Books I'm Squeeing about in November

November is upon us, the month of Thanksgiving if you're in America, and desperately prepping for Christmas in the UK...

Christmas prep in our house means an awful lot of book buying, and these gorgeous books are just perfect for that! 

Below are the books that I'm looking forward to getting sucked into this month, because with the night's getting darker, the only thing for it is to curl up with a blanket, a big hot chocolate and a massive stack of books...

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas (collectors edition)
November 6th 2018
Throne of Glass begins the sweeping saga of assassin Celaena Sardothien, who is serving a life sentence in the mines of Endovier - until a young captain of the guard offers her a deal. She will have her freedom, on one condition: she must fight to win a deadly competition to serve as the champion of the king. The king who rules his kingdom with a cruel and merciless hand.

Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, her destiny will claim her.
Now available in this gorgeous new package, the Throne of Glass Collector's Edition features unique foil-stamped cover art, a ribbon marker, beautiful new interior page designs, colour endpapers and a new map of Erilea.

With the series finally reaching its epic conclusion, I'm sure I'm not the only one that will snaffle up any links to this world. Plus I'm a sucker for a pretty book with additional content. Now the real question is whether they'll release a collector's edition for every book in the series?...

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
November 6th 2018
Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It's the highest honour they could hope for...and the most demeaning. This year, there's a ninth. And instead of paper, she's made of fire.

Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most persecuted class of people in Ikhara. Ten years ago, her mother was snatched by the royal guards, and her fate remains unknown. Now, the guards are back and this time it's Lei they're after - the girl with the golden eyes, whose rumoured beauty has piqued the king's interest.
Over weeks of training in the opulent but oppressive palace, Lei and eight other girls learn the skills and charm that befit a king's consort. There, Lei does the unthinkable - she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens her world's entire way of life. Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide how far she's willing to go for justice and revenge.

Basically I'm super intrigued - the cover, the blurb, the excited buzz that's been steadily growing over on bookstagram. Everything has aligned for this book to make me really excited, and I'm curious to read it.

Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean
November 8th 2018
In a deadly tournament to become empress, any may enter but only one will survive, and one competitor doesn't just plan to win, she's going to steal the Emperor's fortune. . .

In each generation, a competition is held to find the next empress of Honoku. The rules are simple. Survive the palace's enchanted seasonal rooms. Conquer Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall, and you can marry the prince. All are eligible to compete - all except yokai, supernatural monsters and spirits whom the human emperor is determined to enslave and destroy.
Mari has spent a lifetime training to become empress. Winning should be easy. And it would be, if she weren't hiding a dangerous secret. Mari is a yokai with the ability to transform into a terrifying monster. If discovered, her life will be forfeit. As she struggles to keep her true identity hidden, Mari's fate collides with that of Taro, the prince who has no desire to inherit the imperial throne, and Akira, a half-human, half-yokai outcast.
Torn between duty and love, loyalty and betrayal, vengeance and forgiveness, the choices of Mari, Taro and Akira will decide the fate of Honoku.

Deadly tournament you say?! Sold to the excitable book dragon in the corner! Basically this blurb is everything and I will fight you for this book.

Damsel by Elana K Arnold
November 15th 2018
The rite has existed for as long as anyone can remember: When the king dies, his son the prince must venture out into the gray lands, slay a fierce dragon, and rescue a damsel to be his bride. This is the way things have always been.

When Ama wakes in the arms of Prince Emory, she knows none of this. She has no memory of what came before she was captured by the dragon or what horrors she faced in its lair. She knows only this handsome young man, the story he tells of her rescue, and her destiny of sitting on a throne beside him. It’s all like a dream, like something from a fairy tale.
As Ama follows Emory to the kingdom of Harding, however, she discovers that not all is as it seems. There is more to the legends of the dragons and the damsels than anyone knows, and the greatest threats may not be behind her, but around her, now, and closing in.

Subverting fairy tales and turning them on their head? Why yes I do happen to love that, how did you know?! Please let this one live up to that gorgeous cover and blurb, I needs it!

