Top Ten Books I've Recently Added to my TBR Pile

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke & The Bookish
My TBR pile is a large and scary thing, constantly being added to and looming large in my mind. But I always work hard to make sure that the books in it are ones I want to read, otherwise the excitement wanes and I find myself dragging my feet when it comes to ploughing through it. So the following ten books are ones I cannot wait to get my hands on, no matter how far in the future their release dates loom! Some of these are so far off there are no blurbs or cover art yet, just a title and a vague expected release, but you can guarantee that I will be dancing in line at the bookshop as soon as these babies come out!

Broken Crowns by Lauren DeStefano
Release Date: Spring 2016

There is nothing on this one yet except that gorgeous cover and a burning need to own it now. I think that this cover is my favourite of the series, it is absolutely stunning. I haven't even read the second book in the series 'Burning Kingdoms' yet, but the first book 'Perfect Ruin' made such an impact on me that I know I am going to love the rest of the series. DeStefano's writing is incredible and her ability to create these slightly distorted dystopian worlds with characters we can relate to is a truly wonderful gift.

The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore
Release Date: 15th September 2015
For twenty years, the Palomas and the Corbeaus have been rivals and enemies, locked in an escalating feud for over a generation. Both families make their living as traveling performers in competing shows—the Palomas swimming in mermaid exhibitions, the Corbeaus, former tightrope walkers, performing in the tallest trees they can find. 
Lace Paloma may be new to her family’s show, but she knows as well as anyone that the Corbeaus are pure magia negra, black magic from the devil himself. Simply touching one could mean death, and she's been taught from birth to keep away. But when disaster strikes the small town where both families are performing, it’s a Corbeau boy, Cluck, who saves Lace’s life. And his touch immerses her in the world of the Corbeaus, where falling for him could turn his own family against him, and one misstep can be just as dangerous on the ground as it is in the trees.

A Romeo and Juliet style tale with two feuding circus performers? I love it already. The Night Circus has made me seek out any circus/performers tales that I can and this one looks like it is going to be fantastic. 

A Curious Beginning: A Veronica Speedwell Mystery by Deanna Raybourn

Release Date: 1st September 2015
London, 1887. As the city prepares to celebrate Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee, Veronica Speedwell is marking a milestone of her own. After burying her spinster aunt, the orphaned Veronica is free to resume her world travels in pursuit of scientific inquiry—and the occasional romantic dalliance. As familiar with hunting butterflies as she is fending off admirers, Veronica wields her butterfly net and a sharpened hatpin with equal aplomb, and with her last connection to England now gone, she intends to embark upon the journey of a lifetime.
But fate has other plans, as Veronica discovers when she thwarts her own abduction with the help of an enigmatic German baron with ties to her mysterious past. Promising to reveal in time what he knows of the plot against her, the baron offers her temporary sanctuary in the care of his friend Stoker—a reclusive natural historian as intriguing as he is bad-tempered. But before the baron can deliver on his tantalizing vow to reveal the secrets he has concealed for decades, he is found murdered. Suddenly Veronica and Stoker are forced to go on the run from an elusive assailant, wary partners in search of the villainous truth.

It's a new Deanna Raybourn - need I say more?

The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster by Scott Wilbanks
Release Date: 1st August 2015
Annabelle Aster doesn't bow to convention—not even that of space and time—which makes the 1890s Kansas wheat field that has appeared in her modern-day San Francisco garden easy to accept. Even more exciting is Elsbeth, the truculent schoolmarm who sends Annie letters through the mysterious brass mailbox perched on the picket fence that now divides their two worlds. In this unconventional and enchanting tale, Annie and her new neighbor must solve the mystery of what connects them before one of them is convicted of a murder that has yet to happen…and somehow already did.

This one has caught my eye with the trio of things I always looks for - title, cover and blurb. Murder, time travel mailbox and strong female characters. Give it to me now!

The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski
Release Date: March 2016

No further information on this one at the moment, but given how fantastic the first two in this trilogy were, it's a no brainer that I wants it now.

Tell the Wind & Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan
Release Date: 2016
Tell the Wind & Fire is about a young girl called Lucie who lives in a New York very different from the New York we know: the city is torn between two very different kinds of magic, and Lucie’s own family was torn apart years ago by that conflict. Lucie wears magic rings and carries a burden of guilt she can’t share with anyone.
The light in her life is her sweetheart boyfriend Ethan, but it turns out Ethan has a secret too: a soulless doppelganger created by dark magic, who has to conceal the face identical to Ethan’s with a hood fastened by a collar nobody but a Light magician with magical rings can take off… and who introduces himself to both of them by, for reasons nobody can understand, saving Ethan’s life…

Sarah Rees Brennan is one of those authors that I will drop everything and run screaming to the nearest bookstore when I hear she has a new book coming out. Doesn't matter what it is about, I want it, I need it, I know it will be good.

Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman
Release Date: 25th August 2015
Imagine a time when the gods turn a blind eye to the agony of men, when the last of the hellions roam the plains and evil stirs beyond the edges of the map. A time when cities burn, and in their ashes, empires rise.
Alexander, Macedonia’s sixteen-year-old heir, is on the brink of discovering his fated role in conquering the known world but finds himself drawn to newcomer Katerina, who must navigate the dark secrets of court life while hiding her own mission: kill the Queen. But Kat’s first love, Jacob, will go to unthinkable lengths to win her, even if it means competing for her heart with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince. And far across the sea, Zofia, a Persian princess and Alexander’s unmet fiancée, wants to alter her destiny by seeking the famed and deadly Spirit Eaters.
Weaving fantasy with the salacious and fascinating details of real history, New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman reimagines the greatest emperor the world has ever known: Alexander the Great, in the first book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series.

This popped up on my twitter feed and I leapt on it. It looks exactly my cup of tea, an epic tale mixing fantasy and reality and politics and intrigue. I am very much on board.

The Game of Love & Death by Martha Brockenbrough

Release Date: 28th April 2015
Antony and Cleopatra. Helen of Troy and Paris. Romeo and Juliet. And now . . . Henry and Flora.
For centuries Love and Death have chosen their players. They have set the rules, rolled the dice, and kept close, ready to influence, angling for supremacy. And Death has always won. Always.
Could there ever be one time, one place, one pair whose love would truly tip the balance?
Meet Flora Saudade, an African-American girl who dreams of becoming the next Amelia Earhart by day and sings in the smoky jazz clubs of Seattle by night. Meet Henry Bishop, born a few blocks and a million worlds away, a white boy with his future assured — a wealthy adoptive family in the midst of the Great Depression, a college scholarship, and all the opportunities in the world seemingly available to him.
The players have been chosen. The dice have been rolled. But when human beings make moves of their own, what happens next is anyone’s guess.

This one just appeals on so many levels. The hook of the title, cover and blurb are all really strong and I am crazy excited to get into this one. It's a goodreads find, and I will forever be grateful for lists people put together - this one is on YA Historical releases for 2015 along with some other fantastic books.

Rebel Mechanics by Shanna Swendson
Release Date: 14th July 2015It’s 1888, and sixteen-year-old Verity Newton lands a job in New York as a governess to a wealthy leading family—but she quickly learns that the family has big secrets. Magisters have always ruled the colonies, but now an underground society of mechanics and engineers are developing non-magical sources of power via steam engines that they hope will help them gain freedom from British rule. The family Verity works for is magister—but it seems like the children's young guardian uncle is sympathetic to the rebel cause. As Verity falls for a charming rebel inventor and agrees to become a spy, she also becomes more and more enmeshed in the magister family’s life. She soon realizes she’s uniquely positioned to advance the cause—but to do so, she’ll have to reveal her own dangerous secret.

There appear to be a flurry of amazing historical novels coming to our shelves in the next year, and this one can count itself among them. I love a well done historical novel and I am so excited at the breadth we're being offered at the moment and cannot wait to see how this one turns out.

Etta & Otto & Russell & James by Emma Hooper
Release Date: 29th January 2015

I've gone. I've never seen the water, so I've gone there. I will try to remember to come back.
Etta's greatest unfulfilled wish, living in the rolling farmland of Saskatchewan, is to see the sea. And so, at the age of eighty-two she gets up very early one morning, takes a rifle, some chocolate, and her best boots, and begins walking the 2,000 miles to water. 
Meanwhile her husband Otto waits patiently at home, left only with his memories. Their neighbour Russell remembers too, but differently - and he still loves Etta as much as he did more than fifty years ago, before she married Otto.

This is the only one that is actually on shelves at the moment and it cropped up in my radar due to Emma teaching me at university. She was a wonderful tutor and a fantastic writer and I cannot wait to get hold of this and immerse myself in the story.

So there you have the top ten books that I've recently added to my TBR pile. I tend to look quite far in advance which is why most of these aren't out for a while! And I also wanted to look at some books that people may not have heard about yet, so I hope I've introduced you to a new favourite waiting to happen!
What are the top ten books you've added to your reading pile recently? Tell me or link me in the comments below!