Rounding up the next few books that made the shortlist to read this fall/winter. I love sharing these TBR, to be read, posts because there’s beauty in the optimism and hopefulness the covers and short summaries bring. For my thoughts on books I’ve already read, see My Latest Reads (Book Review) post. I haven’t read any of the following books yet (hence TBR), but I wanted to share a few books that caught my eye and tickled my fancy. Here are the next five reads on my bookshelf:
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Feyre’s survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator, and killing something so precious comes at a price …
Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jeweled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre’s presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.
So, according to the booktube and booktwitter communities, ACOTAR has done for faeries what Twilight did for Vampires. Between that tidbit and the strong feelings circulating about the series in general, I decided to take the plunge. It is essentially a Beauty and the Beast retelling with a beast, a curse, a girl, and the slight problem of being held captive in exchange for a transgression… I’m currently reading this book (and occasionally checking in on the ACOTAR hashtag on Twitter!) So far it looks like the second book in the series may make a future TBR list post – I’ve heard it’s even better than the first one.
Add this to your Goodreads Want To Read list now!
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice” of Kinnakee, Kansas. She survived—and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, the Kill Club—a secret secret society obsessed with notorious crimes—locates Libby and pumps her for details. They hope to discover proof that may free Ben. Libby hopes to turn a profit off her tragic history: She’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club—for a fee. As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started—on the run from a killer.
Gillian Flynn won me (and possibly the world) over with Gone Girl so I’m willing to give almost anything she writes a try. To be honest, I didn’t even read the synopsis before purchasing this one – THAT much confidence in Gillian Flynn! Luckily, it has all the makings of a brittny-approved thriller – secret society, a cold case waiting to be solved, and a cross-country chase! Fingers crossed this one lives up to the Gillian Flynn name!
Add this to your Goodreads Want To Read list now!
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meet Dracula in this Southern-flavored supernatural thriller set in the ’90s about a women’s book club that must protect its suburban community from a mysterious and handsome stranger who turns out to be a blood-sucking fiend.
The title and styling look campy and mildly spooky so I’m all about it – plus the cover is beyond adorable! It’s categorized as a horror but from the title, synopsis, and cover I believe it lends a bit towards Desperate Housewives meets 90’s Buffy. A mystery/horror trip to the 90s sounds like the perfect escape from 2020.
Add this to your Goodreads Want To Read list now!
Beach Read by Emily Henry
Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.
They’re polar opposites.
In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block.
DUN DUN DUN… Sliding this book in between my 3 other thiller/horror/murder mystery books. I need a fun, contemporary romance to break up the suspense. A little rivals-to-lovers trope to really purge the emotions, ya know? Did anyone else notice both main characters have names related to months? unrelated but it’ll drove me wild if it’s not mentioned at least once!
Add this to your Goodreads Want To Read list now!
The 7-1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
Aiden Bishop knows the rules. Evelyn Hardcastle will die every day until he can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest at Blackheath Manor. And some of his hosts are more helpful than others.
A little Groundhog’s Day whodunnit? Somebody call Hercule Poirot because we are about to SOLVE this mystery (okay maybe it’s a better job for Scooby and the gang). Love love love mystery/detective/whodunnit-type stories because they are such quick reads and I love guessing the entire way through. I think the “wakes up in a new body every day” twist is super interesting, so I’m curious to see how it’s addressed within the plot.
Add this to your Goodreads Want To Read list now!
Add to your TBR Stack:
What books are next on your to-be-read list?