.

Dorothy Sayers – Here’s another author who has been recommended several times for MWT fans, especially the books about Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. I’ve read Strong Poison but it didn’t have that much of an impact with him. I do have copies of Have His Carcase, Gaudy Night and Busman’s Honeymoon and I just need to find time to read them.

Connie Willis – I can’t even remember how many people have recommended this author’s time travel books. I’ve had a copy of To Say Nothing of the Dog for a while not but I heard that it would be better to start with the duology Blackout and All Clear.

Simmone Howell – I haven’t read any of this author’s books but I’ve heard that Girl Defective is an amazing Aussie YA novel so I got a copy of it late last year when a friend passed by Singapore from Australia.

Guy Gavriel Kay – So many fantasy fans have recommended this author’s work and I still haven’t read any of his books. I have copies of Tigana and the first two Fionavar books but just haven’t been in the mood for them. Especially Tigana, which is such a doorstopper.

Susanna Kearsley – I’ve seen other bloggers give positive reviews for this author’s books and that has made me curious. My friedn Heidi of Bunbury in the Stacks very kindly sent me a signed copy of The Winter Sea so I can start with that.

Genevieve Valentine – I’ve seen several bloggers (such as Ana of The Book Smugglers and Maureen of By Singing Light) rave about The Girls at the Kingfisher Club on Twitter so I’m very curious about it.

Virginia Kantra – I know my good friend Brandy of Random Musings of a Bibliophile loves Virginia Kantra’s books (which has been recommended by our favorite author Laura Florand). I grabbed a copy of Carolina Man back when it was on sale and it’s just waiting in my Kindle.

Kelly Hunter – Another Laura Florand recommendation! She mentioned that Kelly Hunter is a romance author who has written books with great dialogue, set in Singapore and Hong Kong. She recommended that I start with Wife for a Week, which is the first in a series about the Bennett family. Li of Me and My Books seconded the recommendation when I mentioned it on Twitter.

Joann Sfar – This is actually a bit funny since I found out about this graphic novel author through Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins (which I still need to review). The two MCs are fans of his work and that made me curious. I’ve checked in a bookstore here and his books aren’t available in Singapore.

I hope I’ll be able to put a dent on this list before the year ends. I’ll keep the rest of you posted. Care to share authors who would be included in your must read/highly recommended list?

Want Books: Thorn

Want Books? is a weekly meme hosted here at Chachic’s Book Nook and features released books that you want but you can’t have for some reason. It can be because it’s not available in your country, in your library or you don’t have the money for it right now. Everyone is free to join, just grab the image above. Leave a comment with a link to your post so I can do a roundup with each post.

Last week, I asked for recommendations for books that will wow me. One of the commenters, Mary Anne, mentioned a title that stood out to me: Thorn by Intisar Khanani. This is the first time I’ve heard of this title or this author but I was immediately curious because Thorn is a retelling of the Brothers Grimm Goose Girl fairy tale. It doesn’t hurt that the book has a pretty cover. I’m a big fan of fairy tales retold and the only Goose Girl retelling that I’ve read so far is Shannon Hale’s. Definitely planning to check this out. I’ve had a sample sent to my Kindle and if I end up liking it, I’ll probably grab the whole novel. I’m trying to be better about buying ebooks because I have so many unread titles in my TBR pile. I keep telling myself that I should only buy books that I’ll read right away (it doesn’t always work).

Here’s the summary from Goodreads:

For Princess Alyrra, choice is a luxury she’s never had … until she’s betrayed.

Princess Alyrra has never enjoyed the security or power of her rank. Between her family’s cruelty and the court’s contempt, she has spent her life in the shadows. Forced to marry a powerful foreign prince, Alyrra embarks on a journey to meet her betrothed with little hope for a better future.

But powerful men have powerful enemies–and now, so does Alyrra. Betrayed during a magical attack, her identity is switched with another woman’s, giving Alyrra the first choice she’s ever had: to start a new life for herself or fight for a prince she’s never met. But Alyrra soon finds that Prince Kestrin is not at all what she expected. While walking away will cost Kestrin his life, returning to the court may cost Alyrra her own. As Alyrra is coming to realize, sometime the hardest choice means learning to trust herself.

Thanks to Mary Anne for this rec! As always, let me know what you think if you’ve read this book. Would be helpful to know more about it. Also, what book is at the top of your wishlist?

Want Books: Generation V (American Vampire #1)

Want Books? is a weekly meme hosted here at Chachic’s Book Nook and features released books that you want but you can’t have for some reason. It can be because it’s not available in your country, in your library or you don’t have the money for it right now. Everyone is free to join, just grab the image above. Leave a comment with a link to your post so I can do a roundup with each post.

I keep wanting to try new-to-me adult urban fantasy books because I’ve only found two series (Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews and the World of the Lupi by Eileen Wilks) that I loved enough to keep following. I’ve tried a couple of other series but sadly, didn’t feel compelled to read the rest of the books after the first two or three titles. My friend Kristen of Fantasy Cafe mentioned that she really enjoyed reading Generation V, the first book in the American Vampire series by M.L. Brennan. I looked it up and the premise looks promising. I’ve added it to my wishlist but I told Kristen that I have no idea when I would get to read it because I have such a huge TBR pile.

Here’s the summary from Goodreads:

Fortitude Scott’s life is a mess. A degree in film theory has left him with zero marketable skills, his job revolves around pouring coffee, his roommate hasn’t paid rent in four months, and he’s also a vampire. Well, sort of. He’s still mostly human.

But when a new vampire comes into his family’s territory and young girls start going missing, Fort can’t ignore his heritage anymore. His mother and his older, stronger siblings think he’s crazy for wanting to get involved. So it’s up to Fort to take action, with the assistance of Suzume Hollis, a dangerous and sexy shape-shifter. Fort is determined to find a way to outsmart the deadly vamp, even if he isn’t quite sure how.

But without having matured into full vampirehood and with Suzume ready to split if things get too risky, Fort’s rescue mission might just kill him…

What about you, what book is at the top of your wishlist? What’s your favorite urban fantasy series? Hope you’re all having a good weekend so far.