The Monthly Round-Up: November 2015

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Welcome to The Monthly Round-Up. Join me as I look back on the past month to see which books I’ve read, the reviews I’ve posted, the goals I’ve completed and my all important Book of the Month!

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| Books Read |

Ahh November, the craziest month of the year! Not only was this Sci-Fi Month, hosted by Rinn Reads and Over the Effing Rainbow, but I started a new job! This meant I was unable to post as much as I had wanted to as I hadn’t prepared in advance (tut tut!).  I’m only just getting used to my schedule – or in other words: If I want to post anything at all I need to prepare in advance! – so hopefully December’s posts will be a little more organised.

Onto the overview. I read five books in November, none of which featured on my Sci-Fi Month Introductory Post! But they were all excellent reads and reviews for the unreviewed will be cropping up in the next few weeks. I managed to jump on the Sci-Fi Month Read Along of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (hello Book of the Month!) and I also reached my Goodreads Reading Challenge of 100 books in 2015 after finishing Superposition. Hurrah!

So without further ramblings, here are the books I slowly devoured in November:

| 1. |

Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch

| 2. |

Down Station by Simon Morden

| 3. |

Superposition by David Walton

| 4. |

Falling Sky by Rajan Khanna

| 5. |

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

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The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

by Becky Chambers

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| November Goals |

To finish all the (poor neglected) novels I’m currently reading

1 of 4 | Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch

Status: Incomplete

To hop onto sci-fi month over at Rinn Reads

Status: Completed

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| Goals for 2015 |

Goodreads 2015 Reading Challenge: 100/100 Books Read (100%)

Status: Completed

Dragons and Jetpacks 2015 Reading Challenge: 41/50 Books Read (82%)

Status: +0% during November

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| Reviews Posted |

Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch

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Down Station by Simon Morden

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| Other Posts From November |

The Monthly Round-Up: October 2015

The Month Ahead: November 2015

Sci-Fi Month: November 2015 – Introductory Post

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet – Read Along Week 1

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet – Read Along Week 2

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet – Read Along Week 3

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet – Read Along Week 4

Cover Reveal: Daughter of Blood by Helen Lowe

Tough Travelling: Military Genius

Tough Travelling: Tricksters

Bookish Beats: Inception OST

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Book to Movie Adaptations I’d Love to See

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Thanksgiving Bastards

Teaser Tuesdays: November 03 – NOS4R2 by Joe Hill

Teaser Tuesdays: November 10 – Emma by Jane Austen

‘Sci-Fi’ Teaser Tuesdays: November 24 – Superposition by David Walton

The Month Ahead: November 2015

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In The Month Ahead, I will be rounding up the books I am currently reading, the ones I will start this month, and the ones I intend getting my mitts on… if I haven’t already! I will also be sharing any news about features or posts on Books by Proxy, and anything in the book world that has me all excited!

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| Currently Reading |

Oh no! Two of the above books were on October’s Month Ahead post! How very, very shameful. Poor Emma is such a small book that I lost her in a coat pocket! But after a daring rescue she’ll soon be on the read pile (unlike The Daylight War! Oops!). The end of October and the start of November have seriously reduced my reading time (yet it didn’t stop me picking up Broken Homes before I’d finished the other three) and I didn’t even finish NOS4R2 in time for Halloween! For shame indeed. Will definitely make a concerted effort to not start any more books before finishing these four!

In other news, a while back I put my name down for Sci-Fi Month, hosted by Rinn Reads and Over the Effing Rainbow, and still haven’t hopped on-board that ship! So once I’ve worked on some posts and rifled through my science fiction collection, expect some sci-fi goodness this November.

