Originally a forward looking list of books coming out in January, it is now an updated list with interview and/or review links.
Six for Sunday is hosted by A Little but A Lot and this week’s theme is books to snuggle with and I think most people are doing books they’ve already read (except one person has Queen of Nothing already – what.ever. and included it). However, since I’ve never done Six for Sunday before (I can’t seem to decide what I want Sunday to look like anymore) and don’t know if I will do it again or from time to time, or what… I thought I would think about six books coming up that I’m looking forward to not reading by the fireplace I have.
I know you are already made of questions. Like…
- Why on earth would you get an apartment with a fireplace if you weren’t going to use it? It had to be a lot more money to have an actual, real fireplace. Surely, you can’t be serious.
Fair question. But first.
Every apartment in this complex has a fireplace so it wasn’t a choice. Believe me I would have happily traded it in for, say, a microwave (which I had to go buy myself) or let’s say, central air conditioning. That’s gonna be a real pain in the ass considering anything above antarctic temperatures makes my insomnia worse. So that’ll have to be sorted in the summer.
- Ok. So why not use it then?
Not a fair question, unless you are new to my corner of the world- in which case welcome. If you aren’t new- you’ve clearly not been paying attention. Otherwise, you’d remember why we can’t have nice things.
Below I give you exhibits A-C. Keep in mind each picture is in a different apartment. Do you really think I’m going to give Gomez “I break blinds and fear nothing,” Liam “Agent of Mass Destruction,” or Pavel, “Floppy Eared Bull in a China Shop to all things wired and toilet papered,” a chance to be near fire? NO.
I will admit the fireplace, whether I use it or not? Looks damn cool though. I will figure out how to use it to my advantage, aesthetically. I say that like I know how to do ANYTHING aesthetically.
Ok maybe that is your only question. I am also doing this meme because, why not? It isn’t like I have anything else to snuggle with this winter. BAH. I made a funny. Just have that pesky old shattered heart to nurse. So why not use some books to do it?
And now that you have all the TMI you didn’t need… let’s do the thing and maybe you’ll get some suggestions on books to cuddle with too.
With that in mind these are ALL January releases. I was going to include two December titles (Reverie and Shatter the Night) but Reverie is a couple weeks away and hyped to the hilt at this point, and I’m bias to Shatter the Night because it is set in Colorado.
Plus January is going to kill it like September so narrowing it to six titles made me pull out my hair. And I still left off some. So here we go…
1) Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sims – Review
Have I ever read The Count of Monte Cristo? No. Isn’t there a sandwich that is about has about the same name? Anyway… What’s new? For all this renaissance of retellings I think there has been one or two where I was Captain America.
Doesn’t matter. To say I am in the perfect mood, state of mind and dark soul for a revenge plot would be the largest understatement since since the term “largest understatement of all time,” was first uttered.
Summary (in case you have been living under a rock… or frozen underwater for 75 years like the above Avenger):
When Amaya rescues a mysterious stranger from drowning, she fears her rash actions have earned her a longer sentence on the debtor ship where she’s been held captive for years. Instead, the man she saved offers her unimaginable riches and a new identity, setting Amaya on a perilous course through the coastal city-state of Moray, where old-world opulence and desperate gamblers collide. Amaya wants one thing: revenge against the man who ruined her family and stole the life she once had. But the more entangled she becomes in this game of deception—and as her path intertwines with the son of the man she’s plotting to bring down—the more she uncovers about the truth of her past. And the more she realizes she must trust no one…
Packed with high-stakes adventure and dueling identities, this gender-swapped retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo is the first novel in an epic YA fantasy duology.
2) Infinity Son by Adam Silvera- Review
If you didn’t see this coming, you weren’t paying attention. Now, unfortunately when I grabbed the link from goodreads a couple of things gobsmacked me. It is pretty much a set in stone rule of mine that I don’t read reviews of books that I haven’t read and reviewed (ARCs, not backlist) until I have posted mine. I just don’t want to have any preconceived notions. On the rare occasion that I have, I note that I have (and why I did- given there was a tangible reason) in my review because I believe that is the fair to the reader.
That disclaimer will go front and center in my review of Infinity Son for a couple of reasons that don’t need to be explored in this post. However, that review might be coming a whole lot sooner than later because of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvUaRrJoXpQ
Summary:
Balancing epic and intensely personal stakes, bestselling author Adam Silvera’s Infinity Son is a gritty, fast-paced adventure about two brothers caught up in a magical war generations in the making.
Growing up in New York, brothers Emil and Brighton always idolized the Spell Walkers—a vigilante group sworn to rid the world of specters. While the Spell Walkers and other celestials are born with powers, specters take them, violently stealing the essence of endangered magical creatures.
