Ceri Louise Reads

It’s somehow August already and I’m switching from no TBR to ridiculously ambitious TBR, especially considering how little I’ve been reading recently. But never mind! August means ARC August, and as I’m buried under eArcs I thought I should take part. Sometimes when life gets stressful and I don’t want to spend money, I go on requesting sprees on Netgalley. This means that my Netgalley ratio has taken a bit of a hit, and it wasn’t great to begin with! I started the year on 28% and I’m currently on 23%. Part of the problem is I’ve been really bad at writing reviews, so that is part of my goal for August. I have seven outstanding reviews to write, and then I want to read as many of these as I can and write the reviews to boost my ratio hopefully at least back to where I started.

To put together this TBR, first I looked at what is coming out in September and picked a couple of those with the hope of being able to write the reviews before the books actually come out for once. Then I searched on the library app to see which of the already released books on my Netgalley shelf were available in one of my local branches (I also have one I borrowed from a friend). Finally I picked an anthology and a non-fiction to add a bit of variety. I’m not expecting to get through all of these in August, but hopefully having library copies will encourage me to get to them more quickly. It also gives me scope for mood reading.

 Honestly I don’t know much about most of these books but I’ll tell you what I can!

September releases:

• From Dust to Stardust by Kathleen Rooney – released 5th September 2023
  • Historical fiction set in the early years of Hollywood, it sounds enchanting.

• South by Babak Lakghomi – released 12th September 2023
  • Dystopian speculative fiction that sounds weird but cool

Previously released

• Light Perpetual by Francis Spufford – released 4th February 2021
  • All I know about this one is it was longlisted for the Booker Prize and one of my tutors at college recommended it. It was one of the first books I requested on Netgalley.

• Things To Do Before the End of the World by Emily Barr – released 6th May 2021
  • YA speculative fiction with some thriller-y vibes, I’m hoping this will be a quick and fun read.

• Circus of Wonders by Elizabeth Macneal – released 13th May 2021
  • I generally love circus themed novels so I’m excited to see what I think of this one.

• Threadneedle by Cari Thomas – released 27th May 2021
  • This was actually the first book I was approved for on Netgalley, so it’s really bad that I haven’t read it yet. I remember being very excited to received an Arc, but I don’t really remember what its about. Something historical and a bit magical, I think.

• The Magician by Colm Tobin – released 23rd September 2021
  • This is a fictionalised biography of a 20th Century German writer called Thomas Mann. I honestly had no idea that was what it was about until I just looked up the blurb…

• Learwife by J R Thorp – released 4th November 2021
  • Inspired by Shakespeare’s King Lear, this is the untold story of Lear’s wife (unsurprisingly). As a massive Shakespeare fan I am both excited and nervous about this one.

• Theatre of Marvels by Leanne Dillsworth – released 28th April 2022
  • I was expecting this to be a similar vibe to Circus of Wonders but it was shelved in the crime section of my library so now I’m even more intrigued. 

• Raceless by Georgina Lawton – released 19th May 2022
  • My non-fiction pick, this is a memoir about the author’s journey to uncover her family history as a black child born to white parents.

• The White Rock by Anna Hope – released 25th August 2022
  • I requested this because I’ve read and enjoyed other books by Anna Hope. Not sure what it’s about but I know Anna Hope is a skilled writer so i’m excited.

• Refugee Wales by Angham Abdullah, Beth Thomas and Chris Weedon (eds) – released 1st November 2022
  • This anthology is a collection of the stories of Syrian refugees who have settled in Wales. It sounds lovely.

• The Murder Game by Tom Hindle – released 2nd February 2023
  • This (hopefully) is a closed-circle country house murder mystery, which is one of my favourite mystery plot devices. I say ‘hopefully’ as often when I think I’m picking up a closed-circle country house murder mystery, it turns out one or more of those elements is missing…

• Weyward by Emilia Hart – released 2nd February 2023
  • This was a cover request but rereading the blurb I’m super excited to get to it now… it’s historical fiction told across three timelines (a trope I love) and one of the timelines is about the witch trials in the UK, which I find fascinating. Bumping that to the top of the list!

So there you go, that’s what I’m thinking of picking up for Arc August. Are you taking part? What’s top of your TBR?