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| Book Haul |

Oh Gollancz Book Festival, you broke me! Look at all these bad boys. With the exception of The Relic Guild by Edward Cox; Simon Morden’s Down Station (which I received through Netgalley), and A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn (which I won), all these books were acquired there. And Simon Morden was actually at said festival so if I hadn’t already had one waiting at home I probably would have ended up with one then and there. So my book festival acquisitions are: Richard Morgan’s The Steel Remains, Aliette de Bodard’s House of Shattered Wings, Brandon Sanderson’s Shadows of Self, Ben Aaronovitch’s Broken Homes, A.J. Dalton’s Empire of the Saviours, Sarah Pinborough’s The Death House and Al Robertson’s Crashing Heaven. Phew.. just a few books to be getting on with.

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| November Goals |

To finish all the (poor neglected) novels I’m currently reading

Status: 0 of 4 Complete

To hop onto sci-fi month over at Rinn Reads

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Have you picked up any great books lately or read any of those mentioned above? What are your goals for the month ahead? 

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The Monthly Round-Up: October 2015

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Welcome to The Monthly Round-Up. Join me as I look back on the past month to see which books I’ve read, the reviews I’ve posted, the goals I’ve completed and my all important Book of the Month!

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| Books Read |

October was one of those months that’s starts off well – in a bookish kind of way – and then real life happens and it gets far too busy to even pick up a book! Hopefully things will be settling down shortly but I’ll try and keep on top of things in the meantime… which would be far easier if I was remotely organised in the first place!

A highlight of this month was attending the Gollancz Book Festival – which I will get round to blogging about shortly – where I bought some awesome sounding books, saw some amazing authors and got many a book signed! My poor October Goals have suffered though which means, except for the one goal I completed, the rest will roll over to November! I am getting very close to completing my Goodreads 2015 Reading Challenge though so… hurrah! Here is the run-down of my October books:

| 1. |

The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

| 2. |

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

| 3. |

Changes by Jim Butcher

| 4. |

Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan

| 5. |

Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

| 6. |

The Few by Nadia Dalbuono

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Red Rising

by Pierce Brown

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| October Goals |

To read at least two spooky books in time for Halloween

1 of 2  | Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

2 of 2 | Incomplete

Status: Incomplete

To read at least two books from this autumn’s TBR list

1 of 2 | The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

2 of 2 | Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

Status: Completed

September Roll-over: To finish The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett

Status: p. 302 of 808 (37%)

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| Goals for 2015 |

Goodreads 2015 Reading Challenge: 97/100 Books Read (97%)

Status: +6% during October

Dragons and Jetpacks 2015 Reading Challenge: 41/50 Books Read (82%)

Status: +6% during October

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| Reviews Posted |

The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

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The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks

Azincourt by Bernard Cornwell

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The Few by Nadia Dalbuono

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Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

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| Other Posts From October |

The Monthly Round-Up: September 2015

The Month Ahead: October 2015

Cover Reveal: The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson

Cover Reveal: Calamity by Brandon Sanderson

Cover Reveal: The Tiger and the Wolf by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Tough Travelling: Well Travelled Roads – A (Tough) Traveller’s Guide to the Roads of Middle Earth

Tough Travelling: Creative Cursing

Tough Travelling: The Good Thief

Bookish Beats: Assassin’s Creed III

Bookish Beats: Enigma – The Cross of Changes

Bookish Beats: Audiomachine – Phenomena

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Bad Bookish Habits

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Author Duos Which Should Exist

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Wishes for the Book Genie

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Homicidal Inanimate Objects

Teaser Tuesdays: October 06 – The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett

Teaser Tuesdays: October 13 – NOS4R2 by Joe Hill

Teaser Tuesdays: October 20 – Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan

Teaser Tuesdays: October 27 – Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch

Teaser Tuesdays: October 06

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Welcome to Teaser Tuesdays – a weekly feature hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Expect a new teaser every week!

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| Teaser Tuesdays: The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett |

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“His arm was a blur as he batted the spinning blades away as easily as leaves borne on a gentle breeze. They clattered to the ground harmlessly, but the drillmaster and Watcher were already moving to attack him from opposite flanks.”