Brighton wishes he had a power so he could join the fray. Emil just wants the fighting to stop. The cycle of violence has taken a toll, making it harder for anyone with a power to live peacefully and openly. In this climate of fear, a gang of specters has been growing bolder by the day.
Then, in a brawl after a protest, Emil manifests a power of his own—one that puts him right at the heart of the conflict and sets him up to be the heroic Spell Walker Brighton always wanted to be.
Brotherhood, love, and loyalty will be put to the test, and no one will escape the fight unscathed.
3) The King’s Questioner Review
Summary:
From the author of ‘The Midnight Dance’ comes an epic YA fantasy featuring royal drama, dark magic, and a secret that could topple a kingdom.
Kalen has been cursed with a gift: he’s a mental picklock, able to access a person’s memories and secrets by touch. His skills make him the perfect questioner to the king, and he spends his days interrogating prisoners of the crown.
But when Kalen’s estranged childhood friend, Prince Cirrus, falls into a sudden coma, the king begs Kalen to intervene. By accessing Cirrus’ mind, Kalen saves his life—and uncovers a terrifying secret. The prince has a sister, banished long ago, and she is the key to the destruction or survival of the kingdom.
With the help of Cirrus and a silver-haired thief named Luna, Kalen must find the princess and bring her home. Or risk death at the hands of his king.
4) Burn the Dark Review
Nothing like a horror story to mess with your head on a dark and … ok let’s not be trite. And I may not have ever watched Supernatural but I know of it. And I have watched Stranger Things. SO YES! I DO GET THIS REFERENCE!
Summary:
Supernatural meets Stranger Things in award-winning author S. A. Hunt’s Burn the Dark, first in the Malus Domestica horror action-adventure series about a punk YouTuber on a mission to bring down witches, one video at a time.
Robin is a YouTube celebrity gone-viral with her intensely-realistic witch hunter series. But even her millions of followers don’t know the truth: her series isn’t fiction.
Her ultimate goal is to seek revenge against the coven of witches who wronged her mother long ago. Returning home to the rural town of Blackfield, Robin meets friends new and old on her quest for justice. But then, a mysterious threat known as the Red Lord interferes with her plans….
5) A Queen In Hiding (The Nine Realms, #1) by Sarah Kozloff- January, 21st 2020- Review
Summary:
Debut author Sarah Kozloff offers a breathtaking and cinematic epic fantasy of a ruler coming of age in A Queen in Hiding, and all four books will be published within a month of each other, so you can binge your favorite new fantasy series.
Orphaned, exiled and hunted, Cérulia, Princess of Weirandale, must master the magic that is her birthright, become a ruthless guerilla fighter, and transform into the queen she is destined to be.
But to do it she must win the favor of the spirits who play in mortal affairs, assemble an unlikely group of rebels, and wrest the throne from a corrupt aristocracy whose rot has spread throughout her kingdom.
6) Seven Deadly Shadows
Courtney Alameda and Valynne E. Maetani Interview
Summary:
Kira Fujikawa has always been a girl on the fringe. Bullied by her peers and ignored by her parents, the only place Kira’s ever felt at home is at her grandfather’s Shinto shrine, where she trains to be a priestess.
But Kira’s life is shattered on the night her family’s shrine is attacked by a vicious band of yokai demons. With the help of Shiro—the shrine’s gorgeous half-fox, half-boy kitsune—Kira discovers that her shrine harbors an ancient artifact of great power . . . one the yokai and their demon lord, Shuten-doji, will use to bring down an everlasting darkness upon the world.
Unable to face the Shuten-doji and his minions on her own, Kira enlists the aid of seven ruthless shinigami—or death gods—to help stop the brutal destruction of humankind. But some of the death gods aren’t everything they initially seemed, nor as loyal to Kira’s cause as they first appeared.
With war drawing nearer by the day, Kira realizes that if this unlikely band of heroes is going to survive, they’re going to have to learn to work together, confront their demons, and rise as one to face an army of unimaginable evil.
Ok! So there goes another 5 books onto my TBR ( I already had Scavenge the Stars) ????
I can’t freaking WAIT for your review on Infinity Son, and Ugh I’ve been waiting for Seven Deadly Shadows too.
I mean I know we have different tastes in books. But damn! How do you get so lucky with pretty covers and I hardly ever read books with such pretty covers? ???? Have fun with those reads!
That’s quite a good argument as to not lit the fireplace! Though I do love the warmth and smell of a real fire.. i’d be terrified of something going bad, because im paranoid like that ???? we have an electric one.
I actually never heard of any of thoses, you know how I don’t pay attention to new releases .. ahah — but the king’s questioner looks pretty good!