Top Ten Books I Recently Added To My To-Be-Read List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.

Some of these I don’t technically have yet BUT I’m basically dropping everything for as soon as I have those pretty treasures in my hands…
Starting with:

This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

The novel is told from the perspective of four teens in a high school held hostage who all have their own reasons to fear the boy with the gun.

This is going to be AMAZING!!!

The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich

Part-psychological thriller, part-urban legend, this is an unsettling narrative made up of diary entries, interview transcripts, film footage transcripts and medical notes. Twenty-five years ago, Elmbridge High burned down. Three people were killed and one pupil, Carly Johnson, disappeared. Now a diary has been found in the ruins of the school. The diary belongs to Kaitlyn Johnson, Carly’s identical twin sister. But Carly didn’t have a twin . . .

Re-opened police records, psychiatric reports, transcripts of video footage and fragments of diary reveal a web of deceit and intrigue, violence and murder, raising a whole lot more questions than it answers.

Who was Kaitlyn and why did she only appear at night? Did she really exist or was she a figment of a disturbed mind? What were the illicit rituals taking place at the school? And just what did happen at Elmbridge in the events leading up to ‘the Johnson Incident’?

Chilling, creepy and utterly compelling, THE DEAD HOUSE is one of those very special books that finds all the dark places in your imagination, and haunts you long after you’ve finished reading.

So excited, have been since I heard about it last year. I keep changing my mind about which cover is better. Thoughts?

House of Windows by Alexia Casale

‘The body is a house of many windows: there we all sit, showing ourselves and crying on the passers-by to come and love us.’ Robert Louis Stevenson

Nick hates it when people call him a genius. Sure, he’s going to Cambridge University aged 15, but he says that’s just because he works hard. And, secretly, he only works hard to get some kind of attention from his workaholic father.

Not that his strategy is working.

When he arrives at Cambridge, he finds the work hard and socialising even harder. Until, that is, he starts to cox for the college rowing crew and all hell breaks loose…

I know want doesn’t get but I WANT THIS BOOK NOW!!!

Frail Human Heart (The Name of the Blade #3)
by Zoë Marriott

In the thrilling final installment of Zoë Marriott’s epic, Japanese-inspired urban fantasy trilogy, Mio has succeeded in banishing the Goddess of Death’s plague-spreading monsters – by making the most terrible sacrifice. Now Mio’s love Shinobu is lost forever, the Goddess is rising from the underworld, and hell is literally breaking loose in London.

To save the city from the catastrophic war between gods, Mio must journey into the perilous dream realm to learn the final secret of the katana’s origins, and its true powers. With secrets from her own family’s past emerging, and more impossible choices to be made, she will need every bit of help available from her remaining friends and her allies in the Kitsune Kingdom just to escape her quest alive.

Because in the end, the only thing standing between the human world and the apocalypse… is Mio. And her sword.

Why do I think I’ll need to take time off work to recover?

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Books I have
(either bought or kindly sent for review)

Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig

I want life.

I want to read it and write it and feel it and live it.

I want, for as much of the time as possible in this blink-of-an-eye existence we have, to feel all that can be felt.

I hate depression. I am scared of it. Terrified, in fact. But at the same time, it has made me who I am. And if – for me – it is the price of feeling life, it’s a price always worth paying

Reasons to Stay Alive is about making the most of your time on earth. In the western world the suicide rate is highest amongst men under the age of 35. Matt Haig could have added to that statistic when, aged 24, he found himself staring at a cliff-edge about to jump off. This is the story of why he didn’t, how he recovered and learned to live with anxiety and depression. It’s also an upbeat, joyous and very funny exploration of how live better, love better, read better and feel more.

True Face by Siobhan Curham

We are living in the age of the image – the perfect image. From the constant bombardment of air-brushed photos, to the dubious lifestyle choices promoted by celebrities and the obsession with social media, young women are under pressure as never before to project a persona of perfection. And this is having a catastrophic effect, with girls as young as seven developing eating disorders and female self-loathing reaching epidemic proportions.

True Face shows you how to resist the pressure from the ‘perfection police’ and take off the masks you wear to proudly reveal your true self to the world. In chapters dealing with body image, bullying, social media, love, sex and more, Siobhan Curham encourages young women and girls to be honest, dream big, and create lives that are happy and fulfilling. Keep Calm and Carry On is replaced by a new mantra: Forget the Fake and Keep it Real. This book is a breath of fresh air.

As White As Snow by Salla Simukka

Lumikki Andersson may be innocent, but she’s no Snow White…

Three and a half months have passed since Lumikki Andersson was left for dead in a snowdrift – a bullet wound in her thigh and frostbite creeping into her skin. But the scorchingly hot streets of Prague in summer provide a welcome contrast to that terrifying time, and now Lumikki just wants to move on – forget the events of the past year, forget about the Polar Bear’s crime ring – and escape her parent’s oppressive concern… She’s alone again, which is just how she likes it.

But Lumikki’s peaceful solitude is about to be shattered. She is approached on the street by a nervous young woman, who, unbelievably, thinks she might be Lumikki’s long-lost sister. Lumikki is unconvinced – although Zelenka’s story seems to ring horrifyingly true – but there’s something weird about her. Something jumpy, and suspicious.

Turns out Lumikki is right to be wary, as Zelenka is part of a dangerous religious cult who believe they are descendants of Christ – and that Lumikki is one of them, and must be ‘martyred’ alongside them. On the run for her life again, Lumikki must once more draw on her all her powers of resolve and strength if she is to survive.

The D’Evil Diaries by Tatum Flynn

A hilarious, crackling, original debut about an unlucky demon, perfect for fans of Derek Landy and Eoin Colfer.

Twelve-year-old Jinx is hopeless at being evil. Which is a bit of a problem when you’re Lucifer’s youngest son. But when Jinx runs away from Pandemonium, the walled city he’s lived in all his life, he bumps into dead girl Tommy – who’s been sent to Hell for accidentally feeding her nasty uncle to a circus lion – and unearths a conspiracy that could up-end the entire underworld.

Cue shenanigans involving carnivorous carousel horses, death-trap-riddled libraries and hungry quicksand. Now the fate of the realm rests in the hands of its most unlikely demon and a girl who shouldn’t be in Hell at all…

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

Meet Audrey: an ordinary teenage girl with not so ordinary problems. Aside from her completely crazy and chaotic family, she suffers from an anxiety disorder which makes talking to her brother’s hot new best friend a bit of a challenge. But Audrey has a plan to help her face her fears and take on the world again. First stop: Starbucks.

Remix by Non Pratt

From the author of Trouble comes a new novel about boys, bands and best mates.

Kaz is still reeling from being dumped by the love of her life… Ruby is bored of hearing about it. Time to change the record.

Three days. Two best mates. One music festival. Zero chance of everything working out.

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Finally one I’m really looking forward to, plus don’t you adore that cover?

The Next Together by Lauren James

How many times can you lose the one you love?

For Matthew and Katherine it is again and again, over and over, century after century. Katherine and Matthew are destined to be born again and again. Each time their presence changes history for the better, and each time, they fall hopelessly in love, only to be tragically separated. But why do they keep coming back? How many times must they die to save the world? What else must they achieve before they can be left to live and love in peace? Maybe the next together will be different…

What about you?
What books are you excited about?