~ p. 478, The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett

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| Join In |

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Please leave a comment with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your ‘teasers’ in a comment here!

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The Month Ahead: October 2015

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In The Month Ahead, I will be rounding up the books I am currently reading, the ones I will start this month, and the ones I intend getting my mitts on… if I haven’t already! I will also be sharing any news about features or posts on Books by Proxy, and anything in the book world that has me all excited!

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| Currently Reading |

The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett is still there looking forlorn as it rolls over for yet another month. I’m sorry Mr. Brett! I am genuinely a fan of your work and will extract The Daylight War out from under the dust-sheet as soon as I’ve finished this post! This time it’s in the illustrious company of Red Rising by Pierce Brown which has gotten off to an excellent start. I keep hearing nothing but good about it and expect it to be a thoroughly entertaining read. And then there’s The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch; I’m only two hundred pages in and it’s already mind-blowingly good! I might be taking my time with it but this is one book which deserves my full and undivided attention. Seriously, too good! My teeny tiny pocket (and most importantly travel) sized book is Emma by Jane Austen. This is technically a re-read but it’s been so long since I read it that it might as well be a new one! 

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| Book Haul |

A much smaller haul than last month’s (phew)! I can’t have my TBR pile growing even more wild before I’ve made a dent in it! Ilium by Dan Simmons, Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan and NOS4A2 by Joe Hill are the science fiction, fantasy and horror books of the month for Dragons and Jetpacks. I’ve been meaning to read Theft of Swords (or let’s be honest – any Michael J. Sullivan) for a while now so I didn’t need much prompting to get my hands on this novel. And finally! I purchased the next book in my long list of Jim Butcher reads with Changes, the twelfth book in The Dresden Files – so excited! Last but not least there’s Blood and Beauty: The Borgias by Sarah Dunant, a work of historical fiction based on the lives of the Borgia family. Certainly enough to keep me going!

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| October Goals |

To read at least two spooky books in time for Halloween

Status: 0 of 2 Complete

To read at least two books from this autumn’s TBR list

Status: 0 of 2 Complete

September Roll-over: To finish The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett

Status: p. 286 of 808 (35%)

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Have you picked up any great books lately or read any of those mentioned above? What are your goals for the month ahead? 

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Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Book Pairings

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Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday – a weekly feature hosted by those lovely bookworms over at The Broke and the Bookish. Expect a new top ten list every week!

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| Top Ten… Book Pairings |

Oops! This week’s Top Ten is brought to you on a Wednesday. Better late than never! This week I’ve tried to pair together books which are in some way complimentary. It may be an obvious connection – genre or style – or it may just be that I think readers of one will probably like the other! In any case, I hope you enjoy this week’s very late Top Ten and that it leaves you with some good recommendations!

| 1. |

If You Like…

The Lies of Locke Lamora 

Gentleman Bastard Sequence by Scott Lynch

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| 2. |

Try…

Retribution Falls 

Tales of the Ketty Jay by Chris Wooding

| 3. |

If You Like…

Storm Front 

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

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| 4. |

Try…

The Devil You Know

Felix Castor Novels by Mike Carey

| 5. |

If You Like…

Ship of Magic

The Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb

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| 6. |

Try…

The Lion of Senet

Second Sons Trilogy by Jennifer Fallon

| 7. |

If You Like…

The Blade Itself

The First Law by Joe Abercrombie

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| 8. |

Try…

The Painted Man

The Demon Cycle by Peter V. Brett

| 9. |

If You Like…

The Magicians’ Guild

The Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Canavan

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| 10. |

Try…

The Heir of Night

The Wall of Night by Helen Lowe

Have you got any alternative recommendations for the above? If you would like to join in with Top Ten Tuesday, head on over to The Broke and the Bookish and sign up!

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The Month Ahead: September 2015

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In The Month Ahead, I will be rounding up the books I am currently reading, the ones I will start this month, and the ones I intend getting my mitts on… if I haven’t already! I will also be sharing any news about features or posts on Books by Proxy, and anything in the book world that has me all excited!