Fire and Blood by George R. R. Martin
November 20th 2018
Set 300 years before the events in A Song of Ice and Fire, Fire and Blood is the definitive history of the Targaryens in Westeros as told by Archmaester Gyldayn, and chronicles the conquest that united the Seven Kingdoms under Targaryen rule through the Dance of the Dragons: the Targaryen civil war that nearly ended their dynasty forever.

The thrilling history of the Targaryens comes to life in this masterly work by the author of A Song of Ice and Fire, the inspiration for HBO’s Game of Thrones.
With all the fire and fury fans have come to expect from internationally best-selling author George R.R. Martin, this is the first volume of the definitive two-part history of the Targaryens in Westeros.
Centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones, House Targaryen – the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria – took up residence on Dragonstone. Fire and Blood begins their tale with the legendary Aegon the Conqueror, creator of the Iron Throne, and goes on to recount the generations of Targaryens who fought to hold that iconic seat, all the way up to the civil war that nearly tore their dynasty apart.
What really happened during the Dance of the Dragons? Why did it become so deadly to visit Valyria after the Doom? What is the origin of Daenerys’s three dragon eggs? These are but a few of the questions answered in this essential chronicle, as related by a learned maester of the Citadel and featuring more than eighty all-new black-and-white illustrations by artist Doug Wheatley. Readers have glimpsed small parts of this narrative in such volumes as The World of Ice & Fire but now, for the first time, the full tapestry of Targaryen history is revealed.
With all the scope and grandeur of Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Fire and Blood is the ultimate game of thrones, giving readers a whole new appreciation for the dynamic, often bloody, and always fascinating history of Westeros.

There's nothing like some additional history to make me happy. The Targaryens are the most fascinating of the family houses in Westeros, so a book about them and to find out more about this incredible world is a dream come true. The bitter after taste of course is that it still isn't the Winds of Winter, but hopefully that will come soon...

The Other Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
November 20th 2018
She was in the wrong place...

Fiercely independent and adventurous, Poppy Bridgerton will only wed a suitor whose keen intellect and interests match her own. Sadly, none of the fools from her London season qualify. While visiting a friend on the Dorset coast, Poppy is pleasantly surprised to discover a smugglers' hideaway tucked inside a cave. But her delight turns to dismay when two pirates kidnap her and take her aboard a ship, leaving her bound and gagged on the captain's bed...
He found her at the wrong time...
Known to society as a rascal and reckless privateer, Captain Andrew James Rokesby actually transports essential goods and documents for the British government. Setting sail on a time-sensitive voyage to Portugal, he's stunned to find a woman waiting for him in his cabin. Surely, his imagination is getting the better of him. But no, she is very real-and his duty to the Crown means he's stuck with her.
Can two wrongs make the most perfect right?
When Andrew learns that she is a Bridgerton, he knows he will likely have to wed her to avert a scandal-though Poppy has no idea that he is the son of an earl and neighbor to her aristocratic cousins in Kent. On the high seas, their war of words soon gives way to an intoxicating passion. But when Andrew's secret is revealed, will his declaration of love be enough to capture her heart...?

Julia Quinn = chicken soup = happy Rosy. 'Nuff said.

Little White Lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
November 23rd 2018
Eighteen-year-old auto mechanic Sawyer Taft did not expect her estranged grandmother to show up at her apartment door and offer her a six-figure contract to participate in debutante season. And she definitely never imagined she would accept. But when she realises that immersing herself in her grandmother's 'society' might mean discovering the answer to the biggest mystery of her life - her father's identity - she signs on the dotted line and braces herself for a year of makeovers, big dresses, bigger egos, and a whole lot of bless your heart. The one thing she doesn't expect to find is friendship, but as she's drawn into a group of debutantes with scandalous, dangerous secrets of their own, Sawyer quickly discovers that her family isn't the only mainstay of high society with skeletons in their closet. There are people in her grandmother's glittering world who are not what they appear, and no one wants Sawyer poking her nose into the past. As she navigates the twisted relationships between her new friends and their powerful parents, Sawyer's search for the truth about her own origins is just the beginning. Set in the world of debutante balls, grand estates and rolling green hills, Little White Lies combines a charming setting, a classic fish-out-of-water story, and the sort of layered mystery only author Jennifer Lynn Barnes can pull off.

