My Auto-Buy Authors
Posted: August 18, 2015 Filed under: On Books | Tags: TBR, top ten tuesday Leave a comment
I have a LOT of auto-buy authors — you know, those writers whose books you must own, no matter what. And although this week’s Top Ten Tuesday (an awesome bookish list-making meme) asks me to list ten, that’s in no way possible. The size of this list is a pretty clear indicator of why my TBR pile is so huge. Just so you know.
Also, these are in no particular order.
Lauren K. McKellar Stacey Nash K. A. Last
Jay Kristoff Paula Weston Chuck Wendig
Delilah S. Dawson Kevin Hearne Jacqueline Carey
Marissa Meyer Kim Harrison A. G. Howard
And there are other authors whose books I will own one day, but guilt over the current size of my TBR pile is staying my hand … for now. Sometimes the only difference between the two piles is the fact that these guys have a huger backlist or I’ve just discovered them, and I need to nibble away at it. (I’m trying to teach myself restraint, you guys!)
Maggie Stiefvater Kasie West Melissa Keil
Terry Pratchett Dahlia Adler Holly Black
John Green Neil Gaiman J. K. Rowling
Cassandra Clare Kate Forsyth
Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
Who are your auto-buy authors? Do we have any in common? 🙂
The Last Six Books I Got my Grubby Mitts On
Posted: July 14, 2015 Filed under: On Books | Tags: Chuck Wendig, colouring, TBR, top ten tuesday Leave a comment
It’s been a while since I did a Top Ten Tuesday, and since the last one I’ve changed my blog’s colour scheme. So I decided to recolour the logo to suit. I hope that’s okay, Broke and Bookish folks!
Just a reminder of what this is — Top Ten Tuesday is a bookish blog hop where book nerds get to blog about books! In lists! It’s totally awesome. 🙂 This week’s theme is “Last Ten Books That Came Into My Possession (bought, library, review copies)”. With one exception, I bought these books … because I have a credit card and poor impulse control. But I’m only listing six books, because I can’t remember which ones were seven through ten and I’d hate to mislead you, dear reader.
One: Secret Garden by Johanna Basford
Okay, this one’s a colouring book, not a novel, but the question wasn’t specific. I actually bought it for a friend’s birthday, and then discovered she’d just ordered herself a copy. (Why do people do that?!) So I decided to keep it for myself. I’ve been home sick this last week, and I’ve spent a lot of time colouring. Lots of fun!
Two: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
The Book Depository sent me an email a few weeks ago, promoting some books they had on sale. I’ve been curious about this series, so I figured, why not? (I have a problem; I know!)
Three: Hit by Delilah S. Dawson
Bought it, read it, loved it. I also adore that cover. It’s a credit card with a very sensible piece of advice in the byline: “always read the fine print”.
Four & five: Atlanta Burns and Under the Empyrean Sky by Chuck Wendig
I think I bought these on the same order as Throne of Glass (and they weren’t on sale … shh). I haven’t had a chance to read them yet, but based on the Wendig books I have read, I have no doubt that photographing them with a Tigger pillow is just about the most inappropriate combination ever. But I like the way he brings out the colours, so nyah!
Why do I own a Tigger pillow? It was a Christmas present from my then-four-year-old son.
Six: Keir by Pippa Jay
The new copy of Keir is the one on the left; I already owned the one on the right. It was recently re-released with a new, even more gorgeous cover, and while I was chatting to Pippa on Twitter I expressed a little bit of cover envy. Her response was to send me a copy of the new edition as well. Isn’t she the best? (Seriously, go follow her. And if you like sci-fi romance, read her books too!)
So those are my six. Have you read/coloured any of them? And what’s the most recent book you acquired? Let me know in the comments!