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| Currently Reading |

Only three books on my currently reading pile! A drastic improvement from last month that’s for sure. Two chunky fantasy novels sit on the top of the pile, The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks and The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett, and one teeny tiny Flipback classic, Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. But oh dear, poor Daylight War hasn’t been opened since January(!!!) and I can’t even give a real reason why… though ‘I love you Arlen Bales’ may have a little to do with it. That must be finished this month before I forget what’s happened!! It’s also a really good book (so far) so I feel quite guilty for having neglected it.

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| Book Haul |

Somehow, despite being quite firm with myself since the last book haul, I found myself acquiring a number of new books! Oops! So new on the bookshelf are The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon, The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt, The Heresy of Dr Dee by Phil Rickman, The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak, Red Rising by Pierce Brown, The Napoleon of Crime by Ben Macintyre, Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay and Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter. I also received The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins through Blogging for Books and Paris at War by David Drake through NetGalley in exchange for honest reviews. That should keep me going for some time!

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| September Goals |

To read at least two books featured in my Top Ten… Complete Series I Still Haven’t Finished with at least one book finishing the series

Status: 0 of 2 Complete

To finish The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett

Status: p. 286 of 808 (35%)

To read at least two classics

Status: 0 of 2 Complete

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| New Features |

August was a month of new features so here’s a round-up of those not previously featured:

The Rapid Review – Can’t be bothered reading a long review? Just want to know whether a book is worth the effort? The Rapid Review hopes to save you some time and tell you (in my humblest of opinions) whether to give it a go. Prepare yourself for an onslaught of rapidity!

Top Ten Tuesday  – Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by those lovely bookworms over at The Broke and the Bookish – Expect a new top ten list every week! [Tuesday]

Teaser Tuesdays – Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly feature hosted by A Daily Rhythm – Expect a new teaser every week! [Tuesday]

Tough Travelling – Join me each Thursday for some Tough Travelling with the Tough Guide, hosted by Fantasy Review Barn. Inspired by ‘The Tough Guide to Fantasyland,‘ we will set out on a quest to track down the biggest tropes and clichés in fantasy fiction. [Thursday]

Bookish Beats – Music, much like literature, has the power to drive your imagination; it can lift the soul and create real emotion.This is Bookish Beats, a feature which will showcase some of the soundtracks which have enriched the worlds I’ve found between the pages. [Sunday]

The Monthly Round-Up – The Monthly Round-Up will look back on the past month to see which books I’ve read, the reviews I’ve posted, the goals I’ve completed and which book I’ve chosen as my all important Book of the Month!

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Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Characters I Didn’t Click With

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Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday – a weekly feature hosted by those lovely bookworms over at The Broke and the Bookish. Expect a new top ten list every week!

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| Top Ten… Characters I Didn’t Click With |

This week’s Top Ten is about those irritating, needy, selfish characters that you really didn’t connect with. Included are novels and series I love, those I hate and those which just have incredibly annoying or frustrating characters. I found this Top Ten quite tough so (thanks to Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies) have included character transformations where I  grew to love a character over the course of the novel and a few supporting/side characters to flesh it out.

| The Irritating Ones |

| 1. |

Jonathon Payne & David Jones

Payne & Jones Series by Chris Kuzneski

I hated everything about this book. The characters were immature and badly written as was the narrative. Never again.

| 2. |

Renna Tanner

The Demon Cycle by Peter V. Brett

I adore this series but if I hear “love you Arlen Bales” one more time…

| 3. |

Bella Swan

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Oh get a grip woman. I can’t see why any man, dog or cannibal would go for you let alone several.

| 4. |

Cornelius Fudge

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

Voldemort is back I tell you! He’s back!

| 5. |

Mr. Collins

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I know we’re not meant to like you but you really are a disgusting creep.

| 6. |

Susan Pevensie

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Narnia or nylons, Susan? Narnia every time!!

| 7. |

Yelena Zaltana

Study Series by Maria V. Snyder

Meh.

