Here are some of the books on my shelf that I'm excited to be reading this November.
Title: UprootedWhy I'm Looking Forward to Reading it: I love a good retelling, and Uprooted sounds like a combination of some of my favourites like Beauty and the Beast with elements of 1,001 Nights.
Author: Naomi Novik
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Goodreads Summary: Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.
Her people rely on the cold, ambitious wizard, known only as the Dragon, to keep the wood's powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman must be handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as being lost to the wood.
The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows - everyone knows - that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia - all the things Agnieszka isn't - and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.
But no one can predict how or why the Dragon chooses a girl. And when he comes, it is not Kasia he will take with him. Add to Goodreads
Title: Four Major PlaysWhy I'm Looking Forward to Reading it: We are studying A Doll's House for English this year and I want to read the other 3 stories in this collection to get a better understanding of the themes Ibsen wrote about and the context the plays were set in.
Author: Henrik Ibsen
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Goodreads Summary: Taken from the highly acclaimed Oxford Ibsen, this collection of Ibsen's plays includes A Doll's House, Ghosts, Hedda Gabler, and The Master Builder. Add to Goodreads
Title: The Bone ClocksWhy I'm Looking Forward to Reading it: I'm part way through reading this book and it's so unique and confusing, as most of Mitchell's books tend to be. Plus look at that cover!
Author: David Mitchell
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Goodreads Summary: One drowsy summer's day in 1984, teenage runaway Holly Sykes encounters a strange woman who offers a small kindness in exchange for 'asylum'. Decades will pass before Holly understands exactly what sort of asylum the woman was seeking...
The Bone Clocks follows the twists and turns of Holly's life from a scarred adolescence in Gravesend to old age on Ireland's Atlantic coast as Europe's oil supply dries up - a life not so far out of the ordinary, yet punctuated by flashes of precognition, visits from people who emerge from thin air and brief lapses in the laws of reality. For Holly Sykes - daughter, sister, mother, guardian - is also an unwitting player in a murderous feud played out in the shadows and margins of our world, and may prove to be its decisive weapon. Add to Goodreads
Title: Beyond the Kingdoms (The Land of Stories #4)Why I'm Looking Forward to Reading it: I ordered this book ASAP because I needed to complete my collection of these beautifully covered books. These books are a way for me to re-live the childhood adventures I always daydreamed about.
Author: Chris Colfer
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Goodreads Summary: The Masked Man is on the loose in the Land of Stories, and it's up to Alex and Conner Bailey to stop him...except Alex has been thrown off the Fairy Council, and no one will believe they're in danger.
With only the help of the ragtag group of Goldilocks, Jack, Red Riding Hood, and Mother Goose and her gander, Lester, the Bailey twins discover the Masked Man's secret scheme: He possesses a powerful magic potion that turns every book it touches into a portal, and he is recruiting an army of literature's greatest villains!
So begins a race through the magical Land of Oz, the fantastical world of Neverland, the madness of Wonderland, and beyond. Can Alex and Conner catch up to the Masked Man, or will they be one step behind until it's too late? Add to Goodreads
Title: Art In The BloodWhy I'm Looking Forward to Reading it: I got this from a school author visit and even got a chance to have a chat with the author. We discussed different Holmes adaptations and she was so friendly. It was really great to see someone who was so dedicated to creating a true pastiche of Conan Doyle's style, which is why I cannot wait to pick this up.
Author: Bonnie MacBird
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Goodreads Summary: London. A snowy December, 1888. Sherlock Holmes, 34, is languishing and back on cocaine after a disastrous Ripper investigation. Watson can neither comfort nor rouse his friend – until a strangely encoded letter arrives from Paris.
Mlle La Victoire, a beautiful French cabaret star writes that her young son has vanished, and she has been attacked in the streets of Montmartre.
Racing to Paris with Watson at his side, Holmes discovers the missing child is only the tip of the iceberg of a much larger problem. The most valuable statue since the Winged Victory has been violently stolen in Marseilles, and several children from a silk mill in Lancashire have been found murdered. The clues in all three cases point to a single, untouchable man, an art collector seemingly beyond reach of the law.
Will Holmes recover in time to find the missing boy and stop a rising tide of murders? To do so he must stay one step ahead of a dangerous French rival and the threatening interference of his own brother, Mycroft. Add to Goodreads
Will you be adding any of these books to your reading list? What else are you planning to read this November?
Uprooted is a wonderful book! I keep meaning to read something by David Mitchell but haven't gotten around to it yet.
ReplyDeleteI am excited by the premise of Uprooted and I've only heard good things! David Mitchell's writing is kind of like marmite. A lot of people think his work is too pretentious but I love how he strings together a series of seemingly simple ideas into something so complex.
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