Six 2015 releases I need to own right now (because my TBR pile isn’t tall enough already)
Posted: June 16, 2015 Filed under: On Books | Tags: top ten tuesday Leave a comment
I missed last week’s Top Ten Tuesday on 2015 releases because I was in my writing cave, but I really kinda wanted to write a post about it. So I’m doing it this week BECAUSE THIS IS MY BLOG SO NYAH!
There are a few books in the works that I want to add but I’m not 100% sure about release dates for some of them, or they don’t have covers yet (or both!), so I haven’t included them here.
The Aussie Authors
(Also, these covers are all earth tones — what’s up with that?)
Burn (The Rephaim #4) by Paula Weston (June)
How to Save a Life by Lauren McKellar (July)
Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman (October)
The Rest of the World
(Brought to you by shades of blue…)
You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day (August)
Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer (November)
Untamed (Splintered 3.5) by A. G. Howard (December)
I only discovered about the Felicia Day memoir and Untamed by reading Paper Fury’s Top Ten Tuesday post last week, which I’m pretty sure is why I either should or should not read posts like these. I guess it depends on your thoughts on me owning more books than I could read in a year… (I could totally read them all in a year if someone would keep me in the manner to which I would like to become accustomed, of course!)
Now’s your chance to make it worse! What books am I missing?
Top Ten Books I’d Love to See as Movies or TV Shows
Posted: June 2, 2015 Filed under: On Books | Tags: top ten tuesday Leave a comment
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday (an awesome bookish blog hop brought to you by the Broke and the Bookish) is “Top Ten Books I’d Love To See As Movies/TV Shows”. This is a bit of a fraught subject, because I’d be afraid that any adaptation would be done poorly, like Eragon was. But for the purposes of this list I’m going to pretend that it will, of course, be perfect: able to stay true to the books without bogging us down in details that don’t necessarily work on screen.
I’ve broken these out into separate lists for TV and movies, just so that any big producers browsing my blog for ideas can skip to the format they are after.
You’re welcome. 😉
TV recommendations
The Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey is a book series I’ve wanted to see made into a TV show for decades. (YES I AM OLD SHUT UP.) And these days they could do such a beautiful job of animating the dragons. I’m smiling just imagining it. And I’d jump at the chance to fall in love with Masterharper Robinton in the flesh … so to speak.
Jacqueline Carey’s Terre d’Ange books are set across three trilogies but if I had to pick just one, it’d be the first, Phedre’s Trilogy. These books contain some fairly provocative content (BDSM is a feature), and a TV show based on them would need to be produced by HBO or similar. We’re definitely not talking Disney, anyway!
The Lotus War trilogy by Jay Kristoff would also have to be produced by HBO, I think — not so much because of the sex (what there is of that is quite tame) but because of the horror aspect. Kristoff’s world is polluted and corrupt, almost beyond recognition, and it’d be a pity to see that sugar-coated.
The Witches of Eileanan series by Kate Forsyth is a “through the portal” fantasy set generations after the initial crossing to the fantasy world; the culture is inspired by the Scottish Celts, but the world is entirely fantastic. The magic element is based on witchcraft, which I love, and the writer is Australian. Yippee!
The Last Herald-Mage trilogy by Mercedes Lackey is a bit like the Jacqueline Carey series I recommended, in that it’s one trilogy that is part of a much greater body of work about the fantasy setting. Just imagine all the potential for spinoffs. Unlike Terre d’Ange, though, there isn’t any bondage. (The main couple are homosexual, which I suppose some might find controversial, but I’d love to see some diverse fantasy on TV!)
Movie recommendations
The Rephaim series by Paula Weston isn’t yet complete — I’m dying for the final book in the series, Burn, which is due out next month. But it’d make a great, action-packed series of movies with demons, half-angels and a compelling “what the hell is going on” (pun totally intended) mystery that spans the entire series.
Santa Olivia, also by Jacqueline Carey, would make a great standalone movie. (There is a sequel to this book but I didn’t love it as much.) It’s set in an isolated town on the border between Mexico and Texas — isolated in the sense that it has been quarantined for decades after a viral outbreak. It has a bi main character and genetically engineered werewolves. What’s not to love?