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| The Ones I Grew to Love |

| 8. |

Edmund Pevensie

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Oh Edmund, what were you thinking? Turkish Delight isn’t even nice! But you became a good and noble king. Bravo.

| 9. |

Malta Vestrit

The Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb

Selfish and spoiled little sister to one of my favourite characters. Transformation complete.

| 10. |

Marianne Dashwood

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Cruel Marianne! Poor Colonel Brandon. But you saw right in the end.

What about you? Are there any literary characters you found it hard to connect with? If you would like to join in with Top Ten Tuesday, head on over to The Broke and the Bookish and sign up!

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Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Auto-buy Authors

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Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday – a weekly feature hosted by those lovely bookworms over at The Broke and the Bookish. Expect a new top ten list every week!

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| Top Ten… Auto-buy Authors |

This week’s Top Ten focuses on my favourite auto-buy authors – the ones you would buy no matter what they wrote. Much like last Tuesday’s Top Ten… Authors on my Bookshelf, this week will include a lot of fantasy heavyweights. I’ve limited this list to authors who are still with us and publishing novels (as you might expect), and I’ve also tried to slot in a few auto-buys with fewer books out there. So in no particular order:

| 1. |

Brandon Sanderson

What can I say? It’s Brandon Sanderson. End of. 

| 2. |

Joe Abercrombie

This man could write one word on a piece of toilet paper and I would buy it. His books always surpass my expectations and I fully expect them to continue to do so. More please!

| 3. |

Trudi Canavan

Trudi Canavans’s Black Magician Trilogy made me a fan for life. I would buy any book of hers based purely on that trilogy. However, the remainder of her steadily increasing repertoire hasn’t disappointed in the slightest. In fact, they’re just as good as the first.

| 4. |

Karen Maitland

Karen Maitland is the queen of the medieval thriller. She weaves folklore, magic and mystery throughout her narrative to create truly eerie and fantastical tales. Every book is stunningly unique and uniquely stunning. I cannot wait for The Raven’s Head.

| 5. |

Patrick Rothfuss

Ahh Patrick Rothfuss! You wonderful bearded man. Though the Kingkiller Chronicles only has two (and a half) books to date, they have automatically jumped into my favourite books of all time. If you’ve never read any Rothfuss, pick up a copy of The Name of the Wind. This man does not disappoint.

| 6. |

Adrian Tchaikovsky

Though I’ve not made my way through all his novels, I have to include Adrian Tchaikovsky on this list. His Shadows of the Apt series is absolutely fantastic and I have high hopes for Guns of the Dawn and Children of Time. I don’t doubt that I will buy every book he has written.

| 7. |

C.J. Sansom

Sansom is an incredibly eloquent author who always manages to weave a compelling narrative. His Matthew Shardlake books sweep you into the dirt, grime and mayhem of Tudor England, where murders, thefts, executions and betrayals abound in a past made stunningly real. This author can do no wrong.

| 8. |

Peter V. Brett

Brett’s tales of demons and magic; of invasions, battles and bloody vengeance are truly captivating. I’m currently reading The Daylight War, the third in the Demon Cycle, but  own all of his books. I can’t wait to see what else he has up his sleeves.

| 9. |

Scott Lynch

Scott Lynch’s Gentleman Bastard series is incredible. These books are non-stop swashbuckling tales of adventure… or misadventure. The Lies of Locke Lamora has (quite rightly) received a great deal of praise but I loved Red Seas Under Red Skies just as much. I fully expect to be dazzled by the next in line.

| 10. |

J.K. Rowling

And of course! J.K. Rowling. Just because.

What about you? Which authors are on your auto-buy list? If you would like to join in with Top Ten Tuesday, head on over to The Broke and the Bookish and sign up!

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