If I have various kryptonites, debutante season is one of them. There's nothing quite like ball gowns, high society, and backstabbing to make me happy. Add in that this is by an author I love and it was an easy sell. Lynn Barnes has proven with her previous work that she writes pretty excellent mysteries, so I can't wait to start this one.

There are the books I'm excited about picking up this month, are there any that I've missed off the list that you think I should check out? Let me know in the comments below!

Books that have shaped me

Today, it's my birthday. Not only that, it is my thirtieth birthday which calls for some serious celebrations. It's also caused a lot of introspection, so I thought I would share some of the books that have had a huge impact on me over the last thirty years in one way or another. 
Some you will have heard me gushing about lots already, some may be new to you, but I whole heartedly recommend each and every one of these.

Harry Potter by JK Rowling
Of course this series is on here. These books defined a lot of growing up years for a lot of people, and I am no exception. They shaped a lot about my values, my beliefs, and the all healing power of chocolate - thanks Professor Lupin!

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas
This book. I mean, all of Sarah's books have been important to me, but this one most of all. This was the first time that I had truly seen a character in a book that had been utterly broken, was trapped in an emotionally (and sometimes physically) abusive relationship, was suffering from depression, anxiety, PTSD, and was at times suicidal. And she was the heroine. This was mind blowing for me, and I was so so glad that I had held off reading this book for a while, because it meant that I ended up reading it when I needed Feyre and her story the most. This book is incredibly important to me, so much so that I ended up getting a tattoo to mark the impact that it had on me. I will always love Sarah's work, but this one will always hold a special place in my heart.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
There is something so incredibly magical about this book. It is unlike anything else Maggie has written, and it resonated so deeply with me when I first read it, and maintains that hold on me even now. It is a book I return to every autumn, called by the lure of Thisby, of the capal, of Puck and Sean and this slice of the world that holds so much of my heart, even though it is entirely fictional.
"I am so, so alive."

The Song of Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce
Widely documented on here as the beginning of my love affair with bad ass ladies and fantasy books, this series, that wee eleven year old Rosy discovered in her school library, honestly shaped the reader I would become. I still adore these books and go back to them frequently, and when I have kids I will introduce them to Alanna and George and show them how magical the world can be. That's the lasting power of an excellent book.

Fire by Kristin Cashore
All three of the Seven Kingdoms books had an impact on me, but none more so than Fire. She was so different to Katsa, the heroine in the first book. She was softer, coming to terms with her femininity, but no less strong or powerful for that. She was incredible in whole new ways, without sacrificing her hardness and determination when needed. She showcases an amplified version of the attention women experience everyday, and that reflection is hard and necessary to see. It is a beautiful book, an important book, and I cannot fully express how much I love it.

Landline by Rainbow Rowell
Another book that sat on my shelves for far too long, and I ended up picking it up at just the right moment. Landline caught me at a tipping point in my life, and helped me to look at what was important, to focus on what I needed, and wrenched such visceral emotions from me that I hadn't experienced reading a book in some time. I'm both curious and afraid to go back to it again, because I wonder how I would experience it this time.

Paris in Love by Eloisa James
I had already read and loved Eloisa's historical romance novels, but when I moved to France for two and a half years, I was suddenly completely adrift and sought comfort in books. This non-fiction account of Eloisa and her family's own time in Paris gave me just that. The bite size snippets of daily life made me focus on the beautiful aspects, to really appreciate the wonderful things that I was suddenly living with, and it completely changed my outlook on an initially terrifying experience.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Poetic, lyrical, beautiful - this book was unlike anything I had ever read before, and something about that really resonated with me. It's still a favourite I like to sink into. The magic, the love, the characters, the sheer beauty of this world. It is a gorgeous book that means the world to me.