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black would be another one that would make a great standalone movie. It’s an urban fantasy where the premise is vampires (with a touch of zombie-ish behaviour), but before you roll your eyes, it’s done in a new and interesting way that I really enjoyed.
The Splintered trilogy by A. G. Howard is a surreal young adult inspired by Alice in Wonderland. Howard’s visually spectacular style would translate beautifully to the screen—but this would be more of a Tim Burton-style movie, not something shiny and Disney-ish. (Sorry to hack out on Disney twice in one post; they are good at what they do, but my favourites aren’t rated G.)
It’s totally shameless to add this one, but of course I think my Isla’s Inheritance trilogy would make a fabulous young adult movie series. The only thing I’m not sure about would be how they’d handle Isla’s ability to see emotions as auras. But I have faith that a clever director would come up with a way.
Have your people call me people, yeah? 😉
Seriously, what books would you love to see on the big or little screen?
My Top Ten Winter Reads
Posted: May 26, 2015 Filed under: On Books | Tags: TBR, top ten tuesday 5 Comments
Before I start, a small plug: this week you can find me over at Jennifer Anderson’s blog, where I’m talking about J.K. Rowling, surviving Australian wildlife, and my love of urban fantasy. Drop by and say hello!
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday (a bookish blog hop organised by the Broke and the Bookish) is “Ten Books I Plan To Have In My Beach Bag This Summer”. Of course, it’s the last month of autumn here and thanks, tBatB, for the reminder of beaches when there’s already frost on the ground! *sob*
Still, since summer is so far away and I can barely plan three months ahead, here are the books I’ve got on my TBR pile as winter reads. These are in no particular order, because I am fickle!
I’ve also been reading quite slowly lately, distracted by book releases, edits, and drafting my latest WIP. So the astute will notice that six of these ten books were on my autumn TBR as well.
Awkward.
From top to bottom:
Darkness Unbound by Keri Arthur
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Fairytales for Wilde Girls by Allyse Near
The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller
Hit by Delilah S. Dawson
The Dream Hunter by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Autumn Bones by Jacqueline Carey
The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
Allegiant by Veronica Roth
Every Breath by Ellie Marnie
Three of the ten are by Australian women writers I’ve never tried before; three are by writers people have raved about to me; and the rest are by authors whose other works I love and who I’m keen to read more by.
It’s going to be a good winter.
What are the books on your TBR for the next three months, whatever the season?
PS. I haven’t included them because photos of my iPhone aren’t that sexy, but I’ve been listening to Kim Harrison’s The Hollows series on audiobook on my commute. I can guarantee I’ll get through at least three more of those over winter. 🙂
Ten Authors I’d Love to Have Dinner With
Posted: May 12, 2015 Filed under: On Books | Tags: Chuck Wendig, delilah s. dawson, top ten tuesday 4 Comments
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is “Ten Authors I REALLY Want To Meet”. I debated whether to do this one or not, because I already did a top five on the same subject about a year ago. But I figured I’d do an expanded version. In my fantasy scenario, we’re all having dinner somewhere fabulous (where I don’t have to cook!).
In no particular order, Stacey Nash, Lauren K. McKellar and Kim Last. These three ladies are some of my fellow Aussie Owned and Read bloggers, and they’re always so ready to provide advice, cheers and a shoulder to cry on or a hand to hold when required. They’re also all super talented, and the idea of being able to sit down with them and brainstorm plot ideas makes me giddy with delight.
J. K. Rowling. The world of Harry Potter is so clever and complex, and I’d love to engage with someone who can achieve such an epic level of world-building. Also, she was a single mother when she wrote it, and we could bond over that. We’d share parenting advice and give each other manicures or whatever it is that bonding single mothers do.
