Not buying books is so hard!! I haven’t brought a book since my trip to New York in September. It’s a bit of a long shot but I am attempting to read all 60 odd books on my tbr shelves by the end of the year! I didn’t anticipate how difficult it would be not to buy books! I’m literally coming apart at the seams.
Of course, because I am not buying any books, all I can think of is buying books. Even though I have no space for any books, I can’t stop the obsession with wanting to buy more books. So, to calm my anxieties over my self imposed ban, I made a list of the books I can’t wait to buy next, and hopefully, if I step my game up, I’ll be able to lift the ban around Christmas and greedily buy more books.
So yes, welcome to another list of books that I want to read. Thank you for putting up with my rambles and for continuing to follow my blog.
The Warning: A nail biting gripping psychological thriller by Kathryn Croft
My little boy’s room was empty, his bed neatly made. Alarm bells should have rung immediately. Then the knock on the door came. All I remember is a thick fog wrapping itself tightly around me. This couldn’t be happening to us.
Three years ago, nurse Zoe’s son Ethan was found drowned in a muddy river by their home, along with his best friend Josh. With no witnesses, their deaths were ruled a tragic accident.
Heartbroken, Zoe and her family, move away from home. They’re just beginning to get back to some kind of normality, when, out of the blue, Zoe receives an anonymous email:
You need to find out the truth about what happened to your son. Don’t let this rest. Don’t believe the lie.
Shaken, Zoe starts an obsessive hunt for the truth. But why is her husband so reluctant to help? And why is Josh’s mother so determined not to believe her?
This popped up on my ‘recommended’ page on Amazon Kindle. It’s just the type of book I like because from the blurb, I already know that the book will hold many turns and twists and lead me in directions I won’t be expecting. From the reviews on Amazon, this book looks like it will be a gripping read, full of suspense and shock with plenty of twisted moments. I haven’t read anything by Kathryn Croft before, so this will be my first interaction to her writing style.
The Escape: The gripping twisty thriller from the #1 bestseller by C. L. Taylor
“Look after your daughter’s things. And your daughter…”
When a stranger asks Jo Blackmore for a lift she says yes, then swiftly wishes she hadn’t.
The stranger knows Jo’s name, she knows her husband Max and she’s got a glove belonging to Jo’s two year old daughter Elise.
What begins with a subtle threat swiftly turns into a nightmare as the police, social services and even Jo’s own husband turn against her.
No one believes that Elise is in danger. But Jo knows there’s only one way to keep her child safe – RUN.
I fell in love with C.L. Taylor earlier this year when I read ‘Sleep’, so I am eager to read another book by her. I have also read ‘The Missing’ but I didn’t enjoy it as much and found it difficult to get into. However, I think this one will be right up my alley, with a lot of tension and adrenaline. I’m going to enjoy the unexpected turns in this story…when I allow myself to buy it.
Baby Doll by Hollie Overton
You’ve been held captive in one room.
You’ve been mentally and physically abused every day since you were sixteen years old.
Then, one night, you realise your captor has left the door to your cell unlocked.
For the first time in eight years you’re free.
This is what happens next.
I actually found this while browsing and couldn’t think of a book that was more of a compelling psychological thriller. I mentioned this to a friend who also reads crime and she looked back at me like I was barmy. I think this might be one of those books that only appeals to a certain percentage of people and luckily I happen to be part of the percentage. I feel high anxiety/adrenaline just thinking about the plot contained in this book!
You Let Me In: A gripping, unputdownable page-turner full of twists and turns by Lucy Clarke
Nothing has felt right since Elly rented out her house…
I’M IN YOUR HOUSE
There’s a new coldness. A shift in the atmosphere. The prickling feeling that someone is watching her every move from the shadows.
I’M IN YOUR HEAD
Maybe it’s all in Elle’s mind? She’s a writer – her imagination, after all, is her strength. And yet every threat seems personal. As if someone has discovered the secrets that keep her awake at night.
AND NOW I KNOW YOUR SECRET
As fear and paranoia close in, Elle’s own home becomes a prison. Someone is unlocking her past – and she’s given them the key…
I mean, as the cover says, creepy, twisty and chilling. I think this will be an interesting read. I live my life in my imagination and I’m a sufferer of insomnia and thoughts that keep me up at night, so I suppose I was drawn to this blurb because it made me think about aspects of my life and how they might be similar to the main character of this book. We’ll see I guess, sometime in the new year when I have room to buy. I really want to read this now!
Strangers on a Bridge: A gripping debut psychological thriller! by Louis Mangos
She should never have saved him.
When Alice Reed goes on her regular morning jog in the peaceful Swiss Alps, she doesn’t expect to save a man from suicide. But she does. And it is her first mistake.
Adamant they have an instant connection, Manfred’s charming exterior grows darker and his obsession with Alice grows stronger.
In a country far from home, where the police don’t believe her, the locals don’t trust her and even her husband questions the truth about Manfred, Alice has nowhere to turn.
To what lengths will Alice go to protect herself an her family?
This kept popping up in my Kindle recommendations and I finally decided to bite the bullet and take a loot at it. I decided, that actually, it sounded quite good and the more I though about the words of the blurb, the more intrigued I found myself becoming. The ‘praise’ for the book on Amazon call it: ‘outstanding’, ‘a brilliant thriller’ and ‘obsession, suspense and twists…’ and with that in mind, it makes me think this will be one brilliant read. I did also go further down the page and read the reviews from Amazon customers, but as the majority have given 4 or 5 stars, I’m confident I’ll enjoy this.
