I skipped this post last week because I was off Goodreads during the Amazon protest, and didn’t have many new books to talk about either. Now that I have two weeks to catch up on, I have plenty of newly added books to choose from!
Top of the TBR is a weekly post I created that will showcase any books added to my Goodreads TBR recently, with a short explanation of why each title caught my interest. I’ll aim for 5-10 books per post; in weeks that I’ve added more than that, I’ll hold some back, and in weeks that I don’t have enough, I’ll include titles I haven’t discussed yet. Each title will be linked back to its Goodreads page for anyone interested in exploring further, as I’m not a fan of copy/pasting synopses. Anyone who wants to take part in this series with me is absolutely welcome! Please link back to any of my Top of the TBR posts so I can see what you’re reading! 🙂
Here are some of the new books I’ve added on Goodreads over the last two weeks:
Whisper Network by Chandler Baker (Pub: July 2019)
How I found it: I’ve been seeing this one around all month and can’t remember where it first popped up for me, but one of the recent reviews I’ve seen that helped convince me was this one from Jenna!
Why I added it: Office politics in fiction don’t often catch my interest, but this one sounds promisingly feminist. I’m also intrigued by the little flood of negative reviews I’ve been seeing for it, on the grounds that the characters seem unlikable; I often enjoy stories with unlikable characters and suspect that it might succeed for me in the precise way is seems to have failed for others.
Priority: Low. There is a possibility I could end up hating these characters right along with the masses, but though I’m willing to take that chance I’m just too swamped with reading commitments to pick anything up on a whim right now. In fact, I’ve got such a packed reading schedule that I’ll warn you right now most of this list is going to present as low priority mainly for that reason.
His Hideous Heart ed. by Dahlia Adler (Pub: Sept 2019)
How I found it: I saw this post from Lala on Instagram!
Why I added it: This is a collection of retellings of popular Edgar Allen Poe stories from thirteen prominent YA authors. I love retellings of classics, I love horror and Poe, I’m attracted to these being short stories, and I’m looking forward to sampling authors who might write novels in this genre. I haven’t heard of all of these authors, so it’ll be fun to check out their work in these shorter pieces! I still like some YA but have fallen a bit out of touch this year, and a book like this looks like an easy path back into the age range. Everything about this just seems like a perfect fit for me.
Priority: Middling. I would love to pick this up in October, but fall is a difficult time of year for me to get my hands on new releases and I’m not filling my Oct. TBR this far in advance yet.
The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen (Pub: July 2019)
How I found it: I don’t remember exactly, I’ve been seeing this around for a while. Sarah Dessen was one of my favorite authors in middle school and I still tend to notice when she has a new book coming out.
Why I added it: In 2017 I reread my favorite Dessen novel, The Truth About Forever, and loved it all over again. Though I wasn’t at all interested in Dessen’s last release, Once and For All, my 2017 reread convinced me that I might still enjoy some of Dessen’s work, so I’m willing to give this one a chance.
Priority: Low. I was planning to reread Dessen’s Just Listen in November, and even though this one looks very summery (it takes place at a lake!) I just don’t think I’ll get around to it before November at the earliest, after my reread.
The Iliac Crest by Christina Rivera Garza, Trans. by Sarah Booker (Pub: Oct 2017)
How I found it: In one of Callum’s exciting posts about books to read for Women in Translation month (August)!
Why I added it: I really want to incorporate more translations into my regular reading, and especially translations of women writers. I am working on a small list that I’ll try to tackle in August, mainly of books already on my shelves, but I’m also gathering some other titles that look fantastic for future reading. Callum’s description of this one sounded 100% appealing, as did the rest of his translation recs, of course! This one’s a short Gothic piece that appears full of commentary on gender identity.
Priority: Middling. This sounds like another title I’d like to rush out and read either for WIT month or as a spooky read for October, but I don’t know exactly when I’ll be able to fit it in, and I’ll have to track down a copy first!
