TTT – Books on my TBR I’m avoiding reading.

Hey Bibliofriends!

Top Ten Tuesday was so easy for me this week! Having such a mammoth TBR list also helps. If you don’t already know, TTT is a weekly, list-themed book prompt hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. My summer holiday project was to try and finish some of the series that I had already started but hadn’t got around to finishing. I managed to tick off quite a few but there are still a couple left that I have to get through before I want to begin any new ones. Additionally, by finishing some of the more hyped book series earlier this year (Caraval, Throne of Glass and Illuminae), I don’t think I’m entirely ready to put my little bookish heart out there again whilst it is still in recovery mode from these epic endings! Therefore my entire TTT list this week is compiled around the books on my TBR that I’m avoiding as I’m not ready to start a new series yet!


Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
Nocturna by Maya Motayne
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Odeyemi
We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal
Skyward by Brandon Sanderson
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
The Beholder by Anna Bright


There we go – ten series which are on my TBR, sat right here next to me as I type…that I am actively avoiding because I’m not ready to start a new series yet. 🙈
Which one do you think I should start with when I finally get around to it? Have you read any of these? What books from your TBR are you side-eyeing and avoiding too? As always drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

TTT – Books outside my comfort zone I actually enjoyed

Hey Bibliofriends!

Top Ten Tuesday this week is all about the books we actually enjoyed which were outside of our comfort zones. If you don’t already know, TTT is a weekly, list-themed book prompt hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Looking back through my shelves to try and compile this list, it became pretty clear that I don’t tend to read outside of my comfort zone an awful lot nowadays. I wonder if this is one of the contributing reasons the infamous ‘reading slump’ seems to take hold every now and again. Most of my list is made up of compulsory books from reading lists of my English Literature High School and Degree Courses. Perhaps it should be my 2020 resolution to read more widely and get my head out of the Sci-Fi and Fantasy clouds for a while!


The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith – I don’t normally tend to read crime fiction or detective novels that much, despite one of my English Literature degree modules being crime fiction 😂. If I’m being perfectly honest, the only reason I picked this up in the first place was because it was J.K. Rowling who wrote it, however I soon grew to love the characters and the story that she wove together and now I am a massive fan of this series.

Walking Home: My Family and Other Rambles by Clare Balding – I was gifted this book by one of my students after telling them that I really wanted to read the new Clare Balding book. They bought me this for Christmas and I didn’t have the heart to tell them that the book I actually meant was her children’s book The Racehorse Who Wouldn’t Gallop. Nevertheless, I read it over that holiday and absolutely loved it. The way she merged discussions about walking routes, her experiences with various different groups of people alongside how walking is an outlet/escape from real life was actually quite inspiring and I enjoyed reading it a lot more than I expected to.

The Secret History of the World by Jonathan Black – This book has quite a lot of pages and the font is so tiny that I almost never wanted to put the effort into reading it. At times, all of the esoteric and theological references were a little heavy going too. But when I finally did get into it, it was actually more intriguing and interesting than I’d originally given it credit for.

All My Sons by Arthur Miller – I don’t tend to read playscripts out of choice, other than the Shakespeare plays or Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (which I saw for the first time last month 🙌), but after reading this once upon a time as part of my school coursework I found that it is actually quite a powerful piece of writing with some really memorable and compelling quotes.

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks – I can’t even remember how or why I read this book. All I do remember is that it was a type of storytelling and subject matter that I hadn’t come across before and it was weirdly fascinating to read.

Once in a House on Fire by Andrea Ashworth – This was suggested to me by one of my teachers for a piece of English coursework I was writing. Memoirs are also not really a genre I would typically chose to read, unless it’s either a person or subject matter which really interests me. Ashworth’s writing was so poignant and gripping that I couldn’t put it down and still have my copy on my bookshelf to this day.

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks – Yet another one from the days of High School English Literature classes! I don’t read books set in war history from our time but Faulk’s tale moved me to tears.

The Girls by Lori Lansens – When I relocated, this was the first book which I bought from my local bookshop. It is a story about two conjoined twins and how they are on the verge of becoming the oldest living conjoined twins in history. It’s not something I’d normally buy but it was a really endearing tale.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck – This book always gives me fond memories of my school days. It’s one of those American classics that I don’t normally go to but I really enjoyed reading it.

Songs of Innocence and of Experience by William Blake – I like reading poetry but sometimes I find it difficult to become a fan of a poet’s whole works. William Blake was the first poet that made me want to read his entire collection. The Songs of Innocence and of Experience are famous for so many lines and references and they definitely contain some of my favourite poems of all time.


Have you read any of these? What books would make it onto your own TTT list this week? As always drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

Hey Bibliofriends!

Happy 1st September! Whilst my inner child is happily in London at Platform 9¾ to get to Hogwarts, the real me is sat at a laptop screen wondering how on earth September is happening already?!

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BREAKING NEWS – I have actually got rid of some books! 😱 Getting rid of books either by donating them or selling them has been one of those ‘never have I ever’ things for me, but considering all of the books I’ve been buying recently, the fact that my floorboards are now actually bending underneath the sheer weight of all of my tomes, and that I barely have time to read a majority of them… I figured it was finally time to part with some of my lesser-loved reads that I know I’ll probably never pick up again. To be honest, I can’t even remember what I’ve parted with – I just know that they have found their way to a community centre where hopefully others will find some enjoyment in them. How do you decide what to part with and what to keep? Do you donate or sell? Any tips would be gratefully received to try and cure my hoarding affliction!

With that all sorted, it gave me a little more room to concentrate on the epic list that forms the ‘never-ending TBR pile’to see which books I could actually start ticking off my list. In case you missed my summer reads, you can shimmy on over to see which series I’ve finally finished reading here. According to Goodreads, the Reading Challenge to read 50 books by then end of 2019 is ‘on track’, which is hilarious considering the amount of time I’ve actually given to reading these past few months!


September’s TBR focus is still trying to complete a few more outstanding series before I start to get cracking on some of the newer ones.

This month I’m aiming to read:
Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix by Julie C. Dao – This is the conclusion to Forest of a Thousand Lanterns which was one of the first books I ever reviewed on this site. I loved the atmosphere of this Evil Queen retelling that I have been desperate to finally start it the sequel.

Song of Sorrow by Melinda Salisbury – After receiving State of Sorrow in a previous Fairyloot box last year and then coming across a gorgeous edition of Song of Sorrow complete with fancy stencilled edges, it was a dead cert that I’d have to be completing this series.

If I have time:
Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson – As this is a standalone it’s been allowed to be bumped up the TBR list! 😂 I’ve heard some wonderful things about it on Bookstagram and the magical library may be just the escape I need from teaching young muggles this month!


What are you all reading this month? Are you on track to reach your reading goal? Is your inner child also on board the Hogwarts Express? As always drop me a comment to chat!

T xx