Stephen King. I’d probably be too terrified to talk to him, because — whatever you think of genre fiction in general and horror specifically — this man is a genius. (For the record, I love horror but am now scared of clowns. Seriously.) Maybe I could bask in his reflected glory. If I did speak, I’d have to be careful not to utter any adverbs.
Chuck Wendig. As well as being an excellent writer, he seems to be a stand up bloke, and I’d like to buy him a beer or something. He’s also funny. I like a man that can make me laugh and impart excellent writing advice at the same time.
Delilah S. Dawson. As well as writing kick-ass steampunk fantasy romance and a Southern gothic that will scare you witless. Delilah is funny too, and a geek. She’s such a geek she writes geekrotica, WHICH IS TOTALLY HOT YES I MAY HAVE READ IT SHUT UP! (The safe word is “wookiee”.)
Mercedes Lackey. Misty wrote one of my go-to favourite fantasy reads — the Last Herald-Mage trilogy is comfort food for my brain. I love some of her books more than others (I blogged about that during last week’s Top Ten Tuesday), but given she’s released over 100 novels, that is inevitable. I’d love to talk to her about her approach to writing — how she does it.
Honourable mentions
Unfortunately, unless I get a TARDIS, these folks are no longer available. 😦
Anne McCaffrey. Anne was my first writing love, and her Pern books are the first fantasy world I desperately wanted to live in.
Douglas Adams. Adams was not only a hilarious writer but a staunch conservationist and lover of science.
Who would you have to dinner?
Seven Books on My TBR That I Will Probably Never Read
Posted: May 5, 2015 Filed under: On Books | Tags: TBR, top ten tuesday 6 Comments
Before I start, just a reminder that I am giving away a paperback of Isla’s Inheritance to celebrate the release of the third book in the series, Melpomene’s Daughter. Get you some!
I haven’t done a Top Ten Tuesday in a while, and I kinda missed it. So even though it’s not Tuesday here for much longer, I’m jumping on this bandwagon! Yeah!
This weeks theme is “Ten Books I Will Probably Never Read”. I’ve decided to copy Emily Mead and limit it to books on my TBR, because let’s face it, there are a TON of books I’ll never read, and I wouldn’t even know where to start!
None of these books would’ve made it onto my TBR in the first place if I hadn’t thought they were worthwhile. I’ve also done a couple of TBR culls (driven by moving house), and these ones survived the cut. But there are almost 100 books in that pile, both paper and digital, which means lots of stories clamouring for my attention.
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. I started this one, but life-stealing plots give me the heebie jeebies. And this has one. I should probably get over it — because Neil Gaiman — but I’m not sure I ever will.
Cardinal Sin by Allison Brennan. I bought this and the first book in the Seven Deadly Sins series at the same time, and although the first carried me along (enough so I haven’t given both of them away), I remember being a little put out at the depiction of witches as universally evil. Now it’s been so long I’d have to start from scratch, because I’ve forgotten almost everything.
Passion by Lauren Kate. This book falls into the same category as the previous one — I liked the first book in the series, Fallen, but I didn’t love it. In this case I was disappointed that all the action happened right at the end of the book. It did sorta make me want to know what happens next, but I also think maybe I’m not cut out for paranormal romance.
The Spider Goddess by Tara Moss. This is yet another second book in a series where the first didn’t grab me as much as I liked. (From memory, I found the plot a little transparent? It was years ago, though, so I may be thinking of something else!) Hmm, I’m starting to notice a theme here!
Diplomacy of Wolves by Holly Lisle. I picked this up on impulse years ago. I like Holly Lisle’s books, but I’ve gone a bit off fantasy lately in favour of its urban cousin. I’m sure I’ll love this if/when I read it, but… *shrug*
Mary Queen of Scots and the Isles by Margaret George. I read Margaret George’s historical fiction on Henry VIII and really enjoyed it, but I’m not sure I have the attention for historical fiction these days. Sad but true!