In & Oz by Steve Tomasula (Pub: Sept 2005)
How I found it: Melanie mentioned this one to me! Her recommendations always seem spot-on to what I’m looking for.
Why I added it: The synopsis sounds wonderfully bizarre, and I expect it’s also thematically rich. It is: “a novel of art, love, auto mechanics, and two places: the actualities of the here and now and the desire for somewhere better. Five men and women- an auto designer, photographer, musical composter, poet/sculptor and mechanic- find themselves drawn together when they begin to suspect that the thing lacking in their lives might be discovered in the other place.” Consider me intrigued.
Priority: Low. This looks super interesting, but I’m not sure yet where I’ll find a copy.
Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town by Adam Christopher (Pub: May 2019)
How I found it: I actually stumbled across this title in a used book store last week, which was a sad way to discover I’d missed one of the Stranger Things companion novels completely. It was nearly full price and my last Stranger Things companion read was only a 3-star, so I didn’t end up buying it.
Why I added it: Though I don’t think I want to own this, I am interested in the companion novels connected to Stranger Things. This one looks like a history of Hopper’s life, which especially has my attention after the direction season 3 took.
Priority: Middling. I’m already feeling the wait between seasons 3 and 4, and would love to pick this up in the fall if I can get it through my library at that time.
Medea: A Modern Retelling by Christa Wolf (Pub: 1996)
How I found it: In Hannah’s fantastic post about unlikable but compelling female characters!
Why I added it: I’ve already loved or previously added to my TBR all of the other books Hannah included in her excellent list, so it seems like a safe bet that I’ll enjoy this one as well. I do like picking up the occasional Greek retelling.
Priority: Middling. I’ve barely read anything Greek all year, which feels a bit odd after reading two retellings last year, plus some original Homer. I don’t know when I’ll have time and will be able to find a copy, but I’d like to pick this up before the end of the year if possible.
The Great Pretender by Susannah Cahalan (Pub: Nov 2019)
How I found it: In Ren’s post of great upcoming nonfiction releases!
Why I added it: I’ve been trying to increase my nonfiction reading this summer, and have been enjoying it enough that I want to continue making nonfiction a more permanent part of my reading regimen. This one is about a group of people who go undercover into an asylum in the 1970s, only to emerge when they can convince the doctors they’re sane. It sounds like a fascinating inside look at diagnoses and treatments, and a historical (if you can call 40 years ago historic) look at mental illness practices. I’m unversed in the topic, but so on board to learn.
Priority: Middling. Maybe by November my schedule will have mellowed out a bit and I’ll have time to pick this up as a new release!
The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary (Pub: April 2019)
How I found it: I’m not sure anymore where I first saw this title; it’s been on my radar since its release, if not before.
Why I added it: This looks like a romance that leans a bit more toward traditional contemporary than some from the genre tend to. I wasn’t sure at first if this sounded to my taste, but I keep wanting to like the romance genre and then struggling with it a bit, so it doesn’t seem like a bad idea to try another type of romance novel to see if it helps me decide where I fit in that genre.
Priority: Low. I don’t read romance often, and I do already have a couple of titles queued up for further romance genre experiments. Unsure of when I’ll get to this one.
Water Shall Refuse Them by Lucie McKnight Hardy (July 2019)
How I found it: This one was just brought to my attention today by Rachel, who finds the best books. (Seriously, if you’re not following her blog, you’re missing out!)
Why I added it: “Reminiscent of the suspense of Shirley Jackson and soaked in the folk horror of the British landscape, Water Shall Refuse Them is an atmospheric coming-of-age novel and a thrilling debut.” Everything about this appeals to me. Also historical heat wave. Accidental drowing. Rural seclusion. Family unraveling. It sounds so promising it almost can’t be real, haha.