It's in His Kiss by Julia Quinn
This book changed my view on relationships and romance. Julia's books have all done that, but this one is where I started, so it seems fitting to mark it.
This was the first time I'd really seen adult relationships depicted where the shirtless hugging wasn't seen as some closeted dark thing to be hidden. These books celebrated it, they relished in it, and it opened young Rosy's eyes to all the possibilities in the world.

The Lynburn Legacy trilogy by Sarah Rees Brennan

It was really hard to choose just one book/series from Sarah, because all of them have had an impact on me in some way. My love affair with Sarah's work began around fifteen years ago (now that's a scary thought) when I first read her fan fiction. I eagerly followed her progress to publishing and buy multiple copies of every book she publishes (because they are guaranteed to be ones that I lend out to people saying READ THIS NOW). Her - her words, her story, had a huge impact on the shape of my life. It was because of her and her blog that I realised I might actually be able to write as part of my life instead of it being a pipe dream. It was because of her that I realised I could study Creative Writing at uni, and went on to do so. She inspires me, hugely. She is a truly incredible, wonderfully funny person, and her books have shaped me into the person I am today.

So there you have ten books that shaped me into the person I am today. Someone who has a house full of books and an unhealthy reading habit that results in too little sleep.

What books have helped shaped you?

Top Ten All Time Favourite Authors

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by the wonderful folks over at The Broke & the Bookish

This week is a tough one. Like really crazy tough, because there are so many authors that are favourites. Those who have written incredible series and bring out book after book of wonderfulness, and those who have written a single standalone that stays with you. And there are some who maybe their books aren't in your top favourites, but they are such wonderful kind and fabulous people that they sneak in anyway. They all deserve recognition and that makes it incredibly hard to narrow it down to just ten.
But I'm going to try... So here, in no particular order are my top ten all time favourite authors.

Deanna Raybourn

I finished reading a Gail Carriger book and went on Amazon to see if they could recommend me anything similar and 'Silent in the Grave' the first book in the Lady Julia series popped up. I devoured it (and the following two books) in record time and so began a love affair with Deanna Raybourn's books that I have never looked back from. I know that if Raybourn has written it, it is going to be supberb. She has the rare and dangerous gift of being able to create wonderfully real characters and put them into worlds so real you can almost taste them. When I dive into one of her books I know I am going to be immersed in an incredible story with wonderful and evocative writing. She researches so thoroughly that every story feels as though it is real and as though you are truly stepping into the country and time period depicted. No matter the story, Raybourn's books will always be a favourite and her a favourite author.

Maggie Stiefvater

I came to Maggie late, discovering her only with the publication of 'The Scorpio Races'. Nothing I have read comes close to what Maggie does with her tales. They are full of subtle magics, incredible characters and books that pull you in and make you fall in love until they become a part of you. 'The Scorpio Races' and then 'The Raven Cycle' are utterly stunning books, ones that always take my breath away. I am utterly in awe and cannot even put into words how incredible these books and Maggie's writing is. I adore them, and I couldn't ever do without them.

Kristin Cashore
The first time I read Graceling I disliked it. Then I waited a few years and read it again and fell in love, followed swiftly by Fire and Bitterblue and all three rocketed straight up into all time favourite books. For some reason reading Graceling for the first time I was in completely the wrong frame of mind, and I am so, so glad that I went back and re-read it because I cannot imagine not having these three books in my life. I listen to the audiobooks regularly (currently my go-to audiobook is Fire) and also go and check out Kristin's blog. Her blog is a fascinating mix of writing and editing and random things and pretty pictures and I love hearing each update from her corner of the world. I'm eagerly awaiting her follow up book to The Seven Kingdoms series, but in the mean time I more than love checking out the blog posts and re-reading these favourites.

