April 2017 TBR

Jen

I am in Hong Kong! I am still settling in, getting organised and don’t have a routine sorted out yet. As such, I don’t know how much reading I will be able to get done in April. But I do have a few books in mind that I want to read, it’s just a matter of whether I can get to them all or not, especially since some of these books are super chunky.

A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR #1) & A Court of Mist and Fury (ACOTAR #2) by Sarah J. Maas

I love the Throne of Glass series so much and I have been wanting to read Sarah’s other series since the first book came out nearly two years ago!! It took some incredible self restraint but I managed to put off starting this series until closer to the release of the third book. Now I am so excited to marathon the first two books and then be able to dive right into A Court of Wings and Ruin when it comes out at the beginning of May.

Beautiful (#1) & Forever Beautiful (#2) by Ella Bordeaux

I happened to stumble across these books while browsing the iBooks store and I was really feeling the need for a contemporary romance so I decided to give these books a try. I have already started reading the first book and it is a super easy and fast read, which is exactly what I was looking for.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

This is a contemporary that has been so hyped up over the past few months and I have been really wanting to read it since I first heard about it. I will definitely be trying to make this book a priority this month.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

This is an older book that I have had on my radar for the longest time but for some reason I always seemed to prioritise other books over this one. But with the recent movie release, I figure that now would be the perfect time to finally read it.

In the Afterlight (The Darkest Minds #3) & Through the Dark (novella collection) by Alexandra Bracken

The books in this series have featured in so many of my TBRs now and I think that the problem is that I’m not really in the mood for dystopia. But at the same time I really want to read them so I can finally be finished with the series. 
 
Bakuman Volumes 3 & 4 by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata  
This was another manga series that I started before I left Australia and I really wasn't expecting to be able to continue it while in Hong Kong. I visited Hong Kong Central Library (an amazing place that you must visit if you're ever in HK) and to my great astonishment I found the Bakuman series in the English editions! I just grabbed the next two volumes that I needed for now, but I will be slowly making my way through this series.  

Mel 
I started this month in for mood for contemporary! So that's what I chose! Because I have already read one this month, it's technically not on my TBR anymore so I won't list it here. You'll have to see what I read in the wrap-up!

Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon
This the first time reading this book, but I'm enjoying it so far!

Sword Art Online Aincrad by Reki Kawahara
I meant to read this last month because it's a library book, but never got around to it. It's actually overdue now, so I have to read it ASAP!

Fruits Basket Collector's Edition Volume 10 and 11 by Natsuki Takaya
The price dropped on these, so I grabbed them while I could and I can't wait to get stuck into them. I'm so close to finishing this series!

The rest of my TBR is fair game at this point, but I do want to read at least one more book by the end of the month, so here are some possibilities:

As Old As Time by Liz Braswell
This is a twisted version of Beauty and the Beast published by Disney. I did a quick flip through this book after I bought it and I picked out some things that really intrigued me, so I'm really excited for this! Plus, there's some French scattered through, which is one of my favourite languages! I think I'll really enjoy this one.

Defy The Stars by Claudia Gray
I had no idea this book existed until I found it in the store! But it sounds really interesting, so here's a quick synopsis from the back of the book:

Noemi is a seventeen-year-old soldier from the planet Genisis. She can fire weapons and fly a single pilot fighter. Abel is a young mech from Genesis's enemy planet Earth, and the most sophisticated robot warrior ever made. Stranded together on an abandoned ship in space, Abel and Noemi should be sworn enemies. But Noemi's home is in peril and only Abel can help her to save it. Together they embark on a heart-stopping voyage through the galaxy, one that will lead them to question everything they thought they knew about each other - and what it means to be human.

I think for the rest of the month, I'll pick something from my Backburner list. These are books I've started reading and put on hold because other books got in the way or I no longer felt like reading them. It'll be good to go back and finish some of these off, but it'll still depend on what I'm in the mood for and if I have time to get to it.

March 2017 TBR

Jen

March is going to be a very crazy month for me because I will be heading overseas to Hong Kong at the end of the month! As such I can imagine that much of my time will be taken up with packing and organising. That doesn’t leave me much time for reading at all so this is a very hopeful TBR for me.