Come Back For Me by Heidi Perks
A SHOCKING DISCOVERY. A COMMUNITY WRAPPED IN SECRETS.
A tiny island community is stunned by the discovery of a long-buried body.
For Stella Harvey the news is doubly shocking. The body has been found in the garden of her childhood home – the home her family fled without explanation twenty-five years ago.
Now, questioning her past and desperate to unearth the truth, Stella returns to the isolated island. But she quickly finds that the community she left isn’t as welcoming as she remembers – and that people in it will go to any length to protect their secrets.
One thing rings true…
You can’t bury the truth forever.
This type of plot is a guilty pleasure of mine. I love secrets that span decades and come out in crime thrillers, I find them so compelling and gripping and I hardly ever guess correctly. When this popped up on Amazon, I knew it was something that I wanted to read. This is one top books on this list that I’m desperate to buy. A bit of mystery and intrigue with twists and compelling characters. I haven’t read any of Heidi Perk’s work before (or actually heard of her before I found this) but I honestly cannot’ wait for a chance to read this.
The Missing Girl: The Addictive, Must-Read Mystery of the Year by Jenny Quintana
Anna Flores was just a child when her adored teenage sister disappeared.
Unable to deal with the pain, Anna took the first opportunity she had to run from her fractured family, eventually building a life for herself abroad.
Now, thirty years on, her mother has died, and Anna must return home to sort though her possessions.
In doing so, she had to confront the huge hole her sister’s disappearance left in their lives, leaving just one question unanswered: what really happened to Gabriella?
Because not knowing is worse than the truth.
Isn’t it?
This is another one that kept popping up in my Amazon recommendations and for ages I avoided it because I didn’t think it would be something that I would enjoy but I ended up clicking on it anyway. Luckily, after reading the blurb, I realised it was nothing close to what I was expecting and actually, it sounded quite interesting and a different sort of story from what I’m used to. I’m sure this will be deep and full of intense emotions but I’ll be there for the mystery and the need to solve the decades-old mystery.
Frostheart by Jamie Littler
Way out in the furthest part of the known world, a tiny stronghold exists all on its own, cut off from the rest of human-kin by monsters that lurk beneath the Snow Sea.
There, a little boy called Ash waits for the return of his parents, singing a forbidden lullaby to remind him of them… and doing his best to avoid his very, VERY grumpy yeti guardian, Tobu.
But life is about to get a whole lot more crazy-adventurous for Ash.
When a brave rescue attempt reveals he has amazing magical powers, he’s whisked aboard the Frostheart, a sleigh packed full of daring explorers who could use his help. But can they help him find his family . . . ?
I saw this in Waterstones. It had its own table. You know the book is good when it has its own table! I’ve heard nothing but good things about this book on Instagram and between that, the blurb and the cover itself, my excitement over reading this book has tripled. I think it will be very imaginative and magical.
La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One by Philip Pullman
Think what is at stake. The right we have to speak and think freely… all that would be destroyed. That is worth fighting for, don’t you agree?
Eleven-year-old Malcolm Polstead and his dæmon, Asta, live with his parents at the Trout Inn near Oxford, on the banks of the River Thames which Malcolm navigates using his beloved canoe, a boat by the name of La Belle Sauvage. Across the River is the Godstow Priory where the nuns live in quiet seclusion. But Oxford’s peace is about to be shattered.
When Malcolm learns the nuns have an unusual guest with them, a baby by the name of Lyra Belacqua, he finds himself drawn into a dangerous world of secrets, intrigue and vengeance.
A world where powerful agents compete for mastery of the elements that shape Malcolm’s world; above all, Dust – salvation to some, the source of infinite evil to others.
And all the while an ancient, slumbering world is awakening. Slowly but surely, the waters are rising…
I have, of course, read His Dark Materials but it was so long ago that I cannot remember the details of what happened. What I can remember was that reading that series was a challenge for me and my brain. I have avoided the Book of Dust since it came out because every time I saw it I was reminded of the difficulty of reading the trilogy. However, I recently reminded myself of how far I’ve come in terms of reading and how I like to push myself out of my comfort zone and read things that I wouldn’t usually. I reminded myself of the love I had for His Dark Materials, and as just I really should read this book. Perhaps it’s not necessarily a book that I can’t wait to read but it’s a book I should read and a book I’d like to accomplish.
Platform Seven by Louise Doughty
Platform Seven at 4am: Peterborough Railway Station is deserted.
The man crossing the covered walkway on this freezing November morning is confident he’s alone. As he sits on the metal bench at the far end of the platform it is clear his choice is strategic – he’s as far away from the night staff as he can get. What the man doesn’t realise is that he has company.
Lisa Evans knows what he has decided. She knows what he is about to do as she tries and fails to stop him walking to the platform edge.
Two deaths on Platform Seven. Two fatalities in eighteen months – surely they’re connected? No one is more desperate to understand what connects them than Lisa Evans herself. After all, she was the first of the two to die.
I know I have already featured this in my Waterstone Wishlist, but it is the top book on this list that I desperately want to read but have to resist because I already have so many to read! The blurb has an edge to it that invited me in. The twist of Lisa already being dead has already opened a barrel of questions that I know I need answering. I think that this book holds a lot of promise and the blurb makes me think the plot will be different and interesting and give me a story that I am not prepared for.
So, that is my list of books that I desperately want to buy but can’t yet.
Have you read any that are on the list? Let me know if you have!
At the End of the World is a Book 