Top Ten Tuesday can be found at That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born out of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
This is my first time trying a book tag – I thought Autumn TBR gave the perfect chance to see what everyone else will be reading in the next few months.
Because I’m (mostly) optimistic, I’ll be starting with the ‘should reads’ and moving on progressively to the fun ones.
Literary 📚
1. Autumn by Ali Smith 🍁
I have somehow found myself reading Smith’s seasonal quartet out of order – I just finished Winter while on an incredibly sunny holiday in Italy. I want to get this one right.
Winter… was a mixed read for me. I think Ali Smith does some things very very well – most clearly theme and wordplay. But other elements, like pace and even to a degree character-building, risk getting lost in that focus.
Still, a lot of reviewers on Goodreads preferred Autumn to its sequel, so I’m hopeful. (Also, I heard Ali Smith talk in Cambridge once and she was very interesting & down-to-earth so the author is very much not dead in my book selection choices.)
Excitement level: a measly 😻😻 / 5 – and most of that’s the cover.
2. the witch doesn’t burn in this one by Amanda Lovelace
In a bid to read more poetry, I brought this box set of collected Faber titles on holiday. The tiny poetry collections make surprisingly good holiday reads. You can quickly decide whether you enjoy each poet – Wendy Cope’s first collection was particularly good fun. I also read Amanda Lovelace’s the princess saves herself in this one – a quick read, enjoyable yet emotional – so I might try her follow-up. I’m a poetry novice though so I’m up for any recommendations.
Excitement level: 😻😻😻 / 5
3. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (reluctantly)
I used to be a huge fan of Atwood. Recently she’s been getting so much hype that its off-putting – the way when you hear a song ridiculously often, in shops, on the radio, among friends, you just want to get away from it? Plus her last release, Hag-Seed, disappointed me. I’ll probably end up reading Testaments – that’s why it’s on here – but I’ll try to borrow it from a friend rather than buy firsthand.
Excitement level: 🤷♀️ WHO KNOWS MARGARET, WHO KNOWS
Sci-fi & Fantasy 🔮⚔️🚀
4. To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
Ah at last a Becky Chambers book with a manageable title! Moving on to more fun reads here, this is likely the first I’ll dive into. My friend Sarah adores Becky Chambers. I found the rag-tag space adventure ensemble vibe of her trilogy, paired with excellent characters, lots of fun. It was like Firefly!
(Yes, there’s slightly less humour, but there’s world-building! And gay!)
This novella is set in an entirely different universe but I’m hopeful some of the same elements will shine through. Plus, Becky Chambers’ short story linked to on her website is a delight – you can read it here.
Excitement level: 😻😻😻😻😻 / 5
5. The Hod King by Josiah Bancroft
This novel is currently in the post on a verrry slow delivery.
*Gah*
The Hod King is the third in what I think will become a quadropoly (not a word?). Book one, Senlin Ascends, was such an unusual take on the fantasy genre. You can tell it was originally self-published in the best way – because it’s different from everything else on my book shelves, not because it’s in any way substandard.
What makes me enjoy them so much? I love how silly and pretentious the main protagonist Senlin is – I love the fact he is clearly written for us to partly laugh at him. Plus, Josiah Bancroft originally wanted to be a poet and you can tell it in how he builds the language. The real reason to dive into these books though is the world-building. The sequel unusually lived up to the promises of the first novel, so I’m excited for the third.
Excitement level: 😻😻😻😻😻 / 5
6. Sealed by Naomi Booth
I did a book swap with my friend Sarah: I gave her Embers of War, which I actually got signed by Gareth Powell at Edinburgh’s fantasy festival. She passed over Sealed, which she gave a 5* star review on Goodreads. The cover is fab, but I’m not that inspired by the premise yet. I’m not a huge fan of near-future dystopic / plague-ridden world’s generally. But here’s a positive review by Shoreline of Infinity if you are intrigued.
Excitement level: 😻😻 / 5 (Sorry Sarah)
Young Adult
7. Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell
aaaaaaaahhh
It’s about Deja and Josiah’s last season together at the “best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world.” It looks so incredibly sweet.
It looks like it is the book equivalent to a pumpkin spice chai tea. So yeah, I’m unashamedly going to read this one.
Urban Fantasy/ Romance ❣
8. Something by Courtney Milan.
I don’t really read romances. I usually attempt them and then promptly DNF. But I read and enjoyed Trade Me a year ago and sped through The Duchess War in one evening last week.
So if you have any Courtney Milan recommendations, let me know!
9. Ilona Andrews & Tamora Pierce, the entire works of…
I always do kinda high-and-mighty TBR lists in my head, but the truth is I will probably try out a bunch of new urban fantasy novels when I am feeling that vibe, then get impatient with them, and instead reread a bunch of old favourites. Ilona Andrew is actually releasing a new book this fall, which leads me to my final pick…
10. Iron and Magic 2 (title tbc) by Ilona Andrews
The reason this isn’t higher up is because Iron and Magic was the first Ilona Andrews book that I didn’t love. I became a little frustrated towards the end of the Kate Daniels series but those books were still really enjoyable. Iron and Magic though? It didn’t work for me. I’ll read the sequel anyway of course – I have a lot of faith in the authors (can you tell I love Ilona Andrews?).
Plus – a spark of hope! When they were writing Iron and Magic they were juggling four series at once – Kate Daniels, the Innkeeper Chronicles, Hidden Legacy and Iron and Magic. Hopefully now it’s narrowed down to (as far as I know) Iron and Magic plus the Hidden Legacy series. Hopefully they’ll be able to concentrate on making this one a win.
Excitement level: let’s give it a tentative 😍😍😍 / 5
What are you planning to read this Autumn? Are there any books you don’t plan to read but know you secretly will? Let me know in the comments below!
Critically Consumed 