Sarah Rees Brennan

I first found Sarah's work when she was writing Harry Potter fan-fiction. And it was brilliant. It was witty and sarcastic and brilliant and fleshed out characters in whole new ways and introduced me to this idea that writing could be fun. Then she went to do an MA in Creative Writing and I couldn't believe it. The idea of studying writing at uni had never crossed my mind before that point and she introduced me to the idea that maybe I could write. And then she got her books published and she blew me away all over again with how incredibly wonderful her writing was. It was everything I had fallen in love with all those years ago when I read her fan fic, but polished, refined and with her own incredible characters and plots. Her writing is incredible, it remains some of the funniest and most bittersweet and her characters are some of the most complex. But as well as all that she will always be the person who showed me that achieving my dream of writing was actually possible, and I will always remember that.

Tamora PierceI first discovered Pierce's books when I was 11 and desperately seeking any sort of distraction from the books in the school library. None of them were particularly great and then I discovered Alanna in The Song of the Lioness Quartet and I fell in love. Pierce's books always have magic in them and they always feature fantastic characters. Strong women who aren't afraid to fight for what they want and be who they were meant to be, regardless of what society thinks they should do. And strong men who are loyal and kind and aren't afraid to show weakness, frailty, or love. I got lost in these books, I wished I could live in these books, and I still love going back and re-reading them to this day. They are wonderful and full of such brilliant depths of imagination and that is what makes her one of my favourite authors.

J. K. Rowling

Do I really need to say anything? Like pretty much every other Potter fan, I fell in love with Harry and Ron and Hermione and never looked back. Rowling created a world I wanted to live in, Hogwarts is somewhere I can never wait to return to, and I was one of the lucky generation who grew up with Harry. With each new book I was older, so was he, and the world got darker and more dangerous as we explored it. Rowling did the extrordinary, she created a world that bridges language and country. Everyone who has fallen in love with Hogwarts is connected by these books and the love of reading they inspired, and I adore her for that.

Neil Gaiman
If Tamora Pierce introduced me to fantasy as a child, Neil Gaiman introduced

me to a whole new breed of fantasty as an adult. Gaiman's books are incredible with such vivid and terrifying imagination filling each page. I started with Neverwhere and fell in love with London, moved on to Stardust and found a whole new type of fairytale with heroines who swore and hero's who weren't really hero's at all to start with, and moved onto American Gods and wept from the sheer brilliance and scope of the story. Gaiman's stories in turn delight and terrify and he is such a kind and generous author, both with his stories and his time. If you ever get the chance to go to a talk of his, I highly recommend it.

Julia Quinn

Quinn introduced me to the idea of romance and true love. I mean I'd discovered it in fairytales and other such things, but this was my first foray into true romance and I loved it. Quinn's stories are always fresh and funny, brilliantly written and featuring wonderful characters. She reminds me again and again that happily ever after's are indeed possible and that true love really does exist, even when the world is a terrible place I know that Quinn will provide a ray of sunshine and I love her and her books for that.

Jasper Fforde
I was a precocious reader as a child, and as a result I found a lot of books and authors that I didn't fully appreciate until revisiting them when I was a bit older. Jasper Fforde is one of those authors, and whilst I loved him when I was younger, his books are utterly fantastic reading them as an adult. They are brilliantly imaginative, twisted and hilarious. His debut novel 'The Eyre Affair' plays with tropes and expectations so brilliantly, and I adore his haphazard and genius thought process that produces such ingenious books.

Gail Carriger

My first dip into steampunk, Gail's covers grabbed my attention and her witty and sharp writing kept me entertained for hours. She is still my favourite steampunk author and if I want a melodrama of manners with tea, pesto, vampires and werewolves she is my go to author I love - and she has the most awesome blog and twitter presence. There's always something new and exciting to see if you go on her blog or follow her and I love seeing the strange, weird and wonderful things that pop up. 

So there you have my top ten favourite authors. Can you manage to pick only ten of your favourites? If so tell me in the comments below! You can also check out interviews with Deanna Raybourn, Sarah Rees Brennan & Gail Carriger in the author interviews tab at the top of the page.