The Snow Queen by Mercedes Lackey. I used to love Mercedes Lackey’s books, and I was excited when I read the first book in the Five Hundred Kingdoms series. I bought a bunch of the books, but the second and third ones didn’t do it for me. This is the fourth in the series, and I just can’t face the heartbreak if I don’t like it either. (I also have the next two, The Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Werewolf, sitting there, but I decided not to name and shame the series three times.)
What books are on your TBR that you don’t think you’ll ever get to? Or are there books in my little stack of shame that you think I should give a chance?
Ten recent adds to my already teetering TBR pile
Posted: March 31, 2015 Filed under: On Books | Tags: TBR, top ten tuesday 7 Comments
Top Ten Tuesday is a meme where I get to make lists. Lists about books. It’s an anal-retentive book nerd’s Best Day Ever. And it happens every week! This week’s theme is “Ten Books You Recently Added To Your To-Be-Read List”. I’ve gone with my Goodreads TBR rather than the crazy pile of paper sitting to my right (trust me), because it’s easy to sort through.
I picked these two up on sale at my local bookshop. I’ve heard good things about Eleanor & Park, and I love John Green’s dialogue so I’m keen to read Paper Towns too.
I love Chuck Wendig’s books, and I’m interested in seeing how his style translates to YA. And I’ve read a few glowing reveiws about The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. That title alone would be enough to catch my eye! o.O
Someone told me about Scarlet in the Snow when I was looking for Australian fairytale retellings for my Australian Women Writers challenge for this year. And I was given an e-ARC of Storm in a Teacup for being part of a group that helped Emmie out of a bind last year — it’s come out now, and I’m ashamed I haven’t read the ARC yet. I’ll get there.
![Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000026_00026]](https://cassandrapage.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/fragile-creatures.jpg?w=186&h=300)
I’ve wanted to read Becomming Jinn since Lori and I were in the same pitching contest years ago. And I discovered Cornerstone, Death Whispers and Fragile Creatures via the e-ARC review I did of Losing It — each of those authors had a short story in the compilation, and I loved their stuff enough to add the books to my TBR pile. (Which is, of course, what a good anthology is all about!)
Now I just need to find time to read them all! 🙂
What is the last book you added to your TBR pile?
Top Ten Tuesday: Sentimental Favourites
Posted: March 24, 2015 Filed under: On Books | Tags: top ten tuesday 2 Comments
As you can see, Anne McCaffrey featured prominently. I couldn’t choose just one of her books. And in every instance bar one (The Stone Cage, which is a Rapunzel retelling), the book I’ve listed is the first in the series. So this isn’t a list of ten so much as a list of sixty or seventy. There are forty-odd books in the Discworld series alone.
And if you don’t think I cried when Terry Pratchett, Anne McCaffrey and Douglas Adams died, you’re crazy. Those three writers — as well as Stephen King and Mercedes Lackey — got me through the hell that was high school. I hope they’re all dining at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, having bubbly pies and something dodgy from an Ankh-Morpork pie seller.
* If you’re not dairy intolerant and allergic to peanuts.
My Autumn TBR list
Posted: March 17, 2015 Filed under: On Books | Tags: TBR, top ten tuesday 3 Comments
I haven’t done Top Ten Tuesday for a while, mostly due to my epic lack of forward planning. As it is, it’s almost 8.30pm on Tuesday here and I’m just sitting down to draft this post. Go, team me!
This week’s theme is: “Top Ten Books On My Spring TBR List”. But it’s autumn here. So autumn.
These books are in no particular order, because I’m fickle like that. I’ve got a selection of young adult, new adult and adult, and contemporary, mystery, urban fantasy, and dystopian. (They are all by women though. Interesting.)
I’m looking forward to all of these, although I have heard mixed things about Allegiant. But I really should find out for myself — and besides, a friend loaned me the book and I reeeeeeallly have to read and return it. She’s holding two of my Harry Potter books hostage for its safe return! :O
Cassandra Page 