Priority: Middling. I really wish I could pick this one up right away, especially since the heat wave setting sounds perfect for summer reading, but I’ll have to find a copy and try to squish it into my overflowing reading schedule.
My reading taste is so varied that my Top of the TBR lists never look very cohesive, but this one really is quite a mix! A couple of literary fictions, but otherwise all different genres and even a couple of different age ranges. Maybe someday I’ll find a niche, but I’m not in any hurry.
Have you read any of these books or recognize them from your own TBR?
The Literary Elephant
literaryelephant 
Whisper Network looks great. I’m actually a 3rd of the way through The Flatshare right now…it reminds me of Eleanor Oliphant a bit…not too romancey, at least not yet!
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Ooh, that sounds promising for The Flatshare, I did enjoy Eleanor Oliphant! And I’d definitely be interested in your thoughts on Whisper Network if you happen to pick it up!
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I just requested my local library to get it so fingers crossed. They have the audiobook of it, but not the print version. We’ll see!!
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Lots of exciting books here 📚
Here’s hoping we both enjoy The Iliac Crest! Those Poe retellings are also rather intriguing.
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They both look good! I’m kind of surprised I haven’t seen the Poe book on anyone else’s radar yet, it does sound appealing!
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This was the first I’d heard of it, so thank you for bringing it to my attention! 😊
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I’m so excited for The Great Pretender too! And His Hideous Heart sounds really interesting, and what a great cover.
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The cover is gorgeous! I’m surprised I haven’t been seeing more anticipation for His Hideous Heart, especially among the YA crowd, but perhaps closer to fall it’ll make more of an appearance. Who doesn’t like Poe?!
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I’m not sure how well-funded your local library system is, but I am nutty about inter-library loans. I’ve almost stopped buying books since I realized that I can have as many as I want because the library pays a subscription fee to borrow books. If a book would cost them money (usually if they find the book internationally on WorldCat) then they don’t get it.
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My local library is tiny; it does have a decent interloan system, and probably 9/10 of the books I check out anymore come from interloans. It is nice, but I live in a rural area and it can take 7-10 days between requesting a book and receiving it from another library in the system, and that’s if there are no other holds on it. (Which is fine, but worth noting that with a Barnes and Noble membership I can buy a copy without having to leave the house and have it in 3-4 days.) And not everything I want to read is available even through interloan in my area. I do love libraries and I always get a little thrill being able to scan my card and take books home without paying for them, but I also like owning books that I enjoyed, that I might want to loan out or revisit. It wasn’t until I started reading Prize longlists that I started buying books I didn’t really want to own, but wanted to read and couldn’t get any other way. But I do try to keep in mind that one way or another, I’m well off living in America, where access to books is much better than in many other countries!
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I think I hit a point where I bought so many small-press books that were disappointing that I started to feel jaded about spending my money. I now buy books for authors I really want to support right when the book is released or I read it first from the library and then buy it if I liked it.
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That sounds like a good system! I am trying to lay more ground rules for what sorts of books I buy and when, but sometimes knowing the only way I’ll be able to check out a book in the near future is to buy it does make me a little too trigger happy with the “purchase now!” buttons. But I do like using the library as much as I can- in addition to saving money, it also helps motivate me to read more promptly. I don’t like to renew or return books unread if I can help it because I want to keep them available for other readers! My library system is too small to get many multiples.
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I know using the library also helps them determine how much money and what books to get in the future. I was surprised when the other day a coworker of mine “weeded” a book that had never been checked out. Not once.
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😱 Poor book! I hope it went to a better home. But having only ever stood on the patron side of the library desk, I do find insider info like this fascinating!
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Somehow I missed this post before now, but thank you for the compliment! And Medea is SO GOOD, I hope you enjoy that one. The Iliac Crest has been on my radar for ages, I really need to track down a copy!
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Of course! That’s a strong vote for Medea, I really should pick it up! And The Iliac Crest does look so intriguing, I’d love to see your thoughts!
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