Never Fade (The Darkest Minds #2), In the Afterlight (#3), Through the Dark (novella collection) by Alexandra Bracken

I did actually start reading Never Fade last month, but I wasn’t really in the mood for it, so I didn’t make it very far before I was distracted by other books. I definitely won’t be taking any physical books overseas with me so I really need to get this one finished. And then read the third book in this trilogy as well as finish up the collection of novellas.

Fullmetal Alchemist (3-in-1 Edition) Volumes 4 - 9 by Hiromu Arakawa & Akira Watanabe

Some very sad news for me, apparently manga isn’t big at all over in H.K. I had been hoping to be able to slowly work my way through this series but that’s not going to happen now since I won’t be able to get access to this series via the library over there. Therefore I need to read these six omnibus editions to finish up this manga series before I leave! It seems like a lot but I’m really hoping that it can happen.

Mel
I'm all about fairytale/Disney retellings and manga this month! Then if I have time, there's a few extra books that I've been wanting to read.

InuYasha 3-in-1 Volumes 1, 2 & 3 by Rumiko Takahashi
Tokyo Ghoul Volume 1 by Sui Ishida
Sword Art Online Aincrad by Reki Kawahara, Tamako Nakamura & abec
A Whole New World by Liz Braswell
Once Upon a Dream by Liz Braswell
Lost in a Book by Jennifer Donnelly
Splintered by AG Howard
Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton

Jen's July Book Haul

Most of the books in this haul are pretty much impulse buys from Big W.  Some of them I've heard great things about, while others I have heard nothing about but sounded very intriguing so I bought them anyway.

The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye
This is the first book in a YA magical fantasy series that I've heard a lot about recently so I grabbed it up when I saw this on the shelves. 

Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes
I absolutely love fairy tale retellings so I decided to pick this one up even though I hadn't heard anything about it.

The Isle of the Lost by Melissa de la Cruz
I originally wasn't going to pick this one up but after hearing a few of my favourite booktubers talk about this book I changed my mind. 

A Whole New World by Liz Braswell
I was interested in this book before it was released, and despite the mostly negative reviews and poor rating on Goodreads, I still really want to read it and decide for myself. I had no idea that there was going to be a different cover for the paperback edition and while I do really like this cover, I still love the hardcover edition as well.

Convergence by Stan Lee
This was a random find at Big W one day. I'd never heard of it before, but if it's going to feature the Chinese Zodiac, then I want to read it!

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library & Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics by Chris Grabenstein
I also stumbled across these two books but I was sold on the synopsis. Fun adventures and problem solving taking place in a library? Definitely intrigued by that. 

The Witch's Kiss by Katharine & Elizabeth Corr
A YA fantasy that I've heard nothing about, but it's about witches so that's pretty much all I needed to know. 

Empire of Dust by Eleanor Herman
This is the sequel to Legacy of Kings which I bought when it first came out. When I saw the sequel in the matching size and edition I knew I had to grab it right away. And I have to say, I love this cover more than the first book!

The King's Curse by Philippa Gregory
This book is part of The Cousin's War series. I have been slowly collecting these in hardcover whenever I spot them in the bargain section of my local QBD store. Now I only need the fourth book and then I'll have the entire series!

Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon
I read this last year and absolutely loved it. I saw it for a cheap price one day and decided just to get it. I am extremely annoyed with that huge round blob (that isn't even a removable sticker) advertising her next book though. So unnecessary and it messes up an otherwise beautiful cover.

The Sky is Everywhere & I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
I have wanted to read these two books since I first heard about them a couple of years ago. But I could never find them in the hardcover edition that I wanted for a decent price. These paperback editions aren't as pretty as the hardcovers, but I do like the simplicity of the covers and the fact that they match! When I saw them cheap in Big W I just went ahead and bought them. 

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
I recently read A Little Princess and absolutely loved it. I have wanted to read The Secret Garden as well so when I came across this beautiful illustrated edition I knew that I had to own it.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory & Matilda by Roald Dahl
These two are my absolute favourite Roald Dahl books. I never actually owned a copy of Matilda before so when I saw it on the shelf I picked it up right away. My copy of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is all old and beat up because I owned it since my childhood so I went ahead and bought a brand new copy in the edition that matches Matilda.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne
It's Harry Potter. Enough said. I have already read this one, and while it did have it's problems, I was still super happy to finally get something new from the Wizarding World.