Melting Pages
Book Reviews and Recommendations
First Book Haul of 2019!
I didn’t do a book haul for December, so this haul is a combined December and January book haul! My birthday was at the end of December, so a lot of these were books I bought for my birthday, because why not? I’m also trying this haul in a slightly different format than usual, so let me know what you think!
- Isola by Brendan Fletcher – I’ve seen this graphic novel floating around and it sounded interesting! It follows a queen cursed to be a tiger and her Captain of the Guard who will do anything to reverse her curse. Their only hope is a place known as Isola, the land of the dead.
- Kinslayer by Jay Kristoff – This is book 2 in The Lotus Wars series, and is one of Kristoff’s lesser known series. Since this is book 2, I don’t know too much about it.
- Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff – This is book 1 in The Lotus War series. (Yes I know they are out of order in the photo). All I really know about this is that it’s a Japanese inspired fantasy that has a mythical animal as the main characters sidekick. I honestly don’t need to know more than that and it’s Jay Kristoff so it’s bound to be good!
- The Legion of Flame by Anthony Ryan – This is the second book in The Draconis Memoria series, and really all I know is that dragon blood is used to give people extraordinary powers. I hear dragons and seen them on the cover, I buy the book!
- The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu – I’ve heard about this book on and off since I started blogging, but only recently decided to pick it up. It’s yet another Asian inspired fantasy (I seem to have a trend lately!) I’m not 100% sure what it’s about, but the people I’ve heard talk about it say it’s fantastic! Plus, it won a few different awards, so it must be good.
6. Winter Be My Shield by Jo Spurrier – You know those books that just keep popping up on your Goodreads saying you may like it? Well that’s what this book was for me. It’s about a girl whose gift is getting power from the suffering of others, so she goes on the run from the people hunting her. It’s by an Aussie author and I really want to start reading more non-US authors to broaden my reading!
7. The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi – I’m fairly certain everyone knows what this is about because of all the hype recently, and I can say with great certainty that the hype is well deserved! Once I finish it I’ll be posting a review, so keep an eye out for that!
8. Blood Requiem by Chrostopher Husberg – This is the third book in the Chaos Queen series. All I really know is it’s been recommended for fans of Brandon Sanderson and follows three characters that are all brought together on a ‘thrilling and perilous adventure’. The synopsis doesn’t really give much to go on, but reviews have been pretty good on this series!
9. Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor – This was one of my birthday gifts to myself! I haven’t yet read Strange the Dreamer, but I have read and loved Daughter of Smoke and Bone and a lot of people say this series is even better! I won’t bore you with a description since most of you know what this is about.
10. Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare – I found this super cheap at Walmart while I was just browsing, and even though I haven’t read any of her books other than the first two in The Mortal Instruments series, I know that I want to read them all as one of my goals this year!
11. The Queen’s Poisoner by Jeff Wheeler – This follows a boy whose father tried to overthrow the king, and to atone, his father needs to give him over to the king. He then needs to learn to survive in a ruthless court, and has to prove his worth through extraordinary means. I’ve heard wonderful things about Jeff Wheeler, and this is actually a fairly short book and seems like the perfect place to start!
12. Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett – I wasn’t really planning on picking this one up, but then Regan from PeruseProject read it in one of her reading vlogs and convinced me to give it a try! It involves industrial magic, a thief, and a power known as scriving.
13. Winter Loon by Susan Bernhard – I don’t often go for literary fiction, but this one sounded really interesting. It’s about a boy who is abandoned by his father after his mother drowns in a lake. Then something happens that prompts him to go search for his father and learn the truth about what really happened to his mother.
14. In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters – The main reason I picked this up is because I want to read her new release about Edgar Allen Poe, but want to read some of her previous books first! I’ve heard that they are creepy and this one seems to have Mary Shelley in it!
15. Skyward by Brandon Sanderson – I’ve already read this book and I LOVED IT! I have a full spoiler free review if you are interested in learning more about this book. I haven’t read a ton of Sci-fi, but after this I’ve decided that I need to change that!
16. Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft – Both Holly from Hollyheartsbooks on Youtube and Nicholas Eames (author of Kings of the Wyld and Bloody Rose, which I LOVE) both have said fantastic things about this book, and I trust their opinions and they’ve never steered me wrong before!
17. The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi – This is a translated fantasy from a Japanese author, and it sounded so interesting! It’s about a girl whose family takes care of the water serpents that form the kingdom’s army, but when they start dying, her family is sentenced to death as punishment. She soon discovers that she can speak with these animals, and now needs to save both herself and the animals she loves.
18. Saga Vol 4 by Brian K Vaughan – I’ve been binge reading this fantastic graphic novel series, but I only had the first three. This is the best graphic novel that I have ever read, and while I don’t have a ton under my belt, I think it is 100% worth checking out!
19. White Stag by Kara Barbieri – This is brutal book about a girl who is taken away from her destroyed village by goblins and over time is loosing her connection to the human world and becoming more like the beasts who are her captors. I’m about halfway through and it is everything I was expecting it to be!
That’s all I have for today’s post! Have you read any of these books? Which ones do you think I need to prioritize? I’d love to chat!
Melting Pages 
Looks like an awesome book haul! 😀 The hype has certainly gotten to me for The Gilded Wolves – I can’t wait to read it! And that Ken Liu book sounds really cool! I’m so glad you loved Skyward too! That book was just wonderful 🙂
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Thank you! Skyward was just so amazing and so far The Gilded Wolves is too! I’ve been loving looking for Asian inspired fantasy novels lately too.
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In the shadow of blackbirds is one of the best books I’ve ever read. It’s a bit creepy, but it’s also sad and melancholic.
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That sounds like it’ll be right up my alley then!
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I just found your blog off of Twitter, and I’m super glad I did! I love your design and your graphics and all that — it looks really good 😀
I’ve been hearing about The Gilded Wolves everywhere! I haven’t actually read any reviews of it yet, though, so I’m looking forward to seeing your thoughts on it. Maybe then I’ll be able to decide whether I want to read it or not 🙂
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Ah thank you! 😊😊 I’m hoping either this week or next week I’ll be finished with it to write a review! I’m about halfway through and there have been so many times I’ve laughed out loud!
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